España, an orchestral rhapsody, is his most famous composition, as popular in the semi-classical literature as it is in the symphonic repertory. Chabrier wrote it in 1883 after a Spanish holiday, and its première in Paris on November 4 of that year was a sensation. This rhapsody is built from three principal subjects, two borrowed from Spanish folk melodies, and one Chabrier’s own. A nervous rhythm in plucked strings leads to a strongly accented malagueña, first heard in the wind instrument. Different sections take it over before soaring strings arrive with a lyrical jota melody. Chabrier’s own theme, a stately subject for trombones, is then heard, set against the background of the malagueña melody. The French waltz-king, Waldteufel, used Chabrier’s themes from España for one of his most famous waltzes, also entitled España.
The Joyeuse marche (1888) reveals the composer in one of his satirical moods. Chabrier wrote it at first as a piano composition to be used for a sight-reading class at the Bordeaux Conservatory. It proved too difficult to fulfil this function, and Chabrier decided to orchestrate it, calling it Joyeuse marche and presenting it as one of his more serious endeavors. The music is in a burlesque style, believed to be a musical description of drunken musicians staggering home after a festive evening. The work opens with an orchestral flourish, following which the oboe offers a capricious subject. This gaiety is maintained in the lively second theme for the violins.
The Suite pastorale (1880) is an orchestral adaptation of four of the ten piano pieces in Pièces pittoresques. In the first, “Idylle,” a beautiful melody is accompanied by plucked strings. The second, “Danse villageoise” is a country dance in which the lively dance tune is first heard in clarinets. The third piece, “Sous bois” has a pastoral character, while the concluding number, “Scherzo-Valse” is a protracted piece of pulsating music.
George Chadwick
George Whitefield Chadwick was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on November 13, 1854. Most of his music study took place in Germany. When he was being graduated from the Leipzig Conservatory in 1879, his overture Rip Van Winkle received its première performance. He then studied organ and composition with Rheinberger in Munich. After returning to the United States in 1880, he became a teacher of harmony and composition at the New England Conservatory, rising to the post of director in 1897. He was also active for several years as director of the Worcester Music Festival. He died in Boston on April 4, 1931.
Chadwick was a prolific composer of symphonies, concertos, and various other orchestral and choral works. He never freed himself from the influence of German Romanticism, with which he had been infected during his student days. He wrote with a sure craftsmanship, usually filling his classical structures with winning melodies and often lush harmonies and orchestration.
Two compositions for orchestra are of particular popular appeal: Jubilee and Noël. Both are movements from the Symphonic Sketches (1895) which received its world première in Boston in 1908. (The other two movements, the third and fourth, are “Hobgoblin” and “A Vagrom Ballad.”) Jubilee is a vigorous tonal picture of a carnival. A spirited melody is loudly presented by the full orchestra and is elaborated upon. A second virile subject is then presented by bass clarinet, bassoons, violas and cellos. Following a lively return of the opening carnival theme, the woodwind and horns appear with a lyrical subject. The music then gains in vitality until it comes to a rousing conclusion with a coda built from the carnival motive.
Noël has been described as “a little Christmas song.” It is a haunting orchestral nocturne in which a serene Yuletide melody is offered by the English horn.
Cécile Chaminade
Cécile Chaminade was born in Paris on August 8, 1857. Music study took place in Paris with Marsick and Godard among others. In 1875 she launched her career as concert pianist by touring Europe in programs that often included her own compositions. At her American debut, on November 7, 1908, she appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in a performance of her own Concerstueck. She wrote many other ambitious works including a symphony, two orchestral suites, and ballets. She died in Monte Carlo on April 18, 1944.