JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050 (1717?)
Bach collected and dedicated his six Brandenburg Concertos to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, giving this noble family the immortality they would not have had otherwise. Less certain is the actual composition date of these magnificent works, however. Some people have posited that Bach composed this particular concerto while he was in Dresden for a sort of harpsichord smack-down between himself and the French harpsichord and organ virtuoso and composer, Louis Marchand. (But apparently, M. Marchand never made it to the place of battle: his tail between his legs, he took the first coach out of town, unable to face up to The Great One. Bach was declared the winner by default.) While J. S. was in town, and based on the instrumentation of the concerto, he probably played the work with two other musicians in the city: violinist Jean-Baptiste Volumier and flutist Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin. Ironically, the piece includes a theme composed by Marchand. The Fifth Brandenburg Concerto is a true concerto grosso, with a small group of instruments, called concertino (here, violin, flute, and harpsichord), set against a larger ensemble, called ripieno (here, strings). But the harpsichord has been elevated from its customary accompanying role to nearly solo status, leading some commentators to consider it the first-ever harpsichord concerto. Listen especially for the virtuosic 64-bar cadenza (a passage that lets the soloist dazzle the audience) at the end of the first movement.

BERNARD RANDS (born in 1934 in Sheffield, England
chains like the sea—Two Movements for Orchestra (2008) (World Premiere, New York Philharmonic Commission)
Bernard Rands created chains like the sea on a commission from the New York Philharmonic—his fourth. (His first was the 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning Canti del Sole, conducted by Zubin Mehta.) It is an evocatively named, nostalgic reminder of his times in Wales. Though born in England, he has lived in Wales off and on for many years, starting in the early 1950s. “Visiting Wales is rejuvenating and essential to my being,” he explains. The title and the two named movements of his latest work are quotations from the exquisite poem “Fern Hill” by the Welshman Dylan Thomas (1914-1953). It speaks movingly of the ultimate power of time over us: though we may be oblivious to it, carefree and unaware of it in our green youth, time holds us prisoners nonetheless. The poem provided Rands with three phrases whose mysterious vocabulary spoke to him when seeking sign-posts for his work: the last two lines, which inspired the name of the composition, sum up the contradictory human condition in an unexpected way: “Time held me green and dying / Though I sang in my chains like the sea.” The first movement is titled “the sabbath rang slowly,” the second, “rivers of the windfall light.” While the abstract imagery of the words can’t easily be explained, Rands’s music gives it a voice. Still, the composer is loath to talk about how his music sounds: first, because we all hear music differently, but more importantly, “if you can describe it in words, why go through the agony of composing music? For me, music is a departure from the speaking of the words.” How then should a listener prepare to hear chains like the sea? “It’s important not to bring prejudices or expectations. When I go to a concert, I go with an open mind, open ears, and an open heart. Afterwards I may feel exhilarated, or depressed, or sometimes even cheated. But I’m always in the composer’s corner, because composers, like me, write to share something about life and the universe for anyone willing to enter into the experience.” Bernard Rands observes a rigorous work schedule—something we may not necessarily expect from a creative personality: “I go to my studio and work all day until I’m exhausted, and then I stop. If my father (a janitor in an English public school, where he swept the floors, cleaned the toilets, stoked the boilers, and performed other menial chores) went to work every day and returned home exhausted, why should I, a composer, be any different? Sometimes the work comes easy; other times I have to beat it into shape!” chains like the sea occupied Bernard Rands’s work schedule exclusively, beginning in the summer of 2007, as he always devotes his energies to only one piece at a time—never more than one. And when the day is done, he relaxes over cocktails and cooking (his favorite hobby) with his wife, Augusta Read Thomas, an acclaimed composer in her own right, who also has been spending the day creating in her separate studio. A two-composer household…it must make for fascinating dinner conversations…though their respective works-in-progress are strictly off-limits.

PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Suite No. 3 in G Major, Op. 55 (1884)
Having already completed some of his best-known masterpieces by 1884, Tchaikovsky experienced great difficulties during the creation of his Suite No. 3; it even caused him to doubt his abilities. “Am I played out? ...The Valse gives me infinite trouble. I am growing old,” the 44-year-old composer confessed to his dairy. But when it was premiered with the renowned Hans von Bülow on the podium, the music was enthusiastically received. “Never have I had such a triumph. I could see that the greater part of the audience was touched and grateful. Such moments are the best in an artist’s life,” he wrote to his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck, of this shimmering, lyrical, brilliant score. A symphony in all but name (and starting off as an attempt to write one) the four movements are entitled Elégie, Valse mélancolique, Scherzo, and Tema con variazione, and present the listener with graceful, lush, and melancholy melodies, and a masterful set of 12 variations on a noble theme. The last movement is longer than the first three combined and show Tchaikovsky as the brilliant orchestrator he was. Evoking everything from Russian church chants to a violin showpiece to the final Tempo di Polacca, molto brillante (a polonaise), the composer shows his stuff in this masterful work. In 1947 the Suite No. 3 caught the ear of George Balanchine, and he set his popular ballet Theme and Variations upon its last movement.

Lorin Maazel, who has led more than 150 orchestras in more than 5,000 opera and concert performances, became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2002. His appointment came 60 years after his debut with the Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium, then the Orchestra’s summer venue. As Music Director he has conducted seven World Premiere–NewYork Philharmonic Commissions, including the Pulitzer Prize– and Grammy Award–winning On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams; Stephen Hartke’s Symphony No. 3; and Melinda Wagner’s Trombone Concerto. He has led cycles of works by Brahms, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky; and he conducted the Orchestra’s inaugural performances in the DG Concerts series — a groundbreaking initiative to offer downloadable New York Philharmonic concerts exclusively on iTunes.

Mr. Maazel has taken the Orchestra on numerous international tours, including the historic visit to Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in February 2008 — the first performance there by an American orchestra, and an event watched around the world. Other recent tours have included Asia 2008 — to Taipei, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing; the May 2007 Tour of Europe; the November 2006 visit to Japan and Korea; the Philharmonic Tour of Italy in June 2006, sponsored by Generali; the two-part 75th Anniversary European Tour to thirteen cities in five countries in the fall of 2005; and residencies in Cagliari, Sardinia, and at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Maazel is music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. A frequent conductor on the world’s operatic stages, he returned to The Metropolitan Opera in January 2008 for the first time in 45 years to conduct Wagner’s Die Walküre.

Prior to his tenure as New York Philharmonic Music Director, Mr. Maazel led more than 100 performances of the Orchestra as a guest conductor. He served as music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1993–2002), and has held positions as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1988–96); general manager and chief conductor of the Vienna Staatsoper (1982–84); music director of The Cleveland Orchestra (1972–82); and artistic director and chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1965–71). He is an honorary member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic. On February 17, 2009, he will be named a Commander of the Legion of Honor by the government of France.

A second-generation American, born in Paris, Mr. Maazel was raised and educated in the United States. He took his first violin lesson at age five, and first conducting lesson at seven. Between ages 9 and 15 he conducted most of the major American orchestras. In 1953 he made his European conducting debut in Catania, Italy.

Mr. Maazel is also an accomplished composer. His opera, 1984, received its world premiere on May 3, 2005, at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was revived in the 2007–08 season at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and has been released on DVD by Decca.

Violinist Anna Rabinova performs nationally and internationally as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, and recording artist. She joined the New York Philharmonic in 1994, two years after arriving in the United States from her native Russia; in the 2008–09 season she was a soloist with the Orchestra in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, led by Lorin Maazel.

Ms. Rabinova has toured Germany, Italy, the former Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Bulgaria, performing concertos with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and numerous other European orchestras. They include the Halle Philharmonic, Schwerin Philharmonic, Moscow Radio Orchestra (Vladimir Fedoseev conducting), Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Eisenach Symphony, Russian State Symphony, and Berlin Symphony. In the United States, she has made solo appearances with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Symphony Orchestra (Leon Botstein conducting), and Memphis Symphony, among others, and has premiered works by John Corigliano and Alfred Schnittke.

As a recitalist, Ms. Rabinova has appeared in numerous halls, including the Shauspielhaus in Berlin, Tchaikovsky Philharmonie Hall in Moscow, and Moscow Conservatory Great Hall, as well as in venues in Rome, Leipzig, and Belgrade. In the U.S. she has performed at the Phillips Gallery (Washington, D.C.), Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Bargemusic, and on the Rockefeller University concert series. In April 2004 she served as concertmaster of the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Symphony Orchestra. Her festival performances have included appearances at the Schleswig Holstein, Berlin Chamber Music, and Long Island Mozart festivals, the Music Festival of the Hamptons, and at Tanglewood and Caramoor.

Ms. Rabinova’s recordings include works by Schuman (for Germany’s Auris-Subtilis) and David Winkler’s Violin Concerto (Naxos); in 1998 she recorded sonatas by Brahms and Schubert for an NHK-TV (Japan) chamber series, which was broadcast worldwide and produced by Paul Smaczny. She has been interviewed and has performed on WLIW-TV in New York, as well as on German and Russian radio.

Anna Rabinova was born in Moscow and performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst’s Violin Concerto, and Paganini’s Violin Concerto with the Moscow State Symphony at the age of 13, later studying at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Leonid Kogan and Igor Bezrodnyi. She was a first-prize winner at the 16th International Violin Competition in Belgrade, in addition to winning the Bach International Competition in Leipzig, Germany, and the 1993 Concerto Competition at The Juilliard School. She has taught at the Gnessin Institute in Moscow, and is currently on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, in addition to giving master classes in the U.S. and abroad.

Find additional upcoming performances with Anna Rabinova

Sandra Church joined the New York Philharmonic as Associate Principal Flute in December 1988, under then-Music Director Zubin Mehta. She made her solo debut with the Orchestra in 1990, and has played first flute on New York Philharmonic recordings conducted by Leonard Bernstein, Mr. Mehta, and Kurt Masur. She has also performed with André Previn on his album From Ordinary Things for Sony.

A native of Syracuse, New York, Ms. Church began her orchestral career in 1978 with a 10-year term as principal flutist of the New Jersey Symphony. During the summer seasons, she was the principal flutist of the Chautauqua Symphony. She performs in chamber music recitals with the New York Philharmonic Ensembles at Merkin Concert Hall and also teaches privately. In addition, she has given master classes in Santiago, San Juan, Bangkok, Tokyo, and at the annual Julius Baker Flute Master Class in Danbury, Connecticut.

Ms. Church earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where she was a student of former Philharmonic Principal Flute Julius Baker. She is a member of the National Flute Association.

Harpsichordist Lionel Party made his New York Philharmonic solo debut in 1991 in Poulenc’s Concert champêtre. A native of Chile and a member of the Philharmonic since 1984, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study with harpsichordist Albert Fuller at The Juilliard School, where he earned his D.M.A. in 1976 and remained as a faculty member, teaching Baroque music and harpsichord. Since winning first prize in the J.S. Bach Fourth International Competition in Leipzig in 1972, Dr. Party has been active on the concert scene, performing with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Waverly Consort, Solisti New York, Handel and Haydn Society, English Chamber Orchestra, German Bach Soloists, and Collegium Instrumentale of the Gewandhaus of Leipzig. Dr. Party has also appeared in recital in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., East Berlin, Geneva, Ottawa, and Santiago, and has been a member of the Aulos Ensemble and the New York Chamber Symphony. From 1977 to 1997 he was harpsichordist and organizer of the Baroque music programs at the Grand Teton Music Festival, and since 1997 has participated in the Cascade Head Music Festival in Lincoln City, Oregon. He has presented broadcast concerts on the East and West German radio networks, RAI of Rome, and U.S. public radio and television. His discography includes recordings of music by Bach, Blavet, Chambonnieres, Corelli, Frescobaldi, Handel, Haydn, and Vivaldi, and a new CD, with solo harpsichord music by François Couperin, will be released shortly. Dr. Party is on the faculty of The Juilliard School, Mannes College of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music. Mr. Party performs with his new Baroque ensemble, La Mela di Newton.