AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)
Old American Songs (1950 and 1952; orchestrated 1954 and 1958)
Among Aaron Copland’s most popular compositions are his two sets of Old American Songs for voice and piano and later for voice and orchestra. He composed the first set of five in 1950, and orchestrated it in 19543; the second set was written in 1952 and orchestrated in 1958. Interestingly, the first set was commissioned by two Englishmen—baritone Peter Pears and pianist/composer Benjamin Britten—for performance at the Aldeburgh Festival in England. The songs hark back to a simpler time: 19th century texts and a variety of popular musical sources, to which the orchestrations lend a rich and colorful canvas. Copland was also successful at expressing the mood and emotion of each song. The first set of five songs consists of “The Boatmen’s Dance” (a minstrel song – 1843); “The Dodger” (a campaign song, probably for Grover Cleveland); “Long Time Ago” (a ballad); “Simple Gifts” (a Shaker song); and “I Bought Me a Cat” (a children’s song). Copland said: “Everyone seemed to enjoy singing and hearing Old American Songs I so much that I decided to arrange a second set in l952.” They are “The Little Horses (a lullaby); “Zion’s Walls” (a revivalist song); “The Golden Willow Tree” (an Anglo-American ballad); “At the River” (a hymn tune); and “Ching-A-Ring Chaw” (another minstrel song). Copland was not disappointed; these songs, too, were well received. Perhaps the most affecting of the two sets is “Simple Gifts,” which Copland had already used so beautifully in the ballet Appalachian Spring . And as for which is the most fun, it surely is “I bought Me a Cat,” which introduces a whole menagerie (plus a wife!), complete with sound effects. Artist-in-Residence Thomas Hampson will sing selections from each book.

GUSTAV MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 1, “Titan” (1888)
“These emotions became so powerful in me that they gushed forth like an impetuous torrent…At a single blow, all the floodgates were opened within me! …I must get out and breathe air deeply again. For six weeks I have scarcely left my worktable!” So wrote Gustav Mahler to a friend after he completed his “Symphonic Poem in Two Parts.” But the reception was less than favorable, and five years later he revised it, now calling it a Symphony, and giving it the title “Titan,” after a novel by Jean Paul. Though he provided a “program” for his heart-stopping masterpiece, he later rejected the notion of words being necessary to understand his music. “As long as my experience can be summed up in words, I write no music about it; my need to express myself musically—symphonically—begins where dark feelings hold sway, at the door that leads to the other world—the world where things are no longer separated by time and space.” But when the new version was premiered in 1894, he still had difficulties gaining acceptance: “My symphony was received with furious opposition by some and with wholehearted approval by others.” When it was finally published in 1898, the only programmatic description left appeared above the first line of the score: “like a sound of nature.” Mahler led the U.S. premiere of his “Titan” symphony shortly after beginning his two-year tenure as principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic (1909 to 1911). Things to listen for on this epic journey include quotations from Mahler’s song cycle the Songs of a Wayfarer and the tune “Bruder Martin,” aka “Frère Jacques,” sounding eerie as performed in the upper register of the string bass, with a steady undercurrent provided by the timpani. The composer created a remarkable work—one so big, that it requires augmented orchestral forces. And hang on when seven horns—their bells turned up—proclaim the breathtaking, jubilant finale.

Alan Gilbert will begin his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in the 2009–10 season, the first native New Yorker to hold the post. For his inaugural season he has introduced a number of new initiatives: Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg; The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Thomas Hampson; an annual three-week festival; and CONTACT, the New York Philharmonic’s new-music series. He will also lead the Orchestra on a major tour of Asia in October 2009, with debuts in Hanoi and Abu Dhabi; a European tour in January 2010; and performances of world, U.S., and New York premieres. Also in the 2009–10 season Mr. Gilbert becomes the first to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at The Juilliard School, a position that will include coaching, conducting, and performance master classes.

Highlights of Mr. Gilbert’s 2008–09 season with the New York Philharmonic included the November 14, 2008, Bernstein anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, and a performance with the Juilliard Orchestra, presented by the Philharmonic, featuring Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3, Kaddish. In May 2009 he conducted the World Premiere of Peter Lieberson’s The World in Flower, a New York Philharmonic Commission, and in July 2009 he led the New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, and two concerts at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In June 2008 Mr. Gilbert was named conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, following his final concert as its chief conductor and artistic advisor. He has been principal guest conductor of Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra (NDRSO) since 2004. Mr. Gilbert regularly conducts other leading orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, including the Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco symphony orchestras; The Cleveland Orchestra; Munich’s Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw; and Orchestre National de Lyon. In 2003 he was named the first music director of Santa Fe Opera, where he served for three seasons.

Born and raised in New York City, Alan Gilbert studied at Harvard University, The Curtis Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School; he was a substitute violinist with The Philadelphia Orchestra for two seasons, and assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra from 1995 to 1997. In November 2008 he made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut conducting John Adams’s Dr. Atomic. His recording of Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance.

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Baritone Nathan Gunn has appeared in internationally renowned opera houses such as The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Paris Opéra, Bayerische Staatsoper, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. His many appearances include the title roles in Britten’s Billy Budd and Thomas’s Hamlet, Figaro in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, and Mozart roles such as Papageno in The Magic Flute, Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte, and the Count in Le nozze di Figaro. A supporter of new works, he created the roles of Clyde Griffiths in Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy at The Met, Father Delura in Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons at the Glyndebourne Festival, and Alec Harvey in André Previn’s Brief Encounter at the Houston Grand Opera. Mr. Gunn has appeared in concert with many of the leading American and European orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and the Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and London symphony orchestras. Recently, he has ventured outside the standard opera repertoire with appearances in semi-staged performances of Camelot with the New York Philharmonic (May 2008, broadcast live on PBS’s Great Performances) and Showboat at Carnegie Hall. In recital, he has been presented at New York’s Zankel Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Cal Performances, Schubert Club, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, University of Chicago, Krannert Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, and Brussels’s Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie. Nathan Gunn’s first solo album, Just Before Sunrise, was released on the Sony/BMG Masterworks label. His other recordings include Billy Budd (Virgin Classics), Allegro (Sony Masterworks Broadway), Peter Grimes (LSO Live!), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (SONY Classics), and Kullervo (Telarc). This season’s engagements include returns to The Met, Dallas Opera, and Los Angeles Opera; his debut at the Bilbao Opera in Billy Budd; and the world premiere of Daron Hagen’s Amelia at the Seattle Opera.