Candlelight: Echoes of Spring Program Notes
Adagio For Strings (1936)
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Premiere: November 5, 1938 | New York; NBC Orchestra under the direction of Arturo Toscanini
Although written when he was only in his 20s, the Adagio For Strings has become one of Samuel Barber’s most recognizable works. Born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Barber displayed exceptional musical talent from an early age and entered the newly founded Curtis Institute of Music at fourteen, studying piano, voice, composition, and conducting. By the mid-1930s, he had already attracted national attention through a series of prestigious awards and the support of prominent performers and conductors.
The Adagio originated as the second movement of Barber’s String Quartet, Op. 11, composed in 1936. Recognizing the movement’s potential beyond the chamber setting, Barber arranged it for string orchestra and sent the score to the renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini. When Toscanini returned the manuscript without comment, Barber assumed it had been rejected. He later learned that the conductor had simply returned the score because he had already memorized it and planned to perform it. Toscanini led the premiere with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in a nationwide radio broadcast in 1938 and reportedly described the work as “semplice e bella”—simple and beautiful.
The music unfolds through a single, long-breathed melodic line that gradually rises in intensity before receding into silence. Its emotional impact derives not from dramatic contrasts or virtuosic display, but from Barber’s careful control of tension, pacing, and orchestral color. Following the premiere, New York Times critic Olin Downes praised the work for achieving “something as perfect in mass and detail as his craftsmanship permits.”
Like many composers of the 1930s, Barber sought a musical language that was recognizably modern while remaining accessible to audiences. At a time when many composers were experimenting with increasingly complex techniques, Barber continued to value lyricism and direct emotional expression. Over the decades, Adagio for Strings has assumed a unique place in American cultural life. Frequently performed at memorial services and commemorations of national tragedies, it has become a musical expression of collective reflection and remembrance.
Adagio for Strings is scored for string orchestra.
Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64 (1838-1844)
Felix Mendelssohn (1804-1847)
Premiere: March 13, 1845 | Ferdinand David, violin; Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Mendelssohn first mentioned the idea of a violin concerto in a letter to Ferdinand David in 1838. David was not only the concertmaster of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra but also one of Mendelssohn’s oldest friends. Although the concerto took several years to complete—largely because Mendelssohn was occupied with conducting, composing, and administrative responsibilities—the two musicians remained in regular contact throughout the process. David offered advice on technical matters, passages were revised, and ideas were exchanged long before the work reached the stage. When the concerto finally premiered in 1845, David was the soloist. Mendelssohn, suffering from illness, was unable to conduct the first performance himself, though he later led the work with David as soloist that same year.
The concerto follows the familiar three-movement pattern of fast, slow, and fast, yet displays several unusual features compared to other concertos of the time. The solo violin enters almost immediately, without the lengthy orchestral introduction customary in many concertos of the period. The movements are connected without pause, and the first movement’s cadenza appears in an unexpected place—before the recapitulation rather than near the end. Mendelssohn also wrote out the cadenza in full, leaving little to improvisation.
These choices give the concerto a sense of continuity and momentum. Ideas flow naturally from one section to the next, and the relationship between soloist and orchestra often feels conversational rather than competitive. Completed just two years before Mendelssohn’s death at the age of thirty-eight, the concerto belongs to the final chapter of a career that left an outsized mark on nineteenth-century musical life. As a composer, conductor, pianist, educator, and advocate for earlier music, Mendelssohn helped shape the musical culture of his era.
Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64 is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings, and solo violin.
Appalachian Spring Suite (1942-1944)
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Premiere: October 30, 1944 | Washington D.C.,
By 1942, Aaron Copland was a recognized and respected composer of music, creating in a distinctly vernacular style that has frequently been referred to as “populist.” Copland’s open harmonies and sparse textures call to mind the vastness of the American landscape, and his folksy syncopated rhythms mimic sounds of traditional American tunes and dances. Much of Copland’s music that captures the sound and spirit of America was created during the depths of the Great Depression and in the years leading up to WWII, when images of national pride, hardship overcome, and patriotism were especially well-received and relevant to listening audiences. It was upon this foundation that Appalachian Spring was built, created on commission from the choreographer and dancer Martha Graham and arts patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Graham danced the lead role in the premiere, and the set was designed by American sculptor Isamu Noguchi. In 1945, Copland was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for Appalachian Spring.
The ballet premiered in Washington, D.C., in October 1944. Set at a Pennsylvania farmhouse, it follows a young couple as they begin married life, joined by a pioneer woman and a traveling preacher. Graham was less interested in depicting specific historical events than in exploring ideas of community, faith, aspiration, and the uncertainties that accompany new beginnings. The score became widely known for its use of the Shaker melody “Simple Gifts,” which appears in a set of variations near the work’s center. Yet the melody represents only one part of a larger musical design. Throughout the suite, Copland balances moments of quiet contemplation with passages of dance, celebration, and anticipation.
And while the title “Appalachian Spring” has, for many, come to symbolize the beauty of the American landscape itself, Copland composed the work without that title in mind, only adding it after the work was finished. After the music had been completed, Graham suggested Appalachian Spring, borrowing the phrase from a poem by Hart Crane. The title refers not to a season in the mountains but to a poetic image, and Copland later remarked that listeners often imagined landscapes that he had never intended to portray.
O Appalachian Spring! I gained the ledge;
Steep, inaccessible smile that eastward bends
And northward reaches in that violet wedge
Of Adirondacks!
The Suite is divided into eight distinct sections which Copland described as follows:
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Very slowly. Introduction of the characters, one by one, in a suffused light.
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Fast/Allegro. Sudden burst of unison strings in A major arpeggios starts the action. A sentiment both elated and religious gives the keynote to this scene.
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Moderate/Moderato. Duo for the Bride and her Intended – scene of tenderness and passion.
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Quite fast. The Revivalist and his flock. Folksy feeling – suggestions of square dances and country fiddlers.
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Still faster/Subito Allegro. Solo dance of the Bride – presentiment of motherhood. Extremes of joy and fear and wonder.
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Very slowly (as at first). Transition scene to music reminiscent of the introduction.
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Calm and flowing/Doppio Movimento. Scenes of daily activity for the Bride and her Farmer husband. There are five variations on a Shaker theme. The theme, sung by a solo clarinet, was taken from a collection of Shaker melodies compiled by Edward D. Andrews, and published under the title “The Gift to Be Simple.” The melody borrowed and used almost literally is called “Simple Gifts.”
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Moderate. Coda/Moderato – Coda. The Bride takes her place among her neighbors. At the end the couple are left “quiet and strong in their new house.” Muted strings intone a hushed prayerlike chorale passage. The close is reminiscent of the opening music.
Appalachian Spring Suite is one of four versions of the work. The first version, the complete ballet from 1944, is scored for chamber ensemble of 13 players. In 1945 Copland arranged the ballet into a suite for full orchestra, and later arranged the suite for a chamber ensemble: this is the version that will be performed tonight. It is scored for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, two horns, trumpet, piano, and strings.