Dan Bossaller Dr. Burke Conducting 4/8/09 A Night on Bald Mountain "No work of Mussorgsky's has had a more confused history and none is less known.´ This description by the musicologist Gerald Abraham sums up the history of this work perfectly. This work, Mussorgsky¶s first venture into orchestral composition has had a turbid history to say the least. The piece began as a tone poem, ³St. Johns Night on the Bare Mountain.´ ³My St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain Mo untain . . . is, in form and character, Russian and original« [I see] an original Russian work«springing from our native fields and nourished with Russian bread.´ His fascination with creating a work fed on Russian bread kept him composing at a feverish pace; this work, in its original form, was co mposed in 12 days. This work lay unperformed as Mussorgsky constantly made tweaks to it, transmuting it from a to ne poem into an opera-ballet, op era-ballet, Mlada, then into a dream sequence in another opera, Sorochintsy Fair. None of these was ever performed during the composer¶s lifetime. Nicolai RimskyKorsakov, a close friend of Mussorgsky, found the manuscripts after Mussorgsky¶s death, arranged them back into a viable tone poem for orchestra and published the piece in 1886. Since then, this arrangement and a later arrangement by Leopold Stokowski--f Sto kowski--featured eatured in the movie Fantasia--have
since become o rchestral standards. standards.
Mussorgsky describes the piece thus: ³The witches used to assemble on [t he bald] mountain . . . , there to gossip, play lewd pranks, and await their superior ± Satan. Upon his arrival, they . . . would form a circle around his throne, where he sat in the guise of a h e-goat, and would sing glory to their chief. When Satan Sat an became frenzied enough at t he witches'
glorification, he would order the start of the Sabbath. Rimsky-Korsakov adds this last thought: At the height of o f the orgy, the bell of the little village church is heard from afar. The Spirits of Darkness are dispersed. Daybreak.´ The piece is in D minor; but it starts in the mixolydian mode, with A the ce nter of the chromatic elements in the first section. The piece is scored 1.2.2.2.2-4.2.3.1-timp.perc-harpstrings, a good size orchestra. There is an emphasis on the trombone and horn parts in many parts of the score and the orchestra has been beefed up accordingly. In the introduction pages I¶ve handed in to you, there are score notes for this manuscript; for the most part I will be following these score notes in order matching them to gestures in the music. After I give an overview of o f the instrumental parts of the score I will provide some recommendations for conducting the piece. p iece.
I: Subterranean Noises of Supernatural Voices The violins (I & II) begin on a eighth note triplet pattern, quickly swinging from the dominant, up a semitone, returning to the dominant, down a semitone, returning to the dominant, and down a semitone A ru mbling bass line in the violas, µcellos, and basses at t heir respective octaves ads to the fray, A-G#-Bb-G#, giddy g iddy with anticipation. The first oboes and first flutes enter simultaneously, reinforcing the dominant at pitch with the V iolins I and II. The textures build and interact; the woodwinds woo dwinds enter with feverish, excited glissandos. The triplet patterns in the violins segue, suddenly, into staccato eighth notes entering and leaving consonance and dissonance. Two measures of this brings the first theme, the bassoons, trombones, tuba, violas and low strings blast a glori g loriously ously rich melody in the relative major. They are joined by the horns and trumpets on a concert D, creating a howling dissonance with the melody instruments, which
are playing a C at octaves. The dissonance continues co ntinues until it is halted by two huge orchestra or chestra hits, the first on a second inversion i chord the second on a ii7 chord. The orchestra decays in a 2 over 3 polyrhythm between the flutes flutes and piccolos, p iccolos, and violin I, and pizzicato in the violin II and viola. A boiling figure in the clarinet, c larinet, bassoon and viola--continuing in the po lyrhythm mentioned above--leads to two bell to ne hits by the orchestra followed by a trill on the do minant chord and a grand pause. A chromatic modulation to Eb minor minor repeats the first section section of the piece. The tone is one of greater urgency, as if in anticipation of something coming. The first set of orchestral hits, hits, however lead a sixteenth-dotted-eighth rhythm in the wo odwinds over triple stops, grace notes and trills in the strings.
II: Apparition of the Spirits of Darkness This forms a transition into another chromatic modulation to E minor and a new theme, a giddy exultation in the woo dwinds and strings, supported by perfect fifths and octaves below. The strings and high woodwinds wood winds alternate, providing quick glissandos between phrases. The bottom drops out leaving the clarinets, c larinets, violins II, bassoons and violas to pass around t he theme over an eighth note tremolo in the cellos. The ensuing Poco Piu Sostenuto can be taken marginally slower while the woodwinds explore a so fter version of the exultation. The melody passes from an oboe-bassoon duet to a flute-clarinet duet who introduces a sub-theme of expectation, all the while accompanied acco mpanied by soft strings. This theme builds to an orchestral forte as well as a return to the t he allegro feroce as the orchestra plays p lays a homorhythmic exultation, accented by grace notes and hits by the piccolos, flutes, trumpets, trombones, tubas and low strings. The flutes and violins again introduce that t hat subtheme of expectation which leads to a redux of the
exultation by the oboes and clarinets accompanied by a bassoon in the high register, stopped horns, and second violins and violas playing with the wood of o f their bows.
III: After them: Chernabog, the black god Soon alternating orchestral hits and glissandos in the flutes and oboes lead to a gesture of excitement and anticipation in the oboes and clarinets and violins. The trombones and trumpets play a fanfare to welcome Chernabog.
IV: Celebration of Chernabog This is followed by a stunned silence as a s the violins build chromatically to a raucous dance belted by the high winds and first violins. An oom-pah beat in the orchestra accompanies the dance. From there the orchestra segues again into another poco piu piu sostenuto where the low low woodwinds introduce a gesture of o f restrained excitement, as more members of the orchestra join in the dance the t he score instructs that the orchestra becomes ³poco a poco piu animato,´ little by little more animated. The low brass join on o ff beats while the 4 horns belt a D at octaves, crescendoing with the fervor until u ntil the woodwinds descend in trills from a D do wn to the A, the dominant. The brass section spits an eighth note triplet fanfare while the woodwinds respond gleefully.
V: The Black Service The piece modulates modu lates to A Major with a brass fanfare, mocking the p omp and circumstance of the church in the town below. The Black Service Begins. With the key change to F# minor comes a change in tone, a mock reverence as the violins dance on the dominant C#
while the woodwinds play a remarkably re markably consonant unison at octaves: F#-G#-B. At t he piu sostenuto, the magic and mystery begins with a n A Major while the woodwinds play a smoothly ascending and descending eighth e ighth note figure in F# Major. The service continues in this solemn tone, alternating between the dancing figure and the eighth note figure, slowly, ever so slowly building to a climax at L (Page 41).
VI: Sabbath The Sabbath celebration follows after the service. The themes and gestures introduced throughout the piece begin to interact with each other for the first time. The exultation o f section II asserts itself, itself, which is cut off by the building gestures later in that same section. After this interplay comes a key change to Db Major for an interlude of pesante, heavy, quarter notes and then a reassertion of the fanfare from the beginning of section V. This fanfare is altered both in key and instrumentation, played by the trombones II and III. Then T hen comes a reassertion of the exultation and building gestures two times t imes over, followed followed by pesante quarter notes once o nce more, changing key to t he original D minor. The fanfare follows in F major, played by the trumpets and trombones I and II. The melody from the very beginning enters, flipped on its head. The piccolo, flutes, oboes and clarinets play the triplet figure while t he strings are playing the bass line pizzicato. The melody enters stronger than t han ever, the brass in unison at octaves followed by 4 fortissimo fortissimo orchestral o rchestral hits. The exultation comes next, the woo dwinds accompanied by the strings on triplets. The Bassoons, horns, trumpets, violins and violas wrench t he melody from the woodwinds, who are now relegated to garnishing the melody. An oboe-violin duet retakes the melody during the building section. sect ion. The horns assert the exultation again.
Chernabog intervenes again with his fanfare in a dissonant F Major; there breaks o ut the celebration theme in D Major, escalating esca lating to a fever pitch. After another pause, t here is another poco piu sostenuto, transposed from section sect ion VI. The woodwinds break into their feverish melody, low to high; then they t hey are joined by the strings. The Black B lack Service theme forces itself on the scene, muddled by warring sections. This entire time the tone becomes more and more feverish. Chernabog asserts himself once again!
VII: At the peak of o f the Sabbath, there resounds from afar the bell of a little little village church; church ; its ringing disperses the spirits of darkness--Daybreak. Suddenly, as Chernabog¶s theme decays chromatically, a bell is struck in the local church; the tempo slows down do wn to about 66. As the bell hits, t he flutes, clarinets, bassoons, bell and cello play a first inversion inversion E7, fully diminished. This resolves, at the insistence of the bell¶s D and the cell ce llos¶ os¶ overtone p izzicato, to D Major. The spirits retreat, feebly asserting their theme in Eb but succumbing to t he tonic. The harp enters for the t he first time, time, playing a cadenza on D Major. The spirits attempt the dissonance again, but again resolve to the tonic. The harp enters again with the cadenza on D Major. A solo clarinet c larinet enters and plays a slow melody in B minor. After a harp cadenza, tthe he melody passes to the flute which plays p lays a variation on the B minor minor melody. Finally, the sun begins to rise, and the flute, clarinet, horns and strings play chord s in D Major. Sunlight breaks through with a root position D Major chord.
Works Consulted: The Kennedy Center Program Notes: www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/?fuseaction=composition&composition_id=2067 The Owensboro Symphony Program Notes: www.owensborosymphony.org/documents/program_notes_april_2008.pdf Wikipedia for translations, musical terms and definitions www.wikipedia.org
CONDUCTING NOTES: 1) I would not take the introduction at more than half note=92-94. This is quick enough to convey the urgency and excitement, but also leaves room for an accelerando during sections IV and VI. 2) At many time throughout the p iece, sections will alternate playing on the beat and off the beat, make sure to have a clean click to your beat when you conduct these passages. The same goes for sections of offbeats. 3) The trumpets and horns are transposed: t ransposed: trumpet to Bb and Horn to F, but as usual they do not have key signatures. 4) Both a Bb and an a n A clarinet are used u sed in this piece, but sometimes the key signature will not match what the concert key should be. This is merely for ease of reading of the parts. For example, in part VII, they key signature should be E Major, but it is instead G major. 5) Make sure your horn players are up to snuff and able to tune to the section. Requiring four horns to play in unison at octaves is nothing short of a t ask. Make sure their consonances are consonant and their dissonances are dissonant. 6) Make sure to make a distinction with your clarinet and flute sections between the glissandos and pick up notes. This requires proper score study on their part and proper cues from you. The same goes for the violins in section V; make sure they are playing the notes at full value and not as grace notes. 7) During the Poco Piu Sostenuto on page 18, DO NOT SPEED UP, let the allegro feroce section come a surprise. 8) Depending on how many timpani you have, make sure you are aware of and can cover all note changes with the changing chang ing key signatures in the prescribed length of time.
9) During the clarinet and flute solos at the end of the piece, feel free to let the clarinet and flute play rubato. Block chords accompany these melodies; the clarinet and flute have a hard part; let them have so me fun. 10) As always make sure to cue the percussion section. My conducting conduct ing teacher was serious when he said, ³You can never take back a cymbal crash.´ 11) Make sure to cue the t he trombones.
