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I. Jubilee
6 mm. after reh B - 17 mm. after reh. B |
Skills & Techniques: Endurance, Loud Playing, Slurring Flexibility
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Horn 3 (F)
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Eastman-Rochester Orchestra (1958)
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BBC National Orchestra of Wales (2017)
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III. Hobgoblin
beg - 5 mm. before reh. 1 |
Skills & Techniques: Phrasing, Staccato Style, Tonguing Flexibility
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Horn 1 (F)
Horn 2 (F)
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Eastman-Rochester Orchestra (1958)
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BBC National Orchestra of Wales (2017)
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Composer & Composition Information
George Chadwick (1854-1931)
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After serving as an instructor and administrator at Olivet College, Chadwick traveled to Germany, where he studied with Carl Reinecke and Salomon Jadassohn at Leipzig’s Royal Conservatory, and subsequently with Josef Rheinberger at the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich. During the period between Leipzig and Munich, Chadwick traveled around Europe with a group of artists who called themselves the “Duveneck Boys”. This group was named for its leader, Frank Duveneck, who was well known for his portrait works in the style of Velasquez.
Chadwick returned to America in the spring of 1880 and settled in Boston, where he began teaching privately. Among his students were Horatio Parker, Sidney Homer, and Arthur Whiting. During this time, Chadwick’s works were being frequently performed by notable Boston ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Handel and Haydn Society and the Harvard Musical Association. Chadwick also frequently composed for local choral organizations. From 1883 to 1893, Chadwick also served as church organist at the South Congregational Church in Boston, of which Edward Everett Hale was the pastor. In addition, from 1880 to 1899 he conducted the musical festivals at Springfield, Mass., and from 1897 to 1901 those at Worcester, Mass. In 1892, Chadwick was commissioned to compose an ode for the opening ceremonies of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Two years later, Chadwick’s third symphony was awarded a prize by the National Conservatory of Music, during the directorship of Dvorák. In 1897 Yale University conferred on him the honorary degree of A.M., and his Ecce Jam Noctis, for men’s voices, was sung on that occasion. In 1905, Chadwick visited Germany where he conducted several of his own compositions at a concert of the Concordia in Leipzig. The text & image are reprinted from New England Conservatory Archives where more information about the composer can be found. |
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Symphonic Sketches
On top of his technical abilities, he was a great orchestrator. Chadwick’s scoring consistently reflects the innovations of the day, be they those of Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, or Strauss. He wasn’t an innovator, really, but, with a few exceptions, his way with instrumentation was largely his own: warm, idiomatic, and colorful.
Perhaps most remarkable, though, is the fact that Chadwick very much embraced his American-ness. He didn’t do this the same way that Ives did, with musical quotations of hymns and native songs and a complete rethinking of the Musical Way as handed down from Europe. Rather, Chadwick’s approach was more general, though pervasive to his output. Steven Ledbetter describes it thusly: “energy and high spirits, love of a good tune, a sense of humor, and a jaunty Yankee feeling of (in the words of Olin Downes) ‘snapping his fingers at the universe’.”
One hears these characteristics with abundant clarity in Chadwick’s Symphonic Sketches, a set of four movements written between 1895 and 1904. Each one depicts a specific scene as prefaced in the score by a poem.
The self-explanatory “Jubilee,” the Sketches’ first movement, smells pretty strongly of Dvorak’s influence. It shares an exuberant mood and key signature with the Carnival Overture. And Dvorak’s favorite rhythmic games and instrumental textures make appearances here and there.
The text is written by & reprinted from the ArtsFuse.org where more information about the composition can be found.
Perhaps most remarkable, though, is the fact that Chadwick very much embraced his American-ness. He didn’t do this the same way that Ives did, with musical quotations of hymns and native songs and a complete rethinking of the Musical Way as handed down from Europe. Rather, Chadwick’s approach was more general, though pervasive to his output. Steven Ledbetter describes it thusly: “energy and high spirits, love of a good tune, a sense of humor, and a jaunty Yankee feeling of (in the words of Olin Downes) ‘snapping his fingers at the universe’.”
One hears these characteristics with abundant clarity in Chadwick’s Symphonic Sketches, a set of four movements written between 1895 and 1904. Each one depicts a specific scene as prefaced in the score by a poem.
The self-explanatory “Jubilee,” the Sketches’ first movement, smells pretty strongly of Dvorak’s influence. It shares an exuberant mood and key signature with the Carnival Overture. And Dvorak’s favorite rhythmic games and instrumental textures make appearances here and there.
The text is written by & reprinted from the ArtsFuse.org where more information about the composition can be found.
Notable Performances/Recordings:
Detroit Symphony Orchestra (2022)
National Symphony Orchestra (1999)
Czech State Philharmonic (1996)
Detroit Symphony Orchestra (2022)
National Symphony Orchestra (1999)
Czech State Philharmonic (1996)