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Chopin & Schubert

May 14, 2011  I  7:00 PM
First United Methodist Church, Cocoa Beach

May 15, 2011  I  3:00 PM
Waxlax Center of the Performing Arts, Vero Beach

Rochelle Sallee, piano
Space Coast Chamber Orchestra

Frédéric Chopin I Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11
Franz Schubert I Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D. 417 'Tragic'

Pianist Rochelle Sallee joins Aaron Collins and the Space Coast Chamber Orchestra in performance of Frederic Chopin’s dazzling Piano Concerto No. 1.  The composer’s secret love for Konstancia, a fellow student at the conservatory, inspired this rhapsodic, soaring work. Chopin suggests we think of “a beloved landscape that calls up in one’s soul beautiful memories—for instance, of a fine moonlit spring night” as we listen.  The second half of the concert features Franz Schubert's hauntingly beautiful and intense Symphony No. 4 'Tragic', the young composer's first minor-key work, written in 1816. The Symphony No. 4 is a work full of great warmth, passion, and drama.  You’ll be humming the marvelous tunes of this program for days.

Frédéric Chopin
Born (Probably) March 1, 1810 Zelazowa Wola, Poland
Died October 17, 1849 Paris, France

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11

Chopin wrote this concerto in 1830 at age 20.  He was the soloist at its premier in Warsaw on October 11, 1830 not long before he permanently left Poland.  While this concerto is known as his first, it was actually composed after his other piano concerto which is known as his second.  That confusion was the result of them being published not in order of composition.

Frédéric François Chopin was a child prodigy who made his public debut as a pianist at the age of eight.  Even at this tender age he had already composed a number of pieces.  His father was a Frenchman who moved to Warsaw to teach French.  His mother was was Polish.  He received early piano training from Adalbert Zywny, a Bohemian pianist residing then in Warsaw.  More importantly, he received a thorough education in music theory and form from Joseph Elsner, Director of the Warsaw School of Music.  In 1830/31 he wintered in Vienna.  At that time, the Polish rebellion against Russian domination ended in defeat.  For that reason he went from Vienna to Paris where he remained, never again returning to Poland during his lifetime.  In Paris he became friends with Rossini, Cherubini, Bellini, Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Liszt and many other great musicians.  Furthermore, Paris was at that time a center of Polish emigration and he enjoyed the contact with others from his homeland.  In 1836 he met and began a long relationship with Aurore Dupin, a woman novelist better known as George Sand.  They separated in 1847 by which time he had developed tuberculosis.  As ill as he was, he continued performing in concerts in France, England and Scotland.  He gave his final performance on November 16, 1848 in London for a benefit supporting Polish immigrants.  He died the following year.  At his funeral Mozart’s Requiem was performed.  He was buried between Cherubini and Bellini.  However, in accordance with his instructions, his heart was sent to and entombed in Warsaw, his homeland.  Most of Chopin’s works were for solo piano, the major exceptions being the two piano concertos.  His piano works were of a large variety including ballads, nocturnes, polonaises, preludes, waltzes, impromptus and etudes.

Franz Schubert
Born January 31, 1797 Vienna
Died November 19, 1828 Vienna

Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D. 417

Schubert named this symphony “Tragic” (“Tragische” in German) to reflect the feelings invoked by the music.  It is the only symphony he wrote in a minor key.  He wrote this work in 1816 at the age of nineteen but it was not performed until 1849, long after his death.

Franz Peter Schubert was the youngest of four surviving children (eight others died in infancy) of a Viennese schoolmaster.  From his father, Schubert learned to play the violin and piano.  His musical talent was recognized early.  He studied with Salieri (whose nemesis was Mozart, according to the movie Amadeus), a fact of which he was very proud.  Likewise, Salieri said that his student knew “all that there was to know about music.”  During his lifetime Schubert was never recognized outside of Vienna.  Before his death at the age of 31, only one of his nine (the tenth was started but not completed) symphonies, none of his fifteen operas and singspiels, only one of his nineteen quartets, only one of his seven masses, and only 187 of over 600 songs were published.  Credit must be given to George Grove, the English critic and musicologist, for discovering Schubert and introducing him to the world.  In 1856, Grove heard a performance of Schubert’s C Major Symphony, believing it to be the only symphony Schubert wrote.  In 1865 Grove, with Arthur Sullivan, visited Vienna and learned much about the rest of Schubert’s music.  In 1879 Grove published the first edition of his now famous and widely used “Dictionary of Music”.  In it was a splendid article on Schubert which was the first widely available information that allowed the world to truly begin to appreciate him.  Because so few of Schubert’s works were published before his death, most of them did not have opus numbers assigned.  In the middle of the twentieth century, Otto Erich Deutsch published a catalog of Schubert’s works in which he assigned each composition a number based on its position in the chronological sequence of composition.  Hence the use of D. numbers to identify his works.  Today, Schubert is recognized as a true musical genius who was probably the greatest songwriter of all time.  Given that fact, it is odd that his operas have not had much success.  Some believe that his operas still await full appreciation.  The cause of Schubert’s death is not known but typhus and syphilis are the best guesses.  Schubert, in his short 31 years of life, left us an immense legacy of music.  Included in that legacy are 10 symphonies, 20 chamber works, a tremendous number of works for solo piano, over 30 works for piano duet, about 3 dozen liturgical and sacred works, an oratorio, 19 works for stage including 8 operas, and around 600 songs.

Program Notes by Enoch Moser

Pianist Rochelle Sallee currently resides in Orlando, FL, but spent the majority of her life on the west coast. She started playing at age 2, her formal training began at age 4, and she embarked on her musical career at 16.  In Los Angeles, CA, she worked in the film and record industry, recording with such luminaries as Elmer Bernstien and Marty Ballin.  During a long career as a performer, “Shelley” has worked as a soloist in Washington, California, Utah, and Colorado. After moving east, her most recent seasons have included guest positions with Florida orchestras (piano, organ and celesta) and chamber music with internationally acclaimed violinist Ayako Yonetani, and Johnny Pherigo, natural horn. Her 2011 season includes 4 hand piano concerts with two of her musical mentors, Parisian pianist Laurent Boukobza  and Puerto Rican pianist Marcos Flores. She will appear in multiple European venues this summer, ending her tour in Perugia, Italy, with the F minor Concerto by Chopin. An avid aviatress, she holds Commercial and Flight Instructor pilot certificates, and has over 3,000 logged skydives. She is the mother of a wonderful 16 year old, Charlotte.