BEDRICH SMETANA  (1824-1884)
The Moldau
Regarded as the “father of Czech music” Bedrich Smetana is the composer of the recognizable and loved symphonic poem cycle Ma Vlast (My Fatherland). Its composition was intended to identify with his people’s cultural revival of the history, legends and landscapes of Bohemia. Most popular of the cycle’s six tone poems is Vitava commonly referred to by its English title The Moldau. Since its composition—between 1874 and 1879—the piece has gained popular and universal reception.

The subject of The Moldau is the Bohemian river that flows north through Prague on its way to join the Elbe and eventually the North Sea. In Smetana’s own words:

“…a single current through woods and meadows, through landscapes where a farmer’s wedding is celebrated; the round dance of the mermaids in the  night’s moonshine; past nearby rocks where loom proud castles; until it widens and flows toward Prague”.

The work was likely first performed in 1875 in Prague. By this time Smetana had become completely deaf; however, this shortcoming seemed to trigger a period of continuous composition with his contributions to Czech music increasingly plauded and celebrated.
It’s interesting to note that when Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939, Czech orchestras played The Moldau to protest the invasion. In response, the Nazis banned all performances of the work hoping to break the Czech people’s national spirit. History has taught us that the attempt was in vain.

JAMES HARLEY (1959)
Kalamalka Colours
Concertante for Violin and Orchestra was composed in 2018-19 for Ontario Philharmonic on the initiative of Bernie Andrews, University of Ottawa. Inspired by a water theme for the program, this music looks back to the composer's childhood overlooking Kalamalka Lake in British Columbia. The lake is known for its ever-changing colours, hues of blues and greens. The music tries to evoke the feeling of exploring the lake, perhaps in a canoe, perhaps as a bird. The aim is to create a gentle portrayal, with colours of harmonies and orchestration. The solo violin adds a melodic focus to the music.

James Harley is a Canadian composer-musician teaching at the University of Guelph. He obtained his doctorate at McGill University in 1994, after spending six years (1982-88) composing and studying in Europe (London, Paris, Warsaw). His music has been awarded prizes in Canada, USA, UK, France, Austria, Poland, Japan, and has been performed and broadcast around the world. As a researcher, Harley has written extensively on contemporary music. His books include: Xenakis: His Life in Music (Routledge, 2004), and Iannis Xenakis: Kraanerg (Ashgate, 2015). He has contributed to numerous other publications. As a performer, Harley has a background in jazz, and has most recently worked as an interactive computer musician.

SALVATORE CARDILLO (1875-1940)
Core ‘ngrato
The prolific songwriter and movie soundtrack composer, Salvatore Cardillo, graduated from the University of Italy before emigrating to the United States in 1903. His song, Core ‘ngrato (Ungrateful Heart), was written in 1911 and quickly became his most famous and popular work. It was first performed by Enrico Caruso followed by several other outstanding tenors including Mario Lanza and Luciano Pavarotti. Extracts from the song have been sourced in many contexts including the Bruce Lee 1972 film The Way of the Dragon.
The Song’s lyrics come from a poem by Neapolitan Riccardo Cordifierro. In the poem, Catar’s lover chastises a girl for denying his affection for her. Having given her his heart his soul is now in agony. Eventually, he confesses his feeling to a priest who advises him to let the girl go.

J.S. BACH (1685-1750); CHARLES GOUNOD(1818-1893)
Ave Maria (Meditation)
This ever-popular fixture at weddings and special commemorative occasions has a long and inspired history. The melody, written in 1722, is actually the Prelude No. 1 in C major taken from J. S. Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier. 137 years later, the French Romantic composer Charles Gounod genially wrote an inspiring melody over the original Bach’s Prelude, publishing it as Meditation on the First Prelude for Piano by J. S. Bach. Its common setting is a Latin prayer simply referred to as Ave Maria.
‍Beside Schubert’s Ave Maria it has enjoyed an uncountable number of arrangements for every conceivable instrument including for voice and orchestra. Such notables as Pavarotti, Renee Fleming, Enrico Caruso, and Franco Corelli have all made Gounod’s arrangement an audience favourite.
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ANDREW LLOYD-WEBBER (b. 1948)
The Music of the Night
is a song from Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s 1986 memorable Broadway hit The Phantom of the Opera. Christine, lured into the Phantom’s lair beneath the opera house, is seduced into a trance by his “night music”. Urging her to abandon the world above, he sings of his love for herInitially made famous by Michael Crawford, the actor who originated the role of the Phantom both in the West End and on Broadway, The Music of the Night has appeared on many cast recordings of the musical, sold millions of copies worldwide, and has been translated into many languages.
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OTTORINO RESPIGHI  (1879-1936)
Fountains of Rome
Picture a pastoral landscape: sheep and cattle grazing, passing slowly, finally fading into the distant haze of a morning’s misty dawn. Now, listen to the scene set to music to discover the first of four tone poems—the Fountain of Valle Giulia—by Italian composer and violinist Ottorino Respighi. Each ‘poem’ in The Fountains of Rome depicts a setting at one of Rome’s famous fountains including the first of these, describing the peaceful landscape mentioned above.

The second poem, the Triton Fountain, is introduced by a loud blast of horns, commanding water nymphs and tritons to mingle and dance between frenzied torrents of fountain water.

A solemn theme passing through the orchestra from section to section announces the Fountain of Trevi. Across the surface of the fountain’s radiant water comes Neptune’s triumphal chariot with charging seahorses.

The fourth poem, the Fountain of the Villa Medici, is prefaced by a melancholic theme. It is sunset’s hour—tolling bells, the last twitter of birds, the scutter of leaves across cobblestones—all fading into the silence of night.
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CLAUDE DEBUSSY  (1862-1918)
La Mer
Pierre Boulez, the French composer and founder of several musical institutions, wrote that among Claude Debussy’s symphonic works La Mer “best fulfills the conditions of the genre in the most usual sense of the term”. It is music that displays Debussy’s love of the sea; yet, his only familiarities with the sea were just three voyages, including one very tumultuous journey across the English Channel into England. The experience prompted the French composer’s comment in a letter to his publisher: “You do not know that I was intended for the fine life of a sailor…the sea has been very good to me.” –perhaps an odd observation coming from someone with seemingly limited sea-going experience.

Debussy began work on La Mer in 1903, the last of his large orchestral compositions. It is in three sections; From Dawn to Noon on the Sea; The Play of the Waves; and a final reflection, Dialogue of the Wind and Sea. The wonderful beginning theme of the work is carried out by the cellos, a pattern of waves, rolling, retreating and rolling again, a back and forth movement echoed in the horns and timpani. Even a brief glimpse at the music’s manuscript pages reveal rows notes that resemble the ebb and flow of sea waves.

Its 1905 premiere was met with substantial derision; the musicians complained that the score was too difficult and some audience members were heard hissing. However, two weeks later La Mer was performed before a London audience to resounding success. Since then its spellbinding musical nuances have triumphed.