introduction—with forceful chords in full orchestra—leads to a beautiful

and fully realized song for solo cello against plucked strings, one of Suppé’s most inspired flights of melody. The song ended, the dramatic opening is recalled to serve as a transition to two buoyant and graceful Viennese tunes in the strings, the second repeated vigorously and amplified by full orchestra. The overture ends in a robust rather than lyrical vein. The _Pique Dame_ (_Queen of Spades_) Overture begins with a murmuring passage for strings that grows in volume and changes character before an expressive melody unfolds in lower strings against an accompanying figure borrowed from the opening passage. A vigorous interlude of strong chords and a vigorous pronouncement by the brass lead into the most famous theme of the composition, a vivacious and jaunty melody for strings and woodwind. This subject is developed at some length before a melodic episode is offered by the lower strings as a preface to a soft, idyllic interlude for the woodwind. The conclusion of the overture is in a vigorous manner with an energetic restatement of earlier thematic material. Of all the Suppé overtures, whether for the stage or the concert hall, the most famous undoubtedly is the _Poet and Peasant_ (_Dichter und Bauer_). After a stately introduction there arrives a gentle song for the strings. This is succeeded by a more robust theme. The main melody of the overture is a pulsating melody in ⅜ time. Indicative of the enormous popularity of this overture in all parts of the world is that it has been adapted for almost sixty different combinations of instruments. Johan Svendsen Johan Svendsen was born in Oslo, Norway, on September 30, 1840. The son of a bandmaster, he dabbled in music for many years before receiving formal instruction. When he was twenty-three he embarked for the first time on a comprehensive musical education by attending the Leipzig Conservatory where he was a pupil of Ferdinand David, Reinecke, and others. After that he toured Europe as a concert violinist and lived for a while in Paris where he played in theater orchestras. In 1870 he visited the United States where he married an American woman whom he had originally met in Paris. Following his return to his native land he was the conductor of the Christiana Musical Association from 1872 to 1877 and again from 1880 to 1883. In 1883 he settled in Copenhagen where for sixteen years he was court conductor, and part of that time conductor at the Royal Theater as well. As a composer Svendsen distinguished himself with major works for orchestra in a pronounced Norwegian style, the most famous being four Norwegian Rhapsodies and the _Carnaval des artistes norvégiens_, in all of which Norwegian folk melodies are used extensively. He also produced many works not of a national identity, among which were symphonies, concertos, chamber-music works, and the highly popular _Carnival in Paris_, for orchestra. Svendsen died in Copenhagen on June 14, 1911. _The Carnival in Paris_ (_Carnaval à Paris_), for orchestra, op. 9 (1873) is one of Svendsen’s best-known works, even though it is not in his characteristic Norwegian style. His early manhood in Paris had been one of the composer’s happiest experiences in life, and some of that joy and feeling of excitement is found in this music describing a Mardi Gras in Paris. The full orchestra enters after a swelling trumpet tone over drum rolls. There is then heard an exchange among the wind instruments and a quickening of the tempo to lead into the first main theme, a delicate subject for flutes and clarinets. This theme is twice repeated after which the music becomes stormy. Divided violins then bring on the second theme, which like the first is quiet and gentle. In the development, in which much is made of the first subject, there are effective frequent alternations of tempo. A rhapsodic section, with a subject for divided strings, followed by extended drum rolls and calls for muted horns, precede the concluding section. Deems Taylor Joseph Deems Taylor was born in New York City on December 22, 1885. He received his academic education in New York, at the Friends School, Ethical Culture School, and New York University. All the while he studied music with private teachers. Following his graduation from college, Taylor appeared in vaudeville, worked for several magazines, and from 1921 to 1925 was the music critic of the New York _World_. He first distinguished himself as a composer in 1919 with the orchestral suite, _Through the Looking Glass_. In 1925 he resigned from the _World_ to concentrate on composition. In the next half dozen years he completed two operas, each successfully performed at the Metropolitan Opera: _The King’s Henchman_ (with libretto by Edna St. Vincent Millay) in 1927, and _Peter Ibbetson_ in 1931. Since 1927, Taylor has followed several careers besides that of one of America’s most important serious composers. He was editor of _Musical America_, music critic for the _New York American_, master of ceremonies on radio and television, program annotator, intermission commentator for broadcasts of opera and orchestral music, and author of several best-selling books on music. A highly sophisticated composer with a consummate technical skill, Taylor’s works are not for popular consumption. But he did write one composition in a popular style, _Circus Day_; and a second of his works, _Through the Looking Glass_, while intended for symphonic concerts, has enough wit and charm to fall gracefully into the semi-classical category. _Circus Day_ is a fantasy for orchestra, op. 18 (1925) written on commission from Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra. When Whiteman and his orchestra introduced it that year, the work was orchestrated by Ferde Grofé, but since then Taylor has prepared his own symphonic adaptation. Subtitled “eight pictures from memory” this fantasy strives “to convey one’s early impressions of a day at the circus.” The composer has provided his own program notes for the eight movements. The first, entitled “Street Parade,” describes the circus parade as it “passes on down the street.” “The playing of the band grows fainter and dies away in the distance.” “The Big Tops” tells in musical terms about “peanuts, popcorn, pink lemonade, bawling side-show barkers.” This is followed by “Bareback Riders.” “As the ringmaster cracks his whip, the riders perform the miraculous feats ... that make horseback riders the objects of such awe and admiration.” The fourth movement is in three parts. The first is devoted to “The Lion’s Cage.” “The roar of the lions is blood curdling, but they go through their tricks with no damage to any of us.” The second speaks about “The Dog and the Monkey Circus.” “Into the ring dash a whole kennel full of small dogs guised as race horses, ridden by monkeys dressed as jockeys.” In the third, we get a picture of “The Waltzing Elephants.” “The great beasts solemnly waltz to a tune that is a pachydermous version of the theme of the bareback riders.” In the fifth movement, “Tight-Rope Walker,” the performer “balances his parasol; he pirouettes and slips and slides as he makes his perilous way along the taut wire.” “The Jugglers,” in the sixth movement, “juggle little balls and big ones, knives, dishes, hats, lighted candles....” Even the orchestra is seized by the contagion and finally juggles its main theme, keeping three versions of it in the air. In “Clowns,” two of them “come out to play us a tune.... Finally, after a furious argument, the entire clown band manages to play the tune through, amid applause.” The finale, the composer goes on to explain, “might better be called ‘Looking Back.’ For the circus is over, and we are back at home, trying to tell a slightly inattentive family what we saw and heard. The helpful orchestra evokes recollections of jugglers, clowns, bareback riders, tight-rope walkers, trained animals.” _Through the Looking Glass_, a suite for orchestra (1919) is a musical setting of episodes from Lewis Carroll’s delightful tale of the same name. Taylor’s suite is in four movements, for which he has provided his own program. The first movement, “Dedication; The Garden of Live Flowers,” consists of “a simple song theme, briefly developed,” which leads immediately to the brisk music of “The Garden of Live Flowers.” In the second movement, “Jabberwocky,” the theme of the frightful beast, the Jabberwock, “is first announced by the full orchestra. The clarinet then begins the tale [with] the battle with the monsters recounted in a short and rather repellant fugue.” The third movement, “Looking Glass Insects” tells of “the vociferous _diptera_ that made such an impression on Alice—the Bee-elephant, the Gnat, the Rockinghorse fly, and the Bread-and-butter fly.” The last movement, “The White Knight” has two themes. “The first is a sort of instrumental prance, being the knight’s own conception of himself as a slashing daredevil. The second is bland, mellifluous, a little sentimental—much more like the knight as he really was.” Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russia, on May 7, 1840. Serious music study began comparatively late, since he prepared for a career in law and then for three years served as clerk in the Ministry of Justice. He had, however, revealed unusual sensitivity for music from earliest childhood, and had received some training on the piano from the time he was five. Intensive music study, however, did not begin until 1861 when he became a pupil of Nicholas Zaremba, and it was completed at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. His professional career began in 1865, the year in which he was appointed professor of harmony at the newly founded Moscow Conservatory. This was also the year when one of his compositions was performed for the first time: _Characteristic Dances_, for orchestra, introduced by Johann Strauss II in Pavlovsk, Russia. Tchaikovsky’s first symphony was introduced in Moscow in 1868; his first opera, _The Voivoda_, in Moscow in 1869; and his first masterwork—the orchestral fantasy _Romeo and Juliet_—in Moscow in 1870. During the next half dozen years he reached maturity as composer with the completion of his second and third symphonies, first two string quartets, famous Piano Concerto No. 1, and the orchestral fantasy, _Francesca da Rimini_. In 1877, Tchaikovsky embarked precipitously on a disastrous marriage with Antonina Miliukova. He did not love her, but was flattered by her adoration of his music. In all probability he regarded this marriage as a convenient cloak with which to conceal his sexual aberration which was already causing some talk in Moscow and of which he was heartily ashamed. In any event, this marriage proved a nightmare from the beginning. Always hypersensitive, he now became a victim of mental torment which led him to try suicide. Failing that, he fled from his wife to find refuge in his brother’s house where he collapsed physically. For a year after that he traveled about aimlessly in Europe. This strange relationship with his wife was followed by another one, even more curious and unorthodox, with the woman whom he admired and loved above all others. She was the wealthy patroness and widow, Nadezhda von Meck, with whom he maintained a friendship lasting thirteen years. But during all that time he never once met her personally, their friendship being developed through an exchange of often tender at times even passionate letters. She had written him to speak of her admiration for his music and he had replied in gratitude. Before long, she endowed him with a generous annual subsidy to allow him full freedom to write music. From then on, they wrote each other frequently, with Tchaikovsky often baring his heart and soul. The reason why they never met was that Mme. von Meck had firmly established that condition for the continuation of their friendship and her financial generosity. Why this strange request was made, and why she adhered to it so tenaciously, has never been adequately explained. She may have been influenced by their different stations in life, or by her excessive devotion to her children, or even by a knowledge of the composer’s sexual deviation. Now financially independent—and strengthened by the kindness, affection and sympathy of his patroness—Tchaikovsky entered upon one of his richest creative periods by producing one masterwork after another: the fourth and fifth symphonies, the opera, _Eugene Onegin_; the violin concerto; the _Capriccio italien_, for orchestra; a library of wonderful songs. Inevitably he now assumed a rank of first importance in Russian music. In 1884 he was honored by the Czar with the Order of St. Vladimir, and in 1888 a life pension was conferred upon him by the Russian government. In 1890, while traveling in the Caucasus, Tchaikovsky heard from Mme. von Meck that she had recently suffered financial reverses and was compelled to terminate her subsidy. The composer replied that he was no longer in need of her financial help but that he hoped their friendship might continue. To this, and to all subsequent letters by Tchaikovsky, Mme. von Meck remained silent. Upon returning to Moscow, Tchaikovsky discovered that his patroness was in no financial difficulties whatsoever, but had used this as an excuse to terminate a relationship of which she had grown weary. The loss of his dearest friend, and the specious reason given for the termination of their relationship, was an overwhelming blow, one largely responsible for the fits of melancholia into which Tchaikovsky lapsed so frequently from this time on. In 1891, Tchaikovsky paid his only visit to the United States where he helped open Carnegie Hall in New York by directing a performance of his own _Overture 1812_. After returning to Russia, he became so morbid, and succumbed so helplessly to fits of despair, that at times he thought he was losing his mind. In such a mood he wrote his last symphony, the _Pathétique_, one of the most tragic utterances in all music; there is good reason to believe that when Tchaikovsky wrote this music he was creating his own requiem. He died in St. Petersburg on November 6, 1893, a victim of cholera contracted when he drank a glass of boiled water during an epidemic. The qualities in his major serious works that made Tchaikovsky one of the best loved and most frequently performed composers in the world are also the traits that bring his lesser works into the permanent semi-classical repertory: an endless fund of beautiful melody; an affecting sentiment that at times lapses into sentimentality; a lack of inhibitions in voicing his deepest emotions and most personal thoughts. The _Andante Cantabile_ is a gentle, melancholy song in three-part form which comes from one of the composer’s string quartets, in D major, op. 11 (1871). This is the second movement of the quartet, and the reason why this work as a whole is still occasionally performed. This famous melody, however, is not original with the composer, but a quotation of a Russian folk song, “Vanya Sat on the Divan,” which the composer heard a baker sing in Kamenka, Russia. Tchaikovsky himself adapted this music for orchestra. In 1941, this melody was adapted into the American popular song, “On the Isle of May.” _Chanson Triste_ is another of the composer’s soft, gentle melodies that is filled with sentiment. This is the second of twelve children’s pieces for the piano “of moderate difficulty,” op. 40 (1876-1877). _Humoresque_, op. 10, no. 2 (1871)—a “humoresque” being an instrumental composition in a whimsical vein—finds Tchaikovsky in a less familiar attitude, that of grotesquerie. This sprightly little tune is almost as celebrated as the very popular _Humoresque_ of Dvořák; and like that of Dvořák, it originated as a composition for the piano, a companion to a _Nocturne_ which it follows. Fritz Kreisler made a fine transcription for violin and piano, while Stokowski was one of several to adapt it for orchestra. The _Marche Slav_, for orchestra, op. 31 (1876) was intended for a benefit concert in St. Petersburg for Serbian soldiers wounded in the war with Turkey. At that performance, the work aroused a “whole storm of patriotic enthusiasm,” as the composer himself reported. The work opens with a broad Slavic march melody which Tchaikovsky borrowed from a Serbian folk song. The middle trio section is made up of two other folk tunes. The composition ends with a triumphant restatement of the opening march melody, now speaking for the victory of the Serbs over the Turks. The _Melodie_, in E-flat major, op. 42, no. 3 (1878) is a simple and haunting little song that originated as a piece for violin and piano. It appears in a set of three such pieces entitled _Souvenir d’un lieu cher_, of which it is the closing number. This melody was used in 1941 for the American popular song, “The Things I Love.” _The Months_, op. 37b (1876) is a suite for piano out of which come several compositions exceedingly popular in transcriptions. Each movement of this suite is devoted to a month of the year. The sixth movement is _June_, a little barcarolle, or Venetian boat song. The tenth, for October, is _Autumn Song_, a gentle melody lightly touched by sadness. The eleventh, for November, is by contrast a lively piece entitled _Troika en Traneaux_, or _The Troika_. “None But the Lonely Heart” is one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous songs, a melancholy setting of Goethe’s poem. This is the last of a set of six songs, op. 16 (1872) which is extensively performed in transcriptions of all sorts. The _Nutcracker Suite_, or _Casse-Noisette_, op. 71a (1892) is a suite for orchestra adapted from a ballet score. The ballet (introduced in St. Petersburg in 1892) tells about a nutcracker, received as a Christmas gift by a little girl, which in her dreams becomes a handsome prince. He leads toys into battle against mice, and conducts the little girl to Jam Mountain, Arabia, where she is delighted with all kinds of games and dances. Those accustomed to associate the name of Tchaikovsky with lugubrious music will find this suite a revelation, for it is filled with the most enchanting moods, and is consistently light of heart and spirit. The highly popular suite for orchestra is made up of eight little movements. “Miniature Overture” is built from two lively tunes. The main subject of the “March” is a pert melody for clarinet, horn, and two trumpets; the trio section consists of a vivacious staccato melody for the woodwind and strings. “The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy” is a sensitive melody for the celesta, the “Trepak” is a vigorous, rhythmic Russian dance, the “Arabian Dance” is an exotic melody for the clarinet, and the “Chinese Dance” an Oriental subject for flute and piccolo. The two last movements are the “Dance of the Flutes” in which a sensitive melody for flutes is contrasted by a more robust section for trumpets, and the “Waltz of the Flowers,” where the waltz tune in horns and then in clarinets is followed by two more important ideas, the first in the strings, and the second in flutes and oboe. The _Overture 1812_ is a concert overture for orchestra, op. 49 (1880) commissioned for the consecration of a temple built as a memorial to Napoleon’s defeat in Russia in 1812. This overture was intended by the composer to describe the historic events of Napoleon’s invasion of and flight from Russia. An introductory section quotes the well-known Russian hymn, “God Preserve Thy People.” In the main body of the overture, the Battle of Borodino is dramatically depicted, the two opposing armies represented by quotations from the _Marseillaise_ and the Russian national anthem. A climax is reached with a triumphant restatement of the Russian national anthem. The _Polonaise_ is one of two celebrated dance episodes in the opera _Eugene Onegin_. (The other is the Waltz discussed below.) This three-act opera is based on a poem by Pushkin, adapted by Konstantin Shilovsky and the composer himself, and was introduced in Moscow on March 29, 1879. The setting is St. Petersburg in or about 1815, and its central theme concerns the frustrated love affair of Eugene Onegin and Tatiana. The brilliant music of the Polonaise is heard in the first scene of Act 3. In the palace of Prince Gremin there takes place a reception during which the guests dance to the vital strains of this courtly Polish dance, its vigor derived from sharp syncopations and accents on the half beat. _Romance_, in F minor, op. 5 (1868) is a composition for piano written by the composer when he believed himself in love with the singer, Désirée Artôt, to whom the piece is dedicated. This music gives voice to a romantic ardor. The _Sérénade mélancolique_ in B-flat minor, op. 26 (1875) is a work for violin and orchestra. As the title indicates it is a sentimental rather than romantic effusion. Here a brief subject leads to a soaring three-part song for the violin. _Serenade for Strings_, in C major, op. 48 (1880) is particularly famous for its second and third movements. The second is a Waltz, perhaps the most popular of this composer’s many well loved waltzes. This is a graceful, even elegant, dance movement, the waltz of the Parisian salon rather than the more vital and earthy dance of Vienna. Such a light-hearted mood is instantly dispelled by the gloom of the third movement, an eloquent _Elegy_, in which the sorrow is all the more poignant because it is so subdued and restrained. Solitude, op. 73, no. 6 (1893)—sometimes known as Again as Before—is a song set to a poem by D. M. Rathaus. This is the last of a set of six songs. Stokowski made an effective arrangement for orchestra. _Song Without Words_ (_Chanson sans paroles_), in F major is the third of a set of three pieces for the piano collectively entitled _Souvenir de Hapsal_, op. 2 (1867). This tender melody is far more familiar in transcriptions than it is in its original version. Tchaikovsky wrote three Suites for orchestra. From two of these come movements which must be counted with the composer’s most popular works. The Suite No. 1 in D minor, op. 43 (1880) is famous for its fourth movement, a _Marche Miniature_. The inclusion of this section into the suite was something of an afterthought with the composer, since it was interpolated into the work only after it had been published, placed as a fourth movement between an intermezzo and a scherzo. This march is in the grotesque, fantastic style of the piano _Humoresque_. The main subject is heard in the piccolo against plucked-string accompaniment. A transitory episode in strings and bells leads to a development of this melody. The third movement from this same suite, _Intermezzo_, has two main melodies: the first appears in first violins, violas, bassoons and flute; the second, in cellos and bassoon. The coda is based on the first theme. The suite No. 3 in G major, op. 55 (1884) is a four-movement work of which the second is particularly celebrated. This is a _Valse mélancolique_ for full orchestra, highly expressive and emotional music in the composer’s identifiable sentimental style. There are several other waltzes by Tchaikovsky familiar to all lovers of light music. The _Valse sentimentale_, op. 51, no. 6 comes from a set of six pieces for the piano (1882) where it is the final number. The opera _Eugene Onegin_ (commented upon above for its Polonaise) is also the source of a remarkable waltz episode. This music, the essence of aristocratic style and elegance, appears in the first scene of the second act. Tatiana’s birthday is celebrated with a festive party during which the guests dance to its infectious strains. Two other famous Tchaikovsky waltzes come from his famous ballets—_Sleeping Beauty_ and _Swan Lake_. In the orchestral suite derived from the score of _Sleeping Beauty_, the waltz appears as the fourth and concluding movement and consists of a lilting melody for strings which is carried to an overpowering climax. The _Swan Lake_ consists of thirty-three numbers, various combinations of its most popular sections serving as orchestral suites for concert performance. The suave waltz music serves in the ballet for a dance of the swans at the lakeside in the second act. Ambroise Thomas Ambroise Thomas was born in Metz, France, on August 5, 1811. Between 1828 and 1832 he attended the Paris Conservatory where he won numerous prizes including the Prix de Rome. After his three-year stay in Rome, where he wrote some orchestral and chamber music, he returned to Paris in 1836 and devoted himself to writing operas. The first was _La double échelle_, produced at the Opéra-Comique in 1837. His first success was realized in 1843 with _Mina_, and in 1866 the opera by which he is remembered, _Mignon_, was triumphantly introduced at the Opéra-Comique. Later operas included _Hamlet_ (1868) and _Françoise de Rimini_ (1882). In 1851, Thomas was elected member of the French Academy. In 1871 he was appointed director of the Paris Conservatory, and in 1894 he was the recipient of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. He died in Paris on February 12, 1896. _Mignon_ represents the French lyric theater at its best, with its graceful melodies, charming moods, and courtly grace of style. Its world première took place at the Opéra-Comique on November 17, 1866. In less than a century it was given over two thousand performances by that company besides becoming a staple in the repertory of opera houses the world over. The opera is based on Goethe’s novel, _Wilhelm Meister_, adapted by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier. Mignon is a gypsy girl purchased by Wilhelm Meister. She falls in love with him and is heartbroken to discover how he is attracted to the actress, Philine. She tells the demented Lothario of her sorrow and of her wish that Meister’s castle be burned to the ground. Lothario then proceeds to set Meister’s castle aflame. Mignon, caught therein, is saved by Meister and then gently nursed back to health. Meister now realizes he is in love with her and her alone. When the demented Lothario regains his sanity we learn that Mignon is in actuality his daughter and that the castle he has burned is not Meister’s but his own. Parts of this opera are better known than the whole, and through these parts _Mignon_ remains deservedly popular on semi-classical programs. The Overture makes extended use of two of the opera’s main melodies. The first is “_Connais-tu le pays_,” (“_Knowest Thou the Land?_”), Mignon’s poignant first-act aria in which she recalls her childhood in some distant land; the melody is given in the wind instruments after a brief