ORCHESTRE SYMPHONIQUE DE MONTRAL

S A I N T - S A N S | M U S S O R G S K Y | D U K A S | D VO
ORK | BALAKIREV | IVES
 PA U L D U K A S 1 8 6 5 1 9 3 5
1 T h e S o r c e r e r s A p p r e n t i c e | L a p p r e n t i s o r c i e r 10.42

A N T O N N D V O R K 1 8 4 1 1 9 0 4
2 T h e N o o n d a y W i t c h o p . 1 0 8 | La so rci re d e m i d i 14 . 5 5

M O D E S T M U SS O R G S K Y 1 8391 881
3 A N i g h t o n t h e B a r e M o u n t a i n | U n e n u i t s u r l e m o n t C h a u v e 11 . 5 1
o rc h e s t ra t e d b y N i ko l a i R i m s k y- Ko r s a kov

M I LY B A L A K I R E V 1 8 3 7 1 9 1 0
4 Ta m a r a 22.05

C A M I L L E S A I N T- S A N S 1 8 3 5 1 9 2 1
5 Da nse maca bre op. 40 7. 2 3
S o l o i s t : A N D R E W WA N v i o l i n

C H A R L E S I V E S 1 8 74 1 9 5 4
6 H a l l owe e n . A l l e g ro v i va ce 2.31
f r o m Three Outdoor Scenes

A N D R E W WA N | A L E X A N D E R R E A D vi o l i n
N E A L G R I P P vi o l a | B R I A N M A N K E R ce l l o
H U G U E S T R E M B L AY p e rcu ss i o n | O LGA G R OSS p i a n o

O R C H E S T R E SY M PH O N I Q U E D E M O N T R A L
KE NT NAGAN O
Ke n t N a g a n o

2

hen Queen Victoria hosted
her infamous Windsor Castle
sances, she was the unwit-
ting participant in a sweeping 19th cen-
tury vogue for all things supernatural.
With the continuing rise of secular
European society and a philosophical
move away from the Enlightenment,
Occultism gained a foothold in the
popular consciousness, less encum-
bered by the shroud of Christian taboo
that had previously held sway. This ten-
dency was apparent in the popularity
of the Victorian gothic horror novel and
the philosophical works of the French
Occultist revival, as well as in the
spread of eccentric neo-Gothic architec-
ture across Europe and North America.
Composers seized the opportunity to
evoke elements of the macabre and
supernatural through the expressive
and narrative possibilities afforded by
the newly developing genre of the sym-
phonic tone poem.
Modest Mussorgsky (18391881) had
long been possessed by the notion of
a work based on the Russian legend of
a witches Sabbath on St. Johns Eve.
Completing a tone poem on the sub-
ject in 1867, the ecstatic Mussorgsky
wrote to his friend Vladimir Nikolsky,
I did not sleep at night and I finished
the work dead on the eve of St. Johns
Day, something so seething in me that I
simply didnt know what was happening
to me. A Night on the Bare Mountain,
heard here in Rimsky-Korsakovs 1886
re-orchestration, opens to swirling
strings and the repetitive rhythm of the
maniacal chatter of the witches. Mus-
sorgskys program culminates when
the witches praises had brought Satan
to a sufficient frenzy, he would order
the Sabbath to begin, during which he
would pick out the witches who caught
his fancy to satisfy his wants. The toll
of a matins bell hails a lyrical section in
complete contrast to the beginning, as a
peaceful flute solo brings the work to its
close, regularly punctuated by the bell,
as if to mark the passage of time.
The figure of a maleficent spirit
returned from the dead dwells at the
centre of the Mikhail Lermontov poem
3
that inspired Mily Balakirevs (18371910)
tone poem Tamara, which is set in the
rocky landscape of the Caucasus. The
evil Queen Tamara lures travelling men
to her castle on the River Terek with her
irresistible beauty and angelic voice,
only to passionately seduce and murder
them, casting their bodies into the river
to be borne away by the current the next
morning. Balakirevs score begins with
the undulating motion of the river, but
ominous brass and low strings belie a
sense of calmness. Two principal melod-
ic themes represent Tamaras songs of
love, including a seductive passage for
solo oboe and snare drum, striking for
its whiff of exoticism. After building to
a ferocious climax, the music returns to
the undulating river, hinting at the cycli-
cal nature of Tamaras nefarious design.
Balakirev wrote Tamara over a 15-year
period, during which time his friends at
one point confiscated his sketches for
fear he would destroy them. It was finally
completed in 1882, and premiered the
following year in a performance led by
the composer.
Charles Ivess (18741954) Halloween,
possibly composed on April 1, 1907, is
as much trick as treat. Though the com-
poser himself admitted the piece was a
bit of a joke, complete with an oper-
atic send-up at the end, he was nonethe-
less quite proud of it from a technical
standpoint. In the increasingly frenetic
successive entrances of the strings,
each playing in its own key, Ives meant
to recall the sense and sound of a bon-
fire boys and children running around,
dancing, throwing on the wood. It was
first performed publicly in New York in
1934, in a version for chamber orches-
tra, piano, and bass drum.
What gruesome tragedies befall
a mother when her worst nightmare
comes true? Based on Karel Jaromr
Erbens poem Polednice, Antonn
Dvoks (18411904) The Noonday
Witch (written and premiered in 1896)
follows the story of a misbehaving child
and an overwrought mother who threat-
ens to summon a demon to silence him.
Her stern warning becomes horrifying
reality when the creature appears, and
the mother, in a fit of fear, smothers
her child to death. The music closely
follows the narrative, beginning with
a harmless sounding domestic scene
interrupted by the whining child, imp-
ishly portrayed by the oboe. The omi-
nous combination of bass clarinet and
bassoon announces the witchs arrival;
she performs a dance, and a frenetic
chase ensues. 12 strokes of the noon
bell and a disturbingly triumphant flour-
ish bring the piece to its close.
Another 12 strokes of the clock, this
time intoned by the harp, set the mid-
night scene in Camille Saint-Sanss
(18351921) fiendish Danse macabre.
The composer took his inspiration from
a poem by Henri Cazalis in which Death
calls forth lost souls to the tune of his
diabolic violin jig. Written in 1874 and
first performed the following year, this
work dates from an age when All Hal-
lows Eve still struck a tangible sense
of terror in the hearts of many. The infer-
nal orchestration, including the use of
xylophone to signify rattling bones and
a passage borrowed from the Dies irae
chant for the dead, only subsides when a
rooster announces the break of day.
Tales of incantations gone wrong
are sometimes more playful than
sinister. Paul Dukas (18651935)
The Sorcerers Apprentice is a vivid
and dramatic musical retelling of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethes poem
Der Zauberlehrling. The music closely
follows Goethes first-person narra-
tive, in which a hapless apprentice
manages to charm a broom into
magically carrying water, but soon
finds himself overwhelmed by the
efficacy of his own hex. The initial six-
note motive expands to encompass
an enchanted orchestral landscape
evoking the marching broom and the
apprentices swirling confusion as his
plan gets out of hand. The work was
written and premiered in 1897, but
only became widely known after 1940,
as part of the soundtrack to Disneys
animated film Fantasia. Fastidious
and self-critical to a fault, Dukas cen-
sored many of his other works, even
destroying several manuscripts during
the last weeks of his life. Therefore it
is despite the considerable quality of
his oeuvre, and not without his own
complicity, that Dukas lasting renown
rests almost exclusively on this singu-
lar composition.
Marc Wieser
4
Q
uand la reine Victoria, au
19e sicle, tient ses tristement
clbres sances de spiritisme
au chteau de Windsor, elle participe
sans le savoir un formidable engoue-
ment pour le surnaturel. Avec la monte
constante de la socit laque europenne
et une distanciation philosophique par
rapport aux Lumires, loccultisme gagne
du terrain dans la conscience populaire,
moins inhibe par la chape des interdits
que le christianisme faisait jusque-l
peser sur elle. Cette tendance est atteste
par la popularit du roman gothique de
lre victorienne et les travaux philoso-
phiques issus du renouveau de loccul-
tisme franais, ainsi que par la perce de
larchitecture nogothique excentrique en
Europe et en Amrique du Nord. Les com-
positeurs y voient une occasion dvoquer
des lments de nature macabre et sur-
naturelle dans leur musique, notamment
grce aux possibilits expressives et nar-
ratives quoffre le pome symphonique,
un genre en plein dveloppement.
En 1867, Modeste Moussorgski
(18391881) tait depuis longtemps pos-
sd par lide dune uvre sur la lgende
russe du sabbat des sorcires clbr la
veille de la Saint-Jean quand il acheva
un pome symphonique sur le sujet. Le
compositeur enthousiaste crivit alors
son ami Vladimir Nikolski : Comme je
ne parvenais pas dormir, jai termin
luvre tout juste pour la veille de la Saint-
Jean ; ctait quelque chose en moi de si
imptueux que je ne savais tout simple-
ment pas ce qui marrivait. Une nuit sur
le mont Chauve, prsente ici dans la ror-
chestration de Rimski-Korsakov (1886),
souvre sur un tourbillon de cordes et le
rythme rptitif du jacassement maniaque
des sorcires. Luvre de Moussorgski
culmine quand leurs incantations mnent
Satan une frnsie telle quil ordonne
louverture du sabbat : il y choisit les
sorcires qui lattirent afin de satisfaire
ses dsirs. Le tintement de la cloche des
matines introduit une section lyrique trs
contrastante avec le dbut, puis un pai-
sible solo de flte, rgulirement ponctu
par la cloche comme pour marquer le
passage du temps annonce la fin de
luvre.
 La figure de lesprit malfique sorti
des tnbres est au cur du pome de
Mikhal Lermontov, lequel a inspir le
pome symphonique Tamara de Mili
Balakirev (18371910). tablie dans
le paysage rocheux du Caucase, la
mchante reine Tamara entrane des
voyageurs par son irrsistible beaut et
sa voix anglique vers son chteau sur
la rivire Terek. Avec passion, elle les
sduit pour les tuer au matin et livrer
leur corps aux flots de la rivire. La
partition de Balakirev commence sur les
ondulations de leau, mais limpression
de calme qui en rsulte est dissipe par
des cuivres menaants et des cordes
graves. Deux thmes mlodiques princi-
paux constituent les chants damour de
Tamara, incluant un passage sduisant
jou au hautbois et la caisse claire,
frappant pour son parfum dexotisme.
Aprs avoir atteint des sommets de
tension dramatique, la musique revient
aux ondulations de leau, une allusion
la nature cyclique des plans criminels
de la reine. Balakirev a crit Tamara
sur une priode de 15 ans ; un certain
moment, ses amis lui confisquent ses
manuscrits de peur quil ne les dtruise,
mais luvre est finalement acheve
en 1882 et cre lanne suivante
dans une interprtation dirige par le
compositeur.
Compose probablement le 1er avril 1907, la
pice Halloween de Charles Ives (18741954)
fait ressortir tant le ct mauvais sort que
le ct surprise de la fte. Selon laveu du
compositeur, luvre est une plaisanterie
qui se conclut sur une parodie dopra, mais
il est trs fier de sa russite technique. Avec
des entres successives aux cordes, chacune
dans sa propre tonalit et dans une frnsie
croissante, Ives a voulu suggrer la chaleur
et le crpitement dun feu de joie garons
et filles dansent tout autour et lancent des
bches. Cest New York que la pice est
joue pour la premire fois en public, en
1934, dans une version pour orchestre de
chambre, piano et grosse caisse.
Quelle horrible tragdie pour une
mre de voir saccomplir son pire cauche-
mar! Base sur le pome Polednice de
Karel Jaromr Erben, La sorcire de midi
dAntonn Dvok (18411904), compose
et cre en 1896, raconte lhistoire dun
enfant pas trs sage et de sa mre bout
de nerfs qui, pour le faire taire, le menace
dappeler un esprit malveillant. Ce svre
avertissement devient une terrible ralit
quand la crature apparat. La mre, dans
un accs de peur, touffe son enfant. La
musique suit le rcit au plus prs, commen-
ant par lvocation dune scne domes-
tique dont le calme est interrompu par les
pleurnicheries du gamin, malicieusement
dpeintes par le hautbois. Ltrange combi-
naison de la clarinette basse et du basson
annonce larrive de la sorcire qui se livre
une danse, puis une poursuite frntique.
Sonnent ensuite les 12 coups de midi et une
fanfare triomphante, mais troublante, qui
tiennent lieu de conclusion.
Une autre squence de 12 coups dhor-
loge, marqus cette fois par la harpe,
campe la scne de minuit dans la satanique
Danse macabre de Camille Saint-Sans
(18351921). Le compositeur a puis
son inspiration dans un pome dHenri
Cazalis o la Mort appelle les mes ga-
res au son dune gigue diabolique joue
au violon. crite en 1874 et cre lanne
suivante, cette uvre remonte une
poque o lHalloween terrifiait encore
bien des gens. Un xylophone pour figurer
les os des squelettes qui sentrechoquent,
un passage emprunt au Dies irae de la
liturgie des dfunts, voil quelques traits
caractristiques de cette musique infernale
qui sapaise seulement lheure o le coq
annonce le point du jour.
Les histoires de rituels incantatoires qui
tournent mal sont parfois plus amusantes
queffrayantes. Lapprenti sorcier de Paul
5
Dukas (18651935) consiste en une rcri-
ture saisissante et thtrale du pome
ponyme (Der Zauberlehrling) de Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe. Le droulement de
la musique est calqu sur le rcit de Goethe,
crit la premire personne : un apprenti
sorcier russit ensorceler un balai pour
le rendre capable de remplir une bassine
deau, mais le malheureux est bientt
englouti par lefficacit de ce mauvais sort.
Le motif initial de six notes est dvelopp de
manire faonner un paysage orchestral
enchant, voquant la marche du balai et
laffolement de lapprenti tandis quil perd
le contrle de la situation. Luvre a t
compose et cre en 1897, mais elle fut lar-
gement diffuse aprs 1940 comme partie
intgrante de la bande sonore du film dani-
mation Fantasia de Disney. Homme mticu-
leux se livrant une autocritique excessive,
Dukas a censur beaucoup dautres uvres
de sa main, dtruisant mme plusieurs
manuscrits dans les dernires semaines
de sa vie. Cest donc selon sa volont et en
dpit de la qualit impressionnante de len-
semble de son uvre que cette composition
remarquable, presque elle seule, lui assure
une renomme durable.
Marc Wieser
Traduction : Hlne Panneton
pour Le Trait juste
Orchestre symphonique de Montral

6
ORCHESTRE SYMPHONIQUE DE MONTRAL BRIAN ROBINSON
associate / associ
PIERRE-VINCENT PLANTE
principal English horn
HORNS / CORS
JOHN ZIRBEL
TUBA
AUSTIN HOWLE
2015 2016 SEASON / SAISON 2015 2016 ERIC CHAPPELL cor anglais solo principal / solo principal / solo
assistant DENYS DEROME
JACQUES BEAUDOIN CL ARINETS / CL ARINET TES associate / associ TIMPANI / TIMBALES
KENT NAGANO directeur musical / music director SCOTT FELTHAM TODD COPE ANDREI MALASHENKO
CATHERINE TURNER
principal / solo
PETER ROSENFELD principal / solo 2nd horn / 2e cor
HUGUES TREMBLAY
DINA GILBERT assistant conductor / chef assistante EDOUARD WINGELL ALAIN DESGAGN JEAN GAUDREAULT associate / associ
ANDREW MEGILL OSM chorus master / chef de chur de lOSM associate / associ 4th horn / 4 e cor
FLUTES / FLTES
SIMON LECLERC associate conductor of the OSM Pop concert series / chef associ de la srie des concerts OSM Pop MICHAEL DUMOUCHEL PERCUSSIONS
TIMOTHY HUTCHINS TRUMPETS / TROMPET TES
2nd and E-flat clarinet SERGE DESGAGNS
principal / solo PAUL MERKELO principal / solo
OLIVIER L ATRY organist emeritus / organiste mrite 2e et clarinette en mi bmol
ALBERT BROUWER principal / solo HUGUES TREMBLAY
JEAN-WILLY KUNZ organist in residence / organiste en rsidence interim associate ANDR MOISAN
bass clarinet and saxophone RUSSELL DE VUYST
associ par intrim associate / associ HARP / HARPE
WILFRID PELLETIER (18961982) & ZUBIN MEHTA conductors emeriti / chefs mrites DENIS BLUTEAU clarinette basse et saxophone
JEAN-LUC GAGNON JENNIFER SWARTZ
PIERRE BIQUE (19102003) general manager emeritus / directeur gnral mrite 2nd flute / 2e flte
2nd trumpet / 2e trompette principal / solo
DANILE BOURGET BASSOONS / BASSONS
interim piccolo STPHANE LVESQUE CHRISTOPHER P. SMITH
PIANO & CLESTA
piccolo par intrim principal / solo OLGA GROSS
FIRST VIOLINS MYRIAM PELLERIN KATHERINE PALYGA CELLOS / VIOLONCELLES TROMBONES
PREMIERS VIOLONS JEAN-SBASTIEN ROY MONIQUE POITRAS BRIAN MANKER 2 MATHIEU HAREL
OBOES / HAUTBOIS JAMES BOX
RICHARD ROBERTS principal / solo associate / associ MUSIC LIBRARY
SUSAN PULLIAM GRATIEL ROBITAILLE THEODORE BASKIN principal / solo
concertmaster / violon solo MUSICOTHQUE
CLAIRE SEGAL SERGI DANIEL YAKYMYSHYN ANNA BURDEN principal / solo MARTIN MANGRUM VIVIAN LEE
ANDREW WAN1 associate / associ MICHEL LONARD
2nd bassoon / 2e basson 2nd trombone / 2e trombone
concertmaster / violon solo VINCENT BOILARD
SECOND VIOLINS VIOL AS / ALTOS PIERRE DJOKIC MICHAEL SUNDELL
associate / associ PIERRE BEAUDRY
OLIVIER THOUIN 2 SECONDS VIOLONS NEAL GRIPP 1st assistant / 1er assistant
ALEXA ZIRBEL contrabassoon / principal bass trombone
associate concertmaster GARY RUSSELL
ALEXANDER READ principal / solo 2nd oboe / 2e hautbois contrebasson trombone basse solo
violon solo associ 2nd assistant / 2e assistant
principal / solo JEAN FORTIN
MARIANNE DUGAL 2 KAREN BASKIN
MARIE-ANDR CHEVRETTE 2 1st assistant / 1er assistant
2nd associate concertmaster LI-KE CHANG
2e violon solo associ associate / associ VICTOR FOURNELLE-BLAIN 1
Andrew Wans 1744 Bergonzi violin is generously loaned by philanthropist David B. Sela.
BRIGITTE ROLLAND 2nd assistant / 2e assistant SYLVIE LAMBERT Le violon Bergonzi 1744 dAndrew Wan est gnreusement prt par le mcne David B. Sela.
RAMSEY HUSSER
2nd assistant / 2e assistant 1st assistant / 1er assistant CHANTALE BOIVIN GERALD MORIN 2
Marianne Dugals 1737 Domenico Montagnana violin and Sartory bow, Olivier Thouins 1754 Michele Deconet violin,
MARC BLIVEAU ANN CHOW ROSEMARY BOX SYLVAIN MURRAY Marie-Andr Chevrettes 1700 Carlo Tononi violin as well as Brian Mankers c. 172830 Pietro Guarneri cello and
MARIE DOR MARY ANN FUJINO SOFIA GENTILE PETER PARTHUN Franois Peccatte bow are generously loaned by Canimex.
Le violon Domenico Montagnana 1737 et larchet Sartory de Marianne Dugal, le violon Michele Deconet 1754 dOlivier Thouin,
SOPHIE DUGAS JOHANNES JANSONIUS ANNA-BELLE MARCOTTE
DOUBLE BASSES le violon Carlo Tononi 1700 de Marie-Andr Chevrette, de mme que le violoncelle Pietro Guarneri v. 172830 et
MARIE LACASSE 3 JEAN-MARC LECLERC CHARLES MEINEN CONTREBASSES larchet Franois Peccatte de Brian Manker, sont gnreusement prts par Canimex.
JEAN-MARC LEBLANC ISABELLE LESSARD DAVID QUINN ALI YAZDANFAR 3
Marie Lacasses 1771 Andreas Ferdinandus Mayr violin is generously loaned by philanthropist Miroslav Wicha.
INGRID MATTHIESSEN ALISON MAH-POY NATALIE RACINE principal / solo Le violon Andreas Ferdinandus Mayr 1771 de Marie Lacasse est gnreusement prt par le mcne Miroslav Wicha.

7
The OSM wishes to thank Ville de Montral for its financial support.
LOSM remercie la Ville de Montral pour son appui financier.
This album was recorded on October 29 and 30, 2015, during a concert presented at the
OSMs new home, the Maison symphonique de Montral, which was inaugurated in September 2011.
The work by Charles Ives was recorded on October 30, 2015, at the Maison symphonique de Montral.
Cet album a t enregistr en concert les 29 et 30 octobre 2015 la Maison symphonique de Montral,
la nouvelle rsidence de lOSM inaugure en septembre 2011.
La pice de Charles Ives a t enregistre la Maison symphonique de Montral le 30 octobre 2015.
Executive Producer / Producteur excutif : Dominic Fyfe (Decca), Orchestre symphonique de Montral
Producer / Ralisateur : Carl Talbot
Sound Engineers / Ingnieurs du son : Carl Talbot, Christopher Johns
Assistant Engineers / Ingnieurs du son assistants : Franois Goupil, Guy Charbonneau,
James Clemens-Seely Editor, mix and mastering / diteur, mixage et gravure : Carl Talbot
Special thanks to / Remerciements : Dina Gilbert, chef assistante de lOSM,
Jean-Pierre Brossmann, conseiller vocal de lOSM
Notes & Translations / Notes et traductions 2016 Orchestre symphonique de Montral
Coordination: OSM administrative team / quipe administrative de lOSM
Product Management / Gestion de produit: Sam Le Roux
honegger & ibert: laiglon the decca sound: dutoit montral
Publisher / diteur: Boelke Bomart Inc (Ives) Orchestre symphonique de Montral/Nagano Orchestre symphonique de Montral/Dutoit
P 2016 Orchestre symphonique de Montral, under exclusive licence to Decca Music Group Limited
P 2016 Orchestre symphonique de Montral, sous licence exclusive de Decca Music Group Limited
2016 Decca Music Group Limited
Cover Image / Image de couverture: Shutterstock / Mossolainen Nikolai
Image used under licence from Shutterstock.com
Photos: Caroline Bergeron (Kent Nagano),
Pierre-tienne Bergeron (Orchestre symphonique de Montral)
Art Direction & Design / Design et direction artistique: Fred Mnzmaier

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