Winter Classics
2 February 2025
4:00 PM
Bethel College Memorial Hall
Richard Koshgarian, Guest Conductor
Featuring the winners of the annual Dwight Beckham Young Soloists Competition
Gavin Hadley and Peter Buller
Program
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun,” L. 86
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Concerto in A Minor for Oboe and Strings
Peter Buller, oboe
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Keyboard Concerto in D Major, Hob. XVIII: 11
Gavin Hadley, piano
W. A. Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony No. 31 in D Major, K. 297/300a “Paris”
Meet the Guest Performers
A native of Rhode Island, Mr. Koshgarian’s musical journey began at the age of 12 years old when he auditioned for and was accepted into the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Rhode Island College, a Master of Music degree from The University of Michigan (orchestral conducting) and a doctorate from The University of Iowa (orchestral conducting).
He has held academic positions at Fort Hays State University, Bethany College, Kansas Wesleyan University, Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, NC) and Sacred Heart Junior-Senior High School in Salina. He has also served as music director at First Presbyterian Church in Salina for the past 31 years and was music director of the Hutchinson Symphony for the past 18 years until the orchestra ceased operations at the end of the 2023-24 season. He currently lives and works in Great Bend, teaching 6 th grade at Riley Elementary School.
Gavin Hadley currently attends Newton High School. He has been taking piano lessons since he was six and a student of Christina Liu at Bethel College for the last two years. Gavin has participated in regional and state piano festivals throughout his high school career, and this marks his debut performance as a soloist with a large orchestra, an opportunity for which he is incredibly grateful.
Peter Buller is a soon-to-be graduate of Bethel College from Inman, KS. He has majored in Bible & Religion with minors in Music and Peace, Justice, & Conflict Studies. After a gap year following his undergraduate studies, he plans on attending Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. Peter has played with the NMKSO, Hutchinson Symphony, Bethel College Wind Ensemble and Orchestra, and other area colleges and frequently performs at area churches. He also sings in the Bethel College Concert Choir, is a member of Open Road, and studies piano. He started studying oboe with Cindy Thompson in the 8th grade and has happily continued at Bethel. Peter has loved playing with the NMKSO and the opportunities it has given him to grow into an orchestral musician, so please continue to support it and the great music we make!
Notes
Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun”
Claude Debussy introduced the world to twentieth-century style with his Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” (1892-94), a musical depiction of a symbolist poem by Stéphane Mallarmé. Originally planned as three-part incidental music for Mallarmé’s “L’Apres-midi d’un faune,” Debussy’s composition became a single movement piece, and his first purely orchestral work of note. During this period he also began to work on music for his opera setting of Maurice Maeterlink’s Pelléas et Mélisande. Bridging the turn of the century, Debussy’s output continued with his Nocturnes, La mer, and Images for orchestra, and famous piano works, including Suite bergamasque and Children’s Corner Suite.
The Prelude’s famous opening flute solo evokes images from the poem, the mythological faun awakening from a hazy dream on a warm afternoon. Arabesque melodies and chromatic passages continue throughout, moving from instrument to instrument, set within a tapestry of rich harmonies and colors. The blurred meter and phrasing contribute to the music’s sensual, dream-like quality. Debussy’s score calls for a lush orchestra, light on brass and percussion, with mezzo-piano dynamics briefly rising to forte or fortissimo, keeping the character delicate and refined.
Jill Gatz
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Keyboard Concerto in D Major, Hob. XVIII: 11
Haydn’s Keyboard Concerto in D Major stands out in the composer’s substantial career. The composer only penned eleven concerti for keyboard, although he is sometimes credited with as many as thirteen, of which this is the last. It would also become the most popular of that relatively small collection of works, even in the composer’s lifetime, owing in no small part to the expiration and subsequent alteration of Haydn’s contract at the court of Esterhazy shortly before its composition. Prior to 1779 that court held exclusive rights to Haydn’s compositions. By the time he began composition on his final keyboard concerto, though, the composer was free to publish his works freely, affording Haydn significant social and financial benefit and ultimately helping to install him as one of Europe’s most renowned composers.
Published in 1784, the Keyboard Concerto in D Major benefitted from Haydn’s new discretion, being touted at the time as the only such concerto to be found in print. Its popularity then as now owes, no doubt, equally to its charm. Reflecting the turn towards the aesthetic ideals of the high Classical period, of which Mozart would become the figurehead, the piece strives for a galant sensitivity, guided by balance and motivic development in the first movement. While the piece steers clear of the exceeding virtuosity that would come to dominate concerti of the nineteenth century, it has nevertheless delighted audiences for nearly 250 years and stands as a showcase of Haydn’s capacity to develop beautiful, tasteful music from simple building blocks.
Seth Girton
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) Concerto in A Minor for Oboe and Strings
English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams is known for his scholarly knowledge and love of the folk songs from his native land. His music is grounded in these traditions, as illustrated by well-known works such as Norfolk Rhapsody (1906), Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910), and the English Folk Song Suite (1923).
The Concerto for Oboe and Strings draws upon stylistic impressions of traditional folk music, while maintaining musical originality. Vaughan Williams began composing the work in 1943, following the completion of his Fifth Symphony and including material discarded from the “Scherzo” of that work in the final movement of the concerto. Oboist Leon Goossens, for whom the work was composed and to whom it is dedicated, gave the first performance in Liverpool in 1944. The first movement, “Rondo Pastorale,” opens with a modal theme and blossoms into a flourishing melody and first cadenza. The contrasting section introduces a jaunty staccato theme, before a slower, almost melancholy, lyrical passage leads into the final cadenza. The natural warmth and expressive qualities of the oboe are allowed to shine throughout the movement, with sensitive scoring for strings. The concerto, requiring rhythmic and technical virtuosity of the soloist, holds a place as one of the great oboe works of the twentieth century.
Jill Gatz