The Symphony and WildEarth Guardians jointly present One Love, One Planet featuring Robert Frederick Smith Prize 2021 Sphinx Competition winner Samuel Abraham Vargas Teixeira performing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s charming nocturnal violin concerto in G Minor, op. 80—the second of a three year collaboration with the Sphinx Organization. Explore our wondrous planet through the lens of Debussy and Haydn and the full Symphony Orchestra with compelling multimedia visuals, under the baton of Maestro Guillermo Figueroa.
EXCITING NEWS—We are thrilled to bring back our FREE Preview Talks this season! Be sure to join us one hour before each Lensic performance for 30 minutes of interesting program details presented by Maestro Figueroa, guest soloists, or musicians. Each talk is unique and all ticket holders are invited!
The Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra
Guillermo Figueroa, Principal Conductor
PROGRAM
JOSEPH HAYDN
Symphony No. 6 “Le Matin” (Morning)
Adagio – Allegro
Adagio – Andante – Adagio
Menuet
Allegro
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR
Violin Concerto in G Minor op.80
Allegro maestoso
Adante semplice – Adantino
Allegro molto – Moderato
Samuel Abraham Vargas Teixeira, Violin
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
La mer
De l’aube à midi sur la mer [From Dawn to Noon
on the Sea]
Jeux des vagues [Play of the Waves]
Dialogue du vent et de la mer [Dialogue of Wind
and Sea]
Of Note
The nickname of Haydn’s Symphony No. 6, “Le Matin,” derives from the introduction of the opening movement, which conveys the sunrise. It is part of a symphony trilogy that also includes No. 7 (“Le Midi”) and No. 8 (“Le Soir”). His patron, Prince Anton, commissioned him to write works inspired by morning, noon and evening.
The violinist Maud Powell commissioned Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to write Violin Concerto in G Minor. The orchestral parts were lost while being shipped from England to the U.S. and had to be reconstructed at the last minute in order for the premiere to take place. The composer was ill and unable to attend; he died three months later of pneumonia at age 37.
Debussy’s La Mer was not successful at its 1905 premier in Paris. One possible explanation is that the conductor was unfamiliar with “modern” music. But after its second performance in Paris in 1908, which was conducted by the composer, it became one of his most popular orchestral works.
Samuel Abraham Vargas Teixeira, Violin
Violinist Samuel Vargas Teixeira has received wide recognition for his powerful artistry and awards including First Prize of the Sphinx Competition (2021), Yamaha Young Performing Artist (2019), Grand Prize of the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition (2019), First Prize in Atlanta’s GA Philharmonic Competition (2017), and Concertmaster Ambassador of the United Nations (2014).
Guillermo Figueroa, Principal Conductor
One of the most versatile and respected musical artists of his generation—renowned as conductor, violinist, violist and concertmaster—Guillermo Figueroa is the Principal Conductor of The Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. He also serves as the Music Director of the Music in the Mountains Festival in Colorado and Music Director of the Lynn Philharmonia in Florida, and he is the founder of the highly acclaimed Figueroa Music and Arts Project in Albuquerque. He was the Music Director of the New
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Program Notes
Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy hired Haydn as his Vice-Kapellmeister in May 1761, and the composer immediately took up his duties at the Esterhazy palace in the small town of Eisenstadt, about 30 miles south of Vienna. The old Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, was being eased upstairs, and the 29-year-old …