Dvořák’s Cello Concerto

Cellist Joshua Roman takes center stage to perform Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, a masterful work showcasing the cello’s expressive depth and technical brilliance. 

Program

BENJAMIN BRITTEN
“Four Sea Interludes” from Peter Grimes, Op. 33a
I. Dawn
II. Sunday Morning
III. Moonlight
IV. Storm

— Intermission —

Anna CLYNE
Color Field

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
I. Allegro
II. Adagio ma non troppo
III. Finale. Allegro moderato

Program Notes

“Four Sea Interludes” from Peter Grimes, Op. 33a

BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Born: November 22, 1913,
Lowestoft, England
Died: December 4, 1976,
Aldeburgh, England
Composed: 1944–45
Premiered: June 7, 1945, London, England (full opera); June 14, 1945, Cheltenham, England (interludes only)
Duration: 17 minutes

“Drawn” from his opera Peter Grimes, Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes” offer a vivid orchestral portrait of the sea and the coastal village life that frames the opera’s tragic narrative of a fisherman ostracized by his community after the death of his apprentice at sea. While originally conceived as scene changes within the opera, Britten recognized the independent strength of these interludes and arranged them into a concert suite, which quickly became one of his most frequently performed orchestral works.
Each interlude evokes a different mood and aspect of the sea, integral to the opera’s setting and psychological landscape. “Dawn” opens with shimmering strings and high woodwinds that conjure the expansive stillness and quiet majesty of morning over the North Sea. This music sets a tone of eerie calm that belies the tensions simmering beneath the surface of the opera’s plot.
“Sunday Morning” captures the bustle and brightness of a seaside town awakening to church bells and communal routines. With its bell-like percussion and lively rhythmic interplay, the movement reflects the surface respectability of the village, which contrasts sharply with its judgmental undercurrents.
“Moonlight” offers a moment of reflection and nocturnal beauty. Slow-moving, with luminous orchestration it evokes the silvery glow of moonlight on the waves. Beneath its calm surface, however, lies a sense of foreboding—mirroring the emotional isolation of the opera’s protagonist.
“Storm,” the final and most turbulent movement, unleashes the full fury of the sea. Violent brass, rushing strings, and dissonant harmonies evoke crashing waves and howling winds, dramatizing the chaos of both nature and the town’s unraveling social fabric.
Though abstract in form, the “Four Sea Interludes” resonate deeply with the opera’s themes of alienation, judgment, and nature’s indifference to man. Though this opera’s themes are dark and even depressing, the beauty and power of the sea are on full display to listeners in these interludes.

Color Field

Anna Clyne
Born: March 9, 1980, London, England
Composed: 2020
Premiered: October 23, 2021, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop conducting at Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda, Maryland
Duration: 15 minutes

The central inspiration for Color Field is a person: Melanie Sabelhaus, the honoree of this work. I began the creative process upon first meeting Sabelhaus in New York City, when I learned about her family, her Serbian roots, her work and the music she loves. She is bold, audacious, generous, and a pioneer for women in business and philanthropic work.
She also loves the color orange – in particular Hermès Orange – and thus began my exploration of color. This led me to Mark Rothko’s “Orange, Red, Yellow” (1961) – a powerful example of the artist’s Color Field paintings, featuring red and yellow framing a massive swash of vibrant orange that seems to vibrate off the canvas.
While I explored creating music that evokes colors, I thought about synesthesia, a perceptual phenomenon in which a person hears sound, pitch and tonal centers and then sees specific colors, and vice versa. In the case of composer Scriabin, he associated specific pitches with specific colors, which I have adopted as tonal centers for the three movements of this piece: Yellow = D, Red = C, Orange = G.
Each movement of Color Field weaves in elements of the life of Melanie Sabelhaus, for whom music has always been in the house. Yellow evokes a hazy warmth and incorporates a traditional Serbian melody, first heard as a very slow bass line, and then revealed in the middle of the movement in the strings and winds. In Red, the fires blaze with bold percussive patterns and lilting lines. In Orange, the music becomes still and breathes, and then escalates once more, incorporating elements of Yellow and Red to create Orange – the signature color of Melanie Sabelhaus.
– Anna Clyne, 2020

Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
Born: September 8, 1841, Nelahozeves, Bohemia (now Czech Republic)
Died: May 1, 1904, Prague, Bohemia
Composed: 1894–1895
Premiered: March 19, 1896, Queen’s Hall, London; Leo Stern, cello; conducted by the composer
Duration: 40 minutes

Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor stands as one of the most beloved and frequently performed works in the cello repertoire. Composed during his final months as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, the concerto reflects both the influence of his American surroundings and a deeply personal emotional landscape. Though initially skeptical about the cello’s suitability as a solo instrument, Dvořák was inspired to write the concerto after hearing Victor Herbert’s Second Cello Concerto in 1894, which demonstrated the cello’s potential for lyrical and virtuosic expression.
The opening movement, Allegro, begins with a long orchestral introduction before the cello’s assertive entrance. The movement highlights Dvořák’s flair for melodic invention and his mastery of orchestral timbre, with the soloist traversing a broad emotional spectrum, from gentle lyricism to intense passion.
Following this, the second movement, Adagio ma non troppo, offers a moment of profound introspection. It includes a poignant quotation from one of Dvořák’s earlier songs, a tribute to his recently deceased sister-in-law and former love, Josefina. The movement’s lyrical depth and understated beauty provide a gentle contrast to the surrounding drama of the concerto.
The finale, marked Allegro moderato, returns to a spirited and rhythmic character, which is contrasted by moments of lyricism and reflection. In an unusual and touching gesture, Dvořák revisits the Adagio’s song quotation near the end, perhaps indicating a sense of personal closure and farewell. Rather than concluding with grandiosity, the concerto ends with a quiet, dignified coda, defying typical expectations.

About Joshua Roman

Joshua Roman is a cello soloist and composer, hailed for his “effortlessly expressive tone… and playful zest for exploration” (New York Times), as well as his “extraordinary technical and musical gifts” and “blend of precision and almost improvisatory freedom… that goes straight to the heart” (San Francisco Chronicle). His genre-bending programs and wide-ranging collaborations have grown out of an “enthusiasm for musical evolution that is as contagious as his love for the classics” (Seattle Times).
Committed to bringing Classical music to new audiences, Roman opened the acclaimed 2017 TED Conference, and his performance of the complete Bach Solo Cello Suites after the 2016 United States Presidential election was the most-viewed event in the history of TED’s social channels, with nearly a million live viewers. Roman has collaborated with world-class artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, DJ Spooky, Tony-winner/MacArthur Genius Bill T. Jones, Grammy Award-winning East African vocalist Somi, and Tony Award-nominated actor Anna Deavere Smith.

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