Program Notes

Franz Waxman (1906 – 1967) “created” his “Tristan & Isolde” and “Carmen” Fantasies for the film Humoresque (Warner Brothers 1947) for John Garfield to “play” on screen to Isaac Stern’s recording on the soundtrack. Jascha Heifetz saw the Joan Crawford – Oscar Levant melodrama with a screenplay by Clifford Odets based on the famous Fannie Hurst story about the budding career of a young New York violinist (Garfield) and his patron (Crawford). The Jerry Wald production was directed by Jean Negulesco.

Heifetz asked Waxman to expand the work for him to play on the popular radio program, The Bell Telephone Hour. The composer revised the score between August 13 and October 18, 1946.

Waxman’s Fantasie begins at the beginning of Act I Prelude; then, with the entry of the violin, leaps to the end of the act where
Tristan & Isolde take the love potion. It then goes to the first scene of Act II before settling into that of the couple’s nocturnal tryst, ‘ O sink
Hernieder’, diverting into Tristan’s reminiscence from Act III and back again. Along the way, the Act II love duet merges with the opera’s concluding ‘Lieberstod’ which remains intact.

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg/Andrew Litton/London Symphony Orchestra (Nonesuch), Chloe Hanslip/Leonard Slatkin/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Naxos) and Stephen Bryant, violin, Simon Mulligan, piano/Leonard Slatkin/ BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC Music) have recorded the Tristan & Isolde Fantasie.

Mark Kaplan and Christina Ortiz have recorded the Love Music for violin and piano on the “Goyana” CD (Koch International Classics).

Franz Waxman is best known for the 150+ film scores he composed in Hollywood beginning at Universal Pictures in 1935 with The Bride of Frankenstein. During his Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer period (1936 – 1942), he wrote the music for The Philadelphia Story and seven Spencer Tracy films including Captains Courageous and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Of the four scores for Alfred Hitchcock films, Rebecca is unforgettable. While at Warner Brothers (1943 – 1948), he composed the music for a variety of films; Objective, Burma!, The Two Mrs. Carrolls and Mr. Skeffington. Moving to Paramount Pictures, he won his first Academy Award in 1950 with Sunset Boulevard and his second the next year with A Place in the Sun. Other memorable scores from the 1950ís include Prince Valiant, Crime in the Streets, Peyton Place, Sayonara and The Nun’s Story. In the 1960ís he is best known for the music to Adventures of a Young Man and Taras Bulba.

Waxman’s versatility as a composer led him to a variety of concert works as varied as his film scores: “Athaneal The Trumpeter” Overture (1946), “The Charm Bracelet” For Chamber Orchestra (1949), “Passacaglia” For Orchestra (1953), “Sinfonietta” For String Orchestra & Timpani (1956), “The Spirit of St. Louis” Symphonic Suite (1958), “The Black-Foxe” March For Concert Band (1958), “Joshua,” an Oratorio (1959), “Goyana”: Four Sketches For Piano Solo Percussion & String Orchestra (1960), “Ruth”: A Narrative Poem With Music (1960), “The Ride of the Cossacks” For Orchestra (1962), “Hemingway”: A Symphonic Suite (1963) and “The Song of Terezin” A Dramatic Song Cycle (1965).

Waxman was exceptionally skilled in orchestration, and his ability to exploit every coloristic resource adds an extra measure of zest to this artful mingling of showpiece and synthesis – that, a fidelity to the essence of “Tristran” that could be expected only in such a sincere homage from one composer to another.