West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge UK 21 May 2021, 7.30pm BST
Harmoniemusik: From field to table West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge UK 14 April 2021, 7.30pm BST
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Divertimento for winds in B flat, K.270 Allegro molto • Andantino Menuetto • Presto
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Duo No.1 in C for clarinet and bassoon, WoO27 Allegro commodo • Larghetto sostenuto Rondo: Allegretto Sextet in E flat for winds Op.71 Adagio-Allegro • Adagio Minuet: Quasi allegretto • Rondo: Allegro
Franz Krommer (1759-1831)
Partita in F Op.73 Allegro vivace • Menuetto: Allegro Adagio • Alla polacca
Leo Duarte Bethan White Katherine Spencer Emily Worthington Peter Whelan Ursula Leveaux Gavin Edwards David Bentley Judith Evans
oboe oboe clarinet clarinet director & bassoon bassoon horn horn double bass
This performance is supported by Mark West
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Divertimento for winds in B flat, K.270 Allegro molto • Andantino Menuetto • Presto In the centuries before electronic amplification, music played at social gatherings (indoors or outdoors) had one major challenge: to be heard. From roughly the 1770s through to the late 1820s, a popular solution to that problem in central Europe was Harmoniemusik: music for wind ensemble. The classic Harmonie line-up comprised pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons, and there was no limit to the music they might play. Arrangements of hit tunes from fashionable operas were particularly popular, but even Beethoven’s symphonies got the Harmonie treatment. And, of course, professional composers composed original wind music. It was practically money in the bank. Harmoniemusik got everywhere. On 3 November 1781, Mozart described how a group of itinerant wind players had spent the evening hawking one of his own serenades around Vienna. They’d done so well out of it that, before going home, they decided to give him a surprise: 'At 11 o’clock last night I was serenaded by two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons – which it so happened was my own music…During St Theresia’s night it was played at three different locations. No sooner had they finished it than they were asked to play it somewhere else. And so these musicians positioned themselves in the courtyard, and surprised me most delightfully, just as I was about to undress for bed, with the opening chord.' We don’t know which of Mozart’s numerous wind serenades they played, but by this point in his career he had quite a catalogue to choose from. The Divertimento K.270 is dated January 1777, and he’s believed to have written it for his employer, the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, who – like many noblemen – kept a Harmonie ensemble on staff. Its four movements open with an arresting call to attention and end with a rollicking dance-finale: always popular in semi-rural Salzburg. In-between comes an Andantino with the deportment of a gavotte, and a courtly Minuet. Harmoniemusik was all about keeping things straightforward, and pleasing the ear, but the 20-year old Mozart just can’t help himself, and his teeming imagination – as well as his obvious delight in blending and contrasting the colours of his six wind instruments – sparkles through every bar.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Duo No.1 in C for clarinet and bassoon, WoO27 Allegro commodo • Larghetto sostenuto • Rondo: Allegretto Sextet in E flat for winds, Op.71 Adagio-Allegro • Adagio • Minuet: Quasi allegretto • Rondo: Allegro Harmoniemusik could be profitable, but it was not a high-status genre. It’s easy to understand why the young Beethoven might have written wind serenades, and equally easy to understand why he might have been distinctly casual about that music in later life. We don’t know for certain that this engaging Duo – one of a set of three – was even written by Beethoven at all. (It was first published in Paris in 1815 under Beethoven’s name, though in an era of widespread musical piracy, this doesn’t prove much.) If it was, it probably dates from amongst his very earliest compositions, written before 1792 in Bonn, where the Elector employed some outstanding wind players. The Sextet Op.71 is believed to date from around 1796 and although Beethoven was happy to have it performed in a benefit concert in April 1805, when he offered it to a publisher in 1809, his tone was self-deprecating – 'one of my early pieces, and moreover it was written in one night – the best one can say of it is that it was composed by an author who has gone on to better things.' In fact, the evidence suggests that he spent rather more than 'one night' on the Sextet: its blend of grandeur, elegance and exuberant fun suggests that he’d taken more than a leaf from Mozart’s book. The bassoon plays the romantic lead in the Adagio; the horns gallop exuberantly through the Minuet. Whatever the composer might have thought, a contemporary critic in 1805 was clearly bowled over by Beethoven’s 'lively melodies, unconstrained harmonies, and wealth of new and surprising ideas'.
Franz Krommer (1759-1831) Partita in F, Op.73 Allegro vivace • Menuetto: Allegro • Adagio • Alla polacca Franz Krommer was born seven months after the death of Handel, and died in the year that Bellini premiered Norma. Though born in Bohemia – noted at the time for its excellent woodwind players – he settled in the Imperial capital of Vienna, where the peak years of his composing career coincided with the height of the Harmoniemusik craze. Krommer took full advantage – his catalogue includes more than fifty works for Harmonie. This one dates from 1810, and its scoring includes a part for contrabassoon (tonight played by double bass), adding an extra richness and power to the bottom of the sound. In other words, by Harmoniemusik standards it’s a luxury product, and Krommer goes out of his way to make it as colourful and entertaining as possible, from the jaunty comic opera-style melodies of the opening movement, to the folk-flavoured swagger of the finale – described by Krommer as Alla polacca (in Polish style). Horns take the lead in the boisterous Menuetto, and clarinet and oboe take the role of divas in the lovely Adagio: simultaneously an homage to Mozart’s most famous Harmoniemusik, the so-called Gran Partita, and a gift for Krommer’s (clearly excellent) players.
© Richard Bratby, Hogwood Fellow 20/21
Peter Whelan is among the most exciting and versatile exponents of historical performance of his generation, with a remarkable career as a conductor, keyboardist and solo bassoonist. He is Artistic Director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra and founding Artistic Director of Ensemble Marsyas. Recent engagements have included appearances with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, The English Concert, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Beethoven Orchester Bonn.
© Jen Ownes
As a conductor, Peter has a particular passion for exploring and championing neglected music from the Baroque. Recent projects funded by The Arts Council (Ireland) and Creative Scotland involved recreating and staging live performances of choral and symphonic music from 18th-century Dublin and Edinburgh. This led to his award-winning disc Edinburgh 1742 for Linn Records and his 2017 reconstruction of the ‘Irish State Musick’ in its original venue of Dublin Castle. Peter’s conducting in live performance and the recording studio has been widely praised for its ‘rich insight, style and charisma’ (Guardian), its ‘stylish verve’ (BBC Music Magazine), its ‘exuberance and elegance’ (Irish Examiner), and its ‘slick tempi, grit and character’ (Golden Plec). Tonight is his debut performance directing the Academy of Ancient Music.
The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is an orchestra with a worldwide reputation for excellence in baroque and classical music. Using historically-informed techniques, period-specific instruments and original sources, we bring music vividly to life in committed, vibrant performances. Established nearly 50 years ago to make the first British recordings of orchestral works using original instruments, AAM has released more than 300 albums to date, collecting countless accolades including Classic BRIT, Gramophone and Edison awards. We now record on our own-label AAM Records, and are proud to be the most listened-to periodinstrument orchestra online, with over one million monthly listeners on Spotify. Beyond the concert hall, AAM is committed to nurturing the next generation of musicians and music-lovers through our innovative side-by-side learning and participation initiative AAMplify. Working in collaboration with partners at the Guildhall School, London Music Masters, Cambridgeshire Music Hub and others we reach thousands of children and young people across primary, secondary and tertiary education each year. AAM is Associate Ensemble at London’s Barbican Centre and the Teatro San Cassiano in Italy; Orchestra-inResidence at the University of Cambridge, Milton Abbey International Summer Music Festival and The Apex, Bury St Edmunds; and Research Partner to the University of Oxford.
AAM Live 2021 Thank you! AAM is indebted to the following individuals, trusts and public funders for their support of the orchestra’s work.
Music sponsors Leader Chris and Alison Rocker Principal Second Violin Graham Nicholson Principal Viola Elizabeth and Richard de Friend Sub-Principal Viola Nicholas and Judith Goodison Principal Cello Dr Christopher and Lady Juliet Tadgell Principal Flute Terence and Sian Sinclair Principal Oboe David and Linda Lakhdhir Principal Trumpet John and Madeleine Tattersall Principal Theorbo John and Joyce Reeve Programme Notes Dr Julia P Ellis
AAM Academy
AAM Associates
Trusts & Foundations
Lady Alexander of Weedon Dr Carol Atack and Alex van Someren Elise Badoy Dauby Mrs D. Broke Hugh Burkitt Clive and Helena Butler Jo and Keren Butler Daphne and Alan Clark Kate Donaghy The Hon Simon Eccles Marshall Field CBE Tina Fordham Malcolm and Rosalind Gammie Madeleine Gantley The Hon William Gibson Jean Gooder Christopher Hogwood CBE, in memoriam Heather Jarman Philip Jones Mr and Mrs Evan Llewellyn Anne Machin Roger Mayhew Professors Eric Nye and Carol Frost Alessandro Orsaria and Julia Chan Christopher Purvis CBE and Phillida Purvis MBE Sir Konrad and Lady Schiemann Mr Michael Smith Mr Peter Tausig Stephen Thomas Mrs Janet Unwin Julie and Richard Webb Mark West Mrs S Wilson Stephens Mr Charles Woodward Tony and Jackie Yates-Watson and other anonymous donors
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