Glass Dean Mendelssohn TOUR ONE
1 1 – 2 2 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 8
AU S T R A L I A N S T R I N G Q UA R T E T
N AT I O N A L S E A S O N 2 0 1 8
Job no. 3615-2 CRICOS 00123M
Welcome It is our pleasure to welcome you to the ASQ’s National Season 2018. We are very excited about the year ahead and the rich array of music that we will be sharing with you. Later in the year, we will be giving the world premiere of a newly commissioned string quartet by Australian composer, James Ledger. Our mid-year program offers the chance to hear the very first and last Beethoven quartets that bookend a wild and theatrical work by German composer, Jörg Widmann, titled The Hunt Quartet. Throughout 2018 we have an exciting schedule of activities that will see us performing at the Adelaide Festival alongside our colleagues, the Goldner and Tinalley String Quartets. Our annual ASQ festivals at Dunkeld and Margaret River will feature collaborations with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Principal Clarinettist Dean Newcomb, Sydney-based pianist Brenda Jones and the acclaimed Australian soprano, Sara Macliver. We will appear at the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival in which we will present the third instalment of Quartet and Country, a project that brings us together with some of Australia’s greatest indigenous musicians. We’ll be appearing in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Metropolis New Music Festival as well as continuing our highly popular
morning series at the UKARIA Cultural Centre in the Adelaide Hills. We’ll be travelling to Italy in November to perform in various stunning locations including the Music in Bologna festival. We are thrilled to be spending a week in residence at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne, in addition to continuing our work with the chamber music students at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. Lastly, we are very proud to call the University of Adelaide our home and we look forward to delivering a year-long program of activities with the Elder Conservatorium of Music including concerts, masterclasses and coaching. We begin our journey this year with three works that are worlds apart in style and sonority. The meditative, panoramic quality of Philip Glass opens the program, after which we delve into a darker, more turbulent world in Brett Dean’s Eclipse before finally bursting into the sunlight with a radiant, youthful work of Felix Mendelssohn. We hope that you will discover, when all is said and done, a powerful sense of progression that binds these works together to create a sonic landscape that rises from expansive depths and carries us into the light. Sharon, Stephen, Francesca & Dale
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Program
Venues & Dates
Philip Glass String Quartet no 3, Mishima
Canberra Sun 11 February 2pm Gandel Hall National Gallery of Australia
Brett Dean String Quartet no 1, Eclipse Interval Mendelssohn String Quartet in D major op 44 no 1
Sydney Mon 12 February 7pm City Recital Hall Adelaide Thu 15 February 7pm Adelaide Town Hall Melbourne Fri 16 February 7pm Melbourne Recital Centre Perth Mon 19 February 7pm Government House Ballroom Brisbane Thu 22 February 7pm Conservatorium Theatre
Don’t miss our next National Season concert Beethoven Widmann Beethoven 26 June – 9 July 2018 asq.com.au
Australian String Quartet For over 30 years, the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) has created unforgettable string quartet performances for national and international audiences. Dedicated to musical excellence with a distinctly Australian character, our purpose is to create chemistry and amplify intimacy through experiences that connect people with string quartet music.
From our home base at the University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, we reach out across Australia and the world to engage people with an outstanding program of performances, workshops, commissions and education projects. Our distinct sound is enhanced by a matched set of 18th century Guadagnini instruments, handcrafted by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini between c.1743 and 1784 in Turin and Piacenza, Italy. These precious instruments are on loan for our exclusive use through the generosity of UKARIA. Our 2018 program is rich with exciting opportunities. Alongside our National Season, we continue
our successful flagship festivals in the Southern Grampians, Victoria and Western Australia’s Margaret River. Among other highlights, 2018 welcomes international tours to China and Europe, regional and metropolitan residencies, Australian recording initiatives, intimate Close Quarters gigs in unique spaces across the country and the continuation of our successful morning series at UKARIA Cultural Centre. As we continue our collaboration with some of the country’s finest artists, festivals and innovators, our 2018 program of activity includes: our association with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for the Metropolis New Music Festival, our collaboration with the Port Fairy Spring Festival to celebrate the
Songlines of this country through the inspirational Quartet and Country project and our partnership with Jumpgate Virtual Reality on the development of our new ASQ digital platform.
Left to right: Dale Barltrop plays a 1784 Guadagnini Violin, Turin. Francesca Hiew plays a 1748-49 Guadagnini Violin, Piacenza. Stephen King plays a 1783 Guadagnini Viola, Turin. Sharon Grigoryan plays a c.1743 Guadagnini Violoncello, Piacenza,‘Ngeringa’.
Guadagnini Quartet Project In 2010, UKARIA embarked on one of the most significant philanthropic projects in Australia’s musical history - the acquisition of a unique quartet of rare stringed instruments (c.1743-1784) crafted by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini. Guadagnini is one of history’s foremost luthiers, in company with Stradivarius and Guarneri del Gesu. This matched set of instruments, held in trust by UKARIA and made available as a set in perpetuity to Australia’s most outstanding string quartet, is unprecedented anywhere in the world. The current recipients are the Australian String Quartet. The instruments included in the collection are: 1784 Guadagnini Violin (Turin) 1748-49 Guadagnini Violin (Piacenza) 1783 Guadagnini Viola (Turin) c.1743 Guadagnini Cello ‘Ngeringa’ (Piacenza) Through the generosity of Ulrike Klein AO, The Klein Family Foundation, Maria Myers AC, Allan Myers AC, The James and
Diana Ramsay Foundation, Didy McLaurin, Joan Lyons, David McKee AO and Pam McKee, and many other donors, UKARIA completed the project on 18 December 2017, raising the funds to acquire all four instruments at a total cost of $6,183,188. This project has brought together a group of visionary patrons who understand the significant cultural value in a collection of this calibre. Philanthropic Champions Ulrike Klein AO Klein Family Foundation Allan J Myers AC Maria J Myers AC James Diana Ramsay Foundation Didy McLaurin Joan Lyons Mrs F.T. MacLachlan OAM David McKee AO and Pam McKee Pauline Menz Dr Rabin Bhandari Lang Foundation Hartley Higgins The Board of UKARIA also recognises and thanks the following donors who have each made a significant contribution to this project:
Major Gifts Don and Veronica Aldridge Elizabeth Clayton John Clayton Colin and Robyn Cowan Katherine Fennell Frances Gerard Julian and Stephanie Grose Andrew and Hiroko Gwinnett Richard Harvey AM Lyndsey and Peter Hawkins Janet and Michael Hayes Jari and Bobbie Hryckow Thora Klein Tupra Pastoral Company Macquarie Foundation Mr H.G. MacLachlan Mrs S.T. McGregor Peter and Pamela McKee Janet McLachlan Robert O’Callaghan and Pam O’Donnell John Phillips Margaret Piper Jill Russell Nigel Steele Scott Sidney Myer Fund Mary Louise Simpson Gary and Janet Tilsley Ian and Pamela Wall Janet Worth To every patron who contributed to this project we thank you for your support. To learn more visit UKARIA.com
Philip Glass (Born 1937)
String Quartet no 3, Mishima (1985) 1957: Award Montage November 25: Ichigaya Grandmother and Kimitake 1962: Body Building Blood Oath Mishima On finishing the final volume of his tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility, Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima put on the uniform of the Shield Society, his private militia, and travelled with four acolytes to the Ichigaya Garrison. They briefly took the commandant hostage, before Mishima, having called for the soldiers to rise up in support of the emperor, disembowelled himself in the ritual suicide known as seppuku. It was 25 November 1970. Paul Schrader’s film, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is set on that day, and uses flashbacks to fill out defining aspects of Mishima’s life: the spoiled ‘delicate’ childhood, the ambiguous sexuality, the amazing capacity for sheer hard work (both as a writer and body-builder), the Romantic obsession with the samurai code and the vision of a pure, Imperial Japan untainted by Western decadence. The film also includes dramatized excerpts from three of his novels: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, in which a stuttering, introverted acolyte burns the famous Kyoto temple to the ground out of jealousy at its perfect beauty;
Kyoko’s House, where a relationship between a young man and older woman goes awfully wrong, and Runaway Horses, the second volume of The Sea of Fertility, in which a young man, devoted to the Emperor, becomes, essentially a terrorist and also commits ritual suicide. Philip Glass’s score for Schrader’s film makes no attempt to sound Japanese, and uses a variety of musical resources, ranging from a symphony orchestra to more intimate passages for string orchestra or quartet. The music of his Third Quartet is freely drawn from the score. The searching opening movement, 1957: Award Montage reminds us that Mishima was, by the mid-1950s, much feted in the USA and Europe, though sadly the Nobel Prize eluded him. The pensive Ichiyaga takes us to the garrison of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, where the fiasco of Mishima’s attempted coup-d’état and botched suicide took place. Grandmother and Kimitake (Mishima’s birthname) give us a glimpse of his childhood in nervously irregular metres. In 1962: Body Building the music, descriptively, goes from slow and sombre to a more active and energetic texture. Blood Oath reminds us of the fantasy that Mishima entertained of his army of adoring young men taking power in the name of the Emperor, before the final movement rounds the work off in a piece that, like much Glass, manages to combine restless energy with deep melancholy. © Gordon Kerry 2017
Brett Dean (Born 1961)
String Quartet no 1, Eclipse (2003) Slow and spacious, secretive Unlikely Flight Epilogue Eclipse is in one movement comprising three distinct sections. It was written in response to the ‘Tampa crisis’, a showdown between the then Australian Government and Arne Rinnan, captain of MV Tampa, whose resolve saved the lives of hundreds of refugees aboard the Palapa in the Indian Ocean in August 2001. Australian authorities openly lied about the character and behaviour of those on board, whom they demonised as ‘queue jumpers’ and whose very humanity and fate were entirely eclipsed by the power games of a bigger political agenda. Compassionate sentiments were ridiculed as being those of bleedingheart apologists of terrorism. The ‘boat people’ were mainly fleeing Afghanistan and Iraq, countries which, within two years, were to be invaded on the grounds of their violence, human rights abuses and terrorist threats. Eclipse is first and foremost a piece of chamber music, but its political gestation and subject matter do in some ways explain its brooding, troubled and at times aggressive features. The first section evolves as an exploration of sound and
sonorities from which a motif of oscillating fifths emerges in the cello, eventually permeating all instruments which in turn respond with a series of ‘flageolet’ tremolos. This builds into a vigorous and chaotic pizzicato texture that quickly subsides into vagueness and mystery. Descending further it leads into the second section a nervous presto movement of constantly changing metre and jagged accents, the motor of which is still the oscillating fifths. The title refers to Tom Keneally’s The Tyrant’s Novel, which depicts the danger and desperation of ‘the most piteous creature on earth… the one contemplating unlikely flight, and without papers.’ Keneally’s fiction is paralleled in eyewitness accounts of the souls aboard the doomed Palapa as it survived a violent storm at sea before its rescue by the Tampa. If a solar eclipse represents a cusp of razor sharpness between light and dark, then these experiences were surely riding the cusp between life and death, between future and past, transcending any discussion based on politics of state and entering the realm of sheer existence. The drama of the middle section eventually dissipates into a more consolatory Epilogue where much of the preceding material is reconsidered in a different, and altogether more sanguine, light. Though not exactly a happy ending, the ambivalent openness of the work’s final chords seemed to me to be the only viable way of viewing this unfinished saga. © Brett Dean 2003
Felix Mendelssohn (1809 -1847)
String Quartet in D major op 44 no 1 (1838) Molto allegro vivace Menuetto: un poco allegretto Andante espressivo ma con moto Presto con brio Mendelssohn’s D major quartet was the last composed of the three that make up op 44. All three date from the later 1830s. The years immediately preceding saw Mendelssohn’s appointment to the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, the death, in 1835, of his beloved father, Abraham – whose munificent support of his children’s musical education had seen regular stringorchestra concerts in the family home – and, in 1836, his marriage to Cécile Jeanrenaud. Mendelssohn composed the E minor work (no 2) on their honeymoon, and the E flat major work (no 3) soon after, in which he assimilated certain lessons of late Beethoven. The D major quartet was composed on Cécile’s recovery from illness in the wake of bearing her first child. All three also celebrate Mendelssohn’s long friendship with violinist Ferdinand David, whom he had met when they were teenage prodigies in Berlin in 1826. Mendelssohn invited David to Berlin to lead the orchestra (and would write his great Violin Concerto for him), and David formed a quartet that premiered the op 44 works.
The opening of the D major work’s first movement catapults us into a world of shimmering energy that pervades the whole quartet. Driving repeated notes accompany melody and bass lines characterised by extravagant intervallic leaps, and this material is answered by a more liquid texture that supports a high, slow-moving motif for violin. While frequently lyrical, this material is often developed in quite abstract ways, drawing almost geometrical patterns in mirror image and using a pattern of constantly changing dynamics. Like the first movement, the menuet’s main theme is derived from a rising arpeggio, though the tone of the movement is much more serene. Nevertheless, having established a stable D major mood, Mendelssohn soon introduces chromatic inflections, even in the seemingly rustic trio section with its ornate violin melody over inert chords. Marked Andante, ‘but with movement’, the third movement is hardly slow, with plucked chords from the lower strings supporting a restless semiquaver line for second violin and song-like melody for the first. The semiquaver material becomes more pervasive, especially in the more emotionally expressive central section. The finale, in 12/8, is effectively a tarantella, propelled by Italianate dance rhythms interspersed with slower-moving passages in simple, four-part harmony and moments of intricate counterpoint. A thrilling top A from the first violin, and more examples of mirror- image (or contrary motion) writing leads to the forceful conclusion of this febrile piece. © Gordon Kerry 2017
ASQ Festivals Join the Australian String Quartet and guest artists for two exquisite regional festivals in 2018. Set in intimate surrounds, experience the rejuvenating power of chamber music coupled with the stunning vistas of Margaret River, Western Australia and Dunkeld, in Victoria’s Southern Grampians.
For more information or to book today visit asq.com.au or call 1800 040 444.
Margaret River Weekend of Music Friday 6 – Sunday 8 April 2018
Dunkeld Festival of Music Friday 13 – Sunday 15 April 2018 Sunday 15 – Tuesday 17 April 2018
Savour the best of the spectacular Western Australian wine region with a great musical adventure at Voyager Estate, Vasse Felix and Clairault | Streicker Wines and Cape Lodge. With matched food and wines from the region’s finest wineries, enjoy a feast for the senses as the Quartet presents a compelling program of chamber music. The ASQ will be joined by Australia’s acclaimed soprano, Sara Macliver and Dean Newcomb, Principal Clarinet, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, to present works by Schubert, Handel and Mozart.
“A superb musical feast...” Dunkeld Festival Guest
Relish moments of tranquillity and calm at the ASQ’s Dunkeld Festival of Music. With intimate concerts in the charming Mt Sturgeon Woolshed and Myers’ Library and warm hospitality by the iconic Royal Mail Hotel, tickets to this festival are in high demand. Among the program highlights, pianist Brenda Jones and clarinettist Dean Newcomb, join the Quartet to perform two masterpieces by Brahms – his glorious Piano Quintet in F minor opus 34 and his heart-warming Clarinet Quintet.
Donors The Australian String Quartet would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank the following donors for their ongoing support along with those donors whose very important contributions either remain anonymous or are less than $1000. The following donations reflect cumulative donations made from 2013 onwards and the Australian String Quartet is extremely grateful for all the support received from its donors. The ASQ is registered as a tax deductible recipient. Donations can be made by phoning the ASQ on 1800 040 444 or online at asq.com.au/support
Principals ($50,001+) Mr Philip Bacon Nicholas Callinan AO & Libby Callinan Clitheroe Foundation Richard Harvey AM & the late Tess Harvey Lyndsey & Peter Hawkins Andrew Johnston Klein Family Foundation Norma Leslie Macquarie Group Foundation Allan J Myers AC & Maria J Myers AC The Ian Potter Foundation Thyne Reid Foundation Wright Burt Foundation Anonymous (1) Champions ($25,001 - $50,000) Janet & Michael Hayes Hunt Family Foundation Joan Lyons David McKee AO & Pam McKee Mrs Diana McLaurin PM Menz Brenda Shanahan Charitable Foundation Anonymous (1) Guardians ($10,001 - $25,000) Don & Veronica Aldridge John & Mary Barlow Angela Flannery Kay Freedman & the late Ian Wallace Lang Foundation Peter & Pamela McKee MG Prichard & BE Panizza Lady Potter AC Susan M Renouf Robert Salzer Foundation Anonymous (4)
Classic Partners ($5,001 - $10,000) Bernard & Jackie Barnwell Brand Family Foundation John & Libby Clayton Maurice Crotti AO & Tess Crotti Perri Cutten & Jo Daniell Marshall-Hall Trust Margaret Flatman John Funder & Val Diamond Mr Hartley Higgins Kimberley & Angus Holden Keith Holt & Anne Fuller Neil & June Jens Mr Robert Kenrick Rod & Elizabeth King Sonia Laidlaw Glenda & Greg Lewin Skye McGregor Patricia H Reid Andrew Sisson Nigel Steele Scott Elizabeth Syme Gary & Janet Tilsley Anonymous (1) Friends ($1,001 - $5,000) Peter Allan Michael & Susan Armitage Prof Margaret Arstall Charles & Catherine Bagot Philip Barron Dianne Barron-Davis David & Caroline Bartolo Berg Family Foundation Bernard & Sharon Booth Tim & Lyndie Carracher John & Christine Chamberlain Ric Chaney & Chris Hair John & Libby Clapp Peter Clemenger AO & Joan Clemenger Caroline & Robert Clemente Dr Peter Clifton Ian & Rosana Cochrane Colin & Robyn Cowan
Dr Rodney G Crewther Marie Dalziel Mr James Darling AM & Ms Lesley Forwood Geoff & Anne Day Ross & Sue Dillion Alan R Dodge AM Mr Peter Dorrian Michael J Drew Josephine Dundon Pamela Fiala in memory of Jiri Richard Frolich Ross & Jen Gallery H & M Gannon Fleur Gibbs John & Carole Grace Great Southern Grammar School Mrs Helen Greenslade Jean Hadges Susan & Daniel Hains Nonie Hall Professor Keith Hancock Annette Harris Dr Penny Herbert in memory of Dunstan Herbert Dr EH & Mrs A Hirsch Jim & Freda Irenic Barbara Jarry Lynette & Gregory Jaunay Barry Jones & Rachel Faggetter Kevin & Barbara Kane Andy & Jim Katsaros M & F Katz Family Foundation Stephen & Kylie King Hon Diana Laidlaw AM Dr David Leece PSM RFD ED The Hon Christopher Legoe QC & Jenny Legoe Kevin Long Megan Lowe Annette Maluish The late Simon Marks-Isaacs Diane McCusker Elisabeth McDonald HE & RJ McGlashan Janet McLachlan Helen & Phil Meddings
Mrs Inese Medianik Hugo & Brooke Michell Susan & Frank Morgan Mrs Frances Morrell David & Kerrell Morris Jo & Jock Muir Victor & Barbara Mulder Terry & Pauline O’Brien Paul O’Donnell Tony & Margaret Pagone Rosalind-Ruth M Phelps John Phillips Adam & Michele Plumridge Robert Pontifex AM M Resek Chris & Fran Roberts Bronwyn Ross-Jones & Bruce Cooper Jill Russell Trish & Richard Ryan AO Jeanette Sandford-Morgan OAM Vahé Sarmazian Drs Paul Schneider & Margarita Silva David Scown Diana Sher OAM & Jeffrey Sher QC Simply for Strings - Brisbane Antony & Mary Louise Simpson Segue Financial Services Mary & Ian Steele Hugh Taylor AC and Liz Taylor AM Mr Eng Seng Toh Jenny & Mark Tummel Sue Tweddell Nicholas Warden Lyn Williams AM Janet Worth Annie & Philip Young Pamela Yule Fay Zaikos Anonymous (17)
Australian String Quartet Richard Divall Australian Music Fund Don & Veronica Aldridge Roslyn Allen Bernard & Jackie Barnwell Brand Family Foundation Nicholas Callinan AO & Libby Callinan John & Christine Chamberlain John & Libby Clayton Caroline & Robert Clemente Perri Cutten & Jo Daniell Fleur Gibbs Alan Gunther Tim & Irena Harrington Dr Penny Herbert in memory of Dunstan Herbert Keith Holt & Anne Fuller Rod & Elizabeth King Angus Leitch Glenda & Greg Lewin PM Menz Jo & Jock Muir Allan Myers AC & Maria Myers AC Tony & Margaret Pagone MG Prichard & BE Panizza Karin Penttila Lady Potter AC Susan M Renouf Drs Paul Schneider & Margarita Silva Diana Sher OAM & Jeffrey Sher QC Rob & Jane Southey Mary & Ian Steele Gary & Janet Tilsley Annie & Philip Young Anonymous (3)
Nurturing tomorrow, today. As Australia’s string quartet, we proudly and continuously strive to cultivate a rich and inclusive musical culture in Australia, and we are setting our sights high as we look to the future. We aspire to captivate new audiences, broaden our channels of connection, deepen our commitment to regional audiences and deliver more programs that inspire and engage the next generation of audiences and musicians. As champions of Australian music, we are passionately committed to showcasing more work by our country’s very own music-makers. It is only with your support that we can achieve our vision for tomorrow. Your donation will ensure that we can continue to thrive as Australia’s national string quartet. Your support will help to nurture a musical legacy. Please donate today. asq.com.au/support
Patron MARIA MYERS AC
Official Partners Major Partner
Government Supporters
Major Supporters
ALLAN J MYERS AC & MARIA J MYERS AC Leader Sponsor
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
NICHOLAS B CALLINAN AO & ELIZABETH M CALLINAN Violist Sponsors
PHILIP BACON
MRS JOAN LYONS & MRS DIDY McLAURIN
Cellist Sponsors
PETER & LYNDSEY HAWKINS
Instrument Partner
National Season Partners National Wine Sponsor
New South Wales & Victoria Tour Partner
Sydney Accommodation Sponsor
Queensland Co-presenting Partner
Luxury Menswear Partner
Canberra Co-presenting Partner
Adelaide Flower Sponsor
Other Partners
National Season 2018 creative – Illustration/animation by Chris Edser. Photography by Jacqui Way. Design & art direction by Cul-de-sac Creative. Printed by Print Solutions SA.
ASQ Board Alexandra Burt Nicholas Callinan AO (Chair) Bruce Cooper John Evans Janet Hayes Marisa Mandile Paul Murnane Susan Renouf Jeanette Sandford-Morgan OAM Suzanne Stark Angelina Zucco – Chief Executive
Australian String Quartet Quartet–in–Residence The University of Adelaide SA 5005 Australia T 1800 040 444 (Freecall) F +61 8 8313 4389 E asq@asq.com.au W asq.com.au AustralianStringQuartet @ASQuartet @australianstringquartet