MSO Mornings: Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony Brahms and Tchaikovsky
The Heart of the Violin: James Ehnes Seasons: Vivaldi and more
Acknowledging Country
In the first project of its kind in Australia, the MSO has developed a musical Acknowledgment of Country with music composed by Yorta Yorta composer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, featuring Indigenous languages from across Victoria.
Generously supported by Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and the Commonwealth Government through the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, the MSO is working in partnership with Short Black Opera and Indigenous language custodians who are generously sharing their cultural knowledge.
The Acknowledgement of Country allows us to pay our respects to the traditional owners of the land on which we perform in the language of that country and in the orchestral language of music.
About Long Time Living Here
As a Yorta Yorta/Yuin composer the responsibility I carry to assist the MSO in delivering a respectful acknowledgement of country is a privilege which I take very seriously. I have a duty of care to my ancestors and to the ancestors on whose land the MSO works and performs. As MSO continues to grow its knowledge and understanding of what it means to truly honour the First people of this land, the musical acknowledgment of country will serve to bring those on stage and those in the audience together in a moment of recognition as as we celebrate the longest continuing cultures in the world.
– Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO
Our musical Acknowledgment of Country, Long Time Living Here by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, is performed at MSO concerts.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is Australia’s preeminent orchestra, dedicated to creating meaningful experiences that transcend borders and connect communities. Through the shared language of music, the MSO delivers performances of the highest standard, enriching lives and inspiring audiences across the globe.
Woven into the cultural fabric of Victoria and with a history spanning more than a century, the MSO reaches five million people annually through performances, TV, radio, and online broadcasts, as well as critically acclaimed recordings from its newly established recording label.
In 2025, Jaime Martín continues to lead the Orchestra as Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor. Maestro Martín leads an Artistic Family that includes Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor—Learning and Engagement Benjamin Northey, Cybec Assistant Conductor Leonard Weiss, MSO Chorus Director Warren Trevelyan-Jones, Composer in Residence Liza Lim AM, Artist in Residence James Ehnes, First Nations Creative Chair Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, Cybec Young Composer in Residence Klearhos Murphy, Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence James Henry, Artist in Residence, Learning & Engagement Karen Kyriakou, Young Artist in Association Christian Li, and Artistic Ambassadors Tan Dun, Lu Siqing and Xian Zhang.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra respectfully acknowledges the people of the Eastern Kulin Nations, on whose un‑ceded lands we honour the continuation of the oldest music practice in the world.
First Violins
Tair Khisambeev
Acting Associate
Concertmaster
Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio #
Anne-Marie Johnson
Acting Assistant Concertmaster
David Horowicz#
Peter Edwards
Assistant Principal
Sarah Curro
Dr Harry Imber#
Peter Fellin
Deborah Goodall
Karla Hanna
Lorraine Hook
Kirstin Kenny
Eleanor Mancini
Anne Neil#
Mark Mogilevski
Michelle Ruffolo
Anna Skálová
Kathryn Taylor
Your MSO
Second Violins
Matthew Tomkins
Principal
The Gross Foundation#
Monica Curro
Assistant Principal
Dr Mary Jane Gething AO#
Mary Allison
Isin Cakmakçioglu
Tiffany Cheng
Glenn Sedgwick#
Freya Franzen
Cong Gu
Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield#
Andrew Hall
Robert Macindoe
Isy Wasserman
Philippa West
Andrew Dudgeon AM#
Patrick Wong
Cecilie Hall#
Roger Young
Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan#
Violas
Christopher Moore
Principal
Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio #
Lauren Brigden
Katharine Brockman
Anthony Chataway
Peter T Kempen AM#
William Clark
Morris and Helen Margolis #
Aidan Filshie
Gabrielle Halloran
Jenny Khafagi
Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson#
Fiona Sargeant
Cellos
David Berlin
Principal
Rachael Tobin
Associate Principal
Elina Faskhi
Assistant Principal
Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio #
Rohan de Korte
Andrew Dudgeon AM#
Sarah Morse
Rebecca Proietto
Peter T Kempen AM#
Angela Sargeant
Caleb Wong
Michelle Wood
Double Basses
Jonathon Coco Principal
Stephen Newton
Acting Associate Principal
Rohan Dasika
Acting Assistant Principal
Benjamin Hanlon
Suzanne Lee
Flutes
Prudence Davis
Principal
Jean Hadges #
Wendy Clarke
Associate Principal
Sarah Beggs
Piccolo
Andrew Macleod
Principal
Oboes
Michael Pisani
Acting Principal
Ann Blackburn
Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson#
Cor Anglais
Rachel Curkpatrick Acting Principal
Clarinets
David Thomas Principal
Philip Arkinstall
Associate Principal
Craig Hill
Rosemary and the late Douglas Meagher#
Bass Clarinet
Jonathan Craven Principal
Bassoons
Jack Schiller
Principal
Dr Harry Imber#
Elise Millman
Associate Principal
Natasha Thomas
Patricia Nilsson# Contrabassoon
Brock Imison Principal
Horns
Nicolas Fleury Principal
Margaret Jackson AC #
Peter Luff
Acting Associate Principal
Saul Lewis
Principal Third
The late Hon Michael Watt KC and Cecilie Hall#
Abbey Edlin
The Hanlon Foundation#
Josiah Kop
Rachel Shaw
Professor Gary McPherson#
Trumpets
Owen Morris Principal
Shane Hooton
Associate Principal
Glenn Sedgwick#
Rosie Turner
Dr John and Diana Frew#
Learn more about our musicians on the MSO website. # Position supported by
Trombone
Don Immel
Acting Principal
Richard Shirley
Bass Trombone
Michael Szabo
Principal
Tuba
Timothy Buzbee Principal
Timpani
Matthew Thomas Principal
Percussion
Shaun Trubiano Principal
John Arcaro
Tim and Lyn Edward#
Robert Cossom
Drs Rhyl Wade and Clem Gruen#
Harp
Yinuo Mu Principal
Pauline and David Lawton#
James Ehnes
2025 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
When violinist James Ehnes arrives in Melbourne this month to step into his role as MSO Artist in Residence, it will represent the culmination of months of planning and celebrate a relationship that has been 17 years in the making.
“My first performance in Australia was with the MSO in Geelong,” he says, recalling a performance of the Bernstein Serenade in 2008. The following week he was at Hamer Hall playing Tchaikovsky; regular invitations followed. Melbourne can’t get enough of James Ehnes, and the feeling is mutual. “I feel very much at home in Melbourne,” he says. “Australia reminds me of my native Canada, but like the hot version.”
The Artist in Residence role has professional and personal significance for Ehnes, and both he and the MSO were determined that it would be meaningful. The tyranny of distance and a condensed time frame brought certain limitations, but “I wanted it to be more, and they wanted it to be more”. The result is an intensive month with three concert programs and a masterclass.
Ehnes’s MSO projects have always gone beyond the “typical in and out concerto date”. Many have been play-direct programs, leading the performance from the violin without a conductor. But then, Ehnes is more than the typical touring virtuoso. He also leads the Ehnes Quartet and is artistic director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society, and he brings a programmer’s sensibility to his guest engagements.
The Heart of the Violin is a play-direct concert in which he’s programmed two miniatures by New York composer Jessie Montgomery. Montgomery is no stranger to Melbourne audiences—both Strum and Starburst have been heard here in recent years. “These pieces have caught public attention,” says Ehnes, “because they’re fun and inventive and good to listen to.”
The Montgomery pieces are joined by a Mozart violin concerto (K.218)—“it’s one of the reasons I play the violin”— and Dvořák’s Serenade for strings. “It’s not easy to do the Dvořák without a conductor, but it’s very rewarding because it requires a certain kind of immersion and commitment.”
One key to a successful conductorless performance is allowing enough rehearsal time to “truly dive into things”, another is mutual trust in a collaborative process. There are practical limitations, since Ehnes can’t be playing and giving conductor-like direction at all times, but he’s emphatic when asked if there are interpretative limitations. “No. Some
Australia reminds me of my native Canada, but like the hot version.
things might be harder to do, but there’s nothing that can’t be done. A good play-direct program is one where you can achieve everything you could with a conductor, but which also takes on a distinctive personality that might be very difficult to do with a conductor.”
At the end of March, Ehnes reprises Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, this time in the compelling context of a First Nations vision of the seasons. It’s a reminder that Vivaldi’s descriptive concertos can bring surprises, despite their familiarity.
“I grew up in Central Manitoba,” Ehnes explains, “and in winter, Vivaldi’s sonnet is talking about the rain, and I was so confused because it doesn’t rain in winter in Canada. And summer is such a wonderful time of year, but in Italy it’s full of storms and incredibly hot. So when I learned those concertos as a boy, my preconceptions didn’t fit the music.” Perhaps Melbourne, where four seasons in one day is de rigeur, is the perfect location for Seasons: Vivaldi & More.
In April, Ehnes returns for the residency’s capstone, playing the Brahms Violin Concerto in his first concert with chief conductor Jaime Martín. The program is an intriguing one, pairing the Brahms with Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, and it catches his imagination as a whole. “When I put programs together in Seattle,” he explains, “I explore all sorts of connections and themes, but the most important thing for me is: ‘Would I go to that concert?’ And when I see this concert, I think, ‘Yeah, I would come a long way to go to that concert!’”
Fifteen thousand kilometres, give or take, we can be very glad he did!
Pre-concert talk: 6 & 8 March at 6.45pm in the Stalls Foyer on Level 2 at Hamer Hall.
Learn more about the performance at a pre-concert presentation with Composer in Residence Liza Lim and percussionist Kaylie Melville.
For a list of musicians performing in this concert, please visit mso.com.au/musicians
Running time: approx. 2 hours including interval. Timings listed are approximate.
Jaime Martín conductor
Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2022, and Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 2019, with those roles currently extended until 2028 and 2027 respectively, Spanish conductor Jaime Martín also takes up the role of Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from the 24/25 season, and has held past positions as Chief Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (2019–2024), Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (Spanish National Orchestra) (2022–2024) and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra (2013–2022).
Having spent many years as a highly regarded flautist, Jaime turned to conducting full-time in 2013. Recent and future engagements include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, as well as a nine-city European tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jaime Martín is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in London, and in 2022 the jury of Spain’s Premios Nacionales de Música awarded him their annual prize for his contribution to classical music.
Jaime Martín’s Chief Conductor Chair is supported by the Besen Family Foundation in memory of Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AC.
Nicolas Altstaedt cello
Cellist & conductor Nicolas Altstaedt is one of classical music’s most versatile and sought-after artists, performing repertoire spanning from early music to contemporary on both period and modern instruments.
2024/25 highlights include debuts with Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as returns to Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Philharmonia Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Altstaedt collaborates with Münchener Kammerorchester throughout the season as Artist in Focus, and makes his debut at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Summer 2025.
Since his debut with Wiener Philharmoniker, notable collaborations have included Budapest Festival Orchestra, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Helsinki Festival, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Bamberger Symphoniker, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, every BBC orchestra, Orchestre National de France, NHK and Yomiuri symphony orchestras, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, NAC Orchestra, Ottawa, Sydney and New Zealand symphony orchestras, and Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Program Notes
Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
La Valse
Just as Milhaud’s La Création du monde could be looked on as a French composer’s snapshot of American jazz, La Valse is a peculiarly French retrospective view of the Viennese waltz. Ravel had a great love for the Viennese waltz, and in particular its lilting rhythm and joiede vivre. In 1906, he had begun a homage to Johann Strauss II, at one stage entitled Wien (Vienna). This was never completed, and in 1911, following Schubert’s precedent (and Schubert’s use of a French title) he composed his Valses nobles et sentimentales.
After service in the First World War, Ravel wished to renew the successes he had enjoyed with Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes before the war. He rewrote Wien under the title La Valse, completing it in the summer of 1920, by which time he was living outside Paris, at Montfort l’Amaury in a house called Le Belvédere.
Liza Lim composer
He subtitled La Valse ‘a choreographic poem’. Diaghilev did not take the hint, and the work was first performed as an orchestral piece at the Concerts Lamoureux in December 1920.
It was eventually established in the ballet repertoire by Ida Rubinstein’s troupe, with a series of productions in 1928, 1931 and 1934. La Valse has been criticised by some as a ‘pastiche’, but Ravel’s own comments on the work suggest that he was trying to do something subtler than simply apeing the Strauss family: ‘I had intended this as a kind of apotheosis of the Viennese waltz, linked in my mind with the impression of a fantastic and fatal whirling.’ The score bears the following preface: Through rifts in eddying clouds waltzing couples can be glimpsed. The clouds disperse little by little; one makes out an immense hall filled with a whirling crowd. The scene progressively lightens. The light of the chandeliers bursts forth. An Imperial Court about 1855.
Liza Lim is a composer, educator and researcher whose music focusses on collaborative and transcultural practices. Beauty, rage & noise, ecological connection, and female spiritual lineages are at the heart of recent works. Her work Extinction Events and Dawn Chorus (2018) has found especially wide resonance internationally. Extensively commissioned by some of the world’s pre-eminent orchestras and ensembles, Lim is Sculthorpe Chair of Australian Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Lim’s catalogue ranges from solos and chamber music embedded in essential repertoire lists worldwide, to five strikingly different operas. Her music is published by Ricordi Berlin.
Liza Lim (b. 1966)
A Sutured World
Soloist
Nicolas Altstaedt cello
The composer writes:
For solo cello and orchestra
Dedicated to Nicolas Altstaedt
The word ‘suture’ refers to stitching up a wound or an incision. That in turn evokes things in the world (humans, creatures, landscapes etc) that are torn, lacerated, and wounded, and processes of sewing and binding edges together for healing. In surgery, making repair of the body with sutures results in scars. But rather than ugliness, think of the Japanese art of kintsugi in which broken pottery pieces are re-joined with gold lacquer— instead of the damage being hidden, the imperfect lines of the join are illuminated.
Also interesting is that the English/ Latin root for ‘suture’ is the same as the Sanskrit ‘sutra’ (or Pali ‘sutta’), i.e., to sew. The Buddhist sutras were sewn texts: palm leaves bound by thread. Thread, string, yarn, sewing—the sutras and sutures weave story lines: scars that shed light, brokenness that is stitched into new life.
The work is in 4 sections: take this broken wing… Chrysalis
Sutra
Simon says: Alle Vögel fliegen hoch
Co-commissioned by the Symphonie orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/ musica viva, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam ‘Cello Biennale, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Casa da Música (for Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música).
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
Symphony No.4
I. Andante sostenuto–Moderato con anima
II. Andantino in modo di canzona
III. Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato–Allegro
IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco
A traumatic time for Tchaikovsky personally, 1877–78 was nevertheless one of his most fruitful compositional periods. His ill-fated marriage to Antonina Ivanovna Milyukova in July 1877 lasted only two months. It was no secret to Antonina that Tchaikovsky was a homosexual but apart from that they had little in common and spent most of their marriage apart. Tchaikovsky attempted suicide by trying to catch pneumonia standing in an icy river and his doctor ordered that he separate from Antonina.
Although he warned people against reading too much into his music, Tchaikovsky’s major works from this period—his opera Eugene Onegin, concerned with the perils of emotional candour, and the Fourth Symphony—seem to have been affected by this traumatic event. The symphony was dedicated to his ‘best friend’ and patron Nadezha von Meck, a wealthy widow with whom Tchaikovsky corresponded for 14 years (although they never met).
Its much-discussed program, written retrospectively to pacify von Meck, describes the struggles of life, some of which can be heard in the music. The opening movement begins with horns announcing the ‘fate’ theme, ‘that fatal force which prevents the impulse to happiness from attaining its goal...which hangs above your head like the sword of Damocles. ’Comparisons to Beethoven’s ‘fate’ motive from the opening of his Fifth Symphony have been made. Tchaikovsky
noted to his student Sergei Taneyev that ‘in essence my symphony imitates Beethoven’s Fifth; that is, I was not imitating its musical thoughts, but the fundamental [fate] idea. ’The second movement can be heard as a nostalgic reflection on life. As Tchaikovsky wrote to von Meck, ‘How sad to think that so much has been, so much is gone! We regret the past, yet we have neither the courage nor the desire to begin life afresh. We are weary of existence.’
The scherzo is unique in that the string section plays entirely pizzicato. ‘Suddenly arises the memory of a drunken peasant and a ribald song, and military music in the distance. Such disconnected images flit through the brain as one sinks into a tipsy slumber. They have nothing to do with reality; they are incomprehensible, bizarre and fragmentary.’ The balletic opening to the finale promises a more joyful outlook than the opening movement. ‘If you cannot discover reasons for happiness in yourself, look at others. Get out among the people. Look what a good time they have simply surrendering themselves to joy.’
Artist biographies and program notes for this performance can be found beginning on page 11.
Concert Events
Pre-concert talk: 7 March at 10.15am in the Stalls Foyer on Level 2 at Hamer Hall.
Learn more about the performance at a pre-concert presentation with producer and broadcaster, Sascha Kelly.
Running time: approx. 1 hour, no interval. Timings listed are approximate. For a list of musicians performing in this concert, please visit mso.com.au/musicians
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Artists
Brahms and Tchaikovsky
13 March
Melbourne Town Hall
14 March
Costa Hall, Geelong
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Umberto Clerici conductor
Elina Faskhi cello
Program
Elgar Introduction and Allegro [13']
Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme [18']
Interval [20']
Brahms Symphony No.3 [38']
Concert Events
Pre-concert organ recital: 13 March, 6.30pm at Melbourne Town Hall with Calvin Bowman.
Pre-concert talk: 14 March, 6.45pm at Costa Hall, Geelong with composer, pianist and presenter, Kym Dillon.
For a list of musicians performing in this concert, please visit mso.com.au/musicians
Running time: approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes, including interval. Timings listed are approximate.
MSO’s Geelong performance is supported by AWM Electrical, Freemasons Foundation Victoria and the Robert Salzer Foundation.
Umberto Clerici conductor
After a career spanning more than 20 years as a gifted cello soloist and orchestral musician, Umberto Clerici has consolidated his diverse artist achievements to rapid acclaim as a conductor. Umberto is now the Chief Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
It was in Sydney in 2018 that Umberto made his conducting debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House. Following a swift trajectory of prestigious conducting engagements, Umberto is now in high demand across Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
In addition to his role Chief Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Umberto’s recent conducting engagements include Elgar’s cello concerto with Steven Isserlis for the Volksoper Vienna, and debuts with Orchestra del Teatro Massimo in Palermo and Orchestra Regionale Toscana. Umberto has also curated a three-week series with the Sydney Symphony for ‘Symphony Hour’ and returned to the podiums of the Dunedin, Melbourne and West Australian Symphony Orchestras.
Highlights in 2025 will include conducting Daniil Trifonov playing Rachmaninov’s piano concerto No.3 with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, a return to Teatro Massimo in Palermo and his second collaboration with Opera Queensland for which Umberto will conduct Puccini’s La Boheme. Umberto looks forward to returning to the Melbourne, Sydney and West Australian Symphony Orchestras.
Elina Faskhi cello
Elina Faskhi is one of the most exciting young cellists in Australia, known for her “strikingly powerful and melodious” (Classic Melbourne) expression. Born in Ufa, Russia into a family of musicians, she studied at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Prof. Igor Gavrysh, Prof. Irons Kandinskaya and Vladimir Balshin (Borodin Quartet). She has been a member of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia and also held a position as Assistant Principal Cellist at the Hyogo Performing Arts Centre Orchestra in Japan.
Elina is a winner of many international competitions such as the Knushevitsky International Cello Competition, the Sergei Prokofiev Chamber Music Competition and the Leopold and Mstislav Rostropovich Violin and Cello Competition. She has received scholarships from foundations such as the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bashkortostan and Russian Federation, and the Vladimir Spivakov International Foundation. She has performed in some of the most prestigious halls in Russia, Europe and Japan as a soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Yaroslavl Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and the Saratov Philharmonic Orchestra.
Edward Elgar (1857–1934)
Program Notes
Introduction and Allegro, Op.47
In Elgar’s masterly Introduction and Allegro the listener is swept along, delighted and moved by the composer’s invention, only later noticing the skill with which this effect has been achieved. This lays some claim to being Elgar’s most perfect work. When its form is analysed it reveals considerable debt to both Classical and Baroque music, in particular to Handel’s concerto grosso form (in the layout for solo string quartet and full string orchestra), and to Haydn’s later symphonies (in the way the Introduction’s material is worked into the main body of the Allegro). But Elgar’s relation to the music of the past was a free and creative one, and rather than any similarity to other music, it is his excitement as he tackled the idea of this piece which comes across most strongly. Elgar’s friend and publisher Jaeger (‘Nimrod’ of the Enigma Variations) had suggested to him in 1904 that he compose a piece for strings: ‘a real bring down the house torrent of a thing such as Bach could write...You might even write a modern fugue.’
Three months later Elgar wrote to Jaeger: ‘I’m doing that string thing—Intro. and Allegro—no working-out part but a devil of a fugue instead. G major and the said divvel in G minor with all sorts of japes and counterpoint.’ As Elgar says, the fugue is on a subject unrelated to any of the music heard thus far, but against it the string quartet begins to develop phrases from the first part of the Allegro. A violinist himself, Elgar obviously enjoyed rich and varied string sonorities. In the Introduction and Allegro the sound is ‘really stringy in effect’, to use Elgar’s
own phrase. The players of the string quartet are used as an ensemble, as individual soloists, and sometimes as part of the orchestra, which is itself divided at times into eight or nine parts. The techniques, as summarised by Elgar’s biographer Diana McVeagh, aim both at power and at subtlety: power through such devices as a quaver rest before attacks on big chords, triple stopping, grace notes to increase sonority and strengthen rhythm, and a calculated use of open strings for brilliance of sound; subtlety through muting, tremolos played near the bridge, and the smack of a plucked chord at the very end after the long-sustained sonority off ull bowing.
Perhaps the powerful impression made by the Introduction and Allegro owes most of all to its emotional content. As Elgar tells us in his own program note, ‘The work is really a tribute to that sweet borderland where I have made my home.’ His house in Hereford stood above the Wye River, where in 1904 he heard a voice in the distance singing a song. The song in turn reminded him of some music he had heard a choir singing in Cardiganshire three years earlier. This Welsh tune, whose melodic outline he jotted down, became the third theme of the Introduction, where it is introduced by a solo viola. It is preceded by a strong downward-sweeping theme for the full band, to which the quartet replies with a wistfully rising and falling theme, over which Elgar wrote ‘smiling with a sigh’. In the recapitulation which follows the fugue, the themes are compressed by closer weaving of the texture, and the piece culminates in Elgar’s typical emotionally heightened nobilmente manner, ending with a radiant extension of the Welsh tune
A nostalgia for the world of the 18th century, thought of as refined, elegant and gently civilised, is never far from the surface in the highly Romantic art of Tchaikovsky, and it was Mozart who symbolised for him the best of the former century. Whatever the term ‘rococo’ may mean, to Tchaikovsky it meant Mozart. This set of variations is his finest tribute to his idol’s art.
In no way does it detract from the success of Tchaikovsky’s Variations that the Mozart he emulates contains no turbulent emotions. In short, the Variations are far from the real Mozart. Charming, elegant, deftly written, they are equally gratifying to virtuoso cellists and to audiences. The light and airy accompaniment, which enables the cello to stand out beautifully, is for 18th-century forces: double winds, two horns and strings. Tchaikovsky composed the work in 1876 (shortly before beginning his Fourth Symphony) for a cellist and fellow professor at the Moscow Conservatorium, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen. Fitzenhagen had requested a concertolike piece for his recital tours, so it was natural that Tchaikovsky first completed
the Variations in a scoring for cello and piano. Before orchestrating it, he gave the music to Fitzenhagen, who made changes in the solo part, in places pasting his own versions over Tchaikovsky’s.
The first performance was of the orchestral version, in November 1877. Tchaikovsky couldn’t attend since he had left Russia to recover from his disastrous marriage. Fitzenhagen retained the score, and it was he who passed it on to the publisher, Jurgenson. The cello and piano version was the first to appear in print, in autumn 1878, with substantial alterations which Fitzenhagen claimed were authorised but about which Tchaikovsky complained somewhat bitterly. But by the time Jurgenson came to publish the Rococo Variations in orchestral form, ten years had elapsed, during which Fitzenhagen had performed the work successfully both inside and outside Russia, and it had entered the repertoire. When Fitzenhagen’s pupil, Anatoly Brandukov, asked Tchaikovsky what he was going to do about Jurgenson’s publication of the Fitzenhagen version, the composer replied, ‘The devil take it! Let it stand as it is!’
The theme, which determines the character of the Variations, is Tchaikovsky’s own. It has an orchestral postlude, with a final question from the cello. This, increasingly varied, rounds off most of the Variations. The first two of these are fairly closely based on the theme. These are followed by a leisurely slow waltz, the expressive heart of the Variations. In Variation IV, Tchaikovsky gives the theme a different rhythm and incorporates some bravura flourishes. In the fifth variation the flute has the theme, but the cello solo has its most substantial cadenza at the end of this variation which leads into the soulful slow variation, number six. It was this variation that, without fail, drew stormy applause on Fitzenhagen’s recital tours. The final variation begins with the solo
part establishing its own particular rhythmic interpretation of the theme, a delightful way of upping the activity, which continues into the coda.
Brahms spent the summer of 1883 in the German spa-town of Wiesbaden. There he produced his Third Symphony in a mere four months. It is the shortest of Brahms’ symphonies, but for this obsessively self-critical composer that was almost miraculous. Hans Richter, who conducted the first performance in Vienna, was perhaps a little over the top in calling it ‘Brahms’ Eroica’, and yet it is a work that essays many emotional states in a highly dramatic fashion, and leads to a conclusion of great peace.
Thirty years earlier, Brahms had contributed the ‘F-A-E Sonata’, a work jointly composed with Albert Dietrich and Robert Schumann in honour of violinist Joseph Joachim. The letters stand for Joachim’s personal motto ‘frei aber einsam’ (free but lonely) and provide a musical motif that unites the work. Brahms responded that his own motto was ‘frei aber froh’ (free but happy). The musical version of this, F-A-F, dominates the Third Symphony, which was written partly as a ‘proffered hand’ or gesture of reconciliation by Brahms, who had fallen out with Joachim over the latter’s divorce some years earlier.
The motif provides the assertive opening gesture, where it is ‘spelled’ F-A flat-F: in F major, the A flat is chromatic, thus
providing a dramatic dissonance at the work’s outset. This pattern—the first, third and eighth degrees of the scale— can be found throughout the whole work, as melodic feature, accompanying figure, or seemingly inconsequential detail. But the major-minor tension pervades the work, giving it its moments of ‘heroic’ drama. The work’s dramatic unity is also effected by its overall tonal plan: the outer movements are, naturally, centred on the home key of F, while the inner movements focus on its polar opposite C. This simple architecture is decorated at the more local level by much more surprising key relations. The F major/A flat opening is a case in point; the first subject, or thematic group, is a surging music in F major, but the second, a serene tune sounded by clarinet and bassoon, is in the distant key of A major. A short development leads to the expected recapitulation of the opening material; more important, though, is Brahms’ gradual lowering of the temperature to conclude the movement—as he does with all four in this work—softly and calmly.
The Andante takes up the pastoral sounds of clarinet and bassoon, alternating wind textures with quiet lower-string passages at first, and such textures moderate any impassioned outbursts. The third movement is effectively a minuet. Its main theme, characterised by gentle dissonance on the downbeats, is sung first by the cellos. After a contrasting central section, the opening material is recapitulated but in completely different instrumentation. The dramatic focus of the symphony, however, is the finale, where assertive, often terse rhythmic ideas contend with athletic, longbreathed melodies. After boisterous heroics, the music reaches a state of repose where, against rippling strings, the winds restate the opening F-A flat-F moment, now purged of any Angst.
Pre-concert talk: 21 March, 6.45pm at Ballarat Civic Hall with celloist, Michelle Wood.
Pre-concert talk: 22 March, 6.45pm at Melbourne Recital Centre with celloist, Michelle Wood.
For a list of musicians performing in this concert, please visit mso.com.au/musicians
Running time: approx. 1 hour and 40 minutes, including interval. Timings listed are approximate.
MSO’s Ballarat performance is supported by AWM Electrical, Freemasons Foundation Victoria and the Robert Salzer Foundation.
James Ehnes director / violin
2025 Artist in Residence
James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after musicians on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and an unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favourite guest at the world’s most celebrated concert halls.
Recent orchestral highlights include the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, TonhalleOrchester Zürich, London Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra.
Ehnes has an extensive discography and has won many awards for his recordings, including two GRAMMYs, three Gramophone Awards and twelve Juno Awards. In 2021, Ehnes was announced as the recipient of the coveted Artist of the Year title in the 2021 Gramophone Awards which celebrated his recent contributions to the recording industry, including the launch of a new online recital series entitled ‘Recitals from Home’ which was released in June 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of concert halls.
Ehnes began violin studies at the age of five, became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin aged nine, and made his orchestra debut with L’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal aged 13. He continued his studies with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and The Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation in 1997. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, where he is a Visiting Professor. As of summer 2024, he is a Professor of Violin at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.
Program Notes
Jessie Montgomery (b. 1981)
Strum
The composer writes:
Strum is the culminating result of several versions of a string quintet I wrote in 2006. It was originally written for the Providence String Quartet and guests of Community Music Works Players, then arranged for string quartet in 2008 with several small revisions. In 2012 the piece underwent its final revisions with a rewrite of both the introduction and the ending for the Catalyst Quartet in a performance celebrating the 15th annual Sphinx Competition.
Originally conceived for the formation of a cello quintet, the voicing is often spread wide over the ensemble, giving the music an expansive quality of sound. Within Strum I utilised texture motives, layers of rhythmic or harmonic ostinati that string together to form a bed of sound for melodies to weave in and out. The strumming pizzicato serves as a texture motive and the primary driving rhythmic underpinning of the piece. Drawing on American folk idioms and the spirit of dance and movement, the piece has a kind of narrative that begins with fleeting nostalgia and transforms into ecstatic celebration.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Violin Concerto No.4 in D, K218
I. Allegro
II. Andante Cantabile
III. Rondeau (Andante grazioso–Allegro ma non troppo, alternating)
Soloist
James Ehnes violin
Mozart father once suggested to him that the best way to introduce himself in a place where he wasn’t known was to play a violin concerto. It is easy to take for granted how masterly are Mozart’s violin concertos, because they are not as great as the best of his piano concertos. We think of Mozart as a pianist, and the most that many people know about his violin playing comes from letters written to him by his father Leopold, one of the leading violin teachers of the time, exhorting him not to give up practicing, and claiming that he could be, if he worked at it, the finest violinist in Europe.
Mozart composed all but the first of his five violin concertos, including this one, in a sustained burst in 1775 when he was 19. They have sometimes been regarded as attempts to please his father rather than himself. Yet none of the piano concertos Mozart had written up to this time show the maturity of conception of the last three of these violin concertos, the ones in G, K.216, in D, K.218, and in A, K.219.
It was after Mozart left Salzburg for Vienna, which he called ‘the land of the piano’, that his concerto energies flowed exclusively into keyboard works. He wrote no further violin concertos. Of the countless violin concertos composed in the 18th century, the standard modern ‘symphony concert’ repertoire retains
only a few of Vivaldi’s, those of J.S. Bach, and Mozart’s. Mozart’s violin concertos are standard because they are very good music. Listening illustrates this better than words, but part of it is that the musical ideas are so strong, and there are so many of them. Mozart, even at this age, can organise his many ideas concisely and convincingly. Composing opera, his main preoccupation, has already taught him how to make the soloist the protagonist in a drama. The solo violin parts of these concertos put musical substance and idiomatic writing for the instrument ahead of virtuoso display.
This wasn’t because Mozart’s own violin technique was limited. The concertos were possibly intended not for him but for his Salzburg colleague Antonio Brunetti (first violin and soloist in the Court Orchestra). Both men certainly played at least some of them, and Brunetti himself said, ‘Mozart could play anything.’ In some of Mozart’s Serenades, which he did play, the solo violin parts are more brilliant than anything in the concertos. The style of the concertos was a matter of preference—a direct, uncluttered mode of expression in writing for the violin.
Concerto No.4, in D, is similar to its immediate predecessor of a few weeks earlier, No.3 in G. It is also more brilliant and sonorous, as one might expect from the brighter key. Indeed, it opens with fanfare figures suggesting trumpets and drums, though the orchestra contains neither. The horns and oboes are used more assertively. Mozart has so many ideas that he can afford to throw some away: the theme of the opening tutti, although it is repeated by the soloist, does not appear again, either in development or recapitulation. The soloist’s part is almost continuous, without the interchanges with the orchestra which mark the previous concerto. The most memorable of the many themes is the sinuous one presented by the soloist in the lower register, with its
sudden forte. The impression left by this movement is of delightfully unpredictable regrouping of the material, rather than regular sonata form.
The slow movement, in A, has the soloist playing almost throughout. The opening theme is of the kind which used to be called ‘hymn-like’ when the more reposeful of Handel’s opera arias, which this rather resembles, were considered religious melodies. The loveliest passage has the oboe echoing the solo violin over tiptoeing figures from the strings.
Scholars don’t agree whether this concerto or the G major is the one referred to by Mozart and his father as ‘The Strassburger’. This is apparently a reference to the folk melody of that name, used in the last movement of one or other of these concertos. The finale of this D major concerto, at any rate, contains fascinating episodes of a popular cast. The alternation of metres, tempos and character is so rapid, yet so sure, that the effect is charmingly capricious rather than odd. The folk flavour is confirmed where a drone bass is produced by the oboe doubling the soloist’s long sustained low note. This episode is like a musette, in a movement appropriately given the French title Rondeau.
This brief one-movement work, originally for string orchestra and arranged and expanded for orchestra by Jannina Norpoth, is a play on imagery of rapidly changing musical colours. Exploding gestures are juxtaposed with gentle fleeting melodies in an attempt to create a multidimensional soundscape. A common definition of a starburst: “The rapid formation of large numbers of new stars in a galaxy at a rate high enough to alter the structure of the galaxy significantly.”
Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904)
Serenade for strings, Op.22
I. Moderato Tempo di Valse
II. Scherzo (Vivace)
III. Larghetto Finale (Allegro vivace)
Dvořák’s Serenade for strings was written during a period when he moved from anonymity to international success. He won the Austrian State Stipendium. One of the judges, Brahms, put him in touch with the publisher Simrock. And Simrock published Dvořák’s Moravian Duets and commissioned the Slavonic Dances, with which the 34-year-old began to achieve a reputation beyond his native Bohemia.
According to Dvořák’s manuscript, the score of the Serenade was ‘begun on 3 May 1875’ and ‘finished on 14 May at 10pm’. Not only was it quickly composed, but it came in the middle of a five-month creative frenzy which also saw the composition of the Piano Trio in B flat, Piano Quartet in D, and Fifth Symphony. Initially scheduled for a performance in Vienna under Hans Richter, it was ultimately premiered in Prague in 1876 under Adolf Čech.
The Serenade is in part conceived in the spirit of the 18th-century divertimento. Nonetheless Dvořák was never a composer to be hidebound by tradition and the extensive use of canon and the occasional suggestions of cyclic form indicate that there was also a more ‘modern’ impulse at work in its composition. It was, in fact, one of the first works in which the distinctive Dvořákian ‘voice’ became apparent and remains one of his most spontaneous and charming creations.
The first movement—in uncomplicated ternary form and based on a folk-like melody—begins with an imitative dialogue between the second violins and cellos, and as the movement develops it becomes deceptively complex in its string writing. It is followed by a waltz in C sharp minor in which the violins play the melancholy principal theme in octaves. An extended D flat major trio features extensive canonic repetition and includes an unusual modulation from D flat to E major.
The enigmatic Scherzo follows, beginning with a canon between the cellos and first violins which returns repeatedly throughout the movement. It is built on a whimsical main theme and two subsidiary melodies, which are treated almost like a rondo with coda. The emotional core of the work is the serene Larghetto. Then follows the Finale, starting, like the equivalent movement in the Fifth Symphony, in a ‘foreign’ key. The tonic of E major is only re-established with the second subject, where the violins dance over running semiquavers in the violas. The movement continually brings back earlier material, including, toward the end, the moderato theme from the first movement.
Ryman Healthcare Winter Gala with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jaime Martín
28 June 7.30pm
Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall
Lang Lang
Book Now mso.com.au/langlang
The MSO Gala Series is presented by MSO Premier Partner, Ryman Healthcare
Artists
Seasons: Vivaldi and more
28 & 29 March
Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Aaron Wyatt curator
Leonard Weiss* conductor
James Ehnes^ director / violin
* Cybec Assistant Conductor (conducting first half)
^ 2025 Artist in Residence (play/directing second half)
Aaron Wyatt’s work with the MSO is supported by the Sage Foundation. For information on the James Ehnes, please visit page 27
Program
James Henry* Boonwurrung Welcome Song [2']
Brenda Gifford Biwaawa^ [5']
Christopher Sainsbury Guwaea^ [6']
Adam Manning Hot Season** [8']
Aaron Wyatt Djeran^ [8']
James Henry* Warrin^ [6']
William Barton Elements of the Earth^ [10']
Interval [20']
Vivaldi The Four Seasons [37']
* Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence
** World Premiere of an MSO commission
^ Originally commissioned by Melbourne String Ensemble
Running time: approx. 2 hours including interval. Timings listed are approximate. For a list of musicians performing in this concert, please visit mso.com.au/musicians
The Seasons Project
The Seasons Project invites listeners to deepen their connections with Country and culture. Conceived in 2021 with the aim of broadening our understanding and representation of First Nations seasons, the project commissions new works informed by the seasonal knowledges of First Nations communities and artists from across Australia. These works are curated within performance and education programs.
The Seasons Project premiered in 2022 with a collection of compositions that articulate a First Nations season for string orchestra, composed by First Nation’s artists. These compositions were paired in performance with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, creating a dialogue between traditional and contemporary perspectives while learning with Country and First Nations voices.
Original Concept Caitlin Williams. Realised and developed by Caitlin Williams, Creative Producer, Fintan Murphy, MSE Artistic Director & Conductor and Imogen Williams, Development.
Learn more at mse.org.au/programs/seasons-project/
Leonard Weiss conductor
Australian conductor Leonard Weiss CF is rapidly building a dynamic career, having been selected as a Conducting Fellow for the 2025 Tanglewood Music Center. Under the mentorship of Andris Nelsons, he will conduct approximately a dozen concerts with the TMC Orchestra this summer, culminating in a prestigious 2026 mainstage debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, shared with Nelsons as part of their subscription series.
As the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Cybec Assistant Conductor, Leonard recently made his debut at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and continues to lead a variety of exciting programs this season, including national radio broadcasts and his Melbourne Recital Centre debut. Some of his upcoming engagements include his first appearance with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and return appearances in New Zealand. As a champion of living composers, Leonard has treasured the opportunity to premiere new music in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA, fuelled by a passion for both classical and contemporary music.
Among his recent accolades, Leonard has received the Mr and Mrs Gerald Frank New Churchill Fellowship, an Australia Council Career Development Grant, and an Ars Musica Australis Arts Fellowship. Leonard was a finalist for 2016 Young Australian of the Year, and was named 2016 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year for Youth Arts and Multimedia.
Leonard will be conducting the first half of Seasons.
Aaron Wyatt curator
Aaron is an accomplished violist and was a regular casual with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra before moving to Melbourne to take up an assistant lectureship at Monash. He plays with the award-winning Decibel New Music ensemble and has recently returned from the group’s UK tour. As well as performing with the ensemble, Aaron is the developer behind the Decibel ScorePlayer app, the group’s cutting edge, animated graphic notation software for the iPad. An emerging conductor, he was nominated for a Helpmann Award for his role as musical director of the premiere season of Cat Hope’s new opera, Speechless, at the 2019 Perth International Arts Festival.
He has since taken on the role of director of Ensemble Dutala, a group created by Deborah Cheetham AO to bring together Indigenous classical musicians from around the country. He premiered Cheetham’s new work, Nanyubak, for viola and orchestra as a soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2021 and became the first Indigenous Australian to conduct one of the state symphony orchestras in concert when conducting the MSO’s performance of Long Time Living Here at the Myer Music Bowl.
Program Notes
James Henry (b. 1979)
The Boonwurrung Song
Music by James Henry arranged by Taran Carter, Lyrics by Jarra Steel, Translation by Aunty Faye Muir.
Commissioned by the Boon Wurrung Foundation and the Footscray Community Arts Centre for the Due West Festival in 2019. Arrangement for string orchestra commissioned by Melbourne String Ensembles in 2022.
Commissioned by the Boon Wurrung Foundation and the Footscray Community Arts Centre for the Due West Festival in 2019, The Boonwurrung Song was developed by James Henry and Jarra Steele and translated to Boonwurrung language by Aunty Faye Muir. Their intention was to write a song that could be sung far and wide and allow non Aboriginal people to partake in local culture. In 2020 the song was adapted by Deborah Cheetham and performed by the MSO Shauntai Batzke at Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
In 2022 during MSE’s collaboration with James Henry for The Seasons Project, James and Jarra gave MSE permission to arrange the song for The Seasons Concert. Composer (and parent of MSE students) Taran Carter wrote the arrangement for string orchestra resulting in a stunning performance by James Henry and the MSE at Melbourne Recital Centre.
In 2023 James collaborated with MSE once again to workshop the song with MSE’s young musicians, teaching them the Boonwurrung words for a regional performance at the Foster Town Hall in September 2023. The MSE players performed the song with immense pride and respect. We understand that they were the first non-indigenous singers to perform the song in language. It has been
a privilege for MSE to collaborate with James and provide our young musicians with this learning experience.
Brenda Gifford (b. 1968)
Biwawaa
Commissioned in 2023 by Melbourne String Ensembles as part of The Seasons commissioning project.
The composer writes:
Biwaaawa (cold east wind in the Dhurga language). Biwawaa is strongest in Dhagarwa (winter). Sweeping up off the ocean to the headland and beyond. It can be biting and very cold. This piece is about my connection to country and the Gambambara (seasons) and elements that are part of that. It is cyclic and comes from my culture. I am Yuin.
Christopher Sainsbury (b. 1963)
Guwara
Commissioned in 2022 by Melbourne String Ensembles as part of The Seasons commissioning project.
The composer writes: Guwara means ‘high wind’ in the Dharug language which is the language of the Aboriginal people of Sydney and surrounds, including into the Blue Mountains and even lower parts of the Central Coast. The lower Central Coast is where I grew up, and Dharug is my heritage (which is also known as Eora). The melodies in the upper strings soar like high wind, and the lower strings have more robust rhythms that suggest the push and pull of strong winds. There are moments of repose, as if drifting high in the atmosphere above everything. It aligns with early spring when the
high winds come to the Sydney region. Using the word is to practise language reclamation for me.”
Adam Manning (b.
1981)
Hot Season
The composer writes:
Hot Season is a musical reflection on the shifting moods of summer, capturing both its joy and intensity. Inspired by the poem, the piece moves through three sections—each mirroring the elements of sun, fire, and rain. The opening embodies warmth and playfulness, with vibrant textures and shimmering harmonies evoking the golden sun and flowing waters. As the music progresses, an unsettling tension builds, mirroring the arrival of fire through rhythmic gestures and harmonic dissonance. The final section shifts as cooling rains arrive, bringing a sense of relief and renewal.
Aaron
Wyatt (b. 1982)
Djeran
Concerto for solo viola and strings - Stefanie Farrands as soloist for premiere performance Commissioned in 2023 by Melbourne String Ensembles as part of The Seasons commissioning project
The composer writes: Djeran is the Noongar season from April to May. Represented by the colour green, it is the time of year where the oppressive heat of the summer months finally gives way to cooler weather and dewy mornings. Where banksias start to flower, and the red gums and summer flame add their hue to the landscape. It is a time for renewed life and activity, and that took on a particularly personal note this year (and made the season an obvious choice) as my partner, Cathrin, and I welcomed our first child into the world. It is to him that this work is dedicated. (Life pro tip:
don’t take on a commission that’s due when you’re going to have a newborn to contend with if you want a stress-free existence.)
The work is in a single movement, but within that it has a condensed three movement structure. After a slow intro that brings us from the heat of the previous season, Bunuru, into Djeran, each of the three sections begins with a solo viola moment that sets the tone of what is to come. The first is a celebration of life. Of the return of water to a parched landscape, and of the birds, fresh water fish, and frogs that revel playfully in this.
The second section (from letter K) brings to mind a still, cool, starlit night. Some of the melodic fragments in the viola introduction are drawn from a simplified transcription of a koolbardi’s (magpie’s) song, while the ensemble entry brings with it an ode to our new child. The final section (from letter R) marks the coming of rains, the blooming of the red flowers that colour the season, and a drive to prepare for the cold of Makuru that lies ahead.
James
Henry (b. 1979)
Warrin
Commissioned in 2022 by Melbourne String Ensembles as part of The Seasons commissioning project
The composer writes:
I was honoured to have the blessing of the Wurundjeri people to write this piece representing their culture through an interpretation of ‘Warrin’ (Wombat Season). I am grateful to have Michelle Mills guide me on the information about the season and have her trust with my representation of it. Warrin season is marked by the behaviours of certain animals and cycles of vegetation. It is said to be broken up into two parts, the ‘early winter’ of April and May and
the ‘deep winter’ of June and mid-July. Musically the piece is inspired by animal movements, weather and Wurundjeri preparation for the colder and wetter months. The piece starts with a solo violin representing Bunjil (Wedge-tailed Eagle) in flight and finishes with a rain of pizzicato as soloists represent the Wurundjeri moving to higher land due to flooding.
William Barton (b. 1981)
Elements of the Earth
The composer writes: Winter—inspiration from my Kalkadungu country. As the cool air is embraced by the rst signs of the winter season, the sky descends upon the earth met by the upward draft. The sun descends through partially-birthed clouds, and as the fragments become crystallised, the transparent horizon cradles the morning gift of life.
The violins dance with the sunlight of dawn upon the delicate transparent vessel/skin of a water drop. Here the thoughts and memories of the winter sky ceremoniously gather as mystical mist spirits, at times calming the sometimes other-worldly wind ow, to become dust spirits dancing on the earth.
A memory. As the wintery sky eclipses the thoughts of the night, the stillness of the air ascends into a prism of light to the universe—a reection of the canvas of earth from an eagle’s eye view.
The deep red blue hues resonate a sound, a feeling, etched in time. The big sky country expands into an ocean of blue.
The bird song calls out to the translucent moon. Dancing on silverlined ghost gums by the rivers. Forever connected to the rivers of our mother country.
The shimmer of the strings sing with the ancient earth. Winter: a time of reection, strength, resilience, hope and survival. A necessary journey—a season of renewal. A time where life may stand still like the ghost gums by the river; like the etchings of our living Dreamtime on the canvas of our past on the cave walls. So much ancient wisdom our winter gives.
A beautiful season to reawaken the spirit. One of many seasons to appreciate in our cycle of life.
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
The Four Seasons
Concerto in E, RV 269, Laprimavera (Spring)
Allegro Largo Allegro
Concerto in G minor, RV315, L’estate (Summer)
Allegro non molto
Adagio–Presto
Presto
Concerto in F, RV 293, L’autunno (Autumn)
Allegro–Allegro assai
Adagio molto
Allegro
Concerto in F minor, RV 297, L’inverno (Winter)
Allegro non molto
Largo
Allegro
There was great excitement in 2010 when the score of a hitherto unknown flute concerto by Vivaldi was discovered. Despite the old jibe that Vivaldi ‘wrote the same thing 300 times’ he is now acknowledged as a key figure in the development of the concerto. Although
ordained a priest, Vivaldi spent his adult life as a composer and violinist. He pioneered the solo concerto, rather than the more common concerto grosso which had, at the very least, a pair of solo instruments.
This was in part a vehicle for his own virtuosity; Vivaldi also experimented with violin technique, developing methods like position shifts, the use of mutes and pizzicatoto create new sounds and effects, often with specifically illustrative intent. Vivaldi knew not to publish certain works in order to have exclusive use of them; he also, however, in his capacity as director of music at Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà—a high-class orphanage for girls—composed the first known concertos for cello, bassoon, mandolin and flautino(sopranino recorder). According to the available evidence, the students were very fine players indeed.
The Four Seasons forms part of Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (‘The Contest of Harmony and Invention’), Opus 8, which was published in 1725 in Amsterdam. The Four Seasons is a frankly programmatic work. French composers had a tradition of music imitating nature, but Vivaldi was one of the first Italian composers to experiment in this vein. Vivaldi’s rhetoric exquisitely depicts the seasons’ progress, described also in sonnets (possibly written by him) which he affixed to the score.
The bright opening of the first concerto reflects joy at the arrival of spring, and the soloist’s entry sets off a chain reaction of trilling birdcalls over a static bass. Rippling passages suggest running water, and the menace of distant thunder can be heard before the birds sing again. In the slow movement, a goatherd falls asleep among murmuring plants, not even disturbed by the repeated barking of his dog. In the finale Botticellian nymphs and shepherds perform a rustic dance with bagpipe drone.
Summer ’s first movement embodies a sense of heat-struck lassitude with only the intrepid cuckoo and turtledove calling, as the shepherd fears the encroaching storm. This apprehension is carried over into the unquiet slow movement, before the storm arrives in all its fury in the finale.
Autumn begins with peasants celebrating the harvest with dance and song, and, as the movement progresses Vivaldi creates a striking musical image of drunkenness. In the slow movement, the peasants sleep off their binge, before going hunting in the finale. This contrasts cantering ‘hunting’ music with the panic of the quarry, which is caught and killed.
Snow, ice, chattering teeth and a cruel wind inform the first movement of Winter, but for the slow movement we go indoors and enjoy a crackling fire as the rain beats on the windows. The finale begins with ice-skating, weaving different voices in slow-moving elegant arcs. The ice cracks, the skater shivers, and the four winds are unleashed.
Supported in memory of Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AC
Concertmaster Chair
Dr David Li AM and Angela Li
Cybec Assistant Conductor Chair
Leonard Weiss CF Cybec Foundation
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Cybec Young Composer in Residence
Naomi Dodd
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Louise Gourlay AM
Dr Rhyl Wade and Dr Clem Gruen
Louis J Hamon OAM
Dr Keith Higgins and Dr Jane Joshi
Geoff and Denise Illing
Dr Alastair Jackson AM
John Jones
Konfir Kabo
Merv Keehn and Sue Harlow
Suzanne Kirkham
Liza Lim AM
Lucas Family Foundation
Morris and Helen Margolis
Dr Isabel McLean
Gary and Ros McPherson
The Mercer Family Foundation
Myer Family Foundation
Suzie and Edgar Myer
Anne Neil in memory of Murray A. Neil
Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield
Sophie Oh
Jan and Keith Richards
Dr Rosemary Ayton and Professor Sam Ricketson AM
Guy Ross
Kate and Stephen Shelmerdine Foundation
Helen Silver AO and Harrison Young
Brian Snape AM
Dr Michael Soon
P & E Turner
The Upotipotpon Foundation
Mary Waldron
Janet Whiting AM and Phil Lukies
The Yulgilbar Foundation
Peter Yunghanns
Igor Zambelli
Anonymous (3)
Associate Patrons $2,500+
Barry and Margaret Amond
Marlyn Bancroft and Peter Bancroft OAM
Janet H Bell
Allen and Kathryn Bloom
Alan and Dr Jennifer Breschkin
Drs John D L Brookes and Lucy V Hanlon
Stuart Brown
Lynne Burgess
Dr Lynda Campbell
Oliver Carton
Leo de Lange
Sandra Dent
Rodney Dux
Diane and Stephen Fisher
Steele and Belinda Foster
Barry Fradkin OAM and Dr Pam Fradkin
Anthony Garvey and Estelle O’Callaghan
Susan and Gary Hearst
Janette Gill
R Goldberg and Family
Goldschlager Family Charitable Foundation
Colin Golvan AM KC and Dr Deborah Golvan
Jennifer Gorog
Miss Catherine Gray
Marshall Grosby and Margie Bromilow
Mr Ian Kennedy AM & Dr Sandra Hacker AO
Amy and Paul Jasper
Sandy Jenkins
Sue Johnston
Melissa Tonkin & George Kokkinos
Dr Jenny Lewis
David R Lloyd
Margaret and John Mason OAM
Ian McDonald
Dr Paul Nisselle AM
Simon O’Brien
Roger Parker and Ruth Parker
Alan and Dorothy Pattison
Ruth and Ralph Renard
James Ring
Tom and Elizabeth Romanowski
Dr Ronald and Elizabeth Rosanove
Christopher Menz and Peter Rose
Marshall Segan in memory of Berek Segan
OBE AM and Marysia Segan
Steinicke Family
Jenny Tatchell
Christina Turner
Bob Weis
Shirley and Jeffrey Zajac
Anonymous (5)
Player Patrons ($1,000+)
Dr Sally Adams
Jessica Agoston Cleary
Helena Anderson
Margaret Astbury
Geoffrey and Vivienne Baker
Mr Robin Batterham
Richard Bolitho
Joyce Bown
Elizabeth Brown
Suzie Brown OAM and the late Harvey Brown
Roger and Coll Buckle
Jill and Christopher Buckley
Dr Robin Burns and Dr Roger Douglas
Shayna Burns
Ronald and Kate Burnstein
Daniel Bushaway and Tess Hamilton
Peter A Caldwell
Alexandra Champion De Crespigny
John Chapman and Elisabeth Murphy
Joshua Chye
Kaye Cleary
Mrs Nola Daley
Panch Das and Laurel Young-Das
Caroline Davies
Michael Davies and Drina Staples
Rick and Sue Deering
John and Anne Duncan
Jane Edmanson OAM
Christopher R Fraser
Applebay Pty Ltd
David I Gibbs AM and Susie O’Neill
Sonia Gilderdale
Dr Celia Godfrey
Dr Marged Goode
Fred and Alexandra Grimwade
Hilary Hall in memory of Wilma Collie
David Hardy
Tilda and the late Brian Haughney
Cathy Henry
Gwenda Henry
Anthony and Karen Ho
Rod Home
Lorraine Hook
Doug Hooley
Katherine Horwood
Penelope Hughes
Shyama Jayaswal
Basil and Rita Jenkins
Jane Jenkins
Wendy Johnson
Angela Kayser
Drs Bruce and Natalie Kellett
Dr Anne Kennedy
Akira Kikkawa
Dr Richard Knafelc and Mr Grevis Beard
Tim Knaggs
Dr Jerry Koliha and Marlene Krelle
Jane Kunstler
Ann Lahore
Wilson and Anita Lai
Kerry Landman
Janet and Ross Lapworth
Bryan Lawrence
Phil Lewis
Andrew Lockwood
Elizabeth H Loftus
David Loggia
Chris and Anna Long
Wayne McDonald and Kay Schroer
Lisa and Brad Matthews
Lesley McMullin Foundation
Dr Eric Meadows
Ian Merrylees
Sylvia Miller
Ian Morrey and Geoffrey Minter
Susan Morgan
Anthony and Anna Morton
Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James
George Pappas AO in memory of J
illian Pappas
Ian Penboss
Kerryn Pratchett
Peter Priest
Professor Charles Qin OAM and Kate Ritchie
Eli and Lorraine Raskin
Michael Riordan and Geoffrey Bush
Cathy Rogers OAM and Dr Peter Rogers AM
Marie Rowland
Viorica Samson
Martin and Susan Shirley
P Shore
Kieran Sladen
Janet and Alex Starr
Dr Peter Strickland
Russell Taylor and Tara Obeyesekere
Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher
Margaret Toomey
Andrew and Penny Torok
Chris and Helen Trueman
Ann and Larry Turner
Dr Elsa Underhill and Professor Malcolm Rimmer
Jayde Walker
Edward and Paddy White
Patricia White
Nic and Ann Willcock
Dr Kelly and Dr Heathcote Wright
C.F. Yeung & Family Philanthropic Fund
Demetrio Zema
Anonymous (19)
Overture Patrons $500+
Margaret Abbey PSM
Jane Allan and Mark Redmond
Jenny Anderson
Doris Au
Lyn Bailey
Robbie Barker
Peter Berry and Amanda Quirk
Dr William Birch AM
Anne M Bowden
Stephen and Caroline Brain
Robert Bridgart
Miranda Brockman
Dr Robert Brook
Jungpin Chen
Robert and Katherine Coco
Dr John Collins
Warren Collins
Gregory Crew
Sue Cummings
Bruce Dudon
Dr Catherine Duncan
Margaret Flatman
Brian Florence
Martin Foley
Elizabeth Foster
Chris Freelance
M C Friday
Simon Gaites
George Miles
David and Geraldine Glenny
Hugo and Diane Goetze
The late George Hampel AM KC and Felicity Hampel AM SC
Alison Heard
Dr Jennifer Henry
C M Herd Endowment
Carole and Kenneth Hinchliff
William Holder
Peter and Jenny Hordern
Gillian Horwood
Oliver Hutton
Rob Jackson
Ian Jamieson
Leonora Kearney
Jennifer Kearney
John Keys
Leslie King
Dr Judith Kinnear
Katherine Kirby
Professor David Knowles and Dr Anne McLachlan
Heather Law
Peter Letts
Helen MacLean
Sandra Masel in memory of Leigh Masel
Janice Mayfield
Gail McKay
Jennifer McKean
Shirley A McKenzie
Richard McNeill
Marie Misiurak
Joan Mullumby
Adrian and Louise Nelson
Marian Neumann
Ed Newbigin
Valerie Newman
Dr Judith S Nimmo
Amanda O’Brien
Brendan O’Donnell
Phil Parker
Sarah Patterson
The Hon Chris Pearce and Andrea Pearce
William Ramirez
Geoffrey Ravenscroft
Dr Christopher Rees
Professor John Rickard
Fred and Patricia Russell
Carolyn Sanders
Julia Schlapp
Madeline Soloveychik
Tom Sykes
Allison Taylor
Hugh and Elizabeth Taylor
Geoffrey Thomlinson
Mely Tjandra
Noel and Jenny Turnbull
Rosemary Warnock
Amanda Watson
Michael Whishaw
Deborah and Dr Kevin Whithear OAM
Adrian Wigney
David Willersdorf AM and Linda Willersdorf
Charles and Jill Wright
Richard Ye
Anonymous (12)
Future MSO ($1,000+)
Shayna Burns
Jessica Agoston Cleary
Alexandra Champion de Crespigny
Josh Chye
Akira Kikkawa
Jayde Walker
Demetrio Zema
MSO Guardians
Jenny Anderson
David Angelovich
Lesley Bawden
Peter Berry and Amanda Quirk
Tarna Bibron
Joyce Bown
Patricia A Breslin
B J Brown
Jenny Brukner and the late John Brukner
Sarah Bullen
Peter A Caldwell
Luci and Ron Chambers
Sandra Dent
Sophie E Dougall in memory of Libby Harold
Alan Egan JP
Gunta Eglite
Marguerite Garnon-Williams
Dr Clem Gruen and Dr Rhyl Wade
Louis J Hamon OAM
Charles Hardman and Julianne Bambacas
Carol Hay
Dr Jennifer Henry
Graham Hogarth
Rod Home
Lyndon Horsburgh
Katherine Horwood
Tony Howe
Lindsay Wynne Jacombs
Michael Christopher Scott Jacombs
John Jones
Merv Keehn and Sue Harlow
Pauline and David Lawton
Robyn and Maurice Lichter
Christopher Menz and Peter Rose
Cameron Mowat
Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James
David Orr
Matthew O’Sullivan
Rosia Pasteur
Kerryn Pratchett
Penny Rawlins
Margaret Riches
Anne Roussac-Hoyne and Neil Roussac
Michael Ryan and Wendy Mead
Anne Kieni Serpell and Andrew Serpell
Jennifer Shepherd
Suzette Sherazee
Professors Gabriela and George
Stephenson
Pamela Swansson
Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher
Mr and Mrs R P Trebilcock
Christina Helen Turner
Michael Ullmer AO
The Hon Rosemary Varty
Francis Vergona
Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman
Robert Weiss and Jacqueline Orian
Terry Wills Cooke OAM and the late Marian
Wills Cooke
Mark Young
Anonymous (17)
The MSO gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Estates:
Norma Ruth Atwell
Angela Beagley
Barbara Bobbe
Michael Francois Boyt
Christine Mary Bridgart
Margaret Anne Brien
Ken Bullen
Deidre and Malcolm Carkeek
Elizabeth Ann Cousins
The Cuming Bequest
Margaret Davies
Blair Doig Dixon
Neilma Gantner
Angela Felicity Glover
The Hon Dr Alan Goldberg AO QC
Derek John Grantham
Delina Victoria Schembri-Hardy
Enid Florence Hookey
Gwen Hunt
Family and Friends of James Jacoby
Audrey Jenkins
Joan Jones
Pauline Marie Johnston
George and Grace Kass
Christine Mary Kellam
C P Kemp
Jennifer Selina Laurent
Sylvia Rose Lavelle
Dr Elizabeth Ann Lewis AM
Peter Forbes MacLaren
Joan Winsome Maslen
Lorraine Maxine Meldrum
Prof Andrew McCredie
Jean Moore
Joan P Robinson
Maxwell and Jill Schultz
Miss Sheila Scotter AM MBE
Marion A I H M Spence
Molly Stephens
Gwennyth St John
Halinka Tarczynska-Fiddian
Jennifer May Teague
Elisabeth Turner
Albert Henry Ullin
Jean Tweedie
Herta and Fred B Vogel
Dorothy Wood
Joyce Winsome Woodroffe
Commissioning Circle
Cecilie Hall and the Late Hon Michael Watt KC
Tim and Lyn Edward
First Nations Circle
John and Lorraine Bates
Equity Trustees
Elizabeth Proust AO and Brian Lawrence
Guy Ross
Sage Foundation
Adopt a Musician
Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson
Ann Blackburn, Jenny Khafagi
Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan
Roger Young
Andrew Dudgeon AM
Rohan de Korte, Philippa West
Tim and Lyn Edward
John Arcaro
Dr John and Diana Frew
Rosie Turner
Dr Mary-Jane Gething AO
Monica Curro
The Gross Foundation
Matthew Tomkins
Dr Clem Gruen and Dr Rhyl Wade
Robert Cossom
Jean Hadges
Prudence Davis
Cecilie Hall
Patrick Wong
Cecilie Hall and the late Hon Michael Watt KC
Saul Lewis
The Hanlon Foundation
Abbey Edlin
David Horowicz
Anne Marie Johnson
Dr Harry Imber
Sarah Curro, Jack Schiller
Margaret Jackson AC
Nicolas Fleury
Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio
Elina Fashki, Tair Khisambeev, Christopher Moore
Peter T Kempen AM
Anthony Chataway, Rebecca Proietto
Pauline and David Lawton
Yinuo Mu
Morris and Helen Margolis
William Clark
Rosemary and the late Douglas Meagher
Craig Hill
Professor Gary McPherson
Rachel Shaw
Anne Neil
Eleanor Mancini
Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield
Cong Gu
Patricia Nilsson
Natasha Thomas
Glenn Sedgwick
Tiffany Cheng, Shane Hooton
Honorary Appointments
Chair Emeritus
Dr David Li AM
Life Members
John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel AC
Jean Hadges
Sir Elton John CBE
Lady Primrose Potter AC CMRI
Jeanne Pratt AC
Lady Marigold Southey AC
Michael Ullmer AO and Jenny Ullmer
MSO Ambassador
Geoffrey Rush AC
The MSO honours the memory of Life Members
The late Marc Besen AC and the late Eva Besen AO
John Brockman OAM
The Honourable Alan Goldberg AO QC
Harold Mitchell AC
Roger Riordan AM
Ila Vanrenen
MSO Artistic family
Jaime Martín
Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor
Benjamin Northey
Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor –Learning and Engagement
Leonard Weiss CF
Cybec Assistant Conductor
Sir Andrew Davis CBE †
Conductor Laureate (2013–2024)
Hiroyuki Iwaki †
Conductor Laureate (1974–2006)
Warren Trevelyan-Jones
MSO Chorus Director
James Ehnes
Artist in Residence
Karen Kyriakou
Artist in Residence, Learning and Engagement
Christian Li
Young Artist in Association
Liza Lim
Composer in Residence
Klearhos Murphy
Cybec Young Composer in Residence
James Henry
Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence
Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO
First Nations Creative Chair
Artistic Ambassadors
Xian Zhang
Lu Siqing
Tan Dun
MSO Board
Chair
Edgar Myer
Co-Deputy Chairs
Martin Foley
Farrel Meltzer
Board Directors
Shane Buggle
Lorraine Hook
Margaret Jackson AC
Gary McPherson
Mary Waldron
Company Secretary
Randal Williams
The MSO relies on your ongoing philanthropic support to sustain our artists, and support access, education, community engagement and more. We invite our supporters to get close to the MSO through a range of special events.
The MSO welcomes your support at any level. Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible, and supporters are recognised as follows:
