Issue No.76
FRIENDS’ NEWSLETTER
September 2018
CONTENTS PAGE ONE Brahms PAGE TWO Hello from Jo PAGE THREE Laurence Osborn PAGE FOUR Focus on E360
PAGE FIVE The Modern String Quartet PAGE SIX Bridge scheme PAGE SEVEN Save the dates PAGE EIGHT E360 on tour
TIM HORTON TALKS ABOUT ENSEMBLE 360’S CURRENT EXPLORATION OF BRAHMS’S CHAMBER MUSIC
Ensemble 360 and Music in the Round have discussed ideas in recent years about how to integrate the programmes throughout the autumn and spring series. Based on our experiences from Festivals and concert cycles, we’ve found that having a focal point such as a composer is often a good way of capturing the imagination of musicians and audiences alike. For Ensemble 360, Brahms was an obvious choice on whose music we should concentrate in the coming seasons. It is a surprise to me but Brahms is, to some extent, a divisive figure. His music has been variously represented as overly thick, overworked and too clever for its own good, the latter being a view that some composers of my acquaintance still hold. I have always been baffled by these opinions. In my experience there are very few composers whose music is of such consistent quality and which marry head and heart so perfectly. By head I mean the extraordinary complexity of the construction – every note is related to tiny cells that one first encounters at the start of a work. Often, the rhythm of one main theme will act as an accompaniment to another theme, as is the case in the first movement of the A major Piano Quartet (to be heard on 11 December).
Ultimately Brahms’s compositional ingenuity creates the emotional complexity (heart) of the work: neither would stand up without the other. For him, Schutz, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and, especially, Beethoven and Schumann were his idols and one can find their influence in every work. The perfectionism for which he is famous makes his scores a joy to behold and one can study them endlessly without exhausting their secrets.
We will be presenting all of Brahms chamber music in the coming seasons in combination with some of the music that influenced him and some Dvořák, Schoenberg, Suk, Mahler and Strauss to name but a few - whose own output would not have been the same without him.
Ensemble 360 perform Brahms’s Horn Trio in E flat on Tuesday 6 November, 12.45pm; his String Quartet in C minor on Saturday 1 December, 7.15pm; and his Piano Quartet in A on Tuesday 11 December, 7.15pm, with the Brahms exploration continuing into spring 2019.
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HELLO FROM JO Hello! I am delighted to have joined the team at Music in the Round, and my first couple of months have been spent getting to know the organisation and meeting lots of people involved with the company. Deborah has been inspirational in her drive and leadership over the last several years, and my aim is to continue her excellent work and take Music in the Round into a successful future. There is quite a lot to learn! From all the concerts around South Yorkshire and across the country to our invaluable work in schools and family events, I am gradually taking in all the various activities of Music in the Round, and am overwhelmed by the passion and dedication everyone has to everything we do. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the last concert of the summer season in Hoylandswaine with Ensemble 360, which was hugely enjoyable, and I look forward to seeing many more. My training is as a French horn player, which I started getting to grips with at the age of eight. I played in Leeds Youth Orchestra (a few years after Naomi Atherton left), and studied at Edinburgh University and the Royal College of Music. This led me to London, where I spent the next 20 years in arts administration working for orchestras (Philharmonia and London Mozart Players) and recently in contemporary dance (Protein Dance and Candoco Dance Company); not part of the plan – if there ever is one! – but I had many good times when not being squashed on the daily commute. However, I am very pleased to be back in Yorkshire with its stunning scenery and much nicer walk to work. The team in the office and everyone I have met so far has been very warm and welcoming, and I am sure I will meet many more friendly faces from supporters of Music in the Round over the coming months.
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My first day in the office was the day after the Open Gardens event, which I am sorry to have missed. It sounds like a great afternoon was had by everyone, and over £2,600 (including Gift Aid) was raised for Music in the Round’s Bridge scheme, including £248 on the produce stall (thanks to Phyllis and Richard Brown), so thank you for being so generous. We have some great concerts planned for this autumn, and I hope to see and meet you at one of our events very soon.
ANGUS SMITH INTERVIEWS RPS COMPOSER LAURENCE OSBORN Having previously written for the London Symphony and London Philharmonic orchestras, Laurence Osborn has just composed a new piano quintet (commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society) for our autumn season. Angus caught up with the rising young composer ahead of the performances. What is your earliest musical memory? I have a very vivid memory of being wheeled in a buggy along a side street in Stamford Hill, East London, by my mum while she sang ‘The Rain It Raineth Every Day’. The first memory I have of actually making music was singing along to ‘Breed’ by Nirvana with my dad. I used to think that when Kurt Cobain was screaming ‘she said’, he was actually screaming the name of my friend Taseer from nursery. Did you always want to compose? If not, when did that ambition take hold? I knew I wanted to make music in some form or other, yes. But it was GCSE and A Level music that got me properly into composing, as well as some very inspiring teachers. The first time I regularly heard my own music was through writing music for plays while at university. I think it was this experience that made me realise I wanted to be a professional composer. Are there particular composers from the past or the present who inspire you? This changes from piece to piece. There are some composers, though - Stravinsky, Berg, Birtwistle, Lachenmann - whose influence is never far away when I’m composing. While writing this piece, Bach’s English Suites, Enescu’s chamber music and Travis Scott’s Astroworld were all on heavy rotation.
Me and 4 Ponys will be given its world premiere by Ensemble 360 in Barnsley on Friday 30 November and repeated in Sheffield on Saturday 1 December.
Can you give us an insight as to your emotional state when you hear one of your works performed for the first time? I’m usually very anxious until the last few seconds before the first note is played. From that moment, I’m completely calm until the end of the performance. The calm descends with the realisation that the piece doesn’t really belong to me any more - that it’s in the hands of the performers and audience. The feeling afterwards is completely indescribable. It’s the best feeling in the world. And can you say just a few words to set up the new piece that Ensemble 360 will be presenting? My piece is called Me and 4 Ponys [sic]. It is scored for piano quintet, and is about drawings by children. I love drawings by children because they are completely unconcerned with consequence or correction. The first mark on paper is always part of the final piece. Each line is fearlessly drawn. Form, scale and subject change constantly throughout the creative process, at the whim and intuition of the artist. The results are always endearing and grotesque in equal measure. Me and 4 Ponys wasn’t made in this way - I rewrote and scrapped a lot of music while writing it. But it musicalises aspects of children’s drawings: hard, wax-crayon-like textures and big, unannounced gestures like handprints or blobs of paint. There’s a jig-like pulse that persists throughout the piece, which is why the title refers to ponies. It’s desiccated, crumbling nursery music.
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FOCUS ON ENSEMBLE 360 For the third of our features on our resident Ensemble, Ruth Gibson (viola) gives us the lowdown on her jam-packed summer. Greetings from a bumpy car journey home from Presteigne Festival! It’s been a fantastic summer of great music-making with friends. I’ve been spoilt!
and change of tempo just made it electric. I’m so excited we’ll be touring both works in concert halls and clubs across the UK next April, kicking off in Kings Place.
One of my absolute highlights had to be playing Shostakovich Symphony No. 9 (from memory!) at the BBC Proms with Aurora Orchestra a few weeks ago. It was so much fun! I’m on trial there for Principal Viola at the moment (which can be a bit stressful) but the whole experience was just so uplifting and full of energy and good spirit. It’s such a great work to perform and playing it from memory just made it all the better. They are a very fun group and play with every ounce of energy - I loved every minute.
After the Proms in August I took some time off to see friends and family in Dublin and Devon and then I went on to Barry Douglas’ Clandeboye festival in Belfast to play Schubert’s Second Cello Quintet and Trout and Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht and his Second String Quartet with Ailish Tynan. It’s always nice to be back in Ireland playing with friends and to a home audience. I love teaching, and giving masterclasses to talented musicians from all over Ireland was a treat!
Before that, I was playing the incredible Verklärte Nacht at Wigmore Hall with the Heath Quartet and Marie Bitlloch from the Elias; and then away at Sylt Chamber Music festival, a little island off the coast of Germany, playing Brahms and Dvořák sextets. Another highlight had to be Janáček’s Intimate Letters at Snape Maltings with the Singh quartet as part of the Aldeburgh festival. We paired this great quartet with a composition called Written in Fire, a response to Janáček’s quartet but from Kamila Stösslová’s view (she was Janáček’s muse and Intimate Letters was written based on the lovely letters he wrote to her) written by the electronic artist Vessel and Rakhi Singh. The fourpiece composition was developed over many months and we were lucky to be able to rehearse regularly and even ended up playing the Janáček from memory. I was afraid it would be impossible (especially as I was playing Mozart Symphony No. 40 by memory with Aurora the same week) but the piece just comes alive with no music and the chance to really physically understand each gesture
Right after Clandeboye I went straight into rehearsals with the Navarra Quartet for Presteigne Festival. I’m travelling home from there now. It’s been a jam-packed few days playing new music by Vasks and Martin Butler and playing (my favourites) Beethoven Op.18/1, Britten No. 3 and my first ever Schubert G major Quartet!! It’s such an epic piece and an absolute pleasure to play so many great quartets with these beautiful players. But now it’s definitely time for a holiday and some much-needed rest before Plush festival (with Tim Horton) and then Prussia Cove! Not to mention all the Ensemble 360 concerts coming up this autumn! Hope you’ll all been enjoying the glorious weather and had a great summer! See you all in Sheffield soon, Ruth xx Congratulations to Amy and James on the safe arrival of their daughter Holly Balambikai Harman-Pillai! We know you will join us in sending good wishes to them both on the new addition to their family.
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THE MODERN STRING QUARTET Tom McKinney provides an insight into some of the music featured in the Ligeti Quartet’s concert this October. The string quartet has always been a medium in which composers have dared to experiment. Beethoven’s late quartets used harmony in the most extraordinary ways; in fact audiences today still wonder whether there are wrong notes in them. A century later, Schoenberg’s Second String Quartet continued from Beethoven and took music into an entirely new universe. Bartók used his six quartets to test-drive ideas that he then implemented in his larger orchestral works. Shostakovich’s 15 quartets contain music that was more personal and radical than anything he ever dared to compose in his symphonies. And then the most extreme of all is surely Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Helicopter Quartet, composed for each member of a quartet to play in their own individual flying helicopter: you’ll not be surprised to discover that performances are extremely rare! It’s not quite clear why composers are so drawn to the string quartet as a vehicle for experimentation in a way that they rarely seem to be with, say, the piano trio. But experimentation doesn’t necessarily have to result in difficult or inaccessible music. In the Ligeti Quartet’s performance at The Leadmill on 31 October, you’ll be able to hear five string quartets by living composers, written over five decades, which represent the incredible diversity of contemporary classical music. The earliest work in their programme is George Crumb’s Black Angels, composed in 1970, which is an astonishingly powerful work full of drama. Using amplified instruments, it alternates between terrifying sounds of swarming insects and beautifully simple melodies from Southeast Asia. Without it
being literally stated, it’s impossible not to hear the work as being a comment on the Vietnam War. And the nightmare of war also finds its way into Steve Reich’s profoundly moving Different Trains. Reich recorded the recollections of both Holocaust survivors and American rail workers, and particular spoken phrases form the basis for the wonderful rhythms of the musical material. As a Jew himself, Reich’s title refers to his childhood in the 1930s and 1940s, when his train journeys would have been for very different reasons had he grown up in Europe and not America. Composed in 1988, the same year as Different Trains, John Zorn’s quartet Cat O’ Nine Tails couldn’t be more different. It’s a hilarious and hugely enjoyable tribute to the zany music of Tex Avery cartoons. In fact its full title is Cat O’ Nine Tails (Tex Avery directs the Marquis de Sade). Fellow Traveller by John Adams is a short work that is typical of his more recent style, in which joyous energy and dancing rhythms meld seamlessly into a rich harmonic palette of late Romanticism. And the most recent work in the Ligeti Quartet’s programme is the intriguing Sivunittinni by Tanya Tagaq¸ composed in 2016. Tagaq was born and raised in an Inuit community in Arctic Canada and performs throughout the world as an Inuk throat singer. Sivunittinni is translated as “the future ones”, and she wrote the piece by recording herself singing and then making transcriptions of her voice for string quartet. Like the rest of the Ligeti Quartet’s concert, it will be another dazzling display of how the string quartet remains an endless source of inspiration and invention for all composers.
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BRIDGE
FRASER WILSON, LEARNING & PARTICIPATION MANAGER FILLS US IN ON THE RECENT BRIDGE RESIDENTIAL HELD IN SHEFFIELD In July, we held the first residential course for the new incarnation of our Bridge scheme for emerging young string players. As far as we’re aware, it was the first residential of its kind in the UK, offering unique opportunities for young musicians of minority ethnic backgrounds to develop and build their musical skills. It was a great triumph and gave the scheme a very strong start. Four bright, talented, fun young people arrived in Sheffield on a sunny Wednesday afternoon and, following an introductory ice cream in the Peace Gardens, immediately got stuck in to making music together. Elliott Bailey, Ken Fairbrother, Jesse Francis and Raye Harvey spent much of the next few days immersed in quartets by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Rebecca Clarke. Our partnership with the University of Sheffield meant that they had access to the excellent facilities in the Department of Music for individual and group work. Two full days of expert coaching – one with Ensemble 360’s Ruth Gibson, the other with violinist Rakhi Singh from the Manchester Camerata – gave them plenty of food for thought. Compared with other chamber music courses he’s been on, violinist Ken Fairbrother (18) described it as “a lot more intense, not in a bad way! But also a lot more relaxed.”
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The players also had time to discover other aspects of Sheffield life. Obviously, if they are going to return here as part of Bridge, we want them to know how wonderful and vibrant our city
is! Sheffield music photographer Chris Saunders paid a visit to one of their rehearsals and took some brilliant photos, which the quartet proudly plastered over their Instagram pages! We had a morning in the Peaks – again in glorious sunshine – which inspired some great ideas. We also fixed up an evening of filming at Yellow Arch Studios; the resulting documentary should be on our YouTube channel to view soon. The visit inspired each of them in their various other projects; one of them wants to record their next singer-songwriter album at Yellow Arch, another wants to do a hip-hop gig there. Nurturing and inspiring them as musicians and people is the purpose of Bridge and I’m thrilled that we started it so successfully this summer. So now we look ahead to the next steps with Bridge. The four will be back in Sheffield soon, for more playing and connecting. Our aim of ‘changing the face of classical music’ is underway. It’s vital that we actively create opportunities for groups of people who often don’t see a place for themselves in this industry. Most satisfyingly with the Bridge Residential, we gave a brilliant opportunity to four talented young musicians. To quote Ken again, “everyone said it’s the best chamber music course they’ve been on!” Many thanks to everyone who has supported Bridge so far – in particular to Kim and Margaret Staniforth and everyone who helped and contributed in various ways to the Open Gardens in June, and to all those who have donated.
SAVE THE DATES Our spring season brochure will be landing on your doorsteps very soon now. Priority booking for Friends opens on Friday 12 October. In the meantime you may like to put some of these dates in your diary: Ensemble 360 evenings: Thu 14 Feb & Sat 23 Mar Ensemble 360 lunchtimes: Fri 25 Jan & Fri 22 Feb Leonore Piano Trio Sat 19 Jan Lars Vogt (piano) Wed 6 Feb Roderick Williams (baritone) & Andrew West (piano) Thu 28 Feb Classical Weekend Fri 8 – Sun 10 March Yevgeny Sudbin (piano) Sat 16 Mar The Piatti Quartet Thu 21 Mar Our annual Sheffield Chamber Music Festival with Ensemble 360 runs from Friday 10 to Saturday 18 May 2019. With a stellar line-up of guest artists including pianist Stephen Hough, these are definitely dates worth saving...
MUSIC IN THE ROUND OUT AND ABOUT IN SHEFFIELD THIS AUTUMN As Friends of Music in the Round, you won’t have been slow to notice that a number of concerts are taking place in different venues in Sheffield this autumn. The primary reason for this is that the Hollis building to the rear of Upper Chapel is currently undergoing a major refurbishment and extension project. This has presented us with a great opportunity to visit a variety of venues around Sheffield for our lunchtime concerts (Firth Hall and St Andrew’s URC Church) and The Leadmill for our Steve Reich / George Crumb event with the Ligeti Quartet (which requires greater amplification and lends itself particularly well to a venue renowned for staging major popular music and culture events). Think of it as Music in the Round on tour! Rest assured that these events have all been specifically selected for the quality of their acoustics, comfortable seating provisions and
central location (plus accessibility by public transport and with at least some car parking). If you have any concerns about access to any of these venues, and the practical arrangements for these concerts, please don’t hesitate to call us in the office on 0114 281 4660 to talk through your queries with a member of our staff.
BRAVO ANGUS & TOM Bravo to Angus Smith, Artistic Director and also tenor with acclaimed singers The Orlando Consort. The Consort, which made its debut at the Salzburg Festival in July, was short-listed for a Gramophone Magazine Award for its CD of songs by Guillaume de Machaut, Sovereign Beauty. Did you hear our very own Programme Manager, Tom McKinney, presenting Record Review on BBC Radio 3 on Saturday 15 September? It was the first time anyone other than Andrew McGregor has presented it for over a decade. You can still listen again on BBC iplayer for the usual 30 days after the programme was broadcast.
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ENSEMBLE 360 ON TOUR ONLY IN BARNSLEY AND DONCASTER THIS AUTUMN…. On 28 September, in the comfortable and welcoming environment of Barnsley’s Emmanuel Church, Ensemble 360’s string quartet give their only performance this season of a programme of Britten, Shostakovich and Smetana. Over in Doncaster, we are busy preparing for our fourth weekend festival ‘Classical Greats’ this October at Cast. This year’s bumper weekend features our popular evening concerts on Friday and Saturday from Ensemble 360, an extra-special daytime dementia-friendly concert, a one-off Come and Sing with Mat Wright, a family concert and Concerteenies with harpist Louise Thomson. This is a just a glimpse of what is taking place - visit castindoncaster.co.uk for the full programme and booking details. The latest Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) commission to be premiered by Ensemble 360 will, for the first time, receive its premiere in Barnsley. That makes it a double-first! Hear Laurence Osborn’s new work at Emmanuel Church on Friday 30 November, or you can hear it on Saturday 1 December in Sheffield’s Crucible Studio. Plans are afoot in both areas to increase our impact outside of the regular adult and children’s concerts, including the formation of a regular music-sharing group for refugees and asylum seekers in Barnsley. To make sure you don’t miss news on new projects and forthcoming concerts, please ensure your Music in the Round email and postal mailing list preferences cover Barnsley and/or Doncaster as well as Sheffield. If you’re not sure email marketing@musicintheround.co.uk to check. For full information, ticket prices and booking information on all of the above visit www.musicintheround.co.uk
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Barnsley, Emmanuel Methodist Church 28 September, 7.30pm BRITTEN Three Divertimenti SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet in F No.3, op.73 SMETANA String Quartet in E minor No.1 From my life 30 November, 7.30pm BRAHMS String Quartet in C minor No.1, op.51 LAURENCE OSBORN Me and 4 Ponys (New RPS commission for piano quintet) KORNGOLD Piano Quintet in E, op.15 01226 327000 www.barnsleycivic.co.uk Doncaster, Cast 12 - 13 October Classical Greats Festival A weekend of concerts, workshops and events for the whole family 01302 303959 www.castindoncaster.com Scarborough, Stephen Joseph Theatre 20 October, 3.00pm BEETHOVEN Sonata for horn and piano HAYDN String Quartet No.2 Sun MOZART Piano Quartet in G minor www.sjt.uk.com 01723 370541 London, Wigmore Hall Ensemble 360 and Roderick Williams 3 November, 7.30pm SUK Piano Quartet in A minor, op.1 SKEMPTON Man and Bat DVOŘÁK PIano Quintet in A, op.81 Ensemble 360 4 November, 11.30am DVOŘÁK String Quartet op.96, American BRAHMS Horn Trio in E flat, op.40