Our Life at Acland Burghley School
Bach, the Universe and Everything 2024 / 25 Season
OAE on Tour
Why Perform Bruckner?
Interview with Julia Bullock
Vilde Frang on Period Performance
Das Jahr
Pianos
WELCOME
Playing it Forward
It is customary in this kind of preamble for Chief Executives to rattle off the accomplishments of the previous year. Certainly, it has been a fine season for the OAE – a varied programme, presented on national and international tours to bustling houses and enthusiastic applause. Everyone will have their own highlights – perhaps Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Masaaki Suzuki, Sibelius Symphony No. 5 with Maxim Emelyanychev or Mendelssohn with Sir András Schiff. You may have even been lucky enough to procure a ticket to the recent Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne, where the OAE’s playing was widely and rightly acclaimed. And many will have felt the OAE’s broader offer, which stretches far beyond the concert platform into communities around the country, from the South Coast to County Durham.
So the temptation is powerful, after this much success, to clarion that we have rebounded undaunted from recent years of anguish and that things are roundly back to normal. But I do not think that is quite so. We are not back to normal at all because we have not gone back. We have moved on to something entirely new.
Life today is different for the OAE. Whilst the arts may still be thwarted on all sides, what we now do across the world in concert is positively enriched because the excellence of our artistic life is connected to the grassroots of community.
Look at this photograph of Sir András Schiff working with the musicians of the OAE at Acland Burghley
School, where the OAE is based. It is a snapshot of our new community series where new funds, inspired by our residency, facilitate additional rehearsal for our players to which we invite – for free – students, staff and families local to Acland Burghley’s North London community. Simultaneously we reinforce our own artistic practice whilst forging bonds with our new neighbours. This way, even when our Southbank Centre series sells out, we can still ensure access for the underserved and uninitiated to become part of our artistic life.
This is important, not just for us, but for everyone interested in classical music, because we are enacting a mission that demonstrates that excellence and inclusion can happily co-exist.
For all to see, elite achievement is as much to be prized and loved in classical music as it is in football. Truly a great pianist and great orchestral musicians can be role models in a North London community. Truly the music we play can have an authentic relevance without dilution or apology.
When I wrote in Enlightenment last year that the OAE had ‘…the potential to redefine the relationship between art and education, to reconsider how our music sits in public life…,' you might reasonably have wondered what all that would actually look like.
Look again at that image.
CRISPIN WOODHEAD
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Sir András Schiff leads an open rehearsal at Acland Burghley School for students, staff and local community. Credit: Zen Grisdale
OUR LIFE AT ACLAND BURGHLEY SCHOOL
We think of our work at Acland Burghley School (ABS) as having five distinct strands, all of which are carefully measured to relate to our charitable mission as an orchestra.
ENGAGEMENT
Engagement begins with the daily presence and routine of the Orchestra and its staff. Often the positive impact is indirect and cumulative. Music is regularly the background to school life. The sound of rehearsal and performance drifts across the playground and into corridors. OAE staff and players are well-known within the community; they are a reinforcing adult presence, an additional pillar in the safeguarding structure and an important cohort of role models and mentors. Routine is powerful, from regular musical events to monthly staff socials.
Key to engagement is the regular presentation of our artistic programme in the Community Open Rehearsals and other special events such as Live at the Hex in the ABS assembly hall. These are either free or low-cost opportunities for young people and adults from local communities to enjoy high quality cultural experiences and build a relationship with the Orchestra in a way that would otherwise be very difficult. In the 2023 / 24 season, community events featured Sir András Schiff, Antonello Manacorda, Peter Whelan and Riccardo Minasi.
EDUCATION
Arts provision in state schools has been severely compromised by underfunding and national policy change. Extra-curricular musical activity has been negatively impacted as a consequence. A report published by the Sutton Trust in 2017 indicated that over one third of all students in England do not engage in extra-curricular activities, and over half of disadvantaged children do not have such opportunities. The realities described within it have only been exacerbated recently by the pandemic and subsequent economic challenges.
Throughout the year, we deliver workshops to support the learning and appreciation of music alongside regular participation projects such as our annual community opera. The school has a significant group of children with special educational needs and disabilities (c.300 students). The OAE provides routine opportunities for these young people to engage in musical activity, develop self-confidence and wellbeing in its specially-developed Musical Connections and Ground Base projects.
The OAE has developed deep roots through regular engagement in a number of areas of particular social need around the UK: Norfolk, County Durham, Wiltshire, South Coast and York and in London, in Camden, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Newham, Wandsworth and Merton. This activity, as with the OAE’s mainstage performance routine, now has the residency at ABS as a key hub and headquarters. Community operas (The Moon Hares, The Fairy Queen: Three Wishes) presented in recent years have been significant landmarks, drawing young people together from our national engagement around the focal point of our Southbank Centre residency.
COLLABORATION
A key aspiration of the OAE is to undertake artistic activity which incorporates school pupils to produce an outcome which is uncompromising at our own standard professional level. A recent example of this work is our Breaking Bach choreographic project which debuts at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2025.
EMANCIPATION
We want to give students an adult voice and role in our work. There are so many aspects of our work as an Orchestra that can be opened up for practical experience to enrich the student community: artistic planning, digital creativity, film making, recording, communications, business planning, project management and fundraising.
Our Dreamchasing Young Producers programme, supported by Sir Ron Dennis' foundation, mentors a cohort of around 30 students who are embedded in the life of the OAE, gaining valuable work experience across all areas of activity.
This extra-curricular activity supports students from their first year (year 7) through to sixth form, where they have the opportunity to work with the OAE in a T-Level course in Media and Broadcasting.
COMMUNICATION
We believe that the example of our residency offers a lifeline of opportunity to others. There is no doubt that both Orchestra and school have benefitted beyond any reasonable expectation as a consequence. This is a model for change that others can and should adopt. For example, with our support, ZooNation, the Kate Prince dance company, moved into a King's Cross Primary school.
In the past season we have had detailed discussions with Arts Council England, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, the Labour Party and The British Council, alongside many peer organisations about our residency and the opportunity for positive change and artistic growth that it has delivered. ABS offers the OAE a home where we can live, play and work. Our presence benefits the school, providing revenue to support school costs and diverse artistic opportunities that inspire across the curriculum. Together they form a pioneering union, stronger than either part, which opens a new horizon of creative life for all: pupils, families, staff and the broader community.
CRISPIN WOODHEAD CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
'By working with the students at ABS we see the impact music has on the individual every single day.'
Katherine Spencer, Principal Clarinet
Left: ABS production of Lion King, set design, lighting and sound by Dreamchasing Young Producers. Credit: Zen Grisdale. Top right: Performance of Breaking Bach with OAE and ABS students. Credit: Genevieve Girling. Bottom right: Community rehearsal at ABS. Credit: Sophia Vainshtock (Dreamchasing Young Producer).
BACH, THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING
What happens when you take Bach’s cantatas out of the church and into a concert hall? What if you then add a talk from a scientist about the latest scientific research about space, universe and the stars?
OAE’s Marketing Director, Doug Buist, muses on the formula of Bach, the Universe and Everything.
Bach’s birth coincided, whether by chance or divine design, with the beginnings of the scientific Enlightenment. Isaac Newton published Principia Mathematica in 1687 when the composer was two years old. In one of the first conversations I had with Dr Stuart Clark (who has been a valued partner in curating recent series of Bach, the Universe and Everything) I was struck by one particular comment. To paraphrase, it could seem that the revelation that the heavens (the firmament as The Creation terms it) were simply an extension of matter found here on Earth was the end of enchantment… but our job now is to put the magic back in. Stuart, like a high proportion of our speakers, is a huge fan of Bach.
The formula, if one can be so mundane, is straightforward. It is loosely based on the Lutheran order of service in Bach’s time (key difference: Bach, the Universe and Everything lasts considerably less than three hours).
The audience is welcomed and there is an
'It might seem like we’re earthbound on a Sunday morning at Kings Place but the truth is anything but this.'
organ prelude. This is followed by a piece of choral polyphony, selected by David Clegg, the OAE's Choir Manager. Last season we surveyed motets by Morales whilst in the coming season we will be diving into the music of Orlando Gibbons, arguably the finest setter of the English language to music. There is then a reading (chosen by our guest speaker) before we reach the beating heart of the concert – one of more than 200 church cantatas written by Bach .
Bach, the Universe and Everything gives us the chance to explore these astonishing masterpieces in a manner that parallels their authentic context. They can often feel out of place in the midst of the standard concert format, but here they become the centrepiece. Steven Devine, our Principal Keyboard, selects cantatas appropriate to the time of year. More often than not the cantatas have a recognisable rhythm – of choral fantasias, recitatives and arias – yet Bach draws out an infinite variety. From remarkable vocal virtuosity to breathtaking instrumental solos (often on some of the rarer instruments we play), each work is a distillation of Bach’s genius. The cantatas are also a great way for our Rising Stars singers to show their talent.
At the end you have a role to play too as the congregation in singing the closing chorale.
Into this mix our guest speakers provide the scientific companion to Bach’s cantata. The sermon, as it were! Their aim, though, is to create a space for ideas, discovery and reflection.
It might seem like we’re earthbound on a Sunday morning at Kings Place but the truth is anything but this. Whether in the 2023 / 24 season it was Dr Helena Bates from the Natural History Museum telling us how a meteorite formed billions of years ago in the depths of time crashed into her life one Sunday morning, or Professor Sanjeev Gupta on collecting rock samples from the surface of Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Rover mission, or the inspirational Meganne Christian’s journey to discovering she was astronaut material whilst working in the coldest place on Earth, Antarctica, it has been out of this world to travel the stars with our guest speakers.
We’ll be looking closer to home in the season ahead and at how some seemingly every day earthly things might take us away from the planet. Dr Affelia Wibisono will explain how studying x-rays from planets helps us to build up a picture of their environment. Joanne Wheeler will go behind the curtain of bringing together academics, industry and governments to look at how we can tackle sustainability issues as we discover space is not quite so infinite due to all the equipment humans are putting up there. For the Christmas edition, Helen Arney from Festival of the Spoken Nerd, will be taking the timely theme of animals on epic journeys to the extreme with an appreciation of the
animals that have contributed to space exploration!
There was a magical moment at last December’s concert of which I am sure Bach would have been proud. Our guest speaker, actor and impressionist Jon Culshaw, had the idea that to end he would read the passage from Carl Sagan’s book The Pale Blue Dot, which describes Voyager turning its camera to look back at the solar system one last time. It is a remarkable passage that is easy to find online. Jon asked if we could perhaps underscore it with some music. Rehearsal time is very limited but Steven had a simple but brilliant solution: we’d ask the choir to quietly hum the chorale ‘How brightly shines the morning star.’ There it was: Bach and the solar system entwined in a moment of reflection.
' There it was: Bach and the solar system entwined in a moment of reflection.'
So do join our congregation one Sunday. You’ll discover that outside your front door there’s a whole Universe – and Everything!
DOUG BUIST MARKETING DIRECTOR
Bach, the Universe and Everything at Kings Place, London credit: Monika S. Jakubowska Bach,
2024 / 25 SEASON
OAE ON TOUR
The 2024 / 25 season is a journey into the heart of musical enigmas. From the concealed themes of Elgar’s Enigma Variations to the mysterious selection of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, we delve into the captivating world of unsolved musical puzzles.
This season is a celebration of music’s power to evoke emotions and challenge our perceptions. We’ll examine the enigmatic nature of genius, from the Baroque masters to the hidden talents of Fanny Mendelssohn. We’ll witness the evolution of heroes, the complexities of faith, as interpreted through the language of music, and invite you to experience the profound connection between music and the human spirit.
While definitive answers may remain elusive, the shared experience of exploring these musical mysteries promises to be a truly enlightening journey.
To share this extraordinary musical experience, the OAE is thrilled to rebuild its robust touring programme following the challenging landscape of the past few years. This year’s exciting projects feature collaborations with renowned artists including Sir András Schiff, Julia Bullock and Adam Fischer.
As part of our upcoming Brandenburg tour, the OAE will be performing the Brandenburg Concertos in both prestigious concert halls and community venues such as schools, care homes, hospitals, prisons and community centres up and down the UK, bringing the enigmatic beauty of Bach’s music to those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience it.
Musikverein Graz Austria
Brucknerhaus Linz Austria
Musikverein Vienna Austria
Koningin Elisabethzaal Antwerp Belgium
Holmens Kirke Copenhagen Denmark
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg Germany
Herkulessaal Munich Germany
Franz Liszt Academy Budapest Hungary
George Enescu Festival Bucharest Romania
Tonhalle Zurich Swizerland
Concertgebouw Amsterdam
The Anvil Basingstoke
Clare College Cambridge
Hippodrome Darlington
Edinburgh International Festival Edinburgh
Glyndebourne Lewes
Smith Square Hall London
Malvern Theatres Great Malvern
Bridgewater Hall Manchester
Sheldonian Theatre Oxford
Saffron Hall Saffron Walden
Sheffield City Hall Sheffield
Wiltshire Music Centre Bradford-on-Avon
The National Centre for Early Music York
Zellerbach Hall Berkeley, CA
Kaufmann Concert Hall New York City, NY
Lobero Theatre Santa Barbara, CA
Library Of Congress Washington, D.C.
'Why perform the big, late romantic, symphonic works?' is a question we often face at the OAE, especially when it comes to divisive composers like Anton Bruckner. Ahead of our performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5 with Adam Fischer, we posed this question to Mike Raggett, who has been a Friend of the OAE for over two decades, and OAE’s Principal Horn, Roger Montgomery.
BRUCKNER, THE ARCHITECT
Not everybody likes Bruckner. 'He wrote the same symphony nine times' is a frequent criticism. I don’t believe this to be true and the fifth, which we’re to hear on 13 October, is considered by some to be his most accessible. It certainly contains the whole gamut of emotions. He was not in a good place when he wrote it, but any dark haunting passages hinting at despair are always countered by signs of hope on the horizon with joyous dancing tunes.
The first movement has some very singable tunes which are contrasted with massive unison passages across all the instruments, and lots of pizzicato strings. There’s a fabulous oboe solo in the second movement adagio which is played over a walking bass the comes straight from the Baroque. The third movement has a folksy waltz. He makes you wait for the best though. The fugal final movement is a magnificent cathedral of sound reprising many of the earlier themes –some quite jokey and one for horn that could well be dubbed 'May the fifth (force) be with you.' John Williams owes Bruckner! The cathedral analogy holds up well as Bruckner uses architectural elements in different ways through the symphony to construct a magnificent musical edifice.
And there’s room for contemplation too as Bruckner deploys important silences – bars of rests that some interpreters elide, wrongly in my opinion. Some think that these may result from Bruckner’s work as an organist where waiting for sounds to gradually decay was a factor.
There’s one thing that is special about the OAE’s performance. Bruckner never heard the symphony performed, but with the OAE’s policy of historically informed performance you’ll be hearing it as he might have done at the first performance in 1894 on that occasion conducted by Franz Schalk – although Schalk made some cuts and changes that weren’t generally approved. Book, sit back and enjoy!
MIKE RAGGETT
BRONZE FRIEND
BRUCKNER’S HORN
Traveling to Linz to play Bruckner feels like transporting coals to Newcastle. While this patch offers a relatively rare opportunity to get much-loved original instruments out of their extraordinary cases, we not only find ourselves playing this marvellous piece on the instruments for which it was written, but also on those that are essentially identical to ones that are used by some modern orchestras in Austria.
The horns in question use a double piston system special to Vienna in combination with a unique bell-taper profile and a long F-crook. Developed in the 1850s it is one of many designs of the time. Unlike the box valve, omnitonic system, Schuster valve and many others which were quickly relegated to obscurity by the Perinet piston and the rotary valve, the double piston system found a niche in Vienna and is still in vogue with the players of the Vienna Philharmonic.
This latter fact puts us equally in an advantageous and invidious position. On the plus side, we can source some reliable original instruments of the time but can also find new ones which are made to the same specifications and have suffered no deterioration. The particular profile of the bell and the use of a double-wound F-crook contribute to the inherently focussed yet golden sound and the fact that it has but a single set of valves, unlike a modern double horn. This means that it has fewer alternative fingerings in the middle register and requires subtle adjustments of intonation to be made with the right hand inside the bell. There are also no ‘safety fingerings’ high up in the range. In fact, the Viennese players often use quite unconventional options when playing high.
The downside of the continuing tradition in Vienna is that we will be venturing into the territory of a giant such as the Vienna Philharmonic and playing its core repertoire on its sacred, traditional Pumpenhorn.
My own instrument, made by Erste Productiv Genoßenschaft der Instrumentenmacher, dates from about 1896 and used to belong to Myron Bloom, late first horn of the Cleveland Orchestra. Before that it belonged to George Szell who apparently wanted Bloom and his section to sound like although it never came to be used in Cleveland.
ROGER MONTGOMERY
PRINCIPAL HORN
JULIA BULLOCK
These days Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and their contemporaries often have more cultural significance through recordings, film soundtracks, adverts, ringtones or remixed as pop songs. Is there an example of this that sticks in your mind?
This is music with lasting power and influence. Most recently (and maybe famously), in her latest album, Beyoncé samples an Italian art song ‘Caro mio ben’ by Giordani that every student of voice grew up singing. There are many historic films that try to capture the intensity of those periods through music of that time. My favorite, and most poetic, example can be found in the semiautobiographical movie All That Jazz directed by Bob Fosse. He sampled a movement from Vivaldi’s Concerto for Strings in G major for a 'getting dressed in the morning' sequence that is shown again and again over the course of the film as the main character’s health and mood decay and disintegrate. Each sequence closes with the same statement from the protagonist while looking in the mirror, 'It’s showtime, folks.' The return of the material with his lovely music becomes increasingly sinister, sad, and even comical…
What was the first piece of music that stayed with you and why?
The very first? Probably something written, sung, and recorded by Raffi, like 'Baby Beluga'. It’s about living life happy in the presence of care and safety and joy.
From the classical Baroque canon – Handel’s ‘Verdi prati’ from Alcina which will be the first piece I sing on this program: it’s about coming to terms with reality and illusions, and a renewed commitment to life in the process. This aria always brings tears to my eyes.
Are there any pieces that you would add to the core Baroque canon?
Gosh, there’s so much but there are certainly composers who were dismissed or excluded from the canon, most likely for patriarchal, and sexist reasons. But the likes of Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, and Barbara Strozzi
were revered and beloved in their time – even if their work wasn’t heard in opera houses or larger concert halls.
You have premiered many works by prominent composers, including John Adams and Terence Blanchard. How do you approach old classics differently from new compositions?
Not so differently. My primary relationship is with the score and what’s transcribed. I always have to utilize my interpretive skills to fully embody the material and the messages within it. The element of improvisation and really living the material each time I return to it is forever at play.
How does the sound of a period orchestra change the way you sing?
Because of the flexibility and distinctive sensitivity required of people who play in period orchestras, they impact the infinite colour, tone, and inflection choices. To share a stage with these musicians is invigorating, vivid and vulnerable – in a magical way.
VILDE FRANG
Working with Maxim Emelyanychev and the wonderful OAE is just a collaboration made in heaven.
I have worked with Maxim before, we have done the Schumann Concerto together quite a lot, including on gut strings, though never the Beethoven Concerto. Maxim is one of my favourite musicians. He’s an amazing keyboard player; he has done probably my favourite recording of the Brahms Sonatas. The way he illuminates any score, the ease and effortlessness in his music making, and his wonderful positive spirit without any pretentiousness. He channels the music in a way that is irresistible.
As well as I know the Beethoven Concerto, playing it with the OAE really is a special opportunity because of the historically informed aspect. This is something that I have discovered over the past 10 to 15 years. Having the guts to use gut strings makes your instrument a totally different animal. I have listened to historical performances since my very early youth: John Eliot Gardiner’s recordings, the OAE, Trevor Pinnock, Arcangelo, Alina Ibragimova, the Chiaroscuro Quartet. There is just really something special about the spirit and the musicality of these musicians. They have a different kind of schwung (spirit) and an attitude, which you don’t really find in 'normal' symphony orchestras.
In an orchestra like the OAE, the musicians are constantly alert and take initiative which makes them stand out. The music takes on a different, boundarybreaking extreme. There’s a rawness with the gut strings which shed a kind of laser column of light on certain aspects of the score. It’s like a shock to the system, in the most positive way. For instance, I think in the Beethoven Concerto, with all the tremolo, is electrifying. You can really say there is a different intensity and attitude that arises out of the gut strings.
I am so looking forward to this project. Working with historically informed orchestras stimulates me and uplifts me musically. Curiosity is something that you need to keep throughout your musical life and there is tons to take away from working with the OAE.
VILDE FRANG
Vilde Frang will perform Beethoven's Violin Concerto with the OAE under the baton of Maxim Emelyanychev on 27 February 2025 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. To book tickets, visit oae.co.uk
Catch Julia Bullock perform Baroque classics with the OAE on 9 January 2025 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
concert
booking details, visit oae.co.uk
Image by Michael Orenstein
Image by Marco Borggreve
the year
ELECTRA PERIVOLARIS ON WRITING FOR 19TH-CENTURY STRINGS
I am delighted to be composing a new piece as part of the Das Jahr commission, and to be writing for period instruments for the first time. In a meeting in April with OAE performers, I was very interested to learn that many of the instrumentalists think of their work as extended chamber music rather than orchestral work.
The strings in particular discussed the interpretation of implied musical information (adding inflection and ornamentation to the existing notation) as an important part of the job. For a composer, this presents many interesting opportunities to subvert or use this fluid approach to notation as an influence. My own musical language draws influence from the Scottish Gaelic and Greek folk traditions of my heritage, musical forms which are centred around free inflection and ornamentation.
I was interested to learn about gut strings and the diverse textures that these can produce. The ways in which these strings respond more to pulling than to pushing, and the use of alternating bow speed even within a single note when performing crescendos or diminuendos, is also an intriguing tool which I will utilise in my composition. As expressed so beautifully by one of the performers, I am treating the instruments of the orchestra as innovations, and responding to the vast array of opportunities they present in challenging and reimagining my language as a composer.
ELECTRA PERIVOLARIS
ROXANNA PANUFNIK ON WRITING FOR 19 -CENTURY BRASS
I am a huge admirer of the OAE. When they commissioned me to write a piece for them inspired by Fanny Mendelssohn’s piano cycle Das Jahr I leapt at it!
Writing for 19th-century orchestral instruments has been like trying to learn another language. Once you get into the swing of their unique sound and scope, it’s hugely rewarding.
One of the biggest challenges, but also form biggest rewards, have been the brass instruments. Modern day horns and trumpets can play all chromatic notes within their pitch range but 19th-century ones are wedded to their respective natural harmonic ranges (the notes produced by varying vibration speed from lips, when blowing). This has been quite something to get my head around but I’ve had a brilliant time creating charts for these instruments (I have become quite the 19th-century brass nerd!) so I can see which notes I have available, straight away.
The trumpet comes in five different keys which are changed by using different crooks. You need to allow five to ten seconds for them to change and only their natural harmonics are available in that particular key. I created a chart (see above) so I knew exactly which notes I could use. The result is that if you want a trumpet to play a melody it needs to be higher up where the intervals between those natural harmonics become smaller.
There is a bit more flexibility with the horn players who can use their hands to ‘stop’ the bell of their instruments, altering the pitch of their natural harmonics. This will also change the sound and the more hand is used to stop, the more muffled the note will sound.
I am so grateful to all the OAE principals who have embraced this completely unique and exciting project and we all look forward hugely to sharing the results with you in March!
ROXANNA PANUFNIK
Commissions by Electra Perivolaris, Roxanna Panufnik, Freya Waley-Cohen and Errollyn Wallen will be premiered on 23 March 2025 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. For more information and tickets, visit oae.co.uk
PIANOS OF SEASONS PAST
One of the joys of period performance is the interesting character period pianos bring to the repertoire. In the coming season Sir András Schiff will return to perform Schumann’s Konzertstück, Op. 92 and Piano Concerto, so we are remembering the pianos that have shared a stage with the OAE.
1822 GRAF COPY – SIR ANDRÁS SCHIFF PLAYS BEETHOVEN
Conrad Graf’s arrival in Vienna roughly coincided with Beethoven’s. Studying cabinet making, he was apprenticed to Viennese piano maker Jakob Schelkle by 1799. After Schelkle’s death, Graf took over the workshop, and was soon appointed as the Royal Piano Maker of the Imperial Court in 1824. His instruments were commonly played and he even lent Beethoven the composer's last piano in 1826. The piano had a horn attached to help the deaf composer hear. Graf’s biggest innovation was the adoption of mass production methods. By 1835 he employed 40 workers divided into teams which specialised in a particular job. In his lifetime, the firm produced over 3000 instruments and brought the cost of the instrument down, aiding
the mass adoption of pianos in private homes throughout the 19th century. The instrument played by Sir András in 2022, for the Beethoven Piano Concertos with the OAE, was a Rodney Regier copy of an 1822 instrument built in 1989.
THE BLÜTHNER NO. 726 –SIR ANDRÁS SCHIFF PLAYS
MENDELSSOHN
The 1859 Blüthner grand piano, from the collection of the 'Clavierwerkstatt Christoph Kern', travelled with the OAE and Sir András around the UK during 2023 / 24 season’s Mendelssohn Symphonies and Piano Concertos tour.
Julius Blüthner opened his workshop in 1853, soon becoming one of the most important piano factories, known for producing the unique 'Blüthner sound.' In the late 19th century, these instruments won over some of the most famous musicians, including Debussy, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Even the Beatles swore by the Blüthner at Abbey Road.
The model played by Sir András was the biggest Blüthner instrument produced at the time. The bass strings run in parallel instead of crosswise as in modern pianos. Due to reduction of tension, the volume suffers and the resulting tone is more transparent. The Piano also came with 'Blüthner-Patent-Mechanik', an innovative hammering system allowing for greater control of sound. The system is a notable predecessor to the modern hammering system.
QUEEN VICTORIA’S ÉRARD GRAND
PIANO – STEPHEN HOUGH & OAE AT THE PROMS
For the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth, Sir Stephen Hough and the OAE performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 during the 2019 BBC Proms season. He did so on undoubtedly the most striking piano in our concert collection. This was Queen Victoria’s personal Érard Grand Piano.
The piano was built by S & P Érard in 1856 for the State Rooms of the Buckingham Palace. The intricate gilded casing was taken from a previous Érard instrument and enlarged to fit the new piano with the recently invented double escapement action allowing for faster repeated notes.
S & P Érard was founded in Paris by Sébastien Érard in 1777. His workshop soon gained acclaim and later built instruments for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, as well as Liszt and Mendelssohn. Due to the French Revolution, Sébastien fled Paris for London, where he opened a workshop. The reputation of the instruments quickly grew, and in 1839, Victoria appointed Pierre Érard, Sébastien’s son, 'Pianoforte Maker to Her Majesty', leading to the creation of this masterpiece.
LUKA LAH DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Which instrument will Sir András select to perform Schumann's Piano Concerto? To find out, join us on 22 May 2025 at the Royal Festival Hall. For programme details and tickets, visit oae.co.uk
Sir András Schiff and the 1822 Graf Copy. Credit: Zen Grisdale
Sir András Schiff and the 1859 Blüthner Credit: Zen Grisdale
Queen Victoria’s Érard Grand. Credit: Royal Collection Trust
THE GREAT OAE SOUP-OFF
It is a truth universally acknowledged that where Bach nurtures the soul, a good homemade soup is what is needed to nurture the body.
One of the joys of the OAE being based at Acland Burghley School is how it has centralised the different OAE functions: rehearsal space, office, library and the people associated with all these.
By providing a free lunch to our players, we make a meaningful contribution to reducing players' outgoings on rehearsal days. After some discussion,
CRISPIN’S SPICY SWEET POTATO (SERVES 50)
12 Sweet potatoes
4 Red peppers
3 Red chillis
A good knob of root ginger
10 garlic cloves
4 red onions
5 cans of coconut milk
Vegetable stock
Rapeseed oil
Method
Chop the sweet potatoes into chunks and roast for 15 – 20 mins. Chop the red peppers into small slices. Dice the red onions and garlic and finely chop the root ginger and red chilli. Fry the onions until soft in the rapeseed oil, add the garlic and ginger and continue to fry until the onion is golden.
When the sweet potatoes have roasted, add to the onions, garlic, chilli and ginger, cover with stock and simmer for 15 – 20 mins.
Blend the stock, onions, garlic, chilli and ginger. Add the coconut milk to taste and preference.
Serve with chopped parsley or coriander and a beatific countenance that radiates a deeply held vocation that nothing is too much trouble.
we decided that we would produce two or three flavours of soup which cater to most dietary needs, provide a healthy meal and also allow players to spend most of their break time relaxing, rather than darting furiously around the bakeries and cafés of Camden trying to seek out a meal.
Naturally, this has given rise to some healthy competition in the office to see who can produce the soup which gets the best feedback from the players. But which one wins? You decide. Here are Chief Executive Crispin Woodhead’s and Chief Operating Officer Edward Shaw’s favourite soups for you to recreate at home.
EDWARD’S TUSCAN RIBOLITA (SERVES 50)
5 large onions
20 carrots
4 celery hearts
8 garlic cloves
Loads of black kale
Wedge of parmesan rind
5 tins of chopped tomatoes
5 tins of cannellini beans
A few glugs of olive oil
Vegetable stock
Salt & pepper to taste
Method
Chop all the vegetables up as finely as you can bear (ideally less than 1cm square). Sweat off the garlic and onions and then add the carrots and celery. When they’re soft, add the tomatoes and the cannellini beans. Add the stock and parmesan rind, reduce to a low temperature and simmer gently. Season to taste. When ready to serve, chop up the kale and add to the soup 5 minutes or so before serving so it keeps a bit of crunch.
SOLVE THE ENIGMA
Compiled by a broadsheet cruciverbalist, complete this cryptic crossword (loosely) based on the upcoming season. Let us know how you do. But be warned: only one OAE team member has finished it so far.
ACROSS
1. Currently, tips from Andras Schiff inspire Southbank (2,2)
4. Name of Beethoven’s dedicatee, however briefly – figure accepting a role (10)
9. See 12
10. French writer needing love after affectionate gesture (4)
11. Breaks stringed instrument, and others regularly (8)
12 & 9. Orchestral work with strange Ave Maria song in it (6,10)
14. Competitor in race course (7)
15. Kindly orchestra’s conductor (7)
17 & 25. Dreamier Bach works, not a bit of his Passion (7,4)
19. Orchestra’s conductor is entertained by female pop singer (7)
22. Old Tory PM ignoring border country (6)
24. Enlightened attitude in musical work – sense changes involving note (8)
25. See 17
27. See and applaud energy and fine playing (4,4,2)
DOWN
2. Song cycle you heard in pieces star’s playing (3,8)
3. Less agitated son with ploughman (7)
4. Got one’s teeth into master criminal’s on-line data (9)
5. Musician loves catching start of Bruckner’s First (6)
6. Passage from Eroica is legendary (5)
7. Newspaper with leading articles writing about view on religion (7)
8. Pull material for baroque strings up (3)
13. Germany’s ‘Composer of The Year’? (11)
16. People who won’t leave rosé, litre getting drunk (9)
18. Asian national not loudly welcoming a king or Muslim ruler (3,4)
20. Sting reworked a lot of Elgar for set (7)
21. California’s sheltering gold creatures which lie in 2 Down (6)
23. Enlightenment pioneer getting into glockenspiel (5)
26. The compiler’s pocketing billions for tech company (1,1,1)
Feeding an entire orchestra is not easy, but yields great results on and off stage. It costs the OAE roughly £100 per day of rehearsals to make soup for our players. If you would like to support our chefs by providing the OAE funds to cover making soup for players, please get in touch with the Development team by emailing development@oae.co.uk or calling 020 8159 9317.
Come and hear Elgar's Enigma Variations on 4 June 2025 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. For tickets and more information, visit oae.co.uk
28. Artist’s helper, one in men’s sauna, curiously (10)
29. Bruckner’s city, large one by Antipodean country (4)
THE MAGIC OF THE OAE
What I love about the OAE is the rich and varied repertoire, fascinating season themes and wonderful instruments. Most important though are the people who make up the OAE – players, staff, trustees, and our fabulous supporters and volunteers.
Having our home base at Acland Burghley School is a gift – every day we mix with the school community and music has become the soundtrack of the playground. Each year our OAE Education programme seems to grow and flourish and 2023 / 24 has been no exception, with thousands of young people from across the country joining us for creative projects inspired by the music performed by the Orchestra.
' The energy on stage was totally infectious. I wish we could have bottled the buzz in the foyer afterwards.'
Imogen Charlton-Edwards, Chair, Board of Directors
One of my many highlights this year was our performance of The Fairy Queen: Three Wishes as part of the OAE’s Southbank season, a beautiful new imagining of this famous story by Hazel Gould and James Redwood – not forgetting Henry Purcell! The OAE was joined by nearly 200 performers on stage: our wonderful soloists - Kirsty Hopkins, Simone Ibbett-Brown, Tim Dickinson and Adam Courting – a 90-strong primary chorus from three Camden primary schools, nine primary child actors, a community choir drawn from across our national residencies, and dancers and musicians from Acland Burghley School and Northgate High School, Ipswich.
We are delighted to be reviving The Fairy Queen for 2024 / 25, and to be bringing this magical programme of activity to schools and communities in County Durham, York, King’s Lynn, Plymouth, Wiltshire and Lincolnshire over the next three years.
This national tour, supported by Arts Council England, responds to requests from partners for activity which brings worldclass musicians to their regions and provides opportunities for all ages, particularly young people in schools, to engage with the Orchestra as participants and audience.
'It was genuinely one of the most magical events of my life so far and it was so gratifying to see children from all walks of life get involved in something creative.'
Primary music teacher on The Fairy Queen: Three Wishes
By bringing the OAE to regions often underserved by live classical music, we aim to inspire and engage audiences of all ages, providing opportunities for them to participate in and learn from this creative process. This exciting project will introduce thousands of people to the magic of live performance and the transformative power of music.
We also look forward to bringing our next community opera The Magic Flute and the Bird that would be Free to the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Thursday 26 June 2025. This will be another adaptation by Hazel Gould and James Redwood, exploring Mozart’s original masterpiece. Do join us to see whether Kirsty, our bird, can be set free. With the Queen of the Night’s trials, what could go wrong?
CHERRY FORBES EDUCATION DIRECTOR
The Fairy Queen: Three Wishes performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Credit: Mark Allan
Workshop at a King’s Lynn primary school. Credit: Sofia Swenson-Wright
OAE residency in York. Credit: Cathy Boyes
OAE TOTS performance at Acland Burghley School. Credit: Sheena Masson
PLAYING IT FORWARD
The Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience Scheme brings together young musicians with OAE Player Members to perform with and learn from each other. Osian, currently an OAE Experience player, recounts his time so far as a member of the ensemble.
My first encounter with the OAE was in 2019 when Maggie (Margaret Faultless) invited me to join a short course of The Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience Scheme due to a shortage of cellists. Over two days we worked on seven Haydn symphonies – a whirlwind of intense rehearsal and detailed exploration. The sheer volume of material and the depth of focus in such a short time was both astonishing and inspiring. Even after I left London to continue my studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, that experience stayed with me. I often found myself drawing on what I had learned, applying those lessons to different repertoires and situations.
Despite the distance, my desire to play with the OAE never faded. When the opportunity to audition for the OAE Experience Scheme proper arose, I immediately seized it. Being accepted felt like a rekindling of my relationship with the UK music scene, and my first official course with the OAE was nothing short of inspiring. The musical narrative was rich and multifaceted, offering an expansive amount of knowledge. Beyond the musical growth, this experience also opened doors to collaborations with other Scheme members across Europe, enriching my journey in ways I hadn’t anticipated.
One of the most rewarding aspects of my journey with the OAE has been participating in their educational concerts. These are not just ordinary performances; they are dynamic, thoughtfully crafted experiences designed for
children of all ages, from toddlers to teenagers. Whether we’re introducing children to the magic of Baroque music or engaging them with thought-provoking narratives, each concert combines music from the early music canon with newly composed works, all woven into a storyline that imparts key life lessons and skills. As OAE Oboist Leo Duarte once remarked, the educational side of his work is so vital that if it didn’t exist, he might not even want to be a musician. This is something that has played on my mind, leading me to reassess our duty as musicians.
'Beyond the musical growth, this experience also opened doors to collaborations with other scheme members across Europe, enriching my journey in ways I hadn’t anticipated.'
The opportunity to learn from OAE members, guest musicians, storytellers, and actors during these concerts has been incredibly special and has deepened my appreciation for this important part of the orchestra’s mission. Participating in the OAE’s educational concerts has sparked a deep interest in pedagogy for me. Inspired by the creativity and thoughtfulness that goes into designing these concerts, this newfound passion for teaching and curriculum design is a direct result of my experiences with the OAE.
Looking ahead, the opportunity to play principal cello for a Bach’s Magnificat concert in Cambridge this December exemplifies how the OAE Experience Scheme supports young musicians in developing their careers. The OAE is committed to providing real-world opportunities that allow emerging artists to take on significant roles within the ensemble. Whether a musician’s role in the orchestra is longterm or not, the experience gained is invaluable. The Scheme offers more than just technical growth; it fosters a deeper understanding of what it means to be a professional musician, preparing participants for the challenges and rewards of a career in music.
The OAE is more than just a world-class ensemble; it’s a place where innovation and education go hand-in-hand. The OAE Experience Scheme has not only helped me grow as a musician but has also deepened my appreciation for the impact of music education. I feel genuinely fortunate to be part of an organisation that cares so much about nurturing young talent while delivering incredible performances. The joy and fun I’ve had throughout this journey have been just as significant as the learning, adding a vibrant layer of enthusiasm to every rehearsal and performance. And to think it’s only been six months…
OSIAN JONES
OAE EXPERIENCE CELLIST 2023 – 25
'It is a huge privilege to be a Director of The Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience Scheme. The Scheme is a wonderful, vibrant and fertile element of the inspirational education arm of the OAE. With young performers from many backgrounds and with a variety of experience, we play repertoire that is the beating heart of the OAE. We evolve ways of inhabiting music that create new, living, breathing experiences for everyone. The results are exciting and dramatic and I’m confident that with these players, the future of the OAE is secure!'
MARGARET FAULTLESS
OAE LEADER
Margaret Faultless with Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience players. Credit: John Henry Baker
