Program Notes

Program 1

Conducted by Paul Dean

Mozart

Concerto in A Major for Clarinet and Orchestra, K.622 (1791)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

II. Adagio

III. Rondo: Allegro

Originally written for the now obsolete basset clarinet, this concerto combines exquisite lyricism with dark and intimate orchestration. The expressive capabilities of the clarinet are at its finest in the Adagio, with the resonant chalumeau register contrasting against pianissimo high notes. This leads to a playful Rondo, challenging in its technical capacity and dialogue between soloist and orchestra.

Vine Pipe Dreams: Concerto for Flute and Strings (2003)

Carl Vine (1954-)

Vine muses on many possibilities in his compositional statement “In a universe where all is possible, what might a flute dream?”. Pipe Dreams challenges the soloist with a shifting landscape of rhythmic convolution; brilliant gestural work, beautifully idiomatic to the instrument, transforms into longing phrases where the player may search for meaning. The form is moderate-slow-fast, with the final section a fiery challenge from the flute to the first violins to “keep up!”. Originally commissioned for Emmanuel Pahud and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Mendelssohn

Concerto in E Minor for Violin and Orchestra,

Op. 64 (1844)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

I. Allegro molto appassionato

One of the most highly-regarded concertos for violin, the E minor concerto is a tour de force of the Romantic style. Atypical for the time and for the sonata form of this movement, the work opens with an effortless technical display by the soloist before the orchestra states the theme. The work remains technically challenging throughout, playing to the violin’s greatest strengths across a huge variety of complex passagework. The cadenza comes as a surprise, appearing early at the end of the development section and leading the orchestra into the recapitulation of the movement.

Beethoven

Concerto No. 3 in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra,

Op. 37 (1800)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

III. Rondo: Allegro

Begun in 1800, this work seems to not have been fully finished by Beethoven until 1803, with Beethoven’s page turner noting that even the soloist’s part was incomplete on the page as it was premiered. It marks the lowest point in the composer’s life - his deafness and emotional turmoil during this time led to the famous Heiligenstadt Testament. The third movement, performed today, combines a sense of urgency and tension with orchestral intensity.

Program 2

Conducted by Peter Luff

Copland

Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (1949)

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

I. Slowly and expressively - Cadenza

II. Rather fast

The concerto opens with expansive lines that are lush without being too heavily orchestrated. The soloist floats through registers, dreamy and ethereal, with the primary challenge being to make these larger leaps feel effortless and well-balanced. Copland makes the unusual choice in this work to begin slowly, languorously; the music fades into existence almost as if watching the opening of a film, before moving into a cadenza that links the opening with the jazzier and more Latin-esque second half.

Bartók

Concerto for Viola and Orchestra,

Op. Posth., BB 128 (1945)

Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

II. Adagio religioso

III. Allegro vivace

Bartók was in the terminal stages of leukaemia when he wrote this work; he died leaving only sketches of the orchestration, with his close friend Tibor Serly finishing it for publication. The viola is an atypical soloists’ instrument, with this work commissioned by respected violist William Primrose who urged him to not “...feel in any way proscribed by the apparent technical limitations of the instrument”. In a letter responding to Primrose, Bartók wrote “Most probably some passages will prove to be uncomfortable or unplayable.” Uncomfortable perhaps—but as generations of violists have proven, not unplayable.

Glière

Concerto in B-flat Major for Horn and Orchestra, Op. 91 (1951)

Reinhold Glière (1875-1956)

II. Andante

III. Moderato - Allegro vivace

This work was written for Russian horn player Valery Polekh after Glière’s admiration of the horn section during rehearsals for his earlier tone poem, the Bronze Horseman. Polekh wrote after playing through the manuscript that “The composer put his whole heart, soul, talent, and great love for the instrument into it. I felt that the concerto would become a horn player’s favourite.” Glière demonstrates the tonal and technical capabilities of the instrument exquisitely. The movements played today contrast tender, emotive lyricism and the playful hunting calls of a horn at its finest.

Korngold

Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 35 (1945)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)

I. Allegro moderato – Moderato assai

II. Canzonetta. Andante

III. Finale. Allegro vivacissimo

Korngold’s Concerto in D came at the end of an enormously successful career in Hollywood, utilising themes from various film scores he had completed through the years. However, its dedication to Alma Mahler is a beautiful recollection to his earliest years, where at just ten years of age the precocious Korngold was dubbed a musical “genius” by Gustav Mahler. The work as a whole is flawlessly, unashamedly romantic, but at the same time frighteningly virtuosic.