PROGRAMME
conductor Tarmo Peltokoski
soprano Suvi Väyrynen
narrator Timothy West (opname)
choir Groot Omroep Vrouwenkoor
Gustav Holst (1874–1934)
The Planets, op. 32 (1914–17)
• Mars - The Bringer of War
• Venus - The Bringer of Peace
• Mercury - The Winged Messenger
• Jupiter - The Bringer of Jollity
• Saturn - The Bringer of Old Age
• Uranus - The Magician
• Neptune - The Mystic intermission
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)
Symfonie nr. 7 ‘Sinfonia Antartica’ (1952)
• Prelude. Andante maestoso
• Scherzo. Moderato
• Landscape. Lento
• Intermezzo. Andante sostenuto
• Epilogue. Alla marcia, moderato (non troppo allegro)
Recording of Timothy West provided courtesy of ONYX Classics
Concert ends at around 22.30/16.30
Most recent performances by our orchestra:
Holst The Planets: Mar 2014, conductor Alexander
Shelley
Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 7: First performance
One hour before the start of the concert, Sam Wamper will give an introduction (in Dutch) to the programme, admission €7,50. Tickets are available at the hall, payment by debit card. The introduction is free for Vrienden.
Cover: Bubble Nebula, as seen by the Hubble telescope. Photo Nasa (Unsplash)
‘One year on
is 11 years and 315 days on earth. ’
Jupiter
Orrery of the Eise Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker, The Netherlands. Photo Hanno Lans (Wikipedia)
Terra Nova Expedition: Edgar Evans and Edward Nelson chisel an ice cave for food storage. Photo Herbert Ponting, 1911
A voyage of discovery
‘We discussed every subject under the sun from the lowest note of the double bassoon to the philosophy of Jude the Obscure’, wrote Ralph Vaughan Williams about his friendship with Gustav Holst. Well after The Age of Exploration, the two roaming spirits were inspired by the human compulsion for discovery: from the inhospitable South Pole to the mysterious planets. But above all, their compositions were born of a deep spiritual journey of discovery.
The Planets
On a journey of self-discovery, Gustav Holst immersed himself in the teachings of Buddhism, theosophy and astrology. It was the books penned by theosophist Alan Leo that drew him to the stars. What began as introspection quickly evolved into inspiration and Holst set to work on The Planets. Leo’s The Art of Synthesis describes the planets and their influence on mankind. Holst slightly adapted the titles of Mercury, the Thinker; Venus, the Unifier and Mars, the Energizer and placed them in an order from the lowest to highest level of spiritual enlightenment in theosophist teaching.
Mars, the Bringer of War is a tremendous opening movement: in a 5/4 time that creates a mechanical, warlike menace, Holst builds the tension through an excruciatingly prolonged crescendo of sound to intense levels. Aggressive horns and fearsome ‘col legno’ strings (where strings are struck with the wood of the bow) do the rest: this planet represents masculinity, power, aggression, primitive energy and adventure. It has been the inspiration for many
composers of film scores in their depiction of space, such as John Williams’s Star Wars, and Jerry Goldsmith’s Star Trek.
After the masculine violence, Venus, the Bringer of Peace offers a beautiful counterpoint. Femininity, peace, softness, and affection: with this movement’s ethereal opening, the beautiful violin melody, and elegant wind solos, Holst reveals his most tender side.
Mercury, the Winged Messenger is fleet of foot, energetic, youthful and full of good humour. This short movement is packed with energetic passages and playful, syncopated melodies.
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity represents cheerful optimism, liveliness, goodness and majesty. Holst repurposes musical material from Venus, but here individual love is replaced by royal service: the middle section is a majestic fanfare that he would later use for the hymn I Vow to Thee, My Country.
In Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age, has a slow, dragging rhythm, like a winding-down clock, suggesting the melancholy, patience, wisdom and pride of the old man.
Uranus, the Magician depicts the unusual, magical and inspirational. It is the movement most closely bound to Holst himself. Like the composer, Uranus the magician is a creator of worlds. This identification is demonstrated by the opening bars in which Holst signs his own name: the notes G-E flat-A-B represent GuStAv Holst (in German the E flat is written as Es, B flat as B, B as H,). That may seem far-fetched, but Bach often signed his work this way (B flat-A-C-B) as did many other composers. In this movement the opening theme returns a
number of times, on one occasion played by the timpani alone.
Having spent the entire suite beyond the earth’s atmosphere, we end by leaving the solar system entirely. Neptune, the Mystic represents mystery and the infinite. The music here is neither exciting nor scary, but rather feels entirely weightless. The work is ended with a chorus of female voices that sing in a long diminuendo till they are no longer audible. This is one of the first fade-outs of musical history, a technique that would be applied a lot in pop music. Holst uses it to create a magical effect: in calm acceptance we are left alone in the dark universe, infinitely far away from anything that is familiar.
The South Pole
Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No. 7 began as a film score to Scott of the Antarctic, a 1948 adventure film about the heroic but failed Terra Nova Expedition of 1912. Robert Falcon Scott and his team did indeed reach the South Pole – their journey’s goal – but they were not the first as they had intended. Norwegian Roald Amundsen had got there first. Even more dramatic was the return journey: Scott and his team all froze to death.
The film’s theme – man’s battle with the elements – continued to preoccupy Vaughan Williams and he decided to use his music composed for this film epic as the starting point for a new symphony. The origins of the work as a film score are clearly recognisable in the sweeping orchestration: an organ, a women’s chorus, and a huge battery of percussion with the inclusion of a wind machine to depict the icy polar wind. Nevertheless the Sinfonia Antartica is no film score: it is a true symphony, in free form. With his masterly Sea Symphony Vaughan Williams had long before broken free from the traditional German symphonic
form. In this Symphony No. 7, too, he trod his own path: this symphony consists not of the usual four movements, but of five. Each movement depicts an episode from the Terra Nova Expedition and begins with the reciting of a literary quotation.
This is one of the first fade-outs of musical history, a technique that would be applied a lot in pop music.
The prelude sings about the human conquest of a harsh natural world. The natural surroundings are depicted in the following scherzo. The third movement gives an impression of the increasingly rugged landscape of breaking ice and glaciers. At the climax of this movement the organ is introduced, depicting the moment when the team of explorers come face to face with the Great Ice Barrier, an enormous wall of ice. The movement transitions seamlessly into the Intermezzo, depicting the departure of Captain Lawrence Oates, who voluntarily walked away from the camp to his death to give Scott and the other men a greater chance of survival. In the final movement we hear a snowstorm, leaving behind nothing but an icy wind, depicted by a women’s choir and wind machine. The South Pole is once again a desolate, lifeless place.
Alexander Klapwijk
Foto: Peter Rigaud
Suvi Väyrynen • soprano
Born: Kajaani, Finland
Education: Music Pedagogy at the Tampere University of Applied Sciences with Satu Sippola, Voice in Vienna at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität with Uta Schwabe, Song with Birgid Steinberger and Carolyn Hague
Breakthrough: 2016: Grand Prize Lappeenranta
Singing Competition, debut Finnish National Opera
Subsequently: solo appearances with the orchestras of Tampere, Turku and Lahti, opera in Tampere, Helsinki and Tallinn (Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte, Woglinde and Waldvogel in Der Ring des Nibelungen, Curra in La forza del destino, Musetta in La bohème)
Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2024
Tarmo Peltokoski • conductor
Born: Vaasa, Finland
Current position: Music Director Latvia National Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor
Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Music Director Designate Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Education: piano at Kuula College (Vaasa) and the Sibelius Academy (Helsinki), conducting with Jorma Panula, Sakari Oramo, Hannu Lintu and JukkaPekka Saraste
Guest appearances: Toronto Symphony Orchestra, RSO Berlin, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, SWR Symphonieorchester, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Los Angeles Philharmonic, a.o.
Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2022
Netherlands Radio Women’s Choir
Founded: 1945
Chief Conductor: Benjamin Goodson
Singers: sixty odd professionally trained singers
Awards: Concertgebouw Award 2017
Repertoire: great choral-symphonic repertoire, opera, 19th and 20th century choral works
Commissions: John Adams, Hans Werner Henze, James MacMillan, Bart Visman, Peter-Jan Wagemans, Mathilde Wantenaar
Cooperation: Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, NTR
Saturday Matinee
Photo: Laura Krohn
Photo: Leedina Portraits
Photo: Hans van der Woerd
Musicians Agenda
Proms: The Nutcracker
Thu 19 December 2024 • 20.30
Sat 21 December 2024 • 20.30
conductor Dmitry Matvienko
children’s choir Academy of Vocal Arts Tsjaikovski The Nutcracker (selection)
Fri 20 December 2024 • 20.15
Sun 22 December 2024 • 14.15
conductor Reinhard Goebel
soprano Elisabeth Breuer
alto Anna Lucia Richter
tenor Laurence Kilsby
bass Felix Mischitz
choir Laurens Collegium
Bach Christmas Oratorio (Pt. 1, 4 and 5))
Thu 9 January 2025 • 20.15
Fri 10 January 2025 • 20.15
Sun 12 January 2025 • 14.15
conductor Manfred Honeck
Overtures, waltzes and other dances by Strauss, Suppé, Brahms Lehár en Ziehrer
Fri 7 February 2025 • 20.15
singer songwriter Rufus Wainwright
conductor Lee Mills
Wainwright Songs from the albums Want 1 and Want 2
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Chief Conductor
Lahav Shani
Honorary Conductor
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Principal Guest Conductor
Tarmo Peltokoski
First Violin
Marieke Blankestijn, concertmeester
Quirine Scheffers
Hed Yaron Meyerson
Saskia Otto
Arno Bons
Rachel Browne
Maria Dingjan
Marie-José Schrijner
Noëmi Bodden
Petra Visser
Sophia Torrenga
Hadewijch Hofland
Annerien Stuker
Alexandra van Beveren
Marie Duquesnoy
Giulio Greci
Second Violin
Charlotte Potgieter
Frank de Groot
Laurens van Vliet
Elina Staphorsius
Jun Yi Dou
Bob Bruyn
Eefje Habraken
Maija Reinikainen
Babette van den Berg
Melanie Broers
Tobias Staub
Sarah Decamps
Viola
Anne Huser
Roman Spitzer
Galahad Samson
José Moura Nunes
Kerstin Bonk
Janine Baller
Francis Saunders
Veronika Lénártová
Rosalinde Kluck
León van den Berg
Olfje van der Klein
Jan Navarro
Cello
Emanuele Silvestri
Joanna Pachucka
Daniel Petrovitsch
Mario Rio
Eelco Beinema
Carla Schrijner
Pepijn Meeuws
Yi-Ting Fang
Double Bass
Matthew Midgley
Ying Lai Green
Jonathan Focquaert
Robert Franenberg
Harke Wiersma
Arjen Leendertz
Ricardo Neto
Javier Clemen Martínez
Flute
Juliette Hurel
Joséphine Olech
Manon Gayet
Flute/Piccolo
Beatriz Da Baião
Oboe
Karel Schoofs
Anja van der Maten
Oboe/Cor Anglais
Ron Tijhuis
Clarinet
Julien Hervé
Bruno Bonansea
Alberto Sánchez García
Clarinet/ Bass Clarinet
Romke-Jan Wijmenga
Bassoon
Pieter Nuytten
Lola Descours
Marianne Prommel
Bassoon/ Contrabassoon
Hans Wisse
Horn
David Fernández Alonso
Felipe Freitas
Wendy Leliveld
Richard Speetjens
Laurens Otto
Pierre Buizer
Trumpet
Alex Elia
Adrián Martínez
Simon Wierenga
Jos Verspagen
Trombone
Pierre Volders
Alexander Verbeek
Remko de Jager
Bass Trombone
Rommert Groenhof
Tuba
Hendrik-Jan Renes
Percussion
Danny van de Wal
Ronald Ent
Martijn Boom
Adriaan Feyaerts
Harp
Albane Baron