Programme Notes | Enigma Variations with Adam Hickox - 18 & 20 November

PROGRAMME

viola

Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)

Viola Concerto (1985)

• Largo

• Allegro molto

• Largo Intermission

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

La valse, poème chorégraphique (1920)

Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

Enigma Variations (Variations on an Original Theme) opus 36 (1899)

• Theme. Enigma: Andante

• Variation I C.A.E. Andante

• Variation II H.D.S.-P. Allegro

• Variation III R.B.T. Allegretto

• Variation IV W.M.B. Allegro di molto

• Variation V R.P.A. Moderato

• Variation VI Ysobel. Andantino

• Variation VII Troyte. Presto

• Variation VIII W.N. Allegretto

• Variation IX Nimrod. Adagio

• Variation X Dorabella. Intermezzo: Allegretto

• Variation XI G.R.S. Allegro di molto

• Variation XII B.G.N. Andante

• Variation XIII *** Romanza: Moderato

• Variation XIV Finale: E.D.U. Allegro

Concert ends at around 22.15 / 16.15

Most recent performances by our orchestra: Schnittke Viola Concerto: Sep 2002, viola Yuri Bashmet, conductor Valery Gergiev

Ravel La valse: Sep 2019, conductor Lahav Shani (on tour)

Elgar Enigma Variations: Mar 2018, conductor

David Zinman

One hour before the start of the concert, Pepijn Meeuws will give an introduction (in Dutch) to the programme, admission €5. Tickets are available at the hall, payment by debit card. The introduction is free for Vrienden.

Cover: Photo Ruvim Noga.

Musical riddles

Is there some hidden meaning? Undoubtedly. Music is not that autonomous. But what exactly is hidden? Ravel’s La valse is often misunderstood. Elgar kept his lips sealed. Only with Schnittke were things clear.

Maurice Ravel, photo Boris Lipnitzki

conductor Adam Hickox

Lawrence Power

Heart attack

Alfred Schnittke was perfectly clear about what lay behind his Viola Concerto. Something striking, actually: ‘The piece,’ he wrote, ‘is a kind of premonition of what was to come’ – namely his first heart attack, ten days following completion of the concerto on 11 July 1985. ‘The music took on the character of a restless chase through life (in the second movement) and that of a slow and sad overview of life on the threshold of death (in the third movement).’ That’s clear enough. But as with all his concerti for solo instruments – a favourite genre of Schnittke – you can also hear the voice of the individual (the soloist) within a

colourless, satanic communist society.

Schnittke wrote the concerto in the House of the Composers’ Union in Ruza, a hundred kilometres west of Moscow. He dedicated it to the viola player Yuri Bashmet. The piece has a particular theme based on his name: the German and French names for the musical notes Bas(c)hmet: B-A-Es-C-H-Mi, (corresponding to the notes B♭–A– E♭–C–B(♭)–E(♭) in the more familiar Anglo-Saxon notation) played first by the soloist and echoed by the orchestra. Each successive movement is longer than the preceding one; in the second movement Schnittke

adopts his typical polystylism. The piece requires a large orchestra, comprising three of each woodwind instrument, four trumpets, four trombones, harp, celesta, harpsichord and piano. There are no violin parts but –strikingly – eight violas, eight cellos and eight double bass. The work was premiered on 9 January 1986 not far from this concert hall: in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

Waltzing couples

A parody? Even a caricature? A dance of death or a fight to the death? Or, more tragic still, the collapse of the Second Empire of Napoleon III, the disarray of Europe shortly after the First World War? Ravel’s La valse

(1920) awakens all sorts of ideas in the listener. People wanted to hear the message of downfall, decadence, and decay through the sound of the ‘decadent’ dance – the waltz. The British composer George Benjamin recently encapsulated the music in this way: ‘Whether or not it was intended as a metaphor for the predicament of European civilization in the aftermath of the Great War, its one-movement design plots the birth, decay and destruction of a musical genre: the waltz.’

We should allow Ravel – the most reliable voice in all this – the last word. At the top of the score he wrote as a direction performance (La valse was originally intended as a ballet): ‘Through whirling clouds, waltzing couples may be faintly distinguished. The clouds gradually scatter: one sees an immense hall peopled with a whirling crowd. The scene is gradually illuminated. The light of the chandeliers bursts forth at the fortissimo. Set in an imperial court, about 1855.’ And there’s the clue: 1855. A time long before the First World War. A time when the waltz was at its most popular. And already by 1906, still a long time before the drama of war was let loose, Ravel had noted ideas for La valse, which he then entitled ‘Wien’ (Vienna), as a tribute to the Viennese ‘Waltz King’ Johann Strauss.

A puzzle remains a puzzle No, he was not inclined to play along. When they thought they had discovered the answer to the puzzle, he kept silent. In fact, he took the secret to the grave. And still today, the puzzle has never been solved. Elgar was consistent and stubborn. An ‘enigma’ remains an enigma; a puzzle remains a puzzle. His Enigma Variations comprise a theme and fourteen variations.

There is also reputedly a further hidden theme – one that as Elgar himself said is not played in one place, but ‘spread throughout the entire composition.’ No one even knows if it is a melody that he has hidden, or something else. There have been countless suggested ‘solutions’ – from God Save the King and Auld Lang Syne to a non-musical theme such as ‘friendship’ or ‘love’ – given that Elgar dedicated the work to ‘my friends whom I have depicted’.

We have since learned the identities of these friends. I The first variation ‘C.A.E.’ is a portrait of Elgar’s beloved wife Alice: naturally, her variation should come first. II ‘H.D.S.-P.’ often played chamber music with

but portrays her 18th century mansion Sherridge.

For many, the highlight of the piece is IX, ‘Nimrod’. Elgar, the master of ‘nobility’, chooses the noble key of e-flat to portray his deep friendship with Augustus Jaeger from his publisher Novello. During a period of depression, Elgar had expressed the intention never to compose a single note more. Jaeger helped him out of this state of depression by reminding him that Beethoven conquered his demons precisely through the act of composing. He sung to Elgar the theme of the Andante from Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique. Elgar makes a nod to this theme in his ‘Nimrod’. As he explained to Dora Penny (see

Elgar; before they began to play, he would warm up with a few scales on the piano, which Elgar parodies here. III is a caricature of amateur actor ‘R.B.T.’, who enjoyed playing the role of old men. IV Country squire ‘W.M.B.’ announces to his guests the schedule for the day and slams the door shut on his way out; his guests (the woodwind section) respond in good humour to this tirade. V ‘R.P.A.’ was Richard Arnold, the son of fellow composer Matthew Arnold: a witty conversationalist. VI ‘Ysobel’ an amateur viola player who had difficulty crossing the strings, although the solo viola makes clear that she possessed a certain romantic charm. VII: The brass section attempts to bring some structure to ‘Troyte’s ‘maladroit essays to play the pianoforte’ (depicted by timpani …). The restful variation VIII is not so much about ‘W.N.’, Winifred Norbury, herself,

following variation): ‘Can’t you hear it at the beginning? Only a hint, not a quotation.’

X Elgar enjoyed taking cycling trips with the young woman ‘Dorabella’ (Dora Penny); the title might also refer to Dorabella from Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte XI is not about the man - ‘G.R.S.’ – but his bulldog, who after a swim in the River Wye barked happily on managing to scramble back up the bank. XII ‘B.G.N.’ is a moving tribute to a friend, the amateur cellist Basil Nevinson. XIII Elgar was very discreet when he described the departure of a female to New Zealand: ‘***’. A seascape; the clarinet cites Mendelssohn’s overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. XIV Ending with a self-portrait: ‘E.D.U.’, as his wife referred to him. She herself drops by, as does his dear friend Nimrod.

Stephen Westra

Elgar was consistent and stubborn. An ‘enigma’ remains an enigma; a puzzle remains a puzzle.

Adam Hickox - dirigent

Born: Truro, England

Education: music and composition with Robin Holloway (Gonville and Caius College Cambridge), conducting with Sean Edwards (Royal Academy of Music)

Subsequently: assistant in Rotterdam, Tanglewood, Leipzig and London with Herbert Blomstedt, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andrés OrozcoEstrada, Sir Simon Rattle, Lahav Shani Awards: Ernest Read Prize for Conducting Guest Appearances: Orchestre de Paris, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, ARC Ensemble, Tanglewood Festival Shortly: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Opera North, Glyndebourne Touring Opera Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2020

Lawrence Power - Altviool

Born: London, Engeland

Education: Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London; Juilliard School, New York Awards: Primrose International Viola Competition (1999); Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition, Paris (2000)

Soloed with: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Specialisation: contemporary music

Premieres: Olga Neuwirth Remnants of Song; Salonen Pentatonic Étude, Turnage Power Play, Anderson Prayer, Goehr Hymn to Night, MacMillan Viola Concerto, Watkins Fantasy Also: Founder and Artistic Director West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival Chamber music partner: pianist Simon Crawford-Philips

Instrument: Antonio Brensi, Bologna around 1610 Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2018

Photo: Jack Liebeck

Photo: Olivia da Costa

Musicians

Thu 24 November 2022 • 20.15

Fri 25 November 2022 • 20.15 conductor Lahav Shani piano Yefim Bronfman Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 3 Bruckner Symphony no. 9

Fri 9 December 2022 • 20.15

Sun 11 December 2022 • 14.15 conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste clarinet Christoffer Sundqvist Wennäkoski Flounce Nielsen Clarinet Concerto Shostakovich Symphony no. 8

Fri 16 December 2022 • 20.15

Sun 18 December 2022 • 14.15 conductor Jan Willem de Vriend soprano Lucy Crowe tenor Mauro Peter baritone Christopher Purves choir Laurens Symfonisch Haydn Die Schöpfung

Thu 22 December 2022 • 20.15

Fri 23 December 2022 • 20.15 conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin choir Nationaal Kinderkoor Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker

Sun 8 January 2023 • 10.30

Music for Breakfast No. 2 with Ron Tijhuis (Cor Anglais), Carla Schrijner (Cello), and colleagues from the orchestra Chamber Music by M. Haydn, Broemel, Françaix and Vaughan Williams

Thu 12 January 2023 • 20.15

Fri 13 January 2023 • 20.15

Sun 15 January 2023 • 14.15

conductor Lahav Shani piano Daniil Trifonov Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 1 Strauss Ein Heldenleben

Chief Conductor Lahav Shani

Honorary Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Principal Assistent Conductor Bertie Baigent

First Violin Igor Gruppman, leader Marieke Blankestijn, leader

Quirine Scheffers Hed Yaron Meyerson Saskia Otto Arno Bons Mireille van der Wart Cor van der Linden Rachel Browne Maria Dingjan Marie-José Schrijner Noëmi Bodden Petra Visser Sophia Torrenga Hadewijch Hofland Annerien Stuker Alexandra van Beveren Koen Stapert

Second Violin Charlotte Potgieter Cecilia Ziano Frank de Groot Laurens van Vliet Tomoko Hara Elina Staphorsius Jun Yi Dou Bob Bruyn Letizia Sciarone Eefje Habraken Maija Reinikainen Sumire Hara Wim Ruitenbeek Babette van den Berg Melanie Broers

Viola Anne Huser

Roman Spitzer Maartje van Rheeden Galahad Samson Kerstin Bonk Lex Prummel

Janine Baller Francis Saunders Veronika Lénártová Rosalinde Kluck León van den Berg Olfje van der Klein Cello Emanuele Silvestri Joanna Pachucka Daniel Petrovitsch Mario Rio Gé van Leeuwen 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 Flute Juliette Hurel Joséphine Olech Désirée Woudenberg

Flute/Piccolo Beatriz Da Baião

Oboe Remco de Vries Karel Schoofs Anja van der Maten Oboe/Cor Anglais Ron Tijhuis

Clarinet

Julien Hervé Bruno Bonansea

Clarinet/ Bass Clarinet Romke-Jan Wijmenga Bassoon Pieter Nuytten Lola Descours Marianne Prommel

Bassoon/ Contrabassoon Hans Wisse Horn David Fernández Alonso Wendy Leliveld Richard Speetjens Laurens Otto Pierre Buizer

Trumpet Alex Elia Simon Wierenga Jos Verspagen

Trombone Pierre Volders Alexander Verbeek Remko de Jager Bass Trombone Rommert Groenhof Tuba Hendrik-Jan Renes

Timpani/ Percussion Randy Max Danny van de Wal Ronald Ent Martijn Boom Adriaan Feyaerts Harp Charlotte Sprenkels