RSNO Spring/Summer Digital Season: Polish Reflections by Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Scotland’s National Orchestra 1

Chamber:

POLISH REFLECTIONS

POLSKA SCOTLAND Financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport of the Republic of Poland as part of the Multi-annual Programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017–2022

Spring/Summer 2021

Available from Fri 16 April 2021

NINE SPECTACULAR CONCERTS BROADCAST FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS Featuring Thomas Søndergård • Nicola Benedetti Elim Chan • Benjamin Grosvenor Paul Lewis and more

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Chamber:

POLISH REFLECTIONS

In the 20th century, Polish music burst out of its homeland and set Europe on fire. The three Polish pieces in this concert are intimate in scale but epic in emotion, whether they’re Szymanowski’s sensuous, soaring Violin Sonata, Lutosławski’s haunting Epitaph or the brilliantly imaginative Fourth Quartet by Bacewicz – possibly one of the 20th century’s wittiest composers. Britten’s bracing Phantasy Quartet offers a very British perspective on a concert that’s as surprising as it is entertaining.

BRITTEN Phantasy Quartet for Oboe and String Trio Op2 [14’] SZYMANOWSKI Violin Sonata in D Minor Op9 [22’] LUTOSŁAWSKI Epitaph for Oboe and Piano [5’] BACEWICZ String Quartet No4 [22’] Adrian Wilson Oboe Lena Zeliszewska Violin RSNO Chamber Ensemble RECORDED AT THE RSNO CENTRE, GLASGOW Broadcast Fri 28 May 2021, 7.30pm This performance has been recorded for the RSNO Archive. Supported by the Iain and Pamela Sinclair Legacy.

Jack Hunter Director Diego Almazán Camera Supervisor Nelisa Alcalde Camera Operator Wilfred Magnussen Video Editor Eli Dolliver Video Production Intern Dean Craven Producer Hedd Morfett-Jones Sound Supervisor Melanie Dutton Sound Assistant Sam McErlean Sound Engineering Intern

This concert is part of the RSNO’s Polska Scotland series. Polska Scotland is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh as part of the international cultural programme marking the centenary of Poland’s regained independence. Financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport of the Republic of Poland as part of the Multi-annual Programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017–2022.

POLSKA SCOTLAND

Next Digital Season Concert

GROSVENOR PLAYS CHOPIN Kilar Orawa Chopin Piano Concerto No1 Lutosławski Concerto for Orchestra Elim Chan Conductor Benjamin Grosvenor Piano

POLSKA SCOTLAND Financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport of the Republic of Poland as part of the Multi-annual Programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017–2022

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POLSKA SCOTLAND

Welcome

POLSKA SCOTLAND

Welcome to this latest concert in the RSNO’s Spring/Summer Digital Season, part of the Polska Scotland series.

one of Lutosławski’s later compositions – a snapshot of the evolution of Polish music through the first 80 years of the 20th century.

This performance features the Orchestra’s Associate Leader Lena Zeliszewska and Principal Oboe Adrian Wilson, along with their colleagues Robin Wilson, Tom Dunn and Arthur Boutillier, as well as Scottish pianist Graeme McNaught. In a concert that explores the music of Poland and England, it seems appropriate that the soloists are from Lublin and Leeds!

One of the strongest musical voices throughout that evolution was that of Grażyna Bacewicz. A talented violinist as well as a prolific composer, it is only in recent times that her award-winning work has begun to receive the international recognition it so richly deserves.

Large-scale symphonic works by two of today’s composers, Lutosławski and Szymanowski, feature elsewhere in the Orchestra’s Digital Season, so this concert explores their more intimate contributions to the chamber music repertoire. Both composers evolved their musical language throughout their creative lives and this performance is therefore an opportunity to enjoy the unashamedly Romantic style of Szymanowski’s early work alongside the sparsely efficient language of

I do hope that you enjoy this chamber concert. As ever, we are very grateful to the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh for their continued support of our Polska Scotland series.

Alistair Mackie CHIEF EXECUTIVE

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Phantasy Quartet for Oboe and String Trio Op2 The eager young ‘Ben’ Britten composed a huge amount of music from the age of seven before he ever thought of putting an opus number on his work. Some of these youthful pieces, he knew, were too good to be lost, and so later on he put the best of them into his Simple Symphony, which appeared in 1934. The best known of his pre-opus works is probably the lovely Hymn to the Virgin, written at the age of 17.

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

FIRST PERFORMED BBC radio broadcast, 6 August 1933 DURATION 14 minutes Adrian Wilson Oboe Lena Zeliszewska Violin Tom Dunn Viola Arthur Boutillier Cello

So Britten was really quite experienced by the time he produced his Op1, the Sinfonietta, in 1932, in his last year at the Royal College of Music. Today’s work was Op2, which followed hard on the heels of that debut, and was first performed in a BBC broadcast in August 1933, with the oboe played by Léon Goossens, to whom the piece is dedicated. What makes this piece for oboe and string trio a ‘Phantasy’? The peculiar title harks back to the Fancies and Fantasias of the 16th- and 17th-century English composers William Byrd and Henry Purcell, whom Britten adored, and is the result of a competition instituted by a wealthy music-loving industrialist called Walter Willson Cobbett in 1905 in an attempt to revive English chamber music. Cobbett, a talented amateur violinist, invented this new one-movement form, the Phantasy, annoyed that chamber music always seemed to be in several movements. Entries to the competition were to be no more than 12 minutes long and give equal weight to each instrument. Britten’s composition teacher Frank Bridge – who had been impressed enough with Britten’s schoolboy work that he took the 14-yearold on as his pupil – had himself won the competition in 1907. It was discontinued in 1919 but Cobbett continued to make awards

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for chamber music, and this piece is partly Britten’s homage to a man who had a profound influence on English music.

What was happening in 1933?

Britten knew by 1932 that he had found his own distinctive voice, and the Phantasy Quartet is proof enough. Its neat, rigorous structure – an arched shape, a march rhythm appearing from the distance at the beginning, and used as a frame at the end – is influenced by Bridge, as is the gently pastoral string theme in the middle, but the density of thought and development, and the angular sound world, is pure Britten. The march gives way to a lively allegro, with contrasting passages for each instrument. A slow, leisurely middle section leads to a return of the allegro, before the march heads off into space. The great impression is of purposeful concentration: a lot happens in a short space of time, and the music has a powerful sense of momentum and direction, an almost brazen confidence in its gritty harmonic language. Here’s a lad who knows where he’s going …

30 Jan Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President, Paul von Hindenburg

26 Apr In Germany, the Gestapo secret police was established by Hermann Göring

27 Feb A fire at the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament, was blamed on Communists by the Nazi Party 28 Feb England’s cricketers won the controversial ‘bodyline’ Ashes series in Australia 2 Mar King Kong, starring Fay Wray, premiered – appropriately – in New York 4 Mar Franklin D Roosevelt declared ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself’ as he was inaugurated the 32nd US President 4 Apr The US airship Akron crashed off New Jersey, killing 73 – the worst aviation disaster to that date

27 May The A Century of Progress International Exposition, or Chicago World’s Fair, opened 21 Aug Mezzo-soprano Janet Baker was born in Hatfield, Yorkshire 3 Nov Oscar-winning composer John Barry, best known for his James Bond film scores, was born

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Violin Sonata in D Minor Op9 Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)

FIRST PERFORMED Warsaw, 3 April 1909 DURATION 22 minutes Lena Zeliszewska Violin Graeme McNaught Piano Page turner: Agnieszka Opioła Allegro moderato. Patetico Andantino tranquillo e dolce Finale: Allegro molto, quasi presto Anyone familiar with the music of Szymanowski’s later years, in which French sensuality, Russian ecstasy and Germanic rigour are synthesised into a distinctively Polish sound world, will be fascinated to hear this crowning product of his early training. Composed in 1904, when he was still only 22, the D Minor Violin Sonata belongs firmly to the late-Romantic tradition. Subtle traces of Chopin and Scriabin (the principal influences on his early piano works) remain, yet there is no mistaking the music’s striking (César) Franckian chromatic and cyclic trajectory. Remarkably, it was a boyhood injury to his knee and the resulting period of infirmity that inspired Szymanowski to begin his musical training in earnest aged six, initially with his father. Three years later, he moved to Elisavetgrad, in order to study with Gustav Neuhaus, father of the legendary piano pedagogue Heinrich, on whom Szymanowski exerted an early influence. Yet it was Szymanowski’s five years of study between 1901 and 1905 in Warsaw with Marek

POLSKA SCOTLAND

POLSKA SCOTLAND Zawirski (harmony) and Zygmunt Noskowski (counterpoint and composition) that proved pivotal in his training as a composer. It was during this period that he composed his Violin Sonata and befriended (among others) the violinist Paweł Konchański and pianist Artur Rubinstein, who five years later would go on to give the Sonata’s premiere. Cast in three movements, the Sonata – typically for the genre at this time – focuses on the cantabile (‘singing’) qualities of the violin, leaving the most overtly virtuosic writing for the piano. A year after the premiere, we learn from Szymanowski that the Sonata had become a popular item, especially the central Andantino, which on one occasion had to be encored. Szymanowski was called up on stage several times to receive special applause and it seems that the reviews were mostly excellent, although, as the composer pointed out forlornly, totally lacking in understanding. © Julian Haylock

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Karol Szymanowski

of French music … is one of the conditions for the development of our Polish music.’ As time went by, Szymanowski’s style became gradually more complex, incorporating influences as varied as the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s mysticism and Maurice Ravel’s neoclassicism. ‘Our national music is not the ossified ghosts of the polonaise or the mazurka,’ he maintained, ‘rather it is the lonely, joyous, unbound song of the nightingale on a fragrant Polish night.’

Born 6 October 1882, Tymoszówka (now Tymoshivka), Ukraine Died 29 March 1937, Lausanne, Switzerland Karol Szymanowski was one of the most enigmatic and individual composers to emerge during the early 20th century. At a time when many musicians were making the pilgrimage to Paris to absorb the intoxicating range of contemporary styles on offer, Szymanowski devoted himself to studying the folk music of his native Polish Tatra mountains, enthusing that ‘each man must go to the earth from which he derives’. He nevertheless developed a particular fascination with French culture, especially the sensual and exotic music of Claude Debussy: ‘I shall never cease in my conviction’, he reasoned, ‘that a true and deep understanding

Pivotal to his musical development were the war years (1914-18), which he spent at his family’s country estate – he had been exempted from active duty in the Russian army due to a childhood knee injury. While some composers sought emotional refuge in the dazzling array of popular idioms emerging from the United States, Szymanowski forged a mystical, visionary creative style that incorporated elements not only from the Western classical tradition, but also the indigenous folk music of Poland, alongside captivating musical incense from the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Despite bouts of ill health, during his final years Szymanowski helped revitalise Poland’s musical aspirations – he was Director of the Warsaw Conservatory in 1926-8 and 1930-2 – while inspiring a new generation of homegrown composers, including Witold Lutosławski, who after hearing Szymanowski’s Third Symphony enthused that he ‘felt quite dizzy for a number of weeks’. © Julian Haylock

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Epitaph for Oboe and Piano

Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994)

FIRST PERFORMED London, 3 January 1980 DURATION 5 minutes Adrian Wilson Oboe Graeme McNaught Piano Page turner: Agnieszka Opioła

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POLSKA SCOTL For some artists, finding a distinctive and AND authentic ‘voice’ is a lifelong process. For Lutosławski, discovering the principles of ‘aleatoric’ composition (use of controlled random elements) in his orchestral Venetian Games (1960-1) was a breakthrough, allowing him to create textures with a new kind of voluptuous and playful richness and density. But by the mid-1970s he had begun to feel that some kind of creative cleansing was needed. Gradually the idea of what he was to call ‘thin textures’ took shape in his mind. Now he began to concentrate on pieces for solo instrument or voice, with piano or ensemble, in which a melodic or virtuosic solo line leads the argument, with an often radically pareddown accompaniment. One of the first of these was the Epitaph, commissioned in 1979 by the outstanding English oboist Janet Craxton in memory of her husband, the composer Alan Richardson. Although Lutosławski’s engagement with folk music was long past, listeners may hear in the Epitaph echoes of works like the Little Suite, composed nearly 20 years earlier. The strongly flavoured lyricism, alternately plaintive and pungent, has a kind of folk-improvisatory quality, and its expressive directness was to become increasingly characteristic of the music Lutosławski composed in the remaining decade-and-a-half of his life. Short it may be, but Epitaph packs an emotional punch out of all proportion to its length. © Stephen Johnson

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Witold Lutosławski

brother wasn’t so lucky.) In Warsaw he joined his friend, the composer Andrzej Panufnik, playing banned music in underground cafés. It was in one of these that he met his future wife, Danuta Bogusławska, who in later years helped him develop his highly personal style of musical notation. After the war, the Polish-Soviet Treaty led to an increasingly Stalinist political climate in Poland. Lutosławski was able to write accessible, folk-based pieces to satisfy the authorities, but his more exploratory works were branded ‘formalist’ and banned. After Stalin’s death in 1953, however, came a degree of liberalisation, and Lutosławski’s brilliant and audacious Concerto for Orchestra (1954) even won him two state prizes.

Born 25 January 1913, Warsaw, Poland Died 7 February 1994, Warsaw, Poland Almost from the start, Witold Lutosławski’s life was marked by trauma and upheaval. He was just two when German forces invaded his native Warsaw. The family fled to Moscow, but after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 Lutosławski’s father and brother Marian were arrested and shot by the Communist authorities. Back in Poland, Witold’s musical talents were soon apparent, and hearing Szymanowski’s opulent, intensely mystical Third Symphony at age 11 was a turning point. He studied piano and composition at the Warsaw Conservatory and planned to continue his education in Paris, but then came the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Lutosławski enlisted, and was soon captured, but he managed to escape, walking 250 miles back to Warsaw. (His sole surviving

From this, Lutosławski went on to develop a style which was later dubbed ‘avant garde with a human face’. He incorporated Schoenbergian serial techniques in Musique funèbre (Funeral Music, 1958) and ‘aleatoric’ (random) elements in his Jeux vénitiens (Venetian Games, 1960-1) but, in contrast to the deadly earnestness of much Central European modernism of the times, there was always an element of playfulness, of delight in invention, and of warm expression in his music. In later years there was an increasing reengagement with 19th- and early 20thcentury tradition, especially in the magnificent Third Symphony (1983), a recording of which was played by the Solidarity movement during protests against the imposition of Martial Law in 1981. In 1994, just before his death, Lutosławski was awarded Poland’s highest honour, the Order of the White Eagle. His wife Danuta died soon afterwards. © Stephen Johnson

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String Quartet No4 Allegro molto

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Andante Allegro giocoso Grażyna Bacewicz was the first woman composer in Poland to break through the restrictive notions of women’s capabilities that were accepted as the norm in mid20th-century society. A pioneer, prodigiously talented, influenced by Szymanowski and Boulanger yet developing her own neoclassical niche and a belief that in music ‘one needs a lot of air’, she was the first woman in Poland to be accepted as a peer in the male-dominated world of composers and to be celebrated internationally.

Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)

FIRST PERFORMED Liège, 21 September 1951 DURATION 22 minutes Lena Zeliszewska Violin Robin Wilson Violin Tom Dunn Viola Arthur Boutillier Cello

‘In Poland, Grażyna opened the way for women composers,’ said fellow composer Bernadetta Matuszczak. ‘It was difficult for her, but with her great talent … she became famous … Afterwards, we had an open path … Bacewicz had already been there, so the next one also had a right to exist.’ Born in Łódź in 1909, to Lithuanian and Polish parents, and with siblings who grew up, variously, to be a pianist, a composer and a poet, Bacewicz was the archetypal child prodigy, taught by her father to play the violin and piano aged five, giving her first concert at the age of seven and composing her first work, ‘Preludes for Piano’, at 13. She studied violin and piano at the Warsaw Conservatory, and composition with Kazimierz Sikorski, before moving to Paris to study under Nadia Boulanger on the advice of Conservatory professor, Karol Szymanowski.

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On her return, as an increasingly celebrated violin virtuoso, she was in demand in Poland and abroad, taking up a position as Principal Violin in the Polish Radio Orchestra in the 1930s, whose violin concerto repertoire included her own works. Absolutely assured in her own thinking and process, yet highly self-critical, her compositional output was extensive, and included seven violin concertos. Most active in the sphere of chamber music, she wrote particularly for strings and piano, naturally and with great resonance. Bacewicz’s String Quartet No4, composed during the restrictive Stalinist period, was commissioned by the Polish Composers’ Union, of which she later became the first female Vice President, for the Concours International pour Quatuor à Cordes in Liège, winning first prize at its premiere performance by the Quatuor Municipal de Liège on 21 September 1951. Stylistically, it was part of her mature neoclassical period – Bacewicz preferred the word ‘atonal’ – written after her early work influenced by Szymanowski and Boulanger, and before her late highly experimental period, which moved yet further towards that feeling of ‘air’. Intense and vibrant, buoyed by Polish folk tunes, the String Quartet No4 is rigorously structured and conceived, and full of itchy, jumpy sections that contrast with a lyrical beauty which is never allowed to settle for long. The final movement is driven and lighthearted, its ‘neoclassical jollity’ virtuosic in its demands on the musicians. © Sarah Urwin Jones

What was happening in 1951? 27 Jan US nuclear testing began at the Nevada Test Site, with a 1-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat 29 Mar Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I opened on Broadway 11 Apr After its removal from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1950, the Stone of Destiny resurfaced at Arbroath Abbey 18 Apr The Treaty of Paris was adopted, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community 3 May King George VI opened London’s Royal Festival Hall and the summer-long Festival of Britain 28 May The Goon Show, starring Milligan, Secombe, Sellers and Bentine, was broadcast for the first time 12 Aug J D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye was published in the US 25 Sep Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film series, was born 6 Oct In the Malayan Emergency, British high commissioner Sir Henry Gurney was assassinated by Communist insurgents 26 Oct Winston Churchill was re-elected UK Prime Minister, a month before his 77th birthday 31 Dec The US foreign-aid Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe expired

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Adrian Wilson OBOE In addition to being Principal Oboe of the RSNO, Adrian is the oboist with the flexible chamber group Ensemble 360, who appear regularly at London’s Wigmore Hall and at UK music festivals. He has also been principal oboe of Ireland’s RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. Adrian has worked as a guest principal with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Psappha and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Adrian has been the Principal Oboe of the RSNO since 2014. His early studies were at the Junior Royal Academy of Music in London. During this time he was twice a finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition and was principal oboe of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He went on to read Mathematics and Music at the University of Birmingham, followed by a Postgraduate Performance course at the Birmingham Conservatoire, where he studied the oboe with George Caird and Jonathan Kelly. He returned to the RAM to learn with Douglas Boyd and Celia Nicklin, winning numerous prizes and becoming principal oboe of the European Union Youth Orchestra. In 2002 he was appointed principal oboe of Southbank Sinfonia and continued his studies with Alexei Ogrintchouk in Rotterdam and Paris.

Adrian’s concerto performances include Mozart’s Oboe Concerto and Vaughan Williams’ Oboe Concerto with the RSNO, Donizetti’s Oboe Concertino, Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante and Ennio Morricone’s Gabriel’s Oboe with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the world premiere of John Joubert’s Oboe Concerto at the Lichfield Festival, and J S Bach’s Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin with Bradley Creswick and Northern Sinfonia and Nicola Benedetti and Ensemble 360.

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Lena Zeliszewska VIOLIN Lena joined the RSNO in 2016 as No4 Principal Violin and has been Associate Leader since 2019. She was born in Lublin, Poland, and started playing the violin at the age of seven. She gained an MA degree from the Poznań Academy of Music in 2006 and continued her postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music. Having graduated with distinction, she was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and Verbier Festival Orchestra, and guested with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. In 2010 Lena was appointed No5 Sub-Principal First Violin with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In 2013 she was granted a two-year sabbatical to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, which she completed in 2017 with first-class honours. Lena has appeared as guest leader of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Opera and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.

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Robin Wilson

Tom Dunn

Robin joined the RSNO in 2019.

Tom has been the Principal Viola of the RSNO since 2014.

VIOLIN

He grew up in Kent and started playing the violin aged five. He gained his Bachelor of Music at the Birmingham Conservatoire under Philippe Graffin. During his studies he was able to spend time in New York, where he was introduced to a range of violin playing styles and techniques from the worlds of folk and jazz. He then went on to complete his postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Mateja Marinkovic. After graduating, Robin travelled to Ireland, joining the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra for two years. Back in the UK, he began a freelance career based in London, performing and recording with a range of orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He plays a violin made by Philip Ihle.

VIOLA

He was born in Yorkshire and studied on the Joint Course at Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music. Since then he has held co-principal viola positions with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Mozart Players, and from 2011 to 2014 was principal viola in the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Tom has also appeared as guest principal viola with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London Philharmonic Orchestra, English Baroque Soloists, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. A keen chamber musician, Tom was a member of the Quince Quartet and the London Bridge Ensemble, and has also collaborated with the Gould Piano Trio, Simon Crawford-Phillips, Scottish Ensemble and Ensemble 360. His chamber music recordings include music by Vaughan Williams, Frank Bridge and Mozart for Chandos and Dutton.

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Arthur Boutillier Graeme McNaught CELLO

PIANO

Arthur has been Sub-principal Cello with the RSNO since 2015.

Graeme McNaught studied in Glasgow, Munich and Salzburg before completing his studies with the renowned Italian pianist and teacher Maria Curcio in London. His concert career was established when, in 1986, he was the unanimous winner of the first Scottish Piano Competition in Glasgow. There followed numerous solo recitals, as well as concerto engagements with all of Scotland’s orchestras.

He started to play the cello aged five with Erwan Fauré in his native Paris. In London he studied with Hélène Dautry at the Royal College of Music while a member of Southbank Sinfonia, and with Louise Hopkins at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he gained a place on the London Symphony Orchestra String Scheme. He performed Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra as part of the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition. A keen chamber musician, Arthur has performed at London’s Cadogan Hall and Barbican, the City of London Festival, and with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and RSNO. Arthur was a member of Camerata de Lausanne and since 2013 has been a member of Camerata Alma Viva. He has appeared as guest principal cello with the London Cello Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

A keen interest in the work of living composers and his association with the award-winning Chamber Group of Scotland resulted in performances and broadcasts of new music and many collaborative projects. He has partnered distinguished musicians in Lieder and chamber music, including Willard White, Lynn Harrell and Ruggiero Ricci. He has been a regular guest with Hebrides Ensemble, Mr McFall’s Chamber and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Since 1990, Graeme has been Lecturer in Keyboard Studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

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FRENCH UP YOUR SUMMER

KEEP THE HEID AND LEARN FRENCH 5 - 30 July 2-weeks semi-intensive online French course with 1h30 morning classes

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Supporting the RSNO I am honoured and extremely proud to be Music Director of the RSNO. It is through the continued generosity of you, our friends, donors and supporters, that we can continue to achieve and realise the most ambitious goals of the Orchestra. The absence of live performance and the separation of musicians from the stage make these difficult times for all. It has reinforced for us all how vital music is in helping us overcome hardship, fear and loneliness. The creativity and dedication shown by RSNO musicians in recent months has been incredible. This is despite the pattern of our working lives being dramatically

interrupted and being separated, not just from one another, but also from our audiences and communities. I hope you will choose to support us now as we adapt and embark upon this next chapter in RSNO history. Thank you for your support

Thomas Søndergård MUSIC DIRECTOR, RSNO

RSNO Conductors’ Circle The RSNO Conductors’ Circle is an inspirational group of individual supporters at the heart of the RSNO’s Individual Giving programme. Our members’ annual philanthropic gifts enable us to realise the Orchestra’s most ambitious goals. Conductors’ Circle members support inspirational concert performances for our audiences alongside transformational education programmes in communities across Scotland, via our ground-breaking initiative Music for Life. The relationship between the RSNO and Conductors’ Circle members involves exceptional levels of access to all aspects of Orchestra life. We design bespoke private events tailored to individual interests and passions, providing insight into the artistic process and bringing our supporters further into the RSNO family. Members of the Conductors’ Circle benefit from an intimate and long-lasting connection with the RSNO Artistic Team and particularly with RSNO Music Director Thomas Søndergård, Principal Guest Conductor Elim Chan and the many

renowned guest Conductors we are privileged to welcome to the RSNO each year. The RSNO is very grateful for the continued support of its Conductors’ Circle: Ardgowan Charitable Trust Geoff and Mary Ball Sir Ewan and Lady Brown Ian and Evelyn Crombie Carol Grigor and the Trustees of Dunard Fund Gavin and Kate Gemmell Kenneth and Julia Greig Ms Chris Grace Hartness Kat Heathcote and Iain Macneil Bruce and Caroline Minto David and Alix Stevenson Eric and Karen Young We would also like to thank those generous donors who wish to remain anonymous. For more information on Individual Giving and becoming part of the Conductors’ Circle please contact Jenny McNeely at jenny.mcneely@rsno.org.uk

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Patron Programme CHAIR PATRON From musical activities in schools with the musicians of the future to working in community venues across Scotland, as a Chair Patron you are enabling RSNO musicians to explore the many facets of their art and the positive impact it has on people’s lives. Supporting an individual musician puts you at the heart of the RSNO family. You’re connected directly to the musicians on stage and get to enjoy privileged behind-the-scenes access. RSNO musicians truly appreciate our Chair Patrons and enjoy developing personal relationships with our supporters.

Assistant Conductor Kellen Gray

Cello Aleksei Kiseliov PRINCIPAL

Horn Christopher Gough PRINCIPAL

First Violin Maya Iwabuchi LEADER Sharon Roffman LEADER

Kennedy Leitch

Alison Murray

Arthur Boutiller

David McClenaghan

The Bill and Rosalind Gregson Chair

The Ardgowan Charitable Trust Chair

Patrick Curlett

Rachael Lee

Trumpet Christopher Hart PRINCIPAL

The Solti Foundation Chair

Dunard Fund Chair

Tamás Fejes Assistant LEADER

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL The RSNO Circle Chair

Jane Reid

The James Browning Chair

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL The David and Anne Smith Chair

The Christine and Arthur Hamilton Chair

Double Bass Ana Cordova PRINCIPAL

The James Wood Bequest Fund Chair

The Kate and Gavin Gemmell Chair

Alan Manson

John Clark

Elizabeth Bamping

Flute Katherine Bryan PRINCIPAL

The Hugh and Linda Bruce-Watt Chair The WL and Vera Heywood Chair

The Gregor Forbes Chair

The David and Anne Smith Chair

Second Violin Xander van Vliet PRINCIPAL

Helen Brew ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Sophie Lang

The Ian and Evelyn Crombie Chair

Oboe Adrian Wilson PRINCIPAL

Viola Lisa Rourke SUB PRINCIPAL

Peter Dykes

The Hilda Munro Chair

The Meta Ramsay Chair

David Martin

The Miss Grace MM Mitchell Bequest Chair

Francesca Hunt

The Rolf and Celia Thornqvist Chair

The Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust Chair

The Hedley Wright Chair

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Witherby Publishing Group Charitable Trust Chair

Cor Anglais Henry Clay PRINCIPAL

The Springbank Distillers Chair

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Mr & Mrs Pierre and Alison Girard The J & A Mitchell Chair

Ms Chris Grace Hartness

Marcus Pope SUB PRINCIPAL

The Nigel and Margot Russell Chair

Trombone Dávur Juul Magnussen PRINCIPAL The Mitchell’s Glengyle Chair

Lance Green

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL The William Cadenhead Chair

Timpani Paul Philbert

Ms Chris Grace Hartness

Percussion John Poulter

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL The Dot and Syd Taft Chair

Director of Concerts and Engagement Bill Chandler The James and Iris Miller Chair

In memory of a dear friend, Fiona H

Bassoon David Hubbard PRINCIPAL

The James and Morag Anderson Chair

We would like to acknowledge the generous contribution of Mr Hedley Wright in supporting the RSNO Chair Patron Programme.

RSNO: Scotland’s National Orchestra 21

LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT PATRON Our Learning and Engagement activity is structured around our Music for Life programme. From apps for babies to concerts and workshops for school children, and lunchtime concerts for older adults, the range of projects is vast. As a Patron, you will have access to our projects to bring you closer to the communities we serve across Scotland. Learning and Engagement Patrons Neil and Nicola Gordon Professor Gillian Mead Mr Maurice Taylor CBE RSNO Principal Oboe, Adrian Wilson Witherby Publishing Group Charitable Trust NEW WORKS PATRON The RSNO is dedicated to bringing new works and outstanding new talent to audiences across Scotland. Our New Works Patrons contribute a significant legacy to orchestral music that extends beyond the RSNO, providing new music for orchestras and audiences around the world – for generations to come. New Works Patron Susie Thomson We are also grateful to those who give but wish to remain anonymous. If you would like more information or would like to discuss how you can become part of the RSNO Family of Supporters, please contact Jenny McNeely, Head of Individual Giving and Partnerships, at jenny.mcneely@rsno.org.uk

We would like to thank all those who have made donations to the RSNO Covid Appeal over the recent months. The generosity of our supporters at this time is deeply appreciated.

Musical Memories Leave a gift to the RSNO and ensure future generations can create their own Musical Memories of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. We all have special Musical Memories. It could be learning to play an instrument when you were a child, or a special piece of music that just left you breathless the first time you heard the Orchestra play it. Maybe it was seeing a soloist you had always wanted to hear, or just a great concert shared with friends. Memories such as these make music such an important part of our lives. Leaving a gift to the RSNO in your will is the single most important way you can help us to make music and to create memories. Your legacy will support the work of the Orchestra for years to come, ensuring that we can continue to bring great music to a new generation of children, young people and adults right across Scotland. It is easy to leave a gift. After you have made provisions for family and friends, please think of the Orchestra.

Your gift is important to us and to everyone in Scotland who enjoys music. Contact your solicitor to draft a will or add a codicil to your current will. If your estate is subject to inheritance tax, a gift to a charity, such as the RSNO, is tax-free and will reduce the amount of tax payable to the Government. Please ask your solicitor for details. For more information please visit rsno.org.uk/memories If you would like to discuss this further, please contact Kirsten Reid, Individual Giving and Partnerships Officer, in the strictest confidence at kirsten.reid@rsno.org.uk To the many among you who have pledged to leave a gift already – thank you.

RSNO: Scotland’s National Orchestra 23

Charitable Trusts and Foundations Charitable trusts and foundations have a long and illustrious history of supporting the RSNO, both on the concert platform and through our Learning and Engagement programmes in the community. Grants and awards of all sizes are greatly appreciated, and range from one-off donations for specific projects through to large-scale support over a number of years, including support of the acclaimed RSNO Junior Chorus and our flagship educational project, the National Schools Concert Programme. We are fortunate in having developed long-term relationships with a number of trusts who have sustained their invaluable support over many years, enabling a significant amount of our work and mission to go ahead each year that otherwise would simply not happen. Our 2020:21 Season of concerts and Learning and Engagement programmes is generously supported by the following trusts and foundations: Aberbrothock Skea Charitable Trust Aberdeen Endowments Trust Alexander Moncur Charitable Trust Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust Balgay Children’s Society Boshier-Hinton Foundation Cruden Foundation David and June Gordon Memorial Trust D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunclay Charitable Trust Educational Institute of Scotland Ettrick Charitable Trust Fidelio Charitable Trust Forteviot Charitable Trust Gannochy Trust Garrick Charitable Trust Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust Hugh Fraser Foundation Idlewild Trust James Wood Bequest Fund Jean & Roger Miller’s Charitable Trust Jennie S. Gordon Memorial Foundation John Ellerman Foundation John Mather Charitable Trust John Scott Trust Fund J T H Charitable Trust Leche Trust Leng Charitable Trust McGlashan Charitable Trust MEB Charitable Trust Meikle Foundation Michael Tippett Musical Foundation Mickel Fund Murdoch Forrest Charitable Trust Nancie Massey Charitable Trust Noël Coward Foundation Northwood Charitable Trust PF Charitable Trust Privy Purse Charitable Trust PRS Foundation R J Larg Family Trust Robertson Trust Ronald Miller Foundation

Russell Trust RVW Trust Scott-Davidson Charitable Trust Solti Foundation Souter Charitable Trust Stevenston Trust Tay Charitable Trust Thistle Trust Thriplow Charitable Trust Tillyloss Trust Trades House of Glasgow W A Cargill Fund Walter Craig Charitable Trust Walter Scott Giving Group Wavendon Foundation William Syson Foundation Witherby Publishing Group Charitable Trust We are also grateful to a number of trusts that wish to stay anonymous. If you would like more information about our work and how you can make a difference, please contact Ajda Šubelj, Head of Trusts and Projects, at ajda.subelj@rsno.org.uk

24 Polish Reflections

RSNO Circle The Circle is a vital part of the RSNO family. Our community of music-lovers inspire and support us. Supporting us by joining the Circle will help us to bring music to so many people, from our Learning and Engagement programmes to our brand-new digital performances. As part of our community and family, we will keep in touch with our exclusive magazine Inner Circle, our Circle member webpage and invitations to special events throughout the year. To find out more about joining the Circle please visit rsno.org.uk/circle or get in touch with our Individual Giving and Partnerships Officer, Kirsten Reid, RSNO, 19 Killermont Street, Glasgow G2 3NX Email: kirsten.reid@rsno.org.uk To all our existing Circle members, thank you. Thank you for your unwavering support that allows us to continue sharing the joy of music. Virtuoso

Ms Catherine Y Alexander Mrs A M Bennett Dame Susan and Mr John Bruce Mrs Stina Bruce-Jones Stephen and Morny Carter Philip and Mary Contini Sir Sandy and Lady Crombie Gavin and Kate Gemmell Dr M I and Mrs C R Gordon Scott and Frieda Grier Iain MacNeil and Kat Heathcote Miss A McGrory Miss M Michie Mr James Miller CBE Meta Ramsay Mr George Ritchie Mr P Rollinson Mr and Mrs W Semple Mr Ian Taft Claire and Mark Urquhart Raymond and Brenda Williamson Mr Hedley G Wright

Symphony

Ronnie and Evelyne Anderson Mr Alan and Mrs Carolyn Bonnyman Mr John Brownlie Miss L Buist Mr and Mrs J K Burleigh Mr J L Donaldson Mr I Gow Mr J D Home Mrs J Kennedy Mrs A Lamont Mr I C MacNicol Professor J and Mrs S Mavor Mrs A McQueen Morag Millar Mr Miller Graham and Elizabeth Morton Mr and Mrs David Robinson Mr D Rogerson Mrs Ann M Stephen Mr Alistair M and Mrs Mandy Struthers Mr and Mrs M Whelan Mrs A Wolfson

Concerto

Dr K Chapman and Ms S Adam Mr A Alstead Miss D Blackie Mr L Borwick Neil and Karin Bowman Dr C M Bronte-Stewart Dr F L Brown Mr and Mrs Burnside Ms H Calvert Mr A Campbell Sir Graeme and Lady Catto Mr R Cavanagh Myk Cichla Dr J Coleiro Mr and Mrs B H Cross Christine and Jo Danbolt Mr P Davidson Mr J Diamond Miss C Dixon-Carter OBE Mr S Dunn Mr C Ffoulkes Mrs E Gibb Mr and Mrs M Gilbert Professor J R and Mrs C M Gray Mr W Gray Mrs S Hawthorn Richard and Linda Holden Mr N Jack Mr and Mrs S G Kay Mr and Mrs W Kean Mrs M King Norman and Christine Lessels Mr Alistair Mackie Mr D MacPherson Mr R G Madden Mr S Marwick Mr and Mrs G McAllister Ms M McDougall Mr E and Mrs S McGeachan Mr Rod McLoughlin Mrs B Morinaud Mr A Morrison Mrs A C Morrison Dr and Mrs D Mowle Mr and Mrs D Pirie Ms A and Miss I Reeve

Miss L E Robertson Ross family Dr and Mrs G K Simpson Mr and Mrs A Stewart Mrs M Stirling Mr G Stronach Dr G R Sutherland Mr I Szymanski Professor D E M Taylor Mr and Dr Tom Thomson Mr J B and Mrs M B Watson Mr and Mrs D Weetman Mrs Wigglesworth Mr and Mrs Zuckert

Sonata

Ms S Ace Mr K Allen Mrs P Anderson Ms D Baines Mr O Balfour Mr N Barton Dr A D Beattie Professor G Beeston Mrs H Benzie Mr R Billingham Lord and Lady Borthwick Rev P Boylan John Bradshaw and Shiona Mackie Lady J Bute Miss S M Carlyon Mrs H S Chalmers Mr J Claxon Mr T Cole and Mrs J Leslie-Cole Lady Coulsfield Adam and Lesley Cumming Ms K Cunningham Mr F Dalziel and Mrs S Walsh Dr J K and Mrs E E Davidson Mr and Mrs K B Dietz Mrs C Donald Jane Donald and Lee Knifton Ms P Dow Mrs P du Feu Mr John Duffy Mr and Mrs M Dunbar Mr R M Duncan

Brigadier and Mrs C C Dunphie Mrs E Egan Mr R Ellis Miss L Emslie Mr R B Erskine Dr E Evans Mr D Fraser Mr D and Mrs A Fraser Mr D Frew Ms J Gardner Dr P and Dr K Gaskell Mr W G Geddes Mrs M Gibson Mr D Gibson Mrs M Gillan Mr R M Godfrey Dr J A Graham and Mrs H M Graham Professor and Mrs A R Grieve Mr and Mrs G Y Haig Lord and Lady Hamilton Dr P J Harper Dr N Harrison Mr and Mrs R J Hart Mr D Hartman Ms V Harvey Dr and Mrs P Heywood Bobby and Rhona Hogg Mr R Horne Mr and Mrs F Howell Mrs A S Hunter Professor R N Ibbett Ms J Incecik Mr A Kilpatrick Professor and Mrs E W Laing Mr J P Lawson Mr and Mrs J Lawson Mr R M Love Dr D A Lunt Mrs Lesley P Lyon Mr and Mrs R MacCormick Mr and Mrs MacGillivray Lady Lucinda L Mackay Dr A K and Mrs J C Martin Mr and Mrs J Martin Mr and Mrs D H Marwick Ms S McArthur Mr G McCormack

Mrs L McCormick Mrs M McDonald Mr M McGarvie Mrs C McGowan-Smyth Dr Colin McHardy Dr A H McKee Mr Patrick McKeever Mr G McKeown Ms H L McLaren Mrs E McLean Ms Fiona McLeod Mr and Mrs B Mellon Mr and Mrs I Mills Mrs P Molyneaux Mr R Morley Mr B Morrison Mr K M Murray Mr B and Mrs C Nelson Mr and Mrs K O’Hare Professor Stephen Osborne and Frank Osborne Mr and Mrs K Osborne Dr G Osbourne Ms S Park Mr R Parry Mr J Paterson Misses J and M Penman Mr I Percival Dr M Porteous Mr J W Pottinger Miss J A Raiker Mr W Ramage Mr M Rattray Ms F Reith Mrs D A Riley Dr and Mrs D Robb Mrs E Robertson Mr I Robertson Mr H and Mrs J Robson Ms A Robson Mrs E K Ross Mrs S Scott Mrs J Shanks Mr J A Shipley Dr M J and Mrs J A Shirreffs Dr Colin and Mrs Kathleen Sinclair Mr M J Smith

Mrs E Smith Mr M A Snider Dr and Mrs B Stack Mrs Lorna Statham Mrs T Stevenson Rev N and Mr R Stewart Mrs R F Stewart Mr and Mrs Struthers Mr and Mrs B Tait Dr and Mrs T Thomson Mr C Turnbull Dr S Tweedie Dr Morag Ward Mr W Watters Dr and Mrs T Weakley Mrs V Wells Mr G West Miss M Whitelaw Dr and Mrs D T Williams Mr D Woolgar Mr R Young

Thank you to all our members of the Circle, including those who wish to remain anonymous. Every one of you makes a real difference.

26 Polish Reflections

A big Thank You to our supporters FUNDERS

CORPORATE SUPPORTERS

PRINCIPAL MEDIA PARTNER

PRINCIPAL TRANSPORT PARTNER

BROADCAST PARTNER

PARTNERS Glasgow Chamber of Commerce • Institute of Directors • Scots Magazine The Scottish Council for Development & Industry • Smart Graphics

PROJECT PARTNERS Abertay University • Children’s Classic Concerts • Children’s Hospices Across Scotland • Dundee University • Gig Buddies Glasgow Association for Mental Health (GAMH) • Glasgow Life • Horsecross Arts • National Youth Orchestras of Scotland Prescribe Culture (University of Edinburgh) • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland • Scottish Book Trust Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust • Usher Hall • Young Scot

CHAIR SPONSORS

If you would like more information about sponsorships, corporate partnerships or fundraising events with the RSNO, please contact Kirsten Reid, Individual Giving and Partnerships Officer, at kirsten.reid@rsno.org.uk

RSNO: Scotland’s National Orchestra 27

Royal Scottish National Orchestra PATRON

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Jenny McNeely

Her Majesty The Queen

Alistair Mackie Nicola Shephard

Graham Ramage

HEAD OF INDIVIDUAL GIVING AND PARTNERSHIPS

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

GRAPHICS AND NEW MEDIA DESIGNER

RSNO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CONCERTS

INDIVIDUAL GIVING AND PARTNERSHIPS OFFICER

Elected Directors Dame Susan Bruce DBE

DIRECTOR OF CONCERTS AND ENGAGEMENT

Bill Chandler

Michael Cameron

DRIVER AND DEPUTY STAGE MANAGER

CHAIR

Bekah Cork

John Heasley

ARTISTIC PLANNING AND TOURS MANAGER

HONORARY TREASURER

Emma Hunter

Hugh Bruce-Watt Kat Heathcote Linda Holden Neil McLennan Costa Pilavachi David Robinson Gurjit Singh Lalli Jane Wood

DEPUTY ORCHESTRA MANAGER

Ewen McKay

HEAD OF ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT

Richard Payne

Craig Swindells

Nominated Directors Cllr Frank Docherty

Samantha Campbell

STAGE AND PRODUCTION MANAGER

Christine Walker CHORUS MANAGER

LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT

Andrew Stevenson

DIRECTOR OF LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT HEAD OF LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT

Flora Farqhuarson CREATIVE ASSISTANT

Rosie Kenneally

Company Secretary Gordon Murray

LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT OFFICER

RSNO COUNCIL

Dr Jane Donald

Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale

Ian Brooke

Lady Gibson Ms Ruth Wishart

INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER

Ajda Šubelj

HEAD OF TRUSTS AND PROJECTS

Liz Wallace

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER (MATERNITY COVER)

Angela Moreland

Player Directors Dávur Juul Magnussen Sophie Lang Kennedy Leitch Paul Philbert Janet Richardson Lorna Rough

CHAIR

Sam Stone

ARTISTIC PLANNING MANAGER CONCERTS ADMINISTRATOR

THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL

TRUSTS AND PROJECTS COORDINATOR

FINANCE AND CORPORATE SERVICES

Matthias van der Swaagh

Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron

Naomi Stewart

LIBRARIAN

Tammo Schuelke

GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL

Kirsten Reid

EXTERNAL RELATIONS DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS PROGRAMMES EDITOR

Constance Carter-Fraser

EXTERNAL RELATIONS ADMINISTRATOR

Jessica Cowley

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Eli Dolliver

VIDEO PRODUCTION INTERN

Ted Howie

FACILITIES COORDINATOR

Jack Hunter VIDEO PRODUCER

Sam McErlean

SOUND ENGINEERING INTERN

Irene McPhail

ACCOUNTS AND PAYROLL ASSISTANT

Hedd Morfett-Jones DIGITAL MANAGER

Susan Rennie FINANCE MANAGER

Abby Trainor ADMINISTRATOR

Jade Wilson

FINANCE ASSISTANT

Royal Scottish National Orchestra 19 Killermont Street Glasgow G2 3NX T: +44 (0)141 226 3868 W: rsno.org.uk Scottish Company No. 27809 Scottish Charity No. SC010702

MARKETING MANAGER

Carol Fleming

/royalscottishnationalorchestra

Lorimer Macandrew

@RSNO

Catriona Mackenzie

@rsnoofficial

HEAD OF MARKETING

DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER (MATERNITY LEAVE)

Youtube.com/thersno

The RSNO is one of Scotland’s National Performing Companies, supported by the Scottish Government.