New York Counterpoint – Season 2122 – Programme Note by Scottish Chamber Orchestra

NEW YORK COUNTERPOINT 6 Mar 2022

SCO.ORG.UK

PROGRAMME

Season 2021/22

NEW YORK COUNTERPOINT

In association with

* Please note that this is a change to the previously advertised programme.

Sunday 6 March, 3pm The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh Muhly It goes without saying Dessner Aheym Schnelzer Solitude* (Scottish Premiere) Zinovjev Double Trouble* (Scottish Premiere) Interval of 20 minutes

Bartók Selection from 44 Duos for 2 Violins* Berio Aldo, from Duetti per due Violini* Shaw Entr’acte Reich New York Counterpoint Hugo Ticciati* Director / Violin SCO Chamber Ensemble DJs xivro and Rowan McIlvride (EHFM)

4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AB +44 (0)131 557 6800 | info@sco.org.uk | sco.org.uk

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is a charity registered in Scotland No. SC015039. Company registration No. SC075079.

Thank You

FUNDING PARTNERS ––––– The SCO is extremely grateful to the Scottish Government and to The City of Edinburgh Council for their continued support, and we would like to thank Dunard Fund for the foresight and understanding which their Trustees showed by supporting us through the exceptional gifts they granted in 2020 and 2021. We are also indebted to our Business Partners, all of the charitable trusts, foundations and lottery funders which support our projects, and the very many individuals who give financial support to our work and who enable us to do so much. Thank you.

Core Funder

Benefactor

Local Authority

Creative Learning Partner

Business Partners

Key Funders

Delivered by

Thank You

SCO DONORS Diamond

Gold

Malcolm and Avril Gourlay

William and Elizabeth Berry

James and Felicity Ivory

Lord Matthew Clarke

Clair and Vincent Ryan

Caroline Denison-Pender

Alan and Sue Warner

David and Sheila Ferrier Chris and Claire Fletcher

Platinum

Louise D Fortune

Eric G Anderson

James Friend

David Caldwell in memory of Ann

Judith and David Halkerston

Tom and Alison Cunningham

Ian Hutton

Andrew and Kirsty Desson

David Kerr

John and Jane Griffiths

Gordon Kirk

J Douglas Home

Robert Mackay and Philip Whitley

Audrey Hopkins

Roy and Svend McEwan-Brown

Dr and Mrs Peter Jackson

June Miller

Dr Daniel Lamont

Alan Moat

Norman and Christine Lessels

James F Muirhead

Chris and Gill Masters

John and Liz Murphy

Duncan and Una McGhie

Alison and Stephen Rawles

Anne-Marie McQueen

Mr and Mrs J Reid

Patrick and Susan Prenter

Andrew Robinson

George Ritchie

Hilary E Ross

Martin and Mairi Ritchie

Ian S Swanson

Elaine Ross

John-Paul and Joanna Temperley

George Rubienski

Anne Usher

Jill and Brian Sandford

Catherine Wilson

Michael and Elizabeth Sudlow

Neil and Philippa Woodcock

Robert and Elizabeth Turcan

G M Wright

Tom and Natalie Usher

Bruce and Lynda Wyer

Anny and Bobby White Finlay and Lynn Williamson Ruth Woodburn

Silver Roy Alexander Joseph I Anderson Pamela Andrews and Alan Norton Dr Peter Armit William Armstrong Fiona and Neil Ballantyne Joseph and Patricia Banks Timothy Barnes and Janet Sidaway The Batsleer Family Jack Bogle Jane Borland Jane and Michael Boyle Mary Brady Elizabeth Brittin John Brownlie Laura Buist Robert Burns Sheila Colvin

Dr William Fortescue Jeanette Gilchrist

Robert Duncan

David Gilmour

Gavin McCrone

Dr David Grant

Michael McGarvie

Andrew Hadden J Martin Haldane Ronnie and Ann Hanna Ruth Hannah Robin Harding Roderick Hart Norman Hazelton

Brian Miller James and Helen Moir Alistair Montgomerie Margaret Mortimer and Ken Jobling Andrew Murchison Hugh and Gillian Nimmo

Ron and Evelynne Hill

David and Tanya Parker

Phyll and Wren Hoskyns-Abrahall

Hilary and Bruce Patrick

Dianne Howieson

Maggie Peatfield

Clephane Hume

Alastair Reid

Tim and Anna Ingold

Fiona Reith

David and Pamela Jenkins

Alan Robertson

Catherine Johnstone

Olivia Robinson

Sir Raymond and Lady Johnstone

Catherine Steel

Julie and Julian Keanie

Lorn and Camilla Cowie

Marty Kehoe

Lord and Lady Cullen of Whitekirk

Professor Christopher and

Adam and Lesley Cumming

James McClure in memory of

Mrs Alison Kelnar

Gillian Stewart Ian Szymanski Marion Thomson Douglas and Sandra Tweddle

Jo and Christine Danbolt

Dr and Mrs Ian Laing

Dr Wilma Dickson

Janey and Barrie Lambie

Sylvia Dow

Graham and Elma Leisk

James Dunbar-Nasmith

Geoff Lewis

C S Weir

Dr and Mrs Alan Falconer

Dorothy A Lunt

Bill Welsh

Sheila Ferguson

Vincent Macaulay

Roderick Wylie

Dr James W E Forrester

Isobel and Alan MacGillivary

Margaretha Walker James Wastle

––––– We believe the thrill of live orchestral music should be accessible to everyone, so we aim to keep the price of concert tickets as fair as possible. However, even if a performance were completely sold out, we would not cover the presentation costs. We are indebted to everyone acknowledged here who gives philanthropic gifts to the SCO of £300 or greater each year, as well as those who prefer to remain anonymous. We are also incredibly thankful to the many individuals not listed who are kind enough to support the Orchestra financially, whether that is regularly or on an ad hoc basis. Every single donation makes a difference and we are truly grateful. Become a regular donor, from as little as £5 a month, by contacting Mary Clayton on 0131 478 8369 or mary.clayton@sco.org.uk

Thank You

PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR'S CIRCLE ––––– Our Principal Conductor’s Circle is made up of individuals who share the SCO’s vision to bring the joy of music to as many people as possible. These individuals are a special part of our musical family, and their commitment and generosity benefit us all – musicians, audiences and creative learning participants alike. We would like to extend our grateful thanks to them for playing such a key part in the future of the SCO. American Development Fund Erik Lars Hansen and Vanessa C L Chang Kenneth and Martha Barker Creative Learning Fund Claire and Mark Urquhart David and Maria Cumming International Touring Fund Gavin and Kate Gemmell

Visiting Artists Fund Colin and Sue Buchan Claire and Anthony Tait Anne and Matthew Richards Productions Fund The Usher Family Annual Fund James and Patricia Cook Dr Caroline N Hahn

CHAIR SPONSORS Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen Donald and Louise MacDonald

Cello Eric de Wit Jasmine Macquaker Charitable Fund

Chorus Director Gregory Batsleer Anne McFarlane

Principal Oboe Robin Williams Hedley G Wright

Viola Steve King Sir Ewan and Lady Brown

Principal Clarinet Maximiliano Martín Stuart and Alison Paul

Principal Cello Philip Higham The Thomas Family

Principal Timpani Louise Goodwin Geoff and Mary Ball

Cello Donald Gillan Professor Sue Lightman

Our Musicians

YOUR SCO Violin Hugo Ticciati * Cecilia Ziano Ruth Crouch

Information correct at the time of going to print

Viola Felix Tanner Cello Philip Higham Clarinet Maximiliano Martín Djs xivro and Rowan McIlvride (EHFM) * Sadly, due to family circumstances Pekka Kuusisto will no longer be able to join the SCO for his planned Residency in March. Pekka was due to direct/perform three programmes with the Orchestra: New York Counterpoint (6 Mar), Seek The Light (10/11 Mar) and America, The Beautiful (16/17/18 Mar). Our thoughts are with Pekka and his family at this difficult time. We are grateful that violinist/director Hugo Ticciati has agreed to step in for Pekka for the entirety of the Residency. Hugo is an acclaimed violinist, leader and conductor and has a huge passion for contemporary, non-western and traditional music alike and we hugely appreciate him joining us for these three exciting projects at such short notice.

Felix Tanner Sub-Principal Viola

W H AT YO U ARE ABOUT TO HEAR Muhly (b 1981) It goes without saying (2005) Dessner (b 1976) Aheym (2009) Schnelzer (b 1972) Solitude (1999) (Scottish Premiere) Zinovjev (b 1988) Double Trouble (2021) (Scottish Premiere) Bartók (1881-1945) Selection from 44 Duos for 2 Violins (1931)

Berio (1925-2003) Aldo, from Duetti per due Violini

––––– It’s hard to imagine our current musical world without minimalism. The rippling repetitions and jazzy, welcoming harmonies that characterise the music of composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass have become so familiar, and their impact so all-pervasive, that it’s difficult to remember a time when modern music focused obsessively on complex grids of pitches, uncompromising orderings of just about every aspect of music, and performances that set out to goad, challenge and provoke, rather than to console, energise and – yes – entertain. That’s not to write off more ‘difficult’ contemporary music. Nor to put all the relaxations in recent classical music down to a small group of US composers in the 1970s and 80s who dared to prune music back to its most fundamental ideas. But in challenging some of the excesses of arid academic avant-garderie, minimalist composers at least indicated that other ways were possible, ushering in a musical environment that was relaxed about expressing emotion, embracing the past without irony, and drawing on rock, jazz or folk inspirations – all ideas that the music in today’s concert demonstrates.

(1979 -1983)

Shaw (b 1982) Entr’acte (2011) Minuet & Trio

Reich (b 1936) New York Counterpoint (1985) Fast Slow Fast

We begin – where else? – but in New York, where Vermont-born Nico Muhly worked for several years as editor, conductor, archivist and keyboardist to Philip Glass before establishing himself on his own terms as one of the most exciting younger US composers writing today. He’s created operas (his Two Boys was unveiled by English National Opera in 2011) and much orchestral music. Muhly has also collaborated with pop musicians including Björk, Sufjan Stevens and Antony and

Nico Muhly

Bryce Dessner

the Johnsons, in music that wears its minimalist influences proudly, but also transforms them into something with a rich story to tell.

and rhythms becoming gradually more complex as the piece progresses, until the arrival of a shocking burst of industrial noise anticipates the music’s brighter, more optimistic ending.

In his 2005 It Goes Without Saying, Muhly seems to pay overt tribute not to his ex-boss Glass, but to Steve Reich, and specifically to Reich’s New York Counterpoint, which closes today’s concert. Both pieces line up a live clarinettist against recorded versions of themselves, and Muhly seems to rework Reich’s rich, throbbing harmonies in the accompaniments to his own expressive solo lines. But Muhly employs other, more unusual sounds in his recorded accompaniment – the warm drones of a harmonium, or the clicking of the clarinet’s keys, or even a sampled kitchen whisk, all of which serve to echo and extend the clarinet’s own sonic identity.

Bryce Dessner is another US musician who nimbly straddles musical genres. Born in Cincinnati, and now resident in Paris, he’s guitarist in rock band The National (alongside his twin brother Aaron), a curator of music festivals across Europe and the US, and increasingly well established as a composer. He’s written for several orchestras across the USA and Europe – including Paris’s crack Ensemble Intercontemporain and the San Francisco Symphony, where he was an artistic partner – as well as collaborating with musicians as diverse as Glass, Reich, Paul Simon and Taylor Swift.

It Goes Without Saying charts a slow,

Aheym is Dessner’s first string quartet,

carefully paced crescendo, its harmonies

written in 2009 for the Kronos Quartet,

Albert Schnelzer

Sauli Zinovjev

and premiered by them in New York that year. Dessner writes about the piece:

Dessner has called Aheym a ‘ferocious piece of music’, and you can understand why from its urgent, insistent opening rhythms, which transform minimalist repetitions into something far more

"Aheym means ‘homeward’ in Yiddish, and this piece is written as a musical evocation of the idea of flight and passage. As little boys, my brother and I used to spend hours with my grandmother, asking her about the details of how she came to America. (My father’s family were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia.) She could only give us a smattering of details, but they all found their way into our collective imagination, eventually becoming a part of our own cultural identity and connection to the past. In her poem Di rayze aheym, the American-Yiddish poet Irena Klepfisz, a professor at Barnard in New York and one of the few child survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto, writes: ‘Among strangers is her home. Here right here she must live. Her memories will become monuments.’ Aheym is dedicated to my grandmother, Sarah

aggressive and in-your-face. After a more lyrical central section, complete with Reich-style interlocking melodies, a long, slow, carefully graded build-up heads towards a remarkably intense conclusion.

Dessner."

however, occupies a different world

Swedish composer Albert Schnelzer is another genre-straddler, beginning his musical life as keyboard player in a rock band, before more formal studies at the Malmö Academy of Music and London’s Royal College of Music. His music often continues his early passion for rock, and also for folk music, in its intense sense of energy and rhythmic, often dance-like propulsion. His 1999 solo violin work Solitude,

Each Duo is based explicitly on a folk tune that Bartók gathered from across Ukraine, Serbia, Hungary, Romania and also the Arab world, but he’s so free and creative in his sophisticated sense of melody, harmony and rhythm that the Duos’ folk origins are not always evident. Béla Bartók

altogether, one of hesitant, thoughtful introspection, though one that also provides glimpses of deeply held emotions. It begins as a series of tentative gestures, almost isolated, disconnected sounds,

that it’s sometimes hard to believe there are only two instruments playing.

before passing through Arvo Pärt-like music of radiant simplicity and intensity, finally arriving arching melodies that are far richer and more Romantic.

There’s an undeniable rock energy to his Double Trouble, too, as its violinist and cellist pass musical ideas back and forth, swelling to grand climaxes, adding

of violin duos. Béla Bartók grouped his 44 Violin Duos into four books of increasing technical difficulty, intended for young violinists as a structured method of learning, and as a way of taking first steps into both modern musical styles and folk music. Each Duo is based explicitly on a folk tune that Bartók gathered from across Ukraine, Serbia, Hungary, Romania and also the Arab world, but he’s so free and creative in his sophisticated sense of melody, harmony and rhythm that the Duos’ folk origins are not always evident. Nonetheless, and despite the relative technical simplicity of the earlier Duos, Bartók’s brilliant harnessing of dissonances, driving rhythms, drones, counterpoint, irregular rhythms,

vocalisations and generating such power

syncopation and plenty more means that

Like Schnelzer, young Finnish composer Sauli Zinovjev started his musical life in a rock band, before turning his attention to classical music at the age of 16 after watching a video of pianist György Cziffra playing Liszt. Since then, he’s written widely for orchestras and ensembles across Europe.

We step back in time – to the 1930s and the 1980s respectively – for a collection

Luciano Berio

Caroline Shaw

these miniature works more than hold their own in the concert hall.

Pulitzer Prize for music (in 2013, at the age of 30, for her choral piece Partita for 8 Voices), but she’s also collaborated with rapper Kanye West, and one of her most recent works is a delicate reimagining for

Half a century later, Italian composer Luciano Berio paid overt homage to Bartók in his own 34 Duetti per due violini, each of which is dedicated to a particular person, and based around a particular aspect of their personality or passions. Berio’s ‘Aldo’ is Aldo Bennici, Palermo-born viola player and teacher, for many years artistic director of the influential Chigiana Music Academy in Siena. Accordingly, Berio bases his short, touchingly simple piece around a Sicilian folk song – and would go on to use similar ideas in two more extensive works written later for Bennici, the interconnected Voci (1984) and Naturale (1985).

voices and percussion of ABBA’s ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’. Entr’acte began life as a short string quartet in 2011, and Shaw made a version for string orchestra in 2014. She writes about the piece:

We return to New York for another musical figure who it’s almost impossible to categorise. Caroline Shaw became the

"Entr’acte was written in 2011 after hearing the Brentano Quartet play Haydn’s Op 77 No 2 – with their spare and soulful shift to the D flat major trio in the minuet. It is structured like a minuet and trio, riffing on that classical form but taking it a little further. I love the way some music (like the minuets of Op 77) suddenly takes you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass, in a kind of absurd,

youngest ever winner of the prestigious

subtle, Technicolor transition."

series of ‘counterpoint’ works (it was preceded by Vermont Counterpoint for flutes from 1982, and followed by Electric Counterpoint for electric guitars, written for jazz/rock guitarist Pat Metheny in 1987, and Cello Counterpoint in 2003). All four pieces share a similar concept. They can be performed by an ensemble of live musicians using multiple versions of the same instruments (in the case of New York Counterpoint, nine clarinets and three bass clarinets), or – as is more usually the case – by a single live musician performing against a recording of themselves playing the other parts. Steve Reich

Structured – nominally, at least – as a conventional classical minuet and trio, Entr’acte unfolds more as a series of distinctive episodes that keep the listener constantly surprised – from a melancholy, somewhat hesitant opening idea, to sudden intrusions of ‘wrong-note’ atonality, and even noise effects created by brushing the instruments’ strings with the bows, to elegantly dancing pizzicatos (marked by Shaw ‘like granite’). Her hesitant opening melody returns near the end, before the quartet’s violinists disappear upwards into the stratosphere, leaving only the cellist plucking sad, introspective harmonies ‘like recalling fragments of an old tune or story’. The concert comes full circle with today’s final piece. Steve Reich’s minimalist classic New York Counterpoint was commissioned in 1984 by US clarinettist Richard Stoltzman, and forms the second in the composer’s continuing

Pulsing chords kick off Reich’s energetic first movement, which serve to map out the harmonic areas he’ll go on to explore in it. Against a repeating melodic idea on the tape, the live clarinettist gradually builds up a complementary pattern – which we slowly realise is simply the same melody, offset by a note or two. Later the soloist begins to pick out ‘resultant’ melodies: tunes that aren’t really there, but which seem to emerge from the complex tapestry of interlocking syncopations. Reich uses similar processes of buildup, pulsing harmonies and resultant melodies in his darker, more melancholy slow movement. He rounds the piece off, though, with rhythmic games in his fast final movement, whose bassline shifts its accents so that we never know whether it’s in three- or four-time. Nonetheless, voices drop out as the work rises ever higher towards its austere ending. © David Kettle

Director / Violin HUGO T I C C I AT I

––––– As violinist, leader and conductor, Hugo Ticciati imbibes all possible forms of creativity, whether it be performing world premieres in the most prestigious venues around the world, improvising with monks in India, or devising innovative programmes for O/Modernt Orchestra and Festival which he founded in 2011. Alongside his passion to discover and learn from the music of previous epochs and non-western traditions, Hugo embraces the world of contemporary music. To date, over forty works have been written for and dedicated to him by a host of eminent composers, including Erkki-Sven Tüür, Pēteris Vasks, Victoria Borisova-Ollas, Albert Schnelzer and Dobrinka Tabakova. Being the Artistic Director of O/Modernt Orchestra, Hugo collaborates regularly with Kremerata Baltica, Manchester Camerata, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra da Camera di Perugia. Most recently, he has been invited to work with Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and Vienna Chamber Orchestra. Gaining a growing reputation for his innovative and adventurous programming, Hugo is frequently asked to devise and present concerts and festivals with a unique twist. This has led to ongoing collaborations with Wigmore Hall and Kings Place in London. Pursuing his passion for chamber music, Hugo has developed special artistic partnerships with members of the O/Modernt Soloists as well as other internationally renowned artists, notably Evelyn Glennie, Anne Sofie von Otter, Nils Landgren, Steven Isserlis, Angela Hewitt and Olli Mustonen. Hugo frequently gives master-classes and lectures on music-related subjects both at Scandinavia’s leading specialist music school Lilla Akademien, where he holds the post of Deputy Artistic Director, and other educational institutions around the world.

Violin CECILIA ZIANO ––––– Cecilia is from Italian origin, born in Cirie in 1991. She began studying the violin in Turin at the age of four years with Maestro Fabrizio Pavone using the Suzuki method. At six years old she began to play in the Suzuki Orchestra taking part in numerous concerts all over the world. In 2009 she was awarded the prize “Orpheus d’Oro” as the most promising young talent. She graduated with honors from the Conservatory of Turin under the guidance of Christine Anderson and studied from the age of thirteen with Dora Schwarzberg and Adrian Pinzaru. In 2018 Cecilia was appointed Principal Second Violin of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and in 2019 the same position in the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Violin RUTH CROUCH

––––– Ruth studied with Emanuel Hurwitz at the Royal Academy of Music, before winning scholarships to study for two years with Professor Max Rostal in Switzerland. On her return to London she joined the pioneering contemporary music group Lontano with which she toured extensively, appearing at the Proms twice and featuring on many radio and CD recordings. She is a passionate chamber musician, both within the Orchestra and with other ensembles, having played with the Chamber Group of Scotland, Hebrides Ensemble, Nash Ensemble, Schubert Ensemble and the London Sinfonietta, which she has led on several occasions, and with which she has played as a soloist. She has also made solo appearances with the London Bach Orchestra and Tiford Bach Orchestra, as well as the SCO. She has been invited as guest leader to John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique and Flemish Opera in Antwerp, and closer to home, appeared as leader with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Northern Sinfonia. Ruth also enjoys teaching, including at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Viola FELIX TA N N E R ––––– A keen chamber musician, Felix was a member of the Badke Quartet before joining the Brodowski Quartet, with whom he won the Royal Overseas League Competition and Val Tidone International Chamber Music Competition in Italy. They have held residences at the Anvil Concert Hall in Basingstoke, Warwick School and Bristol University where they worked closely with the composer John Pickard. Felix has performed all over the world with various orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Opera North and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, and has also worked with artists such as Jools Holland, Kate Rusby, Massive Attack, Tim Minchin and is a member of Tango Siempre. For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

Cello PHILIP HIGHAM

––––– Philip has been described as ‘possessing that rare combination of refined technique with subtle and expressive musicianship… all the qualities of a world-class artist’ (The Strad), and has been praised for his ‘expansive but tender playing’ (Gramophone). His debut recording of the Britten Solo Suites (Delphian, 2013) was named instrumental disc of the month in both Gramophone and BBC Music magazines. His recording of the complete Bach Suites (Delphian, 2016) also received critical acclaim. Philip was appointed Principal Cello of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in 2016. He plays a fine Milanese cello by Carlo Giuseppe Testore, made in 1697, and is grateful for continued support from Harriet's Trust. Philip's Chair is kindly supported by The Thomas Family For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

Clarinet MAXIMILIANO MARTÍN ––––– Spanish Clarinettist and international soloist Maximiliano Martín is one of the most exciting and charismatic musicians of his generation. He combines his position of Principal Clarinet of the SCO with solo, chamber music engagements and masterclasses all around the world. Maximiliano has made his debut as a soloist and chamber musician in many of the world's most prestigious venues including the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall, Library of Congress in Washington, Mozart Hall in Seoul, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Durban City Hall in South Africa, and Teatro Monumental in Madrid. Highlights of the past years have included concertos with the SCO, European Union Chamber Orchestra, and Orquesta Filarmónica de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, amongst others. He performs regularly with ensembles and artists such as London Conchord Ensemble, Doric and Casals String Quartets, François Leleux, Pekka Kuusisto and Llŷr Williams. Maximiliano's Chair is kindly supported by Stuart and Alison Paul For full biography please visit sco.org.uk