Side by Side: A Little Night Music – Season 22/23 – Programme note

SIDE

BY

SIDE

A Little Night Music

The SCO is extremely grateful to the Scottish Government and to the City of Edinburgh Council for their continued support. We are also indebted to our Business Partners, all of the charitable trusts, foundations and lottery funders who support our projects, and to the very many individuals who are kind enough to give us financial support and who enable us to do so much. Each and every donation makes a difference and we truly appreciate it.

Core Funder

Su-a Lee

Sub-Principal Cello

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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

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CHAIR SPONSORS

Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen

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Principal Cello Philip Higham The Thomas Family

Cello Donald Gillan

Professor Sue Lightman Cello Eric de Wit Jasmine Macquaker Charitable Fund

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Principal Bassoon Cerys Ambrose-Evans Claire and Anthony Tait

Principal Timpani Louise Goodwin Geoff and Mary Ball

Our Musicians SCO/ RCS WINDS SIDE BY SIDE

* Denotes RCS Players

Flute

Emma Roche

Eliza Woodward*

Oboe

Robin Williams

Fraser Kelman

Clarinet

Maximiliano Martín

William Stafford

Anthony McKindless McKenna*

E-flat Clarinet

Latchen Kinghorn-Perry*

Basset Horn

William Stafford

Calum Robertson

Bassoon

Cerys Ambrose-Evans

Emma Simpson*

Contrabassoon

Alison Green

Horn

Boštjan Lipovšek

Rachel Wood*

Max Howling*

Jamie Shield Bass

Nikita Naumov

Trumpet

Peter Franks

Alison Green

Sub-Principal Bassoon

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO HEAR

Françaix (1912-1997)

Sept Danses from ‘Les malheurs de Sophie’ (1971)

Mendelssohn (1809–1847)

Notturno for Winds (1824-6)

R Strauss (1864-1949)

Serenade in E-flat Major, Op 7 (1881)

Alberga (b.1949)

Nightscape (The Horniman Serenade) (1993)

I Sundown

II Cicadas, tree-frogs, crickets, party-goers, geckos, dogs, burglars and other nocturnal creatures

III Into the arms of Morpheus?

IV Br’er Fox and the Dancing Ghosts

It might only be the afternoon when you’re reading this, but let’s look ahead a few hours into the evening – as the pieces in today’s concert do. It’s no coincidence, in fact, that the concert’s evening-themed pieces were all written for wind ensembles: there’s a long-standing tradition of just such music, stretching back to the 18th century, when a wind band (or Harmonie, to give it its proper name) would provide the go-to evening entertainment for any self-respecting central European nobleman (or –woman). It might have played a few popular opera arias, a serenade or two, or even a whole symphony specially rearranged for the group, often outdoors, where the sounds of winds would carry far more strongly than those of their string-playing colleagues.

Before the night-time serenades begin, however, let’s take a quick detour to France in 1935, where Jean Françaix composed his ballet score Les malheurs de Sophie. Although Françaix was working a few years later than the Parisian mischief-makers of Les Six – in fact, little Jean was only eight when that group received its nickname in 1920 – he shared much of that group’s interest in clarity, objectivity, wit and sparkle. Indeed, he might just about have made it into their number: he was only six when he began composing, and went on to study with composition pedagogue extraordinaire Nadia Boulanger, who considered him one of her finest pupils. Françaix died as recently as 1997, and wrote prolifically during his long life (he described himself as ‘constantly composing’, barely finishing one piece before launching into the next). But he maintained a cheerful, neo-classical, easy-on-the-ear lightness throughout his output – which took in concertos, symphonies, operas and plenty more.

His 1935 ballet score was based on a very popular French children’s book from the 19th century by Sophie, Comtesse de Ségur (in fact, it’s probably a thinly disguised account of her own rather eventful early life). The book’s Sophie is a rather wayward – or, perhaps, simply curious – three-year-old, who stuffs herself at afternoon tea, shaves off her own eyebrows, pulls apart then holds a funeral for her doll, and cooks her mother’s pet fish – among numerous other hair-raising exploits. Françaix captures the sense of mischievous fun and child-like innocence in his witty, dashing score, seven dances from which he arranged for wind ensemble in 1971. Fanfares kick off its opening ‘Le jeu de la poupée’, while the subsequent ‘Funéraille de la poupée’ has the appropriately slow drag of a funeral cortege. Sophie’s older cousin Paul – frequently called upon to rescue her from her scrapes – makes an appearance in a strongly defined, muscular

clarinet theme in a later movement, and the quick waltz of ‘Le goûter’ gets ever more manic as Sophie consumes more and more pastries and cakes. The gentle ‘Danse des filets à papillons’ brings the suite to an effervescent conclusion.

It was in 1824 that Felix Mendelssohn wrote the original version of his Notturno, the next piece in today’s programme. The then 15-year-old – already something of a prolific composer (he’d write his Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture just two years later) – was accompanying his father on a visit to the spa resort of Bad Doberan on the Baltic coast in July of that year, where their arrival soon stirred the interest the local Grand Duke Friedrich Franz I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Mendelssohn Jr played piano for him, and also got to meet the musicians of his court wind band – which happened to be one of the finest in Germany. It was for those

Jean Françaix

Françaix captures the sense of mischievous fun and child-like innocence in his witty, dashing score, seven dances from which he arranged for wind ensemble in 1971.

musicians that he quickly composed his Notturno.

And then, young Felix promptly lost the score. Fortunately, however, he was able to rewrite the piece from memory – but he took the opportunity to transform it into the far more elaborate Overture for Winds, Op 24, for 23 instruments plus percussion. His original, more intimate version has since been rediscovered, however. After its gentle, noble opening theme, it’s fair to say that its faster, livelier second section would no doubt have put the Bad Doberan players through their paces, leading to an energetic conclusion that’s sure to rouse anyone who might have nodded off.

Like Mendelssohn, Richard Strauss was just a teenager (aged 17) when he composed his Serenade for wind instruments in 1881. And, also like Mendelssohn, the teenage Strauss

had already been busy as a composer, having even published a string quartet, a piano sonata and an orchestral march (as well as having several other pieces – not least a full-length symphony – ready to go). He’d been immersed in music through his father Franz, principal horn player in Munich’s court orchestra, whose influence can be heard clearly in the younger man’s Serenade – not only in its prominent use of a quartet of horns, but also in the inspiration it takes from Mozart, Mendelssohn and Schubert. Strauss Sr had little time for the new-fangled musical modernism of Wagner (despite working with the composer on several occasions), and focused his son squarely on the established classics of the past.

And in his Serenade, which clearly takes its inspiration from Mozart’s ‘Gran partita’, the younger Strauss was more than happy to comply – well, mostly: you might notice a few slightly more modern-sounding harmonic

And then, young Felix promptly lost the score. Fortunately, however, he was able to rewrite the piece from memory.

Felix Mendelssohn

twists that point towards the far lusher sounds of Strauss’s later music.

He opens with a poignant, graceful oboe melody, set against a rich, darkly coloured accompaniment, and his second main theme – led by a duet between clarinet and horn – is faster-moving and more lyrical. The Serenade’s central development section – kicked off by a return from the oboe’s opening melody – takes the piece into darker, more turbulent music, but Strauss announces the return of his opening material with a gloriously sonorous horn quartet, surely designed to bring a smile to his father’s face. After a swift return to the piece’s opening music, the Serenade winds down to a gentle conclusion.

We leap forward more than a century – and to the other side of the world – for today’s concluding piece. Eleanor Alberga was born

and initially studied in Kingston, Jamaica, though she won a scholarship to continue her studies at London’s Royal Academy of Music, and now lives in Herefordshire. Her particularly rich, idiosyncratic musical style – bringing together jazz, contemporary techniques, Jamaican musical references and plenty of colour and rhythm – is almost impossible to pigeonhole, should you even want to.

Alberga composed Nightscape in 1993 to a joint commission from the London Mozart Players (like Strauss’s Serenade, it uses the same forces as Mozart’s ‘Gran partita’) and London’s Horniman Museum. She took her inspiration from a very particular source: her childhood memories of evenings in Jamaica, which she conveys vividly across the piece’s four substantial movements. Indeed, Nightscape virtually counts as a symphony for wind ensemble, its movements offering

Richard Georg Strauss

He’d been immersed in music through his father Franz, principal horn player in Munich’s court orchestra, whose influence can be heard clearly in the younger man’s Serenade.

© Ben Ealovega

quite an individual response to a symphony’s conventional structure.

The richly scored ‘Sundown’ describes just that: a vivid, colourful sunset in the Caribbean, though it’s an early evening that’s clearly filled with activity, as the individual strands of Alberga’s distinctive and strongly contrasted musical material return again and again in different combinations and guises. She draws things to a calm, sonorous conclusion, however – perhaps as the sun finally dips below the horizon.

With its tongue-in-cheek title of ‘Cicadas, tree-frogs, crickets, party-goers, geckos, dogs, burglars and other nocturnal creatures’, Alberga’s second movement is her playful scherzo, a vivid musical description of Jamaican evening and night-time activities that begins with the quiet chirruping of insects before building to quite a cacophony

– with, perhaps, the distant thrum of dance music from a neighbour’s party.

There’s a dreamy richness to much of the material in Alberga’s slow movement, ‘Into the arms of Morpheus?’, though, as she indicates with the title’s question mark, you might wonder if anybody could realistically fall asleep with so much going on (including the return of some of the second movement’s cast of characters). Her finale – ‘Br’er Fox and the Dancing Ghosts’ – is also her most personal movement, evoking childhood memories of the lullaby her mother used to sing to her – a rather threatening ditty about being snatched by a fox if you failed to fall asleep. It’s an exuberant movement, full of bouncy dance energy, building to a raucous quotation of the lullaby tune just before its riotous ending.

© David Kettle

Her particularly rich, idiosyncratic musical style – bringing together jazz, contemporary techniques, Jamaican musical references and plenty of colour and rhythm – is almost impossible to pigeonhole, should you even want to.

Eleanor Alberga

Biography

SCO WIND SOLOISTS

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra Wind Soloists charm audiences throughout Scotland and further afield with stylish and exuberant performances of repertoire ranging from the celebrated divertimenti and wind serenades of the 18th century to music of the present day.

The SCO Wind Soloists regularly perform in Scotland's main cities and further afield, including the Highlands and Islands. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, they performed a concert at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in the presence of HRH the Duke of Rothesay (now King Charles III). Other recent invitations include the East Neuk Festival and Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival.

Inspired by the legacy of Sir Charles Mackerras, the Wind Soloists have since 2012 made a particular exploration of Harmoniemusik repertoire. Their debut album, Mozart Divertimenti (Linn) made a fine contribution to the Orchestra’s distinguished Mozart discography. Their second successful album, Beethoven Music for Winds, was launched in 2018 with a concert tour including Glasgow, Ayr, Edinburgh and London (Wigmore Hall).

For full SCO biography please visit sco.org.uk

Biography RCS WIND ENSEMBLE

Conductor

EMILIE GODDEN

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) is a place like nowhere else, powered by performance, its people, and their passion.

Established in 1847 and celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2022, RCS is consistently recognised as a global leader in performing arts education (currently ranked as one of the world’s top five performing arts education institutions by the QS World University Rankings 2022). With students from 65 countries, specialist staff and active partnerships with all of Scotland’s national arts companies, RCS is a centre of performance offering a learning environment which encourages students to create new work, collaborate with peers across disciplines and develop innovative ideas and grow into artists the world needs.

RCS graduates are resourceful, highly employable and members of a dynamic community of artists who make a significant impact across the globe.

At RCS, students develop not just their art but their power to use it. rcs.ac.uk

Emilie Godden is the Leverhulme Conducting Fellow at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in association with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Recent engagements include the opening concert at the 2022 St. Endellion Festival, where she also assisted Ryan Wigglesworth on Peter Grimes. Earlier in 2022, she assisted George Jackson at Grange Park Opera (Janacek The Excursions of Mr Broucek to the Moon and the Fifteenth Century directed by David Pountney) and in 2021/22 she assisted Adam Hickox at RCS Opera (Humperdinck Hansel und Gretel, directed by Stephen Lawless).

Godden took part in the Sorrell Women Conductors’ Programme at the Royal Academy of Music (led by Sian Edwards) in 2019. She is currently continuing her studies under the tutelage of Martyn Brabbins.

As an orchestral violinist for two decades, Godden has experienced performing a broad range of the symphonic repertoire. Now, as a conductor, she is relishing the opportunity to explore these scores to their fullest.

© Royal Conservatoire of Scotland/Guy Farrow

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