Transcendental Visions with Pekka and Sam – Season 22/23 – Programme note

Season 2022/23

TRANSCENDENTAL VISIONS WITH PEKKA AND SAM

Sunday 12 March, 3pm The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh

Trad. / Amidon (arr. Nico Muhly) Appalachian Folk Songs

Adams Shaker Loops (septet version)

No interval

Pekka Kuusisto Violin / Director

Sam Amidon Voice / Banjo / Acoustic Guitar

SCO String Ensemble

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

Pekka Kuusisto

Sam Amidon

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Our Musicians YOUR SCO STRING ENSEMBLE

Violin

Joel Bardolet

Siún Milne

Viola

Fiona Winning

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Su-a Lee

Donald Gillan

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Nikita Naumov

Information correct at the time of going to print

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Nikita Naumov

Double Bass

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO HEAR

Trad . / Amidon (b. 1981)

Appalachian Folk Songs

arr. Nico Muhly

Saró

I See the Sign

Weeping Mary

Kedron

All is Well Wedding Dress

Adams (b. 1947)

Shaker Loops (1978)

Shaking and Trembling

Hymning Slews

Loops and Verses

A Final Shaking

Nobody can doubt music’s power to stir the emotions, to energise or console, to lift the spirits – and even, sometimes, to raise a tear. Peer deep inside many musical experiences, however, and there’s something of the transcendent, even spiritual, that can lift the listener out of everyday existence and transport them to – well, somewhere else entirely. It might be via the overwhelming sonic opulence of a climactic Mahlerian finale or a spine-tingling rock anthem, or the ever-intensifying devotional emotion of qawwali, or even the austere simplicity of music by a composer such as Arvo Pärt.

Today’s concert explores just that intersection of music and spirituality, bringing together works from two very different but interconnected US traditions.

Vermont-born singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Amidon is a musician steeped in US folk music, growing up surrounded by traditional tunes and choral hymns, playing fiddle from the age of three, and joining his first band at 13. Amidon has so far released 11 discs of his music, providing a forwardlooking perspective on centuries-old songs that brings in collaborators including New York composer Nico Muhly, British singer Beth Orton (who also happens to be Amidon’s wife), and Icelandic composer and producer Valgeir Sigurðsson.

The six songs Amidon has collected together in his ‘Redemption Set’ explore ideas of hope, forgiveness, love and mortality through American folk and hymn traditions. The opening ‘Saró’ began its long life as an English folk ballad in the 1700s (it’s probably at least a century

older than the year 1849 mentioned in its lyrics). It later travelled to the US, where versions are sung in South Carolina and across the Appalachians. It’s a gentle, poignant song of love and loss, as a young man sets sail for the New World, leaving his beloved behind.

The powerful ‘I See the Sign’ is a 19thcentury African American congregational hymn, and with its circling, repeating verses and refrains, it was intended to be picked up and learnt in praise as it was being sung. That sense of inevitability matches the song’s subject matter, too: the sign of its title is an indication of the end times, with wild horses, angels and threatening clouds all prefiguring the Day of Judgement, encapsulated in the chorus’s unchanging closing line, ‘Hey Lord, time draws nigh’.

The far quicker, brighter ‘Weeping Mary’ is a white spiritual expressing glory in God, Jesus and Mary, one of the hymns included in The Social Harp compiled by Georgian farmer, singer and teacher John McCurry in 1855. Like Amidon’s next song, it was originally a shape note hymn, printed using different shapes for its different notes, so that congregational hymn-singing would be simpler for those who struggled to read music. ‘Kedron’ was originally published in Britain, in the 1762 Short Hymns compiled by Charles Wesley, before making its way to America, where it first appeared in South Carolina in 1799 in a harmonisation credited to the Rev Elkanah Kelsy Dare. It’s a popular and widely sung hymn, conveying the simple ideas of the inevitability of death, and Christ’s grace and patience as he slowly died on the cross.

ThesixsongsAmidonhas collectedtogetherinhis ‘RedemptionSet’explore ideasofhope,forgiveness, loveandmortality throughAmericanfolk andhymntraditions.

Sam Amidon

Amidonreturnstoquestionsofloveinhisfinalsong. ‘WeddingDress’isanupbeatAppalachianmountain tunemadefamousbyPeggySeeger,possiblywith ScottishorIrishroots.

The theme of mortality continues in the heartbreaking ‘All is Well’, a hymn from the Sacred Heart singing community with a tune credited to JT White in 1844, and widely sung across US churches and beyond. It’s a simple but very powerful farewell to earthly life, and an anticipation of the life beyond.

Amidon returns to questions of love in his final song. ‘Wedding Dress’ is an upbeat Appalachian mountain tune made famous by Peggy Seeger, possibly with Scottish or Irish roots, in which a suitor excitedly asks his intended to prepare her marriage garment, only to discover she’s perhaps more interested in sewing than in marrying.

There’s undoubtedly a strong spiritual element to today’s next piece, not only

through the Christian denomination its title namechecks, but also in the sense of trance and transcendence that John Adams’ music can generate. He’s often lumped together with Steve Reich and Philip Glass as a ‘minimalist’ composer, writing music concerned with repetition, gradual change, hypnotic soundscapes and driving rhythms. In truth, however, he has never quite fitted into that neat category. Shaker Loops , from 1978, was the first piece to bring his name to a wide international audience, but even here, he harnesses the unmistakable elements of minimalism in music that’s full of energy, power and emotional drive.

Adams wrote the piece while teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and tried it out on willing student

players as he was developing it out of an earlier conceptual piece, Wavemaker . There are several references embedded within its quirky title. First, ‘loops’ is a term still used for short repeating sections of music in pop and rock tracks. For Adams in the 1970s, it meant a literal loop: a section of pre-recorded tape attached to itself in an unending circle, and played over and over, as many times as needed. ‘Shaker’ refers to the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, the Christian denomination that had a defunct community near where Adams grew up in New Hampshire, and whose ecstatic praise is said to lead to bodily convulsions.

The word also sums up the movements that Adams’s string players carry out to achieve the rapid tremolos his music demands.

Those lightning-quick movements are most evident in the propulsive energy of Shaker Loops ’s first movement, ‘Shaking and Trembling’. After that frenetic activity, it feels as though time has stopped in the second movement, ‘Hymning Slews’, with just a few raindrop-like pizzicatos, sighing slides (the ‘slews’ of the movement’s title) and icy harmonics left. A solo cello launches the third movement, ‘Loops and Verses’, in which Adams pulls off a remarkable aural illusion of the music seeming to perpetually accelerate. In the last movement, ‘A Final Shaking’, he looks back over material from earlier in the piece before ending with the gentle, transcendental euphoria of apparently endless waves of sound.

© David Kettle

ShakerLoops,from1978, wasthefirstpieceto bringhisnametoawide internationalaudience,but evenhere,heharnesses theunmistakableelements ofminimalisminmusic that’sfullofenergy,power andemotionaldrive.

John Adams

Violin / Director PEKKA KUUSISTO

Violinist, conductor, and composer Pekka Kuusisto is renowned for his artistic freedom and fresh approach to repertoire. Kuusisto is Artistic Director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor & Artistic Co-Director: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from the 2023/24 season. He is also Artistic Partner with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, a Collaborative Partner of the San Francisco Symphony, and Artistic Best Friend of Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

In the 2022/23 season Kuusisto debuted with Berliner Philharmoniker and will perform with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He will return to orchestras such as The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco, and Cincinnati symphony orchestras, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Kuusisto makes his debuts as a conductor with the Philharmonia, Gothenburg, and City of Birmingham symphony orchestras. He is also Sinfonieorchester Basel’s Artist-in-Residence with whom he appears as conductor, soloist, and recitalist.

As a conductor, recent highlights include appearances with Helsinki Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber, and European Union Youth orchestras, the Concertgebouworkest, and Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Orchestre de chambre de Paris and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Kuusisto is an enthusiastic advocate of contemporary music and a gifted improviser and regularly engages with people across the artistic spectrum. Uninhibited by conventional genre boundaries and noted for his innovative programming, recent projects have included collaborations with Hauschka and Kosminen, Dutch neurologist Erik Scherder, pioneer of electronic music Brian Crabtree, eminent jazz-trumpeter Arve Henriksen, juggler Jay Gilligan, accordionist Dermot Dunne and folk artist Sam Amidon.

Pekka Kuusisto plays the Antonio Stradivari Golden Period c.1709 ‘Scotta’ violin, generously loaned by a patron through Tarisio.

For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

Voice / Banjo / Acoustic Guitar

SAM AMIDON

Sam Amidon is an American folk artist, originally from Vermont, US. His parents are Peter Amidon and Mary Alice Amidon, both well-established folk musicians who raised him on a diet of old Irish and Appalachian folk. Amidon is a member of the Icelandic music collective/record label Bedroom Community, and is a multi-instrumentalist. As well as singing, Amidon plays fiddle, guitar and banjo.

He has released a string of acclaimed albums on the Bedroom Community and Nonesuch labels, ranging in theme from interpretations of traditional Irish fiddle pieces to old-time melodies and tales from traditional American folk history. His albums draw on old work songs, ballads, hymns and other sonic artefacts from the past, reimagining them in bold, creative new ways to breathe new life into them and recontextualising them alongside original compositions.

Over the years he has collaborated with classical composer Nico Muhly, experimental composer/producer Ben Frost, composer/violinist Eyvind Kang, composer Aaron Siegel, Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman), guitar legend Bill Frisell, producers Leo Abrahams (Regina Spektor, Frightened Rabbit), veteran jazz drummer Milford Graves and multiinstrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily.

Violin JOEL BARDOLET –––––

Vigo violinist Joel Bardolet is a unique musician. With obvious aptitudes and exultant musicality, his particular way of approaching key works from the universal repertoire has earned him a prominent place in the current panorama of Central European orchestras and chamber ensembles, with which he regularly collaborates, either as a concertino or as a soloist.

Violin SIÚN MILNE

Siún is a keen chamber musician and has performed with a variety of ensembles throughout her career including the Royal Academy of Music Baroque Soloists at Wigmore Hall, the Vanbrugh and Callino String Quartet as well as the European Union, Arensky and Irish Chamber Orchestras. She has participated in masterclasses with Gerhard Schulz at IMS Prussia Cove, Sarah Chang and Thomas Brandis to name a few.

Working with Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds, Siún has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Cross-Linx Festival, and has toured the UK with Arnalds’ soundtrack for the hit ITV drama Broadchurch. She has performed with a diverse range of artists including Mícheál O’ Suilleabháin, Frankie Gavin and singer-songwriter Rumer on BBC’s Later with Jools Holland.

For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

Viola FIONA WINNING –––––

Scottish violist Fiona Winning was until 2014 Principal Viola of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and before that the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. During her years in London she was a regular guest principal of the Philharmonia and London Philharmonic Orchestras, including four seasons at Glyndebourne Opera. She is also a regular guest principal viola of the Aurora Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

For seven years she was a member of the Scottish Ensemble with whom she performed at the Wigmore Hall, BBC Proms, and at the Edinburgh International, Aldeburgh and City of London Festivals, and broadcast regularly on Radio 3.

Cello SU-A LEE

Korean born cellist Su-a Lee is one of the highlights of the Scottish music scene. Celebrated wherever she goes, she stands out for her versatility, popularity, and appetite for musical adventure.

Born in Seoul, Su-a trained at Chethams School of Music, completing her studies at the Juilliard School in New York, before moving to Scotland to join the SCO. While she is deeply rooted in her Scottish home, Su-a and her cello have appeared all over the world, from South America to the Arctic Circle. They are just as likely to be found in world famous concert halls as they are in Japanese temples, circus tents and waterfalls. She has appeared in recital with her sister, Songa Lee, at Carnegie Hall in New York, as well as in chamber music concerts across Scotland with her SCO colleagues.

Su-a's Chair is kindly supported by Bryan Wade

For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

Cello DONALD GILLAN

Donald Gillan joined the SCO in 2007. Before that he enjoyed a busy freelance career playing with chamber groups and orchestras including the Scottish, Paragon and Hebrides Ensembles, Northern Sinfonia, BBC SSO and Scottish Opera.

Donald studied with Eileen Croxford and William Pleeth as a scholarship student at the Royal College of Music where he won all the major cello prizes. After leaving the RCM, he won the Muriel Taylor Cello Prize which enabled him to continue post-graduate study with Emma Ferrand and Ralph Kirschbaum at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Donald's chair is kindly supported by Professor Sue Lightman

For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

Double Bass

NIKITA NAUMOV

Born in Novosibirsk, Russia, Nikita attended the Karaganda Special Music School in Kazakhstan at the age of 7 where he studied with Pavel Bobrovskiy. He then studied at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in St Petersburg under the teaching of Alexandr Shilo. After a masterclass with Rinat Ibragimov and Thomas Martin he was invited to study with them at Guildhall, funded by the Leverhulme Trust and the Martin Musical Scholarship.

Nikita has played as guest principal with many of the world’s finest orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.

Nikita's Chair is kindly supported by Dr Caroline N Hahn

For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

Biography

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

The internationally celebrated Scottish Chamber Orchestra is one of Scotland’s National Performing Companies.

Formed in 1974 and core funded by the Scottish Government, the SCO aims to provide as many opportunities as possible for people to hear great music by touring the length and breadth of Scotland, appearing regularly at major national and international festivals and by touring internationally as proud ambassadors for Scottish cultural excellence.

Making a significant contribution to Scottish life beyond the concert platform, the Orchestra works in schools, universities, colleges, hospitals, care homes, places of work and community centres through its extensive Creative Learning programme. The SCO is also proud to engage with online audiences across the globe via its innovative Digital Season.

An exciting new chapter for the SCO began in September 2019 with the arrival of dynamic young conductor Maxim Emelyanychev as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor.

The SCO and Emelyanychev released their first album together (Linn Records) in November 2019 to widespread critical acclaim. The repertoire - Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in C major ‘The Great’ –is the first symphony Emelyanychev performed with the Orchestra in March 2018.

The SCO also has long-standing associations with many eminent guest conductors including Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen, François Leleux, Pekka Kuusisto, Richard Egarr, Andrew Manze and John Storgårds.

The Orchestra enjoys close relationships with many leading composers and has commissioned almost 200 new works, including pieces by the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Sir James MacMillan, Sally Beamish, Martin Suckling, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Karin Rehnqvist, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Nico Muhly, Anna Clyne and Associate Composer Jay Capperauld.

For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

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