LAN SHUI Music Director
subscription concert
Song Of Destiny • Brahms Symphonies 17 November 2017 Esplanade Concert Hall Performing Home of the SSO
Lan Shui, conductor Singapore Symphony Chorus Singapore Symphony Youth Choir The Choir of the Transylvania State Philharmonic, Cluj-Napoca Eudenice Palaruan, choral director
17 Nov 2017, Fri Guest-of-Honour Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore
Song Of Destiny • Brahms Symphonies Singapore Symphony Orchestra Lan Shui, conductor Singapore Symphony Chorus Singapore Symphony Youth Choir The Choir of the Transylvania State Philharmonic, Cluj-Napoca Eudenice Palaruan, choral director
TENGKU IRFAN
Meditation, for orchestra (World Premiere) 4’00
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Gesang der Parzen, Op. 89 (“Song of the Fates”) (Singapore Premiere) 14’00 Schicksalslied, Op. 54 (“Song of Destiny”) 18’00
Intermission 20’00 JOHANNES BRAHMS
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73 43’00
1. 2. 3. 4.
Allegro non troppo Adagio non troppo Allegretto grazioso (quasi andantino) Allegro con spirito
Concert duration: 2 hrs Go green. Digital programme booklets are available on www.sso.org.sg. Scan the QR code in the foyer to view a copy.
S ing a p or e S y mp hon y Or c he s t r a ‘A fine display of orchestral bravado for the SSO and Shui’ The Guardian
Since its founding in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been Singapore’s flagship orchestra, touching lives through classical music and providing the heartbeat of the cultural scene in the cosmopolitan city-state. In addition to its subscription series concerts, the orchestra is well-loved for its outdoor and community appearances, and its significant role educating the young people of Singapore. The SSO has also earned an international reputation for its orchestral virtuosity, having garnered sterling reviews for its overseas tours and many successful recordings. The SSO makes its performing home at the 1,800-seat state-of-the-art Esplanade Concert Hall. More intimate works and all outreach and community performances take place at the
673-seat Victoria Concert Hall, the home of the SSO. The orchestra performs 100 concerts a year, and its versatile repertoire spans alltime favourites and orchestral masterpieces to exciting cutting-edge premieres. Bridging the musical traditions of East and West, Singaporean and Asian musicians and composers are regularly showcased in the concert season. This has been a core of the SSO’s programming philosophy from the very beginning under Choo Hoey, who was Music Director from 1979 to 1996. Since Lan Shui assumed the position of Music Director in 1997, the SSO has performed in Europe, Asia and the United States. In May 2016 the SSO was invited to perform at the Dresden Music Festival and the Prague Spring International Music Festival. This successful five‑city tour of
Germany and Prague also included the SSO’s return to the Berlin Philharmonie after six years. In 2014 the SSO’s debut at the 120th BBC Proms in London received critical acclaim in the major UK newspapers The Guardian and Telegraph. The SSO has also performed in China on multiple occasions. Notable SSO releases under BIS include a Rachmaninov series, a “Seascapes” album, two Debussy discs “La Mer” and “Jeux”, and the first-ever cycle of Tcherepnin’s piano concertos and symphonies. The SSO has also collaborated with such great artists as Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Diana Damrau, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos and Gil Shaham.
L a n SHui conductor
Lan Shui is renowned for his abilities as an orchestral builder and for his passion in commissioning, premiering and recording new works by leading Asian composers. As Music Director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra since 1997, American Record Review noted that Shui has “turned a good regional orchestra into a world-class ensemble that plays its heart out at every concert”. Together they have made several acclaimed tours to Europe, Asia and the United States and appeared for the first time at the BBC Proms in September 2014. Lan Shui held the position of Chief Conductor of the Copenhagen Phil from 2007 to 2015, and from 2016 he became their Conductor Laureate. He recently concluded a four-year period as Artistic Advisor of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. As a guest conductor, Shui has worked with many orchestras. In the United States he has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Baltimore and Detroit symphony orchestras. In Europe he has performed with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Gothenburg Symphony, Tampere Philharmonic and Orchestre National de Lille. In Asia he has conducted the Hong Kong, Malaysian and Japan Philharmonic orchestras and maintains a close relationship with the China Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony. Since 1998 Shui has recorded over 20 CDs for BIS – including a Rachmaninov series, a “Seascapes” disc and the first-ever complete cycle of Tcherepnin’s symphonies with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra – and also music by Arnold and Hindemith with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, which has received two Grammy nominations.
Lan Shui is the recipient of several international awards from the Beijing Arts Festival and the New York Tcherepnin Society, the 37th Besançon Conductors’ Competition in France and Boston University (Distinguished Alumni Award) as well as the Cultural Medallion – Singapore’s highest accolade in the arts. Born in Hangzhou, China, Shui studied composition at the Shanghai Conservatory and graduated from The Beijing Central Conservatory. He continued his graduate studies at Boston University while at the same time working closely with Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood Music Festival. He has worked together with David Zinman as Conducting Affiliate of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, as Associate Conductor to Neeme Järvi at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and with Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic and Pierre Boulez at The Cleveland Orchestra.
E ude nic e Pa l a r u a n choral director
Eudenice Palaruan studied at the University of the Philippines, majoring in composition under Ramon Santos (National Artist for Music) and choral conducting under Joel Navarro. After finishing his Bachelor’s Degree in the Philippines, he took on a four-year study in choral conducting at the Berliner Kirchenmusikschule, Germany under Martin Behrmann. As a chorister, Palaruan has performed with such leading choirs as the Philippine Madrigal Singers and the World Youth Choir. He was also involved in early music performance practice with the Berlin Monteverdichor as a countertenor. He was the Principal Conductor of the San Miguel Master Chorale and the Assistant Choirmaster of the Philippine Madrigal Singers. For the past seven years, he was the Resident Conductor of the International Bamboo Organ Festival where he performed early European choral music and Latin American Baroque choral music. As a composer and arranger, Palaruan has introduced choral works that exhibit the indigenous Filipino sound. With his active involvement in the choralization of Philippine and other Asian indigenous music, he premiered a significant volume of new Asian choral works and is often invited to give lectures on non-Western vocal aesthetics and choral arranging in the Asian context. As a music pedagogue, he taught composition and choral conducting at the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music at the University of the Philippines College of Music. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at the School of Church Music in the Singapore Bible College.
S ing a p or e S y mp hon y C hor u s EUDENICE PALARUAN Choral Director SHANE THIO Rehearsal Pianist The Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC) was inaugurated in 1980 under the direction of Choo Hoey, then Music Director of the SSO, giving its first performance on 13 June 1980. It has since established itself as one of the finest choirs in the region and one of the few symphony choruses in Southeast Asia. The chorus has performed under the baton of renowned conductors Peter Erdei, Eric Ericsson, John Nelson, Claus Peter Flor, Okko Kamu, and most recently, Masaaki Suzuki for Mozart’s Requiem. Under pioneering Choral Director Lim Yau’s dedicated tutelage, it has amassed a wide repertoire over the years, performing such works as Orff’s Carmina Burana, Rachmaninov’s The Bells, Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, Macmillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross, Kodály’s Missa Brevis, Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum, Britten’s War Requiem, and Bach’s St John Passion, amongst many others. Brought together by an ardour for choral music, presiding Choral Director Eudenice Palaruan leads the SSC’s colourful communion of choristers, who come from a myriad of backgrounds including biochemists, tour guides and lawyers.
S ing a p or e S y mp hon y You t h C hoir WONG LAI FOON Choirmaster DARIUS LIM Associate Choirmaster EVELYN HANDRISANTO Rehearsal Pianist The Singapore Symphony Youth Choir (SSYC) was formed in 2016 to complement the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) with a chorus of young people’s voices. Bridging the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir (SSCC) and the Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC), the SSYC is an up-and-coming addition to the SSO’s family of choruses, a platform for young adults to further their interest in choral singing, as well as to enable mature members of the SSCC to continue their development in classical choral singing. Comprising Singapore’s finest young choristers aged between 14 and 28, the SSYC aims to artistically enrich young adults musically and vocally, revelling in the best of all musical worlds and styles, ranging from orchestral to a cappella masterpieces spanning the Renaissance to 21st century contemporary music.
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T he c hoir of t he T r a n s y lva ni a S tat e P hil h a r monic , c l u j - n a p oc a CORNEL GROZA Chorus Master Founded in 1972, the Choir of the Transylvania State Philharmonic was an initiative of the distinguished Romanian composer Sigismund Toduta. The ensemble was assembled by leading choral conductor Dorin Pop, whom in just two years brought the choir to its leading position among Romanian choirs. Florentin Mihaescu led the choir from 1976 to international success. In 1986, Cornel Groza, a founding member himself, took over the direction of the choir, building upon the accomplishments of his predecessors. The choir has since performed under numerous illustrious conductors and performed all over Europe, including at the Lucerne Festival’s staging of George Enescu’s operatic masterpiece, Oedipe, for the composer’s centennial celebration. The choir’s radio and TV broadcasts and recordings have enjoyed critical appreciation. Their most recent release is a Brahms album (Ein deutsches Requiem, Nänie, Schicksalslied), with the Bucharest Philharmonic on the Arte Nova label. In recent years, the choir has been engaged in opera productions such as Puccini’s Turandot, Verdi’s Nabucco and Aida, and is a regular invitee to the Festival della Valle d’Intria in Martina Franca, where they have played a part in such operas as Casella’s La donna serpente, Mayr’s Medea in Corinto and Mercadante’s Francesca da Rimini.
COMB INED CHOr u s SOPRANO
ALTO
TENOR
Karen Aw Claudia Bataraga Iris Boehmer Pam Buckley Alexis Chen Chin Li Han Mairi Fernandez-ares Deborah Goh Grace Goh Karin Hesse Shiho Higuchi Clara Irimies Imlisenla Imsong Deborah Lee Eleesha Lewis Janice Lim Sherilyn Lim Marianne Løkling Sara Norton Avoni Odyuo Si Hui Ong Kirsty Poltock Sarah Santhana Cathy Stronach Kevichuno Suokhrie Miki Taguchi Patricia Teng Olivia Trono Masumi Tsuchiya Assia Turner Isabel Voo Anne Wightman
Päivi Aalto Arnie Arfiee Dora Felicia Barta Alexandra Burca Chan Mei Yoke Meredith Cheong Chiu Lu Yah Natalia Constantin Melinda Duffner Laura Essig Martha Fernandez Kyoko Fukushi Milea Luminita Gheorghe Friederike Herrmann Mervi Hiltunen Truly Hutapea Joanne Joseph Susan Kurniawati Irene Law Dorothy Lee-The Wendy Lim Trixi Lim Lin Wei Sharon Low Ng Beng Choo Elaine Ser Josephine Sim Natividad Solaguren Ena Su Tai Jien Nee Elsie Tan Tan Li En Helena Whalen-Bridge Wong Lai Foon Karen Yau
Jean-Michel Bardin Lorant Losif Barta Wharton Chan Calvin Chin Chng Chin Han Norman Lee Loh Shao Wei Ronald Ooi Qi Jian Dumitru Sebestean Alan Smith Ian Tan BASS Septimiu Valeriu Bosca Alex Chojnowski Arthur Davis Ori Gratch Gerald Goh Vimezo Iralu Joseph Kennedy Sandor Attila Kopeczi Khor Gui Wei Paul Kitamura Danciu Mircea Ciprian Mizgan Rares Munteanu Kevin Neeson Valentin Negreanu Harry Ng Mhathung P. Odyuo Michael Schlesinger Thierry Schrimpf Bjorn Soo Alexandru Suciu David Tao Raymond Wu
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SSO MU S ICIAN S Lan Shui Music Director joshua tan Associate Conductor jason lai Associate Conductor andrew litton Principal Guest Conductor Choo Hoey Conductor Emeritus Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director
FIRST VIOLIN Igor Yuzefovich° Concertmaster, The GK Goh Chair Lynnette Seah Co-Concertmaster Kong Zhao Hui* Associate Concertmaster Chan Yoong-Han Fixed Chair Cao Can* Chen Da Wei Duan Yu Ling Foo Say Ming Gu Wen Li Jin Li Cindy Lee Sui Jing Jing Karen Tan William Tan Wei Zhe SECOND VIOLIN Lisa Obert^ Principal Michael Loh Associate Principal Hai-Won Kwok Fixed Chair
Nikolai Koval* Chikako Sasaki* Margit Saur Shao Tao Tao Lillian Wang Wu Man Yun* Xu Jue Yi* Ye Lin* Yeo Teow Meng Yin Shu Zhan* Zhang Si Jing* VIOLA Zhang Manchin Principal Guan Qi Associate Principal Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair Katarzyna Bryla^ Marietta Ku Lim Chun^ Luo Biao Shui Bing Tan Wee-Hsin Janice Tsai Jean-Marc Vogt^ Yang Shi Li Yeo Jan Wea^ CELLO Ng Pei-Sian Principal Yu Jing Associate Principal Guo Hao Fixed Chair Chan Wei Shing Song Woon Teng Wang Yan Wang Zihao* Peter Wilson Wu Dai Dai Zhao Yu Er DOUBLE BASS Guennadi Mouzyka Principal Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal Karen Yeo Fixed Chair Olga Alexandrova Jacek Mirucki Wang Xu Julian Li^
FLUTE Jin Ta Principal Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal Roberto Alvarez Miao Shanshan PICCOLO Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal
Jamie Hersch Associate Principal Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal Kartik Alan Jairamin TRUMPET Jon Paul Dante Principal David Smith Associate Principal Lau Wen Rong Sergey Tyuteykin
OBOE Rachel Walker Principal Pan Yun Associate Principal Carolyn Hollier Elaine Yeo
TROMBONE
COR ANGLAIS
BASS TROMBONE
Elaine Yeo Associate Principal
Wang Wei Assistant Principal
CLARINET
TUBA
Ma Yue Principal Li Xin Associate Principal Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping
Hidehiro Fujita Principal Brett Stemple^
BASS CLARINET
Allen Meek Principal Damian Patti Associate Principal Samuel Armstrong
TIMPANI Christian Schiøler Principal Jonathan Fox Associate Principal
Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal PERCUSSION BASSOON Ma Ke^ Principal Liu Chang Associate Principal Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue
Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Lim Meng Keh Zhu Zheng Yi HARP
CONTRA BASSOON
Gulnara Mashurova Principal
Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal HORN Han Chang Chou Principal Gao Jian Associate Principal
*With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments. °Igor Yuzefovich plays an instrument generously loaned by Mr & Mrs G K Goh ^Musician on temporary contract Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.
u p comi n g con c ert s
7 DECEMBER 2017 Thu | 7.30pm Esplanade Concert Hall
FINLAND 100 SIBELIUS Finlandia, Op. 26 JAAKKO KUUSISTO Violin Concerto, Op. 28 SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82 Okko Kamu, conductor Elina Vähälä, violin Pre-concert Talk 6.30pm | library@esplanade
15 & 16 DECEMBER 2017 Fri & Sat | 7.30pm
17 DECEMBER 2017 Sun | 4pm
Victoria Concert Hall
SSO Christmas Concert Highlights: TCHAIKOVSKY JOHN RUTTER HANDEL VARIOUS (arr. John Higgins) ALAN SILVESTRI & GLEN BALLARD (arr. William Ross) Joshua Tan, conductor Singapore Symphony Chorus Singapore Symphony Youth Choir Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir
The Nutcracker Suite No. 1, Op. 71a Colours of Christmas “Hallelujah” from Messiah Christmas on Broadway God Bless Us Everyone (from Disney’s A Christmas Carol)
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Igor Yuzefovich Concertmaster The GK Goh Chair The GK Goh Chair is endowed by the Family and Friends of Mr Goh Geok Khim
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TENGKU IRFAN (b.19 98) Meditation, for orchestra (World Premiere)
4’00
Meditation, in its original version for piano, was composed in January 2015. It was premiered in Lincoln Center and has been performed in several other occasions in Kuala Lumpur and New York. The piece was orchestrated later in 2015, months after the completion of the original piano piece. The inspiration for orchestrating this piece came from the late Steven Stucky, whom I had the fortune to meet back in 2015. The orchestration includes resonant percussion instruments such as the Thai gongs, glockenspiel and crotales to emulate the sustaining pedal of the piano. The main difference from the original piano version compared to the orchestration is the inclusion of time signatures in the orchestration, to facilitate conducting and ensemble playing.
Programme note by Tengku Irfan
JOHANNE S B RAHM S (18 3 3 -18 97 ) Gesang der Parzen, Op. 89 (“Song of the Fates”) (Singapore Premiere) 14’00 Brahms by his own admission was by nature melancholy. He had deep personal friendships, contemplated marriage on more than one occasion, and found his soulmate in Clara Schumann, the widow of his friend, champion and fellow composer Robert Schumann, but he was basically a solitary person. To a degree this is reflected in his works for chorus and orchestra that explore his belief that mankind is incapable of experiencing true happiness. Gesang der Parzen is the last piece that Brahms ever composed for chorus and orchestra. It is a setting of the Priestess’ monologue from Goethe’s play Iphigenie in Tauris and is but one example of the 18th-century German fascination with ancient Greece. In the play, an individual’s, or even an entire generation’s fate is determined solely by the whim of the gods. Brahms saw the play in Vienna and began work on his setting during the summer of 1882. Iphigenie’s overall pessimistic tone is reflective of Brahms’ mood at the time. Nonetheless the music he composed resonates with a sense of tragic grandeur. Gesang der Parzen is scored for six voices. The contraltos and basses are divided, and the texture is made even richer and darker by the addition of contrabassoon and tuba in the orchestra. The work is in a rondo-like form, with two major-key sections followed by a coda. Unusual for Brahms, he eschewed his usual preference for contrapuntal devices and set the text in a declarative fashion. The coda is stark; the piccolo plays above muted strings and ends on a hushed open fifth. A half-century later, Anton Webern would cite the coda as the exact point where Western music began its departure from tonality. Es fürchte die Götter Das Menschengeschlecht! Sie halten die Herrschaft In ewigen Händen, Und können sie brauchen, Wie’s ihnen gefällt.
The human race trembles before the gods! They hold the power in their eternal hands. And they can use it however it pleases them.
Der fürchte sie doppelt Den je sie erheben! Auf Klippen und Wolken Sind Stühle bereitet Um goldene Tische.
He should doubly fear whom they uplift! On cliffs and clouds chairs are set around golden tables.
Erhebet ein Zwist sich, So stürzen die Gäste, Geschmäht und geschändet In nächtliche Tiefen, Und harren vergebens, Im Finstern gebunden, Gerechten Gerichtes.
Should a dispute arise, the guests are overthrown, reviled and defiled into the depths of the night, they wait in vain bound in the dark for righteous judgment.
Sie aber, sie bleiben In ewigen Festen An goldenen Tischen. Sie schreiten vom Berge Zu Bergen hinüber: Aus Schlünden der Tiefe Dampft ihnen der Atem Erstickter Titanen, Gleich Opfergerüchen, Ein leichtes Gewölke.
But they (the gods) remain in eternal feasting at the golden tables. They walk from mountain to mountain; From the depths of chasms rise up to them the breath of choking Titans, like a burnt offering, a light mist.
Es wenden die Herrscher Ihr segnendes Auge Von ganzen Geschlechtern Und meiden, im Enkel Die ehmals geliebten, Still redenden Züge Des Ahnherrn zu sehn.
The rulers turn their beneficent eyes away from all races. And avoid the grandchild, the once-loved, silently-speaking features of our ancestors.
So sangen die Parzen; Es horcht der Verbannte, In nächtlichen Höhlen Der Alte die Lieder, Denkt Kinder und Enkel Und schüttelt das Haupt!
So sang the Fates; The exile, an old man, listens in nocturnal caves to the ancient songs, Thinks of his children and grandchildren and shakes his head!
Schicksalslied, Op. 54 (“Song of Destiny”)
18’00
Schicksalslied is the first piece for chorus and orchestra that Brahms started after completing A German Requiem, Op. 45, composed between 1865 and 1868 in the years following the deaths of both his mother and Schumann. It was the work that brought him international recognition, especially in England where it was very popular. The text for the new work is from Hyperions Schicksalslied by Friedrich Hölderlin, which he read while visiting friends in the summer of 1868. Hölderlin, who was active in the early 19th century, is recognised today as one of Germany’s great poets, but was little known during his lifetime. An admirer of Greek culture, Hölderlin identified deeply with their ancient myths telling of the tragic fall of mankind. Brahms was so intrigued by the poem that he began sketching the piece the very same day. He slipped away from his friends while taking a stroll along the North Sea and was found sitting on a sand dune engrossed in his work, a drastic departure from his usual fastidious habits and inflexible schedule. It took Brahms three years to complete Schicksalslied. In between came the Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53, which Brahms in a letter to his publisher opined was the best piece that he had ever written. In Schicksalslied, Brahms vividly contrasted the blissful lives of the gods with the dismal fate of humanity on earth. The orchestral introduction is ethereal and dreamlike and the altos enter describing a setting where the gods walk in light. The verses unfold like hymns before the music reaches a violent climax that depicts the suffering and uncertainty of mankind. Throughout can be heard the beat of the timpani, which symbolises fate. Schicksalslied ends with the orchestra playing the music of the gods, while the chorus is silent. Ihr wandelt droben im Licht Auf weichem Boden, selige Genien. Glänzende Götterlüfte Rühren euch leicht, Wie die Finger der Künstlerin Heilige Saiten.
You wander above in the light on soft ground, blessed spirits. Shining, divine breezes brush by you as lightly, as the fingers of a performer on her holy strings.
Schicksallos, wie der schlafende Säugling, atmen die Himmlischen. Keusch bewahrt in bescheidener Knospe,
Unencumbered by fate, like sleeping infants, the divine beings breathe. Chastely preserved in a simple bud,
Blühet ewig Ihnen der Geist, Und die seligen Augen Blicken in stiller Ewiger Klarheit.
their spirit blooms forever, and their blessed eyes gaze in silent, eternal clarity.
Doch uns ist gegeben, Auf keiner Stätte zu ruh’n. Es schwinden, es fallen Die leidenden Menschen Blindlings, von einer Stunde zur andern, Wie Wasser von Klippe Zu Klippe geworfen Jahrlang in’s Ungewisse hinab.
But there is granted to us no place to rest. Poor suffering humans waste away and fall blindly, from one hour to the next, like water thrown from cliff to cliff all through the year, into the uncharted depths.
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
43’00
The Second Symphony dates from 1877, although Brahms began work on it two years earlier when he was still putting the finishing touches on his First Symphony. It had taken him 21 years to complete the First Symphony, as Brahms like all composers of his generation struggled to break free from the long shadow that Beethoven had cast. The First Symphony can be considered Brahms’ homage to the great composer, but can hardly be considered “Beethoven’s Tenth”, a nickname given perhaps in jest, but which has stuck. By the mid-1870s Brahms was living in Vienna and had achieved fame and a certain degree of fortune. He could pretty much do as he pleased and devoted his time to composing, concert tours and long holidays. He worked on the Second Symphony while summering in the town of Pörtschach on Lake Wörth in Southern Austria, a setting so congenial to him that he wrote, “there the melodies flow so freely that one must be careful not to trample on them”. The Second Symphony is generally regarded as Brahms at his sunniest and most cheerful. It has been called his “Pastoral”, once again the comparisons to Beethoven and his Sixth Symphony are impossible to avoid. Brahms, however, was quick to stress the underlying elegiac quality of the symphony in letters to his friends. To his publisher, however, he wrote with a wink and a nod that the work is “so melancholy that you will not be able to bear it”, suggesting that the score be printed with black borders. Brahms described the symphony in a letter to his friend Elisabeth von Herzogenberg: You only have to sit at the piano, put your small feet on the two pedals in turn and strike the chord of F minor several times in succession, first in the treble, then in the bass [alternating very loudly and very softly] and you will gradually gain a vivid impression of my “latest”. Its dual nature is indicative of Brahms’ vacillating moods and his struggle with the vagaries of the human condition. This duality can also be found in his orchestration, as the Second Symphony is the only one of Brahms’ four symphonies that calls for a tuba in addition to three trombones. The combination can be solemn and dark (a friend wrote to him after the premiere objecting to their gloomy music and harsh dissonances in the first movement), but can also result in a triumphant blaze of joy, as in the finale.
The four movements of the symphony can be viewed as two distinct pairs due to their differing moods and lengths. The first two are grand and melancholic, followed by the lighter third and fourth movements, which while serene are far more buoyant. The Second Symphony is Brahms’ longest due to its expansive first movement that begins with a three-note figure that appears throughout the symphony. The second movement is noted for its mysterious, enigmatic mood and lack of any real themes, although it does have a sudden, tragic outburst towards the end. It is followed by the light, serenade-like third movement, with a simple tune played by the oboe alternating with the more energetic, dance-like music in the strings and woodwinds. The music has an immediate appeal, so much so that the audience demanded an immediate encore at the premiere performance. The final movement may open with a soft melody in the strings, but quickly develops into a lively dance, constantly propelling itself forward to an exuberant coda that ends with a glorious burst of joy from the trombones. By the time of the Second Symphony’s premiere, Brahms was considered to be old-fashioned by many and admittedly took inspiration from Bach, Mozart and Haydn, as well as Beethoven. In the intervening years, the New German School had emerged with Richard Wagner as its champion. For Brahms, Beethoven had shown that the traditional music forms were still legitimate and capable of being expanded and transformed, while for Wagner he was an iconoclast encouraging composers to follow wherever their inspiration led. It is fascinating that Webern would view Brahms as pointing the way towards the future.
Programme notes by Rick Perdian
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