LAN SHUI Music Director
subscription concert / FAMILIAR FAVOURITES
PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION 20 July 2018
Esplanade Concert Hall
Performing Home of the SSO Lan Shui, conductor Singapore Symphony Chorus Eudenice Palaruan, choral director Singapore Symphony Youth Choir Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir Wong Lai Foon, choirmaster
20 Jul 2018, Fri
FAMILIAR FAVOURITES: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION Singapore Symphony Orchestra Lan Shui, conductor Singapore Symphony Chorus Eudenice Palaruan, choral director Singapore Symphony Youth Choir Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir Wong Lai Foon, choirmaster MILY BALAKIREV (orch. LYAPUNOV)
Islamey 9’00
MODEST MUSSORGSKY (orch. RIMSKY-KORSAKOV)
Night on Bald Mountain 12’00
ALEXANDER BORODIN
Polovtsian Dances and Chorus from Prince Igor 12’00
Intermission 20’00
MODEST MUSSORGSKY (orch. RAVEL)
Pictures at an Exhibition 35’00
Concert duration: 1 hr 45 mins 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
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.
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.
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 all-time 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.
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, Martha Argerich, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos and Gil Shaham.
“A fine display of orchestral bravado for the SSO and Shui” The Guardian
LAN 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 SymphonieOrchester 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.
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Eudenice Palaruan choral conductor 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 and vocalist he has performed with leading choirs such as the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club, Berlin Spandauer Kantorei, and the World Youth Choir. He was also involved in early music performance practice as a countertenor with the Berlin Monteverdichor and continuo player at the Philippine International Bamboo Organ Festival. On the podium he was the Music Director of the Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club, Assistant Choir Master of the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Principal Conductor of the San Miguel Master Chorale and the Union Church of Manila Chancel Choir. For the past seven years he was the Resident Conductor of the International Bamboo Organ Festival where he directed some of Philippines’ leading choirs in the
performance of early European choral music and the revival of Latin American Baroque choral music. As a composer and arranger Palaruan introduced choral and other vocal works that exhibit the indigenous Filipino sound. His works are performed by Asian and European choirs in international festivals and competitions. 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 cantorship at the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music, choral conducting subjects at the University of the Philippines College of Music and the St. Paul University Manila College of Music and the Performing Arts. Currently he is an Associate Professor at the School of Church Music in Singapore Bible College, training and mentoring young church musicians from different Asian countries.
Wong lai foon choirmaster As a founder-conductor of the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir (SSCC), Wong Lai Foon has dedicated the past twelve years towards building up the ensemble to become the leading children’s choir in the nation. Under her direction, the SSCC has garnered much praise for its impressive choral tone, and its musically precise and polished performances, earning it the commendation of “one of the best children’s choirs in Asia” in a recent review. In her capacity as Choirmaster, Wong has overseen the expansion of the SSCC, which now comprises a Concert Choir, Training Choir, three preparatory choirs, a Boys’ Ensemble and a Youth Choir. She has also led the Concert Choir on two tours, performing at the Philharmonie de Paris in 2015 in collaboration with the Maîtrise de Radio France, and at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, Kuala Lumpur, during a joint concert tour with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra. In commemoration of the SSCC’s 10th Anniversary in 2016, Wong directed the choir in a series of exciting performances and projects, one of which was the recording of SSCC’s first CD, And I’ll Sing Once More. In her effort to increase the body of treble choral works by local composers, Wong has made it a point to
commission a new work each year, and has thus far commissioned works by Chen Zhangyi, Kelly Tang and Lee Chin Sin. In addition to their annual appearances at the SSO Christmas Concerts, Wong prepares the SSCC for their regular collaborations with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Past performances have included Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust and the Te Deum, Britten’s War Requiem, Bizet’s Carmen, and most recently, La bohème by Puccini. Through her work with the SSCC, Wong aspires to inspire a generation of young choral singers to embrace the choral art and strive for musical and artistic excellence. In demand as a conductor with choirs across various segments of the community, Wong is the Resident Conductor of the Methodist Festival Choir, and Assistant Conductor of The Philharmonic Chamber Choir. She has also previously prepared works for the Singapore Symphony Chorus and Singapore Lyric Opera. She received her Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College, under the tutelage of Joseph Flummerfelt.
Singapore Symphony Chorus EUDENICE PALARUAN choral director SHANE THIO rehearsal pianist The Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC) made its debut in 1980, under the direction of Choo Hoey, then Music Director of the SSO and now SSO Emeritus Conductor. In 1981, Singaporean conductor Lim Yau was appointed its Choral Director. Under his tutelage, the chorus has amassed a wide repertoire, performing such works as Macmillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross, Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum, Britten’s War Requiem, and Bach’s St John Passion, amongst many others. The chorus is recognised as one of the finest in the region and one of the few symphony choruses in Southeast Asia. It has performed under the baton of renowned conductors such as Peter Erdei, Eric Ericsson, John Nelson, Claus Peter Flor, Okko Kamu, and Masaaki Suzuki. Today, presiding Choral Director Eudenice Palaruan leads the choristers, who come from a myriad of nationalities and backgrounds. In 2017, the chorus went on its first tour with the SSO, performing at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas in Kuala Lumpur.
Singapore Symphony Youth Choir WONG LAI FOON choirmaster EVELYN HANDRISANTO rehearsal pianist An up-and-coming addition to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s choruses, the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir was formed in 2016 to complement the orchestra with a chorus of young people’s voices. It is a platform for young adults to pursue their interest in choral singing, as well as enable mature members of the Children’s Choir to continue their development in classical choral singing. Comprising Singapore’s finest young choristers aged between 17 and 28, the SSYC explores the best of different musical worlds and styles, ranging from orchestral to a cappella masterpieces, spanning the Renaissance to the 21st century.
Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir WONG LAI FOON choirmaster GABRIEL HOE rehearsal pianist Formed in 2006, the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir has established itself as the leading children’s choir in Singapore. With over 200 members aged 9 to 18, the choir seeks to enrich young singers through holistic choral training that nurtures artistic growth and personal development. The children’s choir tours internationally, and has performed great choral masterpieces with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, with distinguished conductors such as Lim Yau, Claus Peter Flor, Sofi Jeannin, François-Xavier Roth and Julie Desbordes. It has performed at the Philharmonie de Paris in a collaborative performance of Berlioz’s Te Deum with the Maîtrise de Radio France, as well as at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas in Kuala Lumpur, partnering the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in concert. The choir has commissioned and performed Singaporean works by Chen Zhangyi, Lee Chin Sin, and Cultural Medallion winner Kelly Tang. In Singapore, the choir has an active performing calendar, having performed at the Istana for the prestigious Cultural Medallion & Young Artist Award and shared the stage with critically acclaimed The King’s Singers. The choir released their first recording, And I’ll Sing Once More, to mark its 10th anniversary in 2016. The Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir is proud to have Mr Christopher Ho and Mrs Rosy Ho as its Principal Champion.
COMB INED CHOR U S Russian Language Coach
Natalia Kumkova
SOPRANO Au Zexian Karen Aw Alexis Chen Ariane Cazaubon Chin Li Han Chow Cheng Shon Sophie Du Toit Grace Goh Shiho Higuchi Tania Ibrahim Sonja Lam Priscilla Lian Janice Lim Ng Kong Tiok Chloe Ong Michael Robinson Sarah Santhana Ellissa Sayampanathan* Carine Tan Tan Yuqing Pollyanna Tang Patricia Teng Natsuko Tohyama Sachiko Tomimori Olivia Trono Masumi Tsuchiya Alison Wong* Anne Wightman Mao Yamaura
Chan Mei Yoke Ashley Chai Meredith Cheong David Cho Erika Goh Ikabella Heaps Susan Kurniawati Evelyn Lee Dorothy Lee-Teh Giselle Lim Trixi Lim Wendy Lim Lin Wei Javier Loke Sharon Low Kellianne Ng Anya Prabowo Elaine Ser Desiree Seng Yvonne Soh Ena Su Elsie Tan Tai Jien Nee Tan Li En Tan Yulin Tan Yuting Karen Yau Abigail Yeo
ALTO Arnie Arfiee Paivi Aalto Anne-Sophie Cazaubon *Guest Singers
TENOR Jean-Michel Bardin Arjun Chhabra Chng Chin Han Edwin Orlando Cruz Shunsho Ando Heng
Norman Lee Loh Shao Wei Jeroven Marquez Oh Chin Aik Ronald Ooi Wesley Oon Ryan Padgett Qi Jian Siak Choon Kit Alan Smith Ian Tan Justin Teng Danial Elias Teo Aloysius Wong Caleb Yeo BASS Marcus Chan William Chua Winsen Citra Alfonso Cortez Arthur Davis Joseph Kennedy Khor Gui Wei Paul Kitamura Mika Lam Gerard Lim* Jon Loh Bjorn Soo Tan Liang Rong David Tao Raymond Wu
SSO MU SICIAN S Lan Shui Music Director joshua tan 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 Lim Shue Churn^ Sui Jing Jing Karen Tan William Tan Wei Zhe SECOND VIOLIN Fan Ting^ Principal Michael Loh Associate Principal Hai-Won Kwok Fixed Chair Kong Xian Long^
Nikolai Koval* Lee Shi Mei^ 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 Marietta Ku Luo Biao Julia Park Shui Bing Tan Wee-Hsin Janice Tsai Yang Shi Li Yeo Jan Wea^ CELLO Ng Pei-Sian Principal Yu Jing Associate Principal Guo Hao Fixed Chair Chan Wei Shing Lin Juan^ Song Woon Teng Wang Yan Wang Zihao* Wu Dai Dai Zhao Yu Er DOUBLE BASS Guennadi Mouzyka Principal Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal Karen Yeo Fixed Chair Olga Alexandrova Hans Olle Davidsson^ Jacek Mirucki Wang Xu
FLUTE
HORN
Jin Ta Principal Emily Skala^ Principal Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal Roberto Alvarez Miao Shanshan
Han Chang Chou Principal Gao Jian Associate Principal Jamie Hersch Associate Principal Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal Hoang Van Hoc^
PICCOLO
TRUMPET
Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal
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 COR ANGLAIS Elaine Yeo Associate Principal CLARINET Ma Yue Principal Li Xin Associate Principal Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping
TROMBONE Allen Meek Principal Damian Patti Associate Principal Samuel Armstrong BASS TROMBONE Wang Wei Assistant Principal TUBA Hidehiro Fujita Principal TIMPANI
BASS CLARINET Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal
Christian Schiøler Principal Jonathan Fox Associate Principal
BASSOON
PERCUSSION
Benjamin Moermond^ Principal Liu Chang Associate Principal Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue
Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Lim Meng Keh Joachim Lim^ Zhu Zheng Yi
CONTRA BASSOON Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal
HARP
ALTO SAXOPHONE
Gulnara Mashurova Principal Huang Yu Hsin^
Daniel Gelok^
CELESTE Shane Thio^
*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 ~Lynnette Seah performs on a J.B. Guadagnini of Milan, c. 1750, donated by the National Arts Council, Singapore, with the support of Far East Organisation and Lee Foundation. ^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
11 Aug 2018
Sat | 7.30pm Esplanade Concert Hall SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT
SSO NATIONAL DAY CONCERT A Singaporean Showcase Highlights KELLY TANG Symphonic Suite on a Set of Local Tunes (rev. 2005) SYAFIQAH ‘ADHA SALLEHIN Girl’s Theme from Ikan Girl CHEN ZHANGYI Vanda, Violin Concerto WANG CHENWEI The Sisters’ Islands DICK LEE Home for orchestra with chorus (arr. Kelly Tang)
Darrell Ang, conductor Kam Ning, violin Singapore Symphony Chorus Eudenice Palaruan, choral director Singapore Symphony Youth Choir Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir Wong Lai Foon, choirmaster
17 Aug 2018
Fri | 7.30pm Esplanade Concert Hall SSO POPS
JAZZ IT UP WITH GERSHWIN! It’s Swing Time! SHOSTAKOVICH Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1 SHOSTAKOVICH Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 1 GERSHWIN (orch. HERSHY KAY) Excerpts from The Gershwin Songbook Andrew Litton, conductor
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T he G K G oh C h a ir The SSO Concertmaster Chair is named for Mr GK Goh. We would like to thank the Family and Friends of Mr Goh Geok Khim for their donations. We are especially grateful to Mr and Mrs Goh Yew Lin for their most generous donation.
Igor Yuzefovich, Concertmaster The GK Goh Chair
MA J OR GIFT S The SSO recognises major gifts in a variety of ways, including the naming of a position in the Orchestra. Endowing a Musician Chair associates your name with an orchestral position that has a special significance to you.
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MILY B A L A K IREV (18 37-1910) Islamey 9’00 (orch. Lyapunov)
The inspiration for Islamey (the lands and peoples of Islam) came from summer holidays Balakirev spent in the Caucasus in 1862 and 1863. He jotted down some of the native Georgian folk tunes, which he incorporated into several of his compositions. In its evocation of the romance and colour of the Caucasus, Islamey employs three themes. The first is a whirling, violent idea suggestive of a wild dance. The languid Andante espressivo introduces two more themes of voluptuous charm, music evocative of the Arabian Nights. Textures become more complex, themes combine in music of increasing technical difficulty, and the work ends in a Presto furioso of dazzling virtuosity.
World Premiere: 1869, Moscow (piano version) 1912, St. Petersburg (orch. Lyapunov) First performed by SSO: 20 July 2018
PROGRAMME NOTES
Mily Balakirev lives on in music history more for his contributions as a teacher, inspiration, and sort of father-confessor than for his music. His pupils included Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky and Cui; collectively they formed the famous “Russian Five”, who dedicated themselves to development of a Russian national style in their music (as opposed to the pervasive European influences of the time). Balakirev’s output is small. It includes two symphonies, the symphonic poems Tamara and Russia, some songs, and various piano works of which the best-known is Islamey, composed in 1869 and orchestrated by another Russian composer, Sergei Lyapunov, in 1910.
Instrumentation 2 flutes, 2 piccolos oboe, cor anglais 2 clarinets E-flat clarinet 2 bassoons 4 trumpets 4 horns 3 trombones tuba timpani bass drum cymbals snare drum triangle tambourine 2 harps strings
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MODE S T MU S S ORG SK Y (18 3 9 -18 81) Night on Bald Mountain (orch. Rimsky-Korsakov)
12’00
The witches’ sabbath of St. John’s Eve (June 23/24) is a popular legend in many European countries. The location is usually on the heights of an isolated mountain: the Brocken in Germany, Blokula in Sweden, Mt. Triglav (“Bald Mountain”) near Kiev. There, witches, sorcerers, demons and hideous imps gather for a night of revelry and orgiastic abandon. Like many other works by the same composer, including the great operas Khovanshchina and Boris Godunov, Night on Bald Mountain went through many revisions, though Mussorgsky never heard any of them. Mussorgsky completed it, appropriately enough, on St. John’s Eve, 1867. The version we hear tonight is a re-working from 1886 by the composer’s friend and mentor, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who smoothed out what he considered to be irregularities of style and orchestration. Mussorgsky’s original was not published until 1968. Rimsky-Korsakov prefaced his score with the following synopsis: “Subterranean sounds of supernatural voices – Appearance of the spirits of darkness, followed by that of Satan himself – Glorification of Satan and celebration of the Black Mass – The sabbath revels – At the height of the orgies the bell of the village church, sounding in the distance, disperses the spirits of darkness – Daybreak.”
Instrumentation 2 flutes, piccolo 2 oboes 2 clarinets 2 bassoons 4 horns 2 trumpets 3 trombones tuba timpani cymbals bass drum tam-tam chimes harp strings World Premiere: 15 Oct 1886, St. Petersburg (orch. Rimsky-Korsakov) First performed by SSO: 25 Oct 1979
A L E X ANDER B ORODIN (18 3 3 -18 87 ) Polovtsian Dances and Chorus from Prince Igor 12’00
The story is based on a 12th-century Russian poem, and centers around the struggle between the Russians and the Polovtsians, a barbaric tribe of nomads from the Central Asian steppes. In 1185, Prince Igor of Novgorod set out on an expedition against the Polovtsians and was captured by their leader, Khan Konchak. Konchak treats Igor with the respect and honour befitting a great warrior, and presents a lavish entertainment for him, including a series of songs and dances by his tribespeople. This extended scene forms the finale of Act II, where a large chorus takes an active part in the proceedings. A brief introduction sets the exotic Oriental mood, after which comes a series of dances involving at various times young
Instrumentation 2 flutes, piccolo 2 oboes, cor anglais 2 clarinets 2 bassoons 4 trumpets 2 horns 3 trombones tuba timpani bass drum cymbals snare drum triangle tambourine glockenspiel harp strings World Premiere: 18 May 1909, St. Petersburg First performed by SSO: 29 Jan 1982
PROGRAMME NOTES
Alexander Borodin is remembered today as one of the finest composers to come out of 19th-century Russia, yet his true profession was of an entirely different sort – chemistry. In fact, he was one of the foremost research chemists and professors of his day, and wrote music only in his spare time. His epic and highly colourful opera Prince Igor was left unfinished upon his death, and was completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. Premiered in St. Petersburg in 1890, it is unequivocally one of the greatest operas in the Russian repertory.
girls, men, female slaves and young boys, all singly and in combinations. The themes range from sinuously lyric to wildly barbaric. The dances culminate in a pitch of frenzied excitement as all hail Khan Konchak.
Translated from Russian SLAVES Fly on the wings of the wind To our native land, Cherished song of ours, To where we sang you in freedom, Where together we revelled in liberty. There, under the sunny skies The breezes are gentle, The cloud-capped mountains slumber To the murmur of the sea, The sun shines so brightly, Bathing the native hills in light, Splendid roses blossom in the valleys, And nightingales sing in the green forests. And sweet grapes grow. Fly away to that place, our song, Where you will be free! POLOVTSIANS Sing songs of glory to the Khan! Sing! Praise the Khan’s might and bravery! Praise! Glorious is he! Glorious is he, our Khan! His glory shines like the sun! No one is equal in glory to him! No one! The Khan’s servants praise their Khan! Sing songs of glory to the Khan! Sing! Praise the Khan’s generosity and mercy! Praise! To his enemies, he is merciless, our Khan! Who may equal the Khan in glory, who? His glory shines like the sun! Our Khan’s glory equals his ancestors’ His glory equals that of his ancestors. Glorious is our Khan Konchak!
SLAVES (Repeats the opening stanza) Fly on the wings of the wind To our native land …. POLOVTSIANS Our Khan’s glory equals his ancestors’ His glory equals that of his ancestors. Glorious is our Khan Konchak! With your dancing entertain your Khan, Dance to entertain the Khan, servants! Our Khan Konchak!
MODE S T MU S S ORG SK Y Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)
35’00
What is the most popular piece of classical music in the world? Well, that depends on the criteria. If those criteria are the number of arrangements or the number of recordings that exist, then Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition may well be No. 1.
A record collector in Bloomington, Indiana, David Canfield, has spent the past fifty years amassing arrangements and recordings of Pictures. There are arrangements for band, string orchestra, Russian folk instrument orchestra, Chinese orchestra, koto ensemble, woodwind quintet, brass quintet, guitar trio, and piano duo. If you want something really exotic, how about for the combination of euphonium and four tubas? Or for bassoon quintet? Still not exotic enough for you? There’s an arrangement for two oboes, English horn, Heckelphone and
Perhaps the most astonishing fact of all is that for all the popularity Pictures enjoys today, there is no known public performance of this score in the composer’s lifetime. The first documented public performance took place only in 1914, and that was in England. This was preceded in 1910 by the first known recording, a piano roll made by one Gavriil Romanovsky. Pictures did not begin to acquire popularity until Serge Koussevitzky commissioned Ravel to orchestrate the score. Koussevitzky conducted the first performance in Paris, on October 19, 1922 at the Opéra. The circumstances leading to the creation of Pictures are well-known: When Viktor Hartmann, an artist, designer and sculptor, died of a heart attack in 1873, his close friend Mussorgsky was devastated. Mussorgsky was further plagued with guilt feelings, recalling that had he run for a doctor rather than trying to comfort the stricken Hartmann, the artist might have lived. Following his friend’s death, Mussorgsky slipped into depression, aggravated by his alcohol problem. Some months later, Vladimir Stassov, a music critic and friend of both Mussorgsky and
PROGRAMME NOTES
For many concert-goers, Ravel’s 1922 orchestration of the original piano score (1874) remains the only one they know. But Ravel’s was neither the first nor the last. At least thirty others exist for full orchestra, beginning with Mikhail Tushmalov as early as1891. Walter Goehr, Sir Henry Wood, Lucien Caillet, Leopold Stokowski, Paul Kletzki, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Sergei Gorchakov, among others, have put their stamp on Mussorgsky’s score. But that’s not all – far from it.
bassoon. There’s one for 44 pianos (that’s not a misprint!). Then there are jazz versions, big band versions, a rock version (Emerson, Lake and Palmer), an electronic version (Tomita) and a disco version. So far, we’re talking about only complete versions. If you include partial versions and single movements, then the grand total comes to over 550 arrangements. Recordings? Canfield knows of more than 1,100 of them. Well over 300 are of just Ravel’s orchestration alone.
Hartmann, arranged an exhibit of about four hundred works of the deceased artist, hoping that this tribute might in some way relieve Mussorgsky’s depression. The composer was inspired to create a suite of musical portraits for piano, his only significant work for this instrument. Each musical portrait is based on one of Hartmann’s paintings. A “Promenade” theme opens an imaginary stroll through the picture gallery, a theme that returns several times throughout the work as the viewer moves on to another painting or group of paintings. PROMENADE I THE GNOME – A child’s toy made of wood for the Christmas tree at the Artists’ Club, styled after a small, grotesque gnome with gnarled legs and erratic hopping movements. PROMENADE II THE OLD CASTLE – A watercolour of a troubadour singing in front of a medieval castle. His melancholic song is “sung” by the alto saxophone. PROMENADE III TUILERIES – A lively picture of children scampering about, engaged in horseplay while their nannies chatter. BYDLO – On giant, lumbering wheels, an oxcart comes into view, its driver singing a folk song in the Aeolian mode.
PROMENADE IV BALLET OF THE UNHATCHED CHICKS – Cheeping baby canaries dance about, still enclosed in their shells with their wings and legs protruding. SAMUEL GOLDENBERG AND SCHMUYLE – Mussorgsky called this piece “Two Polish Jews, Rich and Poor”. The personalities are vividly drawn: the rich man is pompous, self-important, arrogant; the poor man is sniveling, beseeching, nervous, pitiable. THE MARKETPLACE AT LIMOGES – Another lively, bustling, French scene. Here, rather than children, we find the rapid chatter, babble and arguments of housewives. At the height of a particularly noisy fracas, the music suddenly plunges into … CATACOMBS – Hartmann himself, lantern in hand, explores the subterranean passages of Paris. Eerie, ominous sounds are heard in the ensuing CUM MORTUIS IN LINGUA MORTUA (With the dead in a dead language). To a distorted version of the Promenade theme, the music depicts a grisly sight: “Hartmann’s creative spirit leads me,” wrote Mussorgsky, “to the place of skulls and calls to them – the skulls begin to glow faintly from within.”
BABA YAGA’S HUT ON CHICKEN LEGS – In Hartmann’s painting, the home of the fabled Russian witch Baba Yaga appears as a fantastic bronze clock-face, mounted on chicken legs. Mussorgsky prefers to portray the witch’s ride through the air in her mortar, steering with a pestle. THE GREAT GATE AT KIEV – This depicts Hartmann’s architectural design for a gate (never built) to commemorate Alexander II’s narrow escape from an assassination attempt in Kiev.
Programme notes by Robert Markow
1) Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition Vienna Philharmonic & Gustavo Dudamel (Deutsche Grammophon, 2016)
World Premiere: 22 Oct 1922, Paris (orch. Ravel) First performed by SSO: 11 Mar 1983
PROGRAMME NOTES
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Instrumentation 3 flutes, 2 doubling piccolo 2 oboes, cor anglais 2 clarinets, bass clarinet alto saxophone 2 bassoons contrabassoon 4 horns 3 trumpets 3 trombones tuba timpani xylophone, snare drum, tam-tam, triangle, whip, ratchet, cymbals, bass drum, glockenspiel, sustained cymbal, chimes 2 harps celesta strings
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