A is for Aiyah • Mysteries of the Macabre by Singapore Symphony

LAN SHUI Music Director

subscription concert

A IS FOR AIYAH • MYSTERIES OF THE MACABRE 2 March 2018 Victoria Concert Hall Home of the SSO

Jason Lai, conductor Élise Chauvin, soprano

2 Mar 2018, Fri

A IS FOR AIYAH • MYSTERIES OF THE MACABRE Singapore Symphony Orchestra Jason Lai, conductor Élise Chauvin, soprano* DIANA SOH

A is for Aiyah from ä bu gi da (World Premiere) 10’00 *

ANTON WEBERN

Passacaglia, Op. 1 11’00

GUSTAV MAHLER

Rückert-Lieder 18’00 *

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder Ich atmet’ einen Linden Duft Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen Um Mitternacht Liebst du um Schönheit

Intermission 20’00

IGOR STRAVINSKY

Symphony in Three Movements 22’00

1. Overture; Allegro 2. Andante; Interlude: L’istesso tempo 3. Con moto GYÖRGY LIGETI

Mysteries of the Macabre (Singapore Premiere) 9’00 *

POST-CONCERT SYMPHONY CHAT, VCH stalls level Concert duration: 1 hr 45mins 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 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A fine display of orchestral bravado for the SSO and Shuiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; The Guardian

Since its founding in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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.

J a s on L a i conductor

Jason Lai has been the Associate Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra since 2013 and also the Principal Conductor of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra since 2010. Intent on broadening the appeal of classical music, Jason is also building a unique reputation as a communicator with mass appeal through his television appearances. He has frequently appeared on BBC television as a judge in both the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition and the classical talent show Classical Star. He reached his widest audience as a conducting mentor in the series Maestro. Since settling in Singapore he has continued with his television work. He was presenter and conductor for Project Symphony, an eight-part series for Okto where he was filmed setting up a community orchestra. Last year he was involved in the BBC series Heart of Asia which explores the contemporary arts and culture scene in Thailand, Indonesia, Korea and the Philippines, and a series for BBC World called Tales from Modern China. Jason’s roots lie in Hong Kong but he was born in the UK and was a pupil at the prestigious specialist music school in Manchester, Chetham’s, where he studied cello. At Oxford University he studied both cello and composition, and went on to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he was awarded a Fellowship in Conducting. Jason won the BBC Young Conductors Workshop in 2002 and was appointed the Assistant Conductor to the BBC Philharmonic with whom he made his BBC Proms début in 2003.

É l ise c h a u v in soprano

Rising French soprano Élise Chauvin began singing at age 10, when she joined the Maîtrise de Paris at the Paris Conservatory. After graduating from University Paris 8, she studied with Peggy Bouveret at École Normale de Musique de Paris in 2006, obtaining her Diplôme Supérieur d’Exécution with the support of the Zaleski Foundation. In 2011, Élise joined the Nouveau Studio of the Opéra de Lyon, directed by Jean-Paul Fouchecourt, where she sang the roles of Sophie in Massenet’s Werther, Sasha in Vous qui savez… ou ce qu’est l’amour… (after Mozart), and La Chouette and La Pastourelle in Ravel’s l’Enfant et les Sortilèges. Élise’s uniqueness lies in her great musical open-mindedness and eclecticism. Among her many appearances are roles in Stockhausen’s Examen, in Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte and Le Nozze di Figaro, Massenet’s Cendrillon, Offenbach’s La Vie parisienne and R. Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. She has sung in L’enfer Musical d’Alejandra Pizarnik by Marco Suarez, as Alice in Matteo Franceschini’s Alice in Wonderland, in Peter Ëotvös’ Le Balcon, Fernando Fiszbein’s Avenida de los Incas, and Arthur Lavandier’s Le dernier meurtre. Élise’s enthusiasm for contemporary repertoire has involved her in many cutting-edge concerts such as the world premieres of Philippe Hurel’s Espèces d’Espaces and Arboretum: of myths and trees by Diana Soh, and Salvatore Sciarrino’s Il Giardino di Sara, Philippe Hurel’s Cantus, Philippe Manoury’s En écho, Juan Pablo Carreño’s Garras de Oro and Lenore by Franz Liszt / Michaël Levinas. In the 2017/18 season, Élise performed in prestigious venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris (Bernstein’s Candide), the Theatre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris (La Traviata), Opéra Comique, Paris and Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne (in Stockhausen’s Donnerstag aus Licht), and the lead role in Yann Robin’s Le Papillon Noir at the Opera de Marseille and the Theatre National de Bretagne.

simge.edu.sg 6248 9746

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 YuzefovichÂ° 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 Michael Loh Associate Principal Hai-Won Kwok Fixed Chair 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 Wang Dandan Yang Shi Li CELLO Ng Pei-Sian Principal Yu Jing Associate Principal Guo Hao Fixed Chair Chan Wei Shing 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 Jacek Mirucki Wang Xu FLUTE Jin Ta Principal Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal Roberto Alvarez Miao Shanshan

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 Grzegorz Markiewicz^

BASSOON Liu Chang Associate Principal Cheung King Lun^ Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue

PERCUSSION Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Lim Meng Keh Zhu Zheng Yi

CONTRA BASSOON Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal

HARP Gulnara Mashurova Principal

HORN Han Chang Chou Principal Gao Jian Associate Principal Jamie Hersch Associate Principal Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal Hoang Van Hoc^ Kartik Alan Jairamin

MANDOLIN Stephen Lalor^ PIANO Shane Thio^ 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.

Supporting the Local Arts and Cultural Scene Partner of SSO since 1978 NSL is a long-standing sponsor for Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). We have been instrumental in helping the Orchestra reach out to the community-at-large as SSO brings music to the world. A leading industrial group in the Asia Pacific with businesses in Precast & Prefabricated Bathroom Unit and Environmental Services, NSL believes that while achieving business goals is important, its actions need to also create a positive impact on the community, environment and all stakeholders.

NSL LTD 77 Robinson Road #27-00 Robinson 77 Singapore 068896 Tel: 6536 1000 I Fax: 6536 1008 I www.nsl.com.sg

THE TERRACE GOURMET SELECTIONS The Terrace offers a gourmet selection of premium coffee, freshly baked breads, indulgent cakes, artisanal pastries, sandwiches and salads - perfect for a quick bite at the alfresco dining area or on the go. Also shop from an extensive selection of delightful confectioneries and snacks. For orders, visit www.connoisseur.sg/conrad-patisserie or call +65 6432 7487.

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mu s ic i a n c h a ir s

Igor Yuzefovich Concertmaster The GK Goh Chair The GK Goh Chair is endowed by the Family and Friends of Mr Goh Geok Khim

GUO HAO Fixed Chair Cello The Fixed Chair Cello is supported by

CORPORATE SEAT S The Singapore Symphony Orchestra appreciates the support of companies in our Corporate Seats scheme. The scheme supports the Orchestra through regular attendance of subscription concerts. $20,000 and above Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (Pte) Ltd

Up to $10,000 Hong Leong Foundation Nomura Asset Management Singapore Ltd Prima Limited Santa Lucia Asset Management Stephen Riady Group of Foundations

This list is for donations from 1 Jan 2017 to 1 Jan 2018. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is a charity and not-for-profit organisation. Find out how you can support us at www.sso.org.sg. Call or email us at 6602 4238 or peggykek@sso.org.sg.

2017 A nnu a l A p p e a l Donor s Special thanks to everyone who responded to our 2017 Annual Appeal. With your generous donations, we are able to subsidise more student tickets and continue to stage free public performances to share the love of music.

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Lee Li-Ming Madeleine Lee Lee Peck Gee Lee Shu Yen Siong Ted Lee Leong Keng Hong Xiao Li Bettina Lieske Alvin Liew Liew Geok Cheng Mavis Lim Geck Chin Lim Hong Eng Janet Ling Yu Fei Stuart Liventals Jeffrey Loke Sin Hu Victor Loo Low Boon Hon Donny Low Low Fatt Kin Benjamin Ma Eunice Mah Li Lien Adelina Mah Li Ting Andre Maniam Gillian Metzger Izumi Miyake Joseph Mocanu Kathleen Moroney Mr & Mrs Willem Mark Nabarro David Neo Chin Wee Todd On Enhao Reuben Ong Herve Pauze Timothy Pitrelli Anonymous Anonymous Derek Quah Allyson Rameker Charles Robertson Andreas Ruschkowski Bernard Jean Sabrier Arend Schumacher Naoyoshi Nick Shimoda Jeremy Snoad Bernhard Steiner Bo Sun Tan Boon Ngee Tan Kok Huan Tan Kok Kiong Anonymous Ivan Tan Meng Cheng Giles Tan Ming Yee Tan Wee Kheng Kenneth Michael Daniel Tando Teo Ee Peng Tian Xiaoye Mr & Mrs Neil Tottman Michiel van Selm Peter White & Ong Yaw Hwee Wong Liang Keen Wu Peichan Valerie Satoru Yano Annie Yeo Vanessa Yeo

This list is for donations from 1 Jan 2017 to 31 Dec 2017.

DIANA S OH (b.198 4) A is for Aiyah from ä bu gi da (World Premiere)

10’00

(Text by James R. Currie*) I believe that language gives birth to who we are. It forges an identity that is embedded deeply within us no matter where we choose to live, and it is through language (and music) that we can define aspects of our identity. I would like to use this opportunity to return to the source of our speech and language, the alphabet. The society we live in shapes our usage of language. We are taught how to feel and how to think based on the language given to us by our society. I often ask myself about social decorum in various cultures, why certain modes of speaking is acceptable in one culture but not another. What do words mean? How can stringing together alphabets and sequences of words amount to a deeper expression and how does the correct usage of phrase constructions allow for a better understanding of ideas and communication? Can everything be explained and conveyed by these symbols we call “words”? And do we turn to music only when words are not enough? As a mother with a young child, my musical preoccupations inevitably merges with my daily life. As my child goes about her day singing the alphabet and various versions of butchered-up songs, it raises the question about what do we use the alphabet for in real life? Aptly put by the writer of the text, James R. Currie, it is “a bureaucratic ordering of the world”. So that we know where our place is and should be. This then begs the question, what should be the place of a soprano in relation to the instrumentalists? What roles do soloists play in relation to the orchestra? The soprano sings text which is a strange abstraction of the sequence of letters in the alphabet. Currie “see(s) the alphabet itself as a kind of swarm or cloud that both demands a sort of terrifying order but also negates the order that one tries to create from it.” In this context, the soprano seeks to create order in her world, but what happens when one steps out of one’s supposed role? In her attempt to hijack the orchestra, would it simply be that it is the Dionysian modes of expressions that finally do cut through? What is your place in the world?

This work is supported by the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award Grant. *James R. Currie is Associate Professor of Music of the Music Department and the Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Culture, University at Buffalo. In addition to his academic work, he is also active as a performance artist and poet. Programme note by Diana Soh

ANTON W E B ERN (18 8 3 -194 5) Passacaglia, Op. 1

11’00

History is full of fathers who hoped in vain that their sons would become lawyers, and Carl von Webern was one of them. The die was cast in 1904 when his son, still at university, responded to an ad that Arnold Schoenberg had placed in a newspaper seeking composition students. At that time, Schoenberg had yet to abandon the traditional concepts of harmony in favour of twelve-tone music with which his name is synonymous. That would come a few years later when he began his march towards the “emancipation of dissonance”. Schoenberg would later proudly trumpet that tonality was dead, or as Webern succinctly put it, “We broke its neck.” Passacaglia was the first full-scale orchestra work that he composed after he began studying with Schoenberg and one of his last to be anchored in tonality. It takes its name from the musical form in which a short theme is constructed and expanded upon above a ground bass. Webern’s subject is eight measures long in D minor and set it in 2/4 time rather than the usual triple meter. After its initial statement in which the theme is played by plucked strings in unison, 23 variations and a coda follow. It was premiered with Webern conducting on 4 November 1908 in a concert of compositions by Schoenberg’s students. The critics were generally harsh, although one observed that even though his technique was complicated, the young composer nevertheless convinced through the depths of the moods he created — “The moods are felt, the sounds heard.” Webern would later state that with only a few exceptions, all of his works from the Passacaglia are related to the death of his mother. Ending as softly as it began, Webern’s Passacaglia creates an atmosphere of exquisite melancholy that has made it one of his most popular works.

GU S TAV MAHL ER (18 6 0 -1911) Rückert-Lieder

18’00

Webern stood in awe of Mahler, whose integrity as an artist and spirituality had a profound impact on him. Mahler for his part found the younger composer’s music to be both maddening and mesmerising. Renowned as a conductor, Mahler the composer concentrated almost entirely on songs and symphonies. He pushed the boundaries of these two genres to their limits however, composing works of monumental proportions. Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866) is best known as a master of many languages and for his translations of Asian poetry. His own poems inspired Mahler to compose melodies and orchestrations that capture not only the beauty of nature, such as in Ich atmet’ einen Linden Duft, with its shimmering evocation of the scent of the linen tree, but also exultant surrender to God to the accompaniment of brass and harp glissandos in Um Mitternacht. In Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder, clarinets and cellos create a whirling buzz, as for both artists and bees (referenced in the poem) it is the result that matters, not the process. While in Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, Mahler imagines a serene, blissful world where heaven, life and song reign supreme. Mahler originally set the Rückert-Lieder, composed during the years 1899 to 1901, for voice and piano, later orchestrating all but Liebst du um Schönheit. Mahler conducted the premiere of the orchestral version of the four songs on 29 January 1905 in Vienna. After his death, Liebst du um Schönheit, a love song that he dedicated to his wife, was orchestrated by another composer and published in 1916 over her objections. 1. Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder! Meine Augen schlag’ ich nieder, Wie ertappt auf böser That; Selber darf ich nicht getrauen, Ihrem Wachsen zuzuschauen: Deine Neugier ist Verrath. Bienen, wenn sie Zellen bauen, Lassen auch nicht zu sich schauen,

Look not into my songs! My eyes I lower, as if I've been caught in an evil deed. I can't even trust myself to watch them grow. Your curiosity is a betrayal! Bees, when they build their cells, also do not let anyone observe them;

Schauen selber auch nicht zu. Wann die reichen Honigwaben Sie zu Tag gefördert haben, Dann vor allen nasche du!

even themselves. When the rich honeycombs are brought out to the light of day, then you shall taste them before everyone else!

2. Ich atmet’ einen Linden Duft Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft! Im Zimmer stand Ein Zweig der Linde, Ein Angebinde Von lieber Hand. Wie lieblich war der Lindenduft!

I breathed a gentle fragrance! In the room stood a sprig of linden, a gift from a dear hand. How lovely was the fragrance of linden!

Wie lieblich ist der Lindenduft! Das Lindenreis Brachst du gelinde! Ich atme leis Im Duft der Linde Der Liebe linden Duft.

How lovely is the fragrance of linden! That twig of linden you broke off so gently! Softly I breathe in the fragrance of linden, the gentle fragrance of love.

3. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, Mit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben, Sie hat so lange von mir nichts vernommen, Sie mag wohl glauben, ich sei gestorben. Es ist mir auch gar nichts daran gelegen, Ob sie mich für gestorben hält, Ich kann auch gar nichts sagen dagegen, Denn wirklich bin ich gestorben der Welt.

I am lost to the world with which I used to waste so much time, It has heard nothing from me for so long that it may very well believe that I am dead! It is of no consequence to me Whether it thinks me dead; I cannot deny it, for I really am dead to the world.

Ich bin gestorben dem Weltgewimmel, Und ruh’ in einem stillen Gebiet. Ich leb’ allein in mir und meinem Himmel, In meinem Lieben, in meinem Lied.

I am dead to the world’s tumult, And I rest in a quiet realm! I live alone in my heaven, In my love and in my song.

4. Um Mitternacht Um Mitternacht Hab’ ich gewacht Und aufgeblickt zum Himmel; Kein Stern vom Sterngewimmel Hat mir gelacht Um Mitternacht.

At midnight I awoke and gazed up to heaven; No star in the entire mass did smile down at me at midnight.

Um Mitternacht Hab’ ich gedacht Hinaus in dunkle Schranken. Es hat kein Lichtgedanken Mir Trost gebracht Um Mitternacht.

At midnight I projected my thoughts out past the dark barriers. No thought of light brought me comfort at midnight.

Um Mitternacht Nahm ich in Acht Die Schläge meines Herzens; Ein einz’ger Puls des Schmerzens War angefacht Um Mitternacht.

At midnight I paid close attention to the beating of my heart; One single pulse of agony flared up at midnight.

Um Mitternacht Kämpft’ ich die Schlacht, O Menschheit, deiner Leiden; Nicht konnt’ ich sie entscheiden Mit meiner Macht Um Mitternacht.

At midnight I fought the battle, O Mankind, of your suffering; I could not decide it with my strength at midnight.

Um Mitternacht Hab’ ich die Macht In deine Hand gegeben! Herr über Tod und Leben Du hältst die Wacht Um Mitternacht!

At midnight I surrendered my strength into your hands! Lord! over death and life You keep watch at midnight!

5. Liebst du um Schönheit Liebst du um Schönheit, O nicht mich liebe! Liebe die Sonne, Sie trägt ein gold’nes Haar!

If you love for beauty, Oh do not love me! Love the sun, It has gold hair!

Liebst du um Jugend, O nicht mich liebe! Liebe den Frühling, Der jung ist jedes Jahr!

If you love for youth, Oh do not love me! Love the spring-time That is young each year!

Liebst du um Schätze, O nicht mich liebe. Liebe die Meerfrau, Die hat viel Perlen klar.

If you love for wealth, Oh do not love me! Love the mermaid, Who has many limpid pearls!

Liebst du um Liebe, O ja, mich liebe! Liebe mich immer, Dich lieb’ ich immerdar.

If you love for love, Oh yes, love me! Love me forever; I will love you forevermore!

RECOMMENDED LISTENING 1) Webern: Passacaglia – Schoenberg: Variations, Op. 31 – Berg: 3 Pieces from the “Lyric Suite” & 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6 Berlin Philharmonic & Herbert von Karajan (Deutsche Grammophon, 1999) 2) Stravinsky: Symphony in C, Symphony in 3 Movements, Symphonie de Psaumes Chicago Symphony Chorus, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Sir Georg Solti (Decca, 1999)

IGOR S TRAVIN SK Y (18 82-1971) Symphony in Three Movements

22’00

Stravinsky’s father was a famous operatic bass, but nonetheless he too was forced by his family to study criminal law and legal philosophy. When his father died in 1902, the young man quickly threw off that yoke and turned to music, becoming an international sensation with the success of his ballet The Firebird in 1910. Genius and fame however, did not insulate Stravinsky from the tumults of the twentieth century. He fled Russia after the revolution, living first in exile in Switzerland and then in France. Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, he sailed to America. Stravinsky ultimately moved to California, where he joined Schoenberg (they purportedly never met) and the many others who had fled Europe. Stravinsky had little luck in the Hollywood film industry. This was not due to a lack of interest on either side, but rather his quest for perfection did not fit with the movie studios’ tight time lines. And so he returned to the symphony, a form that he had avoided since his studies with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. After the success of the Symphony in C (1940), he contemplated writing a piano concerto (more of a concerto for orchestra with a prominent role for the piano), but a request from the New York Philharmonic Society dictated otherwise. The Symphony in Three Movements bears witness to the state of the world at that time and the psychological toll it took on Stravinsky. The events that stirred his imagination included images from the Japanese occupation of China, which were depicted in passages for clarinet, piano and strings in the first movement, and newsreels of goose-stepping soldiers that inspired the opening of the third. The defeat of the German war machine is celebrated in the coda. Without any explanation he added an extra pulse to the work’s final chord on 8 August 1945, the day after the bombing of Nagasaki. For the symphony Stravinsky used music that he had perviously composed for the unrealised piano concerto and rather improbably, music originally intended for the film, The Song of Bernadette. The two existing sketches however, featured different instruments, the piano and harp respectively. Instead of reworking the preexisting music, he chose to unite the instruments in the third movement, which bridges the preceding one by a seven-bar

interlude. His writing for the harp may surprise however, as Stravinsky avoids the usual romantic effects associated with the instrument such as ruffled chords, arpeggios and glissandos. The Symphony in Three Movements was Stravinsky’s first new work to be performed after he became a US citizen on 29 December 1945. It was dedicated to the New York Philharmonic Society, who premiered the work on 24 January 1946 with the composer conducting.

GYÖRGY L IGETI (1923 -20 0 6) Mysteries of the Macabre (Singapore Premiere)

9’00

(Libretto by Michael Meschke and György Ligeti) On 13 December 1956, Ligeti arrived in Vienna having fled Budapest, where a month earlier Soviet tanks had crushed a national uprising. During the Second World War he had laboured in a forced labor unit of the Hungarian army, somehow escaping the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Nazi death camps. Except for his mother, his entire family perished in Auschwitz. As a student and later a composer/academic in Hungary, Ligeti lived in fear of the Communist authorities. To survive, he developed a split artistic personality; for public consumption he retreated into folklore, but privately he experimented with radical works that he kept secret and locked away. He found artistic freedom in the West, becoming one of the leading avant-garde composers of the late-twentieth century. His surrealist opera Le Grand Macabre was composed in the 1970s. In it, Nekrotzar, the “Grand Macabre” of the title descends to a phantasmagoric vision of earth to announce that a huge comet is heading their way. Postapocalypse, everyone miraculously returns to life and Nekrotzar becomes infinitesimally small and disappears. The music verges on the absurd, driven by pastiche and quotations from works of other composers. Elgar Howarth fashioned Mysteries of the Macabre (1991) from the arias of Gepopo, the Chief of Secret Police, who in the opera tries to warn of the Nekrotzar’s imminent appearance. Gepopo, sung by a coloratura soprano communicates in tumbling, repetitive, hacked-up words and phrases.

Morphing through three guises — bird of prey, spider and octopus — the high tessitura and vocal acrobatics make her message unintelligible. The orchestra mimics the singer with cock-crows from the contrabassoon, a sinister trombone solo, police and slide-whistles, whispered vocal sounds and a countdown screamed out by the players as Gepopo cries out desperately for help. It’s dazzling, crazy and over the top. Psst! Ps-psst! Psps-psst! Shsht! Co! Coco! Kho! Cocococo! Cococo! Cocoding zero! O! Aha! Cocoding Zero-zero: highest security grade! Aha! Zero, zero! Birds on the wing! (Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch!) Double-you-see! Snakes in the grass! Rabble, rabble, rabble! Riot, riot! (Too too too too to!) Unlawful assemblies! (Cha cha cha cha cha!) Communal insurrection! Mutinous masses! (Cha che chi choo cha!)

Pst! Pst! Much discretion! Close observation! Take precautions! That's all! Pst! Pst! Not a squeak! Confidential! One more thing: Bear in mind: Silence is gold(en)! “What is it now?” Secret cypher! Code-Name: LochNess-Monster! Comet in sight! Red glow! Burns bright! (Chu chu chi chi…) Pst! Sit tight! No fright!

Turbulence! Panic! Panic! Papapapa-panic! Groundless! Groundless! Phobia! Wide of the mark! Right off the track! Hypopo-Hypopopopopopopata Hypochondria!

Yes! No! No! Yes! No! No! Yes! Yes! No!

Rrsh! What did you say? Rrsh! March! March-t! March target! Direction! rection! Direction! Prince Your palace! March-target royal palace! Palace! Password: Gogogo-golash, Gogolash! Demonstrations, ha! Protestactions, ha! Provocations, ha!

Stern measures! Stern measures! Stern measures? Stern measures!

Beyond all doubt! Satellite! Asteroid! Planetoid! Polaroid! Coming fast! Hostile! Perfidious! Menacing! Momentous! Fatal!

Kukuriku! (Ten!) Kikeriki! He's coming! Coming! Coming! Coming! Coming! Kekerikeke! Kokorikoko! Kukurikuku! Kakarikakaka!

Makarikaka! (Nine!) Makabrikaka! (Eight!) Makabrika! (Seven!) Kabrikama! (Six!) Brikamaka! (Five!) Kamakabri! (Four!) Makabri! (Three!) Makrabi! (Two!) Makrabey! (One!) Makrabey! Makrabey! (Zero!) Makrabey! Makrabey! Makrabey! Makrabey! Makrabey! Makrabey! Coming! Coming! Look there! There! There! There! He's getting in! He's getting in! He's getting in! He's in! Where's the guard? Where's the guard? The guard! The guard! The guard! Call the guard! Call the guard!... Call the gua’! Call the gua’! Call the gua’! Call the gua’! Call the gua’! Call the gua’! Call ’e gua’! Call ’e gua’! Call guarda! Da! Da! Da! Da! Da! Da! Da! Ada! Ada! Ada!... Da!! Da!!... Da! Da Da Da Da Pssst Da. © 1974-77, rev.1996 by Schott Music GmbH & Co., Mainz. Programme notes by Rick Perdian

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