M O Z AR T & S TR AV I NS KY: MUSIC ON THE AIR 29 AUGUST 2020 WATCH THE STREAM ONLIN E ON S I S T I C L I V E
K AH CH U N WONG CONDUCT S DEBU SSY, W AGNER AND SHOS TAKOVICH SAT 26 SEP 2020 8PM
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SINGAPO RE SYM PHO N Y OR C HE STR A KAHCHU N WO N G CO N D UC TOR
Debussy's visionary evocation of a faun's afternoon languor in the forest. Wagner's intimate celebration of idyllic love; and the dark, driving anguish of Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony. Three pieces that could hardly be more contrasting in their colours and moods, directed by the phenomenal Kahchun Wong. DE BUSSY PR E LU DE TO THE A F TERNOON OF A F A UN (ARR. SAC H S ) WAGNE R SI E GFR I E D I DYLL SHOST AKO V ICH CHA MB E R SYMP H ONY, OP . 110A (ST RI N G QU ARTET NO. 8, ARR. BARSH AI)
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MO ZA RT & STRAV I NSK Y : MUS IC ON THE AIR 29 Aug 2020, 8pm (Online premiere on SISTIC Live) Viewable from 29 Aug to 12 Sep with valid tickets.
Singapore Symphony Orchestra Hans Graf Chief Conductor
MO ZART
Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K.546 SSO PREMIERE
S TR A V I N SK Y
Apollo
31 mins
S TR A V I N SK Y
Octet
16 mins
MO ZART
Serenade No. 11 in E-flat major, K.375
25 mins
7 mins
Concert Duration: 1 hr 20 mins
T Watch our online Pre-Concert Talk hosted by Hans Graf on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
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SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 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, as well as outreach and community performances take place at the 673seat Victoria Concert Hall, the home of the SSO. The orchestra performs over 60 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. Under the Music Directorship of Lan Shui from 1997 to 2019, 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 The Telegraph. The SSO has also performed in China on multiple occasions.
Orchestral playing at the peak of refinement and beauty In the 2020/21 concert season, the SSO welcomes renowned maestro Hans Graf as its Chief Conductor. Notable SSO releases on the BIS label include a Rachmaninoff series, a “Seascapes” album, three Debussy discs “La Mer”, “Jeux” and “Nocturnes”, 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, Gustavo Dudamel, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Diana Damrau, Martha Argerich, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos and Gil Shaham. The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, and the Singapore National Youth Orchestra. The mission of the Group is to create memorable shared experiences with music. Through the SSO and its affiliated performing groups, we spread the love for music, nurture talent and enrich our diverse communities.
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© BRYAN VAN DER BEEK
M OZ AR T & STR AV INSK Y: M U SIC ON TH E AIR | 29 AUG 2 0 2 0
HA N S G RAF Chief Conductor
Hans Graf is a frequent guest with major orchestras around the world including with the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, the Seoul, Hong Kong and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras. Hans Graf’s discography includes all symphonies of Mozart and Schubert, the complete orchestral works by Henri Dutilleux and the world premiere recording of Zemlinsky’s opera Es war einmal. His recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck with the Houston Symphony won the ECHO Klassik 2017 award and the Grammy 2018 for Best Opera Recording.
The Austrian conductor Hans Graf is the Chief Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra from the 2020/21 concert season. He held the role of Music Director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra 2001–2013, making him the longest-serving Music Director in the orchestra’s 100 year history. Prior to this, he was Music Director of the Calgary Philharmonic and of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. He has also held the post of Music Director at the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg and the Basque National Orchestra.
Hans Graf has been made Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur by the French Government (2002) and was awarded the Grand Decoration of Honour of the Republic of Austria (2007). He is also Professor Emeritus for Orchestral Conducting at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. 4
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SEC O N D V IOL IN
T HE ORC HE S T R A
Michael Loh Associate Principal Hai-Won Kwok Fixed Chair Nikolai Koval* Chikako Sasaki* Margit Saur Shao Tao Tao Wu Man Yun* Xu Jue Yi* Yeo Teow Meng Yin Shu Zhan* Zhao Tian*
HANS GRAF Chief Conductor JOSHUA TAN Associate Conductor ANDREW LITTON Principal Guest Conductor
VIO L A
CHOO HOEY Conductor Emeritus
Zhang Manchin Principal Guan Qi Associate Principal Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair Marietta Ku Luo Biao Julia Park Shui Bing Janice Tsai Wang Dandan Yang Shi Li
LAN SHUI Conductor Laureate EUDENICE PALARUAN Choral Director WONG LAI FOON Choirmaster
C EL L O Ng Pei-Sian Principal, The HEAD Foundation Chair Yu Jing Associate Principal Guo Hao Fixed Chair Chan Wei Shing Jamshid Saydikarimov* Song Woon Teng Wang Yan Wang Zihao* Wu Dai Dai Zhao Yu Er
FIRS T VI OL I N Kong Zhao Hui# Associate Concertmaster Chan Yoong-Han Fixed Chair Cao Can* Chen Da Wei Duan Yu Ling Foo Say Ming Jin Li Kong Xianlong Cindy Lee Karen Tan William Tan Wei Zhe Ye Lin* Zhang Si Jing*
D O U B LE BAS S Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal Karen Yeo Fixed Chair Olga Alexandrova Jacek Mirucki Guennadi Mouzyka Wang Xu
6
FLUTE
H O RN
Jin Ta 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 TR U M P ET
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
TR O M B O N E
Elaine Yeo Associate Principal
Allen Meek Principal Damian Patti Associate Principal Samuel Armstrong
CLARINET
B A SS T R O MBONE
Ma Yue Principal Li Xin Associate Principal Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping
Wang Wei Assistant Principal
BAS S CL AR I NE T
TIM P A N I
Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal
Christian Schiøler Principal Jonathan Fox Associate Principal
COR ANGL AI S
TU B A Tomoki Natsume Principal
BAS S OON P ER CU SSIO N
Wang Xiaoke Principal Liu Chang Associate Principal Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue
Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Mario Choo Lim Meng Keh
CONTRAB AS S OON H A RP
Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal
Gulnara Mashurova Principal
* With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments. # Kong Zhao Hui performs on a J.B. Guadagnini of Milan, c. 1750, donated by the National Arts Council, Singapore, with the support of Far East Organization and Lee Foundation. Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis. 7
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This brooding and ominous work is quite unlike the light elegance of Mozart’s bestknown works. So it is perhaps no surprise it was played at the conductor Herbert von Karajan’s funeral. The composer himself described this work, which can be performed by string quartet or string orchestra, as “a short Adagio for two violins, viola and bass, for a fugue which I wrote some time ago for two pianos.” Very little else is known about its origin besides this slightly dismissive note, though it has been suggested that it could have been composed at the suggestion of its publisher, F.A. Hoffmeister. The first section, the Adagio, is brooding and filled with foreboding; it also shows Mozart exploring bold harmonic progressions. The companion Fugue was originally written for two pianos in 1783 before being arranged for strings in 1788. It was written at a time when Mozart was studying counterpoint and perhaps it was a chance for Mozart to stretch his newly acquired contrapuntal muscles.
Above: Mozart's autograph of the Fugue. The autograph of the Adagio is missing. source: British Library
Instrumentation 5 first violins, 4 second violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos, 2 double basses 15
MO Z A RT & S TR AV INSKY: M U SIC ON TH E AIR | 29 A U G 2020
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K.546 (1788) SSO PREMIERE
M OZ AR T & STR AV SSO INSK NATIONAL Y: M U SICDAY ON CTH ONC E AIR ER T || 29 1 5 AUG AUG 22002200
IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882–1971) Apollo (1927–1928) I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
Birth of Apollo Variation of Apollo Pas d’action (Apollo and the Three Muses) Variation of Calliope (The Alexandrine) Variation of Polyhymnia Variation of Terpsichore (Second) Variation of Apollo Pas de deux (Apollo and Terpsichore) Coda Apotheosis
In his Poetics of Music, Stravinsky said of Apollo (or Apollon musagète): “What is important… is that all the Dionysian elements which set the imagination of the artist in motion and make the life-sap rise must be properly subjugated before they intoxicate us”.
receive its world premiere there in 1928. But Stravinsky had little interest in the world premiere – instead, he had ensured the European premiere of the work would be mounted by the legendary ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes company. The ballet opened in Paris on 12 June 1928, with now-iconic choreography by George Balanchine and the composer himself on the podium.
Written in 1927–1928, the ballet explores the ideas of inspiration, art and tradition. It tells the story of the birth of the Greek god Apollo, his instruction of the muses (here reduced from the original nine to just three) and the group’s ascent to Mount Parnassus – the home of the Muses.
The seven dancers were dressed all in white (Balanchine claimed that when he heard Stravinsky’s music all he could see was pristine white) with minimal set. Dance and music was centre-stage.
Apollo was one of the most important and complex gods of Greek mythology, he was not only the god of music and dance but also archery, prophecy and the Sun. He is also the companion of the Nine Muses, who are the source of knowledge and inspiration for all artists (including, of course Stravinsky himself).
The ten-part work is written for string orchestra (violins, viola, cello, double bass) and is heavily inspired by Baroque and Classical traditions. The opening (Birth of Apollo) takes its dotted rhythms from Baroque French Overtures, nodding at Stravinsky’s admiration for one of the earliest ballet composers, Jean-Baptiste Lully. In the Variation of Apollo, the audience is introduced to Apollo in his youthful glory – represented in the score by a virtuosic solo violin.
The ballet was commissioned to be performed at a festival of contemporary music held at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. and the work did indeed 16
SMO S O ZNAART T I O&NSATR L DAY AV INSKY: C ONC ER M UTSIC | 15 ONA UTH G E2020 AIR | 29 A U G 2020
Apollo is then joined by three muses: Calliope, the muse of poetry; Polyhymnia, the muse of mime (an important element of classical ballet) and Terpsichore, the muse of dance and song). In the seventh section, a second Variation of Apollo, we encounter a more confident, mature god, before Apollo lavishes attention on Terpsichore in an ethereal Pas de deux. In the final two sections, the Coda and Apotheosis, Apollo continues his instruction of the three muses before leading them to their home on Mount Parnassus.
Above: The Ballets Russes premiere of Apollo. The dancers pictured are Alexandrova Danilova and Serge Lifar.
Instrumentation 5 first violins, 4 second violins, 3 violas, 4 cellos, double bass World Premiere 27 Apr 1928, Washington D.C. First performed by SSO 29 Oct 1993 17
M OZ AR T & STR AV INSK Y: M U SIC ON TH E AIR | 29 AUG 2 0 2 0
IGOR STRAVINSKY Octet (1922–1923) I II III
Sinfonia Theme and Variations Finale The work opens with a Sinfonia in Sonata form – a quintessentially classical form, before a set of Theme and Variations in the second movement. The seventh and final variation is a fugato which Stravinsky considered the most interesting section of the piece. The Finale marries Baroqueinspired staccato lines with syncopated rhythms inspired by a Russian dance called the khorovod.
“The Octet began with a dream,” said Igor Stravinsky, “in which I saw myself in a small room surrounded by a small group of instrumentalists playing some attractive music… I awoke from this little concert in a state of great delight and anticipation and the next morning began to compose.”
“The Octet began with a dream” Stravinsky’s Octet is written for the unusual combination of four woodwind instruments and four brass instruments: flute, clarinet, bassoons, trumpets (in C and A), tenor and bass trombone. But what really surprised the first audience was that this work sounded nothing like the Stravinsky they had come to know from works like The Firebird and The Rite of Spring. Fellow composer Aaron Copland was at the premiere and said there was a “general feeling of mystification that followed the initial hearing. Everyone was asking why Stravinsky should have exchanged his Russian heritage, and a neoprimitive style all his own, for what looked very much like a mess of 18th-century mannerisms.”
Instrumentation flute, clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, trombone, bass trombone
In hindsight, this Octet can be seen as the beginning of Stravinsky’s neoclassicism, which went on to shape musical history.
World Premiere 18 Oct 1923, Paris First performed by SSO 24 Apr 1981 18
I II III IV V
Allegro maestoso Menuetto I Adagio Menuetto II Finale: Allegro
We may regard Mozart as one of the greatest composers to have ever lived, but the circumstances around the composition of this Serenade are a stark reminder of the realities of his life. Mozart wrote this Serenade as a pitch – he was trying to secure a position at the Viennese court by impressing a court official by the name of Strack.
the court painter, at whose house it was performed for the first time… But my chief reason for writing it was to let Herr von Strack [a court official], who goes there every day, hear something of my composition. And so I composed it rather carefully. It was well received too.” The work opens with an Allegro maestoso, which shifts around between moods and keys, but ends in the home key of E-flat major (as do all the movements). This is followed by a stately dance, the first of two Menuettos. The centrepiece of the work is a beautiful Adagio which is often regarded as one of Mozart’s finest. The second Menuetto follows, with a thoughtful trio slotted inside. Lastly, the finale arrives with what could perhaps be described as stately enthusiasm.
In a letter to his father, Mozart wrote: “I had written the Serenade for St. Theresa’s Day for the sister-in-law of Herr von Hickel,
And Mozart never did get that court commission. As he wrote later in a letter back to home: “you cannot trust these flunkies.” Programme notes by Elizabeth Davis
Instrumentation 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns World Premiere 15 Oct 1781 First performed by SSO 24 Feb 1984
Above: The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa (1647) by Giancarlo Bernini. 19
MO Z A RT & S TR AV INSKY: M U SIC ON TH E AIR | 29 A U G 2020
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Serenade No. 11 in E-flat major, K.375 (1781)
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The mission of the Singapore Symphony Group is to create memorable shared experiences with music. Through the SSO and its affiliated performing groups, we spread the love for music, nurture talent and enrich our diverse communities. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is a charity and not-for-profit organisation. You can support us by donating at www.sso.org.sg/donate.