27 NOVEMBER THURSDAY SERIES 4 Helsinki Music Centre at 19

Heinz Holliger, conductor Christian Gerhaher, baritone The Key Ensemble, coach Teemu Honkanen

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Maurerische Trauermusik 6 min

J. S. Bach: Cantata no. 82 “Ich habe genug” 24 min solo Heinz Holliger

Joseph Haydn: Symphony no. 44 in E minor “Mourning” 22 min I Allegro con brio II Menuetto III Adagio IV Finale – Presto

INTERVAL 20 min

Jan Dismas Zelenka: Lamentationes pro die 16 min Mercurii Sancto

Heinz Holliger: Eisblumen 8 min

J. S. Bach: Cantata no. 56 20 min “Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen” Oboe solo Heinz Holliger

Interval at about 20.00. The concert ends at about 21.20.

1 WOLFGANG AMADEUS JOHANN SEBASTIAN MOZART (1756–1791): BACH (1865–1750): “ICH MAURERISCHE HABE GENUG” BWV 82 TRAUERMUSIK (MASONIC FUNERAL Bach composed few solo cantatas, but that intended for Candlemas, Ich habe MUSIC) KV 477 genug, was one of his most popular vo- cal works during his lifetime already. was admit- It dates from 1727 and was originally ted to the Masonic lodge called “Zur scored for bass and oboe obligato, but Wohltätigkeit” (Beneficence) in 1784 Bach later arranged a version for sopra- and the following year composed some no and mezzo-soprano, with a flute as funeral music in memory of two fel- the solo instrument. low-Masons. It was the work of an ap- The opening aria (Ich habe genug) prentice wishing to prove his worth as has an elegiac sense of renunciation a new member of the lodge. Numerous in the accompanying string motif, the manuscript versions of the music have solo woodwind adding a brilliant, soul- been preserved, which suggests that ful touch. The singer announces his or it was often performed at Masonic her readiness to take leave of this world events. The music reflects the view of and accept redemption, and Bach death Mozart had expressed in his last shows the way in the most symbolical letter to his dying father, Leopold, in of Baroque devices. 1787. By repeating the opening words (Ich The “journey to the eternal orient” habe genug), the following recitative expressed in the Funeral Music is ac- seeks to strengthen the resolve and to companied by splendid wind choirs, serve as a reminder of Simeon’s exam- basset horns and all, to a backdrop of ple. Death, in Schlummert ein, appears strings. The melody is that of the Te as a friend, tenderly preparing the final Decet hymn of Mozart’s friend Michael resting place. The structure of the aria Haydn, which was in turn descended is surprisingly complex: the long pedal from the medieval Tonus peregrinus notes in the accompaniment, the long or “Pilgrim’s Chant”. Mozart’s Funeral pauses and rests look ahead to eternal Music seeks to endorse the ideal of rest. brotherhood and to symbolise the By the recitative Mein Gott! Wenn transition from death to a new life. kommt das schöne: Nun! the singer is After a gloomy C minor, the work ends getting impatient and ready to bid on a magical major chord. the world good night. The dance-like instrumental accompaniment to the closing aria Ich freue mich reflects joy in the face of death. In embroidering on the theme, the singer has shaken off the mortal sorrows of the world.

2 JOSEPH HAYDN by his classical elegance to produce a subdued but intimate image of a hu- (1732–1809): manist composer. SYMPHONY NO. 44 IN E Any thoughts of peace are swept MINOR “MOURNING” away by the unison theme of the fina- le. Determined and unyielding, it again leaves no room for contrasting themes. Joseph Haydn probably wrote his Only shortly before the end does the Symphony no. 44 while at Esterháza, mood let up a little before the gloomy in 1770–1771. The label “Mourning” unison motif hammers the final nails was added later. Haydn is said to have into the coffin. asked for the slow movement to be played at his funeral and it is known to have been performed at least in a com- memorative concert in Berlin in 1809. JAN DISMAS The opening unison statement of the ZELENKA (1679–1745): first movement is unusually brusque, and the main theme on the violins LAMENTATIONES PRO sounds weary and desolate. Though DIE MERCURII SANCTO Haydn puts up a furious fight in the ZWV 53:1 development, not one of the subsidi- ary themes is able to detract from the mournful undercurrent of the main Zelenka’s Lamentationes pro die Mercurii theme. The unison theme returns at Sancto (Lamentations for Maundy the end in a ghostly pianissimo and the Thursday) refers to the ceremony of main theme makes an almost desper- Tenebrae (meaning ‘shadows’ or ‘dark- ate dash for the finish. ness’) on Maundy Thursday. As its text The Minuet is far-removed from the it takes the Lamentation for the de- ballroom, sneaking along in octaves in struction of Jerusalem in which the a bare canon (Canone in Diapason). The Lord appears at His most severe. The mood, painted in pianissimo shades, last verse reminds that those who suf- again evokes an air of sorrow, but the fer most from the evils of the world Trio section in E major with its fall- are the innocent: “Her oppressors have ing rays of light on the strings and its gained supremacy, her enemies are French horns rising to the heights pro- enriched; the Lord has pronounced vides a fleeting spark of hope. concerning her, concerning her many, The slow movement is calm and col- many sins; her children are led into lected. The muted violins and resonant captivity, driven in front of the oppres- wind choirs give this restrained move- sor.” ment a feeling of quiet dignity. Haydn Instead of an aria-and-recitative such found plenty to lament. The mournful was typical of the Baroque, Zelenka moods of the Adagio are kept in check chose a sort of through-composed

3 mode with alternating arioso passages, and 1985. Historical allusions hover like recitatives and orchestral interludes. In modernist ghosts behind the taut ex- accordance with historical practice, he pression. The performance of the work also sets to music the Hebrew letters at the Helsinki Biennale in 1989 still of the alphabet prefacing the head- haunts the audience’s minds, but many ing and parts to form preludes rich in of the movements also work well on melisma. The first Lamentation in the their own. set is the gloomiest – a harshly chro- Eisblumen (Ice Flowers) is one­ matic plunge into a world of darkness of Holliger’s Exercises for Scar­ that has lost its faith and righteous- da­nelli for small orchestra, ness. “comments,­ mirrors, responses, margi- The bass soloist seems to be seek- nalia” to Hölderlin’s The Seasons. The ing out pinpoints of light in the text natural flageolet notes and intervals cre- and, when discovering one, to indulge ate an active yet stagnant or “frozen” in spectacular coloraturas. The end is a world of harmony. Frozen into it is a ref- separate epilogue, a bleak contrapuntal erence to Bach’s chorale Komm o Tod, du command to forsake the ungodly go- Schlafes Bruder at the end of the cantata ings-on (Jerusalem convertere). The final Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen. major chord carries a ray of hope.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN HEINZ HOLLIGER BACH: ICH WILL DEN (1939–): EISBLUMEN KREUZSTAB GERNE (FROM THE TRAGEN, BWV 56 SCARDANELLI CYCLE) Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his solo Heinz Holliger is not only one of the cantata Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tra­ most versatile oboists in the world to- gen in Leipzig in 1726 for performance day; he is also one of the most inter- on the 19th Sunday after Trinity. The esting composers of the latter half of text by an anonymous poet relies the 20th century. He studied composi- in places on Bach’s contemporaries’ tion in Switzerland with Sandor Veress knowledge of the Bible, but the meta- and in Paris with Pierre Boulez, but his phor running through the work – life aesthetic has also been moulded by his as a pilgrim’s progress across the sea experiences of Baroque repertoire and, – dates from the Middle Ages already. for example, the music of Schumann. The trials of life are voiced in the The poetic fragments written by opening, title aria already. The or- Friedrich Hölderlin under the nom de chestra’s ritornello seems to proceed plume of Scardanelli were set to mu- through rocky waters; a tortured inter- sic by Heinz Holliger between 1975 val taunts the bass soloist on the word

4 ‘Kreuzstab’ (cross) and the weight of HEINZ HOLLIGER the cross is portrayed in the long word ‘tragen’ (carry) with its melismata. Bach varies his themes as the text proceeds Equally renowned as an oboist, com- in a more optimistic direction, finally poser and conductor, Heinz Holliger shifting to a new metre and crystallis- studied the oboe in Bern and Paris. In ing the idea of hope in the words allud- the early 1960s he enrolled as a compo- ing to Revelation 7:17: “And God shall sition student of Pierre Boulez. wipe away all tears from their eyes.” As a conductor, Holliger has worked In his accompanied recitative the with many great orchestras the singer describes his life as a journey world over. These have included the on board ship with God’s mercy as his Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, the anchor. Having reached the gates of London Philharmonia, the Amsterdam Heaven, he continues in a secco recita- Concertgebouw Orchestra, the tive (a ‘dry’ mode of singing with a free Cleveland Symphony and the European rhythm dictated by the accents of the Chamber Orchestra. words). In the second aria the bass so- Heinz Holliger has recorded in all loist rejoices in his delivery with rich three capacities – as oboist, composer ornamentation, and dancing with him and conductor – on the Teledec, Philips like a guardian angel is an oboe. The and ECM labels. The disc he made with interlude indicates that the burden has soprano Juliane Bansen won both the lessened and the solo voice takes to its MIDEM Classical and the Echo Classics wings like an eagle. awards in 2006. In the combination of recitative and arioso the singer is calm and ready. The CHRISTIAN GERHAHER motif from the opening aria has slowed down to Adagio tempo and the future spreads out in a gentle C major. At the Christian Gerhaher studied singing with end Bach inserted a four-part chorale Paul Kuen and Raimund Grumbach, the words of which end life’s nautical and Lied with Friedemann Berger at pilgrimage: “Come death, thou broth- the Opera School of the Academy of er of sleep, take my boat’s rudder and Music in Munich. He has also attend- lead me to the safe harbour.” ed masterclasses with Dietrich Fischer- Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Susan Sinisalo Inge Borkh. Much sought after for opera, Christian Gerhaher has, among others, sung Wolfram in the Tannhäuser pro- ductions of the Vienna State Opera and Covent Garden, and Papageno in The Magic Flute at the Salzburg Festival. He has also sung Mozart’s

5 Don Giovanni, Monteverdi’s Orfeo and THE KEY ENSEMBLE Debussy’s Pelléas. He is likewise in great demand as a soloist with orches- tras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, One of Finland’s foremost choirs, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Key Ensemble formed in Turku the Boston and Chicago Symphonies in 2005 is noted for its pure, bal- and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw anced and distinctive sound and its Orchestra, working with top conduc- innovative programming. Its debut tors: Kent Nagano, Riccardo Chailly, disc, Missa Baltica, released under its Herbert Blomstedt, Gustavo Dudamel, Artistic Director Teemu Honkanen Pierre Boulez, Riccardo Muti, Bernard won the Choral Recording of the Year Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Nicolaus 2011 award in Finland and the award Harnoncourt and others. Last season for Best Classical Album 2012 in the he was the first singer to be appoint- Contemporary A Cappella Recording ed Artist in Residence with the Berlin Awards of CASA (The Contemporary A Philharmonic. Cappella Society) in the USA. Its sec- Productions this season include The ond album, Ave Maria – Aurora borea- Magic Flute at the Bavarian State Opera lis went on to win the same American and Tannhäuser at the Berlin State award for the second time in 2013. Opera, Brahms’s German in A semi-professional choir, the Key Berlin, at Carnegie Hall, New York and Ensemble works in project periods in San Francisco, and Lieder recitals at and is currently made up of a “bank” the Wigmore Hall in London and the of about 32 singers called upon ac- Lincoln Center, New York. cording to the demands of the reper- With Gerold Huber as his accom- toire. The ensemble has a versatile rep- panist, Christian Gerhaher has re- ertoire ranging from the Renaissance corded much of the core Lied rep- to the very latest contemporary mu- ertoire. Their Melancholy CD of sic and has both commissioned and music by Schumann won BBC Music, premiered several new Finnish works. Echo Classic and MIDEM Classical In addition to its own productions, awards. Gerhaher has also recorded the Key Ensemble has appeared at Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Leipzig many festivals, such as the Savonlinna Gewandhaus Orchestra under Herbert Opera Festival, Turku Music Festival, Blomstedt and Orff’s Carmina Burana Naantali Chamber Music Festival and with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Tampereen Sävel International Choir Simon Rattle. He is also the soloist in Festival. It has also been heard a num- Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with ber of times on the Yle and Rondo FM the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and radio channels. Kent Nagano.

6 THE FINNISH The FRSO has recorded works by Ligeti, Eötvös, Nielsen, Hakola, Lindberg, RADIO SYMPHONY Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Kokkonen ORCHESTRA and others, and the debut disc of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Its discs have reaped some prestigious (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish distinctions, such as the BBC Music Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mis- Magazine Award and the Académie sion is to produce and promote Finnish Charles Cros Award. The disc of the musical culture and its Chief Conductor Sibelius and Lindberg violin concertos as of autumn 2013 is Hannu Lintu. The was Gramophone magazine’s Editor’s FRSO has two Honorary Conductors: Choice in February 2014. Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo. The FRSO regularly tours to all parts The Radio Orchestra of ten players of the world. One of the many highlights founded in 1927 grew to symphony or- of the 2013/2014 season was a critically- chestra strength in the 1960s. Hannu acclaimed concert conducted by Hannu Lintu was preceded as Chief Conductor Lintu at the Vienna Musikverein dur- by Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, ing a tour of Central Europe. During the Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif 2014/2015 season the orchestra, under Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the baton of Hannu Lintu, will appear in most recently Sakari Oramo. Stockholm and tour Finland. It will also In addition to the great Classical- visit the EBU Festival in Bucharest with Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- Joshua Weilerstein as its conductor. temporary music is a major item in the The home channel of the FRSO is Yle repertoire of the FRSO, which each Radio 1, which broadcasts all its con- year premieres a number of Yle com- certs, usually live, both in Finland and missions. Another of the orchestra’s abroad. Its concerts can also be heard tasks is to record all Finnish orches- and watched with excellent live stream tral music for the Yle archive. During quality on the FRSO website (yle.fi/rso), the 2014/2015 season it will premiere and the majority of them are televised four Finnish works commissioned by live on the Yle Teema channel. Yle. The programme will also include colourful orchestral poems by Richard Strauss, symphonies by Shostakovich and Haydn’s great The Creation. The orchestra’s distinguished guests will in- clude conductors Leonard Slatkin, Kent Nagano, Herbert Blomstedt and Esa- Pekka Salonen, soprano Karita Mattila, violist Tabea Zimmermann and pianist Olli Mustonen.

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