Les Illuminations, Op.18 This CD brings together three youthful masterworks all composed by Benjamin 1 I - Fanfare (Maestoso [poco presto]) Britten before his 30th birthday within the space of a mere six years. Individually and 2 II - Villes (Allegro energico) collectively they demonstrate a fertile musical imagination of a high order combined 3 IIIa - Phrase (Lento ed estatico) with astonishing technical skills. 4 IIIb - Antique (Allegretto, un poco mosso) 5 IV - Royauté (Allegro maestoso) n May 1937 the conductor Boyd Neel was invited to give a concert of British works 6 V - Marine (Allegro con brio) 7 VI - Interlude (Moderato ma comodo) at the Salzburg Festival with his string orchestra. A condition of the engagement was 8 VI - Being Beauteous (Lento ma comodo) Ithat a new work should be included. Neel knew that finding a composer to write a work 9 VIII - Parade (Alla marcia) at such short notice would be a challenge and making a daring choice, he turned to the 10 IX - Départ (Largo mesto) 24-year-old Britten, then still unknown to a wider public in Britain, let alone Europe. Neel BENJAMIN BRITTEN Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op.10 had conducted Britten’s music for the film Love from a Stranger and had noticed his skill (1913-1976) 11 Introduction and Theme (Lento maestoso) at composing at speed. Britten accepted the commission and within 10 days Neel had a 12 Adagio draft score in his hands. Just four weeks later the Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge scottish ensemble 13 March (Presto alla marcia) was complete. 14 Romance (Allegretto grazioso) Neel was delighted that his faith in Britten had been rewarded, realising that here 15 Aria Italiana (Allegro brillante) clio gould director, violin was a work in which the string orchestra was ‘exploited with a daring and invention never 16 Bourrée Classique (Allegro e pesante) toby spence tenor 17 Wiener Walzer (Lento - Vivace) before known.’ Britten’s own skill as a viola player stood him in good stead since the string martin owen horn 18 Moto Perpetuo (Allegro molto) writing is conceived on a virtuoso level, with every nuance of colour being exploited. The 19 Funeral March (Andante ritmico) work received its public premiere at the Salzburg Festival on 27 August 1937; the marked 20 Chant (Lento) impression it made on the audience initiated Britten’s international renown. 21 Fugue and Finale (Allegro molto vivace - Lento e solenne) Britten had conceived the work as a tribute to his teacher and mentor whose Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings, Op.31 influence in his formative years had been profound. It is based on the second of Bridge’s 22 Prologue (Andante) Three Idylls for string quartet of 1906. At the head of the score, Britten wrote: ‘To F.B. A tribute 23 Pastoral (Lento) with affection and admiration.’ The leading Bridge authority, Paul Hindmarsh, has noted too 24 Nocturne (Maestoso) that Britten’s tribute went much further, for on the presentation score he gave to Bridge, 25 Elegy (Andante appassionato) Britten links each movement to aspects of Bridge’s personality, which are referred to in the 26 Dirge (Alla marcia grave) 27 Hymn (Presto e leggiero) description of the individual movements below. The work is cast in a free variation form, so 28 Sonnet (Adagio) that at times the links with Bridge’s theme are tenuous. Overall the variations may be viewed 29 Epilogue (Andante) as a series of vivid character sketches, frequently parodying particular musical forms.

2 3 In the Introduction and Theme (described as ‘Himself’ on Bridge’s presentation n 1938 Britten discovered the prose-poetry of the French symbolist Arthur Rimbaud (1854- score), Britten begins the work in a demonstrative manner with a sweeping fanfare-like I1891) probably through his friend W.H.Auden. The highly charged, colourful language and phrase. Bridge’s melancholy theme is outlined first on a solo violin, then fully harmonised images excited him and the poetry also chimed with Britten’s own heart-searchings at a for solo quartet. The music continues directly into the next section, Adagio (‘His depth’, time when he was confused about several personal relationships, as well as the threatening which Britten changed in his own short score sketch to ‘His integrity,’) where alternating European situation, and indeed his place within English musical life. Britten and Peter Pears with dark, troubled chords derived from Bridge’s harmony on the lower strings, the violins left for the USA in May 1939 for an indefinite period. He took with him the manuscript of play an impassioned line. A quick March (‘His energy’) somewhat sinister in tone follows, what was to become Les Illuminations finishing it in Amityville, New York, on 25 October then a Romance (‘His charm’ [‘His wit in Britten’s score]) in which the composer seems to 1938. The first complete performance (two movements having been performed separately) be guying the so-called English pastoral school of composers. was given by Sophie Wyss (the overall dedicatee) and the Boyd Neel Orchestra with Neel The Aria Italiana (‘His humour’) is an instance of Britten’s sheer compositional conducting on 30 January 1940 at the Wigmore Hall, London. panache: a brilliant satire of Rossinian coloratura as the first violins soar above the stave Apart from teenage settings of Verlaine, these were the first texts in a foreign lines accompanied by the strumming pizzicati of the second violins, violas and cellos who language that Britten had set and they mark a more cosmopolitan development in his art. are instructed to play like a guitar. In the lively Bourrée Classique (‘His tradition’) there Once again Britten’s consummate understanding of the stringed instruments is evident in is a prominent violin solo which has a sly dig at a harmonic fingerprint of the Baroque, the opening bars of Fanfare, where the listener’s attention is grabbed by stunning musical the cycle of 5ths, whilst the Wiener Walzer (‘His enthusiasm’ [in Britten’s sketch, ‘His images: incisive fanfares on violas and first violins as well as swooping upwards glissandi gaiety’]) is surely Britten’s tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of the circumstances of the from the latter. These lead to the soloist intoning the enigmatic recurring motto: ‘J’ai seul la commission, as well as signalling his admiration for two giants of Viennese composition, clef de cette parade sauvage’ (‘I alone hold the key to this savage parade’). The motto is Mahler and Berg. taken up by solo violin over icy glissandi harmonics on violas and cellos. The Moto perpetuo (‘His vitality’ [‘His enthusiasm’ in the sketch]), is a burst of The relentless momentum of Rimbaud’s fantastical poetic prose evoking cities energy with tremolo strings rushing helter-skelter from the highest to the lowest registers. and their denizens is conjured in Villes over ever changing pulsating accompaniments as In the Funeral March (‘His sympathy’ to which in the sketch Britten added ‘Understanding’), Britten responds vividly to the swiftly changing series of images created by the words, the falling 5th of the theme is transformed into the beat of drums in the double-basses for example, the frenetic gallop of hooves at ‘Des cortèges de Mabs en robes rousses, over which the first violins, later joined by the other upper strings, play a sorrowful lament. opalines’ (‘Corteges of Queen Mabs in robes red and opaline’). In Phrase, over delicate The eerie Chant (‘His reverence’) is heard in the divided violas offset by harmonics. This widely spaced harmonics that seem suspended in the air, the soloist sings an ethereal line provides a moment of stasis prior to the Fugue and Finale. The former is a swashbuckling which culminates in a descending vocal glissando on the final word ‘danse’ and with it a compositional tour-de-force within which Britten, in masterly fashion, weaves quotations magical change of harmony. from five of Bridge’s finest works played by the solo quartet high above the fugal textures. Antique is one of the miracles of Les illuminations where Britten creates his This leads to a final, rather Mahlerian, outpouring of Bridge’s theme in the rich key of D major sensuous melody from the simplest of musical material (a B flat arpeggio) to make as the culmination of this quite remarkable composition. something completely new and original. It is set against the serenading strumming of

4 5 the violas and cellos playing pizzicato as if like a guitar, in the same manner as in the Aria emotive words confirmed in him a growing feeling that his place was in Britain. That chance Italiana in the Frank Bridge Variations but to very different effect. The personal nature of reading of the article brought him home in April 1942 and also sowed the seeds for an opera this evocation of male beauty is reflected in the dedication of this movement to ‘K.H.W.S’ based on one of Crabbe’s characters, the tormented fisherman, Peter Grimes. Significantly - Wulff Scherchen - (son of the conductor Hermann Scherchen) who was a close friend of too, once back in England the first major composition he composed, the Serenade for Tenor, Britten at that time. Royauté describes how two lovers imagine that they become regents Horn and Strings, not only marked a return to setting the English language after Rimbaud for a day, consequently the music has a suitably majestic gait. The setting in rondeau and Michelangelo, but was an overt celebration of his native land. form has an almost operatic quality with its parlando directness that is a pointer to the The Serenade, composed in 1943, drew its inspiration from an anthology of composer’s future. nocturnal poems brilliantly chosen by Britten and the work’s dedicatee, the critic and writer Marine is a sparkling seascape and this breezy setting suggests the brilliance Edward Sackville-West. Of equal importance too, as in many of Britten’s works, was the of dancing light on waves. Britten’s evocation is achieved, not only by the string writing inspiration of the musicianship of a particular artist, in this instance two artists, Peter Pears, built around a glinting ostinato figure, but also through the crisp open-air vocal line. After and the horn player, Dennis Brain, then just 21 whom Britten had met when the latter, as a all this activity, a pensive Interlude follows with a dark, sinewy descending idea; towards member of the RAF orchestra, played some incidental music by him for a radio series. The the end the motto returns, now sombre and muted. This movement was dedicated ‘To premiere of the Serenade was given on 15 October 1943 at the Wigmore Hall by Pears, E.M.’ - Elizabeth Mayer - at whose home Britten and Pears lived for several months during Brain, and an ad hoc string orchestra conducted by Walter Goehr. their American sojourn, and in whom the composer found a replacement figure to his own Britten quizzed Brain on aspects of horn writing and technique which is apparent mother who had died in 1937. in the highly original Prologue and Epilogue for solo horn which frame the vocal movements Being Beauteous (Rimbaud wrote his title in English) is dedicated to ‘P.N.L.P.’ of the Serenade and are played on the instrument’s natural harmonics without the use of - Peter Pears - whose long-term relationship with Britten had crystallised during their stay in valves. They may be likened to an eerie talisman through which the listener enters and America (even though the movement had been completed before their departure). Britten’s returns from a nocturnal world. As Sackville-West explained in an article about Britten in passionate lovesong to his lifelong companion floats over the softly rocking accompaniment. 1944: ‘The whole sequence forms an Elegy or Nocturnal (as Donne would have called it) Britten’s setting of Parade is the most Mahlerian in the work where the nightmare images of resuming the thoughts and images suitable to evening.’ the vocal line are heightened by a march in the strings with a twisting, uneasy theme which In Cotton’s Evening Quatrains (‘Pastoral’), the horn’s opening syncopated also refers back to the music of Fanfare. The climax is reached with the last appearance of rhythm is taken up by the strings to create a gently rocking rustle of movement, whilst the the motto. Finally with Départ, the cycle ends in music of penetrating poignancy and regret descending horn phrase echoes the tenor’s melody. Both combine to paint a landscape of in the aching, arching curve of the soloist’s melody. lengthening sunset shadows. A change of texture, with the strings playing pizzicato, mirrors the words at ‘A very little, little flock’, whilst in the final verse the opening roles are reversed uring the time Britten lived in the USA he became increasingly homesick. In 1941, by as the horn takes up the opening rhythm and the upper strings follow the vocal line. The Dchance, he read an article by E.M.Forster about the Suffolk poet George Crabbe; its music ends with an unforgettable aural image as the tenor’s downward phrase perfectly opening line was: ‘To think of Crabbe is to think about England’, and his reaction to these portrays the sun slipping under the horizon.

6 7 The violins’ dancing rhythms, suggestive of spurts of majestic evening light, Les Illuminations and pulleys. The old craters, surrounded by set the scene for Tennyson’s Blow, Bugle, Blow (‘Nocturne’). A free cadenza for the two Text by Arthur Rimbaud colossuses and copper palm-trees, soloists, over soft murmuring string trills, rounds off each verse as they imitate the bugle Translation by Ahmed Ismael roar melodiously in the flames… calls of elfland. ‘Elegy’ opens with ominous, pulsing string chords underpinning the horn’s Processions of Mabs in russet and opaline robes FANFARE climb the ravines. Up there, Diana suckles stags, rising and falling line that incorporates all twelve notes of the chromatic scale; it burrows J’ai seul la clef de cette parade sauvage. with their feet in the cascade and brambles. its cankerous way in a complementary musical image to the words of Blake’s short poem I alone hold the key to this wild parade. Suburban Bacchantes sob, and the moon burns The Sick Rose. In its heart the tenor’s recitative-like melodic line describes in passionate and howls. Venus enters caverns VILLES (Towns) tones the destruction wrought to the rose by the ‘invisible worm that flies in the night’, of blacksmiths and hermits. Groups of belfries Ce sont des villes! C’est un peuple pour qui se synonymous with the sin that lurks in the hearts of mankind. sing the people’s ideas. From castles built of sont montés ces Alleghanys et ces Libans de rêve! Dirge is a spectral funeral march setting the anonymous 15th-century A Lyke- bones pour forth unknown music… Des chalets de cristal et de bois se meuvent sur Wake Dirge, built around an ostinato theme set right at the top of the tenor register, and The paradise of storms collapses… The savages des rails et des poulies invisibles. Les vieux dance ceaselessly the festival of the night… so heightening the extreme emotion of the text, which is a spine-chilling nightmare of cratères ceints de colosses et de palmiers de Judgement Day. The horrifying images of hell-fire are unleashed musically by a fugato cuivre rugissent mélodieusement dans les feux… What lovely arms, what beautiful hour will bring beginning in the rumbling depths of the double basses and culminating with the terrifying Des cortèges de Mabs en robes rousses, opalines, back to me that region from whence come my apocalyptic entry of the horn. montent des ravines. Là-haut, les pieds dans la slumber and my smallest movements? Johnson’s Hymn to Diana (‘Hymn’) provides a quicksilver scherzo-like contrast cascade et les ronces, les cerfs tettent Diane. with the horn now liberated and exuberant as it is transformed by fleet triplets into the hunting Les Bacchantes des banlieues sanglotent et la PHRASE calls of the Goddess Diana. Each verse ends with virtuosic vocal roulades for the tenor. In lune brûle et hurle. Vénus entre dans les cavernes J’ai tendu des cordes de clocher à clocher; des guirlandes de fenêtre à fenêtre; a further masterstroke of scoring, Britten omits the horn from the last vocal movement, a des forgerons et des ermites. Des groupes de des chaînes d’or d’étoile à étoile, et jedanse. profound setting of Keats’s To Sleep (‘Sonnet’). It rises to a passionate climax at ‘Turn the beffrois chantent les idées des peuples. Des châteaux bâtis en os sort la musique inconnue… key deftly’, and leads to the Epilogue played now by the horn offstage as the music fades I hung strings from steeple to steeple; Le paradis des orages s’effondre... Les sauvages garlands from window to window; and recedes into the unconscious, mysterious state of sleep and dreams. dansent sans cesse la fête de la nuit… gold chains from star to star, and I dance. ANDREW BURN © 2005 Quels bons bras, quelle belle heure me rendront cette région d’où viennent mes sommeils et mes ANTIQUE moindres mouvements? Gracieux fils de Pan! Autour de ton front couronné de fleurettes et de These are towns! This is a people for whom these baies, tes yeux, des boules précieuses, remeunt. Alleghenies and these Lebanons were raised up! Tachées de lies brunes, tes joues se creusent. Crystal and wooden chalets move on invisible rails Tes crocs luisent. Ta poitrine ressemble à une cithare,

8 9 des tintements circulent dans tes bras blonds. cry out in a public square: Toward the piles of the jetty, And the shudders rise and fall, Ton coeur bat dans ce ventre où dort le double “My friends, I wish to make her your queen!” Whose corner is struck by whirlpools of light. and the maniacal flavor sexe. Promène-toi, la nuit, la nuit en en mouvant “I wish to be your queen!,” she cries, and trembles. of these effects being charged doucement cette cuisse, cette seconde cuisse et He speaks to his friends of revelation, INTERLUDE with the mortal hissing and raucous music cette jambe de gauche. of finished ordeals. J’ai seul la clef de cette parade sauvage. that the world, well behind us, hurls on our They swoon, one against the other. I alone hold the key to this wild parade. mother of beauty - she withdraws, she stands up. Gracious children of Pan! Oh! our bones are reclothed BEING BEAUTEOUS Around your brow, crowned by tiny flowers and Indeed, they were kings all that morning while with a new, loving body. berries, your eyes - precious globes - stir. the crimson hangings went up on the houses, Devant une neige un Être de Beauté de haute taille. Stained by brown dregs, your cheeks are hollowed. and all that afternoon, when they advanced toward Des sifflements de mort et des cercles de musique O ashen face, with shield of hair, and arms of Your fangs glisten. Your bosom resembles a zither, the coast through gardens of palms. sourde font monter, s’élargir et trembler comme un crystal! The cannon on which I must throw myself its chiming spreading about in your fair arms. spectre ce corps adoré: des blessures écarlates et down, amid the scuffle of trees and the light breeze! Your heart beats in that belly where the double MARINE noires éclatent dans les chaires superbes. Les chars d’argent et de cuivre - Les couleurs propres de la vie se foncent, dansent, sex sleeps. Walk in the night, in the night moving PARADE Les proues d’acier et d’argent - et se dégagent autour de la Vision, sur le chantier. gently this thigh, that other thigh, and that left leg. Des drôles très solides. Battent l’écume, - Et les frissons s’élèvent et grondent, Plusieurs ont exploité vos mondes. ROYAUTÉ (Royalty) Soulèvent les souches des ronces. et la saveur forcenée de ces effets se chargeant Sans besoins, et peu pressés de mettre en Un beau matin, chez un peuple fort doux, Les courants de la lande, avec les sifflements mortels et les rauques musiques oeuvre leurs brillantes facultés et leur expérience un homme et une femme superbes, Et les ornières immenses du reflux, que le monde, loin derrière nous, lance sur notre de vos consciences. Quels hommes mûrs! criaient sur la place publique: Filent circulairement vers l’est, mère de beauté, - elle recule, elle se dresse. Des yeux hébétés à la façon de la nuit d’été, “Mes amis, je veux qu’elle soit reine!” Vers les piliers de la forêt, Oh! nos os sont revêtus rouges et noirs, tricolorés, d’acier piqué d’étoiles “Je veux être reine!” Elle riait et tremblait. Vers les fûts de la jetée, d’un nouveau corps amoureux. d’or; des facies déformés, plombés, blêmis, Il parlait aux amis de révélation, Dont l’angle est heurté incendiés; des enrouements folâtres! La démarche d’épreuve terminée. par des tourbillons de lumière. O la face cendrée, l’écusson de crin, les bras de cruelle des oripeaux! Il y a quelques jeunes… Ils se pâmaient l’un contre l’autre. cristal! Le canon sur lequel je dois m’abattre à Chariots of silver and copper - travers la mêlée des arbres et de l’air léger! En effet ils furent rois toute une matinée où les Prows of steel and silver - O le plus violent Paradis de la grimace enragée!... tentures carminées se relevèrent sur les maisons, Stir up the foam, - In front of the snow stands a tall Beauteous Being. Chinois, Hottentots, bohémiens, niais, hyènes, et toute l’après-midi, où ils s’avancèrent Lift up the roots of bramble. The hissing of death and circles of muffled music Molochs, vieilles démences, démons sinistres, ils du côté des jardins de palmes. The currents of the land, make this adored body climb, expand, and tremble: mêlent les tours populaires, maternels, avec les And the immense tracks of the ebb, black and scarlet wounds burst in the superb flesh. poses et les tendresses bestiales. A beautiful morning, among a most gentle people, Running out in a circle towards the east, The proper colors of life darken, dance, Ils interpréte-raient des pièces nouvelles et des a superb man and woman, Toward the pillars of the forest, and give off around the vision, upon the yard. chansons “bonnes filles”. Maîtres jongleurs, ils

10 11 transforment le lieu et les personnes et usent de la O Rumeurs et Visions! NOCTURNE And his dark secret love comédie magnétique… Départ dans l’affection et le bruit neufs! lyrics by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) Does thy life destroy.

J’ai seul la clef de cette parade sauvage. Enough seen. Visions have been met in every respect. The splendour falls on castle walls DIRGE (anon. 15th Century) Enough has been. Rumors of towns, at night, And snowy summits old in story: What sturdy odd fellows. and in the light of day, and always. The long night shakes across the lakes, This ae nighte, this ae nighte, Several have exploited your worlds. Enough known. The decrees of life. And the wild cataract leaps in glory: Every nighte and alle, Without needs, and little concerned with putting O rumors and visions! Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Fire and fleete and candle-lighte, their brilliant minds and their experience of your Depart in new affection and new noise! Bugle, blow answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. And Christe receive thy saule. consciences to work. What mature men! O hark, O hear how thin and clear, When thou from hence away art past, Dazed eyes like a summer night, And thinner, clearer, farther going! Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings Every nighte and alle, red and black, tri-colored, steel dotted with golden O sweet and far from cliff and scar To Whinnymuir thou com’st at last; stars; deformed features, leaden, made pale, made PASTORAL The horns of Elfland faintly blowing! And Christe receive thy saule. to burn; their foolish cries! The cruel walk lyrics by Charles Cotton (1630-1687) Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: of rags! There are some young ones… The day’s grown old; the fainting sun Bugle, blow, answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. If ever thou gav’st hos’n and shoon, Every nighte and alle, O the most violent Paradise of the fanatical grimace!… Has but a little way to run, O love, they die in yon rich sky, Sit thee down and put them on; Chinese, Hottentots, Bohemians, deniers, hyenas, And yet his steeds, with all his skill, They faint on hill or field or river: And Christe receive thy saule. Molochs, old demented ones, sinister demons, Scarce lug the chariot down the hill. Our echoes roll from soul to soul they mix popular and maternal tricks The shadows now so long do grow, And grow for ever and for ever. If hos’n and shoon thou ne’er gav’st nane, with bestial poses and tenderness. That brambles like tall cedars show; Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Every nighte and alle, They interpreted new plays and - nice girl - songs. Mole hills seem mountains, and the ant Bugle, blow, answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. The winnies shall prick thee to the bare bane; Master jugglers, they transform Appears a monstrous elephant. And Christe receive thy saule. the place and the people and use ELEGY magnetic comedy… A very little, little flock by William Blake (1757-1827) From Whinnymuir when thou may’st pass, Shades thrice the ground that it would stock; Every nighte and alle, I alone hold the key to this wild parade. Whilst the small stripling following them O Rose, thou art sick! To Brig o’ Dread thou com’st at last; Appears a mighty Polypheme. The invisible worm And Christe receive thy saule. DEPART (Departure) That flies in the night, Assez vu. La vision s’est rencontrée à tous les airs. And now on benches all are sat, In the howling storm, From Brig o’ Dread when thou may’st pass, Assez eu. Rumeurs de villes, le soir, In the cool air to sit and chat, Every nighte and alle, et au soleil, et toujours. Till Phoebus, dipping in the West, Has found out thy bed To Purgatory fire thou com’st at last; Assez connu. Les arrêts de la vie. Shall lead the world the way to rest. Of crimson joy: And Christe receive thy saule.

12 13 If ever thou gav’st meat or drink, Give unto the flying hart Scottish Ensemble Every nighte and alle, Space to breathe, how short so-ever: The fire shall never make thee shrink; Thou that mak’st a day of night, And Christe receive thy saule. Goddess excellently bright.

If meat or drink thou ne’er gav’st nane, SONNET Every nighte and alle, by John Keats (1795-1821) The fire will burn thee to the bare bane; And Christe receive thy saule. O soft embalmer of the still midnight, Shutting with careful fingers and benign, This ae nighte, this ae nighte, Our gloom-pleas’d eyes, embower’d from the light, Every nighte and alle, Enshaded in forgetfulness divine: Fire and fleete and candle-lighte, O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close And Christe receive thy saule. In midst of this thine hymn my willing eyes, Or wait the “Amen” ere thy poppy throws HYMN Around my bed its lulling charities. by Ben Jonson (1572-1637) Then save me, or the passèd day will shine Queen and huntress, chaste and fair, Upon my pillow, breeding many woes, - Now the sun is laid to sleep, Save me from curious Conscience, that still lords violin Clio Gould Director Seated in thy silver chair, Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole; Cheryl Crockett, Jonathan Morton, Liza Webb, State in wonted manner keep: Turn the key deftly in the oilèd wards, Andrew Storey, Joanne Green, Laura Ghiro Hesperus entreats thy light, And seal the hushèd Casket of my Soul. viola Gillianne Haddow, Rebecca Low, Georgia Boyd* Goddess excellently bright. cello Alison Lawrance, Naomi Pavri, Donald Gillan** Earth, let not thy envious shade double bass Diane Clark, David Peller** Dare itself to interpose; *Serenade & Variations **Variations Cynthia’s shining orb was made Heav’n to clear when day did close; The Scottish Ensemble is a dynamic group of 12 string players directed from the violin by Bless us then with wishèd sight, Artistic Director Clio Gould. Originally formed in 1969 by Leonard Friedman, the Scottish Goddess excellently bright. Ensemble is famous for its excellence and vitality. Lay thy bow of pearl apart, Clio Gould, Artistic Director for 12 years, becomes Director Emeritus in September And thy crystal shining quiver; 2005, succeeded as Artistic Director by Belgian violinist Jonathan Morton.

14 15 The Scottish Ensemble receives invitations to perform all over the UK and around appearances with the London Sinfonietta, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal the world, including recent engagements with the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Shanghai Spring International Festival, MDR Sommerfest as BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Ulster Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of well as the City of London, Cheltenham, Warwick, Lichfield, Brinkburn, St Magnus and Ireland and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. These concerts cover a broad repertoire, Perth Festivals. In Scotland, the Scottish Ensemble travels the length and breadth of the and include many newly commissioned works, some written especially for her. country performing in all major towns and cities as well as in more remote areas. Each Clio is principal violin of the London Sinfonietta. In 2002, she was also appointed year, the Scottish Ensemble promotes a 24-concert series in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, becoming the first female leader of a symphony Glasgow, Inverness and Perth and each summer promotes concerts in venues across the orchestra in London. Highlands and Islands of Scotland. She is increasingly involved in the performance of contemporary solo repertoire, Scottish Ensemble concerts are regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Radio and has worked with many leading composers. UK premieres she has given include John Scotland, and the group has recently received an award from Classic FM for its “outstanding Adams’ Road Movies for violin and piano and Anthèmes II for violin and live electronics by contribution to classical music.” The Scottish Ensemble has a busy commissioning Pierre Boulez at the South Bank’s celebration of the composers 75th Birthday. She gave programme including works by Stuart MacRae, Joe Duddell, John Tavener, Barry Guy and the UK premiere performance of Oliver Knussen’s Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony David Horne whose Double Violin Concerto has been performed Orchestra in the 2003 Aldeburgh Festival, with the composer throughout the UK and broadcast on BBC Radio 3 from the conducting, with repeat performances in Finland and Japan. Cheltenham Festival. Clio plays the Rutson Stradivarius of 1694, which has Acclaimed soloists who have appeared recently with generously been lent to her by the Royal Academy of Music the Ensemble include Steven Osborne, Angela Hewitt, Michael where she regularly directs the Royal Academy Soloists. In 1999 Collins, Nicola Benedetti, Li-Wei and Jian Wang. Paul Rissmann she was awarded an Hon RAM. is the Scottish Ensemble’s award-winning Education Director and the group’s workshops, children’s concerts and training Martin Owen sessions reach people of all ages throughout Scotland. Martin Owen, Principal Horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, is widely regarded as one of the country’s leading Clio Gould players appearing as both guest principal horn with many Clio Gould enjoys an unusually varied career as a violinist, and London Orchestras, and those further afield, including the Berlin performs as soloist, director and leader throughout Britain and Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and soloist/ Europe. chamber musician in some of the leading music festivals around She made her BBC Proms concerto debut in 1999 with the world. Since Martin gave his Wigmore Hall debut with the the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and has made concerto Britten Serenade and Philip Langridge (tenor) in 1997, he has

16 17 performed it many times, often with the Scottish Ensemble, with which they have been For the Salzburg Festival he has sung in Mitridate under Roger Norrington, and Hylas (Les invited back to the Wigmore Hall to perform the Britten late 2005. In addition, Martin has Troyens) under Cambreling. For the Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin he has sung Il matrimonio played a variety of concerti, including the Mozart concerti and Schumann Konzertstuck segreto, for Welsh National Opera Tamino, for the Netherlands Opera Telemaco (Il ritorno with the RPO, Strauss’ Second Concerto with the New World Symphony, Malcolm Arnold d’Ulisse in patria) in both Amsterdam and Sydney, and for the Bavarian State Opera both concerti with the Bulgarian Chamber Orchestra and Messiaen’s Canyons aux Etoiles with Acis and Galatea and Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. He sang Fidelio with the Glyndebourne Ensemble Modern. He tries to combine all this with photography, cycling, and his continuing Festival at the Chatelet, Paris, Don Giovanni for the Ruhr Triennale, Alcina in San Francisco support of Crystal Palace football club! and Hyllas (Handel’s Hercules) in Aix-en-Provence. He made his debut with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden in Verdi’s Alzira under Mark Elder, returning for the Simpleton (‘Boris Toby Spence Godunov’) and Ferdinand (Ades’ The Tempest). An honours graduate and choral scholar from New College, Oxford, Toby Spence studied at Toby Spence has established strong links with both English National Opera and the Opera School of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. While still a student, he made the Paris Opera. With ENO he has sung Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Sivilia), Oronte (Alcina), his Wigmore Hall recital debut in the Schubertiade series and appeared at the Cheltenham Narciso (Il turco in Italia), Fenton (Falstaff), Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte) and Tamino. For and Brighton Festivals. the Paris Opera he has sung in Billy Budd, Les Boreades, Guillaume Tell, Alcina and Die On the concert platform, he has sung with the Cleveland Meistersinger von Nürnberg. His forthcoming engagements include Katja Kabanova for the Orchestra under von Dohnanyi, the Bournemouth Symphony Paris Opera, Ferrando and Ottavio for the Bavarian State Opera, David (Die Meistersinger) under Hickox, the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra under Eliot in a new production in Geneva, Tamino at the Teatro Real, Madrid and Almaviva in a new Gardiner, the San Francisco Symphony under Tilson Thomas, Barbiere for the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Gergiev, Les Musiciens du Louvre under Minkowski, the London Symphony Orchestra under Rattle and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century under Recorded at the Caird Hall, Dundee, UK, 28-30 July 2003 Frans Brüggen. He has appeared in concert at the Salzburg and Produced by Tim Oldham Edinburgh Festivals under Norrington and Mackerras. He has Engineered by Calum Malcolm recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, BMG, Philips, Cover Photo of Benjamin Britten © Estate of Enid Slater Collins, Hyperion and EMI. Photo of Scottish Ensemble by John Paul He made his début as Idamantes (Idomeneo) for Welsh Photo of Clio Gould by Guy Hills National Opera, Scottish Opera and the Bavarian State Opera. For Photo of Toby Spence by Eva Sicinska – Turrell the Monnaie, Brussels he has sung Pane (La Calisto) under René Design by the Art Surgery Jacobs, Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) under David Robertson and David (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) under Antonio Pappano.

18 19 Also available by the Scottish Ensemble on Linn Records

John Tavener Shostakovich Ravel + Shostakovich Tears of the Angels Chamber Symphony Petite Symphonie á Cordes CKD 085 Piano Concerto No.1 Chamber Symphony CKD 095 CKD 215

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