Sakari Oramo, conductor Robert McLoud, reciter

François Joseph Gossec: Suite from Le Triomphe de la République 18 min I Villageois et Villageoises II Air pour les Polonais III Anglaise ou Bostonienne IV Air pour les Suisses-Rans des Vaches V Grivois VI Valsque VII Air pour les Négres VIII Air pour les Savoisiens IX Vielle X Contredansa Finale

Arnold Schönberg: Ode to Napoleon, Op. 41 16 min

INTERVAL 20 min

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Op. 55, 50 min the “Eroica”

PRE-CONCERT TALK (in Finnish) in the Elissa Hall from 6 to 6.30 pm by Professor Hannu Salmi from the University of Turku: From the French Revolution to 1809.

Interval at about 7.45 pm. Th e concert ends at about 8.45 pm. Broadcast live on YLE Radio 1 and the Internet (www.yle.fi /rso).

1 François Joseph Gossec (1734–1829): Suite from Le Triomphe de la République

François Joseph Gossec was born two years af- the revolution and introduced the same spirit ter Haydn and died two years after the death of into opera. In 1792 he put the fi nishing touch- Beethoven. His life thus spanned the whole of es to the one-act L’Off rande à la Liberté and the the Classical era. But while his music was fi rmly following year Le Triomphe de la République. Th e anchored on Classicism, he was also a visionary latter was inspired by the Battle of Valmy in who saw ahead into the future. In the course of September 1792 at which the French Revolu- his long career he was to witness many political tionary Army defeated the Prussians. and social upheavals, the impact of which was Le Triomphe de la République is an opera in refl ected in his works. one act divided into six scenes and is classed Th ough born in Belgium, Gossec lived and as a ‘divertissement-lyrique’. Th e libretto was worked in France from 1751 onwards. In 1770 by the poet Marie-Joseph Chénier, younger he formed an orchestra called the Concert des brother of André Chénier who ended up un- Amateurs but three years later returned to the der the guillotine in the turmoil of the French helm of the highly-esteemed Concert Spirituels Revolution and later in the fi ne opera by Um- orchestra organised by him. For both orches- berto Giordano. Beginning with an overture in tras he composed a large number of sympho- three sections, Gossec’s opera consists mainly nies. In 1784 he was appointed director of the of hymn-like choral scenes interspersed with newly-established École Royale de Chant and recitatives accompanied on a large orchestra. continued to play a prominent role when this Gossec let the voice of the people be heard in became the Paris Conservatoire in 1795. his use of many folk melodies. Th e work also Th e year 1789 revolutionised not only France has elements of a spectacle, complete with can- but its music as well. For Gossec it meant an non fi re. It ends with a ballet sequence entitled even more brilliant career, and he devoted him- Entrée des Nations in which various nations, Af- self whole-heartedly to the service of the new ricans included, march onto the stage. regime. He wrote a number of works stirred by Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951): Ode to Napoleon, Op. 41

Th e day after Napoleon had abdicated his Many of his relatives died in Nazi concentra- throne in April 1814, the great English poet tion camps. With the help of Byron’s Ode he Lord Byron put pen to paper for what ended up was able to make his art a weapon in the fi ght as an Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte in 19 stanzas. against Hitler. True, Napoleon and Hitler dif- Far from being a song of praise, it is a crushing fered in many ways, but the fact that Schön- criticism of a self-appointed Emperor and, in berg composed his Ode during the diffi cult war broader terms, a denouncement of autocracy. years left no one in any doubt as to whom it During the Second World War Schönberg was addressed. heard in the Ode an echo of his own feelings. Schönberg set Byron’s Ode to music in spring Being of Jewish descent, he was obliged on and summer 1942. It was originally scored for the rise of the Nazis to power to resign from reciter, string quartet and piano, but by the his post as Professor at the Academy of Arts time it was premiered in New York in Novem- in Berlin and to escape via France to the Unit- ber of the same year, the quartet had been re- ed States, where he spent the rest of his life. placed by a string orchestra. Th e Ode can in

2 fact be performed in either version. Because 12-tone system developed by Schönberg. It is, he wanted to underline the words, Schönberg however, possible to pick out tonal elements in chose a reciter instead of a singer, and clear- the row. Th e quick turns of events and sharply- ly marked the reciter’s rhythms in the score. honed, even jagged details ensure that the por- Th e pitches are, by contrast, only approximate, trait of Napoleon, and through him Hitler, is and their mutual relationships depend main- not too smooth and sleek. ly on the words to be emphasised. Th e music is dodecaphonic, meaning that it observes the Kimmo Korhonen (abridged) Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Op. 55, the “Eroica”

Legend has it that Ludwig van Beethoven in- sage’. Th e Beethoven symphonies bearing un- tended to dedicate his third symphony to Na- even numbers were more radical than the tam- poleon Bonaparte, but that on hearing Napole- er even-numbered ones. Th e proportions of the on had proclaimed himself Emperor he ripped Symphony no. 3 (1804), the irregularities of its off the cover bearing the dedication. Of all the form and rhythms and the profound and tre- great composers, Beethoven was most clearly a mendous (yet infi nitely controlled) passion child of the French Revolution. His music was horrifi ed contemporary audiences and musi- bursting with the ideals of liberty, equality and cians. Th ough no one needs to recoil from these fraternity, manifested in many ways. any longer, their potency has not diminished Firstly, Beethoven had a strong infl uence on with the passing of time. the remoulding of the social dimension of mu- Th e heading Eroica alludes to heroism. In- sic. During his lifetime he saw a decline in the stead of Napoleon, Beethoven dedicated his importance of the courts of the wealthy, cul- symphony “to the memory of a hero”, so the ture-minded nobility as the leading seats of mu- heroic aspect may partly be interpreted as iron- sic, and music became more the pursuit of the ic. Th e themes of the symphony, and the way urban bourgeoisie. Th is meant the birth and es- they are handled, nevertheless exude such a tablishment of the modern concert. Beethoven tangible grandeur that such ideas do not im- did not, admittedly, bring about any major rev- mediately present themselves. Th e dialecticism olution in music, but his attitude refl ected the of symphonic form requires contrasting ele- spirit of the times. ments, such as violent and gentle, serious and Secondly, the ideals had a strong impact playful, disciplined and free, personal and gen- on the music itself. It is no coincidence that eral, sorrow and joy. Beethoven’s third sympho- Beethoven, rather than any other composer, ny abounds in all of these, and much more be- carried a trend in chamber music that had be- sides. Hence its special place in the history of gun with Haydn and Mozart to perfection: the the symphony. “democratisation” of the individual parts so that all – and not just the leader – had had some- thing important to say. Jouni Kaipainen (abridged) Th irdly, liberty, equality and fraternity be- came major elements of the music’s ‘mes-

3 Sakari Oramo

Sakari Oramo has been Chief Conductor of the With the FRSO Mr Oramo has toured to Vi- Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra since Au- enna, Prague, Germany and Switzerland, as gust 2003. An accomplished violinist, he began well as the BBC Proms, the Canary Islands and his career as co-leader of the orchestra in 1991 Edinburgh Festivals. In October 2005 he took and went on to obtain a conducting diploma in the orchestra on tour to Japan and was imme- the class of at the Sibelius Acade- diately invited back for February 2007. my. In January 1993 he replaced an ailing con- Th e FRSO and Sakari Oramo have recorded ductor at very short notice; the resulting con- music (for ) by such Finnish compos- cert was an unprecedented success, leading to ers as Hakola, Lindberg, Kaipainen and Kok- his appointment as Associate Chief Conductor konen, and the debut release of Launis’s opera as of autumn 1994. Four years later he began as Aslak Hetta. His disc of works by Magnus Lind- Principal Conductor of the City of Birmingham berg, and the Bartók disc by Warner Classics Symphony Orchestra, an appointment that was have received great international acclaim. His renamed Music Director in autumn 1999. He disc (Ondine) of Symphonies 3 and 5 by Nor- resigned from his ten-year term in Birmingham dgren won the French Académie Charles Cros in spring 2008 but continues as the orchestra’s award, and that of Lindberg the prize of the Principal Guest Conductor. As of the 2008/09 BBC Music Magazine and the Classic FM Gram- season he will be Chief Conductor and Artistic ophone Award in 2006. Th e recording by Mr Advisor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Oramo, the FRSO and of the Orchestra. He is also Principal Guest Conduc- Violin Concertos by Magnus Lindberg and Jean tor of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra Sibelius was honoured with a MIDEM Classical and of Opera. Award in 2008. Mr Oramo has conducted many of the Sakari Oramo received an Honorary Doc- world’s leading orchestras, such as the Berlin, torate in summer 2004 from the University New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Oslo Phil- of Central England in Birmingham. In sum- harmonics, the Paris, Cleveland and Minnesota mer 2008 he was awarded the prestigious Elgar Orchestras, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Medal in recognition of his work to further the NHK Symphony and the Frankfurt RSO. Th e reputation of Elgar and his music. next few years will include visits to the Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden and San Francisco Symphony.

Robert McLoud

A former scholarship student at the University the sensational production of Th e Marriage of of Kansas, Robert McLoud made his debut as Figaro, Jephtha in Carissimi’s opera of the same Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at Op- name, and most recently Feldsher in the pre- era Omaha in 1992. Over the following decade miere of Sebastian Fagerlund’s opera Döbeln in he sang at many US theatres, such as the oper- July 2009. In March 2009 he sang Schigolch as in Santa Fe, St. Louis, Baltimore and Con- in Berg’s Lulu in the joint production by West necticut. He has also sung various roles in Fin- Coast Kokkola Opera and the Finnish Radio land, under Sakari Oramo at the Kokkola Op- Symphony Orchestra. era Summer ever since the festival was found- At the Finnish National Opera Robert ed. Th ese have included the parts of Bartolo in McLoud has been assigned a number of parts

4 – this season Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto. previously been heard with the Finnish Radio He has also been a guest soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony Orchestra as Tiresias in Stravinsky’s Choral Symphony with Oramo conducting at Oedipus Rex. the Konserthuset in Stockholm, and he has

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Th e Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FR- lius in the role of conductor. SO), the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting With Sakari Oramo the FRSO has record- Company (YLE), celebrated its 80th anniversa- ed music by Bartók, Hakola, Lindberg, Kaipai- ry in autumn 2007. Its Chief Conductor is Saka- nen, Kokkonen and others, and the debut disc ri Oramo, who assumed the post in 2003 after of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its nine years as its conductor. discs have won many prestigious distinctions, Th e Radio Orchestra of ten players founded such as Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine in 1927 grew to a full-size symphony orchestra awards. Its most recent honour, a MIDEM Clas- in the 1960s. Its chief conductors have been sical Award, was for the recording of the Lind- Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo berg and Sibelius Violin Concertos with Lisa Ba- Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam and Juk- tiashvili as the soloist in 2008. Another record- ka-Pekka Saraste. ing of Lindberg’s orchestral pieces was select- Contemporary music is a major item in the ed as the record of the year 2008 by the New repertoire of the FRSO, which each year pre- York Times. mieres a number of YLE commissions. All in all Th e FRSO has been on major tours all over the FRSO has so far premiered more than 500 the world and given nearly 300 concerts abroad. works. Its programme for the 2009/10 season It has visited Japan four times. During the features six world and many Finnish premieres. 2009/10 season it will be visiting St. Peters- Th e FRSO recordings now number over 100, burg, Benin, and Stockholm. on the Ondine and other labels. One historic All the FRSO concerts, both in and gem is the Andante festivo conducted by the abroad, can be heard on the FRSO’s home chan- composer, Jean Sibelius, at the Con- nel, YLE Radio 1. Th ey are usually broadcasted servatory (now the ) Hall. Th is live and can also be heard worldwide via the In- recording is the only known document of Sibe- ternet (www.yle.fi /rso).

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