Haydn Ligeti
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ANAM & ASTRA A GUEST CONCERT 8 pm Thursday 29 October, 2009 chamber and choral music haydn String Quartet Op. 20, No.2 in C major (1772) canons (1790-1800) choral songs (1796-1803) ligeti 6 Bagatelles for Wind Quintet (1953) Folksongs and canons (1946-56) Hölderlin Fantasies (1982) Choral Bagatelles arr. Julian Yu (1994) Musicians from the Academy Christina Katsimbardis (violin), Catherine Young (violin), Fiona Sargeant* guest faculty (viola), Alister Barker (cello) Agatha Yim (flute), Annabelle Badcock (oboe), Ashley Smith (clarinet), Rosemary Savage (horn) Greg Taylor (bassoon) The Astra Choir and soloists Kim Bastin (piano) conducted by John McCaughey Durations: 50’ – [interval 15’] – 40’ 1 haydn / ligeti – chamber / choral Josef Haydn’s music draws on many sources for its endlessly original style, but is also addressed to a diversity of ‘hearers’ – the new notion of a multiple audience in the late eighteenth century, as shown by the scholar Elaine Sisman. Alongside the connoisseurs, patrons and publishers who commissioned and disseminated the work, there is a special address to the musicians who will perform it. Haydn’s concertante writing invites them to be individual, interactive and playful, and thus to ‘communicate persuasively’ to audiences beyond the reach of the composer’s immediate vicinity of court or city. The further outreach of Haydn to modern audiences two centuries later is enriched by the interplay with György Ligeti (1923-2006), which runs through ANAM’s 2009 program. Hearing each composer’s work, as it were, through the ears of the other, raises the possibility of new experiences and perspectives, and of concerts as a place where truths are learned rather than merely confirmed. Haydn and Ligeti share some east European geography – Haydn working for much of his life at the Esterházy palace in Hungary, Ligeti growing up among the Hungarian Jewish community near Cluj in central Romania. The new and inventive styles that each of them explored in his own era bring together a variety of energies – combining abstract experiment, ‘learned’ older techniques and popular musical elements. And both relish the role of the performers themselves in conveying the spirit and theatre of their scores. The six Haydn Op.20 string quartets, which form a common thread in changing contexts over these two weeks of concerts, have been described as an explosive moment, when the 40-year old composer re-invented his style. Each movement is given an original form and presence, arising from a foreground interplay of instruments that can both expand and contract in dramatic fashion. A ceaseless variety of new shapes form within old ones, and break off to extend the material’s forward path. Opening with the melody in the cello, tonight’s C major quartet expands towards an over- brimming second theme in its first movement. The following Capriccio adagio is one of the original moments of the entire repertoire, a kind of operatic scene moving between choral and solo recitative around a central aria. The third Minuet movement grows out of the traditional musette drone, and in its Trio refers back to the operatic adagio. The multi- themed fugue of the finale looks back to Bach and forward to Mozart’s K.387, its final bars also revisiting the darker ‘choral octaves’ of the second movement. Surrounding the quartet, Ligeti’s choral pieces span from his early original treatments of traditional Hungarian songs and poems to the mature web-like style of his first two Hölderlin Fantasies – from three settings of the poet who was Haydn’s contemporary but only achieved a wider resonance in the early modernism of the twentieth century. Ligeti’s folk- based pieces of the 1940s and ‘50s were mostly premiered nearly a half-century later. Quite distinct from the traditional choral arrangements of Bartok or Janacek, they reveal ideas leading towards the later ‘avant-garde’ sound-textures and dense overlaid canons. In the second half of the concert, Ligeti’s chamber music is surrounded by short Haydn choral pieces. The Bagatelles for wind quintet exemplify Ligeti’s special blend of ‘abstract’ exploration of intervals with the wit and pathos of folk song and dance. Their history also shows the fluidity with which music moves between eras and audiences. Composed in [NOTES CONTINUED ON p.10…] 2 LIGETI HAYDN György Ligeti NIGHT – ÉJSZACA (1955) 8-part choir Josef Haydn STRING QUARTET Op.20 No.2 in C major (1772) I. Moderato Canon: A STREAM FLOWING (1947) solo sopranos THE FUGITIVE – BUJDOSO (1946) 3-part choir HÖLDERLIN FANTASY No.1 (1982) 16-part choir II. Capriccio: Adagio HORTOBÁGY, three folksongs (1952) 4-part choir III. Menuetto. Allegretto WEDDING SONG – LAKODALMAS (1950) 4-part choir HÖLDERLIN FANTASY No.2 (1982) 16-part choir IV. Fugue on 4 subjects. Allegro MORNING – REGGEL (1955) 8-part choir I N T E R V A L Josef Haydn Canon 41: QUESTION & ANSWER OF TWO COACH DRIVERS 5 male voices Julian Yu, LIGETI BAGATELLE 1 arranged for choir Choral Song: IN THE FACE OF DEATH 3-part choir and piano György Ligeti SIX BAGATELLES FOR WIND QUINTET (1953) 1. Allegro con spirito 2. Rubato. Lamentoso Canon 23: THE WICKED WIFE Julian Yu, LIGETI BAGATELLE 2 arranged for choir, text by Ma Zhi Yuan Choral Song: HARMONY IN MARRIAGE 4-part choir and piano 3. Allegro grazioso 4. Presto ruvido Choral Song: TO MY COUSIN Julian Yu, LIGETI BAGATELLE 4 arranged for choir Choral Song: ELOQUENCE 5. Adagio. Mesto (in memoriam Béla Bartók) 6. Molto vivace. Capriccioso Canon 15: NOTHING COMES OF NOTHING Choral Song: EVENING SONG TO GOD choir with wind quintet and piano 3 György Ligeti ÈJSZAKA / NIGHT (1955) 8-part choir Rengeteg tövis: csönd! Forests of thorns: still! Én csöndem szívem dobogása ... My stillness is the beating of my heart … Éjszaka. Night. – Sándor Weöres Josef Haydn STRING QUARTET Op.20 No.2 (1772) I. Moderato Ligeti Canon: HA FOLYÓVÍZ VOLNÉK / A STREAM FLOWING (1947) solo sopranos Ha folyóvíz volnék If I were a flowing stream bánatot nem tudnék. I would know no sorrow. Hegyek közt, völgyek közt Amid mountains and valleys szép csendesen folynék, I would quietly flow, bánatot, haj, nem tudnék. sorrow, ah, I would never know. – Slovakian folk-poem BUJDOSÓ / THE FUGITIVE (1946) 3-part choir Fölkelt már a csillag Lengyelország felé, The stars have risen over Poland. Magam is elmegyek, babám, arra felé. That’s the way I’m going too, my love. Megvetették nekem már rég a megfogó hálót, Long ago they cast a net to catch me, Megfogtak engemet mint egy utonállót. They have caught me like a bandit. Lám, megmondtam, rózsám, ne szeress engemet, Didn’t I tell you, my rose, not to love me, mert Somogy vármegye hajszoltat engemet; for the county of Somogy was after me. A tömlöc feneke az én vetett ágyam, The dungeon floor is now my bed, annak a teteje takaró vánkosom. its ceiling my cover and pillow. – Hungarian folk-poem FANTASY 1 after Friedrich Hölderlin (1982) 16-part choir 1. Hälfte des Lebens 1. Half of Life Mit gelben Birnen hänget With yellow pears cascading Und voll mit wilden Rosen And full with wild roses Das Land in den See, The land hangs into the lake, Ihr holden Schwäne, You lovely swans, Und trunken von Küssen… And drunken with kisses… Weh mir, wo nehm ich, wenn Woe to me, where shall I find, when Es Winter ist, die Blumen, und wo It is winter, the flowers, and where Den Sonnenschein, The sunshine, Und Schatten der Erde? And shadows of the earth? Die Mauern stehn The walls stand Sprachlos und kalt, im Winde Speechless and cold, in the wind Klirren die Fahnen. Clatter the weather vanes. – Friedrich Hölderlin, from Poems 1800-04 4 Haydn STRING QUARTET Op.20 No.2 II. Capriccio: Adagio Ligeti HORTOBÁGY, three Hungarian folksongs (1952) 4-part choir [1] Kiszáradt a tóbúl mind a sár, mind a víz, The lake is dry of water and mud, a szegín barom is csak a pásztorra níz: the poor cattle just gaze at the herdsman: Istenem, teremtöm, adj egy csendes esöt, God my Creator, let a gentle rain fall, A szegín jószágnak jó legelö mezöt, provide rich pasture for the poor beasts, a szegín bojtárnak hü, igaz szeretót. and a true sweetheart for the poor herd boy. Esik esö, esik, a ovam kinn ázik, It’s raining, raining, my horse gets drenched, sallangos kantárja hej, de nagyon ázik! his fringed bridle is so wet! Esik esö, esik, nem lehet elbúni: It’s raining, raining, there’s nowhere to shelter: Ezt a szilaj mínest szélnek kell fordÌtni. This wild stallion must be turned to the wind. És a hideg esö, rakáson a gulya, In the cold rain the herd huddles together, rí a veres bornyú, bög az ídesanyja. the red calf bleats, its mother lows. Sér a veres bornyú, bög az ídesanyja. The red calf cries, its mother lows, Bort iszik a gulyás számadó bojtárja. the herdsman’s boy drinks his wine. [2] Még azt mondják, nincs asztalom, székem. They say I have no table and no chair Hercegnének nincs olyan, mint nékem. yet the duchess has not what I possess. Mindenem van, amire szükségem. I have everything I need, Van egíssÌg, ahhoz elesígem. I have my health, I’ve food to eat as well. Magamban is helyín van a lílek, My heart sits well inside me, e világon senkitül se félek. There’s no-one in the world I fear. Megeszem a jó heti kenyeret. I get my good weekly bake of bread, FözelÌket, szalonnát eleget. and greens and bacon in plenty. Ha látom a fergeteg idejit, If I see a storm on the way, begyüröm a süvegem tetejit.