London Orchestra Living Music

Friday 6 November 2015 7.30pm Barbican Hall

WYNTON MARSALIS WORLD PREMIERE

Bernstein Prelude, Fugue and Riffs Wynton Marsalis Concerto in D (world premiere) London’s Symphony Orchestra INTERVAL Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements Bernstein Chichester

James Gaffigan conductor Nicola Benedetti violin Ben Hill boy treble London Symphony Chorus chorus director

Concert finishes approx 9.50pm 2 Welcome 6 November 2015

Welcome Living Music Kathryn McDowell In Brief

Welcome to tonight’s LSO concert at the Barbican. APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR THE 2016 We are delighted to welcome back American PANUFNIK COMPOSERS SCHEME conductor James Gaffigan, following his debut performance with the Orchestra in 2014, for a The LSO Panufnik Composers Scheme is an exciting programme of works by Bernstein, Wynton Marsalis initiative offering six emerging composers each year and Stravinsky. the opportunity to write for and work with a world- class symphony orchestra. It has been devised by The concert opens with Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue the Orchestra in association with Lady Panufnik in and Riffs for jazz combo and clarinet, in which the memory of her late husband, the composer Sir Andrzej Orchestra’s Principal Clarinet Chris Richards is Panufnik, and is generously supported by the Helen featured. This is followed by the world premiere Hamlyn Trust. of a new Violin Concerto by America’s pre-eminent jazz musician, Wynton Marsalis. Concerto in D was We are now accepting applications for the 2016 composed in close collaboration with violinist scheme. The programme begins in February 2016 Nicola Benedetti – also a great friend of the LSO’s – and culminates with a public workshop in April 2017. and we are delighted that she will give the world For more details on the scheme and how to apply, premiere performance with the Orchestra this evening. please visit the LSO website.

After the interval the Orchestra will be joined by the lso.co.uk/composing London Symphony Chorus to perform Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, their first concert with the LSO this season. The Orchestra and Chorus gave their A WARM WELCOME TO TONIGHT’S GROUPS first performance of the Chichester Psalms in 1986 under the baton of the composer himself. The LSO offers great benefits for groups of 10+ including 20% discount on standard tickets. I hope that you enjoy tonight’s concert and can At tonight’s concert, we are delighted to welcome: join us again soon. The LSO returns to the Barbican St Paul’s School on Thursday 12 November with Nikolaj Znaider, who King Edward VI Grammar School conducts works by Strauss alongside Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. lso.co.uk/groups

Kathryn McDowell CBE DL Managing Director lso.co.uk Programme Notes 3

Leonard Bernstein (1918–90) Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (1949) London Symphony Orchestra

CHRIS RICHARDS CLARINET LSO SECTIONS UP CLOSE Bernstein was not a natural improvising jazzman – however, composing ‘written-out’ jazz was no problem. Writing fluently for clarinet solo and jazz PROGRAMME NOTE AUTHOR combo, he set down Prelude, Fugue and Riffs in GUTMAN has written November 1949, conceiving it as an American four books on subjects ranging riposte to Stravinsky’s Ebony Concerto. And yet from Prokofiev to Lennon, and is a the jazz musician Woody Herman, who had also regular contributor to Gramophone, commissioned the Stravinsky, appears not even to International Record Review and have acknowledged receipt of Bernstein’s score, The Stage. his own career in disarray. Its ‘real’ premiere did not take place until October 1955 with the new A series of concerts showcasing the virtuosity soloist and dedicatee Benny Goodman, presented and musicianship of the LSO’s players in the context of one of Bernstein’s celebrated TV programmes, his second Omnibus show, an LSO BRASS ENSEMBLE BENNY GOODMAN (1909–86) enquiry into the nature of jazz. Seemingly destined Thu 26 Nov 2015 7.30pm, Barbican was an American jazz and swing to remain a pièce d’occasion, it has instead become bandleader and one of the most increasingly familiar in recent years. The heroes of the LSO brass section take influential clarinet players of the centre stage in an evening of rousing fanfares, 20th century. His early career As the title promises, the music integrates classical original works and new arrangements for established jazz and swing music forms and contrapuntal structures with jazz/swing ten-piece brass ensemble. Featuring works by as popular forms and his band was melodies and rhythms, doing so with such Brahms, Bach, Grieg and Gershwin and the the first jazz ensemble to perform in naturalness that it sounds sometimes as though the world premiere performance of a new piece New York’s Carnegie Hall. Later on players are improvising. In fact, only at the very end by LSO Soundhub scheme alumnus Ayanna in his career he began to focus on is there some flexibility – the performers themselves Witter-Johnson. refining a classical technique and decide when the piece should actually stop! used his considerable influence to LSO STRING ENSEMBLE commission works from many of The Prelude is launched on trumpets and Wed 3 Feb 2016 7.30pm, Barbican the century’s leading composers , the Fugue on saxophones, the Riffs by The string players of the LSO, led by director including Copland, Bartók, Hindemith, the solo clarinet and piano. What remains is a kind and LSO Leader Roman Simovic, will perform Arnold and Milhaud. of all-embracing, wild yet structured, written out jam a programme featuring music by three of this session that seldom fails to bring the house down. country’s best-loved composers – Elgar, Shamelessly eclectic as it is, ‘trying everything’ as Vaughan Williams and Britten it does – including what sounds like a visit to a strip club – Bernstein’s idiom is unmistakably his own. 020 7638 8891 lso.co.uk 4 Programme Notes 6 November 2015

Wynton Marsalis (b 1961) Concerto in D (2015)

1 RHAPSODY Nicola Benedetti is someone he has known a long 2 RONDO BURLESQUE time, and he sees similarities in her career and his 3 BLUES own, outside music as well, sharing similar social 4 HOOTENANNY and educational concerns. He also believes that even her celebrated recording catalogue does not really NICOLA BENEDETTI VIOLIN do justice to her abilities and depth as an artist. By contrast, she responded to his first drafts for Few musicians have excelled so prominently in the this concerto by telling him it was too easy, and fields of jazz and classical music as Wynton Marsalis, she needed to be challenged further. The result is a piece that pushes her violin technique to the limit. with Grammy awards to his credit for recordings in both genres. ‘It has been a very collaborative and incredible process.’ As a composer he has not been shy of stretching PROGRAMME NOTE AUTHOR himself, writing his extended jazz oratorio, Blood on Nicola Benedetti ALYN SHIPTON is author of A New the Fields, in 1994 (which went on to win the Pulitzer History of Jazz and presenter of Jazz Prize three years later), and more recently composing Most of Marsalis’ compositions have an underlying Record Requests for BBC Radio 3. his Blues Symphony (premiered in Atlanta in 2009) story, and this is no exception, with a narrative that and the Abyssinian (given its first European unfolds across the work’s four movements as follows: performance here at the Barbican in 2012). FIRST MOVEMENT His life is something of a miracle of time management, Movement 1, ‘Rhapsody’, concerns sleep. It starts as he leads the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra with a lullaby catching the following moods: sweet, (currently on a 14-concert tour of the Eastern angsty, nurturing, humble, sensual, sanctified and seaboard of the United States), is artistic director of angelic. There follows a nightmare, which is by turns the entire programme for Jazz At Lincoln Center in anxious, introspective, fearful and courageous, New York, and also manages to lead his own jazz before finally retreating into the mind. Then comes septet (they’re appearing in Philadelphia next week). peace, in music that Wynton sees as high-minded, Consequently, finding space in his schedule to wise, deep and serene. From peace, the movement compose – particularly sizeable works – is not easy. turns to recollection, which is sweet, wistful, ‘It takes so much time to write something like this optimistic and pure. The final section he describes concerto that I really have to want to write it. Most as ‘gleaming’, with moments that are whimsical, of the time it’s for specific people. I pick out the ones playful, dancing, syncopated, energetic and childlike, that I write for. I don’t have any other reason to do it like a harlequin or griot. but for them. I work on it until it’s something I think that is deserving of them, and I don’t mind changing it, as I go, because I’m doing it for them.’ lso.co.uk Programme Notes 5

NICOLA BENEDETTI: SECOND MOVEMENT And from courtship we find ourselves in church, COLLABORATING WITH Movement 2, ‘Rondo Burlesque’, brings us wide full of congregational call and response, which builds WYNTON MARSALIS awake. It starts with a section marked ‘animato’, quite freely until we reach the sermon: a fiery one and moves through phases that are virtuosic and that is exhorting, shouting, hollering, repetitive, and ’Wynton and I have known each fiery, precise, complex and unapologetic. This takes finally introspective. As the sermon ends, we hear other for over eleven years. us to a depiction of the circus, violin and orchestra the big collective sigh, combining all the feelings We first met at the Academy of sharing music that is acrobatic, mocking, mimicking, it has aroused: wistfulness, loss, cleansing grief, Achievements Summit in New ironic, fanciful, at times becoming a parody. The final ascendance, transcendence and acceptance. York. I attended some of his section titled ‘giocoso’ swaggers through a post- performances and we struck up circus celebration that is raucous, drunken, noisy, FOURTH MOVEMENT a friendship. Ever since, he has playful; rambunctious, and ultimately unruly. Movement 4, ‘Hootenanny’, follows the courtship offered me lots of advice and and the service with a celebration. It runs through a become a bit of a mentor. We had ‘It’s been rewarding for me to number of textures that Wynton says were exciting discussed Wynton writing a piece work with Nicola, and she’s taught to explore, bringing ideas from his big band work to for me on and off for the last five the timbres and tones of the symphony orchestra. years. For a long time it was going me a lot. It’s interesting when you So we begin with a reel shared between solo violin to be just for solo violin, but then work with somebody who is a and the strings that’s exuberant, gritty, rough, he decided he wanted to write grooving, dancing and wild, with barely controlled for orchestra again. lot younger, and you are teaching violence. This is followed by a calm, pastoral chorale them and telling them things, that ushers in a spiritual: it’s African, persistent, The process has been much more inevitable, songlike, repetitive and optimistic. It involved than I ever imagined. and then you get older and they prepares the ground for the final ancestral dance, Wynton is based in New York and tell you things!’ which in Wynton’s words is raucous, stomping, I am based in London, although mirthful, dancing, wistful, playful, parading and of course we are both travelling a Wynton Marsalis finally whimsical. lot of the time for performances. We spent many hours discussing THIRD MOVEMENT the minutiae of violin technique, Movement 3, ‘Blues’, picks up on ideas of relationships the structure of the work and the explored in earlier Marsalis works such as his album meaning behind each theme over He and She. It begins with flirtation, juxtaposing phone calls and audio clips. It has seriousness and playfulness, with quick changes INTERVAL – 20 minutes been a very collaborative and from introspection to sensuality, to holiness, to There are bars on all levels of the Concert Hall; ice cream incredible process.’ transcendence, repose, pastoral lyricism and finally can be bought at the stands on Stalls and Circle level. courtship. Here, as the pizzicato violin and ‘wa-wa’ brass exchange phrases with the woodwind, we Why not tweet us your thoughts on the first half of the hear ‘yes but no … no but yes’, a somewhat performance @londonsymphony, or come and talk to halting conversation. LSO staff at the Information Point on the Circle level? 6 Composer Profiles 6 November 2015

Leonard Bernstein Wynton Marsalis Composer Profile Composer Profile

A gifted scholar, Bernstein took Wynton Marsalis is an acclaimed his first piano lessons at the age musician, composer, bandleader of ten and continued to study and educator, and a leading the instrument when he enrolled advocate of American culture. at Harvard University in 1935. By creating and performing an From 1939 to 1941 he pursued expansive range of brilliant new graduate studies at the Curtis music for quartets to big bands, Institute, emerging as a star pupil chamber music ensembles to in Fritz Reiner’s conducting class. symphony orchestras and tap Bernstein made front-page news dance to ballet, Marsalis has on 13 November 1943 when expanded the vocabulary for jazz he deputised for Bruno Walter and created a vital body of work as conductor of the New York that places him among the world’s Philharmonic, achieving instant finest musicians and composers. critical success and breaking the mould by being the first person ever to give a public performance with Wynton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on 18 October 1961. that orchestra wearing a grey lounge suit. His progress as a conductor He began his classical training on trumpet at age 12 and by age 17 he was rapid, and in 1958 he was appointed Music Director and Chief entered The Juilliard School. Soon after, he joined Art Blakey and the Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. In the same year he launched Jazz Messengers. Marsalis made his recording debut as a leader in a series of televised children’s concerts. Bernstein was also active as 1982 and has since made more than 80 jazz and classical recordings a writer and regular broadcaster, although he managed to find time to create a large output of works. Wynton Marsalis is also a prolific and inventive composer. He collaborated with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society in 1995 Since his death, the music of Leonard Bernstein has been subjected to to compose his first string quartet At The Octoroon Balls. In his Pulitzer close scrutiny under the musicologist’s microscope. Although opinions Prize winning oratorio Blood On The Fields, Marsalis invented a fresh on his posthumous reputation are divided, it could be reasonably conception for extended form compositions. In December 1999 argued that his work as a composer, performer and educator have Marsalis extended his achievements with All Rise, an epic composition had a greater influence on current trends in contemporary music than, for big band, gospel , and symphony orchestra – a classic work of for example, the avant-garde compositions of Stockhausen or Boulez. high art – which was performed by the New York Philharmonic under Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bernstein kept faith with the the baton of Kurt Masur along with the Morgan State University Choir aesthetic ideals and artistic concerns of composers from an earlier and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra age, reaching audiences with powerful, often dramatic scores and crafting memorable, heart-on-sleeve melodies. Essentially, he posed In the autumn of 2009 the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra premiered music that was approachable without being banal, sentimental without Marsalis’ composition Blues Symphony. By infusing blues and ragtime being mawkish. Above all, he knew how to write a good tune. rhythms with symphonic orchestrations, Marsalis broadened the scope of classical repertoire. Employing complex layers of collective improvisation, Marsalis further expanded his repertoire for symphony orchestra with Swing Symphony, premiered by the Berlin Philharmonic in June 2010. lso.co.uk Programme Notes 7

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) Symphony in Three Movements (1942–45)

1 CROTCHET = 160 THE MUSIC 2 ANDANTE – PIÙ MOSSO – TEMPO 1 In the first movement, the ’rumba’ played by the 3 CON MOTO ’associated in my imagination with the movements of war machines’, Stravinsky told Robert PROGRAMME NOTE AUTHOR ’The more characteristic a work of Stravinsky, the Craft. The spiky shuffling of piano and strings yield DAVID NICE further it is from the symphonic idea’, wrote Robert to brighter, more lightly scored sequences, but the Simpson in the long-superseded Pelican Guide to ’war’ element gains the upper hand in insistent the Symphony. Although Simpson may have been semiquaver figures for clarinet, piano and strings. rather prescriptive in admitting the Symphony in These in turn lead to full-orchestral explosions which Three Movements into the canon of 20th-century Stravinsky described as ’instrumental conversations STRAVINSKY on LSO LIVE , he certainly admired this ’brilliant and showing the Chinese people scratching and digging original work’, and he was right in the sense that in their fields’ before being overrun by scorched- Stravinsky the young Stravinsky’s attempt to write a well-made earth tactics. The writing for woodwind that Symphony symphony under the guidance of his teacher Rimsky- follows is surely a , although thanks to the in Three Korsakov (the E-flat specimen of 1905–07, his official movement’s uniform tempo, tension never slackens. Movements Op 1) has no individuality at all, while the Symphony £6.39 in Three Movements is an utterly characteristic Bernadette’s vision, a cantabile flute melody offset lsolive.lso.co.uk and dynamic masterpiece of his maturity. by strings and harp, brings a change of air, though there is disquiet in this Andante’s middle section, conductor The hybrid origins of tonight’s work did, in fact, cause as well as eloquent writing for string quartet. The Stravinsky to wonder whether he ought not to have brass, silent except for horns here, goose-steps ‘There is much to enjoy here, not called the result ’Three Symphonic Movements’. into action near the start of the third movement – least an orchestra that is at the The first movement material, composed in 1942, an image of military force as graphic as anything in very top of its game under its was originally intended as a dark, tense concerto the later symphonies of Prokofiev and Shostakovich. charismatic conductor.’ for orchestra with a role for the piano employed Stravinsky was unequivocal on the imagery of International Record Review (UK) ’concertante’ style. The piano then bowed out to German arrogance, overturned and immobile in the harp in what became the second movement – fugue launched by and piano before the sketches for Stravinsky’s unlikely (and swiftly Allies fight against the first movement’s ’rumba’ terminated) contribution to Franz Werfel’s film The figure and move on to victory. Song of Bernadette. The finale was completed some time later, before the New York premiere of 1946. The composer’s disingenuous claim, ’in spite of what I have said, the Symphony is not programmatic’, What unites the Symphony in Three Movements is is best interpreted by noting that the description the powering rhythmic intensity which holds the does not account for some of the surprisingly sectional structure together. It is the most insistent good-humoured invention along the way. It is, since The Rite of Spring over 30 years earlier and it then, a symphony with war footage, but nothing as has its roots in Stravinsky’s response to newsreel straightforward as a ’war symphony’. images of World War II which, in an unguarded moment, he specifically attached to certain sections. 8 Programme Notes 6 November 2015

Igor Stravinsky Composer Profile London Symphony Orchestra

The son of the Principal Bass at the Mariinsky WORLD PREMIERES Theatre, Stravinsky was born at the Baltic resort of Oranienbaum near St Petersburg in 1882. Through WITH THE LSO his father he met many of the leading musicians of the day and came into contact with the world of the musical theatre. In 1903 he became a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov, which allowed him to get his orchestral works performed and as a result he came to the attention of Sergei Diaghilev, who commissioned a new ballet from him, The Firebird.

The success of The Firebird, and then Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913) confirmed his status as a leading young composer. Stravinsky now Three more world premiere performances spent most of his time in Switzerland and France, but with the LSO this season continued to compose for Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes: Pulcinella (1920), Mavra (1922), Renard LSO FUTURES CHAMBER CONCERT Sun 13 Mar 2016 4pm, LSO St Luke’s COMPOSER PROFILE WRITER (1922), Les Noces (1923), Oedipus Rex (1927) and ANDREW STEWART Apollo (1928). The world premiere of LSO Soundhub scheme alumnus Darren Bloom’s immersive work for chamber orchestra, Dr Glaser’s Experiment, Stravinsky settled in France in 1920, eventually featuring live visuals and atmospheric light design. becoming a French citizen in 1934, and during this Commission generously supported by the PRS for period moved away from his Russianism towards Music Foundation and the Britten-Pears Foundation a new ‘neo-Classical’ style. Personal tragedy in the form of his daughter, wife and mother all dying LSO FUTURES SYMPHONIC CONCERT Sun 13 Mar 2016 7pm, Barbican within eight months of each other, and the onset of Panufnik scheme alumnus Elizabeth Ogonek’s World War II, persuaded Stravinsky to move to the work for orchestra Sleep & Unremembrance receives US in 1939, where he lived until his death. From the its first performance alongside 20th-century 1950s, his compositional style again changed, this masterworks by Berio and Ligeti. time in favour of a form of serialism. He continued Generously supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust to take on an exhausting schedule of conducting engagements until 1967, and died in New York in THE HOGBOON Sun 26 Jun 2016 7pm, Barbican 1971. He was buried in Venice on the island of San Iconic British composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Michele, close to the grave of Diaghilev. new children’s opera The Hogboon will be performed for the first time under the baton of Sir . 020 7638 8891 lso.co.uk lso.co.uk Programme Notes 9

Leonard Bernstein Chichester Psalms (1965)

BEN HILL BOY TREBLE The second movement is a setting of , LONDON SYMPHONY CHORUS ‘The Lord is my shepherd’. Much of this movement SIMON HALSEY CHORUS DIRECTOR is serene and pastoral in tone, with a treble soloist representing the boy David (in material originally PROGRAMME NOTE AUTHOR Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms were commissioned intended for an unrealised musical based on WENDY THOMPSON for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival by the Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth). But this Having studied at the Royal College then organist of Chichester Cathedral, , tranquillity is shattered by the menacing undertone of Music, Wendy Thompson took and the dean, Walter Hussey. The work was first of men’s voices singing words from , ‘Why an MMus in musicology at King’s performed in the Philharmonic Hall, New York, on do the heathen so furiously rage together?’. The College, London. In addition to 15 July 1965, with Bernstein conducting, followed soprano voices are directed to continue singing writing about music she is Executive by the British premiere at Chichester a fortnight later. ‘blissfully unaware of threat’, and David’s voice Director of Classic Arts Productions, It is scored for a boy-treble soloist, solo quartet reasserts his faith: ‘Surely goodness and mercy a major supplier of independent of voices, choir, and an orchestra of trumpets, shall follow me all the days of my life, And I will programmes to BBC Radio. trombones, timpani, percussion, two harps and dwell in the house of the Lord forever’. strings. The text consists of excerpts from the Psalms sung in Hebrew, arranged in three movements, and After a busy instrumental prelude, the last movement THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH the piece – although commissioned for an Anglican sets four verses of (‘Lord, I am not high- Much of the music in Chichester cathedral – is one of Bernstein’s most Jewish works. minded: I have no proud looks’), set as a gently Psalms is recycled from a terminated swaying chorale. Finally the motifs from the opening theatre work based on Thornton The first movement is a festive song of praise. It of the work return to close it as the choir quotes Wilder’s play The Skin of Our Teeth, begins with a verse from Psalm 108, ‘Awake thou the first verse of , and after the words ‘for which Bernstein had been working lute and harp; I myself will awake right early’; brethren to dwell together in unity, Amen’, voices and on during his year-long sabbatical followed by (Jubilate Deo), ‘O be joyful in instruments coalesce gently on a single unison note. from conducting duties from the the Lord, all ye lands: serve the Lord with gladness, New York Philharmonic Orchestra. and come before his presence with a song’. This Bernstein’s biographer Humphrey movement is dominated by the dissonant interval BERNSTEIN ON HIS CHICHESTER PSALMS Burton has demonstrated that the of a 7th, and is written in 7/4 metre – the number For hours on end I brooded and mused. choice of specific Psalms and verses seven being particularly significant in Judeo-Christian On materiae musicae, used and abused; in Chichester Psalms was informed tradition. The presence of perfect fourths and fifths On aspects of unconventionality, by their potential adaptability to the in the harmony may suggest the tuning of ‘lute and Over the death in our time of tonality … rhythm and cadence of music that harp’ strings. The soprano and alto parts make much Pieces for nattering, clucking sopranos Bernstein had already written for of a recurring motif consisting of a falling fourth, With squadrons of vibraphones, fleets of pianos The Skin of Our Teeth. ascending minor seventh, and falling fifth – a motif Played with the forearms, the fists and the palms – which reappears at the end of the movement at the And then I came up with the Chichester Psalms. words ‘The Lord is good’, in the prelude to the third … My youngest child, old-fashioned and sweet. movement, and again in the soprano part of the final And he stands on his own two tonal feet. unaccompanied vocal section of the last movement, at the words ‘Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity’. 10 Texts 6 November 2015

Leonard Bernstein Chichester Psalms: Texts

Movement 1

Urah, hanevel, v’chinor! Awake, psaltery and harp: A-irah shahar! I will rouse the dawn!

Hariu l’Adonai kol haarets. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Iv’du et Adonai b’simcha. Serve the Lord with gladness. Bo-u l’fanav bir’nanah. Come before His presence with singing. D’u ki Adonai Hu Elohim. Know ye that the Lord, He is God. Hu asanu, v’lo anahnu. It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. Amo v’tson mar’ito. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Bo-u sh’arav b’todah, Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, Hatseirotav bit’hilah, and into His courts with praise. Hodu lo, bar’chu sh’mo. Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. Ki tov Adonai, l’olam has’do, For the Lord Is good, His mercy is everlasting, V’ad dor vador emunato. and His truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 108: 2; Psalm 100

Movement 2

Adonai ro-i, lo ehsar. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Bin’ot deshe yarbitseini, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: Al mei m’nuhot y’nahaleini, He leadeth me beside the still waters. Naf’shi y’shovev, He restoreth my soul: Yan’heini b’ma’aglei tsedek, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, L’ma’an sh’mo. for His name’s sake. Gam ki eilech Yea, though I walk B’gei tsalmavet, through the valley of the shadow of death, Lo ira ra, I will fear no evil; Ki Atah imadi. for Thou art with me; Shiv’t’cha umishan’techa Thy rod and Thy staff Hemah y’nahamuni. they comfort me. Psalm 23: 1–4

Lamah rag’shu goyim Why do the nations rage, Ul’umim yeh’gu rik? And the people imagine a vain thing? Yit’yats’vu malchei erets, The kings of the earth set themselves, V’roznim nos’du yahad and the rulers take counsel together, lso.co.uk Texts 11

Al Adonai v’al m’shiho. against the Lord and against His anointed, N’natkah et mos’roteimo, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, V’nashlichah mimenu avoteimo. and cast away their cords from us. Yoshev bashamayim He that sitteth in the heavens Yis’hak, Adonai shall laugh, and the Lord Yil’ag lamo! shall have them in derision! Psalm 2: 1–4

Ta’aroch l’fanai shulchan Thou preparest a table before me Neged tsor’rai in the presence of mine enemies: Dishanta vashemen roshi Thou anointest my head with oil; Cosi r’vayah. my cup runneth over. Ach tov vahesed Surely goodness and mercy Yird’funi kol y’mei hayai, shall follow me all the days of my life, V’shav’ti b’veit Adonai and I will dwell in the house of the Lord L’orech yamim. Forever. Psalm 23: 5–6

Movement 3

Adonai, Adonai, Lord, Lord, Lo gavah libi, my heart is not haughty, V’lo ramu einai, nor mine eyes lofty: V’lo hilachti neither do I exercise myself Big’dolot uv’niflaot in great matters, or in things Mimeni. too high for me. Im lo shiviti Surely I have behaved V’domam’ti, and quieted myself, Naf’shi k’gamul alei imo, as a child that is weaned of his mother: Kagamul alai naf’shi. my soul is even as a weaned child. Yahel Yis’rael el Adonai Let Israel hope in the Lord, Me’atah v’ad olam. from henceforth and for ever. Psalm 131

Hineh mah tov, Behold, how good Umah nayim, and how pleasant it is Shevet ahim for brethren to dwell Gam yahad. together in unity. Psalm 133: 1 12 Artist Biographies 6 November 2015

James Gaffigan ‘His conducting style is direct and communicative. Conductor He likes to whip up excitement, and he does it well.’ The LA Times

Hailed for the natural ease of his conducting and Glyndebourne Festival – in 2012, he conducted the compelling insight of his musicianship, James a production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola at Gaffigan continues to attract international attention Glyndebourne and returned for performances of and is one of the most outstanding American Verdi’s during the summer of 2013. In the conductors working today. He is currently the Chief 2014/15 season he conducted the Hamburg Opera Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, and with performances of Strauss’ Salome and the Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Norwegian Opera with a new production of Verdi’s Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also appointed the La Traviata. He made his opera debut at the Zurich first Principal Guest Conductor of the Gürzenich Opera in 2005 conducting Puccini’s La Bohème. Orchestra, Cologne in September 2013, a position that was created for him. Highlights of the 2015/16 season include debuts with the New York Philharmonic (Don Giovanni) In addition to these titled positions, James Gaffigan is at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich. Gaffigan in high demand working with leading orchestras and will also return to the Munich and Los Angeles opera houses throughout Europe, the US and Asia. Philharmonics, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre In recent seasons, Gaffigan’s guest engagements National de France, and the Vienna Staatsoper Chief Conductor have included the Munich, London, Dresden, to conduct Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Lucerne Symphony Orchestra Oslo, Czech and Rotterdam Philharmonics, Vienna Symphoniker, Dresden Staatskapelle, Deutsches Born in New York City in 1979, Gaffigan has degrees Principal Guest Conductor Symphonie Orchester (Berlin), Konzerthaus Berlin, from both the New England Conservatory of Music Netherlands Radio Philharmonic RSO Berlin, Orchestre de Paris, Zurich Tonhalle, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University Orchestra London, BBC, Gothenburg, Bournemouth and City in Houston. He also studied at the American of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, Principal Guest Conductor of the Age of Enlightenment, Leipzig and Stuttgart and was a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Gürzenich Orchestra, Cologne Radio Orchestras, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Music Center. and Sydney Symphony. In the States, he has worked with the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, San In 2009, Gaffigan completed a three-year tenure as Francisco and Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago, Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony St Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Dallas, in a position specially created for him. Prior to that Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and National appointment, he was the Assistant Conductor of Symphony Orchestras and the St Paul Chamber the Cleveland Orchestra where he worked under Orchestra among others. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst from 2003 through 2006. James was also named a first prize winner at As an opera conductor, James Gaffigan made the 2004 Sir International Conducting his Vienna State Opera debut in 2011/12 with Competition. He lives in Lucerne with his wife Lee Puccini’s La Bohème and was immediately invited and their two children Sofia and Liam. back to conduct Mozart’s Don Giovanni during the 2012/13 season. Gaffigan continues his relationship with both the Vienna State Opera and the lso.co.uk Artist Biographies 13

Nicola Benedetti ‘The timing and dynamic contour of every phrase Violin is created with utter confidence.’ Bachtrack

Nicola Benedetti is one of the most sought after partnered with Venezuela’s El Sistema (Fundación violinists of her generation. Her ability to captivate Musical Simón Bolívar). As a board member and audiences with her innate musicianship and dynamic teacher, Nicola embraces her position of role model presence, coupled with her wide appeal as a high- to encourage young people to take up music and profile advocate for classical music, has made her work hard at it, and she continues to spread this one of the most influential classical artists of today. message in school visits and masterclasses, not only in Scotland, but all around the world. With concerto performances at the heart of her career, Nicola is in much demand with major Winner of Best Female Artist at both 2012 and 2013 orchestras and conductors across the globe. Most Classical BRIT Awards, Nicola records exclusively recently Nicola enjoyed collaborations with the LSO, for Decca (Universal Music). The enormous success London Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Mariinsky of Nicola’s most recent recording, Homecoming: A Theatre, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, WDR Cologne, Scottish Fantasy, made Nicola the first solo British Camerata Salzburg, Danish National Symphony violinist since the 1990s to enter the Top 20 of the Orchestra, La Cetra Barockorchester, Czech Official UK Albums Chart. The Silver Violin also Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, enjoyed a similar success in reaching No 30 in the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Capitole UK Albums Chart, simultaneously to topping the du Toulouse, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta classical charts. Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. Nicola was appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Conductors with whom Nicola has worked and will , in recognition of her work include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek, international music career and work with musical Stéphane Denève, Christoph Eschenbach, James charities throughout the UK. In addition, Nicola has Gaffigan, Hans Graf, Valery Gergiev, Alan Gilbert, received eight honorary degrees to date. Jakub Hru˚sˇa, Kirill Karabits, Louis Langrée, Andrew Litton, Kristjan Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Born in Scotland of Italian heritage, Nicola began Vladimir Jurowski, Cristian Ma˘celaru, Andrea Marcon, violin lessons at the age of five with Brenda Smith. Sir Neville Marriner, Diego Matheuz, Peter Oundjian, In 1997, she entered the School, Vasily Petrenko, Donald Runnicles, Thomas Sønderga˚rd, where she studied with Natasha Boyarskaya. Upon Yan Pascal Tortelier, Krzysztof Urbanski, Juraj Valcˇuha, leaving, she continued her studies with Maciej Pinchas Zukerman and Jaap van Zweden. Rakowski and then Pavel Vernikov, and continues to work with multiple acclaimed teachers and Fiercely committed to music education and to performers. developing young talent, Nicola has formed associations with education establishments including Nicola plays the Gariel Stradivarius (1717), courtesy schools, music colleges and local authorities. In 2010, of Jonathan Moulds CBE. she became Sistema Scotland’s official musical ‘Big Sister’ for the Big Noise project, a music initiative 14 Artist Biographies 6 November 2015

Ben Hill Simon Halsey Treble Choral Director

13-year-old Ben Hill is a Music Simon Halsey is a sought-after Scholar at Trinity School, Croydon, conductor of choral repertoire and a senior member of Trinity at the very highest level and an Boys Choir. He has performed in ambassador for choral singing operas at the Royal Opera House across the world. Halsey is and most recently in the Aix-en- the Chorus Director of the Provence Festival where he sang City of Birmingham Symphony the role of ‘Cobweb’ in Britten’s Orchestra Choruses, and the A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Choral Director of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. He has sung on the soundtracks He is also Conductor Laureate of various films, including of the Rundfunkchor Berlin, the Maleficent (as a named soloist), permanent partner of the Berliner The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Philharmoniker, where he has been and San Andreas. TV appearances Principal Conductor for 14 years. include Handel’s Messiah at the Foundling Hospital with the Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh Since becoming Choral Director of the London Symphony Orchestra for BBC 2. Ben has appeared in two BBC Proms concerts with Trinity and Chorus in 2012, Halsey has been credited with bringing about a Boys Choir and in broadcast concerts from the Royal Festival Hall, ‘spectacular transformation’ (Evening Standard) of the LSC. 2015/16 the Barbican, King’s College, Cambridge, and the . He highlights with the LSO include Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and has toured Germany and this December tours with the choir to Japan. Haydn’s The Seasons with Sir Simon Rattle, Elgar’s The Dream of Forthcoming engagements include Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with Gerontius with Sir Mark Elder, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. .

Ben is a trumpeter with the National Children’s Orchestra and recently Simon Halsey is Professor and Director of Choral Activities at the was privileged to be coached by Wynton Marsalis. He is also a keen University of Birmingham, where he directs a postgraduate course in photographer and artist. Choral Conducting, in association with the CBSO. He is in great demand as a teacher at other universities and has presented masterclasses at top universities such as Princeton and Yale. In 2011 Schott Music published his book and DVD on choral conducting, Chorleitung: Vom Konzept zum Konzert, as part of its ‘Master Class’ series.

Halsey was awarded The Queen’s Medal for Music 2014 for his influence on the musical life of the UK, and was also made Commander of Order of the British Empire in The Queen’s Birthday Honours 2015. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to choral music in Germany, Halsey was also given the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2011. lso.co.uk Artist Biographies 15

London Symphony Chorus On stage

The London Symphony Chorus was formed in 1966 to complement SOPRANOS ALTOS TENORS BASSES the work of the London Symphony Orchestra and this season marks Kerry Baker Kate Aitchison ** David Aldred Simon Backhouse * Faith Baxter Hetty Boardman-Weston Paul Allatt * Roger Blitz its 50th anniversary. The partnership between the LSC and LSO Louisa Blankson Liz Boyden Robin Anderson Bruce Boyd has continued to develop and was strengthened in 2012 with the Evaleen Brinton Gina Broderick Dan Ehrlich Andy Chan ** appointment of Simon Halsey as joint Chorus Director of the LSC Carol Capper * Jo Buchan * Matthew Fernando Steve Chevis Jessica Collins Lizzy Campbell Matthew Flood James Chute and Choral Director for the LSO. Shelagh Connolly Zoe Davis Andrew Fuller Damian Day Emma Craven Diane Dwyer Simon Goldman Thomas Fea Rebecca Dent Linda Evans Michael Harman Ian Fletcher The LSC has partnered many other major orchestras and has Katalin Farsang Amanda Freshwater Matt Horne Robert Garbolinski * performed nationally and internationally with the Berlin and Vienna Lucy Feldman Lydia Frankenburg * John Marks Gerald Goh Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Joanna Gueritz Joanna Gill Alastair Mathews John Graham Maureen Hall Kate Harrison Daniel Owers ** Owen Hanmer * Championing the musicians of tomorrow, it has also worked with Isobel Hammond Yoko Harada Peter Sedgwick Anthony Howick both the NYOGB and the EUYO. The chorus has toured extensively Emma Harry Amanda Holden Malcolm Taylor Alex Kidney throughout Europe and has also visited North America, Israel, Australia Emily Hoffnung Jo Houston James Warbis Thomas Kohut Debbie Jones Ginger Hunter Robert Ward * Georges Leaver and South East Asia. Luca Kocsmarszky Lis Iles Paul Williams-Burton Hugh McLeod Mimi Kroll Kristi Jagodin Keith McLean Marylyn Lewin Ella Jackson George Marshall Highlights from last season include Haydn’s with Ed Meg Makower Christine Jasper Geoff Newman Gardner at the City of London Festival, Brahms’ Requiem with Daniel Jane Morley Jill Jones Peter Niven Harding, and critically acclaimed performances with Sir Simon Rattle Fiona Mortimer Belinda Liao * Tim Riley Jennifer Norman Anne Loveluck * Alan Rochford of Schumann’s rarely performed Das Paradies und die Peri with the Emily Norton Liz McCaw Rod Stevens LSO at the Barbican, and Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Berlin Jessica Norton ** Aoife McInerney Robin Thurston Philharmonic and the CBSO Chorus at the Royal Festival Hall. Maggie Owen Jane Muir Anthony Wilder Andra Patterson Caroline Mustill Sam Foster Carole Radford Siu-Wai Ng Richard Tannenbaum In the 2015/16 season the LSC celebrates its 50th anniversary with Liz Reeve Helen Palmer Mikiko Ridd Maud Saint-Sardos a range of performances, including Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil in Chen Theresa Shwartz Sarah Scott * denotes council Temple Church; Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with James Gaffigan; Laura Catala-Ubassy Lis Smith member Haydn’s The Seasons with Rattle; Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius Becky Wheaton Jane Steel ** denotes quartet Miji Yi Margaret Stephen soloists with Sir Mark Elder; and a new opera by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Claire Trocme The Hogboon. Rachael Twyford Magdalena Ziarko

President Sir Simon Rattle OM CBE SING WITH THE LSC President Emeritus André Previn KBE The LSC is always interested in recruiting new members, welcoming Vice President Michael Tilson Thomas applications from singers of all backgrounds. Interested singers are always Patrons CBE and Howard Goodall CBE welcome to attend rehearsals before arranging an audition. For further Chorus Director Simon Halsey CBE information, email [email protected] or visit lsc.org.uk. Assistant Directors Neil Ferris and Matthew Hamilton Chorus Accompanist Roger Sayer Chairman Owen Hanmer 16 The Orchestra 6 November 2015

London Symphony Orchestra Your views On stage Inbox

FIRST VIOLINS VIOLAS FLUTES HORNS TIMPANI Andrew H King Sensational UK Premiere Roman Simovic Leader Edward Vanderspar Gareth Davies Timothy Jones Nigel Thomas of ravishing Scheherazade.2 Lennox Mackenzie Gillianne Haddow Alex Jakeman Angela Barnes Clare Duckworth Malcolm Johnston Alexander Edmundson PERCUSSION with the @londonsymphony and Leila Nigel Broadbent Anna Bastow PICCOLO Jonathan Lipton Neil Percy Josefowicz. @Boosey_London Sharon Williams Antoine Bedewi Ginette Decuyper Lander Echevarria Jonathan Bareham on the LSO with John Adams (29 Oct) Jörg Hammann Julia O’Riordan Barnaby Archer OBOES Maxine Kwok-Adams Robert Turner TRUMPETS Helen Edordu Christopher Cowie Claire Parfitt Jonathan Welch Philip Cobb, Benedict Hoffnung Rosie Jenkins Fiona Harvey A fantastic new (to the UK) Elizabeth Pigram Michelle Bruil Gerald Ruddock Tom Lee Daniel Newell Ignacio Molins John Adams piece enters the repertoire. Harriet Rayfield Fiona Dalgliesh COR ANGLAIS Robin Totterdell Adrian Spillett Colin Renwick Caroline O’Neill Jane Marshall Congrats @londonsymphony Ian Rhodes Richard Holttum Tom Rees-Roberts KIT on the LSO with John Adams (29 Oct) Sylvain Vasseur CLARINETS TROMBONES Martin France David Worswick CELLOS Chris Richards Tim Hugh Dudley Bright Gerald Gregory Chi-Yu Mo HARPS Marek Rymaszewski Brutal punches & Alastair Blayden James Maynard Gabrielle Painter Bryn Lewis Eve-Marie Caravassilis BASS CLARINET Emma Bassett luxuriant textures at @barbicancentre Helen Sharp SECOND VIOLINS Daniel Gardner Duncan Gould BASS TROMBONE with John Adams conducting Leila J & Rieho Yu Hilary Jones PIANO ALTO SAXOPHONES Paul Milner @londonsymphony at Scheherazade.2 Thomas Norris Amanda Truelove Catherine Edwards James Mainwaring Sarah Quinn Victoria Harrild TUBA UK premiere. Rob Buckland Miya Väisänen Alexandra Mackenzie Patrick Harrild on the LSO with John Adams (29 Oct) Richard Blayden Miwa Rosso TENOR SAXOPHONES Matthew Gardner Peteris Sokolovskis Shaun Thompson Julian Gil Rodriguez Timothy Holmes Stefano @londonsymphony shone DOUBLE BASSES Naoko Keatley thoroughly. A well-deserved standing William Melvin Rick Stotijn BARITONE Iwona Muszynska Colin Paris SAXOPHONE ovation. #HarmonieLehre #SoundUnbound Andrew Pollock Patrick Laurence Bradley Grant on the LSO with John Adams at Matthew Gibson Paul Robson Sound Unbound (1 Nov) Hazel Mulligan Thomas Goodman BASSOONS Helen Paterson Jani Pensola Rachel Gough Simo Väisänen Joost Bosdijk Nicholas Worters CONTRA BASSOON Dominic Morgan

LSO STRING EXPERIENCE SCHEME

Established in 1992, the LSO String Experience The Scheme is supported by London Symphony Orchestra Editor Scheme enables young string players at the Help Musicians UK Barbican Edward Appleyard start of their professional careers to gain The Lefever Award Silk Street [email protected] work experience by playing in rehearsals The Polonsky Foundation London and concerts with the LSO. The scheme The Barbican Whatmore Charitable Trust EC2Y 8DS Photography auditions students from the London music Igor Emmerich, Kevin Leighton, conservatoires, and 15 students per year Registered charity in England No 232391 Bill Robinson, Alberto Venzago are selected to participate. The musicians Details in this publication were correct Print Cantate 020 3651 1690 are treated as professional ’extra’ players at time of going to press. (additional to LSO members) and receive fees Advertising Cabbell Ltd 020 3603 7937 for their work in line with LSO section players.