Concerts Receive Support in 2018 From: Private Donors; the Robert Salzer Foundation; the William Angliss Trust; Diana Gibson
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A S T R A C O N C E R T S 2 0 1 8 8 pm, Saturday 27 October LITHUANIAN HOUSE North Melbourne FILMS, MUSICS Arnold Schoenberg PRELUDE TO GENESIS Josef Haydn REPRESENTATION OF CHAOS Hanna Chetwin + Rohan Drape SALT Johanna Beyer THE MAIN DEEP Pauline Oliveros TUMBLING SONG Claudio Monteververdi MY HEART, WHEN I LOOK AT YOU Hanna Chetwin + James Rushford OPAQUING Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel ARIEL Mauricio Kagel CHOIR- BOOK + HALLELUJAH John Hughes + Martin Friedel ALL THIS YOU SAW Edward Elgar OWLS + THERE IS SWEET MUSIC HERE Erkki Veltheim, Aviva Endean, Maria Moles, Rohan Drape, Kim Bastin, Joy Lee, Peter Dumsday, Stephen Falk The Astra Choir with solo voices Erkki Veltheim violin, Aviva Endean clarinet /bass clarinet, Maria Moles drums, Rohan Drape organ, Stephen Falk percussion Kim Bastin, piano /organ, Joy Lee piano, Peter Dumsday organ vocal soloists Catrina Seiffert, Leonie Thomson, Louisa Billeter Ben Owen, Lucien Fischer, Steven Hodgson The Astra Choir soprano Catrina Seiffert, Leonie Thomson, Louisa Billeter, Maree Macmillan, Kate Sadler alto Emily Bennett, Anna Gifford, Katie Richardson, Florence Thomson, Beverley Bencina, Jane Cousens, Joy Lee, Joan Pollock, Aline Scott-Maxwell tenor Ben Owen, Phillip Villani, Richard Webb, Greg Deakin, Simon Johnson, Dylan Nicholson bass Karl Billeter, Peter Dumsday, Lucien Fischer, Steven Hodgson, Chris Smith, John Terrell, John Mark Williams John McCaughey conductor As with its electronic sound, it might be said that music discovered its filmic qualities long before the invention of the medium – in particular, in the 17th century of Monteverdi, with its montages and superimpositions of different kinds of expression, and its invention of dynamics as a resource of mobile imagery for the ears. Tonight’s program itself forms a montage of varied choral pieces, among which are set three collaborative creations – films experienced as performative elements of a concert, live-playing as a process of encounters with the visual domain. Before the beginning: Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) and Josef Haydn (1732– 1809), compose a not-yet-formed Creation. In each case, their solution is not to evoke a primæval, elemental state (such as the opening of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony) but a dense, advanced language that looks forward towards an unknown future music. Schoenberg’s Prelude Op.44 was composed for the multi-composer oratorio Genesis Suite, Los Angeles 1945, which traced the Jewish narrative from Creation to Babel. As the only movement without narrator, the Prelude represents the wordless state before the first sentence of the Book of Genesis. The orchestral score has been arranged as a chamber version for this concert by Melbourne composer Allan Walker. The characteristic fluid syntax of Schoenberg’s advanced 12-tone music is combined with the retrospective form of fugue, here perhaps experienced in its original meaning of ‘flight’– the emergence of spatial dimensions in which the earth could be formed. Haydn’s orchestral prelude to his oratorio The Creation itself became one of his most remarkable creations, which he titled the “representation of chaos” – a summoning forth of a time before time through ambiguous musical syntax that looks forward to Brahms and even 20th-century composers. Clytus Gottwald’s arrangement of the orchestral score for 12-part unaccompanied choir emphasizes these modernistic qualities. Gottwald chooses as text the German translation of Genesis by the Jewish philosopher and linguistic scholar Moses Mendelssohn (1729–86), first published in Hebrew transliteration, to stem the outrage of Christian traditionalists. Elemental Nature is at the centre of the joint creation Salt, by film-maker Hanna Chetwin and composer Rohan Drape – commissioned under the VicArts grants of Creative Victoria – working with two parallel 16mm films and the characteristic sound of projectors. Hanna Chetwin has described the project: [NOTES CONTINUED ON p.7… ] 2 PROGRAM Arnold Schoenberg Prelude to the Genesis Suite Op.44 (1945) arranged by Allan Walker (2018) for piano 4-hands & ensemble Josef Haydn Genesis, “The representation of chaos” (1798) arranged by Clytus Gottwald (2008) for 12-part choir, text by Moses Mendelssohn c.1780 Hanna Chetwin + Rohan Drape Salt (2018) – first performance two 16mm films, violin, drums, organ, electronics and choir Johanna Beyer The Main Deep (1937) 4-part choir, poem by James Stephens 1925 Pauline Oliveros Tumbling Song (1974) Sonic Meditation XIV Claudio Monteverdi My heart, when I look at you (1603) 5-part choir, poem by Giovanni Battista Guarini c.1600 Hanna Chetwin + James Rushford Opaquing (2017) 3 films, electro-acoustic music Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel Ariel (1846) 4-part choir, poem by Johann Wolfgang Goethe 1832 Mauricio Kagel Pieces from Choir-Book (1978) and Halleluja (1973) soloists, choir and keyboards texts from J.S. Bach, 371 Chorales John Hughes + Martin Friedel All This You Saw (2018) – first performance film, piano, violin, clarinet, percussion, choir poem by Bertolt Brecht 1940 Edward Elgar Two Part-Songs Op.53 (1907) Owls, 4-part choir, poem by Edward Elgar 1907 There is Sweet Music, 8-part double-choir. poem by Alfred Tennyson 1832 3 Arnold Schoenberg, Prelude to the Genesis Suite Op.44 (1945) chamber arrangement by Allan Walker (2018) Josef Haydn, Genesis: The Representation of Chaos (1798) orchestral prelude to The Creation, arranged by Clytus Gottwald for 12-part choir (2008) So spricht Gott, der Ewige, Thus says God the eternal, der den Himmel erschaffen und ihn ausgespannt hat, who created the heavens, and stretched them out; der die Erde ausgedehnt hat mit ihren Sprösslingen, who spread forth the earth, and all that sprouts from it; der Atem gibt allen Geschöpfen auf ihr. who gives breath to the creatures upon it: Ich, der Ewige, ich berufe dich zum Heil. I the eternal, I call you to salvation, Ich schütze dich und fasse deine Hand. I shield you and keep your hand, Ich setze dich zum Volk meines Bundes, I set you as people of my covenant, zum Licht von Nationen, as a light to the nations, um blinde Augen zu öffnen, to open blind eyes, um die Gefesselten aus dem Kerker herauszuführen, to bring out the shackled from the dungeon, die Bewohner der Finsternis aus dem Gefängnis. and the dwellers of darkness out of the prison house. Licht! Es werde Licht! Light! Let there be light! – Moses Mendelssohn, translation of First Book of Moses ca.1780 Hanna Chetwin + Rohan Drape, Salt (2018) two 16mm films, violin, drums, organ, electronics and choir first performance Johanna Beyer, The Main Deep (1937) 4-part choir The long-rolling Steady-pouring, Deep-trenched The wide-topped, Green billow; Unbroken, Green-glacid, Cold-flushing, Slow-sliding. On – on – on – Chill-rushing, Hush-hushing. – James Stephens, A Poetry Recital 1925 Pauline Oliveros, Tumbling Song (1974) Sonic Meditation XIV Claudio Monteverdi, Cor mio, mentre vi miro (1603) Cor mio, mentre vi miro, My heart, when I look at you, visibilmente mi trasformo in voi, visibly I transform myself into you, e trasformato poi, and thus transformed in un solo sospir l'anima spiro. in a single sigh my spirit expires. O bellezza mortale, O mortal beauty, O bellezza vitale, O vital beauty, poiché sí tosto un core that in an instant a heart for you per te rinasce, e per te nato more. is given re-birth, and born for you, dies. – Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538-1612) 4 Hanna Chetwin + James Rushford, Opaquing (2017) 3 films, electronics Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Ariel (1846) Gab die liebende Natur, If loving Nature gave you, Gab der Geist euch Flügel, If Spirit gave you wings, Folget meiner leichten Spur, Follow on my easy trace Auf zum Rosenhügel! Up to the hill of roses! – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust Part II, 1832 Mauricio Kagel (with J.S. Bach) Chorales from Choir-Book (1978) with Solos and Choruses from Halleluja (1973) soloists, choir and keyboards Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig, Ah, how fleeting, ah how empty ist der Menschen Leben; is the life of humans; wie ein Nebel bald entstehet… Like a mist that soon appears… Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt By Adam's fall was made corrupt menschlich Natur und Wesen… human nature and beings… O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid, O sadness deep, O aching heart, Ist das nicht zu beklagen? … is this not cause for wailing? … Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott, A solid fortress is our God, Ein gute Wehr und Waffen... A good defence and armour… Den Vater dort oben… The father there above… – texts from J.S. Bach, 371 Chorales Martin Friedel + John Hughes, All This You Saw (2018) film, piano, violin, clarinet, percussion, choir first performance On the suicide of the refugee W.B. I hear that you have raised your hand against yourself Forestalling the butcher. Eight years banished, watching the enemy’s rise At the last, driven to an uncrossable border You crossed what is called a crossable one. Empires topple. Gang leaders Strut about like statesmen. The peoples You see no more among the armaments. So the future lies in darkness and the good forces Are weak. All this you saw When you destroyed that torturable body. – Bertolt Brecht 1940 5 Edward Elgar, Two Part-songs Op.53 (1907) 4-part and 8-part choir Owls What is that? ... Nothing; The leaves must fall, and falling, rustle; That is all: They are dead As they fall, - Dead at the foot of the tree; All that can be is said. What is it? ... Nothing. What is that? ... Nothing; A wild thing hurt but mourns iin the night, And it cries In its dread, Till it lies Dead at the foot of the tree; All that can be is said. What is it? ... Nothing. What is that? ... Ah! A marching slow of unseen feet, That is all: But a bier, spread With a pall, Is now at the foot of the tree; All that could be is said.