Concert for the People of Bath

Bath Philharmonia Jason Thornton Conductor Coco Tomita Violin Alexandra Dariescu Piano

Thursday 20 May 7:30pm Bath Forum

This annual concert is dedicated to the memory of Brian and Margaret Roper.

Many thanks to Steinway & Sons Programme: Arrangements: A Musical Solution Maisie Lewis

Mendelssohn In music, the term ‘arrangement’ often suggests a different musical experience; an adaptation or Violin Concerto in E minor Op 64 reworking of sorts that retains the general character of (arr. Rechtman) the original composition. Arrangements typically reimagine previously composed works that differ in small ways, be it reharmonisation, melodic Beethoven paraphrasing, orchestration or overall musical Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat structure. Some have described arranging as ‘the art of giving an existing melody musical variety’, with many ‘Emperor’ Op 73 composers reimagining the works that came before (arr. Rechtman) them for different ensembles, or with new thematic material.

An Introduction to Mordechai In the early history of music, vocal polyphony was the Rechtmann primary mode of musical experience. During the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, these works, including Principal Bassoonist of the Israel Philharmonic motets and masses, were intabulated, or transcribed Orchestra from 1946-91, Mordechai Rechtman has for instrumental use, allowing one keyboard or lute won international renown as a bassoonist, arranger, player to perform music previously intended for conductor, and educator. His arrangements for wind several singers. Though a prolific method of ensembles (numbering more than 200 at present) are composition in the Renaissance period, interest in performed throughout the world, often under his own arrangement dwindled slightly throughout the direction, and have been recorded and published in the Baroque era, with J.S. Bach proving an exception by United States, England, Denmark, Germany, and arranging not only his own works, taking them from Austria. His festival appearances include Tanglewood, solo compositions to full chamber orchestral pieces, Spoleto, Marlboro, Bonn, Banff and the Casals Festival but also reimagining the violin concerti of Antonio of Puerto Rico. Vivaldi for harpsichord and organ.

Rechtman is also the winner of the 2004 award of the However, it was the 19th century and its piano-centric Board of Trustees of the Minister of Education, musical output that saw arrangements become popular Culture and Sports Prize of Music Performances for once again. Franz Liszt was one of the foremost his special contribution to music in Israel. As a guest classical arrangers of this period, with his professor, he has taught bassoon, coached chamber arrangements amounting to about half of his music, and conducted large wind ensembles and compositional output. He played many of them himself orchestras at the New England Conservatory, The in a number of celebrated performances, one of which Juilliard School of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, was in the Assembly Rooms here in Bath in 1840, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Australia and throughout where he is believed to have played his arrangements Europe. In addition to a life in music spanning over 70 of works by Beethoven and Schubert. Liszt’s years, he is also an International Master of arrangements of these orchestral works played a major correspondence chess. He resides in Tel Aviv, Israel. role in popularising a wide array of music in the mid- 19th century, a time when orchestral performances weren’t hugely common, whereas the solo recital was. Not only did Liszt’s arrangements make these works more accessible, they also made them more approachable and easier to digest — among Liszt’s arrangements are fantasies on operatic melodies and piano arrangements of full symphonies that transformed these works from large chunks of music into smaller bites. The art of arranging truly blossomed following Liszt’s have or the circumstances you face, and can provide an transcriptions, and it is undeniable that the act of accessible approach to music of all genres in a time arranging in its own right is often a form of flattery, as when concerts have limited time- frames, or orchestral well as a means of accessibility. One such instance members. would be Claude Debussy’s orchestral re-imagination of two of Erik Satie’s Gymnopiedies in 1896, which Felix Mendelssohn brought Satie into the compositional mainstream. I can only imagine that for a composer to arrange someone Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64 else’s work must be the deepest dive inside someone’s mind and output, allowing true analysis and Allegro molto appassionato understanding of musical decisions, which can in turn Andante inspire individual compositional decisions. Some works Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto vivace have been repeatedly rearranged, with the obvious example being Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an One of the most performed of all violin concerti, Felix Exhibition, which to date has been arranged over Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor is not only his twenty times. Originally a suite of ten piano pieces, it last orchestral work, but also one of the most lyrical and was Maurice Ravel that famously took Mussorgsky’s flowing works within the genre, with celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim calling it ‘the heart’s jewel’ of German compositions and reimagined them for orchestra, violin concertos. The work was written for Mendelssohn’s colouring the already vibrant music with an entirely childhood friend Ferdinand David, concertmaster of the new and much larger timbral palette. Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and though conceptualised in 1838, the work was not completed until There are many occasions when the art of 1844. Historians have debated many possible reasons for arrangement has taken a work from a solo instrument this delay, including self-doubt, the completion of his third and transformed it into a grand orchestral piece. What symphony (written between 1829 and 1842) and a is also interesting however, is when large works are turbulent period in Berlin. What is interesting, however, is reimagined for smaller ensembles. Whereas it would that throughout this long compositional period, seem timbral and melodic colour can always be added Mendelssohn and David maintained a regular to a work, where do you begin when downsizing the correspondence, during which the composer sought ensemble? Some instruments are more transferable technical and compositional advice from his chosen than others — hymns or plainchant for example soloist. This correspondence began early in the (frequently in four voice parts) are often transcribed compositional process, with a letter from Mendelssohn to for keyboard or guitar instruments, like in the Medieval David dated 30 July 1838 reading as follows: "I should period. The everyday music teacher, be it classroom or like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E peripatetic, spends a large chunk of their time minor runs through my head, the beginning of which gives arranging works not only for the musicians they have, me no peace.” but also at varying levels of musical ability to suit each and every pupil they have, together and individually. This concerto was the first of many to have been composed with the input of a professional soloist, and Arranging, while a definite tool for expanding or would influence many future collaborations across all altering timbral palette, is also all about accessibility classical genres, almost mirroring the relationship and adapting to situations. between Johannes Brahms and Joseph Joachim. The premiere took place in Leipzig on 13 March 1845 with In these strange times, it has been hard for music- Ferdinand David as the soloist, as intended. Mendelssohn making to continue as normal. Concerts have been however was unable to conduct due to illness, and asked cancelled, tours rescheduled and the fate of live music his assistant Niels Gade to lead the orchestra instead. The questioned — but, the art of arranging has allowed work was an instant success, warmly enjoyed at its music-making to continue in a whole new way while we premiere and well-received by contemporary critics, and have waited so eagerly for live events to begin again. by the end of the nineteenth century the concerto was During lockdown, endless videos of musicians of all already considered one of the greatest within the ages and ability surfaced on various social media repertoire. platforms playing arrangements of famous works, and whole virtual choirs and orchestras began making The first movement begins with the almost immediate music with the parts they had. Above all, arrangement entry of the solo violin, playing the very tune in E minor is about adapting, whether to suit the musicians you that gave Mendelssohn ‘no peace’. As in most concertos between Beethoven and Brahms, the orchestra in this Ludwig van Beethoven opening movement is not so much partner or rival as provider of accompaniment, or harmonic scaffolding for Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat the soloist. Mendelssohn’s orchestral writing however is ‘Emperor’ Op.73 not just perfunctory, but an exercise in orchestral workmanship with Mozartian levels of detail. The violin Allegro dazzles with brilliant passage work, and rightly this is Adagio un poco mosso what we as listeners pay attention to, but underneath is Rondo: Allegro real musical activity, not just mechanical framework. It is almost as though solo and tutti maintain both foreground and background interchangeably. This changes at the Popularly known as the Emperor Concerto, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 in Eb major, Op.73 is his last infamous cadenza, on the doorstep of which the orchestra stops to defer to the soloist who has no room for an completed piano concerto, written between 1809 and 1811 in Vienna and dedicated to Archduke Rudolf, improvisatory melody, but instead must follow a dictated passage requiring ricochet bowing to complement Beethoven’s patron and pupil. The composition began at a time when Napoleon’s army was besieging Vienna, and endless rhythmic shifts. the Austrian Imperial family and its court had fled the city. The French artillery who had been commanding the Following the end of the first movement, the Andante mysteriously emerges via a sustained B from the bassoon heights of the surrounding countryside took fire in 1809, with Beethoven’s own home standing perilously close to that gracefully rises a semitone to middle C, serving as the necessary key change in this move from E minor into the the action. Beethoven however would not leave, instead seeking temporary shelter underground in the cellar of more lyrical C major. This moment is reminiscent of Mendelssohn’s songs (with or without words) and his brother's home. provides a sweet melody that is beautifully harmonised with surprising extension. Though the middle section After the bombardment had ceased and the summer had arrived, Beethoven was able to get away from the city and provides a darker massage in the minor mode, the sweet melody returns with the accompanying instruments return to composing, producing two glorious works in the seemingly heroic E flat major: this piano concerto, and the unable to forget the emotional tremors of what has come before. ‘Harp’ Quartet, Op.74. Evidently the grim experiences of the preceding months had not diminished his creative Between the Andante and finale, Mendelssohn places powers. However, there was not an immediate opportunity to present the new concerto, even with life another kind of bridge, this time in the form of a petite and wistful intermezzo. Only strings accompany the solo returning to a semblance of normalcy in Vienna, and Beethoven had to wait until 1811 to premiere the work violin, which begins the touch of fanfare that starts the finale movement. Mendelssohn again delights in the witty not in Vienna, but in Leipzig, with Friedrich Schneider as soloist. Though Beethoven had written his four previous interplay of foreground and background, using complex passage work in both tutti and solo moments. There is piano concertos for his own performance, he was now to deaf to perform with the orchestra. The work received a almost a small cadenza near the end of the movement when the woodwinds play the main tune against second premiere in Vienna in February 1812, with Beethoven’s prize pupil Carl Czerny performing the work. prolonged trills from the soloist, but the work ultimately concludes with a frenetic coda, a feast of high spirits with Despite its two premieres, the concerto itself failed to make much of an impression due largely to the nature of a wonderful sense of release. the audience. However, it was at this concert that one connoisseur, a French army officer, supposedly called this work “an emperor among concerti’. Though this claim cannot be validated, Beethoven had created a truly symphonic concerto that definitely suits the nickname ‘Emperor’.

In essence, the Emperor Concerto represents the culmination of what we have come to think of as the composer’s ‘heroic’ musical manner. After beginning his Piano Concerto No.4 in an unprecedented way, giving the soloist a lyric phrase without accompaniment, Beethoven again turned his mind to the question of how one might begin a concerto in an original way when sketching his fifth piano concerto. Like the fourth, Beethoven Jason Thornton Conductor introduces the piano far sooner than a contemporary audience may have expected, offering them a series of Jason Thornton is the Music Director of Bath flourishes and three sonorous orchestral chords, rather Philharmonia. He has conducted orchestras throughout than a lyric or thematic statement. The entire first the UK, Europe, America and the Far East, including the RPO, London Mozart Players, City of London Sinfonia, movement, which is also the longest Beethoven ever Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Jykasyla Sinfonia (Finland) wrote, continues in this prodigious and continually and the Kaposvar Symphony Orchestra (Hungary). Jason inventive orchestral manner, with a crescendo of grew up in the West Midlands and was the recipient of a excitement built throughout that rests on an increasing free musical education courtesy of Sandwell Music dissonance. He blends brilliance with quiet, and Service. He switched viola playing for conducting at the throughout he tempers the virtuosic writing with the age of 16, conducting various youth ensembles and instruction dolce, literally “sweet.” forming Sandwell Sinfonia, his own orchestra inspired by collaborations with friends. Studies for a PGCE brought him to Bath where he formed Bath Philharmonia and The second and slower movement is reassuringly tied to since then has had an amazing time making music with the first, while remaining compositionally fresh. With a everyone from local school children to some of the more limited timbral palette, just the solo piano, muted world’s finest musicians including Renee Fleming, Sir strings and wind instruments work in a gentle dialogue Willard White, Joseph Calleja, Nicola Benedetti, Jennifer throughout, moving through keys and variations. At the Pike, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Jess Gillam, Peter Donohoe end of the movement, Beethoven makes one of his and Stephen Hough. Jason is also a Community Music Leader, directing creative learning projects throughout characteristically drastic shifts by dropping the pitch just the UK and abroad in numerous contexts, working with a semitone. Like the Mendelssohn, it is the bassoon who is orchestras, schools, music hubs, festivals and venues. responsible for this link, with a lone B dropping a Jason currently leads the Bath Philharmonia Creative semitone to Bb. Learning Team; the only orchestral team to deliver a year- long programme of music making with Young Carers in That harmonic move made and remaining in the tempo of the UK. the slow movement, Beethoven outlines a new theme before allowing a brand new idea to burst forth in the Bath Philharmonia proper tempo of the final movement and at a rousing fortissimo. This theme is revealed as that of a robust Bath Philharmonia is one of the largest professional orchestras in the South West. With an aim to make German dance, which Beethoven moves through rondo orchestral music of the highest quality accessible to the variations. Just before the end of this movement, and in community, the orchestra hosts a diverse range of turn the concerto, the timpani attain unexpected concerts and events, performing to more than 5000 prominence in a passage of equally unexpected quiet — people every year and reaching many more through but this descent into a pianissimo adagio is undone in a broadcasts and recordings. Established at the turn of the coda as brilliant as it is brief. millennium, the orchestra has since collaborated with some of the world’s finest musicians, including Elin Manahan Thomas, Peter Donohoe and Stephen Hough, and has performed at festivals and venues throughout the UK, including the Bath International Music Festival, Bath Mozartfest, the Frome Festival, the Bristol Beacon and the Hall for Cornwall, Truro. The orchestra pride themselves on bringing people together to experience musical excellence, inclusivity, sustainability and enjoyment, and were nominated for an Impact RPS Award in 2019 for their work with the community for their work with Young Carers. Over the past two seasons, the Bath Philharmonia Creative Learning Team has delivered over 20 projects involving over 1000 participants (in 13 schools and 6 social care settings) giving 25 performances to an audience of over 8000 people. In the Season prior to Covid-19, Bath Philharmonia performed 20 concerts to over 12,000 people and reached many more through broadcasts and recordings. Their developing discography was recorded at Abbey Road and Real World Studios with works by contemporary British composers including Paul Carr, Steven Faux, Judith Bailey and George Lloyd. First Violins Bath Philharmonia During Lockdown Rosie Wainwright (leader) Gill Austin Jason Thornton Matthew Everett Bath Philharmonia, like every orchestra and every Peter Fisher musician in the country, has had an extraordinary year. Vladimir Naumov Covid-19 demanded that we were publicly silenced and Claire Parkin tonight’s concert is only our third live performance to a live audience since February 2020. We thank Bath Second Violins Festivals for their support in enabling us to bring live Declan Daly orchestral music to Bath again and thank you, our Lisa Betteridge audience, for celebrating this return with us. Katy Rowe Kerry Vaughan So how does an orchestra adapt during a global pandemic? Some of our musicians took on new roles, Violas volunteering in their communities or embracing the gig Mike Briggs economy as key workers and delivery drivers. But even Suzanne Evans though the music hasn’t been live, music has continued to Virginia Slater be an important part of our lives during the last year. Every classical musician I’ve ever spoken with can cite a Cellos moment when they were inspired to explore music Miriam Lowbury further, when that ‘blue touch paper’ was lit and they Trevor Burley started their musical journey. And that’s what Bath Phil Toby Turton has endeavoured to do throughout lockdown; to inspire as many young people as possible to discover their own Double Bass love of music and to embrace the enhanced wellbeing that Dave Brown brings. Our Creative Learning team has zoomed into the homes Flute of hundreds of Young Carers across the South-West in a Ian Mullin series of digital workshops that brought connection, creativity, laughter and a little bit of music-making whilst Oboe we were all isolated. Victoria Brawn Behind closed doors, and commissioned by Inspiring Clarinet Music, the orchestra has recorded online broadcasts for A Sacha Rattle Level and aspiring GCSE music students nationally to help them deconstruct their set works at a time when they Bassoon haven’t had access to live music. Martin Gatt Commissioned by Soundstorm, Bath Phil has created #GoCompose, a simple process and set of resources that Horn enables teachers to support their class to compose their Richard Wainwright own music. Perhaps one day, we’ll be performing compositions by one of the students inspired by Percussion #GoCompose! Jeremy Little We’ve also recorded and produced, Musical Magical Beasts, a free orchestral concert for the primary classroom in collaboration with The Grove Theatre in Dunstable. This will be made freely available to all primary schools in Central Bedfordshire and Bath & North East Somerset. Thank you to the Roper Family Charitable Trust, to our many supporters and donors, our network of Music Education Hubs and to the government’s Cultural Recovery Fund for enabling our survival and helping us look to the future. We have many plans for live performances ahead of us, continuing to bring the live orchestral experience locally and connecting people through a shared love of music. Coco Tomita Violin Alexandra Dariescu Piano 19-year-old Coco Tomita studied violin at the Yehudi Alexandra Dariescu is a Romanian-born British pianist Menuhin School in Surrey. Born into a musical family, who champions new and lesser-known works, including Coco began playing the violin aged 4, and has since compositions by Nadia Boulanger, Germaine Tailleferre performed in numerous concerts around the world. In and Ginastera. She is also the creator of The Nutcracker 2010, Coco was prize winner in the Junior section of the and I, a ground-breaking multimedia performance for Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in piano solo with dance and digital animation premiered at Italy, and two years later she made her debut appearance Milton Court in 2017, before embarking on a tour across with the Southbank Sinfonia at Cadogan Hall aged 10. the world. The Nutcracker and I was inspired by her own Recent highlights include a performance of journey from little girl to pianist through protagonist Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with Dorking Chamber Clara. Alexandra studied at the Royal Northern College of Orchestra, and a collaboration with Alina Ibragimova at Music, where she graduated with the Gold Medal, before Milton Court. Coco also won the Strings Final of the BBC pursuing her Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Young Musician 2020, playing a programme of Debussy, Drama. She has been awarded numerous prestigious Ysaye and Hubay. In the words of the BBC Young positions and awards, including the UK’s Women of the Musician Judges, Coco is ‘a delight to listen to’, Future Award in the Arts and Culture Category. As of performing with ‘a wonderful sense of ease’. 2017, Alexandra is a patron of Music in Lyddington, Cultural Ambassador of Romania, and HonoraryAssociate Artist of the Royal Northern College of Music. As well as this she received the Officer of the Romanian Crown from the Royal Family in 2018, and has also been selected as a Young European leader by Friends of Europe.

Editor Maisie Lewis