Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott Songs of Comfort and Hope
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Streaming Premiere – Friday, November 27, 2020, 7pm Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott Songs of Comfort and Hope Filmed at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) Concert Hall, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on November 14, 2020. PROGRAM Wu Tong (arr. Ding Doudou) Far Away Mountain (遠山) Robert Schumann Fünf Stücke im Volkston, Op. 102 Mit humor – “Vanitas vanitatum” Langsam Nicht schnell, mit viel Ton zu spielen Nicht zu rasch Stark und markiert Harry Sdraulig Fantasia on Waltzing Matilda Traditional American (arr. Caroline Shaw) Shenandoah Traditional Irish (arr. Benjamin Britten) The Last Rose of Summer Traditional Irish (arr. Fritz Kreisler) Londonderry Air (Danny Boy) Sergei Rachmaninoff Vocalise Wu Tong (arr. Li Xun/Ding Doudou) Rain Falling from the Roof (檐头雨) Manuel de Falla Siete canciones populares españolas El paño moruno Seguidilla murciana Asturiana Jota Nana Canción Polo Violeta Parra (arr. Jorge Calandrelli) Gracias a la vida Astor Piazzolla Le Grand Tango In collaboration with Opus 3 Artists Note: following its premiere, the video recording of this concert will be available on demand through December 12, 2020. 1 PROGRAM NOTES Only (Re)Connect: reimaginings by contemporary artists—and in Transcending Isolation through Musical these realizations for the intimate combination Intimacy of cello and piano. Even the most familiar melo - When the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns dies acquire a new layer began, anxieties about how to secure basic pro- visions for our families naturally took prece- Wu Tong (arr. Ding Dodou) dence. But it wasn’t long before other hungers Far Away Mountain (遠山) emerged—hungers we were unable to ignore, In lieu of a flashy opening piece, the program no matter how many Netflix binges we in- begins with a tone of calm and contemplation— dulged in. The longing for authentic artistic the perfect setting for a concert of deeply en- communication revealed how essential to our gaged musical storytelling. well-being is the shared experience of perform- Born in 1971 into a musical family, Wu Tong ance. This return to the stage by Yo-Yo Ma and is a founding member of Silkroad, Yo-Yo Ma’s Kathryn Stott brings that realization home, ongoing collaborative project that began with a program beautifully chosen to reaffirm around the turn of the millennia and is devoted music’s role as an agent of connection: between to cross-cultural, inclusive exploration of the cultures and their different ways of perceiving possibilities of musical exchange. Wu Tong ap- the world, between performers and audiences, pears regularly on the Silkroad Ensemble’s between ourselves and our fellow humans. recordings and has been a frequent perform- On the one hand, the partnership between Yo- ance partner with the cellist. He is especially Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott spans decades: the cel- well-known as a virtuoso on and advocate for list and pianist have cherished their collaboration the sheng, a mouth organ using multiple bam- over many performances and recording projects, boo or metal pipes whose shape evokes that of and this latest adventure continues that story. On a phoenix; it is among the very oldest of Chinese the other, the circumstances surrounding Songs instruments. He is also a remarkable vocalist of Comfort and Hope are unprecedented. Ma’s and founded Again (Lunhui), the first rock band spontaneous performance videos from the early to appear on Chinese television. months of the pandemic became the seed for Far Away Mountain was inspired by the land- the artists’ upcoming new album, which offers scape paintings of Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010), a response to the question: can music and mu- one of the most prominent figures in 20th- sicians be of use during times of distress? century Chinese art. (He became the first living The duo champions their conviction that songs Asian artist to have a solo exhibition at the are “little time capsules of emotions in which British Museum.) For Sotheby’s in 2015, Wu connections intertwine with long-lost dreams Tong was asked to compose several works, in- and desires, feelings of great spirit, optimism, cluding Far Away Mountain. Against an aus- and unity.” For Ma and Stott, “songs bring a terely beautiful accompaniment from the piano, sense of community, identity, and purpose, tran- Yo-Yo Ma’s cello here takes the part originally scending boundaries and binding us together in conceived for sheng, singing a melody of sim- thanks, consolation, and encouragement.” ple but heartfelt eloquence. Drawn especially to For this return to the stage just a few weeks the connections between painting and music ago in Taiwan, Stott designed a perfectly paced that fascinated Wu Guanzhong, Wu Tong program that mingles selections from their echoes the subtle interlacing of Eastern and forthcoming release with other gems from the Western cultures found in the artist’s work. world literature of song and musical miniatures. We range across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, Robert Schumann with a focus on pieces inspired by the shared Fünf Stücke im Volkston, Op. 102 wisdom of folk traditions. These traditions are In 1848–49, a revolution against the authori- shown to be at once timeless and poignantly rel- tarian, post-Napoleonic regime swept across evant, particularly in fresh arrangements and Europe and eventually arrived in Dresden, Opposite: Kathryn Stott and Yo-Yo Ma. Photo by Mark Mann.. 3 PROGRAM NOTES where Robert Schumann was then living. His the late 19th century and into the early 20th, fellow composer Richard Wagner became ac- during the process of European colonization of tively involved in the uprising, but Schumann Australia. remained focused on his own creative work. He Bush ballads were rooted in oral tradition enjoyed a powerful outburst of inspiration in and described the harsh lifestyle of those in the the months leading up to the crisis. One result outback, from field work to mining. It 1895, the was this set of Five Pieces in Folk Style. “It poet “Banjo” Paterson penned the words to a seemed as if the outer storms drew people to tune contributed by Christina Macpherson look inward, and only there did I find a coun- (which she recalled from earlier sources). His terforce against the forces breaking in so fright- song appeared in print in 1902, but the version fully from without,” he remarked. published by Marie Cowan in 1903 became the Like many of the other short chamber pieces standard. Cowan rearranged the tune and ad- that date from this period, Schumann com- justed the words to work as an ad jingle for a posed his Op. 102 at white-hot speed, in a mat- tea merchant. In Australian slang of the era, ter of days in April 1849. Schumann originally a “waltzing matilda” refers to a homeless intended to develop a career as a piano virtu- worker who travels on foot through the coun- oso but he also studied the cello in his youth, try with a blanket and belongings wrapped into and he supplied that instrument with much- a bundle and slung over his back. The lyrics needed new repertoire late in his career, in- belie the cheerful tune, recounting how the cluding his Cello Concerto of 1850. (He also starving worker chooses suicide by drowning published an alternative version of Op. 102 for over being jailed for killing a wealthy land - violin and piano.) owner’s sheep. In Five Pieces, Schumann closely interweaves Sydney-based composer Harry Sdraulig has the cello and piano parts in unpredictable ways, added to the layered history of “Waltzing Matil - enhancing the rich contrasts between each of da,” which exists in countless versions, with this these miniatures (which shift dramatically in fantasia written expressly for Yo-Yo Ma and tempo, character, and perspective). He likewise Kathryn Stott. The result is a kind of musical exploits the flexible lyrical gift that made him labyrinth in which memories of the original such a superb art song composer. beckon to lead us on. Sdraulig comments: For all of its compositional intricacy and orig- “Though this work significantly ‘reimagines’ inality, this set of miniatures is grounded in im- the harmonic and textural context of Marie pulses Schumann knew from everyday music. Cowan’s original melody, I have tried to remain Recall an observation central to John Adams’ faithful to its inherent expressiveness and lyri- worldview: “Whenever serious art loses track cism which has provided such joy and mean- of its roots in the vernacular, then it begins ing to many generations of Australians.” to atrophy.” The “popular style” referred to in Schu mann’s title is reflected by the qualities of Traditional American (arr. Caroline Shaw) fairy-tale, dance, poetic ballad, and even quirky Shenandoah humor that emerge. This song originated in the era of colonial fur traders in North America. The lyrics exist in Harry Sdraulig: multiple versions, some of which refer not to Fantasia on Waltzing Matilda the river but to Chief Shenandoah, a legendary “Waltzing Matilda” is an institution onto itself. leader of the Oneida who negotiated treaties Boasting an unusually complicated, tangled his- with the federal government. The melody tory—it even has a museum dedicated to it— worked its way across the network of rivers and the song is widely considered Australia’s canals that formed key trade routes in this pe- unofficial national anthem and has become the riod and later became a widespread sea shanty. symbol for an entire folk music genre: the so- In 2013, Caroline Shaw became the youngest called “bush ballads” that proliferated during recipient in the history of the Pulitzer Prize for 4 PROGRAM NOTES Music. She is also an active performer as both a the many arrangements of music from other singer and a violinist.