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572039 bk Rendine 5/20/08 4:23 PM Page 12 Sergio RENDINE Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 ‘Andorrana’ Orquestra Nacional Clàssica d’Andorra Marzio Conti Coll de la Botella Imatges: propietat d’Andorra Turisme SA Montaup 8.572039 12 572039 bk Rendine 5/20/08 4:23 PM Page 2 Sergio Rendine (b.1954) Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 ‘Andorrana’ Also available: Sergio Rendine’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 ‘Andorrana’ Kﬁenek) who, and this cannot be a coincidence, are both owe their existence to the encouragement of amongst the most technically gifted of composers and conductor Marzio Conti who, as an admirer and must also rank in a list of the great craftsman geniuses frequent performer of the Italian composer’s music, of the twentieth century. One of the very small number persuaded him to broach this traditional orchestral form. of living composers who have written symphonies with All contemporary composers, or those of the recent past, unchanging fidelity to the genre is Hans Werner Henze, have feared to measure themselves against the who composed ten such works between 1947 and the symphony, both because of the enormous shadow cast onset of the new millennium, his Tenth appearing in the by the masterpieces of the Western classical canon, and year 2000. These symphonies, however, are part of that because of the strict structural attributes that might seem repertoire to which little or nothing remains of the to be “cages” no longer relevant or feasible. There are formal genre, the name applying more to a “suggestion” few contemporary examples, a few of them which use than to an effective compositional identification. the extremely generic term “Symphony” to indicate a Sergio Rendine accepted, with his undisputed simple orchestral composition, or as a nod to an technical compositional skills, the challenge set him by “antique” gesture. This is the case of Richard Strauss’s Conti and composed two symphonies, one after the other, Symphonia domestica and Alpensinfonie, both from the in 2006 and 2007. The First Symphony, in three first fifteen years of the twentieth century. movements, was commissioned by the Orchestra Shostakovich’s relationship with the symphony merits Sinfonica di Sanremo, while the Second Symphony separate discussion. He wrote no fewer than fifteen such ‘Andorrana’ was commissioned by the State Government works, all of which, despite their creative freedom, of Andorra and the Crèdit Andorrà Foundation, for the respect more than others the formal traditions. ONCA, the National State Orchestra, as a musical work Shostakovich made great progress over the years in the representing the Principality’s culture and traditions. use of this form with its complete and perfect Rendine, as he himself confirmed in an interview, having architecture, up to the point at which, in 1971, still so read about and listened to a lot of traditional Andorran 8.557733 recent, he published his final symphony. Even music and drawn inspiration from some old photos that Schoenberg had, in his Quintet, Op. 26, tried to combine came into his possession, chose three “incipits” from the use of twelve-tone technique with the four- traditional themes, one for each of the three movements, movement classical format, trying in particular, in the and with these he developed his sound fresco. As the first movement, the use of sonata form with a decidedly First Symphony ends with a third movement which is formal rigour. But it was an isolated case, such as it was both an overwhelming and macabre dance built on a for Stravinsky, who in 1945 “toyed” with the formal theme derived from a “tarantella funebre” from symphonic structure in his Symphony in Three Neapolitan folk tradition, the composer having been born Movements. Prokofiev, on the other hand, a more direct in Naples, thus the three movements of the Second predecessor of Shostakovich, worked on the genre more Symphony are its natural continuation in the consistently, starting in 1917, when he composed his folk/traditional colouring of the thematic structure, even Symphony No. 1 ‘Classical’, and ending in 1952 with if of a tradition apparently distant that seems nonetheless the incomparable Seventh Symphony in C sharp minor, to belong with complete naturalness to the composer; that Op. 131. A courageous few, therefore (amongst whom naturalness that only the soul of “pure” artists can have. 8.557224 we should also list Hindemith, Szymanowski and On the subject of Rendine’s two symphonies, 8.572039 211 8.572039 572039 bk Rendine 5/20/08 4:23 PM Page 10 sinfonia “moderna”. Per “Sinfonia” non s’intende il titolo una sinfonia. Basta saperlo fare. E Rendine lo Marzio Conti, who originally inspired them and has writing a “real” symphony, using its structure, themes, solo fatto di dare tale nome ad un brano musicale, che dimostra con le sue due “Sinfonie” per ora scritte. Lo si conducted them on several occasions, has written the the appropriate harmonic structure, developments and poi in realtà risulta essere un pezzo libero nella può però fare solo se si è in possesso di una grande following: “When I asked Sergio Rendine to write his recapitulations, and make it modern and contemporary. struttura con dei vaghi richiami alla ben nota forma tecnica, una grande cultura, un grande estro artistico First Symphony I was very aware of having entrusted All this demonstrates that symphonies can indeed still classica. Esistono infatti vari casi di compositori che manifesta una grande anima. La difficoltà sta tutta one of the last “true” composers in the international be written. You just have to know how to do it. And moderni o contemporanei che hanno scritto brani col qui... arena with the difficult task of composing a “modern” Rendine, with the two symphonies he has so far written, nome di Sinfonia, ma solo col nome e non di fatto. symphony. By “symphony” should be understood not proves this. It can be done, but only if the composer is in Rendine è un compositore capace di scrivere una only the fact of giving that name to a composition, which possession of great technique, culture, artistic “vera” sinfonia con la sua struttura, i suoi temi, then in reality turns out to be a freely structured piece inspiration – a great soul. That’s where the difficulty l’appropriato impianto armonico, i suoi sviluppi e with some vague echoes of the classical form. There lies…” riprese, e risultare moderno, contemporaneo. Tutto ciò exist in fact various cases of modern or contemporary a dimostrazione che si può ancora scrivere a pieno composers who have written pieces entitled symphonies, but only in name, not in fact. Rendine is capable of Translation: Susannah Howe Orquestra Nacional Clàssica d’Andorra At the end of 1992 the Government of Andorra resolved to create the National Chamber Orchestra of Andorra (ONCA) under the direction of the Andorran violinist Gerard Claret. The orchestra is attached to the ONCA Foundation, managed by the Ministry for Public Affairs and Economic Development, Tourism, Culture and Universities of the State Government of Andorra, and the Crèdit Andorrà Foundation, and has given concerts in Andorra, Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Portugal. In 2006 the ONCA Foundation renamed the orchestra the National Classical Orchestra of Andorra, with the Italian conductor Marzio Conti as principal conductor for classical concerts and recordings. The orchestra has taken part in numerous festivals throughout Spain and has appeared in major concert halls, collaborating with soloists of distinction. Recordings include works by the Catalan composers Eduard Toldrà, Xavier Montsalvatge and Pau Casals, Joaquín Turina, Joaquín Rodrigo and Joan Manén. In November 2004 the orchestra was awarded the Saint George Cross of the Generalitat of Catalonia. 8.572039 10 3 8.572039 572039 bk Rendine 5/20/08 4:23 PM Page 4 Gerard Claret Le Sinfonie n. 1 e n. 2 ‘Andorrana’ di Sergio Rendine pochissimi compositori viventi che hanno scritto con nascono grazie allo stimolo del direttore d’orchestra assoluta costanza delle sinfonie è Hans Werner Henze The violinist Gerard Claret was born in Andorra in 1951. Winner Marzio Conti che, ammiratore e frequente esecutore che ne ha composte ben dieci, dal 1947 sino ad of Belgian Radio-Television’s Tenuto competition and of the della musica del compositore italiano, lo ha convinto ad affacciarsi al nuovo millennio con l’ultima, la medal of the Maria Canals International Competition of affrontare questa forma orchestrale così tradizionale con “Decima”, che ha visto la luce nel 2000; ma queste Barcelona, he has performed with orchestras from Spain, France, la quale ogni compositore contemporaneo o di un sinfonie fanno parte di quel repertorio a cui rimane poco Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia, passato recente ha sempre temuto di misurarsi, e niente del contenuto del genere formale, applicando il Turkey, Russia and Japan, collaborating with leading conductors. ovviamente sia per l’enormità dei capolavori prodotti nome più ad una “suggestione” che ad un’effettiva He is a founder of the Barcelona Music School, of the dalla storia della musica occidentale, che per le rigorose identificazione compositiva. International Music Course of Vic, and of the Trio de Barcelona, connotazioni strutturali che possono sembrare “gabbie” Sergio Rendine accetta, con la sua indiscussa with which he has recorded works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn non più attuali o attuabili. Pochi gli esempi capacità tecnico-compositiva, la sfida lanciatagli da and Dvoﬁák. He has served as artistic director of the International contemporanei, tra cui alcuni con l’uso del termine Conti e ne compone due, una dietro l’altra, nel 2006 e Music Festival Narciso Yepes, Ordino-Principality of Andorra “Sinfonia” estremamente generico, usato come semplice nel 2007. La “Prima Sinfonia”, in tre movimenti, è stata since its establishment, and is a member of the Orfeó Català- composizione per orchestra, oppure come cenno di un composta su commissione dell’Orchestra Sinfonica di Palau de la Música Catalana Foundation.

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