Chamber Music Gathering

National Concert Hall CHAMBER MUSIC GATHERING

Saturday 4 January 2020 | 11am | 1pm | 4.30pm

nch.ie 01 417 0000 THE NATIONAL STRING QUARTET FOUNDATION

The National String Quartet Foundation is a legacy of the work of the Vanbrugh Quartet. Resident Quartet to RTÉ from 1986 to 2013 and Artists in Residence at University College, Cork from 1990 until the retirement of violinist Gregory Ellis in 2017, the Vanbrugh Quartet gave nearly two thousand concerts throughout Ireland as well as enjoying a successful international career. The Foundation creates and sponsors projects which bring live chamber music to audiences nationwide. It is committed to supporting musicians who wish to explore and perform the string quartet repertoire and to helping concert promoters present this rich and rewarding music. The National String Quartet Foundation is supported by the Arts Council and by RTÉ. It is Chamber Music Partner to University College, Cork and also gratefully acknowledges the support of Cork City Council and Cork County Council.

Please visit www.nsqf.ie for details of upcoming events and to sign up for email updates.

The National String Quartet Foundation CLG is a registered charity No.20200357 Executive and Artistic Director: Christopher Marwood. Directors: John Horgan, David Stang, Carmel Best. Members: Deborah Kelleher, SimonTaylor, Virginia Teehan, Ian Wilson, Pauline MacSweeney WELCOME NOTE

The National Concert Hall is delighted to host this fourth Chamber Music Gathering, once again bringing together many of Ireland’s finest young and established musicians for a day-long New Year celebration. Today’s eclectic programme features works by Beethoven, Glazunov, Schubert, Rimsky- Korsakov, Mozart, Hindemith and Tchaikovsky.

The Chamber Music Gathering – presented in association with the National String Quartet Foundation – is a wonderful way to commence another year of chamber music recitals in the National Concert Hall with enchanting performances by a selection of our finest domestic musicians. The opening of the refurbished Kevin Barry Recital Room in 2016 provided a space to nurture this talent and the annual chamber music programme has gone from strength to strength ever since.

Providing such opportunities for Irish musicians is at the heart of the National Concert Hall’s raison d’être and we are delighted that both the Gathering and the String Quartet Series have now established themselves as integral elements in our concert programme.

The Chamber Music Gathering would not be possible without the steadfast efforts of the National String Quartet Foundation’s artistic and executive director Christopher Marwood who put together the programme for today’s event and to whom we are exceedingly grateful.

Wishing you all a happy, peaceful and music-filled 2020.

Maura McGrath Simon Taylor Chairperson CEO

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11am Kevin Barry Recital Room

Beethoven String Quintet in C major, Op. 29 Phoebe White violin | David Tobin violin Katherine Hunka viola | Seamus Hickey viola | Aoife Burke cello

Glazunov String Quintet in A major, Op. 39 Gina Maria McGuinness violin | Christopher Quaid violin Fiachra de hÓra viola | Sinéad O’Halloran cello Gerald Peregrine cello

13.05 The Studio

Rimsky-Korsakov String Sextet in A major Sarah Sew violin | Maria Ryan violin | David Kenny viola Martin Moriarty viola | Peggy Nolan cello | Martin Johnson cello

16.30 University Church St. Stephen’s Green

Mozart String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K.593 Katherine Hunka violin | Kate Fleming violin Fiachra de hÓra viola | Beth McNinch viola Aoife Nic Athlaoich cello

Hindemith Clarinet Quintet Op.30 David Tobin violin | Jane Hackett violin | Lucy Nolan viola Sinéad O’Halloran cello | Macdara Ó Seiradáin clarinet

Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence Op. 70 Róisín Walters violin | Phoebe White violin | Seamus Hickey viola Ed Creedon viola | Christopher Marwood cello | Zoë Nagle cello

REMINDERS

Mobile Devices Please ensure all mobile devices are switched off during the performance. Camera, Video and Tape Recording Cameras, video equipment and tape recorders are NOT permitted in the auditorium. Intervals and Timings Intervals vary with each event – for some concerts, there is no interval. Latecomers will not be admitted until there is a suitable break in the performance.

2 CAMERATA IRELAND RESIDENCY with BARRY DOUGLAS WEDNESDAY 29 JANUARY 2020, 8PM

Barry Douglas piano/conductor | Camerata Ireland

Beethoven Overture “Coriolan” Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor”

Tickets €35, €30, €25, €19.50 nch.ie 01 417 0000 3 CHAMBER MUSIC GATHERING 2020

AOIFE BURKE cello

A native of Cork, Aoife studied at RNCM and the Folkwang Universität der Künste, graduating with a first- class BMus. (Hons.) and an LRSM Diploma in Performance with Distinction in 2014. She also holds a first-class MA in Performance from the CIT Cork School of Music, where she studied under Christopher Marwood. Aoife has collaborated with The Vanbrugh, Musici Ireland and the Gavin Bryars, Kirkos and Ficino Ensembles and she currently holds a residency at the Triskel Arts Centre, where she curates the Spotlight Chamber Music Series. As an orchestral player, she has toured Europe, Asia and the UAE extensively with the RTÉ Orchestras, RLPO, BBC NOW, ICO and Camerata Ireland, performing at the BBC Proms, and Würzburg Mozart, Naantali, Aldeburgh and Cheltenham Festivals, among others.

WILLIAM BUTT cello

William Butt was born in London and started his musical career early as a chorister in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. After graduating from the RNCM he continued his studies in Montreal. He has since enjoyed a busy career as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. He has performed and broadcast all the major concerti for RTÉ and the BBC. In recital he has regularly toured in Europe and China. As well as often performing the formidable solo sonatas of Ligeti and Kodály, he has recorded the suites by Britten and Bach for Warner Classics. William is a member of the Esposito String Quartet. Passionate about teaching, William is Senior Cello Teacher at the RIAM in Dublin and plays on a fine cello made by Giovanni Grancino in Milan (1690).

4 MIA COOPER violin

Mia was appointed leader of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in 2006, and in this role has worked with musicians as diverse as Pavarotti to 2FM DJ Jenny Greene, and venues from the Vatican to the main stage at the Electric Picnic. Before moving to Dublin to take up her position, Mia was a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and a Guest Leader of many orchestras including the Philharmonia, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Mia is a member of the Esposito Quartet who have performed at venues across Ireland and at festivals in France, Mumbai, Lithuania, Spain and the U.K. Mia has recorded a wide variety of chamber music and teaches at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.

ED CREEDON viola

Ed Creedon enjoys a varied career as a viola player, performing chamber music, in recitals and as an orchestral musician. Last year he performed in the National Concert Hall Chamber Music Gathering, toured throughout Ireland with the Lir String Quartet, toured to Finland, France and India with Camerata Ireland and performed with Camerata Ireland and Barry Douglas. Recent chamber music highlights include performances with the Vanbrugh Quartet, as well as appearances with the Ficino Ensemble, the Piatti Quartet and repeat invitations to the Clandeboye Festival in Belfast and the Killaloe Festival of Chamber Music. For four consecutive summers he took part in the West Cork Chamber Music Festival’s Young Musician’s Programme. Ed comes from Cork and studied with Constantin Zanidache and Simon Aspell at the Cork School of Music.

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GREG CROWLEY bassoon

Greg Crowley is a bassoonist from Dublin. From the age of 12 he studied with John Hearne at the DIT Conservatory of Music & Drama. Having completed his undergraduate studies in 2019 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, he now studies part time on the Master’s course at RCS under the tutelage of David Hubbard, Alison Green and Graeme Brown. A regular freelancer in Scotland, he has played with many of the country’s finest orchestras including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Opera and Scotland’s contemporary music group the Red Note Ensemble. Outside of Scotland, he is currently on trial for bassoon positions with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

FIACHRA DE HORA viola

Dublin-born Fiachra de hOra (20) is quickly becoming one of Ireland’s most prominent young musicians and is in regular demand as a soloist and chamber musician. He is in his first year of bachelor studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, studying with Nobuko Imai and Marjolein Dispa. As a soloist he has given a sold-out evening recital in the NCH Kevin Barry Recital Room and featured as a young platform artist with a recital in the Westport Festival of Chamber Music. He recently made his concerto debut performing Walton Viola concerto with the Ulster Orchestra. This is his third year taking part in the Gathering.

6 DOMINIC DUDLEY double bass

Dominic Dudley was born in Dundee, Scotland, and started double bass at thirteen and continued his studies at the Guildhall School of Music with Thomas Martin. In 2019, after 25 years, Dominic retired from Section Leader (Principal/Solo) Double Bass with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. In recent seasons he has also been Guest Principal at the RPO, CBSO, Hallé, Oxford Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Swan. He also is much in demand as a soloist and chamber musician, and in 2018 gave a recital at the Bass Europe Conference in Lucca, Italy.

JOHN FINUCANE clarinet

Clarinettist John Finucane has been Principal Clarinet with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He is also a conductor of note, having studied with Janos Fürst and Albert Rosen, and has regularly conducted the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra and has been the Musical Director of the Hibernian Orchestra for over thirty years. He has a particular affinity with chamber music and has worked with many groups, including the Ysaÿe, Navarra, ConTempo, Vanbrugh and Sacconi Quartets. He is also founder of the chamber music festival, Music In Monkstown, of which he is music director. His CDs Variations, French Holidays, Irish Holidays and a recording of the three sonatas for clarinet and piano by Grigori Frid all received wide acclaim.

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KATE FLEMING violin

Kate studies violin with Katherine Hunka at CIT Cork School of Music. She has participated in competitions and won prizes at both local and national level. Kate holds the position of concertmaster of the CSM Symphony Orchestra and has also enjoyed membership of the National Youth Orchestra. She is an enthusiastic chamber musician and has played with a number of student string quartets in CSM over the years. She participated in the West Cork Chamber Music Festival’s masterclass programme and Young Musicians Platform in both 2018 and 2019 and has been invited to return to West Cork for the 2020 festival. She plays with the Danu Quartet, a group from CSM who made their debut as part of RTÉ Lyric FM’s live broadcast in December 2018.

JANE HACKETT violin

Jane Hackett is an award-winning violinist who has a varied career as soloist, orchestral and chamber musician. She regularly performs with all of Ireland’s leading orchestras and in 2015, made her solo debut with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, after winning the Maura Dowdall Concerto Competition. She is a founding member of the Alberi Piano Trio and is a member of Musici Ireland, giving chamber concerts around Ireland and abroad. Jane is a true experimental artist who maintains a strong connection to contemporary music and performance art with the contemporary group, Kirkos Ensemble. Her love of educating the next generation has lead to her hosting a radio show for children and developing a new initiative, ‘Kids Classical Club’, immersing children in the wonders of classical music.

8 SEAMUS HICKEY violin

20-year-old violist Séamus Hickey is currently studying at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Marjolein Dispa and Nobuko Imai. In 2019, Seamus won the Aileen Gore Cup/ RTÉ Lyric FM Award at Feis Ceoil. A finalist in the 2018 Irish Freemasons’ Young Musician Competition, he was awarded the John Vallery Prize for the best string performance. In Feis Maitiú, Cork, he won the 2018 Capuchin Order Music Bursary for Advanced Recital. A dedicated chamber musician, he has participated in the West Cork Chamber Music Festival and has performed frequently for the National String Quartet Foundation. Séamus was the leader of the Cork Youth Orchestra from 2015-17. He also plays traditional Irish music and has performed in the All Ireland finals on fiddle and whistling.

KATHERINE HUNKA violin

Born in London, Katherine Hunka began playing the violin at the age of four. Under the guidance of teacher Sheila Nelson, she performed chamber music at London’s South Bank, Royal Albert Hall, City of London Sinfonia and led the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Katherine has been leader of the Irish Chamber Orchestra since 2002 and with them has toured Germany, China and Singapore. She has collaborated with Jörg Widmann, Pekka Kuusisto, Anthony Marwood and Nigel Kennedy amongst others. Katherine has been a guest leader with the Manchester Camerata, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra as well as guest soloist with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and Concert Orchestra. She is currently a Professor at the CIT Cork School of Music and the Irish World Academy of Music.

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LIDIA JEWLOSZEWICZ- CLARKE violin

Lidia Jewloszewicz-Clarke moved to Ireland after graduating from the S. Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdansk and from the Royal Academy of Music in London. She is a winner of the Hibernian Orchestra Concerto Competition 2013 and the Gdansk Mozart Prize. Lidia has performed concertos as a soloist in Ireland and across Poland. She also enjoys a wide orchestral and chamber music career, regularly collaborating with top Irish musicians and orchestras including RTÉ Concert Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Musici Ireland and Camerata Ireland with whom she has recently toured across China, India and Europe. Lidia has a keen interest in contemporary music and led the Irish premiere of Dubliners by Andrew Synnott in 2017.

MARTIN JOHNSON cello

Martin is the Section Leader Cellist of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and a lifetime member of the World Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed more than a dozen Concerti with the RTÉ NSO most recently Korngold Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations. Martin is the founder of the Dun-Laoghaire International Cello Festival and is a very active member of the cello teaching community here in Ireland. 2020 Projects include performances of Ina Boyle’s 2 Pieces for Cello and Orchestra with the RTÉ NSO, Trio and Septet performances within the John Lynch Chamber Music Project, Recitals for Electric Cello and Percussion and Darius Milhaud’s 1st Cello Concerto with the RTÉ NSO.

10 DAVID KENNY viola

A native of Cork, David Kenny studied with Constantin Zanidache and Simon Aspell at the CIT Cork School of Music. He has worked with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Wexford Festival Opera Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, John Wilson Orchestra and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. He has played Principal Viola with the European Union Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. In 2016, David was appointed to the viola section of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. He has performed at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Music in Drumcliffe and the Interlaken Classics Festival. He has collaborated with the Ficino Ensemble, Musici Ireland and the Vanbrugh Quartet. As violist with the Shandon String Trio he undertook a Chamber Studio mentorship under Richard Lester at Kings Place, London.

CHRISTOPHER MARWOOD cello

Christopher Marwood graduated from Cambridge University in 1983 and went on to study at London’s Royal Academy of Music and Conservatorium Maastricht. As cellist of the Vanbrugh Quartet for 32 years, Christopher enjoyed a busy career performing throughout Ireland and touring worldwide. The Quartet released over thirty CDs encompassing a wide range of repertoire and in 2016 were presented with the National Concert Hall’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Christopher co-founded the West Cork Chamber Music Festival in 1996 and remains director of the Festival’s masterclass programme. He is also director of the National String Quartet Foundation. He teaches at CIT Cork School of Music and at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. His recent CD of works by Boris Tchaikovsky was nominated for the 2019 International Classical Music Awards.

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GINA MARIA MCGUINNESS violin

Raised in Dublin, Ireland, Gina Maria began her musical path at the age of 4. Winning her first international violin competition in Estonia, Gina received the title ‘Young Musician of Tallinn’ in 1998. Over countless years of leading the YES Chamber Orchestra (YESCO) in Dublin, Gina developed her never-ending love of all things chamber. She studied in Lübeck, Germany and later in Chicago, USA where she received her performance diploma with honours. She obtained her Master’s degree in Lausanne / Sion. Now based in Zurich, she is a regular invited guest of the GAIA Music Festival in Oberhofen and performs with countless orchestras throughout Switzerland. She is a proud member of the European Philharmonic of Switzerland (EPOS) and is regularly invited as guest co-principal of the Brussels Philharmonic.

BETH MCNINCH viola

Beth McNinch began her freelance career in London after completing her studies at the GSMD and RAM, where she performed regularly with the LSO, CBSO, RPO, BBC Symphony and Concert Orchestras, ENO and the London Mozart Players. Since moving to Ireland in 2007, Beth has been Principal Viola of the Wexford Opera Orchestra and has appeared as guest leader with both the RTÉ Orchestras, Royal Ballet Orchestra and London Sinfonietta. As a chamber musician, Beth has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, alongside musicians including Clio Gould and Colin Carr. Beth is founder and Artistic Director of Musici Ireland. Beth teaches for Music Generation Wexford, currently providing string tuition to over 40 youngsters in rural areas of the county.

12 HANNAH MILLER horn

Since being appointed Associate Principal Horn with the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra at age 21, Hannah Miller has shone as an orchestral musician, heard with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Irish Chamber Orchestra and Tapiola Sinfonietta, and has recently joined the Verbier Festival Orchestra. A member of Kirkos Ensemble since 2012, Hannah is an avid performer of contemporary music and has also performed with Crash Ensemble and Ulysses Ensemble in recent years. She masters a compelling blend of international playing styles, having grown up in Ireland; attained her Bachelor degree at Finland’s Sibelius Academy; and is now completing her Master’s degree at New York’s Juilliard School, producing a uniquely collaborative musical soundscape. As a soloist she has been heard in concerti by Strauss, Schumann and Vivaldi.

MARTIN MORIARTY viola

Irish violist Martin Moriarty is in high demand as a soloist and chamber musician both at home and abroad. Martin has received multiple awards including the Amsterdam Viola Festival Competition and the Flax Trust Award at the Clandeboye Festival. As a soloist he has performed with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Festival appearances include Verbier, West Cork, GAIA, Schiermonnikoog, Grachtenfestival, Tsinandali and Ortús Chamber Music Festivals. He has collaborated with Nobuko Imai, Tabea Zimmerman, Lawrence Power, Antoine Tamestit, Garth Knox, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Ferenc Rados, Barry Douglas, Finghin Collins, Thomas Hampson and Jörg Widmann to name but a few. Following studies in Dublin and Amsterdam, he is currently finishing his Master’s degree studying with Veit Hertenstein at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, Germany.

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ZOË NAGLE cello

19-year-old Zoë Nagle has just completed her part-time musical studies at the CIT Cork School of Music, where she was a student of Christopher Marwood. Zoë is currently studying for her Bachelor’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Munich. A former section leader of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, Zoë has participated frequently in competitions throughout Ireland and has received numerous prizes over the years. At Feis Ceoil 2019 these included 1st place in the Clyde Twelvetrees Cup for Cello Concerto and 1st place for the third time in the Breda Cullen Cup for unaccompanied Bach. In 2019 Zoë also won both the Senior Recital and the Advanced Recital Competitions at CIT Cork School of Music, as well as the school’s Senior Concerto Competition.

AOIFE NIC ATHLAOICH cello

Dublin-born Aoife Nic Athlaoich enjoys a versatile musical career, equally at home playing on period instruments as performing newly commissioned works. She has collaborated with jazz musicians and contemporary dance groups, as well as playing under the baton of such eminent conductors as Sir John Elliot Gardiner, Sir Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink as an orchestral musician. Aoife has performed with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, La Serenissima, the Avison Ensemble, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Classical Opera Company, London Mozart Players and is also a member of the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Aoife has won prizes for solo and contemporary music performance at Feis Ceoil, Dublin, as well as being awarded a Belfast Classical Music Bursary in 2007 and many more accolades.

14 LUCY NOLAN viola

Dublin-born, violist Lucy Nolan divides her time between her work as a chamber musician and teaching. In 2006, she formed the Eblana String Trio with violinist Jonathan Martindale and cellist Peggy Nolan, which enjoys a busy concert schedule performing in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, St John Smith Square and the Bridgewater Hall. They have been broadcast on numerous occasions on BBC Radio 3. Lucy is a passionate teacher and currently holds positions at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Northern College of Music. She is the director of RNCM Young Violas and a regular tutor on Pro Corda courses. Lucy is also a teacher for ARCO, a distance learning project at the MIAGI music school in Soweto, South Africa.

PEGGY NOLAN cello

As cellist of the Eblana String Trio, Peggy Nolan has performed at venues including the Wigmore Hall, St John Smith Square and Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. In 2015 the trio were selected as Park Lane Young Artists and are currently City Music Foundation Artists. They recently recorded their debut CD of British string trios in 2019. Peggy has performed with many ensembles including the Pleyel Ensemble, Robinson Panoramic Quartet, and contemporary music groups Psappha, Vonnegut Collective and the Crash Ensemble. She is a tutor at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Course Director of Concorda Chamber Music Courses. Peggy is currently undertaking a PhD at the RNCM, researching performance practice in relation to the chamber music of Luigi Boccherini.

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SINÉAD O’HALLORAN cello

25-year-old cellist Sinéad O’Halloran is quickly establishing herself as one of Ireland’s most exciting young musicians. Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Ortús Chamber Music Festival, she is passionate about presenting high quality chamber music concerts and introducing young children to classical music. She performs regularly with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra and toured extensively as Principal Cellist of the European Union Youth Orchestra. She has also performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Spira Mirabilis. In 2020 she will make her Wigmore Hall debut at the invitation of Steven Isserlis as part of the Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music tour. She is currently a student of Gregor Horsch at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf.

MACDARA Ó SEIREADÁIN clarinet

Dubliner Macdara Ó Seireadáin is a First Class Honours graduate of both the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover and Royal Irish Academy of Music. A multiple prize winner, in 2010 Macdara won the inaugural Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year competition. He performs regularly with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Staatsoper Hannover and Irish Chamber Orchestra to name but a few. A keen chamber musician, he has collaborated with John O'Conor, Ailish Tynan, Sharon Kam, Finghin Collins, the Vanbrugh, and the Apollon Musagete Quartet, and performed at numerous chamber music festivals including Great Music in Irish Houses, Kilkenny Arts Festival and more. In addition to this he is a member of the Dublin-based Ficino Ensemble.

16 GERALD PEREGRINE cello

Gerald Peregrine is an established soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, who regularly performs in Ireland, Europe, the Americas and Asia. As a chamber musician he has performed with international artists such as Patricia Rozario, Barry Douglas, Rosey Chan, Anthony Pleeth and Catherine Leonard. He presented several concert series in Dublin featuring the complete works for cello/piano by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Gerald is also an established orchestral performer and is a long-standing performer with Camerata Ireland. He has also held the post of Co-Principal Cellist of the Wexford Opera Festival orchestra since 2006. As a concerto soloist, Gerald has performed with all the major Irish orchestras, and is regularly featured on radio. Gerald studied at the Royal College of Music and the University of Limerick before completing his postgraduate studies as a Fulbright scholar at Indiana University.

CHRISTOPHER QUAID violin

Violinist Christopher Quaid is a Master’s graduate of the Royal College of Music, London. He previously graduated from the BA in Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. A deeply committed orchestral musician, he has performed with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra and more. 2018 saw him participate in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme under the baton of Marin Alsop. In 2016, Christopher was awarded the prestigious Irish Heritage Bursary which assisted his studies in London and will aid the development of his professional career.

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MARIA RYAN violin

Award-winning Irish violinist Maria Ryan is currently based in Kilkenny after nearly a decade in London. Maria moved to London in 2010, to lead the Southbank Sinfonia for the 2010 season and she has continued working as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician since. She worked extensively with orchestras in the UK, including the BBC Symphony and Concert Orchestras, the English Chamber Orchestra and others. She also continues to work with orchestras in Ireland including the RTÉ Orchestras and the Irish National Opera Orchestra. A keen chamber musician, Maria has performed in many chamber groups including the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Ireland, the Amarillo Trio, and in duo partnership with Una Hunt and Ciara Moroney. Maria recently joined the lecturing staff at the CIT Cork School of Music.

SARAH SEW violin

Sarah Sew is recipient of the Maisie Lewis Young Artists’ Fund Award. As a chamber musician and soloist Sarah has performed at festivals and in venues worldwide. Sarah has appeared as Guest Leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Irish National Opera Orchestra and English Symphony Orchestra to name but a few. She led the European Union Youth Orchestra on worldwide tours throughout Europe, the USA and Asia. Sarah is Head of Strings and Chamber Music at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Artistic Director of Beckett Chamber Music Series. Sarah studied at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar and Royal Academy of Music in London where she was recently elected as an Associate. Sarah plays a Gennaro Gagliano violin c.1760.

18 DAVID TOBIN violin

David Tobin has performed as a soloist with many orchestras at home and abroad, including the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, Sinfonieorchester Aachen, Kourion Orchester Münster, Poltava Symphony Orchestra and with the New York Concerti Sinfonietta in Carnegie Hall. He is currently undertaking his Master's degree in Cologne with Prof. Barnabas Kelemen. David is the most successful string player in the history of the Feis Ceoil, having won all junior and senior competitions. He was a prizewinner in international competitions in Romania, Estonia, France and Ukraine. Bursaries won include the NCH Young Musician Award, RTÉ Lyric FM Award, Alan Gillespie Ulster Bank Award (Clandeboye Festival). He gives solo recitals annually at the NCH and has appeared as a soloist on both Irish radio and television.

RÓISÍN WALTERS violin

Irish violinist Róisín Walters made her concerto debut at the age of 12 in the National Concert Hall. Her solo performances have brought her to such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Club New York, the Barbican Centre and Cadogan Hall. She was the winner of the inaugural Ernest Bloch Music Competition in London and first prize winner at the Stefan Milenkovich Violin Competition in Italy. She has had several concertos written for her and has given many world and European premieres of works by composers including Steve Reich, Raymond Deane and Tomas Marco. An avid chamber musician, Róisín is first violinist with the Liverpool String Quartet. She is Assistant Concertmaster with Britten Sinfonia and has performed as Guest Concertmaster with the Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Manchester Camerata.

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PHOEBE WHITE violin

At 22 years of age, Phoebe White has already embarked on an exciting career. A graduate of the Jacobs School of Music in Indiana, where she studied with Mauricio Fuks, she now studies under Carolin Widmann at the Hochschule for Music and Theatre Leipzig. She has performed as a soloist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, and Midlands Youth Orchestra of Ireland. She is the recipient of many awards including the National Concert Hall Young Musician Award, The Dublin Philharmonic Award, and the Flax Trust Bursary at the Clandeboye Festival. Also an avid chamber musician, Phoebe has performed at festivals including the Ortús Chamber Music Festival and the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, and recently toured Ireland with the Ophelia Quartet.

20 WEST CORK CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL 2020 FRIDAY 26 JUNE – SUNDAY 5 JULY BANTRY, CO. CORK, IRELAND

For updates and further information visit www.westcorkmusic.ie Image: Heather Betts ‘Chamber I, Ophelia’, 2017, 160 x 120 cm, oil on canvas. www.heatherbetts.net 21 CHAMBER MUSIC GATHERING 2020

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN [1770-1827]

String Quintet in C major Op. 29 [1801] 1. Allegro moderato 2. Adagio molto espressivo 3. Scherzo-Allegro 4. Presto

The few people who know about this marvellous work often refer to it as Opus 18 Number 7. This reflects both its close proximity in time to the Op. 18 quartets - it was written the following year - and the high standing of the work. There are comparatively few two-viola string quintets in the repertoire, but this medium actually occupied quite a large role in chamber music performance on account of numerous arrangements of other works.

Even before the publication of Op. 29, Beethoven appeared to have three quintets to his name. He had arranged his Wind Octet as a string quintet and published it as Op. 4. Both his Septet and First Symphony had been issued in unauthorised arrangements about which he publicly protested. Hoffmeister was the offending publisher of the unauthorised version of the Septet, which led the irate composer to announce that a new original quintet of his composition in C major Op. 29 would shortly appear from Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig. This happened again in 1817 when he was so infuriated by another unauthorised arrangement, this time of his C minor Piano Trio Op. 1/3 that he did one himself and published it as Op. 104.

For those of you of a literary bent, this arrangement plays a starring role in Vikram Seth's novel about a string quartet, An Equal Music. Beethoven uses the extra viola to give a great feeling of spaciousness in the work. This is immediately apparent from the broad, flowing melody of the opening bars. An important innovation is the remote key of A major that he uses for the lyrical second subject. But it is the opening motif that dominates the movement, sneaking back in with its hypnotic turn of phrase, seemingly at every opportunity. The elaborately decorated Adagio is equally expansive and after meandering quite gently for most of its course, suddenly takes on

22 a new seriousness just when you think he has said all he wants to say. The Scherzo and Trio are built with the same large-scale thematic material, though the movement is by far the shortest. The Finale is a dramatic tour de force that echoes Haydn’s joke last movements. Beethoven begins with a violent storm with tremolando lower parts, complete with flashes of lightning from a fiery first violin. The rhythmic complexity of the development adds to the drama until just as we expect the recapitulation, he punctures the atmosphere with a startling episode of an exaggerated four-square Andante con moto e scherzoso. As this fades away the storm resumes finally to be banished by the same tongue-in-cheek episode to even greater comic effect.

Programme notes by Francis Humphrys

ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV [1865-1936]

String Quintet in A major Op. 39 [1891-2] 1. Allegro 2. Scherzo: Allegro moderato 3. Andante sostenuto 4. Finale: Allegro moderato

Glazunov became famous in his teens when his First Symphony was performed to great acclaim in March 1882, conducted by Balakirev. Three years previously Balakirev had recommended that the talented boy, who was gifted with an exceptional ear and musical memory, should study composition privately with Rimsky-Korsakov. The lessons only lasted for two years because Rimsky-Korsakov discovered that Glazunov progressed not from day to day but from hour to hour. A lifelong friendship developed between the two and they were both members of the Belyayev Circleas (the group of Russian composers who met each Friday at the home of the wealthy Mitrofan Belyayev).

Belyayev devoted his immense fortune to furthering the careers of Glazunov and the younger generation of Russian composers, organising the Russian Symphony Concerts in St. Petersburg in 1885 and a music publishing

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business in Leipzig. In the early 1890s there was a considerable change in Glazunov’s style which can be seen as a moving away from his adherence to the traditions of the Russian musical classics by the composers known as ‘The Mighty Handful’ (Borodin, Cui, Musorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, led by Balakirev) towards the style of Anton Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky.

Briefly, ‘The Mighty Handful’ wished to follow in Glinka’s footsteps and create a distinctly Russian national school. By the 1880s this had been achieved and Rimsky-Korsakov then went his own way, allying himself and his followers with Belyayev and affecting a rapprochement with the West. Boris Schwarz neatly summed up Glazunov’s achievement: he succeeded in reconciling Russianism and Europeanism. He was the direct heir of Balakirev’s nationalism but tended more towards Borodin’s epic grandeur. At the same time he absorbed Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestral virtuosity, the lyricism of Tchaikovsky and the contrapuntal skill of Taneyev.

He wrote his String Quintet in 1891-2 and the changes in his style are evident in this work. During these years before the end of the century Glazunov wrote most of his string music to be played at the Friday evening socials at Belyayev’s home and it was usually in the form of single movements collected into suites. In the String Quintet he attempted to write a longer work showing evidence of greater concentration and embracing a more cosmopolitan view.

The first and third movements are particularly interesting for the way in which the prevailing lyrical mood gradually becomes more dramatic. At the beginning of the third movement the yearning solo cello melody is overwhelmed by dramatically tense chords played by the other instruments, and the melancholy mood does not brighten until near the end. The second movement begins pizzicato and is an animated and brilliant virtuoso piece with a lyrical trio in the middle. Glazunov wrote many scherzos, and this is one of the finest and wittiest of them all. The exuberant dance-like Finale contains a number of contrasting episodes in the manner of a rondo.

Programme notes by Sarah M. Burn

24 FRANZ SCHUBERT [1797–1828]

Octet in F major, D803 [1824] 1. Adagio–Allegro–Più allegro 2. Adagio 3. Allegro vivace–Trio 4. Andante 5. Menuetto, Allegretto–Trio 6. Andante molto–Allegro–Andante molto–Allegro molto

This magnificent Octet was commissioned by the talented amateur clarinettist, Count Ferdinand Troyer, and was clearly modelled on Beethoven’s Septet. In terms of sheer scale, the Octet far surpasses its predecessor and it constituted his most substantial completed chamber work, begging comparison with the size of his C major Symphony. Indeed Schubert considered the composition of the Octet and the two Quartets as part of a wider strategy to pave the way to composing a Grand Symphony to match Beethoven. All Vienna was then full of the imminent premiere of the Choral Symphony.

The Adagio introduction to the first movement is suitably solemn but tinged with melancholy. It is based on a dactylic rhythm associated with some of his more alienated Lieder. The motif reappears at the height of the recapitulation. The main theme, first heard on the clarinet, is outwardly light-hearted but has an insistent, dramatic quality, especially in the strings. The second subject is much livelier but is continually being interrupted. The sense of unease is most evident in the recapitulation where even the second subject begins to walk on the wild side. The coda is magnificent with the horn singing out over throbbing strings. The Adagio opens in a mood of contemplative calm led by the clarinet in drop-dead gorgeous mellow form. The beauty of this movement is intensified by that knowledge of the darkness that lies just below the surface. There is a long, languid transition to the second theme, which begins with threats of thunder in the lower strings. Eventually a variation of the opening theme returns and the process is recommenced in the same leisurely fashion until the mysterious coda is reached. Here the air of unhurried, Viennese calm is again disturbed by an

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intense air of disquiet in the strings, which the ever-cantabile clarinet cannot quite disperse.

The Scherzo is an irresistible dance; here Schubert's resounding joie de vivre is infectious. The Viennese loved to dance and Schubert was their dancing master. The tragedy was that they did not discover him until he was gone. The Andante is a set of seven variations on a theme Schubert lifted from the Singspiele Die Fremde von Salamanka written in happier days, nine years earlier. The variations are straightforward, tending to alternate fast and slow tempi and giving the lead to different instruments. The third is the most memorable giving the lead to the horn accompanied by pizzicato strings and a delightfully dancing violin. At the very end the coda restates the theme in the strings with the horn muttering urgently beneath. The courtly minuet has another ambivalent main theme given mostly by the strings, whereas the Trio is altogether more mobile and light-spirited. At the very end the horn and the strings let us glimpse the intensity the theme could reveal if allowed but the clarinet gently intervenes.

With the opening of the last movement the façade is finally stripped away and the forces of darkness are allowed to break through the gemütlich façade. It's as though Shostakovich had gate-crashed a children's fancy-dress party. Nothing less than total despair could be behind such anguished music – a hushed bass tremolando heralds a crashing orchestral outburst repeated – several times in motif-like fashion. The instruments are drawn into the main movement by the horn in a brave attempt to return to normality, but the bouncy theme gets driven closer to the edge by wild figures in the first violin and horn. Each time the music starts up again it gets more and more frantic until we are hurled again into the nightmare opening where the tremolandos are eerily foreshortened and barely recognisable. After this there is nothing left but a wild rush to the end.

Programme notes by Francis Humphrys

26 NIKOLAY RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908)

String Sextet in A major 1. Allegro vivace 2. Rondo fugato–Allegretto grazioso 3. Scherzo–Vivace alla saltarello 4. Andante espressivo 5. Finale–Allegro molto

A master of orchestration, Rimsky-Korsakov is probably best remembered for his colourful symphonic suite Sheherazade, his Capriccio espagnol and his Russian Easter Festival Overture. However, the composer’s considerable output also includes other symphonic works, sixteen operas, piano music and songs and a relatively small number of chamber works.

Born into a noble family in Tikhvin, some 120 miles east of St. Petersburg, – Rimsky-Korsakov learned music at home but, according to himself, he ‘played the piano badly, carelessly and was poor at keeping time’. Although composing from the age of ten, he preferred literature to music and from his reading, as well as hearing about his older brother (twenty-two years his senior) Voin’s exploits as navigator and explorer, he developed a ‘poetic love of the sea without having ever seen it’.

Maybe not surprisingly then, Rimsky-Korsakov joined the navy and studied at the School for Mathematical and Navigational Sciences in St Petersburg. But, during his time there, he continued his music lessons with the French-born pianist Théodore Canillé who introduced him to the young composers Mily Balakirev, César Cui and Modest Mussorgsky who were already well-known – and respected. Graduating from the naval school in 1862, Rimsky-Korsakov spent almost three years as a midshipman on board the military clipper Almaz enabling him to visit England, Canada and Argentina.

Back in St. Petersburg, Rimsky-Korsakov’s onshore duties consisted mainly of a few hours clerical duty each day. This left time to resume his contact with Balakirev who encouraged him greatly telling him to ‘get accustomed

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to music’ and ‘plunge into it’. Rimsky-Korsakov followed this advice and was soon one of the group that became known as ‘The Five’ – Balakirev, Borodin, Cui, Mussorgsky and himself. They promoted the idea of creating a distinctively Russian school of composition.

In 1871, while retaining his post in the naval service, Rimsky-Korsakov also became professor of practical composition and instrumentation at the St. Petersburg conservatory. Two years later the navy created the post of inspector of naval bands and appointed the composer as collegiate assessor but allowed him to keep his role in the conservatory.

Wearing his navy hat, Rimsky-Korsakov travelled extensively throughout Russia visiting naval bands, supervising bandmasters, reviewing band repertoire and improving the quality of band instruments. He continued in this position until 1884 when it was abolished. After this Rimsky-Korsakov studied Russian Orthodox Church music, taught classes at the court chapel and wrote a treatise on harmony.

In the meantime - 1873 - he had married the pianist/composer Nadezhda Purgold (1848-1919). Besides bearing him seven children, she was his constant support and a most demanding critic of his work. This made Balakirev wonder if her influence was turning Rimsky-Korsakov away from the original ideals of ‘The Five’.

The String Sextet in today’s programme dates from 1876 and resulted from a competition organised by the Imperial Russian Musical Society for a chamber music piece. Founded by Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna and Anton Rubinstein in 1859, the Society was the first music school in Russia open to the general public. In conjunction with his Sextet, Rimsky-Korsakov also submitted a Quintet for piano and winds but neither work was considered worthy of the prize although the Sextet did receive an ‘honourable mention’.

In his autobiography Rimsky-Korsakov commented on the piece as follows, ‘My Sextet shaped itself into five movements. In it I strove less for counterpoint, but the second movement (Allegretto scherzando) I wrote in the form of a very complicated six-part fugue, and I found it very successful as to technique. It resulted in a double fugue, even with counterpoint. In the trio

28 of the Scherzo (third movement) I also made use of the form of a three-part fugue for the first violin, the first viola and the first cello in tarantella time, while the other instruments play the accompaniment to the fugue continuously in pizzicato chords. With a very ingenious accompaniment, the Adagio proved melodious; [but] the first and fifth movements gave me less satisfaction. Taken all in all, the work was technically good, but I still was not myself’.

The first movement is somewhat reminiscent of Dvorˇák in its cello-led melody and its dancing pizzicati. Becoming the principal theme, this is then passed between the instruments. An equally attractive second subject is notable for its charm and grace. The development of both ideas is relatively short with a contrapuntal section leading to a climax. The recapitulation favours the main theme before a brief coda brings the movement to a close.

The six-part Rondo Fugato is just as it implies while the Scherzo is a kind of blending between the related Italian tarantella and saltarello dances. The movement is characterised by 6/8 time and agitated effects and, as the composer mentioned, there is a three-part fugal Trio after which the Scherzo is repeated.

Led by the first cello’s mellow cantilena, the Andante espressivo is really the heart of the Sextet. The main theme is sensitively developed into a nocturne- like movement where there are complex counter melodies and richly embroidered phrases as the theme shifts between the players. The Finale is something of a virtuoso flourish with its theme bouncing back and forth between the musicians as well as being heard in unison from time to time. A short coda brings the piece to a sparkling conclusion.

Programme notes by Pat O’Kelly

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WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART [1756-1791]

String Quintet in D major K.593 1. Larghetto-Allegro 2. Adagio 3. Menuetto-Allegretto 4. Allegro

We have all been brought up on the idea of Mozart spending his last years in abject poverty, ignored by the city that once had feted him. This could not be further from the truth. In the autumn of 1790 he was able to borrow enough money to finance a trip in his own coach (‘my carriage, I should like to give it a kiss, is simply wonderful’) to Frankfurt to attend the coronation of Leopold as Emperor. While he was gone, Constanze moved the family into a new apartment in Vienna, which was spacious enough for a study, a private billiard room as well as a living room large enough for house concerts. There was also a courtyard where he could stow his beloved coach and stabling for his horse.

It was in this apartment at Rauhensteingasse that the legendary first reading of the D major Quintet took place, with Mozart and Haydn on violas and Johann Tost on violin. Tost had once been principal second violinist in Haydn's Esterhazy orchestra, but thanks to an inheritance, had become a businessman, rich enough to commission two quintets from Mozart. This was just before Haydn's departure on his first celebrated trip to England. Mozart had declined to go because he could not bear to be apart from Constanze, who was not well enough to travel, and anyhow he had more than enough work to keep him in the style to which he was accustomed.

In the next year he was to compose and perform two major operas - both highly successful, his last two concertos, a whole series of German Dances for the Imperial Court, another string quintet, the motet Ave Verum Corpus, ten minor works including cantatas and, lastly, the Requiem. When he died,

30 Mozart was at the height of his fame, his prospects had never been better and his genius was undimmed - but he had little ready cash, thus the myth of his poverty.

So that evening in December 1790, when the five musical friends sat down to play through Mozart's latest composition, must have been a joyful and memorable occasion for all of them. Mozart had only recently completed his three Prussian Quartets with their special emphasis on the instrument of the cello-playing King Frederick of Prussia, so this might account for the prominence of the cello in the amazing Larghetto opening to the Quintet.

This introduction consists of a series of six spread chords played solo by the cello with answers from the four upper strings, as if to say that the cello can lead the ensemble just as well as the first violin. The exposition of the subsequent Allegro generates a continuous flow of energy, which is emphasised in the short development. After the recapitulation, Mozart brings back the opening Larghetto in a different modulation, followed by a short coda. In the opening bars of the lovely Adagio, the Larghetto is recalled with a downward-curving motif that keeps re-appearing as a talisman amongst the following episodes. However, the heart of this movement is a series of ecstatic dialogues between first violin and cello. The minuet is sturdy and compact, while the trio enters another more rarefied realm. The finale is an exhilarating exercise in five-part polyphony, a dazzling exhibition of Mozart's mature mastery.

Programme notes by Francis Humphrys

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PAUL HINDEMITH [1895-1963]

Clarinet QuintetOp.30 [1923/54] 1. Sehr lebhaft 2. Ruhig 3. Schneller Ländler 4. Arioso: Sehr ruhig 5. Sehr lebhaft

Hindemith was one of the composers the Nazis labelled as degenerate. Most of the so-called Entartete Musik was written by composers who were banned simply on racial grounds, but Hindemith’s offence was entirely musical. Any music the Nazis disapproved of was labelled atonal (even if it was not), un- German and therefore degenerate, as Rosenberg put it the whole atonal movement is contradictory to the rhythm of blood and soul of the German nation. The performance of his music in Nazi Germany was unofficially banned and the press under Goebbel’s direction mounted a vitriolic attack on him, which led to Furtwängler’s famous defence of him – ‘Where will it lead if we begin to apply the methods of political denunciation to art?’

For a long time Hindemith seemed to think that the Nazis were a temporary phenomenon and in 1935 he took refuge with a teaching post in Turkey, presumably hoping that the German people would come to their senses. However, when his educational treatise The Craft of Musical Composition ended up in the famous exhibition of Entartete Musik in 1938, he realised it was time to go. In September 1938 he finally left Germany and moved to Switzerland, still reluctant to leave German-speaking Europe altogether and he only moved to the United States in 1940.

Hindemith’s Clarinet Quintet was composed in 1923, directly notated to instrumental parts for a performance with the Amar String Quartet. Composed during a period of frantic activity in Hindemith’s life that saw him play over a hundred concerts a year as violist with the Amar Quartet, it was not until 1954 that Hindemith published a score for the work, including some major revisions.

32 Like many of Hindemith’s works the Clarinet Quintet is something of an anachronism, a medley of compositional languages, simultaneously dark and comic, yet magnificent fun for the listener. Based on a cyclical structure and played without a break, the quintet opens with a highly quirky and animated theme that sees a repeated melodic motif passed back and forward between the strings and clarinet. The second movement presents a slow and languid passage for strings; their wandering atonality ameliorated by the clear and animated melodies of the clarinet, its tone tentatively teasing the strings into brighter sentiments.

The central movement uses the E-flat soprano clarinet, normally confined to orchestral and marching band music. Its mood is raucous, the clarinet soaring high and flighty over bold, swaggering string passages. The Arioso is an accompanied song for first violin, its sensuous melody gliding with ease over ominous pizzicato, the clarinet offering no more than occasional legato interruptions to punctuate the quartet. The concluding Sehr lebhaft is the retrograde form of the first movement, reflective of the same musical events; a surreal recapitulation that spins us around and spits us out exactly where we started.

Programme notes by Fíacha O’ Dúbhda

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PYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY [1840-1893]

String Sextet in D minor Op.70 [1890-92] 1. Allegro con spirito 2. Adagio cantabile e con moto 3. Allegretto moderato 4. Allegro vivace

Tchaikovsky lived an incredibly restless life, forever wanting to be where he was not and forever travelling in search of a goal he could never reach, not unlike Schubert’s famous Wanderer. As soon as a work had been written and premiered, he would wash his hands of it and flee to another city or country retreat or even another country. So after the premiere of Sleeping Beauty, he fled from Moscow to Europe, ending up in Florence, where he set about composing The Queen of Spades. He completed this remarkably quickly and then returned to Russia to orchestrate it. Despite being totally exhausted by this enormous creative effort, he immediately turned to honouring a four- year-old commission for a string sextet from the St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society. He found this very hard going, the problem being not a lack of ideas, but the complexity of the form, there must be six independent yet compatible voices. Nonetheless the work was finished in less than six weeks, though he later revised it after an unsuccessful first performance. There is almost nothing Italian about the work except that he outlined the Adagio theme while he was in Florence.

The first movement had two contrasting ideas; a vigorous, rhythmically dominating first subject and a more submissive and lyrical second subject. However, the tension in the movement comes from the sense of the writing straining at the limitations of the form. Tchaikovsky claimed that he felt he was writing for a string orchestra and then arranging it for six solo instruments, so it is doubly curious that the string orchestra version has none of the charm and immediacy of the chamber version. The justly famous Adagio opens with some forbidding chords before the gorgeous tune steals in on the first violin above a pizzicato raindrop accompaniment. Tchaikovsky unashamedly milks

34 his theme for every teardrop he can get. There’s a brief shuddering central section after which the theme returns to huge effect in the cello before being joined by the violin. The coda is most moving for as the end approaches, every last note becomes more precious as the theme is gradually swamped by the raindrops. The Scherzo begins gently, but once the motto theme has been announced it soon warms up and becomes almost aggressive and even the hugely energetic Trio is swallowed up as soon as the Scherzo theme returns. At the end he uses Beethoven’s old trick of pretending to repeat the Trio and then foiling your expectation with a single resounding chord. The contrapuntal finale really does try to take upon itself the mantle of a full string band as the six voices combine individually and collectively in a triumphant blaze of sound.

Programme notes by Francis Humphrys

35 Emanuel Ax

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Joyce DiDonato Natalie Clein

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