3–7 February Perth ADVENTURES IN MUSIC Aberdeen Edinburgh Dumfries Chamber Glasgow Notes with Marianne Thorsen guest director and violin Programme welcome to Chamber Notes Programme Performers Hello Part One Guest Director & Violin 35 mins approx. I’m delighted to be The universal language Marianne Thorsen playing with the of music can contribute wonderful Scottish so much to bringing in E-flat major Scottish Ensemble Ensemble for the first people closer together. time, celebrating the 1 Allegro moderato ma Violin of Today, more than ever, it con fuoco Tristan Gurney Mendelssohn and is good to be reminded 2 Andante Cheryl Crockett Enescu. just how much we all 3 : Allegro leggierissimo Liza Johnson have in common and 4 Presto Described as “the how invaluable music is Viola music of friends” by to mankind. Interval* Jane Atkins Richard Walthew in Andrew Berridge 1909, chamber music I hope our performances Part Two can inspire our deepest will stimulate, refresh and 45 mins approx. Cello emotions, reflections and invigorate all who share Alison Lawrance thoughts – and no better and participate, both Naomi Pavri explored than through audiences and musicians Octet for Strings in C major these two magnificent alike – all of us brought works – the exotic and together as ‘friends’ 1 Très modéré *no interval in Perth expansive soundscape of through this most 2 Très fougueux All timings are approximate. Enescu’s String Octet, intimate form of musical 3 Lentement Programme order correct at time set against the ever- expression. Enjoy! 4 Mouvement de valse of printing; any changes will be popular Mendelssohn bien rythmé announced from the stage. Octet which is packed full of rich melodies, and brimming with youthful Marianne Thorsen exuberance and flair. Guest director

Chamber Notes programme February 2020 | scottishensemble.co.uk NOTES ON THE MUSIC

Felix Mendelssohn heard at one of these parties The first movement, which George Enescu In Vienna in the 1880s and cast of some of it melodies. in front of – speculation, of lasts almost as long as the 1890s he crossed paths with (1809 – 1847) (1881 – 1955) course – a seriously impressed others combined, is marked to composers whose work defined Apparently, this octet was hard crowd. be played ‘with fire’ – and it the later 19th century: Brahms won. The longest movement (whose influence is plain and comes in around 13 minutes, String Octet in brims with a barely-contained, Octet for Strings strong in his early work) and and the musical conception E-flat major But, age aside, why is building energy from those in C major Mendelssohn’s octet so eager opening bars. Mahler, as well such new of the whole is imagined on a Opus 20 | Composed 1825 Opus 7 | Composed 1900 celebrated? There’s the fact that radicals as Arnold Schoenberg grand scale. It took four years not many previous examples The song-like sway of the (also a strikingly audible to complete, and Enescu wrote influence here) and Otmar that “no engineer putting his It’s nice to know, when existed. Schubert’s Octet in F second movement acts as a This octet is another Schoeck. first suspension bridge across a listening to this octet, major, published the previous contrasting, slightly mournful, work of youthful genius river can have agonized more that Mendelssohn had “a year, was the main precursor, diversion, before the beautifully – though by the time He was also formed at the time than I did as I gradually filled lovely time writing it”. although it was written for light, lightning-quick chase he came to write it at strings and wind instruments. of the third (which his sister the age of 19, George that Nationalist fascination my manuscript paper with claimed to be inspired by a with the folk music of different notes.” He was just 16 years old, a Enescu was a veteran. Then there’s the sheer scene from Goethe’s play, Faust, nations was taking diverse fact that will always remain inventiveness with which the and does seem to have an directions in concert music – For a young composer, it impressive considering the part He was born in Romania, but young composer blended eight element of impish fantasy to it). from the kitsch of a thousand is a bold and ambitious it forms of his legacy: it’s now began studying violin at the instrumental lines to create a gypsy dance encores, to undertaking. The engineering considered to be amongst his Vienna Conservatoire at the whole that feels more like a The final movement, starting serious efforts both to preserve metaphor is very apt, because most accomplished pieces, and age of seven. By his late teens mini symphony than a work for like a continuation of the endangered oral traditions and while each movement in this a clear, enduring favourite in he had revealed notable gifts a small group of players. chase, shows off the composer’s draw deep inspiration from piece is conceived in its own the chamber music repertoire. including formidable technical compositional studies of the them. Enescu was not an ethno- right, they also join together powers as performer and He did outline this intention fugues of Handel and Bach, musicological collector of the to form an organic whole. The Mendelssohn family composer and an astonishing explicitly in a written note on but with an accessible lightness. ardour of a Bartók, Kodaly or You can hear this in the great were a known entity in the musical memory. Later, the the score: “it is to be played As the busy, bustling lines Vaughan Williams. If anything, care Enescu takes with the intellectual and cultural circles cellist Pablo Casals would in symphonic style by all the combine in an explosion of he suffered all his life from junctions between movements, of Berlin, hosting dinners for claim that he was the most instruments; the pianos and exuberance to end the piece, having created too successful a especially the third and fourth those involved in the city’s phenomenal genius since fortes must be very precisely we’re reminded of perhaps the pair of picturesque Romanian movements, but also in the way artistic and philosophical life. Mozart. differentiated and be more simplest reason why this piece is Rhapsodies: “I am absolutely that he structures his material. There were also their regular strongly emphasised than so popular: it’s joyful, fun, and fed up with them,” he said late The last movement draws Sunday ‘musicales’, cosy As he was born in 1881, usual”. utterly enjoyable. in life, “especially the first”. themes from all the previous gatherings in their front room Enescu’s formative years fell Instead, this octet reflects the movements into its ‘valse bien at which their young son would at the transition between two Performed as the composer musical elements of his home rythmé’ and develops them for be encouraged to premiere his strongly defined eras: the directed, the whole thing does country in a more oblique way, a last time. compositions, amongst other waning of the Romantic age seem to have the energy of through its modal harmonies performances. It’s thought this and the birth of the Modern. something larger than it is. Programme note by Rosie Davies and the angular, asymmetric Programme note by Einar Andersen piece would have been first

Chamber Notes programme February 2020 | scottishensemble.co.uk

[Rosie Davies] THE PERFORMERS

Delve deeper... 50 years of If you’re interested in the full and fascinating history of adventures in... Scottish Ensemble, written by one of our dedicated – and eloquent! – supporters, go to scottishensemble.co.uk chamber and search for music ‘history’

Across our 2019/20 There’s something about the nature of chamber music season, we’re celebrating that has always struck a chord with SE. Sitting – or, rather, a significant anniversary. standing – as we do at the crossroads between a chamber Whilst each event in our group and a full orchestra, whether there are four or twelve programme is a subtle people on stage, each musician always occupies a double nod to an element role, somehow band member and soloist at the same time. from our past, it’s also a celebration of what And this is what chamber music so directly allows and, the Leopold String Trio from Marianne Thorsen Scottish Ensemble we’re all about today: likely, why it appeals so deeply. This opportunity to strike 1991–2006, touring extensively the personality of up an intimate and direct conversation, musically, with the and appearing at BBC Proms One of Norway’s Scotland’s pioneering the group, the things people we’re playing with as well as those listening; the as well as numerous festivals. leading soloists and string orchestra. that intrigue us most quite amazing feeling of trust and unspoken understanding She has also performed with chamber musicians. about music, and the that occurs during this more exposed and exposing type a range of eminent artists, questions that make us of performance... It’s not only enjoyable, but useful. from pianists Håvard Gimse Scottish Ensemble (SE) is the most curious about Everything we learn from playing with four, or eight, and Leif Ove Andsnes to Hailing from Trondheim, a collective of outstanding its place in our lives. players then infuses how we play as a larger group; how we violist . Marianne enjoys a musicians, championing interpret the music, the audience, and each other. varied musical life as a music for strings across Other notable projects include performer. As a soloist, she Scotland, the UK and the regular collaborations with has performed with the world. Through curious, Norway’s renowned string Philharmonia Orchestra, adventurous collaborations 1969 1990 1998 orchestra Trondheim Soloists, BBC Symphony Orchestra, with musicians, artists, with whom she recorded We were founded in 1969 when Chamber music is easier to In 1998, SE began a series of City of Birmingham theatre-makers, scientists, Mozart’s third, fourth Kinross-shire multi-arts festival transport than a symphony! As chamber music concerts at Symphony, Orchestre de and our audiences, we create Ledlanet Nights needed a small SE’s reputation grew, so did the London’s excitingly prestigious and fifth Violin Concertos la Suisse Romande, all and present exhilarating string ensemble to perform in desire to take professional-level Wigmore Hall as part of its to great critical acclaim, the Norwegian orchestras live music experiences. their Baroque operas. Our music to places where there Sunday Coffee Morning series. winning the Norwegian performances very quickly grew was less access to it. Highlights Across the years, we performed and many of the major Our projects regularly Spellemann prize in 2006. to include chamber music of include an annual music festival some very memorable concerts orchestras in Scandinavia. cross genres, styles, musical all kinds, with a particularly on Arran (in the late 1990s) and with some very talented 2011–2014 also saw the periods and art forms to open memorable one of Beethoven’s performances on Skye, Mull and musicians, from pianist release of five CDs of music With a particular passion for up ideas on how classical Razumovsky quartets with our Shetland, amongst many other Alasdair Beatson to mezzo- by Halvorsen and Svendsen founder Leonard Friedman nooks and crannies across the soprano Sophie Harmsen. chamber music, Marianne music can be performed, on the Chandos label, with dressed in full 19th-century Scottish mainland. was leader of London’s shared and enjoyed, and on Viennese garb... Thorsen as soloist alongside internationally-renowned Nash how it can help to navigate the Bergen Philharmonic Ensemble from 2000–2015 the world around us. and Neeme Järvi. and a founder member of

Chamber Notes programme February 2020 | scottishensemble.co.uk OUR SUPPORTERS

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