27 NOVEMBER THURSDAY SERIES 4 Helsinki Music Centre at 19 Heinz Holliger, conductor Christian Gerhaher, baritone The Key Ensemble, coach Teemu Honkanen Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Maurerische Trauermusik 6 min J. S. Bach: Cantata no. 82 “Ich habe genug” 24 min Oboe solo Heinz Holliger Joseph Haydn: Symphony no. 44 in E minor “Mourning” 22 min I Allegro con brio II Menuetto III Adagio IV Finale – Presto INTERVAL 20 min Jan Dismas Zelenka: Lamentationes pro die 16 min Mercurii Sancto Heinz Holliger: Eisblumen 8 min J. S. Bach: Cantata no. 56 20 min “Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen” Oboe solo Heinz Holliger Interval at about 20.00. The concert ends at about 21.20. 1 WOLFGANG AMADEUS JOHANN SEBASTIAN MOZART (1756–1791): BACH (1865–1750): “ICH MAURERISCHE HABE GENUG” BWV 82 TRAUERMUSIK (MASONIC FUNERAL Bach composed few solo cantatas, but that intended for Candlemas, Ich habe MUSIC) KV 477 genug, was one of his most popular vo- cal works during his lifetime already. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was admit- It dates from 1727 and was originally ted to the Masonic lodge called “Zur scored for bass and oboe obligato, but Wohltätigkeit” (Beneficence) in 1784 Bach later arranged a version for sopra- and the following year composed some no and mezzo-soprano, with a flute as funeral music in memory of two fel- the solo instrument. low-Masons. It was the work of an ap- The opening aria (Ich habe genug) prentice wishing to prove his worth as has an elegiac sense of renunciation a new member of the lodge. Numerous in the accompanying string motif, the manuscript versions of the music have solo woodwind adding a brilliant, soul- been preserved, which suggests that ful touch. The singer announces his or it was often performed at Masonic her readiness to take leave of this world events. The music reflects the view of and accept redemption, and Bach death Mozart had expressed in his last shows the way in the most symbolical letter to his dying father, Leopold, in of Baroque devices. 1787. By repeating the opening words (Ich The “journey to the eternal orient” habe genug), the following recitative expressed in the Funeral Music is ac- seeks to strengthen the resolve and to companied by splendid wind choirs, serve as a reminder of Simeon’s exam- basset horns and all, to a backdrop of ple. Death, in Schlummert ein, appears strings. The melody is that of the Te as a friend, tenderly preparing the final Decet hymn of Mozart’s friend Michael resting place. The structure of the aria Haydn, which was in turn descended is surprisingly complex: the long pedal from the medieval Tonus peregrinus notes in the accompaniment, the long or “Pilgrim’s Chant”. Mozart’s Funeral pauses and rests look ahead to eternal Music seeks to endorse the ideal of rest. brotherhood and to symbolise the By the recitative Mein Gott! Wenn transition from death to a new life. kommt das schöne: Nun! the singer is After a gloomy C minor, the work ends getting impatient and ready to bid on a magical major chord. the world good night. The dance-like instrumental accompaniment to the closing aria Ich freue mich reflects joy in the face of death. In embroidering on the theme, the singer has shaken off the mortal sorrows of the world. 2 JOSEPH HAYDN by his classical elegance to produce a subdued but intimate image of a hu- (1732–1809): manist composer. SYMPHONY NO. 44 IN E Any thoughts of peace are swept MINOR “MOURNING” away by the unison theme of the fina- le. Determined and unyielding, it again leaves no room for contrasting themes. Joseph Haydn probably wrote his Only shortly before the end does the Symphony no. 44 while at Esterháza, mood let up a little before the gloomy in 1770–1771. The label “Mourning” unison motif hammers the final nails was added later. Haydn is said to have into the coffin. asked for the slow movement to be played at his funeral and it is known to have been performed at least in a com- memorative concert in Berlin in 1809. JAN DISMAS The opening unison statement of the ZELENKA (1679–1745): first movement is unusually brusque, and the main theme on the violins LAMENTATIONES PRO sounds weary and desolate. Though DIE MERCURII SANCTO Haydn puts up a furious fight in the ZWV 53:1 development, not one of the subsidi- ary themes is able to detract from the mournful undercurrent of the main Zelenka’s Lamentationes pro die Mercurii theme. The unison theme returns at Sancto (Lamentations for Maundy the end in a ghostly pianissimo and the Thursday) refers to the ceremony of main theme makes an almost desper- Tenebrae (meaning ‘shadows’ or ‘dark- ate dash for the finish. ness’) on Maundy Thursday. As its text The Minuet is far-removed from the it takes the Lamentation for the de- ballroom, sneaking along in octaves in struction of Jerusalem in which the a bare canon (Canone in Diapason). The Lord appears at His most severe. The mood, painted in pianissimo shades, last verse reminds that those who suf- again evokes an air of sorrow, but the fer most from the evils of the world Trio section in E major with its fall- are the innocent: “Her oppressors have ing rays of light on the strings and its gained supremacy, her enemies are French horns rising to the heights pro- enriched; the Lord has pronounced vides a fleeting spark of hope. concerning her, concerning her many, The slow movement is calm and col- many sins; her children are led into lected. The muted violins and resonant captivity, driven in front of the oppres- wind choirs give this restrained move- sor.” ment a feeling of quiet dignity. Haydn Instead of an aria-and-recitative such found plenty to lament. The mournful was typical of the Baroque, Zelenka moods of the Adagio are kept in check chose a sort of through-composed 3 mode with alternating arioso passages, and 1985. Historical allusions hover like recitatives and orchestral interludes. In modernist ghosts behind the taut ex- accordance with historical practice, he pression. The performance of the work also sets to music the Hebrew letters at the Helsinki Biennale in 1989 still of the alphabet prefacing the head- haunts the audience’s minds, but many ing and parts to form preludes rich in of the movements also work well on melisma. The first Lamentation in the their own. set is the gloomiest – a harshly chro- Eisblumen (Ice Flowers) is one matic plunge into a world of darkness of Holliger’s Exercises for Scar­ that has lost its faith and righteous- da nelli for small orchestra, ness. “com ments, mirrors, responses, margi- The bass soloist seems to be seek- nalia” to Hölderlin’s The Seasons. The ing out pinpoints of light in the text natural flageolet notes and intervals cre- and, when discovering one, to indulge ate an active yet stagnant or “frozen” in spectacular coloraturas. The end is a world of harmony. Frozen into it is a ref- separate epilogue, a bleak contrapuntal erence to Bach’s chorale Komm o Tod, du command to forsake the ungodly go- Schlafes Bruder at the end of the cantata ings-on (Jerusalem convertere). The final Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen. major chord carries a ray of hope. JOHANN SEBASTIAN HEINZ HOLLIGER BACH: ICH WILL DEN (1939–): EISBLUMEN KREUZSTAB GERNE (FROM THE TRAGEN, BWV 56 SCARDANELLI CYCLE) Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his solo Heinz Holliger is not only one of the cantata Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tra­ most versatile oboists in the world to- gen in Leipzig in 1726 for performance day; he is also one of the most inter- on the 19th Sunday after Trinity. The esting composers of the latter half of text by an anonymous poet relies the 20th century. He studied composi- in places on Bach’s contemporaries’ tion in Switzerland with Sandor Veress knowledge of the Bible, but the meta- and in Paris with Pierre Boulez, but his phor running through the work – life aesthetic has also been moulded by his as a pilgrim’s progress across the sea experiences of Baroque repertoire and, – dates from the Middle Ages already. for example, the music of Schumann. The trials of life are voiced in the The poetic fragments written by opening, title aria already. The or- Friedrich Hölderlin under the nom de chestra’s ritornello seems to proceed plume of Scardanelli were set to mu- through rocky waters; a tortured inter- sic by Heinz Holliger between 1975 val taunts the bass soloist on the word 4 ‘Kreuzstab’ (cross) and the weight of HEINZ HOLLIGER the cross is portrayed in the long word ‘tragen’ (carry) with its melismata. Bach varies his themes as the text proceeds Equally renowned as an oboist, com- in a more optimistic direction, finally poser and conductor, Heinz Holliger shifting to a new metre and crystallis- studied the oboe in Bern and Paris. In ing the idea of hope in the words allud- the early 1960s he enrolled as a compo- ing to Revelation 7:17: “And God shall sition student of Pierre Boulez. wipe away all tears from their eyes.” As a conductor, Holliger has worked In his accompanied recitative the with many great orchestras the singer describes his life as a journey world over. These have included the on board ship with God’s mercy as his Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, the anchor. Having reached the gates of London Philharmonia, the Amsterdam Heaven, he continues in a secco recita- Concertgebouw Orchestra, the tive (a ‘dry’ mode of singing with a free Cleveland Symphony and the European rhythm dictated by the accents of the Chamber Orchestra.