JOURNEY THROUGH MUSIC Saturday 1 April, 7.30pm John Harbison Remembering Gatsby (7 mins) Samuel Barber Violin Concerto (23 mins) Interval: 20 mins Sergey Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2 (55 mins) BBC Philharmonic James Feddeck conductor James Ehnes violin ARE YOU READY TO BEGIN YOUR MUSICAL JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY? Our Journey Through Music scheme at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall is an affordable and enjoyable introduction to the world of concert-going and classical music. For young people and children from the age of 8, our special scheme is aimed at making our concerts easily accessible for families and anybody who wants to discover orchestral music or to explore it further. Ready to begin? Join us on this musical journey and discover the unforgettable world of classical music. Three performances will feature a pre-concert session suitable for all ages – but every concert in the 2016/17 season is available at a special family-ticket price. Plus – choose your seat anywhere in the house for the same price: • £7 for children aged 16 and under • £12 for accompanying adults • £35 family ticket, for 4 people (maximum of 2 adults) These prices include a £2 booking fee so you know there’s no extra costs when you book – just be sure to book in advance as these are not available on the day. Share your experience using the hashtag #MyJTM illustrations:All Wright/Nucco Brain Ben AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ORCHESTRA WHAT IS AN THE CONDUCTOR ORCHESTRA? The person in charge is usually the But there’s more to it than this. The An orchestra is a group of instrumental conductor, who stands at the front and conductor can also help to reveal the players who perform together, usually led directs the orchestra from a podium, changing moods of the music. If they can by a conductor. keeping time either by waving a short create a strong musical image for the stick, called a baton, or sometimes just listener, the effect can make us feel all The modern symphony orchestra usually with his or her hands. One of the earliest sorts of emotions: happiness, sadness, has somewhere between 60 and 90 conductors, the Italian-born Frenchman fear, pride and everything in between. players: around 30 violins, 12 violas, Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–87), kept his The music might energise you, or it might 10 cellos, eight double basses; two or orchestra together by banging a big stick make you feel you’ve fallen into a dream. three each of flutes, oboes, clarinets and on the floor, but one day he accidentally bassoons; four horns, three trumpets, stabbed his foot and soon afterwards died three trombones, a tuba, a harp and an of gangrene. It’s not as dangerous these assortment of percussion instruments. days! You can find out more about the instruments, and where they sit, on Part of the conductor’s job is to show the next two pages after this. the beat (or pulse) of the music so that all the musicians play together in time. He or she also signals when individual musicians or groups have to start or stop playing. All the time conductors are listening to the overall sound- balance, and altering it, to make sure that the important instruments don’t get drowned out by less important ones. Otherwise, like lots of people talking loudly at the same time, the result would be chaos! 1 All illustrations:All Wright/Nucco Brain Ben THE ORCHESTRA O N STAGE Most orchestras have a similar seating plan, with the strings at the front, the woodwind behind them and the brass and percussion further back still. PERCUSSION The percussion section sits at the back of the orchestra and centres around the timpani, or kettledrums – between two and four copper drums. They have pedals, which alter BRASS their pitch (or notes). The bass drum is hit with just one Like the strings and woodwind, the brass family has stick; while the metal cymbals are clashed together, often four groups. There are French horns (usually four), when the music gets very loud. The side-drum is a small instruments once associated with hunting, while military drum that can play very quietly or very loudly the trumpets came from military bands, and often indeed. Sometimes composers ask for a variety of other have fanfare-like parts. Trombones are played with percussion instruments, such as the xylophone, the a movable slide but, in spite of their size, they can marimba or even whistles, whips and sirens. play amazingly fast notes; and finally the enormous tuba makes the deepest notes of all. STRINGS WOODWIND String players sit at the front in a semi-circle, The woodwind section sits behind the strings, often in two rows. usually with the violins on the left and the There are four different instruments, usually in pairs, but in bigger cellos on the right. Each of the string sections orchestras there can be up to three or four players of each (and also the woodwind, brass and percussion instrument. The metal flutes produce a high, bright, silvery sound. sections) has a principal, who leads the The piccolo is like a small flute and plays very high up.Oboes are section. The strings divide into four sections: black wooden instruments with a detachable reed, which gives them violins, violas, cellos and double basses. The a distinctive sharp-edged sound. Before a concert starts, the whole violins are subdivided into first violins and orchestra tunes up to the note ‘A’ sounded by the Principal Oboe. second violins, with the Firsts generally having A bigger, lower version of the oboe is the cor anglais, or ‘English horn’. a slightly more difficult and brilliant part. Clarinets have a more hollow, woody sound. The lowest-sounding Violas are bigger than violins, with a deeper, member of its family is the bass clarinet. The lowest woodwind mellower sound. The cellos have a rounded, instrument is the bassoon, which is long and heavy and has to be bass sound. The huge double basses (which supported by a sling round the player’s neck. The contra-bassoon are played standing up, or perched on a high is so long that it’s bent double. Occasionally a piece will need extra stool) add depth to the string sound. The instruments, such as the saxophone, which is more usually found in harp is played with fingers instead of a bow, a jazz band. and it has a series of complicated pedals that change its pitch (or notes). BRASS CH HORNS TRUMPETS FREN T ROM BON WOODWIND ES T UB AS NI PA IM T PERCUSSION LS A B UTES OBOES CL M FL ARIN Y ETS C B AS SO O N S OND EC V HARPS S LINS IOLA IO S V C T S E DOUBLE S N L R I L STRINGS I L O BASSES F O S I V TONIGHT'S MUSIC John Harbison (born 1938) What to listen for Remembering Gatsby (1986) • Mystery: at first, the music is stormy and passionate and the whole orchestra plays. It’s hard to forget – like a dark Have you ever read F Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel The shadow over the whole piece. Great Gatsby? It’s set in America in the 1920s, where Jay • Let’s Dance: OK, so this looks like an orchestra – but Gatsby has it all. He’s young, handsome, a millionaire and owns it sounds as if Harbison has hidden a whole 1920s a luxurious house where he throws amazing parties, with dance band among the players. Listen out for a smooth cocktails and jazz bands (jazz was the music everyone danced foxtrot tune, played by the soprano saxophone and the to in the 1920s). But there’s something mysterious about shimmering, sizzling sound of the suspended cymbal. And him, too. It’s a fabulous, fascinating story, and the American if you find your feet tapping, that’s great! composer John Harbison turned it into an opera in 1999. • Surprises: not everything’s quite right – weird sounds keep appearing. Harbison said he wanted the orchestra While he was planning the opera, though, Harbison had lots to sound like old-fashioned telephones and car horns, and of different musical ideas – and this is one of them, from 1986. there’s something else too, a funny wobbling sound. That’s He called it a ‘foxtrot for orchestra’ (the foxtrot was a hugely the flexatone – played by one of the percussion section. popular dance in the 1920s – you might have seen people doing them on Strictly Come Dancing) and it’s a bit like a dance at one of Gatsby’s parties. But it’s also a portrait of a mysterious What else could I listen to? man. That’s the great thing about music – like Gatsby himself, it American composers love travelling back in time to the 1920s! can be two things at once! Try another ‘foxtrot for orchestra’ – The Chairman Dances by John Adams. TONIGHT'S MUSIC Samuel Barber (1910 –81) 2 Andante (Slow) Violin Concerto (1939) • This time the orchestra begins and the oboe plays a sad, sweet tune. The mood is warm and still, maybe a bit like a 1 Allegro (Fast) summer night. When will the violin join in? And what will 2 Andante (Slow) it do with the music, once it does? 3 Presto in moto perpetuo (Very fast and constantly 3 Presto in moto perpetuo (Very fast and constantly moving) moving) • Now it’s time for some action! There’s a quiet rumble of James Ehnes violin timpani (the copper-coloured drums at the back of the orchestra) and the violin goes charging off almost as fast John Harbison imagined a glittering 1920s world of millionaires as it can play.