The Development of 'South
Holland Concerts'
The original aims 'to promote balanced programmes with
high standards of musical performance and presentation' are those that
successive committees have sought to sustain throughout the last twenty
years. David Jones, our chairman since 1987, has presided over two projects
designed to develop the role of the Club and to ensure that it is kept
up to date. The first took place in 1989 under the auspices of Lincs
and Humberside Arts when the new name South Holland Concerts was formally
adopted. Following a successful National Lottery bid in 1997, a second
development project was undertaken by East Midlands Marketing coinciding
with the opening of Spalding's fine new arts venue at the South Holland
Centre - which has been the home of South Holland Concerts ever since.
While the usual pattern of four chamber music recitals
each year remains the mainstay of our programming, audiences have appreciated
our close co-operation with the South Holland Centre in occasional joint
promotions of larger orchestral and operatic events. We are grateful
that this co-operation has allowed us this year to invite back the strings
of the English Sinfonia to mark and celebrate our Twentieth Anniversary.
South Holland Concerts has much to be proud of in the
last twenty years, but nothing would have been possible without you,
our music-loving audience. Please continue to let us know what you like
about our concerts - and what you do not! Many of you have been with
us from the beginning. Yet whether you are new to South Holland Concerts
or have been with us for many years, we sincerely appreciate your loyalty
and support, and hope you enjoy this very special season of live music.
Music for String Orchestra
- an introduction
In a short article it would be presumptuous to hope to
deal even half-fully with a subject as wide and all embracing as the
world of music for the string orchestra! The popularity of string ensemble
music for listener, performer and composer has endured from the eighteenth
century to the present day, and the repertoire is as rich and varied
in musical style as any other medium. It is clearly evident that the
string ensemble does not always lie at peace - tranquil in the idyllic
loveliness of Vaughan William's Fantasia on Greensleeves. Nor is it
always comfortably balanced in classical symmetry as in Mozart's Eine
Kleine Natchtmusic.
Many modern composers (and the not so modern) have frequently
called upon their collective strings to inhabit quite different worlds.
For example, the light-hearted four movements of Britten's Simple Symphony
open up a playful world. Bartok's Divertimento for String Orchestra
opens up a world inspired by folk music of the composer's native Hungary,
while in sections of his Five Pieces for String Orchestra, Webern displays
a passionate discord to the point of brutality. A variety of dramatic
moods such as these are sharply focused in many popular 20th century
string orchestra works.
But the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have their
gems as well. Early string Concerti Grossi by Handel and composers of
his period were frequently developed upon important principles of string
part-writing and part-sharing known to musicians as counterpoint. But
gradually a more formalised classical style of composition became popular,
exemplified, for example, by the Englishman, William Boyce, and by J.C.
Bach. From very different musical backgrounds, both composers wrote
numerous String Symphonies, and while the traditional harpsichord is
frequently retained in the orchestral ranks, the String Symphonies are
thoroughly characteristic of the early galant period and are full of
excitement and energy.
Similar characteristics are present in a set of pieces
for string orchestra of a much later period - the String Sonatas of
Rossini. Composed by a twelve-year old prodigy, these charming pieces
are pure delight. The title Serenade or Divertimento takes us straight
back to the period of Haydn and Mozart when pieces with these titles
were simply intended as a pleasurable entertainment for both listener
and the player alike. Many 20th century works for strings are given
these titles. Listen out for famous Serenades by Elgar, Dvorák,
Tchaikovsky, Dag Wirén, Josef Suk, and others.
THE STORY OF SOUTH HOLLAND
CONCERTS - THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS
'A New Music Club for South Holland'
The first seeds of the 'South Holland Concert Club' were
sown in 1982 when Keith Dobney, the Club's first chairman, felt there
was a need for live concerts in Spalding. He discussed the idea with
the then Lincolnshire and Humberside Arts, and eventually a steering
committee consisting of four local music enthusiasts was formed. Each
member personally contributed £15 in order that a bank account
could be opened, and two experimental concerts were planned to test
the level of local support.
The English Sinfonia offered to promote the new Club's
first concert in the NFU building in Spalding in October 1983 with a
performance of string trios and oboe quartets. (The new Club was able
to retain 50p from each ticket sold.) The second concert, given by students
of the Royal Academy of Music, took place in March 1984 following the
holding of a successful general meeting in which the Club was formally
constituted with a new committee of eight. With an enthusiastic membership
of seventy, continued help from the LHA, and good response from local
businesses to requests for sponsorship, the new music club for South
Holland was officially launched.
Whatever our listening preferences, music composed for string orchestras
should never be viewed as reduced-score versions of the full orchestra
experience. Just as the string quartet, within its four-part miniature
format, encapsulates the very essence of music's emotive power - so
does the string orchestra. Composers of every age have adored this medium.
As listeners, we can continue to experience unbounded pleasure as this
enduring and delightful music is unwrapped for our enjoyment
Antonin Dvorák
and Nationalism in Europe
2004 is the centenary of the death one of Europe's leading
musical figures, Antonin Dvorák. The musical world is likely
to mark this centenary in many ways. One thing is certain - we shall
hear a great deal more of his music than usual. At South Holland Concerts,
we have marked the occasion in our own way this season by featuring
his music in three out of our four concerts. Our piano recital on 6th
March will go further and present a wide-ranging programme of Czech
music.
To most of us, Dvorák (1841-1904) is principally
known as a symphonist - the composer of the famous 'New World' Symphony
(written in 1893 to celebrate the fourth centennial of Columbus's voyage
to America). But, as the cultural wave of Nationalism swept across Europe
in the 1840's, each of the three foremost Czech composers of the day
- Smetena, Janácek and Dvorák, were caught in its wake,
and each produced a wide variety of music influenced by the new nationalistic
movement. Dvorák was, perhaps, the most successful in reconciling
the native folk traditions with the symphonic form.
However, these Czech composers were also influenced by
powerful musical forces from over the border - by the music of Schumann,
Brahms, Wagner and Liszt. Especially with Dvorák, this cross-fertilisation
helped to cultivate his unique musical style vivid colours, infectious
rhythm and lyrical melody. We can gleen his brilliant sense of colour
not only in his famous orchestral works, but also in his piano and vocal
pieces, his opera, and the richly romantic chamber works.
Recently, at a South Holland Concerts recital, we heard
the famous 'Dumky' Piano Trio. If you enjoyed that, do try to hear one
the fourteen String Quartets, each of which displays Dvorák's
unique flair for melody and rhythmic verve.
Many of the smaller works by composers such as Leoš
Janácek, Bedrich Smetana and Josef Suk are less well known. But
when we consider the amazing variety of music by all the Czech composers
(including that of a later generation such as the prolific and often
flamboyant Bohuslav Martinu - 1890-1959), we appreciate that we have
here one of the world's most original, and yet largely untapped, sources
of musical enjoyment.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE
STRING QUARTET
In our last programme we offered a brief survey of music
for String Orchestra. We hope that this short listener's guide to an
associated genre, the String Quartet, may also provide a background
for enjoyment of the repertoire, and offer encouragement to explore
the immense variety and pleasure that this music can afford.
The String Quartet is often seen as the essence of chamber
music - a pinnacle of refinement where every musical idea is developed
and honed to miniature perfection. For some, this view may be an over-romantic
one. Yet it is undoubtedly true that many composers have seen the String
Quartet as a medium in which to present in which to present some of
their finest music. The various important episodes of the composer's
musical development can often be traced through their piano sonatas.
This is clearly so, for example, in the case of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
and Schubert. Similarly, among prominent composers of the string quartet
(and here we must add Bartók to the list, among others), their
works in this medium also fit neatly into specific periods in their
musical lives.
In the seventeenth century, many German and Italian player-composers
matched the ever popular four-part writing for voices with musical compositions
for four-part strings - initially in string ensembles rather than in
solo parts. Alessandro Scarlatti (1659-1725) wrote works of this type
inscribed for 'two violini, violetta and violincello'. Another form
of domestic chamber music for four players, the Trio Sonata, was extremely
popular throughout the Baroque period. In pieces by those such as Handel,
Bach and Telemann, a keyboard continuo was usually combined, with increasingly
complex and intricate instrumental parts for two violins (or flutes)
and cello.
However it was Joseph Haydn who specifically sealed the
future of the modern string quartet. While Mozart wrote twenty-three
quartets, Haydn wrote over ninety and few composers have understood
the capability of this medium so well or expressed it with such rich
diversity.
As listeners we may love the music of the eighteenth century,
or prefer the classically structured romantic works of Brahms or Mendelssohn.
We may relish the sounds and colours of the impressionistic world of
Debussy or Ravel, or we may prefer the dramatic and unexpected challenges
in the music of Shostakovich or Benjamin Britten.
Whatever our musical taste, within the outwardly simple medium of the
String Quartet we are invited to follow the development of each composer's
creative genius, and to revel in the beauty and diversity of this essentially
personal and most intimate of musical forms.
NOTES ON THE MUSIC OF
JOHN IRELAND (1879 - 1962)
Singers, and all lovers of English song have been well
served by John Ireland. Recitals of songs by Quilter, Bridge, Warlock,
and Ireland continue to delight audiences who love the music's characteristic
romanticism and colour. It is sometimes called the 'English pastoral'
tradition. It is true that Ireland composed song cycles and dozens of
individual songs set to texts by Housman, Yeates, Hardy, Masefield and
Brooke amongst others. But popular though this vocal music is, Ireland
wrote many important instrumental works deserving of better acquaintance.
Following the success of his Piano Concerto in 1930, the
Concerto Partorale for orchestra and the London Overture were published.
He wrote important chamber works too. Beside the String Quartets, there
are Sonatas for cello and violin, three Piano Trios, and a Fantasy Sonata
for clarinet and piano. Together with numerous small piano pieces there
is an accessible Piano Sonata and a charming Sonatina.
Ireland was born near Manchester and entered the Royal
College of Music at the age of fourteen as a student of piano and organ.
He also studied composition with Stanford, whose students also included
Vaughan Williams, Holst and Herbert Howells. Following the publication
of his second Violin Sonata in 1915, Ireland's reputation quickly established.
For many years he was organist at St Luke's Church in Chelsea, and he
too taught composition at the Royal College. Benjamin Britten became
his most famous pupil. Ireland wrote neither symphonies nor operas.
But he eventually found inspiration for his very characteristic style
within the peaceful landscape and rolling downs of Sussex where he died
in 1962.
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance there developed two
distinct groups of instruments - those whose bold tone and colour were
particularly suitable for performance in the open air, and those (like
recorders) whose tone colour was softer and more suited to domestic
consort music and to performance indoors. Amongst reed instruments,
the shawms (illustrated) were primarily in the former group. Often used
along with brass in strong ceremonial music, the shawm family (they
came in different sizes) were likened by one writer as second only to
the trumpets in volume!
A Brief History of the
Oboe
Together with other musicians, the Frenchman Hotteterre
encouraged a major step towards the modern oboe with the development
of a shawm-like instrument (with narrowed bore and a smaller reed) that
could be played in musical ensembles indoors. It was, however, at the
grand court of Louis X1V in the late seventeenth century, that this
new instrument firmly established itself and became a popular feature
in court bands and all kinds of musical entertainment.
The modern oboe is very different from the instrument
developed by Hotteterre. Along with other woodwind instruments since
the eighteenth century, it has been subject to continuous technical
improvement to satisfy the demands of varying styles of composition
and increasingly large orchestral forces.
Around the 1880s, a French instrument maker called Lorée
made significant changes to the mechanism in somewhat similar manner
to the improvements made by Theobold Bohem to the flute. This oboe,
known today as the Conservertoire oboe (illustrated), is now immensely
popular and widely played by performers throughout the world. Another
system was developed in Germany and became popular in England. Commonly
known as the Thumbplate oboe, this alternative system naturally requires
slightly different fingering, but is preferred by some players.
The unique tone colour and expressive sound-quality of today's oboe
has given this instrument a special place in music making. Contemporary
composers of film and popular music, as well as musicians in the classical
world, continue to delight in the ability of the oboe's magical voice
to pull at our heart strings yet remain agile and always exciting.
The story of the evolution of the harp is a fascinating
one. Harps in various forms have been known all over the world from
the earliest times. Pictures survive of hand-held harps from Sumeria
and Egypt dating back thousands of years.
Brief Notes on the Harp
In Europe, by the beginning of the eighteenth century,
the harp had become a sophisticated and accurately tuned instrument
with a range of some five octaves and a fine repertoire. However, in
earlier centuries, harp builders had encountered numerous problems with
an instrument built essentially with a single string for each note.
As the harp enlarged to include all the chromatic notes, the stringing
of the instrument became difficult for both instrument makers and players.
One late sixteenth century solution to this problem was
the invention of the double harp. It has been suggested that this may
have Irish origins. (This is the instrument used by Monteverdi in his
opera Orfeo.) A second row of strings added to the harp provided the
chromatic notes in order that the whole scale was available in a manageable
space. Some time later a Welsh triple harp was developed which had a
third set of strings set between the other two which provided all the
accidental notes throughout the range. Though there are some notable
compositions for this harp, the intricacies of playing this instrument
were considerable.
By the mid eighteenth century, a Bavarian harp maker named
Simon Hochbrucker had devised a new system that was to pave the way
for the modern concert harp as we know it. A mechanism, operated by
pedals, allowed the player to raise and lower the pitch of the strings
by changing their tension. As players became increasingly accustomed
to this pedal harp, as it become known, many accomplished performers
such as J B Krumpholtz, and F J Naderman of Paris, continued to make
further alterations and improvements.
From these early developments, the story of the harp is
one of continued enhancement up to our own time. The modern concert
instrument now has a range of approximately six and a half octaves and
an expansive repertoire involving every genre of music. Today, its familiar
sweetness of tone and expressive beauty happily embrace music of all
styles - whether in the concert hall, theatre, dance hall or cinema.
Notes on the Euphonium
Many people associate the euphonium mainly with military,
concert and brass bands. Its beautiful mellow voice is easily recognisable,
and it certainly excels at touching lyrical solos in the medium of the
band. However, in the context of the orchestra too, the euphonium has
played a significant role. In 1896, Richard Strauss called for the instrument
in his symphonic poem Don Quixote, and Mahler also employed a euphonium
in his seventh symphony.
The instrument first appeared in Germany around 1830 and
was generally known by the name Baritonhorn and it employed the usual
three valves. Today four-valve instruments are more common, though three-valve
instruments are still made. In common with all wind instruments, the
euphonium has undergone development and experimentation of many kinds.
There have been instruments with six valves built to enlarge the compass,
and a few American instruments have their bells experimentally slanted
forwards with a much enlarged flare.
Certain forerunners of the euphonium are worth mentioning.
The serpent (a large curved wooden instrument played with a brass mouthpiece)
appeared around 1800, and by the mid 1800's Adolphe Sax was developing
the Saxhorn family of instruments - the lowest pitched instruments being
very similar to the euphonium. (See earlier programme note.)
In France, an instrument called the Ophicleide had a unique
sound. It was used poignantly by Mendelssohn in his music for Midsummer
Night's Dream and by Berlioz in his Symphonie Fantastique. Today, orchestral
solos for these rarer instruments are frequently played on euphonium.
Many musicians today (including David Childs) are working
hard to bring the euphonium to the fore as a uniquely expressive solo
instrument on the concert platform. Fortunately, numerous original works
and quality arrangements for the instrument are now being composed for
us to enjoy.
WOLFGANG AMADEUS
MOZART (1756-1791)
CELEBRATING A GENIUS
During this concert season, in 2006, we will be joining with the wider
musical world in acknowledging the anniversary of the birth of one of
the most extraordinary artistic talents the world has ever known - Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart. With an extremely popular film release (some of it fictional)
and recent TV broadcasts highlighting his life and music, it is hardly
surprising that the popularity of Mozart's melodies and compositions
show no sign of abating.
Let us look briefly at a few of the details of his short
life - just thirty-five years - and examine a few of the elements from
both his youth and his maturity which fuelled this unique creative vision
behind both vocal and instrumental music, and also his natural appreciation
for the beauty of sound.
Mozart learned to play the keyboard at three years old.
He was composing music at the age of five and, together with his talented
sister, was touring Europe with his father and performing in the courts
of some of the most eminent figures of the time such as Louis XV in
Paris and George III in England. During this time, he even found time
to learn the violin!
As with many composers, we can see Mozart's compositions
neatly dividing into clear periods of development. The earliest of his
pieces, especially delightful sonatas for piano, are thoroughly typical
of the period. But his musical and technical mastery are nonetheless
astounding given the youth of the composer. His earliest influence was
that of his father, Leopold Mozart, who himself was a competent and
typical Salzburg court composer. During these early travels, the young
Wolfgang heard much of the music of CPE and JC Bach, and also absorbed
much of the musical style of popular Italian opera.
From the age of sixteen, Mozart was employed by the Archbishop
of Salzburg - a relationship that was far from happy, and the following
nine years were a formative period for the young composer. Mozart's
early music, showing considerable influence of his older contemporary
Joseph Haydn, is refined and melodic - showing many signs of the mature
style to follow. Typical examples are the delightful Serenades such
as the Haffner Serenade and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the early violin
concertos, and the oboe quartet.
But it is in the final period, from the age of twenty-five,
that he composed the majority of the scores for which he is best remembered.
The operas: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosė Fan Tutte, and
The Magic Flute were all written in the final five years of his life,
along with his last four symphonies and some of the finest of his concertos
and string chamber music. For many people the most moving of all his
works - the choral masterpiece, the Requiem Mass - is also a honing
of the very finest of his vocal and orchestral writing. The story of
how his unfinished score came to be written and was completed by a student
of Mozart is now legendary.
A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO
STRING CHAMBER MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA
In order to appreciate what gave birth to the excitement
and newly discovered artistic freedom in Europe at the dawn of the Baroque
era, we need not understand every fine detail of the period's cultural
history. But we simply need to appreciate that tastes were changing,
and that composers provided music that catered for that change of taste.
This even happens today.
But in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries,
when Italian influence on the tastes of the English upper classes was
particularly strong (especially with the madrigal), vocal music was
all-important. A combination of voices with viols was also becoming
popular. However, as musicians started to compose music for the viol
consort alone and employ a far freer style (less imitative of vocal
music) the character of true chamber music for instrumental ensemble
really began to develop.
Broadly speaking, the viol (often used in consorts of
treble, tenor and bass instruments) was the dominant chamber instrument
of the Renaissance. But, from the Baroque age to the present day, the
violin family (with a more prominent, brilliant sound) has reigned supreme.
There was, however, no sudden change-over from the older instrumental
family to the new. The viols and the violin family happily co-existed
and continued developing together for some time. But it was the rise
of the world-famous Cremonese violin makers such Amati, and Stradivarius
- spurred on by a new school of astonishing violin virtuosos (Corelli,
Tatini, Locatelli, etc.), which inevitably set both musical performance
style and composition on a path of change.
During this period, London diarists, such as Pepys, noted
the new enthusiasm for the playing of chamber music which was regularly
taking place in clubs as well as in private houses. All the great performer-composers
of the age supplied music to feed the growing enthusiasm for this intimate
genre. This included both Bach and Handel, who composed some fine works
for small ensemble, together with numerous solos and trio-sonatas. Some
of Bach's best-loved music for a chamber ensemble is heard in his Musical
Offering written about 1747.
The Baroque period was a time of change. However, an even
greater musical revolution was about to take place, as composers and
musicians in the next great period - the classical (or 'galante') era,
once again reflected cultural changes prevailing at the time. As the
standard quartet of violins, viola and cello, rose to dominate the chamber
music scene, one major figure of that period, Joseph Haydn, became known
as 'The Father of the String Quartet'. But this is a new story that
must be continued another time.
