The English music festival is now well established in south Oxfordshire, offering a bank holiday weekend’s worth of concerts devoted to the 19th and early 20th-century British music. There are always plenty of performances of rediscovered works, and the big event this year is a revival of Arthur Sullivan’s cantata The Golden Legend. Based upon Longfellow’s poem, it was first performed in 1886, and became second only to Handel’s Messiah in popularity in Victorian England, when it was regarded as the greatest of Sullivan’s serious works. In the last 75 years, though performances have been increasingly sporadic; this specially mounted occasion, with John Andrews conducting the English Symphony Orchestra will be a must for English music aficionados.
James Topp, principal horn of ESO and soloist on our May 23rd Concert in Christchurch Malvern, discusses Britten’s unique Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. Filmed in the recital room of the Elgar School of Music in Worcester:
It was a great evening for music when the ESO, Kenneth Woods and Christopher Richards took the stage together for the first time as the orchestra launched our new series in Christ Church Malvern.
Where you there? Please write to info@eso.co.uk to share your thoughts and reactions, or leave a comment below. We welcome your feedback!
An article for the Malvern Gazette submitted by Christ Church
ESO COMES TO CHRIST CHURCH
We were both thrilled, proud and privileged on Friday evening when the ESO performed the first of their inaugural concerts and are honoured that they have chosen us as their venue. It was also Kenneth Woods’ first concert in association with the ESO, the conductor for this series of concerts. The cold weather did not deter the audience of over a hundred and the warmth and intimacy of the Church made for a very special evening. There was a varied and carefully thought out programme which had promised to be exciting and it was! There was the poignancy of the Ullmann Chamber Symphony Opus 46a. and the beauty of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, when soloist Chris Richard made his clarinet” sing like a bird” .Finally a thrilling conclusion – the powerful Beethoven’s Symphony No 2 Opus 21, a veritable feast for the senses. The orchestra gave it their all, only the kitchen sink was missing! The atmosphere was both intimate and “buzzing” rather like being in your own drawing room. The acoustics were much praised and the audience gave a tremendous reaction to the concert, even commenting we were like a mini Glyndebourne. Someone said “When was the last time these walls heard live Beethoven”. Exciting times are ahead , three more concerts planned the next being Thursday 23rd May 2013 at 7.30 where we will hear a programme of the best of British music , including Arne, Britten, Boyce, Finzi and Arnold. Please see our web site for full detailswww.christchurch-malvern.org.uk and you can book at ESO Box Office 01386 791044
Palm Sunday saw the launch of our new Christ Church Magazine, Christ Church News and we have much planned for the remainder of 2013. Next up is our Spring Fair on Saturday 20th April from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. note your diary to come and browse our varied stalls and enjoy our fabulous bacon, egg and sausage sandwiches for breakfast or and early lunch , all produce supplied from our local Barnard’s Green Butchers. But before then join us Good Friday for our Devotional Hour 2.00 to 3.00 p.m.with Canon Harold Goddard and again on Easter Sunday at 11.00 a.m. for Holy Communion conducted by Canon Goddard.
And here’s a letter from a listener submitted to the paper
Dear Sir,
I am sure I speak for all those who attended the ESO concert in Christ Church last Friday when I say we were absolutely transported by the wonderful playing. Experienced concertgoers I spoke to said they had not heard a more sensitive performance of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, and the Beethoven absolutely ‘crackled’.
The ESO appear to have found a treasure in Kenneth Woods, their artistic director for this series, who conveyed his enthusiasm through his words to the audience as well as his baton. His rapport with the orchestra was self-evident, as was the excellent Christ Church acoustic which seems to be made for them.
This is the first joint venture between these forces, which promises great things for the rest of the season, and hopefully for others to follow. I cannot commend them too highly.
Title: ESO at Christchurch Malvern- Ullmann, Mozart and Beethoven Location: Christ Church, Malvern Description: Kenneth Woods- conductor
Ullmann (arr. Woods)- Chamber Symphony opus 46a
Mozart- Clarinet Concerto
Chris Richards, clarinet
Interval
Beethoven- Symphony no. 2
Clarinetist Christopher Richards
Start Time: 19:30 Date: 2013-03-22
The limpid lyricism of Mozart’s beloved Clarinet Concerto, the virtuosic good humour of Beethoven’s Second Symphony and the defiant heroism of Ullmann’s Chamber Symphony.
The ESO is proud to begin our new series at Christ Church, Malvern with the first professional UK performance of Viktor Ullmann’s Chamber Symphony, opus 43 a- an arrangement of his Third String Quartet by conductor Kenneth Woods.
Christopher Richards, recently appointed as Principal Clarinet of the London Symphony is possibly England’s most exciting young exponent of the instrument, and his performance of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto promises to be truly magical.
Beethoven’s Second Symphony is a virtuoso tour de force for any orchestra, and promises a thrilling conclusion to a historic evening of music making.
Kenneth Woods has been appointed Artistic Director of the English Symphony Orchestra’s new subscription concert series for 2013. His first concert in the new role will take place on 22 March 2013, in Christ Church Malvern.
The English Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1978, has not had an artistic director since the 2008 passing of Vernon Handley, who was appointed Principal Conductor in 2007. Woods joins an orchestra with an illustrious history which includes associations with Sir Yehudi Menuhin, notable soloists such as Stephen Isserlis and Nigel Kennedy, and renowned composers including Sir Michael Tippett and Nicholas Maw. The ESO has made dozens of acclaimed recordings, a notable discography which Woods is expected to augment.
Woods remarks, “The ESO is a world-class group of musicians, with an august history of recording and touring at the highest level. Their administrative team has worked incredibly hard to put the orchestra’s finances back on a very strong footing, while developing an enterprising, innovative and wide-ranging education and outreach portfolio. It’s an exciting moment for the orchestra to be returning to their historic home of Malvern with their first new subscription series in some time, and I’m very excited they’ve asked me to partner with them in this new venture.”
Peter Sheeran, Chief Executive of the English Symphony Orchestra adds, “I first met Ken Woods a few months ago, together with the ESO’s leader Michael Bochmann, to explore how we might work together. We discussed plans, ethics and motivation, and we found that Ken was unusually well-attuned to what we are trying to achieve and that very little had to be spelt out. An opportunity came to put on a concert series at a new venue for us, with very exciting possibilities both on the platform and in its community, and Ken was the obvious person to ask to curate this project during its first year, with other possibilities leading out from that. We cannot wait to get down to work with him in January; his approach came at just the right time for us.”
Woods’ programming for his first season with the ESO ranges from 18th-century England to 20th-century Russia, with the repertoire united by a common thread. “My colleagues in the orchestra and I wanted this series to make a statement, to articulate a theme,” says Woods. “We’ve picked the Granddaddy of all themes – resiliency. We’re going to be looking at the way in which music and art seeks light in dark times, though defiance, humour, struggle, meditation, perseverance or heroic striving.”
Woods’ first concert with the ESO includes his own arrangement of Victor Ullman’s Chamber Symphony (originally composed as his third and final string quartet), written in Terezin just prior to his execution in Auschwitz; Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, which was the composer’s last completed instrumental work, responding to illness and crisis with search for tranquillity; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2, perhaps his most light-hearted symphony, but written concurrently with his Heiligenstadt Testament, when he was seriously contemplating suicide because of his deafness.Future programmes feature works by Arne, Malcolm Arnold, Boyce, Britten, Finzi, Gál, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.
Woods’ appointment as Artistic Director of the English Symphony Orchestra caps a climatic year for the fast-rising conductor. As Principal Guest Conductor of Stratford-upon-Avon-based Orchestra of the Swan, he has captured international recognition for his ongoing series of performances and recordings pairing the symphonies of Hans Gál and Robert Schumann. His world-premiere recordings of the Gál symphonies have been cited by National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC and The Guardian’s international edition, among others. Also with Orchestra of the Swan, Woods conducted an acclaimed all-British programme at London’s Cadogan Hall, and recorded the world-premieres of two fusion concertos for the release Spring Sounds, Spring Seas, recently selected as one of MusicWeb International’s Records of the Year. Other recording highlights in 2012 included his first disc for Signum and two recordings for Somm Recordings with Orchestra of the Swan and the Royal Philharmonic, following on from his highly successful Somm recording of Schoenberg’s arrangements of the songs of Gustav Mahler.
As Artistic Director of the English Symphony Orchestra, Woods can be expected to lend the many strings of his bow to the organisation. In addition to his prowess on the podium and in the recording studio, Woods is a cellist of significant stature. This past year, with his Ensemble Epomeo, he recorded the complete string trios of Gal and Krasa, a Critic’s Choice in the December issue of Gramophone Magazine, and was soloist in Brahms’ Double Concerto with the Surrey Mozart Players alongside violinist Suzanne Casey.
A prolific writer, Woods is widely-read on his blog, A View from the Podium, one of today’s top 20 classical music blogs. He has contributed liner notes to a number of releases including EMI’s ICON reissue, a 20-CD box set devoted to German conductor Eugen Jochum. And he has guest-blogged for Gramophone magazine. As an arranger, Woods’ orchestral version of Ullman’s String Quartet No. 3 has been recorded by David Parry and the English Chamber Orchestra for the Gramola label. As a broadcaster, Woods was heard on BBC Radio 3′s The Cellists that Time Forgot, hosted by Julian Lloyd Webber.
Viktor Ullmann’s String Quartet no. 3 was completed on January 18, 1943, in the final part of a career that began with him acknowledged as one of the great hopes of German musical life, and ended in his murder at the hands of racist fanatics.
In his early career, he studied and apprenticed under Schoenberg and Zemlinsky, and his early works, especially his Schoenberg Variations op 3a (1926), attracted attention throughout Europe. A passionate humanitarian with a deep interest in literature, culture and philosophy, Ullmann took a partial hiatus from composition to study the anthroposophical philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. In 1932 he and his second wife bought a bookshop in Stuttgart where they traded primarily in books on philosophy and humanism. Only months after the purchase of the bookstore, Hitler seized power and the Ullmanns fled to Prague.
In 1933 he began work on his most significant piece to date, an opera that would eventually become “The Fall of the Antichrist,” a work he completed in 1935. This masterpiece would be the crowning achievement of his pre-war years, and yet it was to be the events of World War II that would spur him on to his very greatest artistic accomplishments.
Ullmann was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto outside Prague in 1942. He was one of a handful of extraordinary creative geniuses in the ghetto, including the composers Gideon Klein, Pavel Haas and Hans Krasa. Never a particularly prolific composer in his earlier years, Ullmann composed a stunning volume of work during the two years he was in Theresienstadt, including piano sonatas, chamber music and a second opera, “The Emperor of Atlantis.”
Just hours before being deported to Auschwitz on October 16, 1944 some friends convinced him to leave his compositions behind. It is believed Viktor Ullmann was murdered in the gas chamber at Auschwitz on October 18, 1944.
‘For me Theresienstadt has been, and remains, an education in form. Previously, when one did not feel the weight and pressure of material life, because modern conveniences – those wonders of civilization – had dispelled them, it was easy to create beautiful forms. Here where matter has to be overcome through form even in daily life, where everything of an artistic nature is the very antithesis of one’s environment – here, true mastery lies in seeing, with Schiller, that the secret of the art-work lies in the eradication of matter through form: which is presumably, indeed, the mission of man altogether, not only of aesthetic man but also of ethical man.
“All that I would stress is that Theresienstadt has helped, not hindered, me in my musical work, that we certainly did not sit down by the waters of Babylon and weep, and that our desire for culture was matched by our desire for life; and I am convinced that all those who have striven, in life and in art, to wrest form from resistant matter will bear me out.’ ~ Viktor Ullmann, 1944
(aus Goethe und Ghetto: „Theresienstadt war und ist für mich Schule der Form. Früher, wo man Wucht und Last des stofflichen Lebens nicht fühlte, weil der Komfort, diese Magie der Zivilisation, sie verdrängte, war es leicht, die schöne Form zu schaffen. Hier, wo man auch im täglichen Leben den Stoff durch die Form zu überwinden hat, wo alles Musische in vollem Gegensatz zur Umwelt steht: Hier ist die wahre Meisterschule… Ich habe in Theresienstadt ziemlich viel neue Musik geschrieben, meist um den Bedürfnissen und Wünschen von Dirigenten, Regisseuren, Pianisten, Sängern und damit den Bedürfnissen der Freizeitgestaltung des Ghettos zu genügen. Sie aufzuzählen scheint mir ebenso müßig wie etwa zu betonen, dass man in Theresienstadt nicht Klavier spielen konnte, solange es keine Instrumente gab. Auch der empfindliche Mangel an Notenpapier dürfte für kommende Geschlechter uninteressant sein. Zu betonen ist nur, dass ich in meiner musikalischen Arbeit durch Theresienstadt gefördert und nicht etwa gehemmt worden bin, dass wir keineswegs bloss klagend an Babylons Flüssen sassen und dass unser Kulturwille unserem Lebenswillen adäquat war; und ich bin überzeugt davon, dass alle, die bestrebt waren, in Leben und Kunst die Form dem widerstrebenden Stoffe abzuringen, mir Recht geben werden.“)
The Third Quartet can in many ways be seen as a culmination of Ullmann’s development as a composer. In it one finds an exemplary balance of rigor and passion, a compelling formal logic, and a wealth of beautiful melodic writing. Although the work unfolds in a single musical span, its form can easily be divided into a traditional four-movement structure where each of the four movements is linked by sophisticated motivic inter-relations.
The first movement, Allegro moderato is primarily lyrical in character and full of wonderfully luxurious harmonic writing, lightened at one point by a [omit- wonderfully] waltz-like melody. The second, Presto, is ferocious and violent in much the same way as the second movement of Shostakovich’s famous Eighth Quartet. If the first movement has introduced the protagonists of our story, then the second has brought us music fit for the vilest of villains. Before the third movement begins, Ullmann brings back a passionate and despairing reminiscence of the first movement- what was nostalgia in the first movement is now transformed into genuine despair. The third movement, Largo, is truly the work’s heart of darkness, beginning with a fugue of desolate and unrelenting intensity. The waltz theme of the first movement here returns full of sadness.
Like the Presto before it, the character of the Rondo Finale is overwhelmingly antagonistic, violent and often terrifying, and is built from a horrific manipulation of the theme of the first movement. However, just when all is despair, Ullmann brings back the music of the first movement in the shape in which we first encountered it, but nostalgia is now replaced by defiance and regret is replaced by passion. A voice of passionate resistance from within the walls of the concentration camp at midnight of humanity’s darkest hour? If ever any person wrote truly courageous music, it was surely Ullmann and this is surely that music.
c. 2004 by Kenneth Woods
COMPOSER’S NOTE ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE WORK
1. Exposition (the repeat should be observed)
2. Scherzo with Trio and abbreviated repeat
3. Development of the first subject
4.Largo(quasi fugue, with development of the secondary subject as an episode)
5. Rondo-Finale with Coda
V.U.
ARRANGER’S NOTE
I was introduced to Viktor Ullmann’s Third String Quartet while a student at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music by my chamber music coach and mentor, Henry Meyer, the long-time second violinist of the La Salle String Quartet. Henry had been incredibly excited to learn of the work’s rediscovery, but by the time he was able to locate the score and parts, the La Salles, whose advocacy for the string quartets of the New Vienna School masters and the quartets of Zemlinsky would have made them ideal advocates for the Ullmann, had retired. “If I can’t play it, I would at least like to teach it,” he told us. We were deeply humbled and honoured by his suggestion. Henry knew all-too-well what Ullmann had faced in the camps. He himself had been interred in bothAuschwitz and Birkenau before escaping at the end of the War. I can remember coaching sessions on dazzling spring afternoons when Henry, always gregarious and witty when we worked together, would take off his jacket, exposing the serial number tattoo etched in his arm by the Nazis some fifty years earlier. The cognitive dissonance of those moments, in which shared joy in the exploration of a newly discovered masterpiece took place in the presence of visible reminders of historic horror, remains with me to this day.
I went on to perform the work often in my regular quartet, and to take it with me to many festivals. It remains a work I love to play. I began considering an arrangement of the piece for string orchestra almost as soon as I learned it. I had conducted Rudolf Barshai’s string orchestra transcriptions of Shostakovich’s Eighth and Tenth String Quartets, and Mahler’s adaptations of Beethoven’s “Serioso” Quartet and Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden,” and so I could easily imagine that the drama, violence and intensity of the Ullmann would work wonderfully with string orchestra. Likewise, Ullmann’s lyricism and coloristic genius come across equally as well in the expanded ensemble as in the original version.
Of course, the most creative aspect of such an arrangement is the creation of a double bass part. Mahler, for instance, was extremely discrete in where and how he used the double basses in his quartet transcriptions, but the art of the bass has come a long way since Mahler’s time. In making this arrangement, I was inspired by the capabilities of many of my bassist colleagues and friends, whose virtuosity concedes nothing to the finest violinists or pianists. This arrangement pre-supposes the bass player(s) will have an instrument capable of going down to a low C.
The arrangement was completed in 1999 and premiered by the Grande Ronde Symphony in February 2000.
It is 10 in the morning and it is dark and very wet outside, like a scene from a Scandinavian police procedural. It is about a mile’s walk from home to the Elgar School of Music and my shoes, socks and trousers are still very damp from the experience. To cheer myself on a very bleak walk in I thought about a couple of contrasting, cheering events during the last week.
Made My Day
Yesterday, the library received a request from the “New Years Eve Choir” for 15 Vivaldi scores needed for rehearsal the following day. I rang the number on the request and found myself talking to Hilary Elgar. Now this was a bit of an oh-yeh for me because I remember singing at her house about a dozen years ago on NYE, invited by her sister Margaret RIP, and didn’t realise it was an annual event.
I explained about the situation with the library being abandoned by the county and Hilary said that, sadly, that was the way things were with classical music these days.
I invited her to the library to pick up the scores and showed her around. She was cheered, thrilled almost, by what she found. I told her that we did not plan to go gently, that we wanted to develop and grow the resource, to fight back. As she left said: “You know, this really has made my day!”
I offered to carry the scores to her car for her but she refused. “I do a lot of gardening, you know”.
Made my day, too.
Hoedown
ESO’s concert with Penelope’s Dance Studio at the Arttrix was a blazing highlight of the Christmas season. The orchestra played half the concert on the stage, half in the pit, sometimes accompanied by dance, sometimes not; conducted when necessary by Stephen Roberts (who had composed the music for a new ballet piece for the occasion).
It was an EVENT. The dancers, aged I would guess 5-25, were very disciplined and obviously loving the chance to dance with a band actually playing live.
The highlight of the highlight for me was Copland’s Hoe Down, something which the String Orchestra always play brilliantly. This time it was accompanied by a new ballet, performed by all 50 dancers, that was so perfect for the occasion that just thinking about it brought tears to my eyes that were warmer than the raindrops they displaced.
These are times of doubt for all Arts organisations but let no-one doubt that when ESO puts a show like this on they are bloody good at it! The feedback we have been receiving ever since could not have been more in line with what we were hoping for – here is a glimpse:
I just wanted to say thank you to all of the musicians for a thoroughly enjoyable evening, Your performance was superb and the light-hearted humour really made it an entertaining and relaxed evening. Thank you also for the respect shown to the children, it was evident throughout the performance that this was mutual. My daughter considers this to be the most enjoyable and important performance she has ever participated in and I feel sure she is not alone in this thought. I have been to see a number of orchestras over the years, all of them excellent. The difference about Saturday was that this was more personal, not only did you make our children feel special, but the audience felt special too.
Quite! Just the kind of endorsements that we would be hoping for in a week leading up to the launching of plans for a possible Worcester Arts Quarter on the site of the old porcelain factory…
Title: Sullivan’s Golden Legend at the English Music Festival Location: Dorchester Abbey Link out: Click here Description: Sir Arthur Sullivan- Golden Legend
English Music Festival
Soloists Elena Xanthoudakis, Jean Rigby, Daniel Norman, Grant Doyle.
