ASQ Metamorphoses Program

Metamorphoses Australian String Quartet

National Season 2016

PROGRAM THREE

13 – 24 OCTOBER 2016

Elder Conservatorium of Music

2427-11

Delivering over 130 years of music excellence The Elder Conservatorium of Music is Australia’s oldest and most distinguished tertiary music school. For more than a century, staff at the Conservatorium have educated and inspired generations of performers, composers, teachers and leaders in the arts.

Home to the Australian String Quartet - our quartet in residence, the Conservatorium hosts a vibrant community of talented musicians and provides a supportive environment that encourages creativity, independence and excellence in music.

Staff and students of the Conservatorium are committed to the artistic, educational and community experience of music, and they share their passion and expression with the public through regular performances and concerts.

Visit our website to learn more about the program of events, and comprehensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees available in a wide variety of specialisations.

music.adelaide.edu.au

Welcome

Welcome to the final instalment of our National Season for 2016. It has been a truly exciting year for the ASQ, embarking on a new chapter together with our wonderful family of supporters. We are ever so grateful to all of you for helping us to build a bright future of music-making across Australia.

Tonight, we bring you three vividly colourful works inhabiting vastly different sound worlds. Mozart, in the very last quartet he ever wrote, brings all of his operatic genius to the fore in a work that is at once theatrical, playful, surprising and full of lyrical dialogue.

Ligeti’s first string quartet, Métamorphoses Nocturnes, is a journey of transformation from its hushed and mysterious opening measures through seventeen miniature sections, each one a world unto itself, taking us from violent, anguished episodes to moments of extreme solitude, twisted humour and flurries of kinetic energy.

The influence of Bartók and folk music is unmistakable in this work, composed during the height of communist Hungary when such daring utterances of creative expression were banned from public performance. Soon after its composition, Ligeti was to escape to Austria, where he was finally able to fully develop his own unique voice, becoming one of the most important musical figures in the second half of the 20th century.

One can only wonder what Ravel might have come up with had he pursued the string quartet medium beyond his late twenties. His one and only foray into the genre has left us with the most exquisite rendering of musical Impressionism – a tour de force of colours, textures and sonorities within a meticulously framework.

Just as Ligeti was preoccupied with the process of metamorphosis in his first string quartet, Ravel is equally impressive in the way he transforms his thematic material throughout the four movements, uncovering new shades of colour at every turn.

We look forward to sharing a whole array of activities with you in 2017 and in the meantime wish you a wonderful summer.

Dale, Francesca, Stephen and Sharon

Program

Dates

Mozart String Quartet in F major K590 (27 mins)

Adelaide Adelaide Town Hall 7.00pm Thu 13 October

Ligeti String Quartet no 1 Métamorphoses Nocturnes (20 mins) INTERVAL Ravel String Quartet in F major (29 mins)

Canberra Gandel Hall National Gallery of Australia 2.00pm Sun 16 October Sydney City Recital Hall 7.00pm Mon 17 October Brisbane Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank 7.00pm Tue 18 October Perth Government House Ballroom 7.00pm Thu 20 October Melbourne Melbourne Recital Centre 7.00pm Mon 24 October ABC Classic FM broadcast of the Sydney performance – Sun 23 October at 5pm.

OUT NOW National Season 2017 Be part of the story Subscribe today at asq.com.au

Australian String Quartet For over 30 years, the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) has created unforgettable string quartet performances for national and international audiences. Dedicated to musical excellence with a distinctly Australian character, our purpose is to create chemistry and amplify intimacy through experiences that connect people with string quartet music.

From our home base at the University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, we reach out across Australia and the world to engage people with an outstanding program of performances, workshops, commissions and education projects. Our distinct sound is enhanced by a matched set of 18th century Guadagnini instruments, handcrafted

by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini between c.1743 and 1784 in Turin and Piacenza, Italy. These precious instruments are on loan for our exclusive use through the generosity of Ulrike Klein and UKARIA. Our 2017 program is rich with new endeavours, including: our inaugural morning series at UKARIA Cultural Centre; a year-long association with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; the world premiere of a new cello quintet

by Australian composer, Gordon Kerry; the launch of our ASQ digital platform; and recording collaborations with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra through ABC Classics and a release with Slava Grigoryan.

Among other highlights, 2017 welcomes performance collaborations with renowned Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey and Australian pianist Caroline Almonte for our flagship regional festivals in the Southern Grampians, Victoria and Western Australia’s Margaret River; international performances with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra; the first stage of a cultural exchange project with the Adelaide Festival Centre in China; and the continuation of our new Close Quarters series which will be delivered in tandem with our National Season and regional touring programs.

Dale Barltrop plays a 1784 Guadagnini Violin, Turin.

Francesca Hiew plays a 1748-49 Guadagnini Violin, Piacenza.

Stephen King plays a 1783 Guadagnini Viola, Turin.

Sharon Draper plays a c.1743 Guadagnini Violoncello, Piacenza, ‘Ngeringa’.

Pictured from left, Dale Barltrop, Sharon Draper, Stephen King and Francesca Hiew.

Guadagnini Quartet Project The members of the Australian String Quartet are privileged to have access to a matched set of Guadagnini instruments. Hand crafted by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini between c.1743-1784 in Turin and Piacenza, Italy, these exquisite instruments were brought together through the vision of Ulrike Klein, founder of UKARIA, formerly known as Ngeringa Arts.

In order to secure the instruments for future generations, UKARIA has launched the Guadagnini Quartet Project. Its aim is to acquire all four instruments for future generations of Australian musicians and music lovers. Once complete it will be the only matched set of Guadagnini instruments in the world and UKARIA will hold it in perpetuity.

Already through the generosity of the Klein Family and other donors, UKARIA has acquired the viola and in 2015 it acquired the violin crafted in 1784 through the generosity of Allan J Myers AC, Maria J Myers AC and the Klein Family. In June this year UKARIA acquired the cello which was made possible by the generosity of the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation, Ulrike Klein and a group of committed donors.

The Board of UKARIA recognizes and thanks the following patrons who have each made a significant contribution to this project Klein Family Foundation Allan J Myers AC Maria J Myers AC James and Diana Ramsay Foundation Diana McLaurin Joan Lyons Mrs F.T. MacLachlan OAM Mr H.G. MacLachlan Hartley Higgins David and Pam McKee Ian and Pamela Wall Janet and Michael Hayes Richard Harvey Jill Russell Lyndsey and Peter Hawkins Jari and Bobbie Hryckow Janet and Gary Tilsley Mary Louise Simpson Lang Foundation Macquarie Foundation Anonymous (1)

The second violin crafted in 1748/49 is the last instrument UKARIA must acquire to complete the set.

History making endeavours like this are born from passion. To succeed, UKARIA needs the involvement of visionaries who understand the significant cultural value in a collection of this calibre.

Please join UKARIA in building this extraordinary musical legacy. To donate go to www.ukaria.com For more information contact Alison Beare Chief Executive Officer, UKARIA P (08) 8227 1277 E Alison@ukaria.com

Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791) String Quartet in F major K590 Allegro moderato Andante Menuetto: allegretto Allegro

From mid-1788 to the beginning of 1791 things were difficult for Mozart. His popularity in Vienna had (temporarily) waned and the city’s musical life was put on hold while the Emperor went to war with the Turks – theatres closed and many of Mozart’s patrons left town so as not to be conscripted. Broke, Mozart and his wife Constanze suffered ill-health and Mozart was depressed at his prospects so in 1789 he travelled with Prince Lichnowsky to Potsdam where, he told Constanze, Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia was expecting him.

In July 1789 Mozart wrote to his friend (and creditor) Michael Puchberg that he was composing ‘six quartets for the King’. From this, posterity has inferred that Mozart was presented to the King and received commissions from him.

As Maynard Solomon notes, however, there are no written records to indicate that the King expected Mozart, attended any performances while the composer was in town or commissioned any music.

Solomon speculates that the substantial sum that Mozart brought home with him was a loan, and the story of the royal commission a fantasy used to justify the journey in the first place. Mozart had perhaps hoped to publish the works with a dedication to the King, and thus receive a ‘retrospective commission’.

The works certainly exploit the cello – on the King was proficient – but in the end only three of the projected six quartets were written. They were published shortly after Mozart’s death without a dedication to the King – or anyone else – and no mention of the King is made in Mozart’s thematic catalogue.

The quartets show the complete assimilation of Haydn’s techniques, where, as scholar HC Robbins Landon puts it ‘the oscillation between soloistic and ensemble technique is a rising spiral: the solo style stimulating a richer ensemble form, and then the new synthesis...becoming still further expanded by virtuosity’.

The opening movement of K590, written in 1790, is dominated by a quiet, rising arpeggio answered by a loud, falling scale, and its major tonality is quickly obscured by sudden shifts into the minor. The slow movement is deceptive: simple iterations of a lilting rhythm support a sonata form of great complexity and emotional reach.

The minuet, too, contains a startling amount of chromatic harmony. The finale might be a tribute to Haydn, with ‘Balkan’ fiddling from the first violin at the start, sudden changes of key, dramatic use of unexpected pauses and a comic, offhand ending.

Gordon Kerry © 2016

György Ligeti (1923-2006) String Quartet no 1 Métamorphoses Nocturnes Allegro grazioso – Vivace, capriccioso – Adagio, mesto –

Presto – Andante tranquillo – Tempo di valse – Allegretto, un poco gioviale – Prestissimo

Like many artists in totalitarian societies, Ligeti created a number of works ‘for the bottom drawer’. In the early 1950s, the Hungarian regime’s attitude to the arts was, as Ligeti put it, ‘insane’: the Budapest Museum of Art was obliged to put its considerable collection of Impressionist paintings into storage, and while Bartók ‘was regarded as the great national composer and anti-Fascist hero...most of his works fell victim to censorship’. As would this piece had it been performed.

appropriate to the clandestine circumstance’ of the work’s origin. Toop also points out, however, that Ligeti’s choice of variation form here is in sharp contrast to Bartók’s preference for symmetrical structures such as sonata or ‘arch’ form. Variation, unlike those, is (theoretically at least) infinitely extensible, though Ligeti chooses to restate his thematic cell at the end.

Ligeti wrote his first quartet in 1953-54, before the brief experiment in liberalisation that was so comprehensively crushed by Moscow in 1956 and his flight from Hungary soon after, and it is his response - part homage, part assimilation - to Bartók’s quartets (particularly the Third and Fourth, which Ligeti, of course, had never heard, but studied in score). So thorough was this assimilation that Ligeti is said to have quipped that having written this work, he could now write Bartók’s seventh and eighth quartets, and the thematic motif that is the germ of the piece is, as scholar David Mitchell observes, borrowed from Bartók’s Fourth Quartet. It is that motif that undergoes the metamorphoses of the title; the adjective ‘nocturnal’ inevitably reminds us of the numerous ‘night-pieces’ in Bartók’s work, and as Richard Toop writes, ‘seems rather

This cell is made up of two major seconds linked by a semitone, not unlike the shape of the B-A-C-H signature, or Shostakovich’s D-S-C-H motto. Ligeti’s metamorphoses take the form of the gradual opening out of these intervals in a sequence of eight, short, contrasting sections. The second section, vivace, for instance, gives way to a Bartókian adagio, mesto (slow and sad) that explores the effect on minor thirds on the theme.

Despite an overall rhythm of slow movements alternating with fast ones, each slow movement, and each fast one, is relatively faster than the one that precedes it, and within and between sections there is a huge range of variation of speed, dynamics and colour - the tempo di valse has a decidedly Balkan ‘trio section’.

Gordon Kerry © 2013

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) String quartet in F major Allegro moderato – trés doux Assez vif – trés rythmé Trés lent Vif et agité

Stravinsky called Ravel the ‘Swiss watchmaker of music’ and Ravel’s stated aim was indeed ‘technical perfection’, a preoccupation carried over into a lifelong obsession with things mechanical. Late in life, Ravel was inclined to disparage his early works, and there is indeed a notable change in style in the works which postdate the first world war. After 1918 his music becomes more sparse and crystalline in texture, and frequently appropriates idioms such as jazz. The String quartet in F, however, is an early work, and near the time of his death, Ravel lamented its ‘imperfect musical construction’.

The piece was composed in 1902-3 and first performed in 1904 and is dedicated to ‘my dear master, Gabriel Fauré’. Born in the Basque regions of south-western France, the young composer grew up to Paris and in 1889 began studies at the Paris Conservatoire. Failing to win any prizes he was dismissed in 1895, but returned two years later to study composition under Fauré. In the years 1900-1905 he failed on five occasions to win the prestigious Prix de Rome. The scandal led indirectly to Fauré’s installation as director of the Paris Conservatoire and gained Ravel considerable support from the musical public and from major critics.

One of these was Claude Debussy, a composer with whom Ravel is often unhelpfully bracketed. Hearing the quartet, Debussy forcefully told Ravel ‘not to change a single note’. Debussy’s enthusiasm may reflect the fact that in this work Ravel comes as close to his older contemporary’s aesthetic as he ever would. Ravel, never understating the importance of learning from extant works, would not have disagreed that Debussy’s only quartet was immensely influential.

Certainly there is a lyrical, discursive quality to the opening movements of both works, though Ravel’s is a kind of farewell to the kind of music written by Fauré. Ravel, like Debussy (and Fauré in his First quartet), places the dance-inspired scherzo second, and in both cases the music gains a tensile strength from the rhythmic use of plucked strings. Ravel’s slow movement has a similar expansive rapture to Debussy’s, and both conclude with vibrant energy. In the finale (which Robin Stowell suggests is ‘Russian’ in provenance), however, Ravel chooses not to recapitulate the work’s themes in the literal way that Debussy, Fauré or César Frank, would have. For this reason Fauré pronounced it a ‘failure’, perhaps contributing to Ravel’s doubts about the work.

Gordon Kerry © 2003/15

Dunkeld Festival of Music Fri 28 April – Sun 30 April 2017 Sun 30 April – Tues 2 May 2017

ASQ Festivals

PHOTO: SHANE REID LOCATION: MT STURGEON, DUNKELD

Margaret River Weekend of Music Fri 21 April – Sun 23 April 2017

CAROLINE ALMONTE, PIANO, AUSTRALIA

Join the Australian String Quartet for two exquisite regional festivals in 2017 with guest artists, internationally renowned cellist Pieter Wispelwey and pianist Caroline Almonte. Set in intimate surrounds, savour a regional escape and relish the musical highlights, including:

PIETER WISPELWEY, CELLO, NETHERLANDS

Schubert String Quartet in G major D887 Gordon Kerry String Quintet no 2 (world premiere) Dohnanyi Piano Quintet no 1 op 1 in C minor Horsley String Quartet no 1 in C major

Schubert Cello Quintet in C major D956 Tanayev Cello Quintet in G major op 14 For more information or to book today visit asq.com.au or call 1800 040 444

Donors

Principals ($50,001+) Klein Family Foundation Allan Myers AC & Maria Myers AC Mr Philip Bacon Nicholas Callinan AO & Libby Callinan Clitheroe Foundation Thyne Reid Foundation Richard Harvey AM & the late Tess Harvey Lyndsey & Peter Hawkins Janet & Michael Hayes Hunt Family Foundation Norma Leslie Michael Lishman Macquarie Group Foundation David & Pam McKee The Ian Potter Foundation Wright Burt Foundation Anonymous (1) Champions ($25,001 - $50,000) Peter & Pamela McKee Mrs Diana McLaurin Brenda Shanahan Charitable Foundation Anonymous (1) Guardians ($10,001 - $25,000) Don & Veronica Aldridge John Clayton Angela Flannery Andrew & Fiona Johnston Mr Robert Kenrick Lang Foundation Joan Lyons Skye McGregor P M Menz Ian Wallace & Kay Freedman Classic Partners ($5,001 - $10,000) John & Mary Barlow Bernard & Jackie Barnwell Berg Family Foundation Josephine Dundon Keith Holt & Anne Fuller

Neil & June Jens Rod & Elizabeth King So Laidlaw Mrs Frances Morrell Lady Potter AC Susan M Renouf Jeanette Sandford-Morgan OAM Drs Paul Schneider & Margarita Silva Andrew Sisson Nigel Steele Scott Robert Salzer Foundation Gary & Janet Tilsley Lyn Williams AM Friends ($1,000 - $5,000) David & Liz Adams Peter Allan Michael & Susan Armitage Charles & Catherine Bagot Philip Barron Dianne Barron-Davis David & Caroline Bartolo Alison Beare Ms Baiba Berzins Bernard & Sharon Booth Stephen & Caroline Brain Thomas Breen Tim & Lyndie Carracher Ric Chaney & Chris Hair John & Libby Clapp Geoff Clark Peter Clemenger AO & Joan Clemenger Caroline & Robert Clemente Dr Peter Clifton Ian & Rosana Cochrane David Cooke Colin & Robyn Cowan Maurice & Tess Crotti Marie Dalziel Mr James Darling AM & Ms Lesley Forwood Geoff & Anne Day Dillons Norwood Bookshop

The Australian String Quartet would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank the following donors for their ongoing support along with those donors whose very important contributions either remain anonymous or are less than $1000.

The following donations reflect cumulative donations made from 2011 onwards and the Australian String Quartet is extremely grateful for all the support received from all its donors.

The ASQ is registered as a tax deductible recipient. Donations can be made by phoning the ASQ on 1800 040 444 or online at asq.com.au

Michael J Drew Pamela Fiala in memory of Jiri Margaret Flatman John Funder & Val Diamond John & Carole Grace Mrs Helen Greenslade Philip Griffiths Architects Jean Hadges Susan & Daniel Hains Nonie Hall Professor Keith Hancock Dr Penny Herbert in memory of Dunstan Herbert Mr Hartley Higgins Hilmer Family Foundation Dr EH & Mrs A Hirsch Anita Poddar & Peter Hoffmann Janet Holmes à Court AC Jim & Freda Irenic Barbara Jarry Lynette & Gregory Jaunay Mr S Johns Barry Jones & Rachel Faggetter Brian L Jones OAM Kevin & Barbara Kane Andy and Jim Katsaros M & F Katz Family Foundation Stephen & Kylie King Hon Diana Laidlaw AM Dr David Leece PSM RFD ED The Hon Christopher Legoe QC & Jenny Legoe Kevin Long Megan Lowe Annette Maluish Dr Robert Marin Simon Marks-Isaacs David & Anne Marshall HE & RJ McGlashan Janet McLachlan Helen and Phil Meddings Mrs Inese Medianik

Hugo & Brooke Michell Susan & Frank Morgan DG & KC Morris Jo & Jock Muir Victor & Barbara Mulder The Late Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE Jon Nicholson & Jennifer Stafford Terry & Pauline O’Brien Paul O’Donnell John O’Halloran Tony & Margaret Pagone John Phillips Patricia H Reid M Resek Chris & Fran Roberts Jill Russell Trish & Richard Ryan AO Michael & Chris Scobie Antony & Mary Lou Simpson Dick & Caroline Simpson Pamela & Tony Slater Keith & Dianne Smith Segue Financial Services Elizabeth Syme Mr Eng Seng Toh Jenny and Mark Tummel Nicholas Warden Ted & Robyn Waters Janet Worth Annie & Philip Young Pamela Yule Fay Zaikos Music Library Fund Prof Richard Divall AO OBE John & Carole Grace Roz Greenwood & Marg Phillips Janet & Michael Hayes Mrs Diana McLaurin Gary & Janet Tilsley

Official Partners

Major Sponsor

Government Supporters

Major Patrons

Leader Sponsor

Violist Sponsors

Cellist Sponsors

THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

PHILIP BACON

CLITHEROE FOUNDATION

MRS JOAN LYONS & MRS DIDY McLAURIN

PETER & LYNDSEY HAWKINS

Instrument Partners

National Season Partners National Wine Sponsor

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Queensland Co-presenting Partner

Adelaide Accommodation Sponsor

Other Partners

National Season 2016 Photography – Jacqui Way Printed by Print Solutions SA

Canberra Co-presenting Partner

Luxury Menswear Partner

Adelaide Flower Sponsor

National Season 2017 Subscribe today 1800 040 444 asq.com.au

Australian String Quartet

Quartet-in-Residence The University of Adelaide SA 5005 Australia T 1800 040 444 (Freecall) F +61 8 8313 4389 E asq@asq.com.au W asq.com.au AustralianStringQuartet @ASQuartet @australianstringquartet

Board Alexandra Burt Nicholas Callinan AO (Chair) Bruce Cooper Janet Hayes Marisa Mandile Paul Murnane Maria Myers AC Susan Renouf Jeanette Sandford-Morgan OAM Ian Wallace Angelina Zucco, Chief Executive