Australian String Quartet - Haydn Winkelman Sibelius

HAYDN WINKELMAN SIBELIUS

TOUR ONE 20 – 28 FEBRUARY AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET National Season 2019

Welcome to the first of our National Season tours in 2019. We are so glad you’re here!

on the poetry of Oodgeroo Noonuccal. This has been a wonderful experience and we can’t wait to tour with Katie later this year.

2018 was a fantastic year for the ASQ and our 2019 calendar is shaping up to be just as exciting. We started early in January, tutoring the next generation of music makers at the Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camp which took place at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music. The standard of these young players is astounding; our musical future is in very safe hands!

Collaborating with a different kind of artist, we’ve also been developing a special concert experience with food event producers Post Dining for the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Titled PitchFork, the concerts are interactive food-meetsmusic experiences that we’re sure you’ll find just as delicious as they are delightful.

Looking ahead, April sees the return of our beautiful get-away festivals in Dunkeld (Victoria) and Margaret River (Western Australia) before we celebrate Easter with performances at the Four Winds Easter Festival in New South Wales.

Amidst rehearsing for this tour, we’ve spent time in the studio with Katie Noonan, recording ten new Australian works based

WELCOME TO TOUR ONE NATIONAL SEASON 2019 Not long after, we’ll be seeing you for our second National Season tour, Moore Beethoven Brahms in May and June!

The program we are about to perform for you is a study of sounds, coming from the outside-in. No one owns the sounds gifted to us by the natural world; they are phenomena that we share as a collective. But what we own for ourselves is how we hear those sounds: what they mean to us as individuals and how our own voices respond to them.

This is a very intimate experience, and one that sees us grow as humans.

We’ve had a wonderful time working with guest cellist Timo-Veikko ‘Tipi’ Valve to put this program together and are thrilled to share this experience with you.

Dale, Francesca, Stephen and Tipi

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Haydn String Quartet op 33 no 3 The Bird Helena Winkelman Papa Haydn’s Parrot INTERVAL Sibelius String Quartet op 56 Voces Intimae

PROGRAM DETAILS

HAYDN WINKELMAN SIBELIUS Perth Wed 20 February, 7pm Government House Ballroom

Brisbane* Mon 25 February, 7pm Conservatorium Theatre

Adelaide Thu 21 February, 7pm Adelaide Town Hall

Melbourne Wed 27 February, 7pm Melbourne Recital Centre

Canberra Sun 24 February, 2pm Gandel Hall, National Gallery of Australia

Sydney Thu 28 February, 7pm City Recital Hall Join us for our next tour MOORE BEETHOVEN BRAHMS 21 May – 11 June 2019 asq.com.au * Recorded for broadcast by ABC Classic FM

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AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET Dedicated to musical excellence with a distinctly Australian flavour, the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) creates unforgettable experiences for audiences worldwide.

The centrepiece of 2019, our National Season, is filled with masterful renditions of the classic repertoire juxtaposed with new works that speak to our Australian identity.

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 programs.

Looking beyond, we are collaborating with acclaimed singer-songwriter Katie Noonan, to record and perform a program of works by ten Australian composers, based on the distinctive poetry of Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Our annual ASQ Festivals, Margaret River Weekend of Music and Dunkeld Festival of Music will feature the artistry of special guest musicians, Li-Wei Qin (cello) and Konstantin Shamray (piano) and the launch of ASQ’s first international weekend of music will extend our reach to New Zealand’s breathtaking Central Otago region. We are also excited to be extending our education programs and Close Quarters series to more

We are privileged to perform on 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 AO. The instruments are on loan to the ASQ for their exclusive use through the generosity of UKARIA.

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metropolitan and regional areas across Australia.

At home in South Australia, we continue our work as Quartet-inResidence at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music with various projects, and performances as part of the Elder Hall Lunchtime Concert series. Mornings at UKARIA will continue to bring the sounds of the string quartet to the beautiful landscape of the Adelaide Hills and a collaboration with didgeridoo master William Barton will celebrate NAIDOC Week at the Adelaide Festival Centre.

Pictured L–R Dale Barltrop plays a 1784 Guadagnini Violin, Turin Sharon Grigoryan plays a c.1743 Guadagnini Violoncello, Piacenza, ‘Ngeringa’* Stephen King plays a 1783 Guadagnini Viola, Turin Francesca Hiew plays a 1748–49 Guadagnini Violin, Piacenza *Currently on parental leave.

Guadagnini Quartet Project In 2010, UKARIA embarked on one of the most significant philanthropic projects in Australia’s musical history - the acquisition of a unique quartet of rare stringed instruments (c.1743-1784) crafted by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini.

Guadagnini is one of history’s foremost luthiers, in company with Stradivarius and Guarneri del Gesu. This matched set of instruments, held in trust by UKARIA and made available as a set in perpetuity to Australia’s most outstanding string quartet, is unprecedented anywhere in the world. The current recipients are the Australian String Quartet.

The instruments included in the collection are: 1784 Guadagnini Violin (Turin) 1748-49 Guadagnini Violin (Piacenza) 1783 Guadagnini Viola (Turin) c.1743 Guadagnini Cello ‘Ngeringa’ (Piacenza) Through the generosity of Ulrike Klein AO, The Klein Family Foundation, Maria Myers AC, Allan Myers AC, The James and

Diana Ramsay Foundation, Didy McLaurin, Joan Lyons, David McKee AO and Pam McKee, and many other donors, UKARIA completed the project on 18 December 2017, raising the funds to acquire all four instruments at a total cost of $6,183,188.

This project has brought together a group of visionary patrons who understand the significant cultural value in a collection of this calibre.

Philanthropic Champions Ulrike Klein AO Klein Family Foundation Allan J Myers AC Maria J Myers AC James and Diana Ramsay Foundation Didy McLaurin Joan Lyons Mrs F.T. MacLachlan OAM David McKee AO and Pam McKee Pauline Menz Dr Rabin Bhandari Lang Foundation Hartley Higgins The Board of UKARIA also recognises and thanks the following donors who have each made a significant contribution to this project:

Major Gifts Don and Veronica Aldridge Elizabeth Clayton John Clayton Colin and Robyn Cowan Katherine Fennell Frances Gerard Julian and Stephanie Grose Andrew and Hiroko Gwinnett Richard Harvey AM Lyndsey and Peter Hawkins Janet and Michael Hayes Jari and Bobbie Hryckow Thora Klein Tupra Pastoral Company Macquarie Foundation Mr H.G. MacLachlan Mrs S.T. McGregor Peter and Pamela McKee Janet McLachlan Robert O’Callaghan and Pam O’Donnell John Phillips Margaret Piper Jill Russell Nigel Steele Scott Sidney Myer Fund Mary Louise Simpson Gary and Janet Tilsley Ian and Pamela Wall Janet Worth To every patron who contributed to this project we thank you for your support.

To learn more visit UKARIA.com

TIMO-VEIKKO VALVE, CELLO Timo-Veikko “Tipi” Valve is known as one of the most versatile musicians of his generation. He performs as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader on both modern and period instruments.

Valve has also premiered arrangements of Olli Mustonen’s Sonata for cello and chamber orchestra as well as an orchestrated version of the Debussy Cello Sonata.

Valve studied at the Sibelius Academy in his home town of Helsinki and at the Edsberg Music Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, focusing on solo performance and chamber music.

In 2006, Valve was appointed Principal Cello of the Australian Chamber Orchestra with whom he frequently appears as a soloist. Valve also curates the ACO’s chamber music series in Sydney.

Tipi is a founding member of Jousia Ensemble and Jousia Quartet.

Tipi works closely with a number of composers and has commissioned new works for the instrument. Most recently he has premiered concertos by Aulis Sallinen and Olli Virtaperko as well as two new cello concertos written for him by Eero Hämeenniemi and Olli Koskelin.

GUEST ARTIST

www.timo-veikkovalve.fi The ASQ performs this tour with guest cellist Timo-Veikko Valve while Sharon Grigoryan is on parental leave.

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PHOTO: JUSSI SIPPOLA

Valve appears courtesy of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He plays a Brothers Amati cello from 1616, kindly on loan from the ACO Instrument Fund, and plays exclusively on LARSEN STRINGS A/S.

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN

PROGRAM NOTES FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809) String Quartet in C major op 33 no 3 The Bird (1781) 1. Allegro moderato 2. Scherzando: Allegretto 3. Adagio 4. Rondo: Presto

Haydn’s abundant string quartets span most of his career; the six opus 33 quartets come from about the halfway point, written in 1781. Haydn by this time was well established in his job as Kapellmeister for the Hungarian Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. But there was not much call for string quartets at the Esterházy court, and these works were instead written for the growing market of amateur musicians and wealthy connoisseurs in Vienna and beyond.

“String quartet after dinner, anyone?”

The third of these quartets soon acquired the nickname The Bird, and it is easy to hear why. In the first movement, there are acciaccaturas everywhere – little ornamental notes that seem to ‘tweet’ in all the melodies, making them sound very chirpy indeed.

And once we are thinking of birds, it is hard not to hear them elsewhere as well: from the staccato ‘hopping-along-a-wire’ figure with which the viola and second violin begin the movement, to the elegant downward swoops of the first violin.

You are welcome to go bird-spotting in the other movements too. The Scherzando begins and ends sotto voce with a hushed, rushed hymn-like theme. It sounds like indoor music with itchy feet… and suddenly a window is thrown open and we hear the two violins hopping around and trilling playfully outside! Then the music

relaxes once more: the Adagio is simply a song, and its long melody flies around us three times, gracefully elaborated. Finally, there is the childlike excitement of the Rondo – its recurring melody seems to jump up and down on the spot, and there are some cheeky games of copycat between the musicians that it is hard not to laugh at.

In his letters to potential subscribers, Haydn promised a set of quartets “written in a new and special way” – a good marketing strategy, and with some justification. Haydn wanted to do two things in this music: he wanted to keep doing all the clever and sophisticated musical things that musicians enjoy (playing games with counterpoint, varying the themes in creative ways), but he was also keen to appeal to the dilettantes and dabblers, the ‘I-don’t-know-much-about-music-butI-know-what-I-like’ crowd. This quartet is not just for a group of string players to enjoy among themselves; Haydn makes it clear that he intends to share it with you, the audience, however much or little you think you know about music. The bird sings for more than its own pleasure…

David John Lang © 2019

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HELENA WINKELMAN

PROGRAM NOTES HELENA WINKELMAN (1974 – ) Papa Haydn’s Parrot (2016)

1. A Question of Character An imitation game 2. Menuet in Slow Motion A study in overtones 3. Memory of a Dance Quasi trio 4. At Ease (Adagio) Bird on a slope 5. Non Perpetuum Mobile In an exact number of bars 6. Variations on Very Little As the title says 7. Rondo in Presence of Fleas A manic scratching miniature 8. Haydn On The Rocks Your personal bird experience This quartet, which was premiered by the Schumann Quartet in Esterházy in April 2016, is dedicated to Joseph Haydn.

After the master had died in Vienna in 1809, there was found amongst his possessions a parrot. Haydn had bought him 20 years earlier in London and taught him many things. After his death, the parrot was sold for more money than Haydn had paid for the entire second storey of his house – so huge was the cult around the composer.

Winkelman’s quartet is a paraphrase of his string quartet nicknamed The Bird. Each movement of the latter is reflected in two of the eight miniature movements.

The first movement of the Haydn is reflected in the first and fifth miniatures.

It analyses the characters that Haydn used in his music and recreates them in a contemporary idiom.

The fifth movement follows Haydn bar for bar. Even the number of bars (157) is the same. The reason it is called NON - Perpetuum Mobile is because the first violinist in memory of Haydn’s parrot, repeatedly breaks the phrases with a croak.

The second miniature corresponds to Haydn‘s Menuet. The melodic line of Haydn is present, but in very slow tempo because all the strings play natural harmonics. These remind the listener of the Alps. “Calm – from far away” is written over the first line.

Winkelman’s third miniature is inspired by Haydn’s trio. Here one hears an effect with knitting needles, originally invented by Swiss composer Jürg Wyttenbach.

The fourth miniature uses chords and melodic fragments from the slow movement of the Haydn and puts them on a microtonal slope .

The sixth one also relates particularly to Haydn‘s mastery of ornamentation and diminution in the slow movement.

The seventh miniature is closest to Haydn’s original. It corresponds to his fourth movement and it makes fun of the wigs of that time and their inhabitants . String effects make the fleas audible- as well as the desperate scratching of the victim.

The last movement includes many references to Jazz. The “Bird” in the title also signifies a girl. And the performance instruction is: think Big Band.

Helena Winkelman 2019

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JEAN SIBELIUS

PROGRAM NOTES SIBELIUS (1865–1957)

String Quartet in D minor op 56 Voces intimae (1909) 1. Andante — Allegro molto moderato 2. Vivace 3. Adagio di molto 4. Allegretto (ma pesante) 5. Allegro Sibelius wrote a lot of chamber music in his youth, but this is the only string quartet of his maturity. It is one of his few nonorchestral works of lasting significance.

Sibelius wrote it between his Third and Fourth Symphonies, and completed it while on tour in 1909. After delivering it to his publisher in Berlin, he wrote to his wife Aino, back home in Finland: “It has become beautiful. Of a kind that brings a smile to your lips even in the moment of death. I will say no more.”

Sibelius was reluctant to talk much about his music, as though fearing that words would rob it of its power.

Better to hint at things than try to explain them. He was not about to write a program note, revealing what it all meant. But while revising the score, the composer wrote two words above a couple of innocuous-looking bars in the Adagio: “Voces intimae”.

Inner voices. You strain to hear them, but they are very far away, or very deep within, just beyond the edge of hearing. And then you catch a whisper when you least expect it.

There is something about Sibelius’ music, and particularly this quartet, that invites a kind of reading between the lines. The musical syntax is unusual – which is to say

that you are never quite sure where a phrase will end up taking you, let alone the piece as a whole. It begins conventionally enough, with a short dialogue between first violin and cello, but thereafter the journey is full of strange twists and turns. The approach to the ending of the first movement is surprisingly hesitant. And suddenly we are whisked away on a bright, skittering – and surprisingly brief – Vivace.

Around one-and-a-half minutes into the third movement, the music seems to be circling slowly, listlessly.

And then we hear, in a window of silence, a hushed minor chord sounded three times: “Voces intimae”. This is the heart of the quartet, and a long, impassioned discourse unwinds around those remote yet poignant chords.

The final two movements spin us outwards again, sweeping us up in an accelerating current. It is a flight from intimacy back into the rush of life, haunted by those inner voices.

“It is not a composition for the public at large,” reflected a review of the premiere.

That depends – are you hearing Sibelius’ inner voice, or your own?

David John Lang © 2019

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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 2014 onwards and the Australian String Quartet is extremely grateful for all the support received from its donors.

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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/support

Principals ($50,001+) Mr Philip Bacon Nicholas Callinan AO & Libby Callinan Clitheroe Foundation Kay Freedman & the late Ian Wallace Richard Harvey AM & the late Tess Harvey Lyndsey & Peter Hawkins Andrew Johnston Klein Family Foundation The Stuart Leslie Foundation Joan Lyons Macquarie Group Foundation Mrs Diana McLaurin Pauline Menz Allan J Myers AC & Maria J Myers AC Thyne Reid Foundation Wright Burt Foundation Champions ($25,001 - $50,000) Don & Veronica Aldridge Janet & Michael Hayes Lang Foundation David McKee AO & Pam McKee The Ian Potter Foundation Brenda Shanahan Charitable Foundation Anonymous (1) Guardians ($10,001 - $25,000) John & Libby Clayton TC & MR Cooney Neil Jens Glenda & Greg Lewin AM Peter & Pamela McKee Janet McLachlan Robert Menz MG Prichard & BE Panizza Lady Potter AC Susan M Renouf Anonymous (3)

Classic Partners ($5,001 - $10,000) John & Mary Barlow Berg Family Foundation Brand Family Foundation Maurice & Tess Crotti Perri Cutten & Jo Daniell Marshall-Hall Trust Mr James Darling AM & Ms Lesley Forwood Angela Flannery Margaret Flatman Nonie Hall Mr Hartley Higgins Kimberley & Angus Holden Keith Holt & Anne Fuller Robert Salzer Foundation Mr Robert Kenrick Roderick & Elizabeth King Sonia Laidlaw Annette Maluish Mrs Skye McGregor Patricia H Reid Andrew Sisson Nigel Steele Scott Gary & Janet Tilsley Anonymous (2) Friends ($1,001 - $5,000) Peter Allan Andrew Andersons AO Michael & Susan Armitage Dr Margaret Arstall Charles & Catherine Bagot Bernard & Jackie Barnwell Philip Barron David & Caroline Bartolo Bernard & Sharon Booth Tim & Lyndie Carracher John & Christine Chamberlain Ric Chaney & Chris Hair John & Libby Clapp Geoffrey Clarke Peter Clemenger AO & Joan Clemenger Caroline & Robert Clemente Dr Peter Clifton Ian & Rosana Cochrane

Bruce & Bronwyn Cooper Colin & Robyn Cowan Dr Rodney G Crewther Marie Dalziel Geoff & Anne Day Ross & Sue Dillon Alan R. Dodge AM Mr Peter Dorrian Jane Doyle Michael J Drew Josephine Dundon Barry Jones AC & Rachel Faggetter Vivien & Jack Fajgenbaum Pamela Fiala in memory of Jiri Richard Frolich John Funder & Val Diamond Ross & Jen Gallery Helen & Michael Gannon Fleur Gibbs Colin Golvan AM QC & Dr Deborah Golvan Great Southern Grammar School Mrs Helen Greenslade Noel & Janet Grieve Jean Hadges Susan & Daniel Hains Gerard & Gabby Hardisty Annette Harris J Holden Family Foundation Jim & Freda Irenic John Griffiths & Beth Jackson Barbara Jarry Lynette & Gregory Jaunay Peter Jopling AM QC Kevin & Barbara Kane Andy & 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 Peter Lovell Megan Lowe Grant Luxton The late Simon Marks-Isaacs Robyn Martin-Weber Diane McCusker

Elisabeth McDonald H & R McGlashan Helen & Phil Meddings Hugo & Brooke Michell Mrs Frances Morrell Kerrell & David Morris Jock & Jo Muir Victor & Barbara Mulder Maria O'Donnell Paul O'Donnell Tony & Margaret Pagone Rosalind-Ruth M Phelps John Phillips Adam & Michele Plumridge Robert Pontifex AM Ellen & Marietta Resek Eda Ritchie AM Chris & Fran Roberts Jill Russell Bernard Ryan & Michael Rowe Trish & Richard Ryan AO Jeanette Sandford-Morgan OAM Vahe Sarmazian Drs Paul Schneider & Margarita Silva David Scown Segue Financial Services Diana Sher OAM & Jeffrey Sher QC Simply for Strings - Brisbane Antony & Mary Louise Simpson Mary & Ian Steele Elizabeth Syme James & Anne Syme Hugh Taylor AC & Elizabeth Dax AM Mr Eng Seng Toh Jenny & Mark Tummel Sue Tweddell John & Catherine Walter Nicholas Warden Lyn Williams AM Janet Worth Annie & Philip Young Pamela Yule Fay Zaikos Anonymous (17)

Australian String Quartet Richard Divall Australian Music Fund Don & Veronica Aldridge Roslyn Allen Bernard & Jackie Barnwell Brand Family Foundation Nicholas Callinan AO & Libby Callinan John & Christine Chamberlain John & Libby Clayton Caroline & Robert Clemente Perri Cutten & Jo Daniell Fleur Gibbs Roz Greenwood & Marg Phillips Alan Gunther Tim & Irena Harrington Dr Penny Herbert in memory of Dunstan Herbert Keith Holt & Anne Fuller Kevin & Barbara Kane Rod & Elizabeth King Angus Leitch Glenda & Greg Lewin AM Pauline Menz Jo & Jock Muir Allan J Myers AC & Maria J Myers AC Tony & Margaret Pagone MG Prichard & BE Panizza Karin Penttila Lady Potter AC Susan M Renouf Drs Paul Schneider & Margarita Silva Diana Sher OAM & Jeffrey Sher QC Rob & Jane Southey Mary & Ian Steele Gary & Janet Tilsley Annie & Philip Young Anonymous (3)

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National Season 2019 creative – Photography by Jacqui Way. Design & art direction by Cul-de-sac Creative. Printed by Print Solutions SA.

Board Alexandra Burt Nicholas Callinan AO (Chair) Bruce Cooper (Deputy Chair) John Evans Janet Hayes Marisa Mandile Paul Murnane Susan Renouf Jeanette Sandford-Morgan OAM Suzanne Stark Angelina Zucco (Chief Executive) Artistic Directors Dale Barltrop – Artistic Director | Violin 1 Sharon Grigoryan – Artistic Director | Cello Francesca Hiew – Artistic Director | Violin 2 Stephen King – Artistic Director | Viola

Australian String Quartet

Management Sophie Emery – Operations Manager Samuel Jozeps – Marketing & Communications Manager Helen Kearney – CRM & Marketing Administrator Leigh Milne – Accounts Michelle Richards – Development Manager Angelina Zucco – Chief Executive

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

TOUR ONE 20 – 28 FEBRUARY HAYDN WINKELMAN SIBELIUS asq.com.au