Programme Notes
Bach and Mozart Fri 19 December 2025 • 20.15
PROGRAMME conductor Jan Willem de Vriend oboe d’amore Karel Schoofs Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Sinfonia from Cantata No. 174 ‘Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte’ (1729) Johann Sebastian Bach Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 (c. 1730) • ouverture • air • gavotte I – gavotte II • bourrée • gigue Johann Sebastian Bach Concerto for oboe d’amore in A major, BWV 1055R (c. 1723) • allegro • larghetto • allegro ma non tanto intermission Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K 546 (1788) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No. 35 in D major, K 385, ‘Haffner’ (1782) • allegro con spirito • andante • menuetto – trio • presto Concert ends at around 22.15 Cover: Photo Billy Huynh (Unsplash)
Synfonia di Amadeo Wolfgango Mozart a Viena nel mese di Luglio 1782. First page from the manuscript of Mozart’s Symphony No. 35
Most recent performances by our orchestra: Bach Sinfonia BWV 174: first performance by our orchestra Bach Orchestral Suite No. 3: Dec 1997, conductor Ton Koopman Bach Concerto for oboe d’amore: first performance by our orchestra Mozart Adagio and Fugue: Mar 2009, conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin Mozart Symphony No. 35: Aug-Sep 2018 (on tour), conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin One hour before the start of the concert, Gijsbert Kok will give an introduction (in Dutch) to the programme, admission € 7,50. Tickets are available at the hall, payment by debit card. The introduction is free for Vrienden.
Johann Sebastian Bach. Portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussmann (1746). Coll. Stadtsgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig
Thought wrinkles and dance steps Bach is known as a serious composer, Mozart as a paragon of light-heartedness. That is not entirely unjustified, but the reverse is also true: in his Orchestral Suite No. 3, Bach wrote light, danceable music, while Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue seek dramatic depth.
From concert to cantata
‘Hopefully, the lack of poetic elegance will be compensated for by the sweetness of the unrivalled Kapellmeister Bach.’ The poet Picander, who composed the text for Bach’s cantata Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte (‘I love the Most High with all my heart’), was extremely modest. And yet he was no minor figure: only two years earlier, he had written texts for the Matthäus-Passion. Bach ‘compensated’ with an arrangement of his Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. As the leader of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig, he had more musicians at his disposal than when he composed the concerto. In the Sinfonia, which begins the cantata for Whit Monday,
Bach added parts for horn and oboe, among others, to the original orchestration for strings.
From France to Germany
After the serious cantata, Bach presents a lighter, more dance-like sound in his Orchestral Suite No. 3. The dances spread from France and became immensely popular at the German courts. Combined with German counterpoint and Italian virtuosity, Bach’s suites brought together the best of three musical worlds. The French influence in the Orchestral Suite No. 3 is particularly evident in the ouverture. The air that follows is the most famous part of this suite, but also the odd one out. Originally, an air – ‘aria’ in Italian – is a song, and according to the conventions of the eighteenth century, there was no place for it in a dance suite. Bach did not take this too seriously, and fortunately so: the air is a highlight of this suite. The fact that this melodious melody became a worldwide hit was partly due to the transcription made by the German violinist August Wilhelmj in the nineteenth century. In his arrangement, he notated the music one tone lower, allowing the first violins to play the melody in its
entirety on the lowest string. Wilhelmj’s arrangement became known as the Air on the G String, a title that does not apply to Bach’s original version. After the air, Bach returns to the dance floor in his third suite, with two more gavottes and a bourrée – in which the original, folk character of these stylised court dances can still be heard – and a concluding gigue.
From oboe d’amore to harpsichord
Bach liked to give his most successful musical ideas a second life in new compositions. The reuse of his Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in a cantata is just one of many examples. Similarly, each of Bach’s seven concertos for solo harpsichord is a later arrangement of a concerto he first wrote for another solo instrument. Some of the original versions have not been preserved. This is also true of the concerto in A major, but everything indicates that it was originally written as a work for oboe d’amore. Bach’s fondness for this ‘love oboe’ is evident from the countless solos he entrusted to this instrument, for example in his cantatas. The oboe d’amore is tuned in A, which is one of the reasons why this concerto in the same key fits this instrument like a glove. Bach’s manuscript of the harpsichord version made it possible to reconstruct the original form of this lost concerto for oboe d’amore: a great enrichment of the repertoire for this beautiful instrument, which is usually overshadowed by the ‘ordinary’ oboe.
From pianos to strings
Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue for strings is another example of musical reuse. Mozart described it as ‘a short adagio for two violins, viola and bass, preceding a fugue that I wrote some time ago for two pianos.’ With that slow movement as an introduction,
Mozart placed the fugue in a completely different light. ‘Angular outbursts alternate with an unearthly hush,’ wrote musicologist Robert D. Levin. ‘Its suggestions of violence and mysticism make the ensuing geometry of the fugue seem a relief.’ Why Mozart composed this work is a mystery; nothing is known about a commission. Perhaps it was a preliminary study for the great fugue at the end of his Symphony No. 41? Or was the fugue a tribute to Bach, the grand master of this form?
From serenade to symphony
While the origins of Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue are shrouded in mystery, the history of his Haffner Symphony is crystal clear: this work was commissioned by the wealthy Haffner family from Salzburg. Mozart had previously written the Haffner Serenade for them. A few years later, Sigmund Haffner Junior was awarded a title of nobility, and this occasion could not pass without a new piece by Mozart. This took the form of a new serenade, with a march as an introduction and two minuets. When Mozart later wanted to use this piece for a concert at the Burgtheater in Vienna, his father sent him the manuscript. Mozart made some cuts: he omitted the introductory march and one of the two minuets, then added two flute and clarinet parts to the first and last movements. This left him with a four-part symphony, which he cut up again for the premiere at the Burgtheater. The programme opened with the first three movements of the Haffner Symphony, followed by a series of arias, two piano concertos and several works for solo piano, and at the very end of the evening, the finale of the symphony was performed after all. Reportedly, it was a great success. Bart de Graaf
Photo: Marco Borggreve
Photo: Koen Broos
Jan Willem de Vriend • conductor
Karel Schoofs • oboe d’amore
Current position: principal conductor Wiener KammerOrchester, principal guest conductor Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Partner Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Previously: chief conductor Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (2006-2017), principal conductor Residentie Orkest (2015–2019); principal Guest Conductor Brabant Orchestra (2008-2015) and Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (2015–2021) Education: violin, conservatories of Amsterdam and The Hague Breakthrough: 1982, as founder and artistic leader of the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam Subsequently: Guest appearances Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hannover Opera: 17th and 18th century operas with Combattimento Consort; Festival of Sankt Moritz Basel (Don Giovanni and Rossini’s La Gazetta) Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2014
Born: Peer, Belgium Education: Royal Flemish Conservatory, Antwerp, with Jan De Maeyer, Luk Nielandt and Louis Gilis Current position: solo oboist Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra Previous positions: Royal Flemish Philharmonic; solo oboist Belgian National Orchestra Solo appearances: Belgische Kamerfilharmonie, Brabant Orchestra Guested with: Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Brabant Orchestra, Flemish Opera, La Monnaie, Flemish Radio Orchestra Chamber music: member of chamber music group MP21; duo with harpist Anneleen Lenaerts; cooperations with Oxalys, Quatuor Danel, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, I Solisti del Vento, Hexagon, Ictus As a teacher: Royal Conservatory The Hague, Royal Conservatory Brussels, master classes worldwide Solo debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2010
Agenda Sat 20 December 2025 • 20.15 Sun 21 December 2025 • 14.15 conductor Eduardo Strausser vocal ensemble King’s Singers Christmas Programme Thu 8 January 2026 • 20.15 Sun 11 January 2026 • 14.15 conductor Giedrė Šlekytė cello Truls Mørk Dvořák Cello Concerto Schubert Symphony No. 8 ‘Unfinished’ Koldály Dances from Galanta
Musicians Chief Conductor Lahav Shani Honorary Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin Principal Guest Conductor Tarmo Peltokoski
José Moura Nunes Kerstin Bonk Janine Baller Francis Saunders Veronika Lénártová Rosalinde Kluck León van den Berg Olfje van der Klein Jan Navarro
Alberto Sánchez García Clarinet/ Bass Clarinet Romke-Jan Wijmenga Bassoon Pieter Nuytten Lola Descours Marianne Prommel
Cello First Violin Bassoon/ Emanuele Silvestri Marieke Blankestijn, Contrabassoon Gustaw Bafeltowski Concert Master Hans Wisse Joanna Pachucka Vlad Stanculeasa, Daniel Petrovitsch Concert Master Horn Mario Rio Quirine Scheffers Thu 15 January 2026 • 20.15 David Fernández Alonso Eelco Beinema Hed Yaron Meyerson Carla Schrijner Felipe Freitas Fri 16 January 2026 • 20.15 Saskia Otto Wendy Leliveld conductor Lahav Shani Pepijn Meeuws Arno Bons Richard Speetjens violin Vilde Frang Yi-Ting Fang Rachel Browne Laurens Otto Killian White Bartók Violin Concerto Maria Dingjan Pierre Buizer Paul Stavridis Dvořák Symphony No. 8 Marie-José Schrijner Noëmi Bodden Trumpet Double Bass Music for Breakfast 3 Petra Visser Alex Elia Matthew Midgley Sun 25 January 2026 • 10.30 Sophia Torrenga Adrián Martínez Ying Lai Green HAKA Gebouw Hadewijch Hofland Simon Wierenga Jonathan Focquaert musicians and programme: rpho.nl/en Annerien Stuker Jos Verspagen Arjen Leendertz Alexandra van Beveren Ricardo Neto Fri 13 February 2026 • 20.15 Marie Duquesnoy Javier Clemen Martínez Trombone conductor Tarmo Peltokoski Pierre Volders violin Simone Lamsma Second Violin Alexander Verbeek Flute Charlotte Potgieter Brahms Violin Concerto Remko de Jager Juliette Hurel Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 3 Frank de Groot Joséphine Olech Laurens van Vliet Bass trombone ‘Pastoral’ Manon Gayet Elina Staphorsius Rommert Groenhof Jun Yi Dou Sun 1 March 2026 • 14.15 Flute/Piccolo Bob Bruyn Tuba Beatriz Baião conductor and piano Lahav Shani Eefje Habraken Martijn van Rijswijk Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Maija Reinikainen Oboe Shostakovich Suite for Variety Babette van den Berg Karel Schoofs Timpani/ Orchestra Percussion Melanie Broers Anja van der Maten Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 Tobias Staub Danny van de Wal Strauss Till Eulenspiegel Sarah Decamps Oboe/Cor Anglais Ronald Ent Martijn Boom Ron Tijhuis Viola Harp Anne Huser Clarinet Albane Baron Roman Spitzer Julien Hervé Galahad Samson Bruno Bonansea