SCO NEWS JANUARY 2020

ISSUE 75 | SCO NEWS | JANUARY 2020

ALMA MAHLER AND HER MUSIC

ALSO INSIDE: MAXIM EMELYANYCHEV | SUMMER TOUR DATES 2020 | NEW VIBE

ISSUE 75 | SCO NEWS | JANUARY 2020

CONTENTS REGULARS

04

3

FOREWORD

4

NEWS

7

60 SECOND INTERVIEW

8

RECENT RECORDINGS

26 PATRON EVENTS 30 YOUR SAY

31 THROUGH THE EYES OF...

FEATURES

COVER FEATURE

10 ALMA MAHLER AND HER MUSIC

By Cate Haste

16 SUMMER TOUR DATES 2020 18 NEW VIBE 20 COMING TO BEETHOVEN (BY WAY OF MENDELSSOHN)

By Professor Nicholas Marston

18

24 THOUGHTS ON BEETHOVEN With Laura Comini

25 SCO CHORUS: SPEM IN ALIUM 28 FREE PRE-CONCERT INSIGHTS AND PERFORMANCES

4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AB +44 (0)131 557 6800 • info@sco.org.uk sco.org.uk The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is a charity registered in Scotland No. SC015039.

Company registration No. SC075079.

Cover image Alma Mahler with hat © Lebrecht Music Arts / Bridgeman Images

SCO NEWS|03

A WARM WELCOME TO SCO NEWS

FOREWORD A very warm welcome to this first edition of SCO

arguably the world’s greatest percussionist, Colin

News in 2020.

Currie, both originally from Edinburgh.

I hope that you had a wonderful Festive Season

Continuing the theme of great Scottish

and that you were able to celebrate the New

musicians, we are about to welcome back the

Year with the Orchestra and Joseph Swensen

wonderful Karen Cargill, to sing songs by Mahler.

in one of our ever-popular Viennese concerts in

Not Gustav – although he does appear in the

Edinburgh, Dumfries, Ayr or Dundee.

same programme – but his wife Alma, who was a very accomplished composer in her own right.

2020 is a year in which we will be seeing much

One not to be missed.

more of our new Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev. After the excitement of his first

The SCO has an extensive and distinguished

concerts we all look forward enormously to his

catalogue of recordings, many of which are

imminent return.

regarded as definitive. Given its critical reception I think we can now add our new recording of

Not only will Maxim be performing four more

Schubert’s 9th Symphony with Maxim to the

programmes as part of this current Winter

definitive category as the recent 5* review in The

Season, he will also lead the SCO on one of our

Times attested; ‘Emelyanychev… always inside

Summer Tours. As ever, our players will cover

the music, flying with the notes, keeping textures

the length and breadth of Scotland playing in

light and airy while giving every fortissimo its due.’

beautiful venues on Shetland and Mull and in Ballachulish, Castle Douglas and Selkirk, with

Finally, I am delighted to welcome three new

many more in between.

members to the SCO. Louise Goodwin joined us in November as Principal Timpani with

However, before all of that we have three more

Percussion, Rachel Spencer joins us in January

concerts celebrating the astonishing genius of

as No 4 Second Violin and in February, André

Beethoven, including his Triple Concerto with

Cebrián Garea takes his place as our Principal

Benjamin Marquise Gilmore, Philip Higham and

Flute.

Kristian Bezuidenhout. We will also experience, once again, the remarkable creativity of our

I do hope you enjoy reading SCO News and look

Featured Artist Pekka Kuusisto, plus a Mozart

forward to seeing you at one of our events over

Piano Concerto played on the harp by Xavier

the coming weeks and months.

de Maistre. We can also look forward to a new percussion concerto written by one of Scotland’s

Gavin Reid

finest living composers, Helen Grime, played by

Chief Executive

04|SCO NEWS

NEWS

© Ryan Buchanan

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA’S PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR MAXIM EMELYANYCHEV’S CONTRACT EXTENDED UNTIL 2025 Announcing this news, Gavin Reid, Chief

an orchestra of musicians as fine as

Executive, commented that “Maxim has

these, who wouldn’t want to play with

had such a wonderful reception from

them as much as possible? The music

the Orchestra and audiences alike in

is always central for us and I’m excited

the past few months. Naturally, we are

to continue sharing it with audiences in

delighted he has extended his contract

Scotland and across the world.”

until 2025. With the release of the

––––––

Schubert CD to his first official concerts,

BAROQUE DANCES

we have only just begun to discover

Conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev

what he and our musicians can achieve

16 - 18 January in Edinburgh,

together.”

Glasgow and Aberdeen ––––––

Asked what was so special for him about the SCO, Maxim replied that “Conducting the SCO is always like performing with family. When you have

Proudly sponsored and match funded by

SCO NEWS|05

RAYMOND LEPPARD

editions of Italian

retained until 1980 despite

baroque music, such as

moving to the United states

(11 AUGUST 1927 – 22 OCTOBER 2019)

Monteverdi and Cavalli,

in 1976. From 1987 he

were controversial, but

spent 14 years as Music

––––––

he was one of the first

Director of the Indianapolis

Raymond Leppard CBE,

major conductors to

Symphony Orchestra

who has died at the age of

recognise the emotional

before going freelance.

92, played a pivotal role

power of such music

in the rebirth of interest

which he performed

Although somewhat

in Italian baroque music.

at Glyndebourne and

‘typecast’ as a baroque

He also performed this

elsewhere. His several

specialist, Leppard had a

repertoire with the SCO

collaborations with Dame

special love of much 20th

and, after a production

Janet Baker brought

century, and especially

of Handel’s Alcina at the

memorable results in

British, music. “I have

Aix-en-Provence Festival

Monteverdi and Gluck,

a profound belief that

in 1978, became the

and he performed Handel

if you play Bartók well,

SCO’s first Principal Guest

with her and the SCO in

you’ll probably play Bach

Conductor, collaborating

1980.

well, or better. And if you play Bach well, you’ll

with such singers as Isobel Buchanan, Ann Murray and

In 1973 he had become

probably play Brahms

Margaret Marshall and the

Principal Conductor

better, too.” (Chicago

flautist Aurèle Nicolet.

of the BBC Northern

interview with Bruce

Symphony Orchestra

Duffie, 1986).

Leppard’s rather

(now BBC Philharmonic) in

––––––

elaborate ‘romantic’

Manchester, the position he

by Professor Chris Kelnar

Orchestra with Raymond Leppard

06|SCO NEWS

Louise Goodwin

We can also confirm that

say ‘hello’ to Rebecca

André Cebrián Garea has

Smith who has recently

––––––

joined the Orchestra as our

been appointed as

A drum roll please as we

new Principal Flute. You may

Trusts Officer within

announce the Orchestra’s

well have already spotted

our Development and

new Principal Timpani

André performing in some of

Sponsorship department.

with Percussion... Louise

our recent concerts and he

Goodwin!

will be taking up the position

Since graduating with

in early 2020. Finally, Rachel

a degree in Music from

Louise has played with

Spencer has just joined us as

Glasgow University in

the Orchestra on many

No 4 Second Violin. Rachel

2016, Rebecca has worked

occasions over the past

will be with us next for

as Festival Assistant for

few months and we

Maxim’s concerts in January.

The Cumnock Tryst and in

NEW FACES

are delighted by her appointment.

various roles with NYOS, On the administration

most recently within their

side of things, we also

Development Department.

60

SECOND INTERVIEW CHRIS JARVIS

What excites you most about working with the SCO? I absolutely love working with real musicians who are at the top of their game and the SCO is premier league and world-class, so there’s a lot to get excited about!

In your opinion, what are the benefits / importance of introducing children to live orchestral music?

The educational, inspirational and aspirational benefits for children experiencing live orchestral music have always been huge, but perhaps never more so than today.

So much orchestral music springs out of speakers on televisions and in cinemas, but rarely with the musicians in vision.

The BBC has ramped up its commitment to introducing André Cebrián Garea

children to real music with CBeebies Proms and Ten Pieces. But the impact of hearing and seeing an orchestra in the flesh, wood, brass and string for the first time is

BOARD CHANGES

massive and I truly wish every child had that opportunity.

––––––

What can parents and children expect to experience at

Please join us as we bid

an SCO Family Festival?

farewell to outgoing Board

The festival is more than just a concert, there are other

members Alison Paul and

activities at the concert hall where children can create

Jo Elliot. We thank them

art and craftwork, engage with musicians and have a go

sincerely for the time and

themselves. As well as being a great introduction to the

energy which they have

Orchestra, it’s also highly interactive and a big laugh for

freely given whilst on the

all the family.

Board and it’s not really

––––––

goodbye, as we hope to

STAN AND MABEL AND THE RACE FOR SPACE

see them at another

7-9 February in Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow

SCO concert before too

––––––

long.

Proudly sponsored by

08|SCO NEWS

SCO MUSIC

RECENT RECORDINGS SCHUBERT: SYMPHONY NO 9 IN C MAJOR ‘THE GREAT’ MAXIM EMELYANYCHEV - CONDUCTOR

 The Times

 The Scotsman

 The Guardian

As you can imagine, everyone at the

24 December. Very excitingly, discs with

SCO has been thrilled by the critical

double 5-star reviews automatically get

and audience response to the release

considered for a BBC Music Magazine

of our first recording with new Principal

award. The awards happen in April, so

Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev

please keep your fingers crossed for us

Schubert: Symphony No 9 in C Major’ The

and watch this space!

Great’.

–––––– At time of writing we had just heard

Not got your copy yet? Then look no

that BBC Music Magazine awarded

further than the SCO merchandise desk at

the recording a double 5 star (for

our concerts, call the office on 0131 557

performance and recording) review in

6800 or purchase a digital download from

their January issue which was out on

linnrecords.com

SCO NEWS|09

BIZET CARMEN SUITE NO 1 & SYMPHONY NO 1 GOUNOD PETITE SYMPHONIE

Looking ahead, the lighter, brighter days of March will see the release of our new recording with Linn Records – Bizet Carmen Suite No 1 and Symphony No 1 and Gounod Petite Symphonie. Recorded in Dundee’s Caird Hall last May and conducted by SCO regular François Leleux, we hope that you will agreed that this new recording, like spring, was worth the wait.

–––––– Available from the SCO merchandise desk or by phone on 0131 557 6800 this spring.

WHEN THE SPACE IS FILLED

BY A CONDUCTOR AND SOLOIST WITH THE OUTSIZE CHARISMA AND MUSICIANSHIP OF THE FRENCH OBOIST FRANÇOIS LELEUX, THE EFFECT IS DOUBLED.’ The Arts Desk

10|SCO NEWS

ALMA MAHLER AND HER MUSIC CATE HASTE From an early age, Alma Mahler was obsessed with music. Through it she expressed her passion and her pain. In music she found glory, and refuge when tragedy overtook her.

Alma lived at the hub of fin de siècle Vienna’s vibrant intellectual and artistic life. Her artist father, Emil Jacob Schindler, had died tragically when she was 13. Her social circle was at the era’s avant garde, the Vienna Secession, cofounded by her stepfather, Carl Moll and the artist Gustav Klimt, who would be Alma’s first kiss. Intelligent, beautiful, and renowned as ‘the loveliest girl in Vienna, Alma absorbed culture eagerly, like a flower open to the sun.

COVER FEATURE

© Lebrecht Music Arts / Bridgeman Images

INTELLIGENT, BEAUTIFUL, AND RENOWNED AS ‘THE LOVELIEST GIRL IN VIENNA, ’ ALMA ABSORBED CULTURE EAGERLY, LIKE A FLOWER OPEN TO THE SUN.

SCO NEWS|13

Alma and Gustav Mahler c.1909 | © Granger / Bridgeman Images

COVER FEATURE

‘WHY ARE BOYS TAUGHT TO USE THEIR BRAINS, BUT NOT GIRLS? ’ SHE RAILED.

As often as three times a week she went

In the rising young composer, Alexander

to the opera and was overwhelmed by the

Zemlinsky, she found the exacting teacher

grandeur and passion. Wagner’s Tristan

she needed. He heard her music, decided

and Isolde – ‘incomparable, unearthly’ with

that she had real talent but lacked

its ‘mad passion and boundless longing for

technical ability, and agreed to teach

the unknown ’ was her favourite.

her, alongside his other pupils Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern. Zemlinsky

She was an accomplished pianist, took

was exacting but encouraging, could be

music lessons with the blind composer,

cruel and sarcastic, but he believed in

Josef Labor, from the age of 15, and

her talent and was ‘stimulating beyond

focused on composition. By 1897 she was

measure’ to her.

producing two or three piano pieces each week, variations or song arrangements

Alma’s most productive period was

based on works by her favourite poets.

between 1897 and 1901, when she was aged 18 to 21 and already showed

By 18, Alma had crystallised her

distinctive range and ability. Her songs,

astonishingly bold ambition to be a

often written in response to rejected love,

composer. Women were then barred

intense loneliness, grief at her father’s

from the music academies and female

death, are sensitive renderings of poetic

composers were unknown. Alma was

texts, emotional and technically complex,

undeterred. She wanted ultimately to do

skilful in their range of colour, harmonies

something no woman had ever achieved

and textures.

– to compose a really good opera. But she was plagued by crippling self-doubt.

Alma’s relationship with Zemlinsky

She saw her femininity as ‘weakness’,

deepened as they fell in love. Lessons

and feared that she lacked sufficient

dissolved into passionate embraces. They

application – and education: ‘Why are

talked of marriage. But when she met

boys taught to use their brains, but not

the composer Gustav Mahler at a friend’s

girls? ’ she railed.

dinner party in November 1901, her life

14|SCO NEWS

was thrown into turmoil. Within days,

creative gifts another life in minds greater

Mahler, the director of Vienna’s Court

than my own.’ And yet she added, ‘the iron

Opera, was declaring his love for her

had entered my soul and the wound was

and, despite his concern about their age

never healed.’

difference – he was 42, she 21 – talking of marriage. Alma spent weeks in anguish,

Even as Alma dedicated herself to her

torn between Zemlinsky, who believed

husband and to his music, which she

in her, and Mahler, whose passionate

grew to revere, music still ran through her

intensity was overwhelming.

head, sometimes ‘so loud and insistent that I hear it between every word I speak’.

She chose Mahler, but in December

Quite often she fell into depression, and

a passing comment about her work

knew that music could have cured it. She

provoked a 20-page letter in which Mahler

resented Mahler’s indifference: ‘Gustav,

effectively declared that there was room

why did you bind to you this splendid bird

for only one composer in their marriage. If

so happy in flight, when a grey, heavy

they were to marry, could she not abandon

one would have suited you better?’ she

her music and take possession of his? For

pleaded. By then she had ‘dragged’ her

the role of composer was his; hers was to

hundred songs with her ‘wherever I went

be ‘the loving partner and sympathetic

like a coffin into which I dared not look.’

comrade.’

Then one day, as she neared home from Though Alma was initially shattered – ‘as

a walk with her daughter, after a crisis

if a cold hand had torn the heart from my

in their marriage precipitated by her

breast, ’ within 24 hours, she accepted the

affair with Walter Gropius, she heard her

terms. She would renounce her music for

‘poor forgotten songs’ being played. She

a higher cause , to nurture and support his

stopped, petrified ‘overwhelmed with

great talent and make him happy.

shame and also angry.’ Mahler rushed out exclaiming , “What have I done? These

Alma stuck by her promise. But regret

songs are good. Really excellent.....God,

haunted her. ‘I buried my dream and

how blind and selfish I was in those days”.

perhaps it was for the best’, she wrote

He insisted they must be published, and

later. ‘It has been my privilege to give my

arranged for the most eminent singers

HER SONGS, OFTEN WRITTEN IN RESPONSE TO REJECTED LOVE, INTENSE LONELINESS, GRIEF AT HER FATHER’S DEATH, ARE SENSITIVE RENDERINGS OF POETIC TEXTS, EMOTIONAL AND TECHNICALLY COMPLEX, SKILFUL IN THEIR RANGE OF COLOUR, HARMONIES AND TEXTURES.

SCO NEWS|xx

COVER FEATURE

Gustav Mahler with Alma and daughters Maria and Anna | © Fine Art Images / Bridgeman Images

to perform them. Alma blossomed in his

survive in published form. Most were

new-found admiration for her talents and

lost when Alma fled Austria with her

achievement.

Jewish husband in 1938, leaving behind everything she possessed.

When Mahler became terminally ill in 1911 her composing ended as she devoted

But as interest in neglected women

her life to nursing him over the months

composers grows, Alma’s distinctive talent

of his slow decline. When he died in May

steadily gains renewed recognition.

1911, she was stricken with grief. Playing

––––––

music was again her salvation. When she

ALMA & GUSTAV MAHLER

recovered, composing no longer consumed

WITH KAREN CARGILL

her. From then on, Alma perfected her

Conducted by Mark Wigglesworth

skills as the nurturer to creative talent,

30 & 31 January in Edinburgh and Glasgow

‘filling my garden with geniuses’, as she

––––––

put it.

Of an output of perhaps up to a hundred works by Alma, only seventeen songs

Our Edinburgh concert is proudly sponsored by

16|SCO NEWS

2 SCO ON TOUR

1

SUMMER TOUR DATES 2020

3

Since 1979 we’ve been bringing high quality music to communities across the length and breadth of Scotland and this year is no different.

4 16

12

11 23

13 24

5

6 18

19 15

17 22 14 217

8 20

10

9

25

SCO NEWS|17

ON TOUR SUMMER 2020 ––––––

See you in: SHETLAND/ FINDHORN/ BALLACHULISH/ TOBERMORY/ MUSSELBURGH/ PAISLEY/ CASTLE DOUGLAS/ SELKIRK/ ELGIN/ FRASERBURGH/ KINGUSSIE/ EAST NEUK FESTIVAL/ STIRLING/ INVERNESS/ FORFAR/ OBAN/ CALLANDER/ TROON/ EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL/ ST ANDREWS/ INVERURIE/ BLAIR CASTLE and LAMMERMUIR FESTIVAL

DATE

TOUR

VENUE

Thursday 11 June

SCO Strings

1. Shetland Vidlin Village Hall

Friday 12 June

SCO Strings

2. Shetland Fetlar Village Hall

Saturday 13 June

SCO Strings

3. Shetland Lerwick Mareel

Thursday 11 June

SCO Wind Soloists

4. Findhorn Universal Hall

Friday 12 June

SCO Wind Soloists

5. Ballachulish Village Hall

Saturday 13 June

SCO Wind Soloists

6. Druimfin Mull Theatre, Tobermory

Wednesday 17 June

Full Orchestra

7. Musselburgh, Brunton Theatre

Thursday 18 June

Full Orchestra

8. Paisley Abbey

Friday 19 June

Full Orchestra

9. Castle Douglas Town Hall

Saturday 20th June

Full Orchestra

10. Selkirk Victoria Halls

Wednesday 1 July

Full Orchestra

11. Elgin Town Hall

Thursday 2 July

Full Orchestra

12. Fraserburgh United Reformed Church

Friday 3 July

Full Orchestra

13. Kingussie Badenoch Centre

Sunday 5 July

Full Orchestra

14. East Neuk Festival

Thursday 18 July

Full Orchestra

15. Stirling Castle

Friday 24 July

Full Orchestra

16. Inverness, Eden Court One Touch Theatre

Saturday 25 July

Full Orchestra

17. Forfar Reid Hall

Friday 31 July

Full Orchestra

18. Oban Corran Halls

Saturday 1 August

Full Orchestra

19. Callander McLaren High School

Sunday 2 August

Full Orchestra

20. Troon Concert Hall

August

Full Orchestra

21. Edinburgh International Festival

Thursday 10 September

Full Orchestra

22. St Andrews Holy Trinity Church

Friday 11 September

Full Orchestra

23. Inverurie Town Hall

Saturday 12 September

Full Orchestra

24. Blair Castle

Sunday 15 September

Full Orchestra

25. Lammermuir Festival

Sunday 13 September

Full Orchestra

25. Lammermuir Festival

18|SCO NEWS

CREATIVE LEARNING

NEW VIBE In collaboration with NHS Lothian Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

We know that music has the power to enrich lives, and that music-making in a welcoming and safe environment can support people with a wide range of social, emotional or practical needs, engaging those who feel marginalised and isolated.

Mental health is one of the most important issues our society faces today and, with growing numbers of young people in our country struggling with a lack of mental well-being, it is as important as ever for us to deliver projects that have a positive impact. We recognise that engagement with creative arts can improve well-being, enabling people to express themselves, build confidence, reduce loneliness, and develop skills and hope for the future. We

We have recently deepened our

are proud to be at the forefront of arts

commitment in this area with the launch

organisations in Scotland offering high

of NEW VIBE, a project for teenagers

quality social prescribing projects that can

with diagnosed mental health problems.

make a real difference, working closely

Developed in partnership with the Child

with partners including the University of

and Adolescent Mental Health Services

Edinburgh and NHS Lothian to develop

(CAMHS), and supported by our Creative

projects which support well-being, recovery

Learning Partner Baillie Gifford, NEW

and social inclusion.

VIBE aims to provide a safe space for young people currently using the CAMHS service to feel heard, supported, and

‘IT’S A REALLY FUN AND EXCITING WAY TO EXPRESS YOURSELF’ Participant

encouraged to develop musically and socially. The project extends the work of SCO VIBE, a free open access programme which since 2013 has reached hundreds

SCO NEWS|19

‘WE WERE BLOWN AWAY BY THE POSITIVE IMPACT THAT NEW VIBE HAS HAD ON THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO TOOK PART.’ CAMHS team member

professional musicians, a carefully selected group of teenage peer mentors, and therapists from CAMHS. Paul and the team know how to work with young people in ways that make them feel respected, listened to, and free to express their creativity. Across three days, we used music workshop practices to develop participants’ musical confidence, selfesteem and positive social behaviours. All ideas put forward were given space to be explored, allowing every participant to take part on an equal footing, regardless of their ability or level of skill.

The inaugural NEW VIBE course took Paul Griffiths with SCO VIBE

place from 19-21 October 2019 and it was deeply inspiring to see the transformative effects of collaborative

of young musicians and has helped them

music-making. The CAMHS team were

to develop confidence, social connections

delighted with the outcomes, saying “We

and musical skills. NEW VIBE builds on this

were blown away by the positive impact

practice to create an environment in which

that NEW VIBE has had on the young

young people suffering from mental health

people who took part.”

issues can benefit from expertly supported musical activities.

We’re very excited to be continuing our partnership with CAMHS and look forward

The young people who took part in our

to welcoming more young people to the

first NEW VIBE course in October had

next NEW VIBE project in February.

moderate to severe mental health issues

––––––

and were referred into the project by CAMHS. We invested substantial resource into training the project team, led by animateur Paul Griffiths and including

20|SCO NEWS

THOUGHTS ON BEETHOVEN…

COMING TO BEETHOVEN (BY WAY OF MENDELSSOHN)

BY PROFESSOR NICHOLAS MARSTON

CERTAINLY, BEETHOVEN’S MUSIC, AND THE ‘HEROIC’ MUSIC ABOVE ALL, OFTEN CONVEYS A SENSE THAT ‘THIS IS HOW IT IS’, THAT THINGS SOMEHOW CANNOT BE OTHERWISE IN THIS MUSICAL UNIVERSE.

‘The British don’t know much about music,

of Beecham’s view is to be found in some

but they like the noise it makes’. This dictum,

comments of Felix Mendelssohn in a letter of

usually attributed to the conductor Sir

1842: ‘People usually complain that music is

Thomas Beecham, is worth treating rather

so ambiguous, and what they are supposed

more seriously than it might seem to deserve.

to think when they hear it is so unclear, while

Even while they ‘like the noise it makes’, it is

words are understood by everyone. But for

noticeable how often people seem to feel the

me it is exactly the opposite . . . what the music

need to apologise for not knowing anything

I love expresses to me are thoughts not too

about ‘classical’ music, or being able to

indefinite for words, but rather too definite’.

appreciate it properly – to ‘understand’ it.

An admission of ignorance about cricket or

As is obvious, Mendelssohn was writing here

the offside rule will similarly be offered, but

about instrumental music, music without

usually without the same sense of guilt or

words (he was of course the great master of

personal regret. There are of course plenty of

that peculiar and characteristic keyboard

others who are completely untroubled by such

genre, the Lied ohne Worte, or ‘song without

things, and for whom ‘classical’ music is simply

words’). And behind what he had to say

a closed book; however much noise it may

there lies a veritable revolution that can

make, it holds no meaning for them.

be traced across the nearly three decades

That question of meaning is crucial. A more

separating the years 1790 and 1818. Not a

profound and elegantly expressed version

bloody revolution on the streets, as had begun

SCO NEWS|21

Beethoven through the ages

in France in 1789; this was a revolution in

Schopenhauer (1788–1860) in his treatise The

thought; thought about instrumental music.

World as Will and Representation, published in

What was such music, and what could it do?

that year. So far from being broadly enjoyable

While generalisations must always be treated

empty noise (as Beecham might have summed

with care, this shift in thinking can be neatly

up Kant’s position), instrumental music now

summarised in the opinions about music of

gave access to the ultimate reality of things,

two of the greatest philosophers of the period.

precisely those things that, as Mendelssohn

For Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), writing

knew, could not be captured in mere words.

about the arts in his Critique of Judgement (1790), music in general was a mere play of

What drove this remarkable shift in thinking?

sensations. For Kant, instrumental music was

Once again, generalisations are dangerous

the lowest of all the fine arts because it lacked

and no single cause can explain the matter.

any moral aim (‘it is enjoyable rather than

But there is a possible one-word answer that is

civilising’); words were essential to imbue it

not entirely wide of the mark: Beethoven.

with any kind of meaning or purpose.

Born in Bonn in 1770, Beethoven was still The view from 1818 could hardly have been

living there in 1790, when Kant’s treatise was

more different. ‘Music is thus in no sense,

published. His move to Vienna in 1792 was

like the other arts, the image of ideas, but

yet to come, as was all the instrumental music

the image of the Will itself’. So wrote Arthur

for which he is best known today, although he

22|SCO NEWS

had already, two years before, begun working

his essay, which does not neglect to outline

on what would eventually become his Piano

some of the intricate motivic connections

Concerto No 2, Op 19. The year 1790, in fact,

threaded through the symphony, is the earliest

saw the composition and performance of two

account of what has become known as

little-known but significant texted works, the

Beethoven’s ‘heroic’ style.

Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II, WoO 87, and its companion Cantata on

The ‘heroic’ style is so named because it makes

the Accession of Emperor Leopold II, WoO

its first and most unequivocal appearance in

88. The former piece is especially important

the ‘Eroica’ Symphony, composed in 1803. It

not only in that it is the source of some of the

is characterised by massive dimensions (the

melodic material in Beethoven’s only opera,

‘Eroica’ was far longer than any symphony

Fidelio (1814; originally Leonore, 1805–6) but

hitherto composed, and considerably

also in that it is the first extended example of

challenged its listeners’ hearing capacity).

Beethoven’s so-called ‘C minor mood’, a key

It’s driving rhythms, motivic complexity and

that evidently held a particular charge for

goal-directed structures are conveyed almost

him. The best-known example is of course

viscerally to the listener and the ‘heroic’ style is

the Symphony No 5 in C minor, the opening

apparent in many of Beethoven’s most public

of which is known to millions, whether or not

works of the decade following the ‘Eroica’

they can name the piece from which it comes.

(thus, up to and including the Seventh and

Nonetheless, the symphony is only one of a rich

Eighth Symphonies). As with the ‘C minor

corpus of pieces that explore the expressive

mood’, it is closely associated with the key of

potential of this particular key, from the early

the ‘Eroica’, E flat major; that same key would

Piano Sonata Op 10 No 1 (c1795–97) to the

be used in 1809 for the no less heroic ‘Emperor’

very last Sonata, Op 111 (1821–22) via the

Concerto, Op 73, though it is worth pointing

Coriolan Overture (1807), the Choral Fantasia,

out that other works in the same key, such as

Op 80 (1808) and so many more.

the ‘Harp’ Quartet, Op 74 of the same year, and the Piano Trio in E flat, Op 70, No 2 (1808)

The Fifth Symphony, composed in 1807–8

employ a different emotional palette (or

and premièred at the notorious 4-hour-long

maybe just a quieter kind of ‘heroism’).

concert in freezing conditions in Vienna on 22 December 1808, brings us back to the shift

A more recent commentator, Scott Burnham,

in responses to instrumental music sketched

writing in his influential, ‘Eroica’-based book

above. E. T. A. Hoffmann’s famous critique

Beethoven Hero (1995) has simply claimed

of the symphony, first published in 1810,

that ‘the values of Beethoven’s heroic music

pre-empts Schopenhauer in claiming that

have become the values of all music’. Certainly,

instrumental music ‘is the most romantic of

Beethoven’s music, and the ‘heroic’ music

all the arts . . . because its only subject is the

above all, often conveys a sense that ‘this

infinite’. As for Beethoven, ‘his instrumental

is how it is’, that things somehow cannot be

music opens to us the realm of the monstrous

otherwise in this musical universe. Many find

and immeasurable’. Hoffmann is here allying

this compelling in an utterly positive, thrilling

Beethoven’s instrumental music to the

way; others report a sense of unease, feeling

aesthetic category known as the ‘sublime’; and

that this music is somehow coercive, and not

SCO NEWS|23

necessarily always in a good way. Despite having famously denounced Napoleon as a tyrant, and withdrawn his name from the title of his Third Symphony, has Beethoven somehow stepped into that tyrant’s shoes?

By 1818, when Schopenhauer’s treatise appeared, Beethoven was embarking on his grandest piano sonata, the ‘Hammerklavier’, Op 106. It is not without its heroic aspects – the style remained available to Beethoven, and resurfaces in the Ninth; but Beethoven’s life and music had undergone radical shifts in many respects since 1812. Not least of which were the famous affair of the ‘Immortal Beloved’ and the struggle for guardianship of his nephew Karl, to say nothing of his now almost total deafness, and the ‘late’ music is shot through with uneasy ambiguities. Still to come, along with the Ninth, were the Missa solemnis, the last three piano sonatas and the late string quartets. Given Beethoven’s unchallengeable role in the establishment of a certain kind of instrumental music as perhaps the epitome of ‘classical’ music (and much of it certainly makes a lot of noise), there is perhaps an irony in that words increasingly make an appearance in his musical scores: Schiller’s An die Freude in the Ninth, of course; but also the vexed question and answer, ‘Muß es sein?

Es muß sein!’ appearing above the finale of the last quartet, Op 135, and the remark prefacing the Kyrie of the Missa in Beethoven’s manuscript: ‘From the heart, may it reach again to the heart’. Those words, indeed, perhaps go to the very heart of the matter; even so, Mendelssohn got it right.

–––––– 2019/20 Beethoven Symphony Cycle See sco.org.uk for more information Beethoven with a lyre-guitar.

1804–05 portrait by Joseph Willibrord Mähler

25Oth CELEBRATION

24|SCO NEWS

THOUGHTS ON BEETHOVEN…

LAURA COMINI SECOND VIOLIN

There are pieces that every musician remembers as milestones in their personal musical journey. Beethoven 7th and 9th represent this for me. I still remember the first time I played Beethoven 7th as a teenager in Florence. It was June and we were preparing for a concert with the late Carlo Maria Giulini. I remember the first time we run it through, and the warm summery light of that day. I remember the hopeful openness of the first movement and the excruciating beauty of the second. There is nothing quite as heartbreaking as falling in love with a piece of music when you are a teenager, when everything feels raw, black and white, life and death. I remember thinking that if I were to die in that very moment, I would still feel incredibly thankful for having had the gift to play this piece.

Fast forward to 2014, Usher Hall, SCO, SCO Chorus, Maestro Krivine and

Two weeks later I was appointed. It’s

Beethoven 9th. It was my last project

easy to see fate in hindsight but I still

before the end of my trial with the SCO

feel an incredible connection between

and I knew that the orchestra was going

these two pivotal moments in my life. And

to decide shortly after that whether to

how amazing it is that we are playing

appoint me or not. The Choir was singing

Beethoven 9th again with Krivine this

their hearts out, I looked around at my

season! I cannot wait! Put it in your diaries

colleagues and everybody was on fire.

and come to our concerts! I promise you

I remember thinking “we are going to

won’t regret it!

blow the roof off the Usher Hall” and

––––––

immediately after that “I will be so

Beethoven Symphonies Nos 8 & 9 ‘Choral’

crushed if they don’t give me the job”.

14-15 May in Edinburgh and Glasgow

SPEM IN ALIUM 29 FEBRUARY 2020, 7.30pm GREYFRIARS KIRK, EDINBURGH Bringing to life music spanning 500 years, from Henry Purcell to Eric Whitacre, the SCO Chorus will perform works exploring themes of redemption, salvation and hope, concluding with Tallis’ Renaissance

TALLIS Salvator Mundi MACMILLAN Four Strathclyde Motets

masterpiece Spem in Alium.

POULENC Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence

Weaving 40 individual vocal lines into a

PURCELL Hear my Prayer

majestic tapestry of sound, Spem in Alium is one of the most glorious pieces of choral music ever written.

Join the SCO Chorus for this mesmerising performance in the evocative setting of Greyfriars Kirk during its 400th anniversary year.

BOOK NOW AT SCO.ORG.UK

WHITACRE Three Flower Songs TALLIS Spem in Alium — GREGORY BATSLEER – Conductor SCO CHORUS

26|SCO NEWS

PATRON EVENTS

PATRONS VISIT THE SCO CHORUS With the recent growth of the SCO

Greg, whose passion and enthusiasm

Chorus’ profile and reputation and in

for the SCO Chorus was evident,

the 10th Anniversary year of Gregory

Patrons were invited to take their seat

Batsleer’s tenure as SCO Chorus Director,

in the pews of Broughton St Mary’s to

we thought it would be timely to give

observe the Chorus rehearse sections of

Patrons an insight into what a typical

Stravinsky’s Mass and Haydn’s Harmony

Monday evening rehearsal looks like for

Mass. Patrons commented that it was

one of the UK’s finest amateur choirs.

fascinating to see the minute detail that Greg demanded from the singers

Following a fascinating introduction from

and how they could now appreciate the

WIN £250 ––––––

250 SOCIETY Just £5 a month as a member of the 250 Society gives you the chance to scoop £250 in our monthly draw at the same time as knowing that you are contributing towards the SCO’s Creative Learning programme. level of work that goes into preparing

Please join us in congratulating recent

performances. They also commented that

winners of our 250 Society:

hearing Greg shed light on how Haydn and Stravinsky treat the same text, and

November – Martin Locher

having this rare opportunity to see an

October – Eileen Henry

early rehearsal, would greatly enhance

September – Neil Ballantyne

their experience of the concert.

––––––

To learn more about the 250 Society

To learn more about becoming a Patron,

or to join now, contact Laura Hickey on

please contact Laura Hickey on 0131 478 8344.

0131 478 8344.

28|SCO NEWS

SEASON 2019/20

FREE PRE-CONCERT INSIGHTS AND PERFORMANCES All events take place from 6.45-7.15pm (unless otherwise stated) and are free to concert ticket holders.

Alma Mahler

Robert McFall

Thursday 16 January, Edinburgh Queen’s Hall Artist Insights: Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev discusses the evening’s programme.

Wednesday 4 March, Perth Concert Hall Artist Insights: Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev discusses the evening’s programme.

Saturday 18 January, Aberdeen Music Hall Artist Insights: Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev discusses the evening’s programme.

Thursday 19 March, Edinburgh Queen’s Hall Friday 20 March, Glasgow City Halls Sunday 22 March, 3.15-3.45pm, Inverness Eden Court Theatre Artist Insights: Robert McFall (former SCO Violin) discusses the influence of folk themes in Hungarian music.

Thursday 30 January, Edinburgh Usher Hall Friday 31 January, Glasgow City Halls Composer Insights: Author Cate Haste and SCO Creative Learning Director Kirsteen Davidson Kelly discuss the life and music of Alma Mahler.

Pekka Kuusisto

Thursday 23 April, Edinburgh Queen’s Hall Friday 24 April, Glasgow City Halls Artist Insights: Nico Muhly discusses his new Violin Concerto ‘Shrink’ with Pekka Kuusisto.

Thursday 7 May, Edinburgh Queen’s Hall Friday 8 May, Glasgow City Halls Storytelling Insights: Join storyteller Anna Lehr and SCO Cello Eric de Wit for a musical tale inspired by Mendelssohn’s love of Scotland. Suitable for all ages.

SCO PLATFORM

SCO PLATFORM: Pre-Concert Performances by Scotland’s Young Musicians All events take place from 6.45-7.15pm and are free to concert ticket holders.

––––––

Thursday 5 March, Edinburgh Usher Hall SCO Platform: Performance by pupils from St Mary’s Music School.

Thursday 12 March, Edinburgh Usher Hall SCO Platform: Performance by students from the University of Edinburgh.

Friday 6 March, Glasgow City Halls SCO Platform: Performance by pupils from the Music School of Douglas Academy.

Saturday 14 March, Aberdeen Music Hall SCO Platform: Performance by pupils from Aberdeen City Music School.

EXPLORE BEETHOVEN | MUSICAL CREATIVITY AND DEAFNESS SATURDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2020, 10AM – 1.15PM ST CECILIA’S HALL AND MUSEUM, EDINBURGH Join us for a morning of talks and performances by a Scottish Chamber Orchestra string quartet as we explore Beethoven’s life as a deaf musician and composer.

There is a loop system in the hall and all talks will be BSL-interpreted.

–––––– Full details, including ticket prices and how to book, can be found on our website: sco.org.uk Or you can email: joanna.burns@sco.org.uk or call Joanna on 0131 478 8342

30|SCO NEWS

JOIN THE CONVERSATION ––––––

YOUR SAY It’s been a fantastic start to the season with many memorable moments. Reuniting with the Orchestra as our new Principal Conductor, Maxim conducted Mozart’s ‘Jupiter’ Symphony in November. We’ve celebrated other momentous occasions too – from the Queen Hall’s 40th anniversary to 10 years with Gregory Batsleer as SCO Chorus Director. Not to mention the release of our new recording of Schubert No 9 which received five-star

Sign up for our email newsletter For all our latest news, films, photos, blogs and special offers, visit SCO.ORG.UK/LATEST Email us Sophie Sim, Marketing Officer sophie.sim@sco.org.uk Comment on Facebook facebook.com/scottishchamberorchestra Share your experience on Twitter @SCOmusic Share your experience on Instagram @scottishchamberorchestra #mySCO

reviews. We love hearing your thoughts and here is some of the feedback we’ve had from our audiences so far.

MAXIM’S FIRST PERFORMANCE AS PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR No baton. No podium. No stage (not much anyway). Just love. Emelyanchev and orchestra. Fabulous. Can’t wait for rest of this series!

Derek Zuckert @derekz1 Excellent @SCOmusic Jupiter symphony tonight. Orchestra played out of their skins spurred on by Maxim turning the pages of his score with feral intensity. Added to the mother of Mozart’s (many) earworms, what was there not to like.

Philip Whitley, @PhilipWhitley13

ANNE CLYNE PREMIERES NEW WORK @SCOmusic super concert of Clyne & Haydn. How daring Haydn’s 60th must have seemed in 18th century – and a great inspiration for @annaclyne who has created a wonderful piece of music. Orchestra rose to the challenge. Fantastic evening.

Kate Main @tram_cat Jephtha with @SCOmusic at the @bbcproms was stunning.

All the singers were tremendous.

David Glynn @broadwoodsquare

UNDER 18S

It has 100% changed my confidence by 100%

I assumed my children would not like classical music until my son visited a concert with school and all my children wanted to go.

They loved it so much four of them now play musical instruments. Who knows what a concert can do for your kids? @SCOmusic

SCO VIBE Participant, Aberdeen

Gilly Herbert @GillyHerbert

SCO VIBE

THROUGH THE EYES OF...

LOUISE GOODWIN PRINCIPAL TIMPANI with PERCUSSION Can you tell us a little bit about your musical

the Schubert recording we did with Maxim,

background prior to the SCO?

although I was a little terrified as I was on trial

Violin was my first instrument, which I started

and it was my first time doing a recording on

aged 5! Percussion took over as my favourite

timps! I also really loved playing West Side

instrument in my teens, when I learnt it at

Story at Edinburgh International Festival as the

school and then went to the Junior Royal

music is just so great. I’m really really looking

Northern College of Music on a Saturday.

forward to continuing with the Beethoven cycle

I was then fortunate to get a place at the

as I haven’t had the opportunity to play all the

RCM in London where I completed my

symphonies yet.

undergraduate degree. The course at the Royal College of Music was fantastic for

What makes performing with the SCO

percussionists because we would study all

special?

genres of music and whilst I was there, I really

I think that the reason performing with the

discovered how much I enjoyed orchestral

SCO is really special is because in a chamber

music. I’ve been really lucky to play a large

ensemble every single person’s contribution

variety of styles, from contemporary

to the music is heightened. You really feel like

chamber music with the London Sinfonietta,

the players are making active, live decisions

symphonic orchestral music with the

about how the music should go, during

symphony orchestras in London as well as

the rehearsals and the concerts. There is a

doing an opera scheme with English National

certain level of flexibility that comes with the

Opera and a year on the Orchestra Age of

ensemble being a nimbler machine, and this

Enlightenment scheme thinking about how

makes performances so exciting because

best to play in a period instrument ensemble.

you can never be sure quite how they are going to go. Tempo, dynamics and phrasing

What have been your SCO highlights so far?

are all up for grabs, and you can take the

One project that sticks out of the first few that

opportunity to lead and collaborate in equal

I did is playing Beethoven 7 on the Highlands

measure. For this reason, I also particularly

Tour in 2018, partly because I love the symphony

enjoy the opportunity to play unconducted

but also because it was my first time visiting

as this is a rare thing for a timpanist! From

the Highlands; the weather was fantastic,

a selfish point of view, I love playing the

everyone was in high spirits and as always the

classic repertoire that the SCO play on the

attention, detail and musicality of the Orchestra

timps and using the pots (a period timpani

was overwhelming. I also really enjoyed

instrument).

PATRONS

SUPPORT US PLAY YOUR PART IN OUR FUTURE SCO.ORG.UK/SUPPORT-US Join our family of Patrons for as little as £5 a month. For more information, please get in touch with Laura Hickey, Development Officer, on 0131 478 8344 or laura.hickey@sco.org.uk The SCO is a charity registered in Scotland No SC015039.