SSO Chamber Series: For The Emperor

FOR THE EMPEROR 11 & 12 August 2017

Victoria Concert Hall

FOR THE EMPEROR Yang Zheng Yi

artistic administrator

11

August Joseph Haydn String Quartet in F major, Op. 50 No. 5 “Dream” 21’00 Foo Say Ming, violin 1 Cindy Lee, violin 2 Marietta Ku, viola Chan Wei Shing, cello

String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 76 No. 4 “Sunrise” 23’00 Cindy Lee, violin 1 Foo Say Ming, violin 2 Marietta Ku, viola Chan Wei Shing, cello

Intermission 20’00

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quartet No. 21 in D major, K.575, Op. 18 No. 1 25’00 Cao Can, violin 1 Margit Saur, violin 2 Guan Qi, viola Wang Zihao, cello

12

August Joseph Haydn String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 “Emperor” 22’00 Ye Lin, violin 1 Xu Jue Yi, violin 2 Zhang Manchin, viola Guo Hao, cello

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quartet No. 22 in B-flat major, K.589, Op. 18 No. 2 24’00 Ye Lin, violin 1 Xu Jue Yi, violin 2 Zhang Manchin, viola Guo Hao, cello

Intermission 20’00 String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K.590, Op. 18 No. 3 28’00 Cao Can, violin 1 Margit Saur, violin 2 Guan Qi, viola Wang Zihao, cello

Foo Say Ming

violin

Cao Can

violin

Cao Can has been a first violinist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra since 2011. She started learning the violin at the age of five, and in 1999, was admitted to the Affiliated Middle School of Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 2005, Cao received a full scholarship from the National University of Singapore to further her studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Zuo Jun. Cao participated in the Houston Festival, the Pacific Music Festival, and served as the Concertmaster. In 2009, Cao was awarded the Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance.

In 2011, she obtained the Graduate Diploma in Music Performance and became an assistant teacher in the Zuo Jun studio.

At the 4th National Music Competition in Singapore (1983), Singaporean violinist Foo Say Ming won the First Prize of the Violin (Open) Category, the First Prize of the Ensemble (Open) Category, and the Grand Prize of the competition: the Best Performer Award unanimously awarded by the judging panel, a feat which has yet to be equaled in the history of the country’s music competition. Foo was awarded the coveted Public Service Commission of Singapore – Singapore Symphony Orchestra Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music. He was later accepted into the Conservatoire de Lausanne, to study with French violinist Pierre Amoyal, a protégé of Jascha Heifetz. Foo was conferred the Virtuosité-Premier Prix avec Félicitations du Jury.

Foo leads and directs a unique chamber orchestra from Singapore, “re: mix” (www.remix. com.sg). This ensemble boasts of an eclectic repertoire ranging from John Adams to ABBA, Bach to Beatles, Mozart to movies, Schoenberg to Salsa! re: mix has been responsible for the creation and championing of a host of works that is a blend of interdisciplinary art forms, and amalgamation of pop and contemporary icons with classical sensibilities.

In 2012, Foo was appointed as Head of Strings at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) School of Music.

Cindy Lee

violin

Born and raised in Taiwan, Cindy Lee started piano lessons when she was four and violin lessons at eight, and was selected to take a double major in both instruments in a special programme directed by local schools under full scholarship. During her school years, she performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 and Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with various school orchestras. Following her graduation from the National Taiwan Normal University, Lee continued her studies under Oleh Krysa at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, under full scholarship. She has participated in the Asian Youth Orchestra, Orchestra Academy at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Spoleto Festival. A former member of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Cindy Lee joined the first violin section of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 2004.

She has appeared as soloist with the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra and the SSO. Lee performs on a 1814 Pietro Pallota violin, Italy.

Margit Saur

violin

Margit Saur is a graduate from the University of the Arts in Berlin (UK) where she studied with Koji Toyoda and Ilan Gronich. She further studied under the guidance of Yair Kless and Irina Svetlova at the Rubin Music Academy of Tel Aviv. Saur performed in master and chamber music classes with Stefan Picard, Antje Weithaas, Michael Sanderling, Sylvia Rosenberg and The Cleveland Quartet.

Prior to her engagement with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 2004, she worked in various orchestras such as Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Israel Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Deutsches SymphonieOrchester Berlin, Vienna Radio Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Ensemble Oriol Berlin and the Baroque Orchestra (Berlin).

Xu Jue Yi

violin

Xu Jue Yi has performed regularly in China and Singapore as a soloist and chamber musician. Xu was appointed Concertmaster of the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra where she worked with Maestro Riccardo Muti and the Concertmaster of Vienna Philharmonic in July 2007, and was invited back to join their 2008 season. She was the prize winner in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concerto Competition in 2006. Her experience in international competitions include participating in the 9th Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, Finland in 2005 and the 51st Niccolò Paganini Violin Competition in Genova, Italy in 2006.

Ye Lin

violin

SSO violinist Ye Lin graduated from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore in 2007, where she studied with Qian Zhou.

A National Arts Council Conservatory music scholar, she won the First Prize in the Violin Open Category of the 2005 Singapore National Piano and Violin Competition and at the First Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concerto Competition in 2004. Ye Lin started learning the violin when she was five. From 1991 to 2000 she studied at the primary and middle schools attached to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She was a member of the Asian Youth Orchestra from 2001 to 2002. In 2003 she was awarded the Diploma in Music by the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. In 2006 she was selected to study with Victor Danchenko at the Peabody Institute at John Hopkins University under an exchange programme.

Zhang Manchin

viola

Zhang Manchin is the Principal Violist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. She was the first Asian player and youngest member in the history of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) when she was appointed Assistant Principal Viola by Neeme Järvi in 1994. During her tenure at the DSO, she was a resident artist at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, a member of the DSO Chamber Music Ensemble and DSO String Quartet, and also worked with the Detroit Chamber Winds and the Chamber Music Festival at Blue Lake in Great Michigan area.

Born in Hunan, China, Zhang entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at the age of 10 and gave her debut performance at the age of 12. After completing her Performance Diploma in Viola with highest honours, she was accepted as a student of Emanuel Vardi at the Manhattan School of Music under full scholarship. In 1991 she was a finalist in the Primrose International Viola Competition.

With the Young Shanghai String Quartet, she won 4th prize in the Portsmouth International String Quartet Competition (1988) and 3rd prize in the Prague International Competition for String Quartet (1987). Zhang Manchin is Head of Viola Studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. She is also a much sought-after chamber musician and active visiting professor.

Guan Qi

viola

Born in Yunnan, Kunming, Guan Qi studied violin and music composition under his father at age 12. In 1985 he studied viola at the Central Conservatory of Music under Sui Ke Qiang, Wang Zhen Shan, Lin Yao Ji, Csaba Erdelyi and Bruno Pasquier. Upon graduation he was appointed Principal Viola at the China Youth Symphony Orchestra, Central Opera and Dance Symphony Orchestra and Marcan Chamber Orchestra.

Guan Qi joined the SSO in 1988 and is now Associate Principal Violist. In his free time, he likes to cook, watch movies and travel.

Marietta Ku

viola

Marietta Ku was born in Singapore into a musical family. The piano was her first instrument before she switched to the violin at the age of nine. Under a SSOPSC scholarship, Ku studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where she was a student of violist Roger Tapping, violinist Howard Davis and pianists Aaron Shorr and Antonietta Notariello. In the UK she has worked with the Amadeus, Alberni and Chilingirian Quartets, and has been appointed Principal Violist at the Edinburgh Music Festival, the Reigate Music Festival and the Lake District Summer Music Festival.

She is also the first Singaporean prize winner at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. Ku currently holds the dual post of violinist-cum-violist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Co-founder of the chamber group SPITZE, she is an active recitalist and chamber musician.

Guo Hao

cello

Currently the Third Chair of the SSO cello section, Guo Hao’s teachers include his brother, Guo Qu, as well as Yu Ming-Qing and Alexander Baillie. He is a graduate of the College of Arts in Bremen, Germany and Central Conservatory in Beijing, China. As soloist he has appeared with the Staatstheater Oldenburg, the Theater Nordhausen/Loh-Orchester Sondershausen and the Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in the Marktoberdorf International Music Festival in Germany. Guo Hao was Principal Cellist with the China Youth Symphony Orchestra, Guest Principal Cellist with the Staatstheater Oldenburg, and was a member of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. He has participated in masterclasses with Anner Bylsma, Wolfgang Boettcher, Boris Pergamenschikow and George Faust. He plays on the Matteo Goffriller of 1699 on generous loan from the Rin Collection.

Wang Zihao

cello

Chan Wei Shing

cello

Chan Wei Shing was born into a musical family and started playing the piano at the age of eight and the cello at the age of ten.

In 1985 he won First Prize in two categories of the National Music Competition – the Cello Open and Chamber Music. In 1988 he studied with Angelika May at the University of Music in Vienna and subsequently with Rudolf Leopold in Graz, Austria. In 1996 he was awarded the Master’s Degree of Arts major in Cello Performance.

Born in Jilin, China, Wang Zihao started to play the cello at the age of four. At 13 he was admitted to the middle school of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where he studied with Na Mula. With his outstanding accomplishments, he won the outstanding professional award at the conservatory.

Wang was Principal Cellist of the China Youth Symphony Orchestra. For three consecutive years, he was admitted to the Morningside Music Bridge International Academy in Canada, where he won the First Prize in the Concerto Competition and Etude Competition with a published CD recording.

As a result he was invited to perform with the Symphony Orchestra of Gdan´sk in Poland.

Wang recently graduated from Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music where he studied under Qin Li-Wei and won the First Prize of the Concerto Competition. He plays on an 1896 Muller Joseph on generous loan from the Rin Collection.

The Composers and the String Quartet Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would perform string quartets with fellow composers Dittersdorf and Vanhal on occasion, and tenor Michael Kelly wrote in his memoirs that “the players were tolerable; not one of them excelled on the instrument he played, but there was a little science among them, which I dare say will be acknowledged when I name them: First Violin: Haydn; Second Violin: Dittersdorf; Viola: Mozart; Violoncello: Vanhal; I was there, and a greater treat, or a more remarkable one, cannot be imagined”.

Haydn and Mozart struck up a remarkable friendship, with great mutual admiration of each other’s musical abilities, and Mozart even dedicated a set of six string quartets to Haydn. Haydn remarked to Mozart’s father, Leopold, “Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name; he has taste, and, furthermore, the most profound knowledge of composition”. Haydn later even provided Mozart’s children with musical instruction after the latter’s untimely demise.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MADEUSS M MOZART OZ ZART (1756 – 1791)

String Quartets Op. 18 Nos. 1-3 “Prussian” No. 21, K.575 No. 22, K.589 No. 23, K.590 Mozart’s String Quartets Nos. 21 to 23 were written in 1789-90 and dedicated to Friedrich William II, King of Prussia. The King had supposedly commissioned Mozart to write a set of six string quartets and a set of “easy” keyboard sonatas for one of his princesses in 1789.

Recent scholarship however suggests that this commission was a flight of fancy on Mozart’s part, and part of a cover up, so that he would not have to inform his wife, Constanze, that his works were slipping out of demand and that his financial outlook was grim. Nonetheless, these quartets have acquired the nickname, “Prussian”.

Regrettably, failing physical health and abysmal financial health at that time seems to have resulted in Mozart only being able to complete three of these string quartets and none of the keyboard sonatas. In desperate financial straits, Mozart sold these three quartets to a publisher and bemoaned the fact that he had “to dispose of the quartets for a mockery of a fee, only to lay my hands on some money to keep myself going”. Despite this despondent situation, these quartets, which were to be Mozart’s final compositions in the genre, still sparkle with his characteristic simplicity and joy.

No. 21, K.575 1. Allegretto 2. Andante 3. Menuetto & Trio. Allegretto 4. Allegretto Mozart clearly managed to separate his troubled state from his compositional output, opening the Allegretto of the K.575 with a buoyant theme. Essentially an arpeggio and a descending scale, it is freely passed around the instruments before the second theme, an arpeggio and a held note, is introduced by the cello and likewise passed around the instruments.

These two themes dominate the movement, and this breeziness prevails to the end. The Andante evokes a calm nocturne, with the violin and cello having most of the musical material. The Menuetto starts off where the Andante ends, and is a study in contrasts. The cello – King Friedrich William II’s own instrument – takes centre stage in the Trio, singing a lyrical melody.

The cello continues, leading the closing Allegretto, whose themes share many similarities with the opening movement, but featuring significant contrapuntal writing. A constant forward motion permeates the movement, propelling it to its strong conclusion.

No. 22, K.589 1. Allegro 2. Larghetto 3. Menuetto. Moderato 4. Allegro assai The Allegro of the K.589 quartet opens with a quiet theme stated in the violins and viola, before the cello introduces the wide-ranging melody of the second theme. Triplets enter towards the end of the exposition and proceed to thereafter dominate the rhythmic texture of the movement.

The royal cello sings the soaring opening theme of the Larghetto before engaging in an operatic duet with the first violin at the end of the movement.

Musicologist Reginald Barrett-Ayres remarked that the Menuetto is “one of the most interesting movements in the quartets of Mozart�, with tongue-in-cheek, quicksilver interjections featured throughout. The contrasting Trio is built over an ostinato, while melodic fragments are passed around the quartet with increased chromaticism, surprising accents, and brief excursions to unexpected tonalities further disrupting proceedings. The Finale (Allegro assai) begins light-heartedly, before proceeding to more serious matters with frequent changes in dynamic and meter, and some unexpected harmonic twists. Without any loss in dynamic exuberance, Mozart ends the quartet with one of his musical trademarks: a robust phrase, followed by a quiet closing reply.

No. 23, K.590 1. Allegro moderato 2. Andante 3. Menuetto. Allegretto 4. Allegro Mozart’s final string quartet, K.590, opens with a simple ascending arpeggio like his earlier Divertimento K.138. The Allegro moderato progresses rather differently though, with a sudden, almost violently, downward-rushing scale before classical poise is established. The instruments pass the opening triad and scalic figures around and engage in several dialogues before Mozart ends the movement with quiet broken octaves.

One of the authorities on Mozart, Alfred Einstein remarked that the ensuing Allegretto was “one of the most sensitive movements in the literature of chamber music, it seems to mingle the bliss and sorrow of a farewell to life. How beautiful life has been! How sad! How brief!”

Mozart builds this movement upon a reflection and meditation on a simple rhythmic figure, which became the catalyst for Einstein’s impassioned remark.

The Menuetto alternates between moods: genteel one moment, and robust the next. Irregular phases in both the Menuetto and Trio make it a rather lopsided dance. A high-speed thriller then provides all the musicians with opportunities to engage in virtuosic fireworks in the moto perpetuo Finale (Allegro), amidst intricate fugal and contrapuntal passages sprinkled with several musical surprises, bringing Mozart’s string quartet writing “career” to a dazzling end.

JOSEPH HAYDN (1732 – 1809)

String Quartets Op. 50, No. 5 in F major “Dream” Op. 76, No. 3 in C major “Emperor” Op. 76, No. 4 in B-flat major “Sunrise” Like Mozart’s “Prussian Quartets”, Haydn’s Op. 50 quartets, written in 1787, were dedicated to King Friedrich William II. This set of six quartets were also nicknamed the “Prussian Quartets”. Haydn decided to make this dedication upon receipt of a letter from the King, praising him for his Paris symphonies. Interestingly, the original autograph manuscripts for Quartets Op. 50 No. 3-6 were presented in a plastic bag to conductor Christopher Hogwood at a festival in Melbourne, Australia, in 1982. The manuscripts had been purchased by an English colonel in 1851 before he emigrated to New Zealand, and it was passed to his heirs before being “rediscovered”.

The six quartets of Op. 76 were composed between 1796 and 1797 and dedicated to the Hungarian Count Joseph Georg von Erd¨ody. Haydn was possibly the greatest living composer at that time, since Mozart had passed away and Beethoven had not yet made his mark. Written in a remarkably self-assured manner, this set of quartets contains some of Haydn’s most famous and enduring compositions, two of which are performed today.

Op. 50, No. 5 in F major “Dream” 1. Allegro moderato 2. Poco adagio 3. Menuetto - Trio 4. Finale. Vivace The Allegro moderato features a jaunty opening tune, answered by two “wrong” notes in the bass. This opening tune and the quick sextuplets, which are subsequently passed around the quartet, form the basis for this opening movement. The dreamy Poco adagio features a lyrical violin reverie rhapsodising over gradually undulating chords, providing this quartet with its nickname, The Dream.

A restlessly awakened Menuetto allows Haydn to play around with unconventional harmonies (for his time) and some rhythmic displacement. A stomping Finale, also the last of the Op. 50 set to be completed, featuring scurrying passages and rhythmic reposes, brings this dream to a vivacious end.

Op. 76, No. 3 in C major “Emperor” 1. Allegro 2. Poco adagio cantabile 3. Menuetto - Trio 4. Finale. Presto Haydn had written a hymn earlier in 1797, titled “Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser” (God Save Emperor Francis). He had envied the British National Anthem – God Save the King – and proceeded to write an equivalent for Emperor Francis II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and later, Austria. For a while it was adopted as the National Anthems of Austria and then Germany, though it was abandoned by the former after the end of the Second World War. The opening Allegro is one of Haydn’s trademark monothematic movements, with the opening theme dominating the movement. Musicologist László Somfai has noted that this opening theme essentially contains the first letters of the hymn (G-E-FD-C, substituting for K), and suggests that audiences during Haydn’s time would have understood this reference. This theme is dressed in many guises throughout the movement – strong and robust at the start, becoming uncertain and shadowy midway, and even evoking a peasant dance in the development.

The second movement is probably the most famous of Haydn’s compositions.

Marked Poco adagio cantabile, Haydn set the hymn as the main theme of this movement, keeping its dignity and writing a set of four variations on it. The hymn is performed by a different instrument in each variation, while the other instruments vary the setting and mood. The culminating final variation is performed by the full quartet in a beautifully emotional apotheosis of the hymn.

A simple Menuetto provides a comfortable contrast to the solemnity of the preceding movement; a peasant dance is juxtaposed with a lyrical trio. The Finale opens with three strong chords before running triplets invigorate this agitated and anxious movement, which then give way to a varied return of the opening chords to conclude this quartet.

Op. 76, No. 4 in B-flat major “Sunrise�

1. Allegro con spirito 2. Adagio 3. Menuetto. Allegro - Trio 4. Finale. Allegro ma non troppo The first violin literally traces the ascent of the rising sun, starting in its lower register, before gracefully arcing upwards above a sustained harmonic cushion provided by the other instruments. After some rumination on this opening, the Allegro con spirito proper starts, with the first violin leading the first theme. The cello provides a mirror image to the opening, with a descending motif, before Haydn plays fragments of these themes against each other in the customary development and recapitulation. The bleak Adagio stands in contrast to the sunny spirits of the first movement, contemplating on its opening five notes.

As in the Emperor Quartet, Haydn provides a simple, rustic dance in the Menuetto to enliven spirits. Sunlight returns with added rhythmic dynamism, before a darker Trio provides the contrasting section. The Finale is believed to be built on an adaptation of a tuneful and jolly English folk song, elegantly transformed through the movement. The tempo moves increasingly faster, scampering to an exhilarating conclusion.

Programme notes by Christopher Cheong

10 September 2017 4pm I Victoria Concert Hall The mercurial and expressive flavour of the French colour this varied programme, featuring the sublime combination of flute, viola and harp via Debussyian Impressionism; the lilting rhythms and sultry Andalusian tones of Spanish composer Joaquín Turina’s piano trio and the unduly neglected music of George Onslow, a 19th century French composer of English descent.

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