Rattle conducts Sibelius – Symphony no.3

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Arcana

Rattle conducts Sibelius – Symphony no.3, in the second of a three-concert residency from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, performing all the composer’s symphonies

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle – Barbican Hall, live on BBC Radio 3, 11 February 2015.

Listening link (opens in a new window):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b051czq9

on the iPlayer until 12 March

For those unable to hear the broadcast, here is a Spotify link. Although Sir Simon has recorded the first symphony, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, I could not find this for listening. I have therefore inserted a ‘replacement’ version with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for EMI.

What’s the music?

Sibelius – Symphony no.3 in C major, Op.52 (1907) (27 minutes)

What about the music? ‘The most beloved and least fortunate of my children’, was Sibelius’ description of his Symphony no.3.

I would tend to agree with him – for it is a work that for one reason or another is my personal favourite among the composer’s seven symphonies.

It is effectively the start of a new phase of development for the composer, an enigmatic piece of work that deliberately shies away from the relatively grand gestures of the first two symphonies and adopts a leaner frame. Gone are the big, romantic sweeps – for here is music that uses the orchestra with greater economy and a more obvious focus on rhythmic cells, the sort of busy orchestral sounds that begin to look forward towards the ‘minimal’ writing of Steve Reich and John Adams.

Sir Simon Rattle notes this as well, comparing the change in Sibelius’ writing to a Finnish trait he had discovered, which is that when they have finished speaking, they walk away. He said the same of the music in this symphony, which explains why it stops suddenly!

Performance verdict

Rattle sees a lot of graceful figures in this symphony, where other conductors prefer more obvious rhythmic thrust. In fact the energy sags in the middle of the first movement, until the momentum begins to build.

This also occurs in the finale, so I found this was a reading with less ‘cut and thrust’ than I personally would want to hear in this piece. There is, however, a rather beautiful slow movement placed second, for which Rattle clearly has considerable affection.

First movement (marked Allegro moderato) (moderately fast)

4:05 – the lower strings start with a murky figure that grows like a sort of atomic fission

5:22 – a contrasting theme on the cellos, more lyrical – which starts to break apart at 5:53 and wheel around in a circle, rhythmically

8:49 – we hear the second theme on the bassoon above the increasingly agitated violas, returning to the main tune at 9:39

11:45 – the rolling of the timpani is prominent as the rhythmic figure continues to get passed around the orchestra. Then the texture thins at 12:18 to plucked strings only, as if pausing for thought, before a solemn statement ends the movement.

Second movement (marked Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto) (quite slow, but not too much)

15:06 – a change of mood and a sense of melancholy to the tune from the woodwind. Clarinet and flute have some rather beautiful short solos here.

19:11 – the woodwind play together in contemplation, the strings responding as the music slows still further at 19:52 – which leads to a return to the tune on clarinets. Listen carefully, however, and you will hear a creeping note in the bass strings that offsets with a mood of uncertainty. The texture is now so much lighter than the previous two symphonies.

22:39 – the strings take up the tune and the music gathers a little more urgency, the mood more optimistic as a result.

Third movement (Moderato – Allegro ma non tanto) (moderately fast – and then a little faster)

24:54 – immediately a return to a positive mood from the woodwind, and a brisk, forward movement after the contemplation of the previous movement.

26:57 – Sibelius’ fascination with repetition continues in this section, with a four-note figure on violins insistent in the background before coming through towards the front. The music grows much more agitated towards a big, timpani-fuelled release at 27:51. Not many of those in this symphony!

29:01 – even in this leaner work Sibelius is still capable of more romantic thoughts, and here is one such instance on full strings, violas and cellos combining in music of great nobility. This passage gathers strength until around 32:00 where another insistent rhythmic figure powers the music through to the finish. A really positive and energetic close to the symphony.

Want to hear more?

After the Symphony no.3, another piece to hear – in the same key – is the incidental music to Pelleas und Melisande – the first bit of which has been used famously by the BBC for the theme tune to The Sky at Night. You can hear it on Spotify here (track 11):

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The Borrowers – Plan B: Ill Manors

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Arcana

What tune does it use?

A figure from the Symphony no.7 by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, known as the Leningrad Symphony. This massive piece lasts well over an hour but Plan B, who obviously knows it well, takes a brief bit of music from the last of its four movements.

This is an opportunistic sample, the kind the best hip hop and rap artists are very clever at utilising, and Plan B (aka Ben Drew) makes a whole song from it. This is despite using a very small musical figure – only nine notes, with a slightly longer bit of the sample added at the end of each fourth repetition.

There are very few pieces of Shostakovich that have had this treatment so far, partly because the composer died relatively recently (in 1975) and so his music is still well in copyright. That Plan B managed to get permission to use this sample is an impressive achievement in itself – that he went on to build such a fractious song on it is another.

How does it work?

Plan B takes the figure from the Shostakovich symphony in this clip, some five minutes in to the last of four movements:

You can hear that the sound is processed, the softer orchestral sound now much harsher, as though it has been processed to sound rougher and tougher. Plan B uses the nine-note motif to go round and round in circles, adding the extra bit at the end of each musical phrase before adding a big rhythm and bass line at 0’28”:

Then he takes a bigger bit of the Shostakovich, starting at 5’05” in the original:

Then the chorus kicks in. Now the Shostakovich sample is dwarfed by a serrated bass line, the music tense and angry:

Then, at 2’52”, where he says “I’ve had it with you politicians”, the sample is refracted so that you can hardly hear it – but when the chorus kicks in again at 3’16” the raw aggression is back!

This song surely provides the proof – if it were ever needed – that classical music is not comfy and cosy! Plan B uses this for an upfront song that bristles with attitude, and the result is electric.

What else is new?

The Leningrad Symphony is one of Shostakovich’s very biggest orchestral works, it is set in four massive movements (sections) that tell of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, but which also end up as a defiant statement in the face of those horrors.

Take the composer’s depiction of the approaching invasion, about seven minutes in to the symphony, where Shostakovich uses a snare drum in an obsessive and almost unbearable repetition as the orchestra plays a march tune:

Around seven and a half minutes later, the full horror of the army is upon us:

The whole piece can also be heard on Spotify here:

Rattle conducts Sibelius – Symphony no.2

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Arcana

Rattle conducts Sibelius – Symphony no.2, part of a three-concert residency from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, performing all the composer’s symphonies

Credit: newspaper.li

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle – Barbican Hall, live on BBC Radio 3, 11 February 2015.

Listening link (opens in a new window):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b051czq9

on the iPlayer until 11 March

For non-UK listeners, here is a Spotify link. Although Sir Simon has recorded the first symphony, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, I could not find this for listening. I have therefore inserted a ‘replacement’ version with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis:

What’s the music?

Sibelius – Symphony no.2 in D major, Op.43 (1901-2) (44 minutes)

What about the music? Just two years after his first symphony, Sibelius showed he was really warming to the form with the second. Before the writing of his Second Symphony, Sibelius visited Rapallo in Italy.

While there, however, his children’s health suffered, and he completed the work back in Finland in 1902.
As a concert piece the Second is especially popular, for its positivity and economy – despite running for 44 minutes it feels like barely a second of music is wasted. It also follows a classic ‘darkness to light’ trajectory, where some of the more troubled music in the middle movements is removed by a finale that crosses into much brighter music.

Commentators admire the piece for its construction, Sibelius managing the difficult trick of appealing to the academic through the close relation of each of his melodies, while appealing to the casual listener through the direct emotion and memorable themes.

Performance verdict

This is a thoroughly convincing performance, with Rattle keen not to over-romanticise the Second Symphony but allowing the music its full feeling when the climax of the finale arrives.

The performance is also aware of Sibelius’s technical mastery, and it feels as if the whole piece hangs together as one, each section aware of the ones around it, all the while heading for the big climax to the last of the four movements.

What should I listen out for?

First movement (which has a whole host of tempo markings)

1:10:17 – the symphony begins like a boat bobbing at sea, with six in a bar rather than the normal four. The mood is positive if not altogether settled in one mood.

1:13:10 – a gathering of momentum, the opening subject reappearing in the ‘dominant’* key. This is a sign Sibelius is closely following a more classical form of symphonic thought.

1:16:43 – the sheer ‘togetherness’ of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra can be fully appreciated here in the strings’ tune, but also in the superlative contribution of the brass. The strings’ pizzicato at 1:18:38 is another example of near-faultless ensemble.

1:19:20 – a return to the music of the opening, but Sibelius seems distracted and the music closes.

Second movement (again, a large number of tempo markings)

1:19:58 – you might need to turn the volume up a bit here, as the murky start to the second movement unfolds, before a solemn woodwind chorale around one minute in.

1:22:34 – a climax point of sorts is reached over a low bassoon note but the music remains restless, and the cadence point from 1:23:30 turns the music to the minor key and a greater degree of anxiety. This figure subtly dominates the arguments of the whole movement, though when it returns at 1:28:25 Rattle makes the music sound much less certain of its direction.

1:31:52 – finally the music arrives at greater surety, and the held bass note supports a show of strength while the strings sing above. However barely 20 seconds later and the violin lines twist – back to the old anxiety in the minor key again, where it ends at 1:34:03.

Third movement (Predominantly marked as Vivacissimo – very lively)

1:34:24 – quick tremolo figures on strings hurry us through the opening bars of this movement.

1:36:03 – the trio section is reached, with a much slower theme from the oboe that swells when transferred to the strings.

1:37:18 – the genial mood is short-lived as the scherzo returns, with even greater vigour from Rattle this time on the strings’ tremolos.

1:38:57 – the oboe melody from the trio again, this time scarred after the rude interruption.

1:40:06 – the big build-up begins, with ascending scales to lead straight into…

Fourth movement (again, a large number of tempo markings)

1:40:22 – Rattle is much less ‘triumphant’ than some conductors here, as if the ending of the symphony still has to be earned. This is still terrifically rousing music, however, especially when the tune returns at 1:41:06. Again we hear some of the Tchaikovsky from the First Symphony.

1:44:28 – a much quieter recollection of the movement’s main tune. This passage is almost Schubert-like in its delicacy.

1:46:49 – a return to the big unison string theme, sweeping all before it – though to me the accompaniment still feels a little ‘at sea’ in the undulating bass. However the return of the theme for the full orchestra quashes most of that. Then the music subsides to the middle distance, before building again, seemingly over the wave – but in the minor key, all the way until 1:52:46, when the music shifts irrevocably to the major – and a tremendous orchestral wall of sound takes us over the finish line, headed by a brass chorale, to the end at 1:54:13.

Want to hear more?

The best thing to suggest after Sibelius’s Second Symphony…is the Third! This is a very different animal, as Arcana will explore in the next instalment of Rattle’s cycle.

In the meantime a suggested interlude would be the Valse triste, part of some music Sibelius wrote for his brother-in-law’s play Kuolema. It is available to listen to here:

For more concerts click here

Rattle conducts Sibelius – Symphony no.1

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Arcana

Rattle conducts Sibelius – Symphony no.1, the start of a three-concert residency from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, performing all the composer’s symphonies

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle – Barbican Hall, live on BBC Radio 3, 11 February 2015.

Listening link (opens in a new window):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b051czq9

on the iPlayer until 11 March

What’s the music?

Sibelius – Symphony no.1 in E minor, Op.39 (1899) (39 minutes)

What about the music? With his first symphony Sibelius begins one of the most important canons of music in the 20^th century. Quite appropriately the work sits just at the turn of the century, absorbing influences from the likes of Berlioz and Tchaikovsky but showing signs of speaking with a new and very clear voice.

It is also clear that the 33-year old composer already has a very strong instinct for structure and what commentators call ‘symphonic thought’. Sibelius structures the four movements in a way that acknowledges the past masters in the form, but there is some really vital and emotional material here too.

Although the symphony does not have a subtitle it was interpreted as Nationalistic by the Finnish people, especially as the Russian presence in and dominance over the country was increasing all the time. but showing signs of speaking with a new and very clear voice.

Performance verdict

Sir Simon Rattle finds the drama in this music from the off, but is keen to also show off the inner workings of Sibelius’s distinctive orchestration – an invitation the Berlin Philharmonic is hardly going to pass up!

There is a lean sound to the strings, and particularly the violins, with very little in the way of padding to the sound. The sense of music pushing forward is always there, Rattle focused on the symphony’s overall sweep rather than picking out particular solos.

The woodwind playing is superb, and because the orchestra are so well drilled Rattle’s tempi make sense – a quick first movement and Scherzo work really well here. Occasionally the conductor is a bit perfunctory where others make more of the Romantic gestures, but that is a question of taste rather than accuracy.

What should I listen out for?

First movement (marked Andante, ma non troppo – Allegro energico) (at a walking pace but not too fast…then fast and energetic)

4:00 – the clarinet solo that begins the work, wonderfully played by the Berlin Philharmonic clarinettist Andreas Ottensamer with quietly rolling timpani in the background

6:28 – the culmination of the first part of the first movement, with surging strings and simmering lower voices of the orchestra

12:04 – the main idea of the first movement sings out on the violins, with timpani thundering in response

14:00 – a tremendous build up from the orchestra, which subsides to two pizzicato chords from the strings (14:41)

Second movement (marked Andante (ma non troppo lento)) (at a walking pace, but not becoming too slow)

15:22 – the murky beginning to the second movement, beginning almost as an apparition of Tchaikovsky in the melody for strings

18:24 – the pulsing woodwind lead to a more luxuriant passage supported by harp

20:47 – Rattle moves up a gear here, the distinctive motif passed from strings to woodwind

23:05 – a return to the main theme, a little detached on violins now, subsiding to the end (24:50)

Third movement (Scherzo*: marked Allegro) (fast)

25:07 – quick, urgent delivery of the distinctive seven-note theme from Rattle and his charges here. The timpani once again are at the root of much of Sibelius’ thinking when writing for orchestra.

27:02 – the trio, a brass chorale that sounds slightly awkward in its means of expression (not a criticism!)

29:04 – the scherzo theme returns and the music wheels ever faster to its end (30:17)

Fourth movement (marked Finale: Andante – Allegro molto – Andante assai – Allegro molto come prima – Andante (ma non troppo)( alternating slow and fast passages)

30:26 – the passionate outpouring from the violins with which the fourth movement begins. The music gathers itself until…

32:57 – a quick statement of a faster tune. Rattle is quite matter-of-fact here; some conductors allow the music to take a big breath at this point, but Rattle surges forwards

35:10 – a thick string section and harps with another deeply felt tune

38:02 – a reflective and almost sorrowful return to the clarinet theme from the first movement, joined by the woodwind

39:20 – a sublime expansion of this melody on the strings, waking the ghost of Tchaikovsky once again. All this takes place over huge, long bass ‘pedal’ notes, a great illustration of the massive expanse Sibelius can achieve with the orchestra. Then there is a build towards the end (41:57) at which point Rattle slows, labouring the big chords, until the big fnish, timpani right at the limit (42:50)

Want to hear more?

The best thing to suggest after Sibelius’s First Symphony…is his Second, coming up soon on Arcana!

Glossary

*Scherzo – a term used for a faster section of music, usually placed second or third in a piece that has four movements. It originated with Beethoven and his contemporaries, who often added a touch of humour to the music.

For more concerts click here

Songs for Europe – Olena Tokar and Igor Gryshyn

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Arcana

Songs for Europe – Ukrainian duo Olena Tokar and Igor Gryshyn perform a selection of songs by Brahms, Rimsky-Korsakov, Dvořák and Richard Strauss

Listening link (opens in a new window):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b051chkl

on the iPlayer until 10 March

For non-UK listeners, this Spotify playlist is available:

For those unable to hear the broadcast I have put together a Spotify playlist. Olena and Igor have not recorded this repertoire, so I have chosen suitable available versions:

What’s the music?

Brahms – a selection of four songs (1868-1877) (10 minutes)

Rimsky-Korsakov – a selection of four songs (1897) (7 minutes)

Dvořák – Gipsy Songs (1880) (14 minutes)

Richard Strauss – a selection of four songs (1885-1918) (11 minutes)

What about the music?

This recital was a reminder of the power of music as a universal language – a Ukranian duo performing works from across Europe in the languages in which they were written. The intriguing hour-long recital alighted in some diverse parts of the continent, exploring song writing from the 19th century.

Brahms and Richard Strauss are no strangers to a recital such as this, but Dvořák and especially Rimsky-Korsakov are less commonly heard. It was interesting to hear Rimsky’s brief songs and Dvořák’s equally concise cycle, placed alongside some well-chosen Brahms and some of Richard Strauss’s most popular output, four of some 200 songs he wrote through his career – culminating in Cäcilie, the song that became a wedding present to his wife.

Performance verdict

Olena Tokar has a bright tone, sometimes a little on the shrill side – for Richard Strauss in particular – but singing the notes with commendable security and expression. Her communication with the audience was good, helped by the fact she had memorised the program – no mean feat given its use of three languages.

The Dvořák was especially good, harnessing the dance rhythms with pianist Igor Gryshyn’s springy accompaniment while finding a little melancholy in some of the slower songs. The Brahms was unexpectedly light. He is often cast as a composer who writes music of dense texture but that was not the case here, and Gryshyn gave some nice, light touches to Über die Herde (Over the Heath) as well as a turbulent, frothy seascape for Verzagen.

The Strauss selection had a curious order – and I couldn’t help but feel that Mörgen would have worked better in last position. It was nice to hear a young singer tackle the big songs, though at the same time a more experienced voice can lend the depth this music often thrives on.

The encore – and its massive piano part – was a bit breathless, but this was a spirited and often invigorating recital.

What should I listen out for?

Brahms

4:10 – Über die Herde (Over the Heath) – this song has palpable uncertainty, particularly in the third stanza when ‘Bravende Nebel geisten umher’ (‘Swirling mists ghost about’)

6:25 – Es träumte (I dreamed) – a song full of longing. Tokar’s floated vocal is lovely, while Grysyhn gives the piano part plenty of sustain (maybe a bit much for some tastes!)

Rimsky-Korsakov

13:29 – Of what I dream in the quiet night – a good illustration of the simplicity of Rimsky’s songwriting, with a basic yet effective piano part to support Tokar’s clear singing.

15:32 – Cool and fragrant is thy garland – heady words, but an airy song, from the gentle piano arpeggios to the top ‘G’ from the soprano at the end.

Dvořák

22:12 – My Song of Love Rings Through the Dusk – there is an immediate indication from the piano part that we have changed countries. Tokar’s clear voice and the piano exchange a melancholy motif.

29:25 – Songs my mother taught me – one of Dvořák’s best-loved songs, laced with nostalgia and with a rather beautiful melody.

31:29 – Come and join the dance – an energetic dance song with a distinctive call.

Richard Strauss

37:26 – Mörgen (Morning) – the most serene intro to one of Strauss’s most performed songs. It’s easy to hear how this song works so well in orchestral guise too – though Tokar and Gryshyn are a bit fast here.

41:20 – Schlechtes Wetter (Dreadful weather) – a later song. The tumbling piano part paints a picture of the elements, and it’s easy to imagine an umbrella blown inside-out to this song!

43:25 – Allerseelen (All Souls’ Day) – another of Strauss’s famous songs, the last from his set of eight. Again it has an expansive piano intro.

46:37 – Cäcilie (Cecily) – the rapturous birthday love letter from Strauss to his wife, Pauline de Ahna.

Encore

50:18 – Tchaikovsky’s Whether day dawns – another bold song, with something of a piano concerto as a postlude! Very expansive and romantic.

Want to hear more?

It’s difficult to know what to suggest next after such a varied program – but one disc that comes to mind early on is Bernarda Fink and Roger Vignoles’ relatively recent disc of Dvořák songs, including the Gipsy Songs alongside several other song groups. It can be heard on Spotify here:

Meanwhile one of Brahms’ very best vocal works is also recommended, the Alto Rhapsody available on Spotify here:

For more concerts click here

Arcana.fm

Putting a spark into classical music…

Rattle conducts Sibelius – Symphony no.3

The Borrowers – Plan B: Ill Manors

Rattle conducts Sibelius – Symphony no.2

Rattle conducts Sibelius – Symphony no.1

Songs for Europe – Olena Tokar and Igor Gryshyn

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