A Summer Canvas: Haydn & Sibelius
Conductor: Oliver Till
Leader: Tina Bowles
Programme:
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Haydn - Serenade No 2 in F
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Haydn - Cello Concerto No 1 in C major: Soloist Josh Salter
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Sibelius - Symphony No 2
Programme Notes
Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)
Serenade for Winds in F, Hob. II.26
Joseph Haydn effectively invented the 'classical' musical language. He was a hugely prolific composer, with over a hundred symphonies, sixty-eight string quartets, and forty-five piano trios to his credit - to name only those genres for which he is most famous as a pioneer. But the rest of his vast oevre - songs, operas, works for small ensembles, concertos, masses, oratorios, and piano music - is of equally high quality, and includes gems like this Serenade or Notturno for Winds, composed at some time in the 1760s.
It was originally composed for two oboes, two bassoons and two horns, and was arranged for ten winds by Derek Smith, who added two flutes and two clarinets, or a tenor and alto saxophone, to the instrumental line-up. The piece reflects Haydn's sunny disposition that makes his music a joy to play and hear.
A short Adagio leads up to an Allegro spiritoso. The middle movement is marked Adagio and is followed by a lively Allegro con brio.
Cello Concerto in C major, Hob VII.1
Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major was composed at roughly the same time as his Wind Serenade for his friend Josef Weigl, who was principal cellist in the Esterházy orchestra. Haydn was employed by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy and this obliged him to spend long periods of time in the Prince's magnificent country estate. Far from urban distractions, it gave Haydn plenty of time to compose for the Prince's orchestra. The concerto was unknown to audiences and performers until it was found in 1961 in the Prague National Museum.
The concerto is made up of three movements. A graceful moderato is followed by an Adagio slow movement in F major, for strings only. Containing a beguiling interplay between the soloist and the strings of the orchestra.
The final movement is marked Allegro molto and allows the soloist once more to show off virtuosic playing on the cello.
Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957)
On hearing the Second Symphony of Sibelius, in 1940, the American critic and composer Virgil Thomson complained in the New York Herald Tribune that it was 'vulgar, self-indulgent and provincial beyond all description'. No doubt he had in mind the triumphant final movement of the symphony with an instantly memorable melody that has gripped audiences from its first performance. But Thomson underestimated the finesse which which the symphony is composed, not to mention the deep romanticism that characterises all Sibelius' work, and the Italian influence of Rapallo, where Sibelius began its composition.
The symphony opens not with brass, but with shimmering strings, a musical picture of the short, but brilliant Finnish summer, before woodwinds come in with the second theme. Gradually excitment builds up to a climax with the full brass section picking up on the earlier theme.
The second, slow, movement is marked Andante. But here too the tempi and the time signatures are shifting, with a sad melody for strings pitched against harsh brass chords.
The third movement is a rapid scherzo that shows the influence of Finnish folk-songs on the composer. The scherzo becomes more urgent until it is broken by the first sounds of the magnificent melody that makes up the final movement of the symphony, which follows on from the scherzo without a break. But the scherzo leaves behind occasional echoes that interrupt the stately progress of the final movement as it builds to its grand conclusion.
This is perhaps Sibelius' most ingenious master-stroke. Whereas any other composer may have placed the most memorable themes earlier in the symphony (think of the famous opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony), Sibelius composed his symphony to prepare his audience for its finale.
Programme Notes by Jan Toporowski
The Concert Charity
Nutritank
Nutritank is a not-for-profit company that provides subsidised nutrition and lifestyle education for healthcare professionals and medical students. The organisation was founded in 2017 in response to a lack of any nutrition education on the medical curriculum. This has now been changed thanks to a campaign by Nutritank, for which Dr Jafee received the Princess Diana Award in 2021. Both Dr Jafee and co-founder Dr Iain Broadley were awarded the Prime Minister's Points of Light Award in 2022 for their game-changing work in medical education.
Nutritank's work has been praised as 'transformational' by the medical professionals it has supported. Doctors, nurses, dieticians and nutritionists, as well as medical students, have benefitted from improved knowledge of nutrition and lifestyle medicine, which feeds into their clinical practice and ultimately creates better patient outcomes.
The Concert Players
Conductor: Oliver Till
First Violins
- Tina Bowles (Leader)
- Rachel Barbanel
- Jocelyn Berndt
- Leila Boushehei
- Mary Dentschuk
- Ed Lowther
- Catherine Menon
- Steve Rowlinson
- Máire Sloman
- Bronwen Whitaker
- Nichola Blakey (Principal)
- Ursula Antolik
- Lucy Atherton
- Mark Bullard
- Susan Grayeff
- Calum Henderson
- Em McDonald
- Aytaç Mevlit
- Eve Naftalin
- Gerry Shortall
- Jan Toporowski
- Michiko Ward
- Geoffrey Irwin (Principal)
- Tom Boswell
- Nigel Franklin
- Jamie Masters
- Josephone Tsakok
- Michael Whittaker
- Josh Salter (Principal)
- Hilary Evans
- Libby Fogg
- Lisa Fordham
- Shirley Franklin
- Helen Mabelis
- Sopika Toumazi
- Darren Edwards
- Francois Moreau
- Jen Morgan
- Dominic Nudd
- Simo Väisänen
- Graeme Scott
- Isi Caetano da Rocha
- Mit Lahiri
- Adrian Hall
- Lindsey Glen
- Ian Merryweather
- Rosalind Hedley-Miller
- Louise Johnston
- Simon Ashdown
- Susie Hubbard
- Michael O'Callaghan
- Julie Rooke
- Mike Dockerty
- Ian Preston
- Peter Rolinson
- Chris Dicken
- Rob Heath
- Toby Matimong
- Adam Collins
- Stuart Delve
