PROGRAM

DEBUSSY, STRAUSS & ELGARPASSIONS & CONTRASTS

MACA LIMITED CLASSICS SERIESFriday 9 & Saturday 10 June 2017, 7.30pmPerth Concert Hall

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I’m very much looking forward to my debut concerts with WASO. Three contemporaries of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries at different stages of their lives are featured in our program. Debussy’s early work Printemps, a limpid, fresh, and imaginative first taste of ‘impressionism’ is followed by Strauss’ exquisite, elaborate, and autumnally world-wise late Second Horn Concerto. In the face of the atrocities of World War II, Strauss takes refuge in a nostalgic, transfigured look back to his own early years and the beauty and simplicity of his idol, Mozart.

With Elgar’s Second Symphony we meet the composer in the ‘summer’ of his life – in full bloom, seasoned and mature. I have always been fascinated by Elgar’s combination of great nobility, discreet dignity, Victorian restraint, and pure romantic, ebullient, exuberant passions simmering under the surface; his Second Symphony is a prime example of this. In the manner and style of the great novelists of his time, Elgar masterly drafts an epic, complex, and monumental panorama of human passions and emotions.

Johannes Debus Conductor

1850 1900 1950

Strauss' Horn Concerto No.21943

RICHARD STRAUSS

1864 – 1949Born 1864, Munich, GermanyDied 1949, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Debussy's Printemps1913

Elgar's Symphony No.21911

EDWARD ELGAR

1857 – 1934Born 1857, Broadheath, Worcestershire, EnglandDied 1934, Worcester, England

CLAUDE DEBUSSY

1862 – 1918Born 1862, St Germain-en-Laye, FranceDied 1918, Paris, France

WELCOME

TIMELINE OF COMPOSERS & WORKS

2017 UPCOMING CONCERTS

BOOK NOW CALL 9326 0000 VISIT WASO.COM.AU*A one-off handling fee of $5.50 per transaction applies to all purchases on our website. A fee of $6.60 applies to phone and mail bookings. An additional fee of $4.40 per transaction applies for delivery via Registered Post.

MASTERS SERIES

VERBITSKY & WASO: 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONFRI 7 & SAT 8 JULY 7.30PM Perth Concert Hall

WASO’s Russian-born Conductor Laureate leads us in two Russian masterpieces. Experience the power of Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony and the brilliant WASO Chorus in Rachmaninov’s massive choral symphony The Bells.

RACHMANINOV The BellsTCHAIKOVSKY Manfred Symphony

Vladimir Verbitsky conductor Antoinette Halloran soprano Bradley Daley tenor Warwick Fyfe bass WASO Chorus (pictured) Symphonic Chorus of UWA

FAMILY SERIES

THE BEAT OF YOUR FEETSUN 25 JUNE 11AM & 1PM Perth Concert Hall

Award-winning British composer and music educator Paul Rissmann joins WASO for an interactive musical adventure based on the book Stan and Mabel by Jason Chapman. We follow a music-loving dog and cat on a journey to find the Greatest Orchestra in the World through an exciting mix of music, illustrated projections and audience participation. Perfect for ages 2-7.

Paul Rissmann presenter/composer Benjamin Northey conductor

MORNING SYMPHONY SERIES

VERBITSKY & WASO: 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONTHURS 6 JULY 11AM Perth Concert Hall

To celebrate much-loved conductor Vladimir Verbitsky’s 30 years with WASO, he leads the Orchestra in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony, a dramatic work that takes us through mountains, encounters with Alpine fairies and a brush with mortality.

TCHAIKOVSKY Manfred Symphony

Vladimir Verbitsky conductorTICKETS FROM $29*

TICKETS FROM $46*

TICKETS $28*

PASSIONS AND CONTRASTSMACA LIMITED CLASSICS SERIES

DEBUSSY Printemps – symphonic suite (15 mins)

Très modéré Modéré

STRAUSS, R. Horn Concerto No.2 (20 mins)

Allegro – Andante con motoAllegro molto

Interval (25 mins)

ELGAR Symphony No.2 (54 mins)

Allegro vivace e nobilmenteLarghettoRondo (Presto)Moderato e maestoso

Johannes Debus conductor Stefan Dohr horn

Wesfarmers Arts Pre-concert TalkFind out more about the music in the concert with this week’s speaker, Margaret Pride. The Pre-concert Talk take place at 6.45pm in the Terrace Level Foyer.

Wesfarmers Arts Meet the Artist TalkEnjoy a conversation with Stefan Dohr post-concert Friday night in the Terrace Level foyer.

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WASO IN THE COMMUNITY

Education Week Q+A with guest Artist-in-Residence, Paul RissmannMeet Paul Rissmann, guest artist in residence for Education Week 2017, in the lead up to his first ever visit to WASO…

What was the first instrument that you learned to play and how old were you? I learned to play the recorder in Primary School - I must have been about ten years old and I ADORED it. We had a school recorder club and I can remember my body shaking with excitement playing in the group. When I was twelve I started the saxophone, and that became my real passion. I played it all through High School and went on to study it at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

If you could play any instrument apart from the one you play … what would it be and why? If I could start all over again, for sure I’d be a cellist - I think it is the most incredible instrument. The cello is such a flexible instrument too and can be both a strident melodic instrument but also a really supportive bass instrument. It must be fun to be able to switch roles like that.

What is your favourite piece of orchestral music? Without question - Fearful Symmetries by the American composer John Adams. It is such a cool and funky piece. As a young music student I fell in love with it because it features a saxophone quartet in the orchestra.

Where is your favourite place to listen to music? I feel so lucky because my life is full of music and I’m surrounded by amazing musicians. If you are talking about listening to music live in concert, then Symphony

Hall in Birmingham or the Southern Theatre in Columbus, Ohio are two of my favourite venues. Orchestras sound amazing in those halls. But if you are talking about recorded music then the answer is simply …. the bath!

What is your favourite animal and what instrument do you think they would play? I used to just be a dog person - but I’ve started to really like cats too. This change happened when I began to set music to the book Stan and Mabel by Jason Chapman (it’s about a dog and cat who try to set up the greatest orchestra in the world). In the book Stan (the dog) plays banjo and Mabel (the cat) is the conductor so it is difficult to imagine them doing anything else.

Paul Rissmann appears as WASO’s Artist in Residence for Education Week, 19 – 26 June. He will be presenting Sir Scallywag and The Golden Underpants on 21 June and The Beat of Your Feet based on the children’s book Stan and Mabel on 25 June at Perth Concert Hall. There will also be a special performance of The Beat of Your Feet with WASO and Paul Rissmann on 26 June in Mandurah Performing Arts Centre.

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Johannes Debus Conductor

A graduate of the Hamburg Conservatoire, Johannes Debus is Music Director of the Canadian Opera Company (COC).

In the 2015-2016 season, Johannes Debus made his debuts with the San Diego Symphony and Komische Oper (The Marriage of Figaro), returned to Frankfurt Opera for The Cunning Little Vixen and to the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Festival. He has recently conducted the COC in Götterdämmerung and, on the concert platform, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He conducts regularly at Bavarian State Opera, Staatsoper unter den Linden Berlin, and has appeared in new productions at English National Opera and Opéra National de Lyon.

In contemporary music, he has collaborated with internationally-acclaimed ensembles such as Ensemble Intercontemporain and Ensemble Modern. As a guest conductor, he has appeared at several international festivals such as Bregenz, Paris’ Festival d’Automne, the Suntory Summer Festival, and Spoleto.

Stefan Dohr Horn

Stefan Dohr has been Principal Horn of the Berlin Philharmonic since 1993. He studied in Essen and Cologne and was principal horn of the Frankfurt Opera at the age of 19. He has occupied the same position with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

As soloist he has worked with conductors such as Barenboim, Haitink, Thielemann, Metzmacher, Abbado, Harding and Rattle. Chamber music partners have included his Philharmonic colleagues in various ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic Octet, as well as Maurizio Pollini, Kolja Blacher and Ian Bostridge. He has appeared at international chamber music festivals and given masterclasses around the world. As well as playing the major horn concerto repertoire, he has had works written for him by composers such as Herbert Willi, Johannes Wallmann, Toshio Hosokawa and Wolfgang Rihm.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

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The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) is Western Australia’s largest and busiest performing arts organisation. With a reputation for excellence, engagement and innovation, WASO’s resident company of full-time, professional musicians plays a central role in creating a culturally vibrant Western Australia. WASO is a not for profit company, funded through government, ticket revenue and the generous support of the community through corporate and philanthropic partnerships.

WASO’s mission is to touch souls and enrich lives through music. Each year the Orchestra entertains and inspires the people of Western Australia through its concert performances, regional tours, innovative education and community programs, and its artistic partnerships with West Australian Opera and West Australian Ballet.

The Orchestra is led by Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser Asher Fisch. The Israeli-born conductor is widely acclaimed for his command of the Romantic German repertoire and is a frequent guest at the world’s great opera houses.

Each year the Orchestra performs over 175 concerts with some of the world’s most talented conductors and soloists to an audience in excess of 190,000. An integral part of the Orchestra is the WASO Chorus, a highly skilled ensemble of auditioned singers who volunteer their time and talent.

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VIOLINLaurence JacksonConcertmasterSemra Lee-Smith A/Assoc ConcertmasterGraeme NorrisA/Assistant Concertmaster Rebecca GlorieA/Principal 1st ViolinZak Rowntree*Principal 2nd ViolinKylie Liang Assoc Principal 2nd ViolinSarah BlackmanFleur ChallenStephanie DeanJane Johnston°Sunmi JungChristina KatsimbardisEllie LawrenceEliza McCracken^Andrea Mendham^Lucas O’Brien°Ken PeelerLouise SandercockJolanta SchenkJane SerrangeliKathryn Shinnick°Jacek SlawomirskiKate SullivanBao Di TangCerys ToobyTeresa Vinci^Susannah Williams°Paul Wright^ Beth HebertShaun Lee-Chen*Akiko MiyazawaMelanie PearnDavid Yeh

VIOLAAlex BroganA/Principal ViolaSally Boud^Guest Assoc Principal ViolaKierstan ArkleysmithNik BabicChair partnered by Lesley & Peter DaviesBenjamin CaddyAlison HallRachael KirkAllan McLeanElliot O’BrienKatherine Potter^Helen Tuckey

CELLORod McGrath Chair partnered by Tokyo Gas

Louise McKayChair partnered by Penrhos College Shigeru KomatsuOliver McAslan Nicholas MetcalfeEve Silver*Fotis SkordasTim SouthXiao Le Wu

DOUBLE BASSAndrew Sinclair*Joan Wright Elizabeth Browning^Louise ElaertsChristine ReitzensteinMark ToobyPhilip Waldron^Andrew Tait

FLUTEAndrew Nicholson Mary-Anne Blades

PICCOLOGeorgia Lane^Michael Waye

OBOEPeter Facer Elizabeth Chee

COR ANGLAISLeanne Glover

CLARINETAllan Meyer Lorna Cook

BASS CLARINETAlexander Millier

BASSOONAdam MikuliczA/Principal BassoonChair partnered by Sue & Ron Wooller

Colin Forbes-Abrams°Jane Kircher-Lindner

CONTRABASSOONChloe Turner

HORNDavid EvansJulian Leslie°Robert Gladstones Principal 3rd HornJulia Brooke Francesco Lo Surdo

TRUMPETBrent GrapesAdam Hawksworth^Peter MillerEvan Cromie

TROMBONEJoshua Davis Liam O’Malley

BASS TROMBONEPhilip Holdsworth

TUBACameron Brook

TIMPANIAlex Timcke

PERCUSSIONBrian MaloneyChair partnered by Stott Hoare

Chiron Meller°Assoc Principal Percussion and TimpaniRobyn Gray^Paul Tanner^

HARPSarah Bowman Catherine Ashley^

KEYBOARDGraeme Gilling^Adam Pinto^

PRINCIPAL CONDUCTORAsher FischPartnered by Wesfarmers Arts

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR Elena Schwarz

CHORUS DIRECTOR Christopher van Tuinen

CHORUS VOCAL COACH Andrew Foote

CONDUCTOR LAUREATE Vladimir Verbitsky

YOUR ORCHESTRA

*Instruments used by these musicians are on loan from Janet Holmes à Court AC.

PrincipalAssociate PrincipalGuest Musician^Grey: Permanent member of WASO not appearing in this concertContract Playerº

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Cameron BrookPrincipal Tuba

How did you find yourself playing the tuba?When I was 12 my parents insisted that I learn a musical instrument. I wasn’t happy about that so I decided to be as difficult as possible and choose the most cumbersome instrument that was available at school. To my surprise I soon enjoyed the tuba, and because relatively few people chose it I had doors open for me much easier than if I played a popular instrument like flute or clarinet.

When did you join WASO and where did you play before then?My first professional work was 3 weeks with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra just after finishing Year 12. I moved to Melbourne to study for 4 years, during this time I played occasionally with the MSO. In 1983 I moved back to Sydney, where I was lucky enough to get a few months work with the SSO before joining WASO later that year.

What do you think a symphony concert will look and sound like 50 years from now? I don’t think there will be much change to “traditional” concerts like this one, but orchestras also do a lot of other activities. I expect those other areas of orchestral work will evolve in ways that we haven’t thought of yet. Developments in technology will make it possible for us to reach a wider audience, and for people to experience our music in new formats. Our challenge will be to ensure that these advances continue to deliver a quality experience.

If you had to choose any other instrument to play in the orchestra, what would it be? My first thought would be cello with its warmth and huge range of expressive possibilities, but I’m so used to being an individual voice that I’d probably choose bass trombone.

If I wasn’t a musician, I would be…an industrial designer or an architect. I love good design and enjoy working with my hands. I’ve been owner/builder on a couple of house renovations, and if I hadn’t studied music after school my plan was to study industrial design at university.

I am most proud of…the development of WASO during my time in the orchestra. When I joined the orchestra it was part of the ABC and had 65 players. Behind the scenes we now have a completely different management that is working very well, and onstage the orchestra has grown both in size and the quality of our performances.

MEET THE MUSICIAN

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FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF ALLWhen to applaud? Musicians love applause. Audience members normally applaud:• When the concertmaster (violin) walks onto

the stage • When the conductor walks onto the stage • After the completion of each piece and at

the end of the performance

When you need to cough, try to muffle or bury your cough in a handkerchief or during a louder section of the music. Cough lozenges are available from the WASO Ticket Collection Desk before each performance and at the interval.

Hearing aids that are incorrectly adjusted may disturb other patrons, please be mindful of those around you.

Mobile phones and other electronic devices need to be switched off throughout the performance.

Photography, sound and video recordings are permitted prior to the start of the performance.

Latecomers and patrons who leave the auditorium will be seated only after the completion of a work.

Moving to empty seats. Please do not move to empty seats prior to the performance as this may affect seating for latecomers when they are admitted during a suitable break.

LISTEN TO WASOThis performance is being recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM on Sunday 25 June at 2pm, or 12pm online. For further details visit abc.net.au/classic

720 ABC PERTHTune in to 720 ABC Perth on Friday morning at 6.15am when Fiona Campbell joins Peter Bell to provide the latest on classical music and WASO’s upcoming concerts.

FOOD & BEVERAGESVisit perthconcerthall.com.au for information on food and beverage offerings at the venue.Foyer bars are open for drinks and coffee two hours before, during interval and after the concert. To save time we recommend you pre-order your interval drinks.

FREE WATER STATIONS• Level 1 Ground Floor across from box office• Wardle Room – western side of bar• Terrace Level Corner Bar – one water

station on either side of the bar• Lower & Upper Gallery level

FIRST AIDThere are St John Ambulance officers present at every concert so please speak to them if you require any first aid assistance

ACCESSIBILITY • A universal accessible toilet is available on

the ground floor (Level 1)• The Sennheiser MobileConnect Personal

Hearing Assistance system is available for every seat in the auditorium. Visit perthconcerthall.com.au/your-visit/accessibility/ for further information.

WASO BOX OFFICEBuy your WASO tickets and subscriptions, exchange tickets, or make a donation at the Box Office on the ground floor (Level 1) prior to each performance and at interval. Tickets for other performances at Perth Concert Hall will be available for purchase only at interval.

The Box Office is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and contactable on 9326 0000.

DONATE YOUR TICKETCan’t attend a concert? Contact the WASO Box Office on 9326 0000 to donate your ticket for re-sale and you will receive a tax deductible receipt.

YOUR CONCERT EXPERIENCE

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Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918)

Printemps

Très modéré Modéré

In 1884 Debussy was awarded the Prix de Rome. He was thus entitled to four subsidised years in that city, and would be required to send to Paris a completed musical score each year. Of the three works Debussy (most likely) completed, only the cantata La demoiselle élue survives in its original form. Zuleima is lost, as is the completed score of Printemps (Spring).

In its original form, Printemps was a symphonic suite for wordless female chorus and orchestra. It was inspired in part by a painting by Marcel Baschet, whose work was in turn a response to Botticelli’s famous Primavera. Debussy claimed that his music sought ‘to express the slow, laborious birth of beings and things in nature, then the mounting efflorescence, and finally a burst of joy at being reborn to a new life…’.

Back at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the prize’s jury was not entirely convinced; Debussy had done himself no favours by sending a chorus and two-piano score, rather than a fully orchestrated version. The jury noted Debussy’s ‘highly pronounced tendency towards seeking out what is strange’, pursed its collective lips, and cancelled the performance.

There matters stood until late in Debussy’s life, when he allowed composer, conductor and musicologist Henri Büsser (1872-1973) to re-orchestrate the piece under his supervision in 1912. Büsser also orchestrated Debussy’s Petite Suite. The new version of Printemps omits the wordless chorus.

Gordon Kerry © 2008

First performance: 18 April 1913.First WASO performance: 5-6 September 1969 (only previous performance). Gary Bertini, conductor.

Instrumentation: two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes (second doubling cor anglais), two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, harp, piano four-hands, strings.

ABOUT THE MUSIC

DVORAK The Water Goblin featured in Louis Lortie Plays ChopinFri 30 June & Sat 1 July

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Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949)

Horn Concerto No.2 in E flat, AV132

Allegro – Andante con motoAllegro molto

After some three decades as a composer for the stage, Strauss completed his last opera in 1941. A world away from the modernist aggression of Salome, and equally far from the lush Romanticism of Der Rosenkavalier, Capriccio looks to the late 18th century – the time of Mozart – as the setting for Strauss’ final meditation on the relationship of words and music. By writing a work on an essentially philosophical subject, set in an aristocratic, ancien régime milieu, Strauss was, no doubt, partly retreating from the reality of life in Nazi Germany. We can accept the word of his Jewish daughter-in-law that the family knew nothing about the exterminations, but Strauss’ own position was that of a composer whose contempt for the hierarchy became known, and whose international prestige alone may have saved him from an evil fate.

He was, moreover, a man in his late 70s, and he and his beloved wife were succumbing to increasingly debilitating illnesses. Perhaps for that reason, a large choral tone poem entitled The Danube, planned for 1942, came to little more than a bundle of sketches which Strauss later described as a ‘few drops from the dried-up source of the Danube’.

He wrote to one friend that ‘with Capriccio my life’s work is at an end and the music that I go on scribbling for the benefit of my heirs, exercises for my wrists, has no significance from the point of view of musical history’. Nonetheless, the creative juices were flowing, and by later in the year he produced what he referred to as a ‘little horn concerto, the third movement of which – a 6/8 rondo – has come out particularly well’.

Actually the work is a masterpiece. The son of one of the great horn players of his day, Strauss could hardly fail to write a work which is so perfectly idiomatic for the instrument. Formally, the piece pays homage to the Classical, and specifically the Mozartean, concerto. Fittingly, it was given its first performance in Vienna in 1943. In three movements, the concerto begins with the kind of arpeggio-based gesture which Strauss authority Norman Del Mar describes as the composer’s ‘nature theme’ – it is, after all, of the same basic material as significant themes in Also sprach Zarathustra and the Alpine Symphony.

ABOUT THE MUSIC

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The soloist dominates the musical discourse right from the start, with a clutch of thematic ideas which are treated rhapsodically. Rather than bringing the movement to a forceful conclusion, however, Strauss provides a coda ‘whose elegiac phrases’, as Del Mar puts it, ‘change the character of the music and lead it gently, regretfully even, into the Andante’.

Here the initial texture is that of woodwinds, reminding us perhaps of that Mozartean Serenade which helped launch the young Strauss’ career half a century or more earlier. The strings become more important in the central section, but it is the wind texture which ultimately prevails. The rondo, of which Strauss was so modestly proud, again evokes Mozart in its bounding 6/8 metre (though he made that a little more interesting by a two-note upbeat which momentarily masks the beginning of the bar). Contrasting with this is a theme of four repeated notes followed by a sinuous curve of quavers. Possibly the most thrilling moment in the work, however, is when the bounding first theme is restated in brassy glory by the soloist and the orchestral horn section.

Del Mar notes that this, a work of a man nearing 80, is ‘in sheer youthfulness … hardly less remarkable than Verdi’s Falstaff’. Michael Kennedy reminds us too that ‘the benevolence, the lightness of spirit in the concerto are all the more amazing when one considers the outer circumstances of Strauss’ life at this time’.

Gordon Kerry © 2003

First performance: 11 August 1943, Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival. Karl Böhm, conductor; Gottfried von Freiberg, soloist.First WASO performance: 26 June 1974, Instrumental and Vocal Competition state final. David Measham, conductor; Robert Johnson, soloist. This is the only previous WASO performance.

Instrumentation: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings.

Arpeggio – the notes of a chord played one after the other and not simultaneously.Quaver – a fairly short, quick note.Rondo – a musical form where a main idea (refrain) alternates with a series of musical episodes. Classical composers often wrote the final movement of their symphonic works in rondo form.Tone poem – a programmatic work (that is, one based on a literary, pictorial or other extra-musical idea) for orchestra, usually in a single movement.6/8 – time signature with two beats per bar, in which each beat is divided into three, rather than two.

Glossary

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Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934)

Symphony No.2 in E flat, Op.63

Allegro vivace e nobilmenteLarghettoRondo (Presto)Moderato e maestoso

In Britain by the 1920s, the opulence that forms so crucial a component of Elgar’s musical language had already become a victim of musical fashion. From the distance created by the First World War and the subsequent toppling of empires, Elgar’s music was seen as symbolic of post-Victorian complacency. The symphonies came in for particularly harsh criticism for their ‘triviality and tawdriness’ (in Cecil Gray’s words) and perceived structural weaknesses.

The reputation of Elgar’s First Symphony had quite some journey to make to the dark side. It is – and was – recognised as the first great English symphony, and its popularity surged quickly after its premiere in 1908. Elgar hoped the Second Symphony would be equally successful, writing, ‘I have worked at fever heat and the thing is tremendous in energy.’

That this symphony failed to make the impact of its predecessor is due to the more emotionally complex world it inhabits and the circumstances of its first performances. Elgar conducted the premiere during the glittering London ‘season’ of 1911, to an audience mindful of the symphony’s dedication to the late Edward VII.

No doubt many were expecting a grand symphony of loyal tribute, perhaps even a paean to Imperial splendour. What they heard was epic in scope and wild in its emotional extremes, doubting its own exuberance, exploding its own vivid tales of conquest, battling to regain ground lost in a tumult of its own devising. That in itself probably flummoxed the symphony’s first hearers considerably. The work did not really begin to have any success until after World War I, but by then it sounded to the younger British critics like music from another planet.

The passionate expressiveness of Elgar’s music inevitably suggests a play of personal meanings at work. To his friend Alice Stuart-Wortley he referred to this work, the Violin Concerto and the Ode The Music Makers as works in which ‘I have written out my soul … in these works I have shewn myself.’ Furthermore, we have the enigmatic extract from Shelley’s Invocation, which Elgar wrote at the end of the score:

Rarely, rarely, comest thou, Spirit of Delight!

ABOUT THE MUSIC

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The beginning of the first movement at once proclaims the ‘tremendous energy’ Elgar described. The very first theme contains a two-bar melodic cell, sometimes called the ‘Spirit of Delight’, that acts as a presence throughout the work. Elgar described the beautiful and sinister episode that haunts the centre of the movement as ‘a sort of malign influence wandering thro’ the summer night in the garden’. In a completely different guise, this theme returns in the third movement to devastating effect.

The grief of the second movement is immense and, until the last bars, inconsolable. The final climax is almost feverishly sad, the benediction-like appearance of the ‘Spirit of Delight’ theme offering some consolation before the movement shudders to a close.

The scherzo opens with apparent jollity, but the darkening harmonies and darting cross-rhythms produce a feeling of impending danger. After a more lyrical section, a pulsating version of the ‘unearthly’ theme from the first movement is given out by the violins with insistent timpani commentary. Suddenly the music takes on an aspect of thundering terror. The passage disappears with the swiftness of waking from a nightmare; the movement then hastens to a brilliant coda.

The finale begins as if it is going to be the most conventional movement of the four, resolving the tremendous conflicts depicted in the earlier movements. There is a Brahmsian inflection to the stately first theme and to the grander second one;

we then hear a new, gentle theme for the strings, which carries Elgar’s characteristic direction, nobilmente [nobly]. In the following section we are plunged into the thick of battle, a piercing trumpet cry leading the charge. The mood is restless, and although the martial atmosphere gradually recedes to make way for a return of the main theme, the recapitulation makes us realise that the likelihood of a Brahms-like darkness-to-light symphonic outcome is remote. Just as Elgar seems to prepare us for a victorious peroration, the music quietens, we hear the finale’s main theme again on the cellos, the ‘Spirit of Delight’ appears once more and all is radiantly still. At the close there is hope, perhaps consolation, but not triumph.

Abridged from a note © Phillip Sametz

First performance: 24 May 1911, London, composer conducting.First WASO performance: 29-30 August 1975. David Measham, conductor.Most recent WASO performance: 16-17 July 2010. Paul Daniel, conductor.

Instrumentation: three flutes (third doubling piccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, E flat clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, two harps, strings.

Recapitulation – a return to the opening material of a piece or a movement.Scherzo – literally, a joke; a movement in a fast triple time which may involve playful elements and which, as the second or third movement in a symphony, replaced the minuet and trio.

Glossary

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No.5 featured in French ConnectionsFri 13 & Sat 14 October

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Paul Rissmann Presentation and Q&ATuesday 20 June 2017, 6-8pm Perth Concert Hall, Corner Stage

The second instalment in our Judy Sienkiewicz Lecture Series will be presented by award winning British educationalist, composer and presenter Paul Rissmann, following the Annual General Meeting of WASO’s Patrons & Friends on Tues 20 June. Paul joins us as artist in residence for WASO’s Education Week as part of an extensive Australian tour that will see him present a number of his acclaimed programs for children and young people. Paul’s programs will spark imaginations through composition, illustration and the written word. We are delighted that he has time to share his career experiences and talk about the life-changing power of music in this special event for WASO’s Patrons & Friends.

The evening will include the opportunity to join the conversation and pose questions to Paul and our Executive Manager of Community Engagement, Cassandra Lake. Tickets will be $20 for Patrons & Friends ($25 for guests), and include a glass of wine. Bookings are now open through the WASO Box Office on 9326 0000.

WASO PHILANTHROPY

Community Support MonthWASO delivers an extensive and far-reaching portfolio of Education & Community Engagement programs that address issues of geographical, financial and physical disadvantage. We are nationally recognised for the quality and breadth of these activities and in 2016 we reached nearly 40,000 participants state wide. Most of these programs are delivered free of charge to the participants and enable us to fulfil our mission to touch souls and enrich lives through music.

Throughout June we celebrate and showcase our deep connection and commitment to the community of Western Australia through Community Support Month. We do believe in the life-changing power of these musical experiences and June is when we ask you to join us on the journey and become a part of this incredible community who share our commitment to improved access to music experiences.

Through your contribution, you will enable us to give the best possible opportunities to the schools and communities in which we work, and expand our programs to reach even more Western Australians. Ongoing philanthropic support is paramount in building a strong and vibrant Orchestra that can continue to produce live music events not only at Perth Concert Hall, but also for children in hospitals, for students with Special Educational Needs in the comfort of their school environment, or for regional students and communities across the vast state of Western Australia.

Please join us this Community Support Month and make your gift before 30 June by contacting Jacinta Sirr on 9326 0014 or sirrj@waso.com.au, via EFT (BSB 306057, ACC 0166609, please put your surname in the subject line) or by making an online donation via waso.com.au/supportus. All donations over $2 are fully tax deductible.

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Whatever the shape or size, your donation helps WASO make a difference and we thank you for your support. WASO’s philanthropy program continues to grow, supporting our vision now and into the future. It is an exciting time be a part of this community, to meet our musicians and to know you have helped your Orchestra to touch souls and enrich lives through music. Together we can do amazing things.

Symphony CircleRecognising Patrons who have made a provision in their Will to the OrchestraMs Davilia BlecklyMr John BonnyDr G Campbell-EvansDeirdre CarlinAnita & James Clayton Dr Michael FlacksJudith Gedero Robyn GlindemannGwenyth GreenwoodThe Guy FamilyEmi & Warren Jones Colin & Jo KingRachael Kirk & Tim WhitePaul LeeWolfgang Lehmkuhl Deborah MarshSuzanne NashTosi Nottage in memory of Edgar NottageNigel & Dr Heather RogersGavin Toovey & Jaehan LeeSheila Wileman Sagitte Yom-Tov FundAnonymous (31)

Endowment Fund for the OrchestraThis fund includes major donations and bequests Tom & Jean ArkleyJanet Holmes à Court ACMinderoo FoundationSagitte Yom-Tov Fund

Estates WASO is extremely grateful for the bequests received from Estates Rachel Mabel ChapmanMrs Roslyn WarrickJudy Sienkiewicz Anonymous (4)

Excellence CircleSupporting excellence across all we doJean ArkleyBob & Gay BranchiJanet Holmes à Court ACDr Patricia KailisTorsten & Mona KetelsenRod & Margaret MarstonMichael UtslerLeanne & Sam Walsh

The WASO Song BookWe are grateful to those who have supported new works commissioned for the OrchestraJanet Holmes à Court ACPeter DawsonGeoff Stearn

Reach OutSupporting our Education & Community Engagement programsJean ArkleyRon & Penny CrittallRobyn GlindemannBarrie & Jude LepleyMrs MorrellAnonymous (1)

Instrument purchasesJohn Albright & Susan Lorimer – purchase of the EChO Double BassJean & Peter Stokes - Cello & Tuba

Trusts & FoundationsCrown Resorts Foundation & Packer Family FoundationThe Ionian Club Perth '81The James Galvin FoundationSimon Lee Foundation

Crescendo Giving CircleAOT Consulting Pty LtdJean ArkleyKaylene CousinsEuroz Charitable FoundationMadeleine King MP, Federal Member for BrandRosalind LilleyPamela PittDeborah & Miles ProtterThe Spivakovsky Jubilee Valerie Vicich

Philanthropic partnerships come in all shapes and sizes

OUR SUPPORTERS

If you are interested in becoming a Patron or learning more about WASO Philanthropy please contact Sarah Tompkin, Acting Executive Manager, Philanthropy, on 9326 0017 or email tompkins@waso.com.au.

WASO Philanthropy brochures are available from the WASO Programs & Information Desk located in the main foyer of Perth Concert Hall, or you can visit waso.com.au.

All donations over $2 are fully tax deductible.

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We are proud to acknowledge the following Patrons for their generous contribution to WASO in the last twelve months through our Annual Giving program.

Principal Conductor’s CircleGifts $20,000+Janet Holmes à Court ACJohn Albright & Susan Lorimer Patricia New

Impresario PatronGifts $10,000 - $19,999Gay & Bob Branchi Gavin BunningPeter & Lesley Davies (Orchestral Chair Partners - Tutti Viola)Tony & Gwenyth Lennon Margaret & Rod Marston Joshua & Pamela PittTrish Williams – Strategic Interactions

Maestro Patron Gifts $5,000 - $9,999Jean Arkley in memory of Tom ArkleyBill Bloking Dr Roland & Therese BrandIan & Elizabeth ConstableMoira & John DobsonTim & Lexie ElliottBridget Faye AM Gilbert GeorgeWarwick Hemsley & Melissa ParkeDr Patricia KailisKelly FamilyAlison KennedyKeith & Gaye Kessell Dr Ronny Low & Dr Emma RichardsonBryant & Louise Macfie Robert MayPaula & John Phillips Peter & Jean Stokes Richard Tarala & Lyn Beazley AORos ThomsonAlan WhithamSue & Ron Wooller (Orchestral Chair Partners - Principal Bassoon)Anonymous (4)

Virtuoso PatronGifts $2,500 - $4,999Dr Fred AO & Mrs Margaret AffleckNeil Archibald & Alan R Dodge AMTony & Mary Beeley David & Suzanne Biddles Peter & Marjorie BirdAlan & Anne BlanckenseeSally BurtonDr G Campbell-EvansProf Jonathan Carapetis & Prof Sue SkullMark Coughlan & Dr Pei-Yin Hsu Stephen Davis & Linda SavageRichard FaragoRobyn Glindemann Annette & Vincent GoerkeBrian & Romola HaggertySue Hovell Sylvia & Wally HyamsJim & Freda Irenic Eleanor John Michael & Dale Kitney Irving Lane Mrs MorrellJane & Jock MorrisonAnne NolanTim Pavy & Cathy ColeDr Lance Risbey & Ms Elizabeth SachseMelanie & Paul ShannonGail & Tony Sutherland Gene TilbrookM & H TuiteStan & Valerie VicichIan WatsonJoyce Westrip OAMAndrew & Marie YunckenAnonymous (2)

Principal PatronGifts $1,000 - $2,499Ron & Sue AdamsCaroline Allen & Sandy DunnPrue Ashurst in memory of Eoin Cameron

Margaret Atkins Dan & Gail BamBetty BarkerNoelle BeasleyMichael & Nadia Berkeley-Hill Kevin Blake Matthew J C Blampey Namy BodinnerSusy BoglePeter & Eve BolandDr & Mrs P BreidahlJean Brodie-Hall AMJames & Gay BrownMarilyn & Ian BurtonDr Anne ChesterPeter & Sue Clifton David CookeArthur & Nerina CoopesHon June Craig AM Gay & John Cruickshank Lesley & Peter DaviesRai & Erika DolinschekJulian Dowse Bev EastMegan EdwardsLorraine EllardDane Etheridge & Brooke FowlesAnnette FinnP & J FisherDon & Marie Forrest E & EA FraunschielDr Andrew GardnerRoger & Ann GillbanksGraham & Barbara GouldenJannette Gray Deidre Greenfeld Grussgott Family TrustRichard B Hammond Pauline & Peter HandfordIn memory of Eileen HayesDr Penny Herbert in memory of Dunstan HerbertJacoba Hohnen & Stuart CookseyMichael HollingdaleHelen Hollingshead John & Katrina Hopkins

Annual Giving

OUR SUPPORTERS

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J & S HuanCynthia JeeLilian & Roger JenningsAnthony Kane in memory of Jane Leahy-KaneBill Kean Noelle & Anthony Keller AMStephanie & John Kobelke Natasha LanglandsMeg LewisRosalind Lilley Teresa & Jemima LovelandGraham & Muriel Mahony Gregg & Sue MarshmanBetty & Con Michael AOMrs Carolyn Milton-Smith in loving memory of Emeritus Prof John Milton-Smith Hon Justice S R Moncrieff Valmae & Geoff MorrisLyn MurrayVal & Barry NeubeckerDelys & Alan NewmanDr Phil & Mrs Erlene NobleJohn OvertonRon & Philippa PackerMichael & Lesley PageAthena PatonRosemary PeekCharmian Phillips in memory of Colin CraftPamela PlattThomas & Diana Potter Alison & John PriceBarry & Dot PriceDr Leon Prindiville Chester ReeveJoan ReylandJohn & Alison RiggLeigh RobinsonNigel & Dr Heather RogersGerry & Maurice Rousset OAMRoger Sandercock Dr R & J SchwengerMargaret & Roger SearesEve Shannon-Cullity Glenice ShephardJulian & Noreen Sher Laurel & Ross SmithPAI Smith & DA HarryMichael Snell & Vicki Stewart

Geoff and Christine SoutarRuth ThomasGavin Toovey & Jaehan LeeMary Townsend James & Rosemary TrotterDr Robert TurnbullMaggie VenerysAdrienne & Max Walters Diana WarnockWatering ConceptsDai and Anne WilliamsIan Williams AO & Jean WilliamsJim & Gill WilliamsMargaret WilsonJudith Wilton & David TurnerHilary & Peter Winterton AMAnonymous (27)

Tutti PatronGifts $500 - $999Geoff & Joan Airey Ian AppsCatherine BagsterBernard & Jackie Barnwell Shirley Barraclough Mrs Berwine Barrett-LennardColin BeckettPamela M BennetJohn & Sue Bird in memory of Penny BirdDermot & Jennifer BlackweirElaine BondsDiane & Ron BowyerAlison Bunker & Myles HarmerLucia BuralliAnn Butcher & Dean R Kubank Michelle CandyNanette CarnachanClaire Chambers & Dr Andrea ShoebridgeFred & Angela ChaneyDr Sarah CherianLyn & Harvey Coates AOAgatha & Alex Cohen AOHelen CookBrian CresswellGina & Neil DavidsonProfessor Wayne Iwan Lee Davies FRSB Jop & Hanneke DelfosJudy Dolan

Simon & Pamela DouglasMrs G EwenMaxine & Bill Farrell AMStephen FargoJoan GagliardiJennifer & Stephen GardinerGeorge GavranicElaine GimsonIsobel Glencross Pitsamai & Kevin GreenDavid & Valerie GullandAlan Harvey & Dr Paulien de BoerEric & Elizabeth HeenanJohn HillChristopher, Julie, Rosemary & Bronwyn HudsonMr John Hylton-Davies JP, VJPeter Ingram Peter S JonesWarren & Emi JonesB M KentDorothy KingstonNelly KleynUlrich & Gloria Kunzmann John Kusinski & Annie MotherwayTrevor & Ane Marie Lacy Louis & Miriam LandauMartin & Ruth LevitAnn LewisMegan LoweKen & Yoko LucasMary Ellen in memory of KerensaGeoff MasseyJennifer & Arthur McCombJames Meneghello & Mabel ChewS B Monger-HayAndré & Barbara MorkelDr Peter MossPhuong NguyenMarianne NilssonPeter O’SullivanDr Walter Ong & Graeme MarshallMarjan Oxley Graham & Hildegarde PennefatherBev Penny Adrian & Ruth PhelpsAlpha & Richard Pilpel OAMDr Brad PowerAnn RawlinsonJames & Nicola Ridsdill-Smith

OUR SUPPORTERS

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Paul RobertsChris & Serge Rtshiladze Her Excellency the Hon. Kerry Sanderson, ACCarole SextonAnne SheltonThe Sherwood FamilyPaul & Margaret SkerrittHendrik SmitDr L Sparrow & FamilyPeggy & Tom Stacy Eleanor SteinhardtIn Memoriam of

Mr Andrew David StewartLisa & Andrew TelfordRuth E ThornPatricia TurnerS R VogtMargaret WallaceJohn & Nita WalsheAnne Watson Joy WearnePatricia WestonDr Chris & Mrs Vimala WhitakerB M Wilcox

Geoff WilkinsonViolette William Janet WilliamsDr Robyn Yeo & Ms Cyn Johnson Chris ZiatisAnonymous (26)

FriendGifts $40 - $499Thank you to all our Friends who support WASO through their gift.

OUR SUPPORTERS

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Margaret River Cellar Door 543 Miamup Road, Cowaramup

Open 10am - 5pm daily

Become a member of our wine club by signing up atwww.howardparkwines.com.au

Margaret River & Great Southern Wine Specialists

BOARD OF DIRECTORSJanet Holmes à Court AC ChairmanAnne NolanMark CoughlanKeith KessellBarrie Lepley Deputy ChairmanPaul ShannonMichael Utsler

EXECUTIVECraig Whitehead Chief Executive Megan Lo SurdoExecutive AssistantAnthony PickburnHuman Resources ManagerNarelle CoghillHuman Resources CoordinatorJulie Read Payroll Administrator

ARTISTIC PLANNINGEvan Kennea Executive Manager, Artistic PlanningAlan Tyrrell Program ManagerNatalie De Biasi Program Coordinator

ORCHESTRAL MANAGEMENTKeith McGowan Executive Manager, Orchestral ManagementJenna CostelloOrchestral Operations ManagerDavid Cotgreave Production & Technical ManagerAlistair CoxOrchestra ManagerBreanna Evangelista Orchestral CoordinatorWee Ming Khoo Music Librarian

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTCassandra Lake Executive Manager, Community EngagementFiona Taylor Education CoordinatorLily Protter Community Engagement Assistant

BUSINESS SERVICESPeter FreemantleChief Financial OfficerAndrew Chew Systems AdministratorAlex Spartalis IT SupportAngela Miller AccountantSushila BhudiaAccounts OfficerRenu Kara Accounts Assistant

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENTMarina WoodhouseExecutive Manager, Corporate DevelopmentJamie Parkin Corporate Partnerships ManagerGinny LuffCorporate Partnerships Coordinator

Gosia Blasiak Corporate Partnerships & Events Coordinator

MARKETINGMarc Missiaen Executive Manager, MarketingKirsty Chisholm Marketing ManagerLuke AndersonDigital Marketing ManagerLuke PownallPublic Relations ManagerCliona HayesMarketing CoordinatorImogen ArnoldGraphic Designer

PHILANTHROPY Alecia BenzieExecutive Manager, PhilanthropySarah TompkinActing Executive Manager, PhilanthropyJacinta SirrPhilanthropy & Annual Giving ManagerEmily Kennedy Philanthropy & Events Coordinator

PERTH CONCERT HALLBrendon EllmerGeneral ManagerLorraine RiceDeputy General ManagerBrad MatthewsOperations ManagerPenelope BriffaEvents ManagerPaul RichardsonPresentations CoordinatorBruce GawMaintenance OfficerRyan SandilandsMarketing CoordinatorDharshini MurugiahMarketing AssistantSarah Salleo Reception & AdministrationJosie AitchisonTalei LouieVanessa WoolleyTicketing Client Account ManagersEleanor AitchisonAlana ArnoldCheryl ButlerLeticia CannellMary-Louise CarboneHelen GortmansKaitlin TinkerBeverley TrolioCustomer Service and Sales Representatives

ADMINISTRATION

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Margaret River Cellar Door 543 Miamup Road, Cowaramup

Open 10am - 5pm daily

Become a member of our wine club by signing up atwww.howardparkwines.com.au

Margaret River & Great Southern Wine Specialists

2017 CORPORATE PARTNERS

SONATA PARTNERS

PARTNER OF EXCELLENCE

COLL EGEAQUINAS

CONCERTO PARTNERS

OVERTURE PARTNERS

KEYNOTE PARTNERS

PLATINUM PARTNERS

ORCHESTRA SUPPORTERS

MEDIA PARTNERS

FUNDING PARTNERS

The West Australian Symphony Orchestra is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

We encourage you to support these partners for generously supporting your Orchestra

To share in our vision and discuss the many opportunities available through corporate partnerships please contact Corporate Development on 08 9326 0004

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1341_WESF - Arts Sponsorship Campaign 2014 - WASO_Program Ad_210x148mm_V2_FA.indd 1 16/02/15 1:16 PM

PERTH CONCERT HALL

MACA LIMITED CLASSICS SERIES

DVORAK The Water GoblinCHOPIN Piano Concerto No.1

DVORAK Symphony No.7

Christoph König conductorLouis Lortie piano

LOUIS LORTIE PLAYS CHOPIN

FRI 30 JUNE & SAT 1 JULY 7.30PMPERTH CONCERT HALL

TICKETS FROM $32*BOOK NOW 9326 0000WASO.COM.AU

“Lortie is one of perhaps half a dozen pianists for whom it is worth dropping everything to go and hear.”Daily Telegraph

World Artist Louis Lortie is supported by Singapore Airlines. *A one-off handling fee of $5.50 per transaction applies to all purchases on our website. A fee of $6.60 applies to phone and mail bookings. An additional fee of $4.40 per transaction applies for delivery via Registered Post.