Autumn Concert 2010 Saturday 20 November 2010 St Marys Church, Banbury

Music by Balakirev, Bruch and Brahms

Programme 1

Welcome to our concert!

Hello and welcome to our autumn 2010 concert. Our programme this evening comprises some wonderful music by Balakirev, Bruch and Brahms : Balakirev Overture on 3 Russian Themes Balakirev (18371910) was a pianist, conductor and composer who liked to combine traditional Russian folk music with classical music. The overture is one of two that he composed using Russian themes. Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 (Irina Pakkanen: violin) The concerto is one of the most popular violin concertos in the repertoire and is described as having the open-hearted lyricism of the Romantic movement at its best in terms of both tastefulness and immediacy of appeal. One of the most popular pieces of classical music ever written, and rightly so! Interval Brahms Symphony No.4 Brahms conducted the premier of his fourth symphony in 1885. There are many allusions to various Beethoven compositions in the symphony. The last movement has a theme presented in the first 8 bars, which is then developed through 28 variations and a coda; it is ever-present somewhere within the orchestra. Thanks again for being with us, and please make a note In your diary to join us again at St Marys on Saturday 11 December 2010 at 4.30pm for our traditional Christmas concert and on 26 March 2011 at 7.30pm for our Spring concert including music by Dvorak, Grieg and Vaughan Williams.

Paul Willett Conductor Paul Willett studied violin, singing and piano as a student but his main instrument was the French horn. When Paul was 16, he gained his Performance Diploma from The Royal College of Music playing French horn. Paul then went on to read music on scholarship at The Queens College, Oxford, and studied for his teaching certificate in Music and Physical Education at Reading University.

For several years Paul combined teaching and freelance playing. He has given solo recitals and performed concertos throughout the country. He was a member of The Five Winds, a group that performed both at home and abroad, and also on BBC radio. Paul also worked as a brass teacher for Oxfordshire Music Service and was director of a Saturday Music School of 200 students. Paul now combines class teaching with conducting various ensembles, both adult and youth. He is also in demand as an adjudicator for both adult and student competitions. Paul is currently Acting Assistant Head Teacher at Didcot Girls School.

Anna Fleming - Leader Anna was born in South Africa where she started playing the violin at the age of ten. While studying music at secondary school, Anna became a member of the South African National Youth Orchestra. After successfully completing her music degree, majoring in orchestral studies, Anna joined the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992. Anna moved to England in late 1996. Keen to continue her orchestral playing, Anna joined the Banbury Symphony Orchestra in 1997 and became the leader of the orchestra in 2000, a post that she has held ever since. As a committed Christian, Anna plays an active role in church music. Focusing primarily on private violin tuition, Anna particularly enjoys helping adults to learn to play and she can be contacted on 01295 780017.

Balakirev Overture on 3 Russian Themes Perhaps because Balakirev's initial musical experience was as a pianist, composers

for his own instrument influenced the repertory and style of his compositions. He

wrote in all the genres cultivated by Frdric Chopin except the Ballade, cultivating a

comparable charm. The other keyboard composer who influenced Balakirev was

Franz Liszt.

Between his two Overtures on Russian Themes, Balakirev became involved with folk

song collecting and arranging. This work alerted him to the frequency of the Dorian

mode. These characteristics were reflected in Balakirev's handling of Russian folk

song. With his First Overture on Russian Themes, Balakirev focused on writing

symphonic works with Russian character. He chose his themes from folk song

collections available at the time he composed the piece, taking Glinka's

Kamarinskaya as a model in taking a slow song for the introduction, then for the fast

section choosing two songs compatible in structure with the ostinato pattern of the

Kamarinskaya dance song.

This Second Overture on Russian Themes shows an increased sophistication as

Balakirev utilizes Beethoven's technique of deriving short motifs from longer

themes. As such it can stand on its own as an example of abstract motivic-thematic

composition, yet since it uses folk songs in doing so, it can also be looked upon as

making a statement about nationality. In this overture he shows how folk songs

could be given symphonic dimensions. The structure of this overture departs from

the classic tonal relationships of tonic and dominant, coming close to the tonal

experiments of Liszt and Robert Schumann.

Like his contemporaries, Balakirev believed in the importance of program music

music written to fulfill a program inspired by a portrait, poem, story or other non-

musical source. Unlike his compatriots, the musical form always came first for

Balakirev, not the extramusical source, and his technique continued to reflect the

Germanic symphonic approach. Nevertheless, Balakirev's overtures played a crucial

role in the emergence of Russian symphonic music in that they introduced the

musical style now considered "Russian." His style was adapted by his compatriots

and others to the point of becoming a national characteristic. The opening of

Tchaikovsky's Little Russian Symphony (for example) shows Balakirev's influence.

Programme derived from Wikipedia

Bruch violin Bruch concerto No. 1 in G minor (Irina Pakkanen: violin) Allegro moderato Adagio Allegro energico Born in Cologne, where he later established himself as a music teacher, Bruch started composing at the age of 11. Although it is by his compositions for violin that he is mainly known today, the bulk of his output was choral, both sacred and secular, and much of it for the stage. From 1861 he held posts in various towns in Germany and, for three years, one in England as conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society. It was not until 1891 that recognition was given to his importance as a composer, when he was appointed Professor at the Berlin Academy, where he took master classes in composition. The G minor Concerto was written in 1868. The first movement takes the form of a dialogue between soloist and orchestra. A short woodwind passage introduces the soloist, whose opening recitative leads into the main body of the movement. In turn, the whole serves as a kind of extended introduction to the Adagio, which follows without a break. This movement is the core of the whole concerto and shows the lyrical-dramatic qualities of Bruch's style of composition at their best. The work is brought to a rousing conclusion by a finale full of dance rhythms and brilliant bravura passages. Bruch began to write this concerto at the age of 19, but nine years elapsed before it was completed and performed. At one point Bruch played it over on the piano to Brahms. When he had finished, Brahms famous for his bearish putdowns picked up a page of the score and said, "Where do you buy your music-paper? First rate!" In its original form the concerto was premired by Otto von Knigelow in April 1866. Bruch then sent it to the great violinist Joachim. Unlike Brahms, Joachim at once recognised the quality of the piece and became its foremost interpreter. In later years he would offer the opinion that of the century's four great violin concertos, (Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Brahms), the Bruch was the most melodious and radiant. After the briefest of introductions from the woodwind (a figure which will recur as a motto) the violin makes a suitably arresting entry. As the movement proceeds, the solo in a ruminating, almost improvisatory fashion, explores the virtuoso capabilities of the instrument. At the close, after a brief cadenza, the orchestra bursts in, in the unexpected key of E flat, the key of the slow movement which follows without a break. This is the heart of the concerto, a long-breathed, peaceful yet intense melody which Bruch certainly never surpassed. The soloist's later passagework is set

against the most subtle and imaginative orchestration. The energetic finale in the gypsy manner must have appealed to Joachim's Hungarian soul. If the main theme in double-stopped thirds seems similar to the Rondo theme of the Brahms concerto, it is worth recalling that Bruch's concerto preceded that work by a dozen years. The revised final version was first played by Joachim on 7 January 1868.

Irina Pakkanen was born in Moldova in 1981. After studying in Moscow from 1991,

Irina won the Young Talents of Russia competition for violin and piano duo. In 1999,

she was then awarded a scholarship from the Guildhall Trust and LYRA Foundation

(Zurich) to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with David Takeno and

Pauline Scott. At the Guildhall School she won the Birdie Warshaw Prize for

unaccompanied violin, the Sheriffs Prize for Violin and a Wolfson Foundation

Instrument Award.

Irina has given recitals and taken part in many international festivals in Moscow,

London and other European cities and has toured extensively in Russia and most

countries in Western Europe and South America. Recent engagements include

appearances as a soloist and chamber musician at the Royal Opera House, St Johns

Smith Square and the Wigmore Hall. During 20082010 Irina held the prestigious

Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship at the Guildhall School. She is also a founder

leader and soloist of the Handel Collection Orchestra based in St Stephens Walbrook

Church in the City of London.

Interval

Brahms Symphony No.4

Allegro non Andante moderato Allegro giocoso Allegro energico e passionato Brahms's habit of composing works in contrasting pairs has often been remarked upon. In his orchestral compositions this is best seen in the two pairs formed by his four symphonies. Thus the tragic First Symphony was followed within a year by the happy and pastoral Second, and within two years of each other came the brightly optimistic Third and the autumnal farewell of the Fourth. With each symphony we seem to be entering into a different region of Brahms's inner world; each appears to be treating a new and intensely personal 'theme'. But because of his notorious reticence, we are left with no clue as to the meaning of this theme. The Fourth Symphony was completed in the summer of 1885, at Mrzzuschlag in Styria. Brahms presented a two-piano arrangement of it in a private performance to a group of close friends but the reception was cool. Brahms, ever his own greatest critic, was full of misgivings about allowing it to be performed by an orchestra. In the event he agreed to let the Meiningen Orchestra rehearse it under the conductor Han von Blow. The rehearsal went well, and the first performance took place under the direction of von Blow at Meiningen on 25 October 1885. Von Blow then took it on an important tour with the orchestra that took in Holland. However, it was only in later years that the work began to be recognised for what it is: the crowning achievement of Brahms's career as a symphonist and the most serious and profound of his large-scale orchestral compositions. The opening Allegro, whose first subject, beginning from a two-note phrase, is spun out to no fewer than nineteen bars, is perhaps the most lyrical of Brahms's symphonic first-movements, although it also contains episodes of an intense dramatic conflict. There is no preamble in this movement and the first subject is heard right away, given out serenely by the violins, with woodwind responses. A horn passage bridges the transition to the second subject, a strong theme played by the woodwind, the first part with horns, the second part with cellos. A soaring interlude for strings comes just before the start of the development, which elaborates upon the first subjects and a little upon the first part of the second. After the recapitulation there follows a coda based upon the two-note germ that has given rise to the first subject. In the Andante, melodic beauty is wedded to magical touches in harmony and

orchestration. Already the very opening provides a superb example of this - a gently swaying passage for horns and woodwind in C major which with the entry of the strings pizzicato shades into E major. A string outburst breaks the elegiac mood temporarily but it is reestablished by one of Brahms's most beautiful melodies, assigned to the 'cellos. Both these ideas are developed, and the first provides material for the coda. The ensuing Allegro is the only movement to be found in the Brahms symphonies to possess a genuine scherzo character. The giocoso of the title is fully borne out by the music and a small but not insignificant feature is Brahms's addition to the orchestra of a piccolo and triangle. The full orchestra gives out the first spirited subject, while the second, also lighthearted, is heard in the violins. The finale is cast in the form of a passacaglia or variations on a ground bass. Brahms took the passacaglia theme from Bach's Church Cantata No. 150, Nach dir. Herr, verlangt mich. No composer before had thought of conducting a symphony in this way a fact which at first puzzled and even disconcerted its early audiences. Brahms displays a magisterial skill in avoiding the pitfalls inherent in this form: namely, a sectional structure and a lack of cohesion between the individual variations. He makes the music flow with scarcely any interruption, variation follows upon variation with compelling musical logic, and the cumulative effect is one of overwhelming grandeur. Incidentally, this is the only movement of the symphony to use trombones. Programme Notes for pieces by Bruch & Brahms were supplied through the Programme Note Bank of Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies.

Banbury Symphony Orchestra

Management Committee: Jonathan Rowe (Chair), Kathryn Hayman (Secretary), Jenny Maynard (Treasurer)

Emma Callery, Anna Fleming, Lyn Gosney, Andrew Waite

Conductor - Paul Willett

Violin I Anna Fleming (Leader) Jenny Maynard Geoff Kent Kathryn Hayman Penny Tolmie Norman Filleul Marianne Robinson Trish Evans Violin II Ian Smith Emma Callery Conrad Woolley Andrew Waite Rachel Sansome Rachel Saunders Bryony Yelloly Gill Walker Sarah Harper Joe Cummings Viola David Bolton-King Jonathan Rowe

Cello Miranda Ricardo Sarah Turnock Peter Button John Pimm Ruth Mankelow Mary Martin Paul Morley Jennifer Hubble Double Bass Robert Gilchrist Jo Hammond Jane Martin Flute Rachel McCubbin Nick Planas Piccolo Rachel Hawes Oboe Lyn Gosney Diana Lewis Clarinet Helen Payne David Rule Bass clarinet Alice Palmer

Bassoon Ian McCubbin Rachel James Contra bassoon Ian White Horn Simon Mead David Settle Richard Hartree Helen Barnby-Porritt Trumpet Tony Chittock Ron Barnett Terry Mayo Trombone Paul Macey Gary Clifton Malcolm Saunders Tuba James Bolton-King Percussion Justin Rhodes Dave Hadland

Website Please visit our website for more information www.banburysymphony.org

Patrons of Banbury Symphony Orchestra

S. E. Corsi, Esq. Mrs H. M. W. Rivett Lady Saye and Sele

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Information about forthcoming concerts If you would like to become a friend or would like to know more, please visit our website, or contact Emma Callery on 01608 737249 or e-mail her: emma@caller.demon.co.uk. Are you interested in joining the orchestra? If you play an instrument to a standard of Grade 7 or above and would like to play with the orchestra, find out more by contacting Anna Fleming on 01295 780017. All rehearsals take place at Banbury School during term time on Tuesday evenings,

7:309:30pm. Dates for your diary

St Marys Church, Banbury. St Marys on Saturday 11 December 2010, 4.30pm 6pm. A Family Christmas Festival of Music in association with The Rotary Club of Banbury. A Programme of Seasonal Music and Christmas Carols. St Marys Church, Banbury. Saturday 26 March 2011 at 7.30pm for our Spring concert including music by Dvorak, Grieg and Vaughan Williams.