Music from the Baltics

This July Hyperion Records release Kreek’s Notebook, a fascinating album of spiritual songs from the Baltics. In recent years, Britten Sinfonia has performed a number of works from the Baltic states, generally identified as those countries east of the Baltic sea – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. All three countries were formerly part of the Soviet Union; however despite Soviet control retained much of their individual identity.

There is a deeply rooted tradition of folksong in all three countries, exemplified by what became known as the ‘singing revolution’ – the term coined following the spontaneous mass night-singing demonstrations in Tallinn that helped lead to the restoration of independence of the Baltic states. Britten Sinfonia Voices director Eamonn Dougan agrees: "So much amazing choral music has come from the Baltic states in recent years and they enjoy such a strong singing tradition." I however, was not familiar with music from this area of the world except for the works of the ever-popular Estonian Arvo Pärt and so it has been a journey of discovery for me in recent months.

Much of the work we have performed from the Baltic states has been vocal repertoire and this includes the music heard on Kreek’s Notebook. The main work on the album by Estonian Tõnu Kõrvits is based on the traditional melodies collected by Cyrillus Kreek (the Estonian equivalent to Bartók and Grainger) in the early 20th century whilst presenting a contemporary view of these folk hymns.

“This is a lovely work that casts its spell immediately” International Record review on Kreek’s Notebook

A previous Britten Sinfonia release on Hyperion is Ēriks Ešenvalds powerful yet subtle Passion and Resurrection described by an audience member as “music that is as moving as it is unforgettable even on a first hearing”. There is a fascinating podcast available with Ēriks Ešenvalds and Bob Shingleton available here which explores culture, education and religion in Lativa.

Our most recent performance project once again involved a new work by Ēriks Ešenvalds entitled AQUA, performed by both the orchestra and Britten Sinfonia Voices and featuring resonating wine glasses. Personally I found the piece both mesmerising and serene and I’m sure it will become a popular work amongst choral ensembles.

However the work that has had the biggest impact on me from the Baltics in recent months has been Pēteris Vasks Distant Light (written in 1977) which we performed in February with the stunning violinist Alina Ibragimova. Before our performances I had listened to Gidon Kramer’s recording of the work and was impressed by its range and expressiveness. Vasks’ style is deeply rooted in Latvian folk music and in the archaic folklore upon which this is founded, while combining these ancient elements with the challenging language of contemporary music. I saw the performance at the Barbican and had my breath taken away by the sheer range of emotion and total intensity of the piece bought to life by Alina. Pēteris was in the audience and after the concert bounded backstage beaming from ear to ear – he was obviously thrilled with the performance too.

I look forward to discovering more music from the Baltic states next season. In November we perform Errki Sven Tüür’s Lighthouse and also Arvo Pärt’s enchanting Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten and I’m sure more will be programmed in future seasons such is the strength of the compositional talent emerging from these countries.

Claire, Marketing Director

Alina Ibragimova and Britten Sinfonia: an ongoing collaboration

Alina Ibragimova once again joins Britten Sinfonia in late February/early March for the tour of our Baltic Nights programme. Alina has been a regularly collaborator with Britten Sinfonia, first performing with us in 2006 for our At Lunch series of concerts. Aged only 21 Alina, performed lunchtime concerts in Krakow, , Aldeburgh, Cambridge, Norwich and London.

Alina rehearsing in Krakow with Huw Watkins and Joy Farrall

The programme for these At Lunch concerts featured the premiere of Huw Watkins Dream (later released on Britten Sinfonia’s Songs of the Sky CD), Michael Zev Gordon’s Fragments from a Diary and works by Stravinsky and Bartok.

Alina arriving at the Assembly House in Norwich in the Britten Sinfonia taxi

In 2007 Britten Sinfonia joined Alina in the studio to record Concerto Funebre for violin and orchestra by the little known composer, Karl Amadeus Hartmann. Hartmann is a figure unique in German music - the only composer to stay put and defy Hitler for the duration of the Third Reich and his Concerto Funèbre, written in 1939 was a protest against Hitler’s occupation of Prague. Released by Hyperion the disc also features Hartmann’s Suite No’s 1 and 2 and Sonata No’s 1 & 2 for solo violin.

Alina and Britten Sinfonia went on to perform Hartmann’s Concerto funebre in Cambridge and Norwich. Returning to Norwich and Cambridge in 2009 for concerts entitled Bach Plus Alina performed music by Bach and Kurtag. The towering genius of Johann Sebastian Bach was the focus of these concerts, which contrasted four of his works with two seminal 20th-century pieces by Berg and Kurtág. Bach two surviving violin concertos were played by Alina.. Kurtág’s acknowledgement of his debt to Bach in his Signs, Games and Messages, which includes ‘Hommage à J.S.B.’, an exploration of a Bach-like melodic line also saw Alina take centre stage, amazing audiences with her technical ability and artistic flair. Bach Plus was also performed in Inverness and Monmouth.

Later in 2009 Alina performed Vaughan Williams’ beautiful Lark Ascending in concerts with Britten Sinfonia in aid of the Great Fen Project.

Alina has described how she loves working with Britten Sinfonia “Playing with Britten Sinfonia is never boring… they have their own take on things and aren’t afraid to do so”

In celebration of Britten Sinfonia’s 20^th Birthday in 2011 Alina joined forces with another of the orchestra’s long-term collaborators, Pekka Kuusisto for a performance of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto at our Barbican birthday celebrations.

Alina rehearsing at the Barbican (c) Ben Ealovega

Alina & Pekka enjoying the applause after their performance at Britten Sinfonia's Birtdhay concert (c) Rhydian Peters

We’re really looking forward to working with Alina again. She will perform one of the two surviving Bach Violin Concerto’s alongside a beautiful and ethereal violin concerto by Latvian composer, Peteris Vasks entitled Distant Light. You can see Alina talking about the programme in our short film about the Baltic Nights programme

The concerts take place at Cambridge West Road Concert Hall on Monday 25 February, Wednesday 27 February at London’s Barbican and Sunday 3^rd March at Norwich Theatre Royal. To find out more about the concerts and to book tickets click here

20th Birthday Concert in Pictures

In late October Britten Sinfonia celebrated its 20th birthday with celebratory concerts in Cambridge, Norwich and London. The London concert launched the orchestra's association with the Barbican and photographers Benjamin Ealovega and Rhydian Peters captured the day.

 

Stephen Williams and Andy Sheppard in rehearsal  (c) Ben Ealovega

Andy's sax (c) Ben Ealovega

Joanna MacGregor rehearsing Moondog (c) Ben Ealovega

Tom Herbert rehearsing Moondog (c) Ben Ealovega

Sound Engineer, Matt Fairclough (c) Ben Ealovega

Kuljit Bhamra rehearsing Moondog (c) Ben Ealovega

Seb Rochford rehearsing Moondog (c) Ben Ealovega

A smile during rehearsal (c) Ben Ealovega

Pekka Kuusisto & Mark Padmore in rehearsal (c) Ben Ealovega

Pekka & Alina Ibragimova rehearsing the Bach Double (c) Ben Ealovega

Nico Muhly multi-tasking during the rehearsal of his piece  (c) Ben Ealovega

Eamonn Dougan conducting the rehearsal of Nico's piece (c) Ben Ealovega

Britten Sinfonia Voices rehearsing (c) Ben Ealovega

The 'running board' backstage - a busy day! (c) Ben Ealovega

Backstage (c) Ben Ealovega

Birthday Cake! for the musicians to share! (c) Ben Ealovega

Claire, Marketing Director & Nico Muhly sharing a drink (c) Rhydian  Peters

Will (Development Director) talking to a guest at the reception (c) Rhydian Peters

Alexandra Reid introducing the Britten Sinfonia Academy performance (c) Rhydian Peters

Britten Sinfonia Academy (c) Rhydian Peters

Britten Sinfonia Academy performing on the free stage (c) Ben Ealovega

Backstage before the concert (c) Ben Ealovega

Backstage before the concert (c) Ben Ealovega

Orchestra and choir on stage (c) Rhydian Peters

Pekka & Alina performing the Bach Double (c) Rhydian Peters

Mark Padmore performing Les Illuminations (c) Rhydian Peters

Pekka performing his birthday tribute, OMG HBD (c) Rhydian Peters

Joanna MacGregor performing Bach (c) Rhydian Peters

 

Post concert performance on the Club stage (c) Ben Ealovega

Jackie Shave (c) Ben Ealovega

Post concert party time (c) Ben Ealovega

James MacMillan and David Butcher after the concert (c) Ben Ealovega

James (Creative Learning Assitant) and Gabrielle Deschamps (Development Assistant) enjoying the party (c) Ben Ealovega

Pekka gives the night a thumbs up! (c) Ben Ealovega

Nico enjoying a glass of vino (c) Ben Ealovega

Smiles all round (c) Ben Ealovega

A View from the Audience

As our 20th Birthday season approaches we've been asking audience members their thoughts on Britten Sinfonia and what event has been a highlight for them. Roger Rowe, a regular audience member in Norwich picked out one of his highlights;

Britten Sinfonia entered an already-rich Norwich music scene some 10 years ago like a breath of fresh air. During the course of that time I must have attended most of their evening  and lunchtime concerts and I cannot recall ever coming away without feeling that I have experienced something very special. To my mind this has been for two reasons. Firstly the players are of the very highest calibre and although a sizable band they play with the sensibility of chamber musicians always listening to each other, giving a wonderful feeling of  making music for the first time. Secondly their programming is always fresh and original, often juxtaposing works which on paper look odd bed-fellows but which always work in performance - and presenting newly commissioned works in a context which makes them relevant. This is particularly true of the imaginative lunchtime chamber series which have featured many new pieces alongside established favourites.

The highlights over the years? - well there have been so many, but I remember vividly their collaborations with international visiting artists especially Pekka  Kuusisto, Alina Ibragimova and Angela Hewitt – and then, most recently of all, there was an unforgettable performance by Mark Padmore of a newly commissioned song cycle The End by Jonathan Dove.   

Britten Sinfonia are popular visitors to Norwich. I congratulate them on their 20^th anniversary season and look forward to their visits here for many more years to come. 

Roger Rowe MBE

We will be celebrating  our 20th anniversary in Norwich on Tuesday 23 October with a special birthday concert at Norwich Theatre Royal - you can find out more details here. the orchestra will also be performing special birthday concerts in Cambridge and in London.

Updates, multifarious

There has been so much interest in our appearances at Latitude Festival on 18 and 19 July that I thought you might like to know what we are planning to play:

BACH Brandenburg Concerto no. 3
PIAZZOLLA Autumn from Four Seasons in Buenos Aires
REICH Duet
VIVALDI Concerto for Four Violins in B minor from L’estro armonico
PIAZZOLLA Summer from Four Seasons in Buenos Aires
BACH Concerto for Two Violins
with, as a possible encore,
RAUTAVAARA The Fiddlers

Perfect, whatever the weather!

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'It is Ibragimova's ability to pick out those melodies and shape them with deceptively unfussy nuance that makes her mesmerising.' Erica Jeal in the Guardian the other day, reviewing Alina Ibragimova's two concerts of bach's solo repertoire, part of the City of London Festival, in which we are playing tonight.

To Wyastone with Alina Ibragimova: Bach Plus

We return to Wyastone on 28 June for another performance of our Bach Plus programme, with Alina Ibragimova:
JS Bach Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor
Berg Lyric Suite
JS Bach Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor*
JS Bach Art of Fugue (movements)*
György Kurtág Signs, Games and Messages*
JS Bach Violin Concerto No. 2 in E*

The concert contrasts four of Bach's works with two seminal 20th-century pieces by Berg and Kurtág. The unsurpassed master of counterpoint – the language of the Baroque – Bach wrote his 'Art of Fugue' as a definitive exploration of the fugue form. Three Bach concertos are played by ‘scorchingly good’ (The Times) young Russian violinist Alina Ibragimova. Kurtág acknowledges his debt to Bach in his Signs, Games and Messages, which includes ‘Hommage à J.S.B.’, an exploration of a Bach-like melodic line.

‘With Ibragimova, every tone colour is at her fingertips, yet she's never the mechanical doll. She's already gone beyond superb technique; she feels and lives the music.’ The Times

Great Fen Project

One of Britain’s most exciting conservation efforts, the Great Fen Project is creating a 9,000 acre fenland habitat in Cambridgeshire. It will create a haven for wildlife and open new opportunities for business, education and recreation. Imagine walking for hours without retracing your steps in a vast mosaic of meadows, woods, streams and marshes.....

Britten Sinfonia is giving two concerts this week to raise awareness (and some money) for this project: in Peterborough Cathedral on 6 May and in King's College Chapel, Cambridge on 7 May. John Woolrich has composed a new work Whitel's Eye for the occasion, and there is music by Vaughan Williams, Sibelius, Britten and Mahler. Paul Gambaccini introduces the Peterborough performance, Stephen Fry the Cambridge one, and Alina Ibragimova is the violin soloist.

Bach Plus with Alina Ibragimova

Alina Ibragimova joins us for Bach Plus in Cambridge (19 March), Norwich (20 March) and Inverness (22 March).

Music by J.S. Bach, Alban Berg, and Gyorgy Kurtag.

György Kurtág

Opportunities to hear György Kurtág's music are all too rare, although the Aldeburgh Festival did something to rectify this last summer: Pierre-Laurent Aimard is clearly a fan. Our next project features Kurtág's Signs, Games and Messages , when we will be performing six selected movements:

I: Hommage à J.S.B.
II: Népdalféle
III: Jelek VI
IV: Panaszos nóta
V: Hommage à Ránki György
VI: The Carenza Jig

Jo Kirkbride has written: 'Born in Romania in 1926, Kurtág’s musical career began with piano and composition lessons from the age of 14, and it was not long before Kurtág began dreaming of joining Béla Bartók’s composition class at the Lizst Academy in Budapest. Sadly, news of Bartók’s death came shortly before he was able to join the Academy, but this disappointment brought Kurtág closer to a fellow student who was also lamenting his loss: György Ligeti. The two composers developed a lifelong friendship, built upon a shared outlook on music and an insatiable curiosity for life. Quoting Ligeti after his death, Kurtág noted their shared ambition, which rested on a desire to inspect and question at all times: ‘As different as the criteria for art and science are, they are similar in that those who work in them are driven by curiosity. The key thing in both areas is to investigate coherences still undiscovered by others, and to create structures that haven't existed until now.’

While typically concise and elegantly executed, Kurtág’s music sets out to explore the complexities of life and to distil these ideas into musical form. As Zoran Minderovic writes: ‘Spellbinding, expressive, mysterious, and deeply engaging, Kurtág's music is a constant effort to describe the indescribable, to explore the human microcosm, to shed light on the human experience.’ His fascination with the fragility of life derives in part from his interest in the works of Samuel Beckett, a trait which is reflected throughout his oeuvre by a fascination with musical games and signs, and with the potential expressivity of silence.

Signs, Games and Messages is itself a game, playing upon the titles of Kurtág's earlier works: Signs, Op. 5 is a work for viola written in 1961, Games for piano was begun in 1973 and Messages of the Late R V Troussova, Op. 17 was written between 1976-80 for soprano and chamber ensemble. Kurtág's ‘reuse’ of earlier works also extends to the musical material – a number of the movements from Signs, Games and Messages also appear elsewhere in earlier works, though Kurtág hoped that by ‘reassembling’ them into an alternative work he might draw attention to similarities and connections that would otherwise go unnoticed. This unusual approach to compositional development extends forwards as well as backwards: as well as reusing earlier material and ideas, Kurtág also leaves compositions ‘open’, so that they might be expanded upon and developed far into the future. As such, Signs, Games and Messages does not have an Opus number, nor a date of completion.

Among the movements being performed in this project is the ‘Hommage à J.S.B’: a musical tribute to J.S. Bach, whom Kurtág admired greatly for his finely-wrought, intricate compositions. Initially written for flute, piano and double bass as part of Kurtág’s Bagatelles, Op. 14d, the movement is built around a single melodic line by Bach, whose structure implies the coexistence of two different voices within a single part. Fascinated by this kind of structural game, Kurtág explores the developmental possibilities of the melody throughout the movement, effectively carrying out an analysis of Bach’s melody through his own composition.'

You can hear this work in Cambridge (19 March), Norwich (20 March) and in Inverness (22 March), during our Bach Plus concerts with Alina Ibragimova (violin).