Download Programme - University of Oxford

Trinity Orchestra
VIOLIN I Catherine Blair Christian Braime Ben Cartlidge Jennifer Galloway Simon Ward‡ Linden Webster VIOLIN II Jessica Baylis Laura Bury Simon Dawson Eugenie Du† Frances Hedges Theresa Page VIOLA Rachel Denyer Annika Lindemann Kate McMullen† Justin Yu CELLO Rachel Fisken Katherine Talbot Clare Templeman† James Wilson DOUBLE BASS James McCreath FLUTE Jiten Halai Alison Ritchie† OBOE Richard Cappin† Caroline Humphrey CLARINET Francesca Barrie Theo Grzegorczyk†
Rachael Pape Will Randall BASSOON Owen Hodkinson† Helen Lochead FRENCH HORN James Ellis Alexander Robinson Jennifer Stockill† TRUMPET Lydia Asker TIMPANI Byron Spring ‡
†
Trinity Orchestra
Hilary Term concert Leader Section principal Graham O’Connor Conductor Tonight is Graham’s first orchestral conducting experience. He has played the piano since the age of ten, but it was when he began viola lessons a year later that his interest in classical music really developed. At Whitgift School, Croydon, he was heavily involved in orchestral playing, performing in concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and St. Johnʹs, Smith Square. He has played with the Oxford University Orchestra and University Philharmonia, and enjoys accompanying the singers and instrumentalists of Trinity College. His favourite piece of music is John Adamsʹ The Chairman Dances. Many thanks to those who support Trinity Orchestra: the Trinity Society, Trinity College Music Society, The Britton Music Fund and Queen’s Temple Publications. Additional thanks go to our Honorary Patron, Gillian Howard, and her husband, Barry, for their long‐
standing and much appreciated support of the Trinity College Music Society. Tuesday 7th March 2006 Trinity College Dining Hall Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture (‘Fingal’s Cave’) As was customary for wealthy young gentlemen of the time, Mendelssohn spent his early twenties touring Europe. It was on a boat trip he took in Scotland in August 1829 that he first saw Fingalʹs Cave: an immense sea‐carved grotto on the Hebridean island of Staffa. Impressed by its sheer scale and awesome beauty, Mendelssohn quickly sketched out what was to become the opening twenty bars of this Overture, sending them home in a letter that evening. Mendelssohn’s effective scoring and sumptuous melodies make it easy for the listener to picture the scene as the composer must have seen it: the oscillations of the opening motif depicting the rolling waves, and the unpredictability of the elements reflected by abrupt swings in mood and key. Tonight’s programme
MENDELSSOHN Hebrides Overture (‘Fingal’s Cave’) Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E‐flat major, Op. 55 (‘Eroica’) (10’) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E‐flat major, Op. 55 (‘Eroica’) I. Allegro con brio II. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace IV. Finale. Allegro molto Conducted by Graham O’Connor (50’) ʹWhy are there a dozen or more programmatic interpretations for the Eroica, none of which is right or even convincing?ʹ These words, from musicologist Alfred Einstein, neatly summarise the problems historians have encountered in trying to find the inspiration for this work. Beethoven originally dedicated his symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte, and said as much on the original title page of his score. A popular story is that, upon hearing that Napoleon had declared himself Emperor of France, the composer broke into a fit of rage and tore the title page in two. The first publication of the work in 1806 bore the title ʹEroicaʹ and a dedication to Prince Lobkowitz, whose palace was the venue for the première. Beethoven leaves the message ʹcomposed to celebrate the memory of a great manʹ on the front of the score, although the exact meaning of this remains something of an enigma. One argument against the Eroica‐Bonaparte connection is that it seems odd to follow the funeral march of a great hero with a joyous scherzo and finale: death and celebration side‐
by‐side. One alternative theory, suggested by the distinguished Beethoven scholar William Kinderman among others, is that the work is an allegory for the Greek legend of Prometheus. As a punishment, Prometheus was left chained to a rock in the mountains. Each day a vulture would gnaw at his continually regenerating liver. Finally, after thirty years of suffering, Hercules slew the bird, and Prometheus was released from his torment. Many thematic similarities between Eroica and Beethovenʹs earlier ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus, have been identified. We should not dismiss the possibility that the hero is, in fact, Beethoven himself. It was soon after his move to Vienna in 1796 that he noticed the onset of deafness. In an attempt to give his ears a rest, Beethoven spent the Spring and Summer of 1803 in the village of Heiligenstadt, and it is here that his initial ideas for the Eroica were sketched out. It is entirely possible that the second movement conveys the deep, personal anguish he must have felt once he realised the problem was permanent. The final two movements also exhibit the kind of renewed energy that was experienced by the composer upon his return to Vienna. One thing is certain, however. In throwing off the shackles of Viennese classicism, he produced one of the most innovative and beautiful symphonies of the Classical period, and opened a new avenue of expression for other composers to explore.