JOURNEY THROUGH MUSIC

Sunday 9 October, 7.30pm

Elgar In the South (Alassio) (21 mins)

Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor (29 mins)

Interval: 20 mins

Walton Symphony No. 1 in B flat minor (43 mins)

Jennifer Pike violin BBC PhilharmonicJuanjo Mena conductor

ARE YOU READY TO BEGIN YOUR MUSICAL JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY?

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Our Journey Through Music scheme at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall is an affordable and enjoyable introduction to the world of concert-going and classical music. For young people and children from the age of 8, our special scheme is aimed at making our concerts easily accessible for families and anybody who wants to discover orchestral music or to explore it further.

Ready to begin?Join us on this musical journey and discover the unforgettable world of classical music. Three performances will feature a pre-concert session suitable for all ages – but every concert in the 2016/17 season is available at a special family-ticket price. Plus - choose your seat anywhere in the house for the same price:• £7 for children aged 16 and under• £12 for accompanying adults• £35 family ticket, for 4 people (maximum of 2 adults)These prices include a £2 booking fee so you know there’s no extra costs when you book – just be sure to book in advance as these are not available on the day.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ORCHESTRA

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WHAT IS AN ORCHESTRA?An orchestra is a group of instrumental players who perform together, usually led by a conductor.

The modern symphony orchestra usually has somewhere between 60 and 90 players: around 30 violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos, eight double basses; two or three each of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons; four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, a tuba, a harp and an assortment of percussion instruments. You can find out more about the instruments, and where they sit, on the next two pages after this.

THE CONDUCTORThe person in charge is usually the conductor, who stands at the front and directs the orchestra from a podium, keeping time either by waving a short stick, called a baton, or sometimes just with his or her hands. One of the earliest conductors, the Italian-born Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–87), kept his orchestra together by banging a big stick on the floor, but one day he accidentally stabbed his foot and soon afterwards died of gangrene. It’s not as dangerous these days!

Part of the conductor’s job is to show the beat (or pulse) of the music so that all the musicians play together in time. He or she also signals when individual musicians or groups have to start or stop playing. All the time conductors are listening to the overall sound-balance, and altering it, to make sure that the important instruments don’t get drowned out by less important ones. Otherwise, like lots of people talking loudly at the same time, the result would be chaos!

But there’s more to it than this. The conductor can also help to reveal the changing moods of the music. If they can create a strong musical image for the listener, the effect can make us feel all sorts of emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, pride and everything in between. The music might energise you, or it might make you feel you’ve fallen into a dream.

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THE ORCHESTRA ON STAGEMost orchestras have a similar seating plan, with the strings at the front, the woodwind behind them and the brass and percussion further back still.

WOODWINDThe woodwind section sits behind the strings, often in two rows. There are four different instruments, usually in pairs, but in bigger orchestras there can be up to three or four players of each instrument. The metal flutes produce a high, bright, silvery sound. The piccolo is like a small flute and plays very high up. Oboes are black wooden instruments with a detachable reed, which gives them a distinctive sharp-edged sound. Before a concert starts, the whole orchestra tunes up to the note ‘A’ sounded by the Principal Oboe. A bigger, lower version of the oboe is the cor anglais, or ‘English horn’. Clarinets have a more hollow, woody sound. The lowest-sounding member of its family is the bass clarinet. The lowest woodwind instrument is the bassoon, which is long and heavy and has to be supported by a sling round the player’s neck. The contra-bassoon is so long that it’s bent double. Occasionally a piece will need extra instruments, such as the saxophone, which is more usually found in a jazz band.

BRASSLike the strings and woodwind, the brass family has four groups. There are French horns (usually four), instruments once associated with hunting, while the trumpets came from military bands, and often have fanfare-like parts. Trombones are played with a movable slide but, in spite of their size, they can play amazingly fast notes; and finally the enormous tuba makes the deepest notes of all.

PERCUSSIONThe percussion section sits at the back of the orchestra and centres around the timpani, or kettledrums – between two and four copper drums. They have pedals, which alter their pitch (or notes). The bass drum is hit with just one stick; while the metal cymbals are clashed together, often when the music gets very loud. The side-drum is a small military drum that can play very quietly or very loudly indeed. Sometimes composers ask for a variety of other percussion instruments, such as the xylophone, the marimba or even whistles, whips and sirens.

STRINGSString players sit at the front in a semi-circle, usually with the violins on the left and the cellos on the right. Each of the string sections (and also the woodwind, brass and percussion sections) has a principal, who leads the section. The strings divide into four sections: violins, violas, cellos and double basses. The violins are subdivided into first violins and second violins, with the Firsts generally having a slightly more difficult and brilliant part. Violas are bigger than violins, with a deeper, mellower sound. The cellos have a rounded, bass sound. The huge double basses (which are played standing up, or perched on a high stool) add depth to the string sound. The harp is played with fingers instead of a bow, and it has a series of complicated pedals that change its pitch (or notes).

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TONIGHT'S MUSIC

Edward Elgar (1857–1934)In the South (Alassio) (1903–4)

You know that feeling when you arrive on your summer holiday? School’s finished, the long journey’s nearly over, the sun is shining and suddenly, in the distance, you get your first glimpse of the glittering blue sea? Now imagine how that sudden burst of excitement would sound if you could express it in music.

That’s exactly what the British composer Edward Elgar is trying to do in this piece. It was 1903, and it was cold and rainy where Elgar lived, in the West Midlands. So he, his wife Alice and their 13-year-old daughter Carice travelled to Italy – a seaside town called Alassio, on the Mediterranean Sea – where the weather was a lot nicer. This piece is full of the things Elgar saw, heard and (most importantly) felt when he was on holiday in Italy: beautiful scenery, sunny weather and local sights. It’s a sort of musical postcard, but he called it an overture – which is a fairly short piece intended to start a concert.

What to listen for• Sunshine!: There’s a sudden rush of sound, and then the

horns (the circular brass instruments at the back left of the orchestra) play a leaping, thrilling tune, as if they’re turning somersaults: jumping for joy. Then the music seems to look around: blue seas and blue sky, as far as the eye can see!

• Moglio: This was a town near Alassio that the Elgar family visited. Elgar loved unusual words and he thought this one was so funny that he kept weaving its rhythm into the music. See if you can hear it (it’s quite quiet).

• Roman Ruins: The Elgars saw a massive Roman bridge. How do you show that in music? The music gets slower and more serious and Elgar has the brass instruments (at the back of the orchestra) play big, loud, slow notes – like huge pillars set across a valley.

• Moonlight: One of the best things about holidays in the south is long, warm evenings. Elgar slows the music down again and there’s a dreamy tune played by solo viola (the violin’s big brother, with a deeper-sounding voice), while the harp (the big, golden-coloured triangular instrument to one side of the orchestra) makes the music seem to ripple, like moonlight reflected on the sea.

What else could I listen to?Elgar loved to send musical postcards. His overture Cockaigne (In London Town) is a bright, bustling musical picture of a day in London.

TONIGHT'S MUSIC

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)Violin Concerto in D minor (1904–5)

1 Allegro moderato (Moderately fast)2 Adagio di molto (Very slow)3 Allegro, ma non tanto (Fast, but not too much)

Jennifer Pike violin

And now we travel to somewhere completely different! Jean Sibelius was from Finland, in the far north of Europe – a land of endless forests, huge lakes and freezing winters. It’s harsh, but it’s also incredibly beautiful, especially when the multicoloured Northern Lights flicker across the night sky. In the summer, the sun almost never sets at all, and the daylight streams through the forests. Oh, and it’s the home of Nokia mobile phones, saunas and the Moomins.

Many people think they can hear all these things (well, maybe not the Nokias or the Moomins) in Sibelius’s music. But Sibelius just wanted you to listen and let the music take you wherever your imagination wanted to go. He was working on this piece in 1904 (just after Elgar had got back from Italy).

It’s a ‘concerto’, which means that one solo player takes the spotlight, with the orchestra sometimes backing up the soloist, sometimes challenging him or her to a contest. It’s made up of three separate sections (called movements) which, through their different characters, tell a bigger story, and allow the soloist to show how beautifully and brilliantly they can play. As a boy, Sibelius dreamed of being a famous violinist, but our soloist Jennifer Pike is even better!

What to listen for1 Allegro moderato (Moderately fast) • Well, it says ‘moderately fast’ but at first it doesn’t sound as

if the music is really moving at all. Listen to how quietly the orchestra rustles: and how the violin plays so intensely and brightly above it – like a gleaming shard of ice. When will it thaw – and how?

2 Adagio di molto (Very slow):• Woodwind instruments – the ones you blow, in the middle

of the orchestra – call out to each other, in pairs. They sound a bit like the cries of wild birds (Sibelius loved swans and cranes). When the solo violin plays, it sounds very rich, deep and sweet, as if it’s telling us a secret.

3 Allegro, ma non tanto (Fast, but not too much)• The timpani (the pair of big copper-coloured drums at the

back) rumble, and the darkest-sounding string instruments pound out a gruff rhythm. When the violin joins in, it sounds as if it’s dancing brilliantly over the top of them. But storms can sweep in at any time in the Far North … who will make it to the finish first?

What else could I listen to?For more northern adventures with Sibelius, try his Viking tone-poem En saga. If it’s the sound of the solo violin that you love, head for Elgar’s Violin Concerto for a magical but much more English-sounding experience!

Interval: 20 minutes (time for an ice-cream!)

TONIGHT'S MUSIC

William Walton (1902–1983)Symphony No. 1 in B flat minor (1931–5)

1 Allegro assai (Very fast)2 Scherzo: Presto con malizia (Very fast, with malice)3 Andante con malinconia (Slow, with melancholy)4 Maestoso – Brioso ed ardentamente (Majestic – then

brilliantly and passionately)

William Walton comes from round here. He was born in Oldham, just 25 minutes up the tramline from Manchester Victoria. But his musical talent took him to London, where he was soon partying with all the coolest young people. He danced in nightclubs, hung out with poets and painters and wrote music that was bold, brilliant and in-your-face. He became famous for works such as Façade, which consists of nonsense poetry recited over a musical accompaniment. Older listeners were shocked – but they had to admit, he made an amazing sound!

So when he announced that he was writing a symphony, everyone was eager to hear it. A symphony is the biggest and most complex type of music for an orchestra. It’s usually made up of four separate but related movements, and it tells a story without using words or characters. Its tunes (or ‘themes’) are its characters, and the story is the story of the emotions you feel when you listen to them.

Walton had lots of feelings to share – the world was heading towards war (plus, he’d just broken up with his girlfriend) and he was so nervous about the symphony that he tried out the first three movements before he’d even written the fourth, just to see if he’d got it right. When he finally completed it, in 1935, it knocked listeners backwards. You’re about to hear why!

What to listen for1 Allegro assai (Very fast) • Just as in Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, it sounds at first as

if nothing is really happening – just a quiet hum from the horns and timpani. But keep listening: it’s building up to something big. When you hear the oboe (the thin-sounding woodwind instrument at the centre of the orchestra) play a long, anxious theme, which sounds at first as if it’s stuttering, that means things are really about to get started. Follow that tune …

2 Scherzo: Presto con malizia (Very fast, with malice)• ‘Scherzo’ means joke in Italian – but Walton says this

one is ‘with Malice’, so it’s quite a mean joke. But music is about life, and life isn’t always terribly nice: this movement is very fast and very furious.

3 Andante con malinconia (Slow, with melancholy) • Walton has been angry; now he’s just very sad. The flute

– the shiny, silver woodwind instrument played sideways – gives as a long theme, sweet and soft: it sounds as if it might easily get hurt. Later, watch how the string players really seem to dig into their instruments as the music gets stormier.

4 Maestoso – Brioso ed ardentamente (Majestic – then brilliantly and passionately)• There’s a flourish and the horns leap upwards (a bit like

In the South which we heard at the beginning of the concert). The music now sounds hopeful and strong – and suddenly it just rushes off! Can you feel the energy? You definitely will at the very end, when the trumpets (the loudest and brightest-sounding brass instruments) play as loudly as they can. And when things slow down, watch the percussion section at the back of the orchestra. It’s time for a celebration – and things are about to get very loud indeed!

TONIGHT'S MUSIC

What else could I listen to?Walton knew how to get the ears tingling, and that made him a brilliant film composer. Try some of his film music – his score for Henry V (which was so good it was nominated for an Oscar for best soundtrack) or the stirring Spitfire Prelude and Fugue (a musical picture of the aeroplane that was so crucial in the Second World War).

Notes © Richard Bratby

JOURNEY THROUGH MUSIC PRE-CONCERT SESSIONS

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This season we have special pre-concert introductions at three concerts. Join us a bit earlier on the concert night to discover more about the orchestra and the music being performed.

Saturday 22 October 2016Masters of Reinvention

Music by Nielsen, Maxwell Davies & ShostakovichPre-concert session, 6.30pm

Saturday 4 February 2017Relishing in Revolution

Music by Beethoven, Saint-Saëns & DebussyPre-concert session, 6.30pm

Friday 26 May 2017Concert Fantastique

Music by Arvo Pärt, Berlioz & Mark SimpsonPre-concert session, 6.30pm