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THE SOUND OF AN ORCHESTRA

BBC PROMS 2018 Prom 58 26 August 2018 Gerard McBurney creative director Mike Tutaj sound and projection design Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Duncan Riddell leader) Joshua Weilerstein conductor

Inspired by Bernstein’s enquiry into The Sound of an Orchestra, tonight’s presentation, devised and directed by Gerard McBurney, explores how the art of orchestration – of selecting and combining individual instrumental timbres, or colours – has evolved over the past two centuries. In the first half of the concert, we explore the sound of an orchestra through the kaleidoscope of more than 70 musical fragments. We begin with the one of the simplest of orchestral sounds, the octave unison. Naturally, we open with the famous ‘A’ with which musicians are trained to tune to one another at the start of every concert. And out of this come other octave unisons, by very different composers, from Mahler to Stravinsky. Soon this simple unison starts to sprout extra notes and become something more complicated: a chord. And we hear three of the greatest composers – Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven – making one particular chord, a straightforward, old-fashioned E flat major, sound different every time. And now these chords begin to change and shift and become stranger, more dissonant and more modern, until we arrive at the most famous complicated chord of all, Wagner’s ‘Tristan’ chord. From here we move to composers’ sketchbooks and first thoughts … how a very simple idea, probably played with one hand on a piano, can be transmuted by the human imagination into the richest and most colourful orchestral textures. And we remind ourselves of how the sound of an orchestra can be inspired by nature, by rivers, forests and oceans; and by the roar and bustle of the city; and by the most intense and personal human experiences. And finally we take pleasure in how many different ways there are for a composer to use an orchestra to end a piece of music … to say: ‘That’s all, folks!’ By contrast, after all these tiny fragments, in the second half of the programme we take just six pieces of music already touched on in the first half, and arrange them as a playlist (see following pages) in which each piece dissolves into the next. And, like a time-traveller, we journey backwards from a piece written last year by the young American composer Elizabeth Ogonek, to a piece by Beethoven composed more than two centuries ago. © Gerard McBurney

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PART 1

Chapter 1: Octave Unisons Timecode 03:19 (from start of concert) Words 1 "Today, we're going to talk about a part of music..." from Leonard Bernstein: What is Orchestration? Young People's Concerts,

1958 Music 1 The orchestra tunes to A Words 2 "Stringed instruments are the essential foundation..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 Music 2 Mahler: Symphony 1, mvt 1, 1888 Words 3 "Let us begin with the interval of the Octave..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 3 Beethoven: Symphony 4, mvt 1, 1806 Words 4 “The Octave seems almost just a pure repetition of the root..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 "Unison doublings by different instruments..." from Walter Piston: Orchestration, 1955 "Our epoch, the post-Wagnerian epoch..." from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Principles of Orchestration, 1913 Music 4 Stravinsky: The Firebird, 1910 version

Words 5 “There is no point in reading books about orchestration..." from Walter Piston: Orchestration, 1955 Music 5 Haydn: The Creation, Representation of Chaos, 1798 Words 6 “It was Pythagoras who said..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 6 Weber: Der Freischütz, Overture, 1821 Words 7 “The overture to Freischütz!..." from A.H.Sidgwick: The Promenade Ticket, 1914 "Was Brahms ignorant of orchestration?" from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Principles of Orchestration, 1913 Music 7 Brahms: Symphony 1, mvt 1, 1876 Words 8 “Stringed instruments possess more ways of producing sound..." from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Principles of Orchestration, 1913

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"On a massed group of violins, a tremolo..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 Music 8 Bruckner: Symphony 9, mvt 1, 1896

Words 9 “In music, sensations of tone... are the material of the art..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 9 Beethoven: Symphony 2, mvt 1, 1802 Words 10 “Unisons... of any kind... only acquire quality..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 Music 10 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, mvt 5, 1830 Words 11 “It is difficult to define tone-quality in words..." from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Principles of Orchestration, 1913 Music 11 Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, 1888

Words 12 “Why is it that music has a so much more immediate connection with pure

sensation than any other of the fine arts?..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 12 Schumann: Piano Concerto, movement 1, 1845 Words 13 “Now to business! A short pause, and a terrific unison..." from A.H.Sidgwick: The Promenade Ticket, 1914 Music 13 Beethoven: Egmont Overture, 1810 Words 14 “In my opinion, "sound", once upon a time a noble quality of the loftiest

music, has nowadays deteriorated in significance..." from Arnold Schoenberg: Composition with Twelve Tones, 1941 Music 14 Brahms: Symphony 1, mvt 1, 1876 Words 15 “The human ear and eye are parallel to one another..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 15 The orchestra tunes to A

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Chapter 2: Simple Chords Timecode 10:01 Words 16 “We can say that every sounding body used by a composer..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 "And every sensation excited in the ear..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 16 Wagner: Lohengrin, Prelude to Act 1, 1850 Words 17 “A chord of A major... luminous... joyful..." from Charles Koechlin: Treatise on Orchestration, 1941 "High close harmonies from divided violins..." from Henry Krehbiel: How to Listen to Music, 1895 "Now, among percussion instruments, the timpani..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 Music 17 Grieg: Piano Concerto, movement 1, 1868 Words 18 “The horn... a noble, melancholy instrument..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 "For me, the horns are soft instruments, poetical..." from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Principles of Orchestration, 1913 Music 18 Wagner: Die Meistersinger, Prelude to Act 1, 1867

Words 19 “It is always a great mistake to say: this composer scores well..." from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Principles of Orchestration, 1913 Music 19 Prokofiev: Classical Symphony, mvt 1, 1917 Words 20 “D major! A clear and brilliant key!..." from Charles Koechlin: Treatise on Orchestration, 1941 Music 20 Rossini: The Barber of Seville, overture, 1816 Words 21 “The tone-colour of chords is of course determined by the instruments

selected..." from Walter Piston: Orchestration, 1955 Music 21 Puccini: Tosca, Act 1, 1899

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Chapter 3: Chords Of E Flat Timecode 12:39 Words 22 “The creators of modern instrumental music in our time..." from E.T.A.Hoffmann: Beethoven's Instrumental Music, 1813 Music 22 Haydn: Symphony 99, movement 1, 1793 Words 23 “Haydn's symphonies lead us through a world of love..." from E.T.A.Hoffmann: Beethoven's Instrumental Music, 1813 Music 23 Mozart: Symphony 39, movement 1, 1788 Words 24 “In Mozart, dread lies all about us..." from E.T.A.Hoffmann: Beethoven's Instrumental Music, 1813 Music 24 Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, overture, 1791 Words 25 “By comparison with Mozart, the instrumental music of Beethoven..." from E.T.A.Hoffmann: Beethoven's Instrumental Music, 1813 Music 25 Beethoven: Eroica symphony, movement 1, 1803

Words 26 “It was Beethoven, following Haydn and Mozart..." from E.T.A.Hoffmann: Beethoven's Instrumental Music, 1813 Music 26 Beethoven: Emperor Concerto, movement 1, 1811

Joshua Weilerstein speaks Music 27 String chords from examples 22-26

Joshua Weilerstein speaks Music 28 Woodwind chords from examples 22-26

Joshua Weilerstein speaks Music 29 Brass and timpani chords from examples 22-26

Joshua Weilerstein speaks Music 30 Full orchestra chords from examples 22-26

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Chapter 4: Chords Begin To Sprout And Move Timecode 16:30 Words 27 “Of all the different orchestral instruments, the woodwind..." from Walter

Piston: Orchestration, 1955 Music 31 Schubert: Symphony 5, movement 1, 1816 Words 28 “Every wind player has to correct the pitch..." from Walter Piston: Orchestration, 1955 Music 32 Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream, Overture, 1826 Words 29 “As a matter of fact, all orchestral instruments can generally alter their

pitch..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 33 Brahms: Symphony 3, movement 1, 1883 Words 30 “By comparison with all other composers, the gigantic figure of Beethoven

stands apart..." from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Principles of Orchestration, 1913 Music 34 Beethoven: Eroica symphony, movement 1, 1803

Words 31 “Clearly... the rules of harmony nowadays are simply obsolete..." from A.H.Sidgwick: The Promenade Ticket, 1914 Music 35 Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, Part 1, 1913

Joshua Weilerstein speaks Words 32 “That last entrance was too late... by one beat..." from Leonard Bernstein rehearsing the Schleswig-Holstein orchestra, 1988 Music 36 Bernstein: Wonderful Town, overture, 1953

Words 33 “In chemistry, one atom of hydrogen more, one less of carbon..." from Arnold Schoenberg, Breslau lecture on Die glückliche Hand, 1928 Music 37 Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe, 1912 Words 34 “No one ever saw Ravel composing..." from Roland-Manuel in interview with Roger Nichols, 1987 "Orchestration is much more fascinating than catching shrimp!" Ravel talking to Ida Godebska, c.1930 "When I first encountered the scores of Gustav Mahler..." Arnold Schoenberg: Gustav Mahler, 1912 Music 38 Mahler: Symphony 10, movement 1, 1910

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Words 35 “I should like to point out that I also am a painter..." Arnold Schoenberg writing to Wassily Kandinsky, 1911 Music 39 Schoenberg: 5 Pieces for Orchestra, Farben, 1909 Words 36 “When we examine carefully and scientifically..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 40 Debussy: La mer, mvt 2, 1905 Words 37 “Tell me, is a man or is a man not..." from A.H.Sidgwick: The Promenade Ticket, 1914 Music 41 Tchaikovsky: Pathétique symphony, mvt 4, 1893

Joshua Weilerstein speaks Words 391 “More than all the other strings, the cello..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 Music 42 Wagner: Tristan and Isolde, Prelude, 1859 Words 40 “I think myself that probably all music was originally consonant..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 Music 43 The orchestra tunes to A

Chapter 5: From Sketch To Score Timecode 28:31 Words 41 “A composer should continually give themselves exercises in

composition..." Beethoven writing to Archduke Rudolph, July 1822 Music 44 Beethoven: Symphony 5, mvt 1, 1808 Words 42 “My dear Tolia, I will come and visit you next week..." Tchaikovsky writing to his brother, February 1893 Music 45 Tchaikovsky: Pathétique symphony, mvt 1, 1893

Words 43 “Here let me mention the case of works scored by one composer from the

sketches of another..." from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Principles of Orchestration, 1913

1 Words 38 was deleted late in production

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Music 46a Mussorgsky: Pictures from an Exhibition (Catacombs), 1874 Music 46b Mussorgsky orch. Ravel: Pictures from an Exhibition (Catacombs),

1922 Words 44 “In November there was a Philharmonic Concert..." from Mrs Richard Powell: Memories of a Variation, 1937 Music 47 Elgar: Enigma Variations (RPA - variation V), 1899 Words 45 “It is a very solitary experience at first, you know..." Live interview with Elizabeth Ogonek in May 2018 Music 48a Ogonek: All these lighted things... (mvt 1, piano sketch), 2017

Words 46 “Sometimes I think I should be a painter..." Live interview with Elizabeth Ogonek in May 2018 Music 48b Ogonek: All these lighted things... mvt 1, 2017 Words 47 “April the 18th... Walked in the cold spring sun..." from the diary of Jean Sibelius, April 1915 Music 49 Sibelius: Symphony 5, mvt 3, 1919

Chapter 6: From Nature To The World Timecode 36:55 Words 48 “When I am surrounded by nature..." from Johann Andreas Stumpff's recollections of Beethoven, c.1825 "But when he wanted to create the feeling..." from Henry Krehbiel: How to Listen to Music, 1895 Music 50 Beethoven: Symphony 6, mvt 2, 1808 Words 49 “Aristotle in his 29th Problem says: 'Why is it that rhythms and

melodies...?'" from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 51 Mendelssohn: Die schöne Melusine, 1834 Words 50 “It is not merely music but all kinds of actions..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 52 Wagner: Götterdämmerung, Act 3, 1874 Words 51 “Again, look at waves forming on the calm surface of a piece of water..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863

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Music 53 Smetana: Má vlast (Vltava), 1874 Music 54 Mahler: Symphony 2, mvt 3, 1896

Words 52 “In fact, it is hardly possible to survey a large surface of water..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 55 Debussy: La mer, mvt 3, 1905 Words 53 “And in the end, the way sounds travel through the air..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 56 Ives: 3 Places in New England (The Housatonic at Stockbridge), 1914 Words 54 “Strange stuff, unlike anything else I've heard..." from A.H.Sidgwick: The Promenade Ticket, 1914 Music 57 Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream, Overture, 1826 Music 58 Ligeti: Atmosphères, 1961 Words 55 “The fundamental difference between the various sounds..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 "But in the last essentials, they are quite simply and perfectly..." from Wassily Kandinsky: Introduction to Der gelbe Klang, 1912 Music 59a Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, movement 5, 1830 Words 56 “There are certain instruments nowadays, like the piccolo..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 Music 59b Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, movement 5, 1830 Words 57 “Cymbals, it should be noted, are often used in close conjunction with the

bass drum..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 Music 60 Verdi: Otello, 1886 Words 58 “The interplay between the horizontal onward movement..." from Walter Piston: Orchestration, 1955 Music 61 Mussorgsky, orch. Rimsky-Korsakov: Night on Bald Mountain, 1886

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Chapter 7: Sex And The City Timecode 48:03 Words 59 “Out of the disordered vortex of feelings which I carried away..." from A.H.Sidgwick: The Promenade Ticket, 1914 Music 62 Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, 1924 Words 60 “Noise, any noise, consists from an acoustical point of view..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 "This colossal centralisation, this heaping together..." from Friedrich Engels: The Condition of the Working Class in England,

1845 "Imagine a place of popular entertainment..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 Music 63 Gershwin : An American in Paris, 1928 Words 61 “Now I don't think there's anybody in this hall..." from Leonard Bernstein: What is American music? Young People's

Concerts, 1958

"What kind of music is closest to the working man or woman of today? Unknown Soviet musical journalist writing in the late 1920s, cited in Boris

Schwartz: Music and Musical Life in the USSR, p.53 Music 64 Mossolov: The Iron Foundry, 1927 Words 62 “Personally, I consider that the orchestra should be completely reinvented

in our time..." from Hector Berlioz: Grand Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration,

1844 Music 65 Holst: The Planets (Mars), 1916 Music 66 Bernstein: On the Waterfront, symphonic suite, mvt 1, 1954 Words 63 “The deepest problems of modern life in our great cities..." from Georg Simmel: The Metropolis and Mental Life, 1903 Music 67 Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, 1924

Words 64 “From the first minute, the listener is shocked by deliberate dissonance..." from Muddle instead of Music, review of Shostakovich's opera A Lady

Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, published in Pravda in January 1936 "Pornophony!" from a review of Shostakovich's opera A Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk

District, published in the New York Sun in 1935 Music 68 Shostakovich: A Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, 1934

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Chapter 8: The Sense Of An Ending Timecode 57:27 Words 65 “Dear friend, Your symphony is ready..." from a letter from Beethoven to Count Franz von Oppersdorff, 1808 Music 69 Beethoven: Symphony 5, finale, 1808 Words 66 “On the other hand, consider what moderation might be required to

express yourself briefly..." from Arnold Schoenberg's 1924 Preface to the publication of Webern's Six

Bagatelles for string quartet (1911) Music 70 Webern: Five Pieces for Orchestra op.10, no.1, 1911 Music 71 Beethoven: Symphony 5, finale, 1808

Words 67 “When the human race stands at the bar on the day of judgment..." from A.H.Sidgwick: The Promenade Ticket, 1914 Music 72 Stravinsky: The Firebird, 1910 version Words 68 “At the end of a piece of music, the closest and simplest relation of the

tones..." from Hermann von Helmholtz: On the Sensations of Tone, 1863 "Firm, decided, well-positioned, balanced and with the definition of a

sovereign force..." from Charles Koechlin: Treatise on Orchestration, 1941 Music 73 Beethoven: Symphony 5, finale, 1808

Words 69 “And so Beethoven came to the end of his symphonic journey..." from Leonard Bernstein: Omnibus - Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, 1954

"There's a time in many a life..." Charles Ives, singing and playing his own patriotic song "They Are There!",

recorded in 1943 Music 74 Ives: Symphony 2, finale, final bars, 1902, revised many times Words 70 “Of course that is a thoroughly vulgar noise..." from A.H.Sidgwick: The Promenade Ticket, 1914 Music 75 Debussy: Jeux, 1912

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PART 2 Timecode 01:29:45 Words 71 “Hello again! It's been much too long since we've seen each other! I've

missed you!" from Leonard Bernstein: What is Orchestration? Young People's Concerts,

1958

Joshua Weilerstein speaks "I originally wanted to write a piece that was related in some way to the

liturgy of the hours..." Live interview with Elizabeth Ogonek in May 2018

from O Sweet Irrational Worship by Thomas Merton

Wind and a bobwhite And the afternoon sun. By ceasing to question the sun I have become light, Bird and wind. My leaves sing. I am earth, earth All these lighted things Grow from my heart.

Work 1 Elizabeth Ogonek: All these lighted things... mvt 1, 2017

Work 2 Leonard Bernstein: Wonderful Town Overture 1953 Work 3 Gyorgy Ligeti: Atmosphères 1961

Work 4 Claude Debussy: La mer, mvt 3 1905 Words 72 “A poet and a musician, and I am both, are like two travellers..." from Richard Wagner: Opera and Drama, 1851 Work 5 Richard Wagner: Lohengrin, Prelude to Act 1 1850 Words 73 “Music is the most romantic of the arts..." from E.T.A.Hoffmann: Beethoven's Instrumental Music, 1813 Work 6 Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont Overture 1810

ENDS