THE SOUND OF AN ORCHESTRA

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1 THE SOUND OF AN ORCHESTRA BBC PROMS 2018 Prom 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 1

2 PART 1 Chapter 1: Timecode Words 1 Music 1 Words 2 Octave Unisons 03:19 (from start of concert) "Today, we're going to talk about a part of music..." from Leonard Bernstein: What is Orchestration? Young People's Concerts, 1958 The orchestra tunes to A "Stringed instruments are the essential foundation..." Music 2 Mahler: Symphony 1, mvt 1, 1888 Words 3 "Let us begin with the interval of the Octave..." Music 3 Beethoven: Symphony 4, mvt 1, 1806 Words 4 The Octave seems almost just a pure repetition of the root..." "Unison doublings by different instruments..." from Walter Piston: Orchestration, 1955 "Our epoch, the post-wagnerian epoch..." Music 4 Words 5 Stravinsky: The Firebird, 1910 version 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..." Music 6 Weber: Der Freischütz, Overture, 1821 Words 7 The overture to Freischütz!..." "Was Brahms ignorant of orchestration?" Music 7 Brahms: Symphony 1, mvt 1, 1876 Words 8 Stringed instruments possess more ways of producing sound..." 2

3 "On a massed group of violins, a tremolo..." Music 8 Bruckner: Symphony 9, mvt 1, 1896 Words 9 In music, sensations of tone... are the material of the art..." Music 9 Beethoven: Symphony 2, mvt 1, 1802 Words 10 Unisons... of any kind... only acquire quality..." Music 10 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, mvt 5, 1830 Words 11 It is difficult to define tone-quality in words..." 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?..." Music 12 Schumann: Piano Concerto, movement 1, 1845 Words 13 Now to business! A short pause, and a terrific unison..." 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 Music 15 The human ear and eye are parallel to one another..." The orchestra tunes to A 3

4 Chapter 2: Simple Chords Timecode 10:01 Words 16 We can say that every sounding body used by a composer..." "And every sensation excited in the ear..." 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..." Music 17 Grieg: Piano Concerto, movement 1, 1868 Words 18 The horn... a noble, melancholy instrument..." "For me, the horns are soft instruments, poetical..." Music 18 Wagner: Die Meistersinger, Prelude to Act 1, 1867 Words 19 It is always a great mistake to say: this composer scores well..." 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,

5 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 Music 27 String chords from examples Music 28 Woodwind chords from examples Music 29 Brass and timpani chords from examples Music 30 Full orchestra chords from examples

6 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..." Music 33 Brahms: Symphony 3, movement 1, 1883 Words 30 By comparison with all other composers, the gigantic figure of Beethoven stands apart..." Music 34 Beethoven: Eroica symphony, movement 1, 1803 Words 31 Clearly... the rules of harmony nowadays are simply obsolete..." Music 35 Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, Part 1, 1913 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,

7 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..." Music 40 Debussy: La mer, mvt 2, 1905 Words 37 Tell me, is a man or is a man not..." Music 41 Tchaikovsky: Pathétique symphony, mvt 4, 1893 Words 39 1 More than all the other strings, the cello..." Music 42 Wagner: Tristan and Isolde, Prelude, 1859 Words 40 Music 43 I think myself that probably all music was originally consonant..." 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..." 1 Words 38 was deleted late in production 7

8 Music 46a Mussorgsky: Pictures from an Exhibition (Catacombs), 1874 Music 46b Words 44 Mussorgsky orch. Ravel: Pictures from an Exhibition (Catacombs), 1922 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...?'" Music 51 Mendelssohn: Die schöne Melusine, 1834 Words 50 It is not merely music but all kinds of actions..." Music 52 Wagner: Götterdämmerung, Act 3, 1874 Words 51 Again, look at waves forming on the calm surface of a piece of water..." 8

9 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..." Music 55 Debussy: La mer, mvt 3, 1905 Words 53 And in the end, the way sounds travel through the air..." Music 56 Ives: 3 Places in New England (The Housatonic at Stockbridge), 1914 Words 54 Strange stuff, unlike anything else I've heard..." Music 57 Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream, Overture, 1826 Music 58 Ligeti: Atmosphères, 1961 Words 55 The fundamental difference between the various sounds..." "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..." 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..." 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,

10 Chapter 7: Sex And The City Timecode 48:03 Words 59 Out of the disordered vortex of feelings which I carried away..." Music 62 Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, 1924 Words 60 Noise, any noise, consists from an acoustical point of view..." "This colossal centralisation, this heaping together..." from Friedrich Engels: The Condition of the Working Class in England, 1845 "Imagine a place of popular entertainment..." 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..." 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,

11 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 Music 72 Words 68 When the human race stands at the bar on the day of judgment..." Stravinsky: The Firebird, 1910 version At the end of a piece of music, the closest and simplest relation of the tones..." "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 Words 70 Ives: Symphony 2, finale, final bars, 1902, revised many times Of course that is a thoroughly vulgar noise..." Music 75 Debussy: Jeux,

12 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 "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 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 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 12

Substitute Excerpts 2017 Violin

Substitute Excerpts 2017 Violin Brahms Symphony No. 4, Mvt. 1 Opening to Rehearsal C, Mvt.4: m.33-m.80 Schumann, Symphony No. 2, Mvt. 2: Opening to m. 97 (no repeats) Mozart Symphony No. 41, Mvt. 4: mm