Tenebrae

Tenebrae

“I wrote Tenebrae as a consequence of witnessing two contrasting realities in a short period of time in September 2000. I was in Israel at the start of the new wave of violence that is still continuing today, and a week later I took my son to the new planetarium in New York, where we could see the Earth as a beautiful blue dot in space. I wanted to write a piece that could be listened to from different perspectives. That is, if one chooses to listen to it “from afar”, the music would probably offer a “beautiful” surface but, from a metaphorically closer distance, one could hear that, beneath that surface, the music is full of pain. I lifted some of the haunting melismas from Couperin’s Troisieme Leçon de Tenebrae, using them as sources for loops, and wrote new interludes between them, always within a pulsating, vibrating, aerial texture. The compositional challenge was to write music that would sound as an orbiting spaceship that never touches ground. After finishing the composition, I realized that Tenebrae could be heard as the slow, quiet reading of an illuminated medieval manuscript in which the appearances of the voice singing the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet (from Yod to Nun, as in Couperin) signal the beginning of new chapters, leading to the ending section, built around a single, repeated word: Jerusalem.”

– Osvaldo Golijov

How Slow the Wind

Osvaldo Goligov’s How Slow the Wind for soprano and string quartet has text adapted from two Emily Dickinson poems.

The original, and short, texts read:

How slow the Wind —
how slow the sea —
how late their Fathers be!
(1571)

Is it too late to touch you, Dear?
We this moment knew—
Love Marine and Love terrene—
Love celestial too—
(1637)

Goligov wrote How Slow the Wind in response to the death of his friend Mariel Stubrin. He writes, ‘I had in mind one of those seconds in life that is frozen in the memory, forever-a sudden death, a single instant in which life turns upside down, different from the experience of death after a long agony.’ The piece was commissioned by Cecilia Wasserman, in memory of her late husband Herb, for Close Encounters with Music and was first performed in their Seiji Ozawa Hall concert of May 5, 2001, by Dawn Upshaw, soprano; Toby Appel and Justine Chen, violins; Kenji Bunch, viola, and Yehuda Hanani, cello.

and all the days were purple poetry and translations

Alex Weiser’s and all the days were purple features a collection of such gems in Yiddish and English from poets Anna Margolin, Edward Hirsch, Rachel Korn, Abraham Sutzkever, and Mark Strand. The cycle is bookended with two songs setting Anna Margolin poems that act as a kind of prelude and postlude. Each Anna Margolin poem reflects on life from the perspective of being after or outside of it. Instrumental sections separate these two songs from the four others, which reflect on life from within its tumult, longing, beauty, and difficulty.


I. Mayn Glik (My Joy) | מײַן גליק

*
אַננאַ מאַרגאָלין

:געװען איז אפֿשר דאָס מײַן גליק
פֿילן װי דײַנע אויגן
.האָבן זיך פֿאַר מיר געבויגן

:ניין, געװען איז דאָס מײַן גליק
גיין שװײַגנדיק הין און הער
.מיט דיר איבערן סקװער

:ניין, ניט דאָס, ניט דאָס, נאָר הער
װען איבער אונדזער פֿרייד
.פֿלעגט שמייכלענדיק זיך אײַנבויגן דער טויט

,און אַלע טעג זײַנען געװען פּורפּורן
.און אַלע שװער

 

 

*
Anna Margolin, Translation by Shirley Kumove

Perhaps this was my happiness: to feel how your eyes
bowed down before me.

No, rather this was my happiness: to go silently back and forth across the square with you.

No, not even that, but listen:
how over our joy
there hovered the smiling face of death.

And all of the days were purple and all were hard.


III. I was never able to pray

I Was Never Able To Pray
Edward Hirsch

Wheel me down to the shore
where the lighthouse was abandoned and the moon tolls in the rafters.

Let me hear the wind paging through the trees and see the stars flaring out, one by one,
like the forgotten faces of the dead.

I was never able to pray,
but let me inscribe my name in the book of waves

and then stare into the dome
of a sky that never ends
and see my voice sail into the night.


IV. Benkshaft (Longing) | בענקשאַפֿט

בענקשאַפֿט
רחל קאָרן

,ס′זענען מײַנע חלומות אַזוי פֿול מיט בענקשאַפֿט
אַז ס′שמעקט אַיעדן אינדערפֿרי
מײַן לײַב מיט דיר ־
און ס′טרינקט צו פּאַמעלעך אויף מײַן ציינפֿאַרקלעמטער ליפּ
,דער איינציקער סימן פֿון דערשטיקטן טרויער
.אַ טר ָאפּן בלוט

און ס′גיסן שוין איבער די שעהען, װי כּוסות
,איינע אין דער צװייטער
די האָפֿענונג, װי טײַערן װײַן ־
,אַז דו ביסט נישט װײַט
אַז אָט, אַיעדע רגע
.קענסטו קומען, קומען, קומען

 

Longing
Rachel Korn, Translation by Ruth Whitman

My dreams are so full of longing
that every morning
my body smells of you –
and on my bitten lip there slowly dries the only sign of suffering,

a speck of blood.

And the hours like goblets pour hope, one into the other,
like expensive wine:
that you’re not far away,

that now, at any moment, you may come, come, come.


V. Poezye (Poetry) | פּאָעזיע

פּאָעזיע
אברהם סוצקעװער

אַ טונקל פֿיאָלעטע פֿלוים
,די לעצטע אויפֿן בוים
,דין־הײַטלדיק און צאַרט װי אַ שװאַרצ ַאפּל
װאָס האָט בײַ נאַכט אין טוי געלאָשן
,ליבע, זעונג, צ ַאפּל
און מיטן מאָרגן־שטערן איז דער טוי
געװאָרן גרינגער ־־
דאָס איז פּאָעזיע. ריר זי אָן אַזוי
.מען זאָל ניט זען קיין סימן פֿון די פֿינגער

 

Poetry
Abraham Sutzkever, Translation by Chana Bloch

A dark violet plum,
the last one on the tree,
thin-skinned and delicate as the pupil of an eye, that in the dew at night blots out
love, visions, shivering,
and then at the morning star the dew
grows weightless:
That is poetry. Touch it so lightly
that you don’t leave a fingerprint.


VI. Lines for Winter

Lines for Winter
Mark Strand

for Ros Krauss

Tell yourself
as it gets cold and gray falls from the air
that you will go on
walking, hearing
the same tune no matter where
you find yourself—
inside the dome of dark
or under the cracking white
of the moon’s gaze in a valley of snow. Tonight as it gets cold
tell yourself
what you know which is nothing
but the tune your bones play
as you keep going. And you will be able
for once to lie down under the small fire
of winter stars.
And if it happens that you cannot
go on or turn back
and you find yourself
where you will be at the end,
tell yourself
in that final flowing of cold through your limbs that you love what you are.


VIII. Mir zaynen gegangen durkh teg (We Went Through the Days) | מיר זײַנען געגאַנגען דורך טעג

*
אַננאַ מאַרגאָלין

.מיר זײַנען געגאַנגען דורך טעג װי דורך שטורעם־דורכציטערטע גערטנער
.געבליט און גערײַפֿט און געאיבט זיך אין שפּילן מיט לעבן און טויט
.כמאַרע און ברייטקייט און טרוים איז געװעזן אין אונדזערע װערטער
און צװישן פֿאַרעקשנטע ביימער אין זומערדיק־רוישנדע גערטנער
.האָבן מיר זיך פֿאַרצװײַגט אין איין איינציקן בוים

,און אָװנטן האָבן געשפּרייט זיך מיט שװערע פֿאַרטונקלטער בלויקייט
,מיטן שמערצלעכן גלוסטן פֿון װינטן און פֿאַלנדע שטערן
,מיטן בלאָנדזשענדן לאַשטשענדן שײַן איבער צוקנדע גראָזן און בלעטער
און מיר האָבן פֿאַרװעבט זיך אין װינט, אײַנגעז ַאפּט זיך אין בלויקייט
.און געװען װי די גליקלעכע חיות און װי קלוגע און שפּילנדע געטער

 

*
Anna Margolin, Translation by Shirley Kumove

We went through the days as through storm-tossed gardens. Blossoming, maturing; mastering the game of life and death. Clouds, vastness, and dreams were in our words.
Among stubborn trees in a rustling summer garden

we fused into a single tree.

Evenings spread their deeply darkened blue,
with the aching desire of winds and falling stars,
with shifting, caressing glow of fluttering leaves and grasses, we wove ourselves into the wind, merged with the blueness like happy creatures and clever, playful gods.

 

An Announcement from Music Director Eric Paetkau

It’s hard to believe that I’m enjoying my seventh season as Music Director of the SSO. I’ve had so many unforgettable experiences and memorable moments over the years. Not only has the organization as a whole been incredible (the musicians, Mark Turner and the whole staff, the Board) but the welcome and warmth Karen and I received from the audience, the city, and the community has been special. And that’s why it’s not easy to say that I’ve decided to move on from the SSO at the end of this season and hand over the musical reins of this wonderful orchestra

Eric Paetkau conducting. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished as an organization over the years and how we’ve been an innovative force in the Canadian music scene. Some highlights have been the many Saskatchewan and Canadian musicians and music we’ve featured, our growing presence in the community, and simply daring to try new things and making them work. Part of this is creative momentum and I strongly believe new ideas and fresh perspectives are paramount to artistic growth. That’s why I’m very excited in passing the torch to new musical leaders and seeing how they contribute to the future of the SSO.

We’ve already been seeing fresh faces on the podium in the last year and I’m delighted to see many more this coming season. I’m making this announcement now to ensure a smooth transition and for everyone (orchestra, audience, and community) to experience what great things are in store for the orchestra moving forward. Thanks to all of the hard work from everyone involved, the SSO is in a prime position for an exciting future.

But I’m not done yet!  I’m excited for the Brahms Requiem this month and then officially saying goodbye in May. I look forward to my last season and continuing to experience not only this great orchestra but the wonderful city of Saskatoon and its incredibly warm and inviting people.

Thank you Saskatoon and see you soon!
Eric Paetkau

The SSO Swan Lake Suite

The SSO Swan Lake  Suite

Much like the differences between the stage and movie version of your favourite musicals, there are differences between what an orchestra performs when they play the Swan Lake Suite versus a staged ballet of Swan Lake.

Luckily for us, conductor Judith Yan is well versed in both versions of Swan Lake and has created a special SSO Suite for our concert. It mixes some of the works you know, and some you may not be as familiar with so that we get a musical storyline that is much closer to the ballet Tchaikovsky wrote.

Judith Yan used her ballet connections to get us photos from the Finnish National Ballet that pair well with the storyline she has put together for the SSO Swan Lake Suite.

The following notes are from Conductor Yan and the photos are all from the Finnish National Ballet’s (Artistic Director Madeleine Onne) production of Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM and photographed by Roosa Oksaharju. These images will also be incorporated into the live stream and recording of this concert that are available on ConcertStream.tv.

Prologue (At the magical Swan Lake)

Row of ballerinas on stage.
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

Princess Odette takes a solitary walk in the woods.

Hidden, was the watchful evil sorcerer, Baron von Rothbart. He pursues and captures the princess, transforming her into a swan.

Doomed is she to take human form only at night – an evil spell that can be broken by true love.

Act I (At the Palace of Prince Siegried)

No. 1 – Scène
No. 2 – Valse
No. 3 – Scène
At a palace, Prince Siegfried celebrates his coming-of-age with a magnificent party held in his honour.

Dancers in a circle. In the centre a man stands on a table.
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

The Queen Mother informs him he must choose a bride and eligible princesses are introduced.

Two dancers.
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

Act II (At Swan Lake)

No. 10 – Scène

Unhappy he cannot marry for love, the Prince ventures on his own to the magical lake. As twilight transforms to night, the Prince spies the beautiful Swan Queen. As he raises his crossbow, she transforms from a swan to Princess Odette.

Lone ballerina on stage in all white.
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

V. Pas d’action (Odette et le prince)
Princess Odette reveals the story of the sorcerer’s curse: by day, she takes the form of a swan. At night, she regains her human form. Only true love can break this curse. As they dance; the Prince proclaims his love.

Princess Odette and Prince Siegfried
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

ACT III (At the Palace of Prince Siegfried)

A party is held in the honour of Prince Siegfried.

Dancer dressed in black and gold entertains party guests.
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

No. 15 – Allegro giusto
Royal Guests arrive for an opulent costume ball. Suddenly, 2 mysterious guests arrive. It was the Sorcerer von Rothbart and his daughter, Odile, disguised to resemble Princess Odette.

Sorcerer von Rothbart and his daughter, Odile, disguised to resemble Princess Odette.
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

No. 5 – Black Swan Pas de Deux
The Prince, overjoyed, dances with Odile, the daughter of the evil sorcerer.

The Prince, overjoyed, dances with Odile, the daughter of the evil sorcerer.
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

No. 24 – Scène
Tricked into believing this was his beloved, Prince Siegfried proclaims his love for Odile.

Tricked into believing this was his beloved, Prince Siegfried proclaims his love for Odile.
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

The sorcerer shows him the vision of Odette, trapped at the lake. The Prince realizes his grave mistake, flees from the castle to the lake to search for Odette.

ACT IV (At Swan Lake)

No. 28 – Scène

The Prince arrives at the lake and makes a passionate apology but his betrayal cannot be undone.

The Prince arrives at the lake and makes a passionate apology but his betrayal cannot be undone.
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

No. 29 – Scène finale

Princess Odette chooses to die for love. Prince Siegfried, declaring his eternal devotion, joins her in death. As they leapt into the enchanted lake of tears, the spell was broken.

Ballerinas on stage in all white.
Photographs from Finnish National Ballet, Artistic Director Madeleine Onne Swan Lake, choreographed by David MacAllister AM Photographed by Roosa Oksaharju

Chrysalis Extended – Nia Imani Franklin

With styles ranging from R&B to classical, Nia’s soulful and eclectic music is a great fit for commercials, television and film. Her gospel singing background in church contributed to her love for music at a young age, having written her first song at the age of five. Nia has a Bachelor of Music degree in theory and composition and a Master of Music degree in composition. She is a composer of opera, instrumental music, and writes for artists and herself.

We’re thrilled to be performing the Canadian premiere of her new work “Chrysalis Extended” as part of our Swan Lake performance on February 26th.

Take time to watch her video talk about this incredible new work!

Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations

Infinitely charming and seemingly unable to age, Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme is the closest he ever came to writing a full solo work (concerto) for cello and orchestra. Inspired by the elegance and grace of Mozart, the Variations show how brilliant Tchaikovsky could be when he turned his pen to the classical style…but rococo? Not so much!

Jonathan Craig Penner

Rococo was a period of art between the Baroque era and the Classical era. Rococo style is elegant and refreshing – Tchaikovsky wrote his own theme, it wasn’t Rococo after all!

The piece is made up of a brand new theme and eight variations. Tchaikovsky wrote an original theme in a style that meant Rococo to him; the orchestra creates the mood, the horn hands it off to the cello, and they all share the elegant theme repeated four times, allowing the cello to lead us into the variations…

The variations each show us something unique:

Var 1 – Tempo della Theme (same speed as the theme) is full of triplets, lively and graceful!

Var 2 – Tempo della Theme is a dialogue between orchestra and soloist and the statement of the theme has had its rhythms manipulated to make it feel much more lively and brazen, refusing to resolve.

Var 3 – Andante (at a walking speed) is sad. It’s melancholy restatement of the theme is the only time the composer gives us the the music in a minor key.

Var 4 – Allegro vivo (fast, full of life!) warms us up taking us from the previous D minor to sunny sensuous return A major. This is one of the most difficult passages in the piece for the soloist as its filled with constant fast note runs. It’s blazingly fast and ends with a graceful use of a rocket theme (the music literally goes up like a rocket!)

Var 5 – Andante grazioso (walking gracefully) is where Tchaikovsky moves the beat around on us. He’s mixing up where we feel the downbeat and gives us a stunning trill from the cello!

Var 6 – Andante takes that cello trill and hands the main theme off to the flute. When the soloist finally “falls” from the trill to a low E, the orchestra takes over with the joyous theme again. The soloist is given a cadenza (solo virtuosic phrase) that leads us into C major, something that feels so distant and foreign but comfortable all at once.

Var 7 – Andante sostenuto feel contemplative in the warmth of C major as it slowly winds its way toward E major – its Tchaikovsky giving us a hint that we’re heading home before long! There’s a meditative hopefulness here that seems to ask and answer a question, and E major gives us a perfect way to prepare for the return of the home key in…

Var 8 – e Coda: Allegro moderato con anima (Moderately fast with movement) has the cello gracefully bringing us home to A Major. It’s one big crescendo that leaps from fortissimo to piano only to be joined by the orchestra again. Joyful, full of light, buoyant, full of running scales to get us into the Coda that finally gives us the full drama that Tchaikovsky is so known for. This elegant journey comes to a glorious end…one that Mozart would have been proud of!

The SSO is thrilled to have Regina-born cellist Jonathan Craig Penner making his SSO debut with the Variations on a Rococo Theme as part of our Swan Lake concert February 26th.

Tchaikovksy’s Swan Lake

Some works of art become bigger than life. Swan Lake started its life as Tchaikovsky’s first attempt at a ballet…and initially it was a flop.

Premiering in March 1877, Swan Lake came at a pivotal moment in Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky’ career.  The composer had two symphonies under him, and was writing his landmark piano concerto at the same time, but still hadn’t gained considerable fame. It was a stressful time in his life, entering into a loveless marriage and waiting for his music to take off. Fashioning a love story for the ages out of folk tales from Russian and German lore to tell the story of princess Odette who winds up turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse. Receiving its premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow with one of the day’s leading choreographers there was much hope for this new work…but the ballet wasn’t a hit. At least, not yet.

Tchaikovsky lived in the Russia of the “Mighty Five” – a group of composers’ whose works were simultaneously creating the Russian national voice of music – but for his ballet he looked to inspiration from composers he admired for their stage dance works. He’d found genius and muse in the works of French compoers Adolphe Adam (Giselle) and Leo Delibes (Sylvia) and found there to be an elegance, charm, and and “wealth of melody, rhythm, and harmony”.

Commissioned to compose Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky drew on previous compositions for his new ballet; some of his cousins even noted he’d previously penned a short ballet called “The Lake of the Swans”. He used the technique of leitmotif for the Swan Theme – the music would allow the audience to associate certain themes, characters, or moods, with a melodic idea. In total the ballet took only a year to write from beginning to end and while many see this as his excitement for the music itself, some historians note that he was anxious to finish Swan Lake so that he could get going on composing Eugene Onegin.

At the premiere, audiences and critics felt the score was noise and “too Wagnerian, too symphonic”. To be sure, it was the most symphonic ballet written to date, elevating the orchestral music from the pit to being music worthy of sitting centre stage. But there was a curiousity around the characters of Odette and Odile that started to draw attention from dancers and patrons alike. The ballet continued to be performed and, in the years that followed the composers’ 1893 death, Swan Lake staked its claim as one of the monumental works of romantic ballet and indeed romantic music!

Swan Lake is now one of the most frequently performed ballets, and has earned the honour of being refered to as a “beloved classic”.

You can see the SSO perform the music of Swan Lake February 26th – live at TCU Place or live online at ConcertStream.tv

 

New Beginnings – Live Stream only

Our January 15th concert, New Beginnings, will be online only. There will no longer be an in-person audience.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our goal has been to keep our musicians working and making music. This means that we have taken every precaution to keep the musicians, the staff, and our audiences safe. We have, and continue to be as cautious as possible when it comes to our work. Our individual member’s health impacts the longevity of our organization.
With the Omicron variant becoming predominant in Saskatoon, we acknowledge that what’s safest for the musicians next week is to move ahead without an in-person audience.  Thankfully our streaming platform ConcertStream.tv allows us to bring the concert directly to you.  We’re putting together plans to make the stream a unique digital experience and we hope you enjoy watching New Beginnings from home.

Our Christmas Tree Adventure – Part 1

We love the holidays.

They are a time for beautiful festive music, twinkling lights, memorable moments, and wonderful times with our families. We sent two new members of the SSO family out for an unforgettable afternoon filled with power tools and holiday cheer.

*No musicians were harmed in the making of this video