Andrew Balfour, composer

Balfour is an accomplished artist and is also known for his beautiful choral works. It is no wonder that he also composes for strings in a way that often reminds us of the human voice.

Of Cree descent, Andrew Balfour is an innovative composer/conductor/singer/sound designer with a large body of choral, instrumental, electro-acoustic and orchestral works, including Take the Indian (a vocal reflection on missing children), Empire Étrange: The Death of Louis Riel, Bawajigaywin (Vision Quest) and Manitou Sky, an orchestral tone poem. His new Indigenous opera, Mishaboozʼs Realm, was commissioned by LʼAtelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal and Highlands Opera Workshop.

Andrew is also the founder and Artistic Director of the vocal group Camerata Nova, now in its 22nd year of offering a concert series in Winnipeg. With Camerata Nova, Andrew specializes in creating “concept concerts”, many with Indigenous subject matter. These innovative offerings explore a theme through an eclectic array of music, including new works, arrangements and innovative inter-genre and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Andrew has become increasingly passionate about music education and outreach, particularly on northern reserves and in inner-city Winnipeg schools where he has worked on behalf of the National Arts Centre, Camerata Nova, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and various Winnipeg school divisions.

In 2007 Andrew received the Mayor of Winnipegʼs Making a Mark Award, sponsored by the Winnipeg Arts Council to recognize the most promising midcareer artist in the City.

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24

Between 1784 and 1786, Mozart composed 12 piano concertos and while the number of compositions itself is impressive, what’s even more impressive is the fact that they don’t all sound the same.

His 24th piano concerto was finished only 3 weeks after his 23rd. Unlike his other piano concertos, No. 24 uses the largest orchestra and includes both oboes and clarinets. It is also one of only 2 Mozart piano concertos written in a minor key.

One of the reasons Mozart was able to finish and perform his 24th concerto so quickly after the completion of the 23rd might have something to do with the fact that he didn’t write out the pianist part completely.

Since Mozart conducted the work from the piano and performed the piano part himself he probably didn’t feel the need to write out the complete part, and there is some speculation that his first performance was partially improvised.

If you are ever in London, England, and have the opportunity to visit the Royal College of Music, you might get a chance to see the original score for Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491. While looking at the handwritten score you can see that the orchestral parts are written out clearly the solo part is incomplete. Sometimes Mozart only wrote the outer parts of passages of scales or broken chords. You can also see some last-minute changes and additions that were made by the composer. There are no tempo markings and there is the occasional notation error in the score, which musicologist Friedrich Blume attributed to Mozart having “obviously written in great haste and under internal strain”.

Apparently, Beethoven and fellow composer/pianist Johann Baptist Cramer attended a performance of this concerto. Beethoven is said to have exclaimed “Cramer! Cramer! We shall never be able to do anything like that!”

Visual Listening Guide to Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony

Musicologist Dr. Hannah Chan-Hartley has created a series of visual listening guides with the goal of “enhancing the understanding of classical music through engaging visual design”. For this concert, we’re delighted to provide you with a Visual Listening Guide to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64.

Access the Guide

What is the Visual Listening Guide?

The Visual Listening Guide is a new way to discover a symphonic work in a visually engaging and comprehensible manner, regardless of musical background. Created by musicologist Dr. Hannah Chan-Hartley, the Guide uses a distinctive blend of graphics, colour, and text to help you structure your listening of the piece—and thus, deepen your understanding of it.

The Visual Listening Guide is a kind of sonic “map” of a musical work. Providing a “big picture” view of the work’s form, the Guide shows when the main musical themes and motives first appear, are developed, and recur within a movement and/or entire symphony.

While there’s no one way to experience a symphonic work, a Guide to the composition’s structure can shed light on the composer’s creativity and help us understand and appreciate the various ways conductors and orchestras interpret it.

When do I use the Visual Listening Guide?

You are welcome to use the Visual Listening Guide during the live performance, at your discretion. Otherwise, it can be used, at your leisure, for personal study at home with any of your favourite audio or video recordings.

Music Talk from McNally – Tania Miller

Maestra Tania Miller is home to lead the SSO in Mozart and Tchaikovsky – but before that, she sat down with SSO’s Mark Turner to chat music and more!

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.

Note from the Artist

A note from the artist.

This recital of music and poetry of Jewish artists focuses on the intersection of spirituality and the quotidian. Much of Jewish culture and practice is about giving meaning to the everyday— finding moments of mindfulness in activities as ordinary as eating, sleeping, and counting the days of the week. This recital is inspired by this humanistic idea: that divinity and holiness are all around us and inside of us, and that attention and intention are what bridge the gap between mundane and magic.

Alex Weiser’s and all the days were purple sets secular Yiddish and English poetry, treating each poem with the care and reverence of a sacred text. Weiser writes in his program notes: “Each [piece] deals in some way with the meaning and shape of life, embracing its joy while trying to make sense of its difficulties and transience…each poem a way of seeking God without believing in God.”

Saariaho’s Changing Light, which sets devotional poetry by Rabbi Jules Harlow, exemplifies this idea of the human search for the divine inside of us. Her prismatic writing for flute and soprano plays with textures more commonly associated with electronic music; the thrum and vibrations that create life’s matter.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Andrew Balfour, composer

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24

Visual Listening Guide to Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony

Access the Guide

Music Talk from McNally – Tania Miller

Tenebrae

How Slow the Wind

and all the days were purple poetry and translations

I. Mayn Glik (My Joy) | מײַן גליק

III. I was never able to pray

IV. Benkshaft (Longing) | בענקשאַפֿט

V. Poezye (Poetry) | פּאָעזיע

VI. Lines for Winter

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

Note from the Artist

An Announcement from Music Director Eric Paetkau

The SSO Swan Lake Suite

The SSO Swan Lake Suite

Prologue (At the magical Swan Lake)

Act I (At the Palace of Prince Siegried)

Act II (At Swan Lake)

ACT III (At the Palace of Prince Siegfried)

ACT IV (At Swan Lake)

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