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

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!

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

Thomas Schudel’s Winter Suite

Composer Thomas Schudel was born on September 8, 1937, in Defiance, Ohio. A composer, bassoonist and teacher, he completed his BSc in Music Education and Master’s in Theory and Composition at Ohio State University and received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan in 1971.

He joined the faculty at the University of Saskatchewan Regina Campus in 1964 and became Head of the Music Department in 1975, a post he held until 1978. Counterpoint, analysis, and woodwinds were among the classes he taught during his tenure.

Schudel held the position of principal bassoon with the Regina Symphony Orchestra from 1964 -1967 and then again from 1968 to 1970.

In 1972, Schudel’s Symphony No. 1 garnered first prize in the City of Trieste International Competition for Orchestral Compositions. His works have been performed across Canada and internationally; many are published in Canada and the USA. Thanks to commissions from provincial groups such as the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association (SMFA), his music has been showcased throughout the province. The SMFA included his works in their 2004-05 syllabus, thus reaching children in many communities. Other works have been commissioned by the Saskatchewan Music Educators Association and the Saskatchewan Choral Federation, as well as by the Canada Council and the CBC.

During our concert A Winter’s Journey our wind quintet performs Schudel’s A Winter Suite.

Poet Ted Kooser

Our concert opens with spoken-word artist Carol Greyeyes reading a work written by poet Ted Kooser.

Ted Kooser was the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. He is also Presidential Professor Emeritus at The University of Nebraska, where he taught the writing of poetry. For most of his career, he was a life insurance salesman and would spend about an hour and a half writing poetry before work. By the time he retired from his insurance career, he had published 7 books of poetry. Kooser received the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his book Delights & Shadows.

The work being read at our concert is called December 21, Clear and five degrees. It is from a collection of postcards written by Kooser to Jim Harrison. The entire collection is entitled Winter Morning Walks and there are 100 postcards in total. In the late 1990s, Kooser developed cancer and gave up both his insurance job and writing. When he began to write again, it was to send daily poems on postcards he sent in correspondence with his friend and fellow writer Jim Harrison. In poems both playful and serious, Kooser avoids talking directly about his illness. Rather, he refers to disease and the possibility of dying in metaphors focusing on the countryside around his Nebraska home, where he took long walks for inspiration.

Kooser’s walks have also inspired others. Grammy award-winning composer, Maria Schneider, used Kooser’s poetry to create a song cycle called Winter Morning Walks. It was written for and performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Dawn Upshaw, Jay Anderson (bass), Frank Kimbrough (piano) & Scott Robinson (alto clarinet & bass clarinet).

You can hear a sample on this clip from PBS where the interview Dawn Upshaw and Maria Scneider about the creation of the beautiful song cycle.

Jan Lisiecki Recordings

Love listening to Jan in recital and wish you could hear more? Lucky for all of us Jan has quite the discography available for purchase.

For his eighth and latest Deutsche Grammophon album, Canadian pianist extraordinaire Jan Lisiecki has chosen to return to the music of Frédéric Chopin. Following on from Works for Piano & Orchestra (2017) and Chopin: Études (2013), Chopin: Complete Nocturnes features profoundly personal interpretations of some of the most beautiful and best-loved pieces ever written for solo piano.

Lisiecki is perhaps most celebrated for his masterfully sensitive and refined interpretative approach. His newest release – recorded last October at Berlin’s historic Meistersaal – not only captures the spirit of Chopin’s pianism, but also represents the time and circumstances in which it was made, as the pianist himself explains: “I’m the first to question why we should record something that has been recorded many times before. But music only lives through performance and is different every time we hear it, even when it’s a recording. I think there was something for me to say with this album. It reflects on the last year and my thoughts on that as well as on the escape and understanding that music gives us.”

The album, which was released on 13 August 2021, is available on CD and to download and stream. Listen to Chopin: Complete Nocturnes in the new high-quality spatial listening experience of Dolby Atmos on Apple Music.

You can purchase this album and all of Jan’s recordings on the Deutsche Grammophon website, Amazon music, Presto Music, or Apple Music.

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)

Chrysalis Extended – Nia Imani Franklin

Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations

Tchaikovksy’s Swan Lake

New Beginnings – Live Stream only

Our Christmas Tree Adventure – Part 1

Thomas Schudel’s Winter Suite

Poet Ted Kooser

Jan Lisiecki Recordings

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