And the winner is…

After months of voting – the overwhelming winner was Symphony No 1 by Brahms!

In the year 1854, a 21-year-old Johannes Brahms heard Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for the first time and resolved to write one in the same key (D minor). The following year he wrote to his friend, violinist Joseph Joachim, “I have been trying my hand at a symphony during the past summer, have even orchestrated the first movement and have completed the second and third.” The music of which he was speaking was indeed brought to completion, but not in its originally intended form. Dissatisfied with his unfinished symphony, Brahms recast the material into a sonata for two pianos. But destiny had yet other uses for this symphonically-conceived music, and the sonata’s first two movements came to occupy those same positions in the dramatic First Piano Concerto – still in D minor – although the last movement found a quite different home as the Behold All Flesh section of his German Requiem.

No one helped Brahms to realize his own inner visions more than composer Robert Schumann and his pianist wife Clara. In 1854, a year after the young man’s first meeting with the Schumanns, Robert wrote to their mutual friend Joachim: “But where is Johannes? Is he not yet ready to let drums and trumpets sound? He should always keep in mind the beginning of the Beethoven symphonies; he should try to make something like them.” Schumann was never to realize the fruits of his advice, for he died tragically in an asylum in 1856. But his admonition to Brahms resulted, eventually, in the C-minor First Symphony, for whose beginning and ending Brahms did indeed look to Beethoven.

An early (1862) version of the First Symphony’s opening movement did not have the imposing introduction which later was appended, an introduction in which the composer reveals, at a slow pace, all the important materials we meet in rapid motion in the movement proper, the Allegro. (In the matter of thematic transformation, epitomized by the introductions to the Symphony’s first and fourth movements as they presage their Allegros, Brahms was much closer to the methods of Liszt and Wagner than to those of Beethoven.) The throbbing intensity of the introduction (Brahms was ready to let the drums sound) gives way to a sober urgency that recalls the angry young Brahms of, say, the F-minor Piano Sonata (1853). This movement and the fourth, are primers of the compositional methods Brahms practiced with utter mastery: motifs are transformed through changes of rhythm, dynamics, timbre; they are combined, fragmented, and developed with an unerring sense of their inherent possibilities. And it was not until this severely self-critical composer was satisfied with his work that he allowed the First Symphony to be performed, in 1876, some 20-plus years after he made his first symphony efforts.

The strength of Brahms’ symphonic convictions is everywhere apparent, and his instinct for the scope and power of the form directly descended from Beethoven (of whose Fifth Symphony three-shorts-and-a-long rhythm Brahms was not loath to invoke repeatedly). The entire first movement is keenly dramatic, nowhere more so than in the extended, slowly building passage leading to the recapitulation. Here, Brahms’ sense of dynamic expansion is definitive; this is as grand a symphonic movement as he ever conceived.

The two central movements present the other side of the Brahmsian coin: melting lyricism and soaring expressiveness in an Andante that closes with those rapturous violin solos that must have paved the way for his Violin Concerto; gentle Schubertian smiles through tears contrasted with sinewy boisterousness in an Allegretto that is Brahms’ personalized version of a Beethoven scherzo.

The Finale’s introduction, with fragments of the ensuing Allegro passing before our eyes, is more extended than the first movement’s and evolves a fearsomeness bordering on terror. This dark emotional tone is finally pierced by a radiant horn call, and by a solemn chorale that speaks of deliverance and peace. Then, that theme begins which has been called Brahms’ version of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy theme in the Ninth Symphony. In its reappearances this grand melody is a source of deep comfort, and in its radical transformations a nucleus for the imposing grandeur that unfolds on the way to blazing, unrestrained triumph.

– Orrin Howard

Meet violinist Kerry DuWors

kerry

Canadian-born violinist Kerry DuWors has earned accolades for her “poise and maturity” and “spellbinding expression,” and has been praised for always finding “the music behind the notes” (Winnipeg Free Press).  Winner of the 26th Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, Ms. DuWors made a début Canada-wide recital tour with pianist Lydia Wong in 2003.  Hailed as a “dynamic performer,” she has collaborated with internationally acclaimed soloists and chamber music ensembles including James Ehnes, Yo-Yo Ma, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Rena Sharon, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Angela Cheng, Denise Djokic, Martin Fröst, Marc-André Hamelin, Andrew Dawes, Scott St. John, the Lafayette, St. Lawrence and Penderecki Quartets, and the Gryphon Trio.  She has studied and performed with Lorand Fenyves, Laurence Lesser, Charles Castleman, Bernadene Blaha, Krzysztof Penderecki, Elizabeth Wallfisch, Jeanne Lamon, Pamela Frank, Erika Raum, Gwen Thompson, Paul Katz, and the Ying Quartet.


At home in many musical genres, Ms. DuWors has given performances across Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Italy, Germany, and New Zealand. Recent performances at Jordan Hall (Boston), Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall (New York), Caramoor Festival (Katonah, NY), Philharmonic Society of Orange County (California), the Banff Centre for the Arts, Beethovenfest (Bonn), RadialSystem V – New Space for the Arts (Berlin), Semperoper (Dresden), Baryshnikov Arts Center (NY), Northern Lights Music Festival (Mexico), National Arts Centre, Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society, Vancouver Recital Society, Maureen Forrester Young Canadian Artist Series (Stratford Summer Music Festival), Agassiz Chamber Music Festival (Winnipeg), Aeolian Concert Series (London, ON), Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society, and the Gustin House Concert Series (Saskatoon). Numerous broadcasts on CBC’s Galleria, Music Around Us and In Performance. Ms. DuWors has been a soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony, Red Deer Symphony, Montreal Chamber Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and Brandon Chamber Players; and has toured the U.S. with the Galileo Piano Trio, and toured British Columbia with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

Ms. DuWors recently joined The Knights, an ensemble based in New York City devoted to expanding the orchestral concert experience with diverse and innovative programming and the intimacy of chamber music, for performances with Yo-Yo Ma, a tour of Germany with Jan Vögler, and the world première of Yotam Haber’s New Ghetto Music with singer-songwriter Christina Courtin.

Dedicated to commissioning and performing new music, Ms. DuWors has given the world premières of several works for violin including Arlan Schultz’s Entwirren and Jodi Vander Woude’s (H) in 2004, and David R. Scott’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello written for her in 2006.  She has performed in Toronto’s SoundaXis Festival featuring the music of Steve Reich, joined the Eastman School of Music’s new music ensemble Ossia for a Toru Takemitsu project, and has recently performed works by Jordan Nobles, Christos Hatzis, Kelly-Marie Murphy, T. Patrick Carrabré, Elizabeth Raum, Jocelyn Morlock, and Andrew P. MacDonald. She is a founding member of The Boundary Ensemble based in Regina, Saskatchewan and made up of artists from across North America who come together to make music, share ideas and inspire collaborations through the arts.

While maintaining a demanding concert career as soloist and chamber musician, Ms. DuWors is a dedicated mentor and teacher and is Assistant Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Manitoba’s Brandon University.  She began music studies in Saskatoon, SK; continued at the University of Victoria (B. Mus.) with Ann Elliott-Goldschmid of the Lafayette String Quartet; the Banff Centre for the Arts; and the University of Toronto (M. Mus.) as a student of Lorand Fenyves.  At the University of Toronto, she was the recipient of many prestigious awards and scholarships including the Eaton Graduate Scholarship, the Yo-Yo Ma Fellowship for Strings, a Canada Council Career Development Grant for Emerging Professional Classical Musicians, and the Felix Galimir Award for Chamber Music Excellence.

Ms. DuWors is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Performance & Literature at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.  Under the mentorship of Charles Castleman and Dr. Jean Barr at Eastman, she formed duo526 with pianist Futaba Niekawa in 2011. The duo completed two short-term residencies at the Banff Centre in the fall of 2011 and 2012 where they worked intensively with Roger Tapping, Mark Steinberg, the Lafayette String Quartet, Hardy Rittner, and Henk Guittart.

A four-time winner of the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank Competition, Ms. DuWors currently plays on the 1902 Enrico Rocca violin.

Subscribe Now for Early Bird 20% off!

It’s that time of year again!

Between April 1st and June 1st you can subscribe to the 85th season of the SSO for a savings of 20%!

But that’s not all – next season subscribers will enjoy:

  • invitations to open dress rehearsals – see the artist in action with your orchestra
  • easy ticket exchange
  • free replacement of tickets
  • returned unusable tickets can receive a tax receipt for value (48hr advance notice required)
  • our SSO E-Blast and special online subscriber-only offers!
  • some very special events that are in the works!

How to Subscribe:

  1. click here to learn about the season
  2. click here for subscription form (form includes prices for all season events)
  3. Pick your series!
    • pick Masters, Pops, or Sunday Chamber!
    • Add tickets to great performanes of Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Silence is Golden!
    • Add a donation to our Share in the Future Campaign!
  4. Subscribe by phone
    • call us at 306-665-6414, we can walk you through the process
  5. By mail it to the SSO
    • print the form
    • fill it in with your selections
    • our address is 408 20th Street West, Saskatoon, SK S7M 0X4
  6. Online – COMING SOON!

We’ve already been hearing from tons of new subscribers – don’t wait to get your seats to the best season yet!

Season Launch Website-01

Tribute to Ruth Horlick

Ruth HorlickThe SSO dedicates this weekend’s performance of the Faure Requiem in memory of one of the organization’s greatest champions.

The passing of long-time patron Ruth Horlick was felt throughout the organization – Ruth was the first president of the SSO Volunteers organization, a tireless supporter of Saskatoon’s music community, and a figure at symphony concerts over the course of 6 decades.

Ruth grew up in the heart of the Canadian Thousand Islands on the St. Lawrence River and the experiences and friendships acquired there shaped her life. Ruth earned a BA in French, English and Politics from Queen’s University in 1941.

She worked briefly in Ottawa prior to attending McGill University to obtain her nursing degree, which she received in 1947. In 1952 she married Lou Horlick, and together they moved to Saskatoon where he had accepted a position with the University of Saskatchewan. Initially intended by them to be a temporary posting, Saskatoon soon became home and both Ruth and Lou Horlick became active members of the community.

In 1957, she became the first President of the Saskatoon Symphony Volunteers, created to raise funds and other support for the Saskatoon Symphony. Throughout her life in Saskatoon, Ruth supported the art, drama and music communities in Saskatoon.

In the early 1960s Ruth was instrumental in the establishment of the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities. Ruth pursued her interest in assisting individuals with psychiatric problems. Ruth also served as a board member of the Meewasin Foundation. Always modest about her contributions in aid of others, Ruth was recognized for her many volunteer efforts: 1988 Canada Volunteer Award; 1989 YWCA Woman of Distinction Award; 1990 Correctional Service of Canada Volunteer Award; 1992 Canada Confederation Medal; and in 2000, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.

Ruth will be missed by the musicians and music lovers alike in the city. In the spring of 214, Ruth recounted a story of she and her husband hosting composer Benjamin Britten and renowned singer Peter Pears at their Saskatoon home for dinner – Ruth spoke with such fondness of the evening, and noted her love of his music after that night.

The music community is eternally grateful for her passion and leadership.

A New Conductor. A New Season. A New SSO.

Its hard to believe that the announcement of the new season is just a week away – to be honest the last few months have flown by…it seems that the momentum that accompanies the SSO these days just keeps rolling full steam ahead.

I am so delighted to welcome Eric Paetkau back to the prairies – working with Eric over the course of the last few months has been truly rewarding.  He stepped in to programming and took the reigns – no small task after the success of the present season…but he has made it look and feel easy.

Next year is pretty amazing.  Once again, each and every guest is Canadian.  Somehow, next season features even more soloists with Saskatchewan roots than the present year.  And season 85 features the most Canadian music the SSO has ever seen: a Canadian symphony, a concert with nearly all Canadian repertoire, a Canadian song cycle, and a brand new pops show featuring a Saskatoon artist.

The season is packed with orchestral hits – four of the most loved symphonies ever written, a piece made famous by a brilliant movie, a great piece of Americana, and the greatest concerto ever written.

And to top it off, the biggest orchestra pops show in the world.  And icing on the cake, a classical music super star.

I’m so excited…but frankly, my attention is still going to be focused on the real task at hand.

Our Share in the Future Campaign has been so successful to date – we set out to find 2000 people to give gifts of $100, and I’m thrilled to say that we’ve found over 500 of those people already!

Its going very well – but if you know me, you’ll know that I won’t be happy until each and every music lover in this city, in this province, steps up and adds their name to our list.

I think that audiences here deserve the very best that the music world has to offer.  I see the vision that our new conductor brings to the table, I see the projects that are exciting our musicians, and I see the outreach opportunities across the province in schools and halls – like Eric says its all about “potential”.  We are so close that the phrase “run, don’t walk” comes to mind.

There’s that old saying “the proof is in the pudding” – our concerts are packed, we’ve never been more engaged with our community, and audiences can’t say enough about how much they are loving the concerts.  We have proof by the bucket full – the SSO is ready for the future.

So lets just do this.  I’d like to issue a challenge – I want to hit the 1000 person mark with the Share in the Future campaign by April 1st.  We have two weeks to get another 500 people to be part of what we’re doing.

Maybe you’ve been planning to give, or figured you’d get around to it later.  Maybe you meant to but forgot about it.  Maybe you haven’t thought about it at all yet.  Maybe you’ve already given and have some friends that you should get involved too.  Its time for us to make this happen.

Each and every one of the 2000 gifts to the campaign are matched by the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation – thanks to their incredible generosity, your $100 becomes $200.  If you’re a couple, your $200 becomes $400.

We are doing this so that the organization can start running ahead with the future – and quite frankly, if we can’t find 2000 people who want to see their city have an orchestra then we shouldn’t have an orchestra.  This is about putting together a list of names that stand up and let it be known that they want to have an orchestra.  Let’s face it, if you haven’t stopped reading my rambling yet, your name should be on that list.

Just think – on November 21st we’re going to put all 2000 of those people in one room with our amazing musicians of the orchestra, our brand new conductor, and one very special guest artist…now that’s going to be a party to remember.

Come meet Eric.  Click here and put your name on the list.

See you at the symphony,

Mark

Airs D’Espagne

Jose Evangelista is a Spanish born Canadian composer with a unique and interesting voice.

This weekend the SSO string players get to dig in to a unique piece of music by this incredible composer – a first for Saskatoon audiences who have yet to hear Evangelista’s work.

Here’s what he had to say about his piece:

This piece consists of 15 folk melodies from Spain. They include worksongs, lullabies, entertainment songs, religious songs, etc. They come from a variety of regions and most of them are probably fairly old. These arrangements are not harmonizations. The melodies are presented as such, or at most repeated, without formal developments or modulations. There is a systematic use of ornamentation and heterophony which nearly gives the impression of real polyphony, but with no counterpoint or chords. My purpose is to emphasize the validity of Spanish folk music in its pure linear dimensions, that is, as melody. As a matter of fact, many folk tunes are monodic originally, without harmonic accompaniment and they often exhibit modal features difficult to reconcile with the harmonic tonal language. This piece was commissioned by the CBC.

Jose Evangelista

Share in the Future of the SSO

The Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra announces a matching campaign in partnership with the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation.

The Share in the Future Campaign is searching for 2000 donors of $100 each to be part of something very special – aside from the gift to the campaign, each donor will be welcomed to a free donors-only concert on November 21st to celebrate the orchestra’s 85th anniversary.

Each gift to the campaign, up to $200,000, is matched thanks to the generosity of the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation.

The Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra is experiencing one of the strongest seasons of its 84 years. As the largest arts employer in the city, and the city’s oldest arts organization, the SSO has experienced a tremendously effective turnaround over the course of last twelve months. The organization has made radical advances to how it operates, and on March 4th will announce its 16th music director.

In the present season the SSO has had a 20% increase in subscription sales and a 25% increase in single ticket sales – to date every single concert event has generated a surplus directly linked to the increased ticket sales.

The Share in the Future campaign will allow the organization to focus on continuing the year’s successes – retiring the organization’s deficit, expanding its educational programming, and facilitating long term planning over the next three seasons for a significant pay raise for its musicians.

The 85th anniversary gala concert event will take place at TCU Place on November 21st, 2015. There will be no tickets to the concert – the only way to get in to the concert is to be a donor to the Share in the Future campaign.

“We wanted a chance to say thank you in the most meaningful way to our donors – there are so many successes that need to be celebrated for the SSO right now,” said board chair Bryn Richards.

“In a way, this campaign identifies our stakeholders,” said SSO executive director Mark Turner. “Create a concert full of people who support music in Saskatoon – we get to throw a special concert for our 85th anniversary celebration, and giving a free concert for donors is something that only the SSO can do. There is a very special surprise guest that is going to make the night extremely memorable.”

“We are so grateful to the support of the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation – Ms Remai’s dedication to the arts sets this city apart in western Canada for our recent arts achievements. We should be so proud of where our orchestra is going.”

Click here to make a gift to Share in the Future

Brainsport’s connection with the Hockey Sweater

Hockey and Saskatchewan are inseparable, Brian Michasiw of Brainsport Saskatoon showed us his backyard rink and shared some thoughts on The Hockey Sweater.

We are very pleased to have Brainsport as a sponsor for this one of a kind event, the FIRST ever musical performance of the Hockey Sweater in a rink!

Hear Hockey Night in Canada played, stand for O Canada, and enjoy Saskatoon’s Mayor Don Atchison reading the famous kids book with music by Saskatoon’s orchestra.

Then take to the ice with the Blades, tour the dressing rooms, play mini-sticks, and experience a once in a lifetime music meets sports experience!

Capriccio Espagnol and Rimsky-Korsakov

Many composers have been inspired by customs, melodies, and national or ethnic characteristics of countries other than their own. Outstanding examples include Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien, Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, Dvorák’s “New World Symphony,” Elgar’s Alassio, Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony, and the work heard here. Inspiration in this special compositional category comes to composers in many ways, such as personal travel, attending performances by visiting foreign artists, or research and study.

 

In the summer of 1887, Rimsky-Korsakov was visiting not Spain but Switzerland. Borodin had died in February and had left his opera Knyaz Igor (Prince Igor) uncompleted, and Rimsky-Korsakov undertook its completion. Rimsky-Korsakov had collected material that he originally planned to incorporate into a virtuoso violin fantasy on Spanish themes, but the final form of the work that emerged was that of a five-movement orchestral suite in which the movements are played without pause. The composer himself explained that the changes of timbres, the happy choice of melodic designs and figuration patterns that are precisely suited to each kind of instrument, the short virtuoso cadenzas for solo instruments, the rhythm of the percussion instruments, and so on, constitute in this piece the very essence of the composition. Although it is true that the work derives much of its effect from brilliant orchestration, the composer insisted that the piece is a “brilliant composition for orchestra,” not a “brilliantly-orchestrated composition.”

 

In the first movement in A major, an alborada (morning song), the full orchestra introduces the two principal themes. Violin arpeggios lead to the second movement, “Variations,” which is in the unrelated key of F major. The French horn announces the theme, and five short variations follow. A flute solo leads to a recall of the opening alborada, now transposed to B-flat major with different orchestration. The fourth movement, “Scene and Gypsy Song,” begins with a roll on the side drum. Five cadenzas are heard, followed by a harp glissando. The gypsy song, a seductive cantilena in the violins, grows in drama and intensity, and builds to a whirling climax. A rhythmic theme for trombones begins the final movement, Fandango Asturiano. Woodwinds present a second theme, and the music becomes extremely lively. The work concludes with a recall of the alborada theme.

© Ted Wilks

Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez

Blind from the age of three as a result of diphtheria, Joaquín Rodrigo studied composition in Valencia before moving to Paris in 1927 to study with Paul Dukas. While there, he met both his fellow countryman Manuel de Falla and the Turkish pianist Victoria Kamhi, who would become Señora Rodrigo. Joaquín and Victoria honeymooned in Spain but eventually returned to Paris, where during the bitterly cold winter of 1938-1939, with war looming, Victoria learned she was pregnant. Seven months into the pregnancy Victoria miscarried and was hospitalized for several days. During this time a family friend who was staying at their apartment observed that Joaquín spent entire nights sitting at the piano, playing a melody so sad that it gave her chills. Evoking the saeta, a song performed by women from their balconies during religious processions through the streets of Seville, this tune would form the basis for the slow movement of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez.

Returning home to find an empty cradle still sitting in her apartment, Victoria was forced to sell her beloved piano to pay her medical bills. Not long afterward, Rodrigo received a letter from de Falla, offering him a teaching position in Madrid. Victoria and Joaquín quickly packed their entire belongings—including the completed manuscript for the Concierto de Aranjuezinto a pair of suitcases and left immediately. Two days after they crossed the border into Spain, World War II broke out.

Their fortunes improved in Madrid, where by November 1940 they celebrated the arrival of their first child and the successful premiere of the Concierto de Aranjuez, which before long would become not only Rodrigo’s best-known work but also the most famous guitar concerto ever written. Surrounding the central Adagio are two genteel courtly dances, the first in a characteristically Spanish meter that blurs the distinction between 6/8 and 3/4. Rodrigo wrote that the work takes its name “the famous royal residence on the banks of the Tajo, not far from Madrid and the Andalusian highway, and in its notes one may fancy seeing the ghost of Goya, held in thrall by melancholyin its themes there lingers the fragrance of magnolias, the singing of birds, and the gushing of fountains.”