Jaime Martín conducts …

Hubert Parry
Elegy for Brahms 13’

Gavin Higgins
Horn Concerto BBC commission: world premiere c23’

INTERVAL: 20 minutes

Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 2 43’

Jaime Martínconductor
Ben Goldscheider horn

The concert in Swansea is being recorded by BBC Radio 3 for future broadcast inAfternoon Concert; the concert in Cardiff is being recorded for future broadcast in Radio 3 in Concert and being filmed for future release in the BBC NOW Digital Concert Series.

Hubert Parry was born to a privileged family in south-west England and studied at Eton and Oxford before taking a job at Lloyd’s of London. It was only after finding his way to this family-approved line of business that he began to study music seriously, at a time when the works of Brahms were still rarely heard in Britain. In 1873 he made an attempt to study with his German hero, but was gently rebuffed as a ‘talented, distinguished amateur’ with much still to learn. But by the 1880s Parry was working at both Oxford and the newly founded Royal College of Music, of which he became director in 1895.

Although the two men never met, Parry remained hugely admiring of Brahms’s work and was profoundly moved by his death in 1897, describing him as ‘the greatest master of the second half of the century’. He began his Elegy for Brahms in May 1897, for inclusion in an RCM memorial concert; but he was unable to finish the piece in time and ultimately abandoned it. It was subsequently completed by his RCM colleague Charles Villiers Stanford in 1918 and performed at a memorial concert for Parry himself in November of the same year.

While some sections of the Elegy are an obvious hat-tip to Brahms’s own orchestral writing, the passionate intensity of its central passages owe much to Wagner – also an important influence on Parry’s writing. His careful interweaving of themes leads us seamlessly from one musical idea into another, the stormy climax ultimately resolving into peace and serenity.

^{Programme note © Katy Hamilton}

1 Understorey
2 Overstorey
3 Mycelium Rondo

Ben Goldscheider horn

Having been a horn player my whole life, it’s perhaps surprising it has taken me so long to write a piece for my own instrument. But, in my 40th year, I finally felt ready to write a horn concerto. When thinking about this piece, I went back to my roots. I grew up surrounded by trees in the Forest of Dean, at the borderland between England and Wales, and have been fascinated by woodlands ever since. Though abstract, this three-movement piece is an exploration of forests and trees and the undergrowth. 

The first movement, titled ‘Understorey’ (pertaining to life on the forest floor), begins slowly in the key of E flat – a nod not only to the opening of Wagner’s Ring cycle, with its evocation of nature, but also a reference to famous horn concertos by Strauss and Mozart. The orchestral horns begin at the very bottom of their register, slowing moving upwards to the highest notes on the instrument. After a series of cadenzas and fanfares from the soloist, we move into something more playful as a new thematic idea is introduced, the solo horn conversing in musical dialogue with the orchestral horns. The middle section sees the return of the opening fanfares, though this time muted and set against wooden timbres in the orchestra, before five horns are heard fortissimo in unison melody. After a return to the expansive cadenzas of the opening, an upwards insect-like scurry of woodwind ends the movement.

The second movement, ‘Overstorey’ (life in the canopy), begins with an evocation of falling leaves and features expressive horn solos against sparse orchestration. The music slowly builds towards an expansive climax in which the orchestral horns make their presence known, before once again returning to something more intimate, with the solo horn line ascending to the top of its range. The falling motif returns at the end, descending through the orchestra until we are once again in the earth and roots, back in E flat.

The final movement is titled ‘Mycelium Rondo’ (referring to the network of fungal hyphae – affectionately known as the ‘wood wide web’ – that connects all forest plant life). As in all good horn concertos this movement takes the form of a rondo. Playful motifs are shared between soloist and orchestra, before all five horns are heard con forza with rollicking temple blocks and brass interjections. A brief calming in the middle of the movement heralds the return of the fanfares and melodic motif from the first movement before the music builds to a climax in which the full orchestra is heard in organ-like chorale. A final rush to the end and we finish with the five horns blazing.

^{Programme note © Gavin Higgins}

INTERVAL: 20 minutes

1  Allegro non troppo
2  Adagio non troppo
3  Allegretto grazioso (quasi andantino)
4 Allegro con spirito

Brahms famously took around 20 years to get from his first attempts at sketching a symphony to the grand premiere of his Symphony No. 1 in 1876. There were multiple obstacles to be overcome: his own ferociously self-critical view of his pieces; the urgent desire not to disappoint those who supported him so generously (above all, Robert and Clara Schumann); and the pressure of finding something interesting and original to do with the genre following the multiple innovations of Beethoven’s symphonies.

But, after this epic struggle to complete the First, the Second Symphony in D major appeared just a year later – in 1877 – and seems to have been an altogether easier and more enjoyable process for Brahms. He wrote the majority of it in the summer of 1877 while on holiday in Pörtschach, a beautiful town in southern Austria on the edge of a large lake named the Wörthersee. Indeed, several of his friends commented on the sunny, major-key cheerfulness of the Second, which they attributed to its picturesque place of composition. ‘It’s no great work of art,’ Brahms remarked, ‘the Wörthersee is virgin soil, with so many melodies flying about that you must be careful not to tread on any.’ The premiere was planned for early December 1877, to be given by the Vienna Philharmonic and Hans Richter. In the event, this first performance was postponed by several weeks because the orchestra was too preoccupied learning Wagner’s Das Rheingold (opening, coincidentally, with the E flat major evocation of the Rhine referenced by Gavin Higgins in his new Horn Concerto) to be able to rehearse the new symphony on time! It was finally heard on 30 December 1877 and was warmly received.

There is great lyricism and light in the Second Symphony – particularly in the third movement, with its graceful melody for winds and dancing string writing. But the piece is not all warmth and sunshine, despite Brahms’s endless joking about it. The first movement famously makes use of his very popular Wiegenlied (Lullaby)in a minor-key version as one of its principal themes, introduced by the violas and cellos. Although there is wit in the reference (Brahms described it as a version ‘for naughty or sickly children’), the conductor Vincenz Lachner pressed Brahms for an explanation as to the presence of dark brass and percussion in this same movement. The composer replied with uncharacteristic openness that he ‘would have to confess that I am … a severely melancholic person, that black wings are constantly flapping above us …’. The second movement continues in this singing, searching mood, tinged with sadness; while in the fourth, the passing clouds seem to clear at last, bringing the piece to a joyous conclusion. And all is written with Brahms’s characteristic fine working of thematic material: the majority of the material for the opening movement is derived from just the opening three notes of the cellos and basses. Otto Dessoff, who had conducted the premiere of Brahms’s First Symphony, wrote of the Second: ‘You forget the material, you don’t know whether it is being sung, played or painted, but feel as if you are being immersed in Beauty.’

^{Programme note © Katy Hamilton}

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BBC National Chorus of Wales

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BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

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Biographies

Jaime Martínconductor

Jaime Martín is Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He was Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra (2013–22). In his native Spain he currently holds the post of Principal Guest Conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra, served as Artistic Director of the Santander International Festival and was a founding member of the Orquesta de Cadaqués, with which he was associated for 30 years.

Recent highlights include debuts with the Dallas and Indianapolis Symphony orchestras and the Dresden Philharmonic, an extensive UK tour with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra and his debut at the BBC Proms, conducting BBC NOW. This season he makes his debut with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and returns to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Colorado and Queensland Symphony orchestras, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León. With the Los Angeles CO he conducts programmes ranging from Pergolesi to Danny Elfman and he directs the Melbourne Symphony in works by Dvořák, Holst, Mahler and Richard Strauss, as well as a residency in Indonesia.

His discography includes works by Brahms, Mozart and, most recently, an album of music by Swedish composer Melcher Melchers.

Before turning to conducting full-time in 2013, Jaime Martín was principal flute of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English National Opera, Academy of St Martin the Fields and London Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music and in 2022 the jury of Spain’s Premios Nacionales de Música awarded him its annual prize for his contribution to classical music.

 
Ben Goldscheiderhorn

Ben Goldscheider was nominated by the Barbican as an ECHO Rising Star for the 2021/22 season; he has given recitals at major concert halls across Europe, including the Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Köln Philharmonie and Wigmore Hall.

He has performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and made his BBC Proms concerto debut in 2022 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, as well as appearing as a soloist with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Ulster Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, Lucerne Symphony, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Manchester Camerata, Prague Philharmonia and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

This season he premieres multiple new commissions for horn, including concertos and solo and chamber works. Highlights include the world premieres of horn concertos by Gavin Higgins and Huw Watkins. His Lucerne Festival debut will include a new commission for natural horn and keyboards by Sara Cubarsi and his debut at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room will include new works by Zoë Martlew and Mark Simpson. He will also perform newly commissioned works by Nicola Lefanu (Lammermuir Festival), Victoria Kelly and Georgina Palmer (At World’s Edge Festival in New Zealand) and Matthew Peterson and Joseph Phibbs (Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival).

As a chamber musician he has collaborated with Daniel Barenboim, Martha Argerich, Sergei Babayan, Elena Bashkirova, Sunwook Kim and Michael Volle, among many others. In recital he has worked with Michael Barenboim, Sir Stephen Hough, Tom Poster, Benjamin Baker, James Baillieu, Allan Clayton and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective.

His recordings include Legacy: A Tribute to Dennis Brain and a solo concerto recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Lee Reynolds.

Born in London, in 2020 he completed his studies with honours at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin with Radek Baborák. Last year he was appointed Artist-in-Association at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

For over 90 years, BBC National Orchestra of Wales has played an integral part in the cultural landscape of Wales, occupying a distinctive role as both broadcast and national symphony orchestra. Part of BBC Wales and supported by the Arts Council of Wales, it has a busy schedule of live concerts throughout Wales, the rest of the UK and the world.

The orchestra is an ambassador of Welsh music and champions contemporary composers and musicians; its concerts can be heard regularly across the BBC – on Radio 3, Radio Wales and Radio Cymru.

BBC NOW works closely with schools and music organisations throughout Wales and regularly undertakes workshops, side-by-side performances and young composer initiatives to inspire and encourage the next generation of performers, composers and arts leaders.

The orchestra is based at BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay, where its purpose-built studio not only provides the perfect concert space, but also acts as a broadcast centre from where its live-streamed concerts and pre-recorded content are presented as part of its popular Digital Concert Series.

For further information please visit the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales's website: bbc.co.uk/now 

Patron
HM King Charles III ^{KG KT PC GCB}
Principal Conductor
Ryan Bancroft
Conductor Laureate
Tadaaki Otaka ^CBE
Composer-in-Association
Gavin Higgins
Composer Affiliate
Sarah Lianne Lewis

First Violins
Lesley Hatfield leader
Nick Whiting associate leader
Martin Gwilym-Jones sub-leader
Gwenllian Hâf MacDonald
Terry Porteus
Suzanne Casey
Carmel Barber
Laura Embrey
Anna Cleworth
Juan Gonzalez
Emilie Godden
Alejandro Trigo
Ruth Heney
Zhivko Georgiev

SecondViolins
Anna Smith *
Ros Butler
Sheila Smith
Vickie Ringguth
Beverley Wescott
Roussanka Karatchivieva
Joseph Williams
Lydia Caines
Michael Topping
Ilze Abola
Jane Sinclair
Gary George-Veale

Violas
Francis Kefford ‡
Alex Thorndike #
Tetsuumi Nagata
Peter Taylor
Robert Gibbons
Catherine Palmer
Daire Roberts
Lydia Abell
Ania Leadbeater
Carl Hill

Cellos
Kate Gould ‡
Richard Birchall
Jessica Feaver
Sandy Bartai
Carolyn Hewitt
Rachel Ford
Alistair Howes
Keith Hewitt

Double Basses
Seb Pennar ‡
Christopher Wescott
Richard Gibbons
Emma Prince
Antonia Bakewell
Thea Sayer

Flutes
Fiona Kelly ‡
John Hall †
Lindsey Ellis

Piccolo
Lindsey Ellis †

Oboes
Catriona MacKinnon ‡
Amy McKean †

Cor anglais
Amy McKean

Clarinets
Nick Carpenter *
Margreet Houtman
Lenny Sayers

Bass Clarinet
Lenny Sayers †

Bassoons
Jarosław Augustiniak *
David Buckland

Contrabassoon
David Buckland *

Horns
Tim Thorpe *
Meilyr Hughes
Neil Shewan †
John Davy

Horns (Parry and Brahms)
Ed Griffiths ‡
Jenny Cox
Tom Taffinder
Dave Ransom

Trumpets
Philippe Schartz *
Robert Samuel

Trombones
Donal Bannister *
Benny Vernon

Bass Trombone
Darren Smith † 

Tuba
Daniel Trodden † 

Timpani
Steve Barnard *

Percussion
Phil Girling *
Phil Hughes
Andrea Porter

* Section Principal
† Principal
‡ Guest Principal
# Assistant String Principal


The list of players was correct at the time of publication

Director Lisa Tregale
Orchestra Manager Vicky James
Assistant Orchestra Manager Nick Olsen
Orchestra Coordinator, Operations Kevin Myers
Business Coordinator Caryl Evans
Orchestra Administrator Eleanor Hall +
Head of Artistic Production Matthew Wood
Artists and Projects Manager Victoria Massocchi **
Orchestra Librarian Katie Axelsen (paternity cover)
Producer Mike Sims
Broadcast Assistant Kate Marsden
Head of Marketing and Audiences Sassy Hicks
Marketing Coordinator Amy Campbell-Nichols +
Digital Producer Yusef Bastawy
Social Media Coordinator Harriet Baugh
Education Producers Beatrice Carey, Rhonwen Jones **
Audio Supervisors Simon Smith, Andrew Smillie
Production Business Manager Lisa Blofeld
Stage and Technical Manager Steven Brown +
Assistant Stage and Technical Manager Josh Mead
BBC Wales Apprentice Jordan Woodley

+ Green Team member
** Diversity & Inclusion Forum