"With nature at its heart, the programme journeyed from the frozen wastes of Finland to the sun-kissed woodlands of Bohemia and beyond. En Saga, a last-minute substitute for Falla's Love the Magician, was Sibelius's first tone poem, poorly received in 1893 but successfully revised nine years later. The composer refused to furnish any specific literary explanations, yet the colourful score is redolent with imagery, from patriotic pageantry to dusky forests and midnight sleigh rides. It proved meat and drink to fellow Finn Santtu-Matias Rouvali."
"According to the composer, Say's Mother Earth was conceived as a dramatic wakeup call in the fight to avoid a climate crisis. Framed by a prelude and a postlude, and including a midpoint interlude, its four remaining movements are labelled Earth, Forest, Sea and River. Where Sibelius evokes, Say prefers to depict. Thunderous percussion portrays earthquakes and landslips; handheld devices imitate birdcalls; and peas rolled on a drum suggest wind and waves."
The Philharmonia ended its 80th season with a programme centring on nature, pairing Sibelius's En Saga with the UK premiere of Fazil Say's seven-movement piano concerto Mother Earth. En Saga, Sibelius's first tone poem and a late-1890s revision, moves through imagery from patriotic pageantry to midnight sleigh rides; conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali sustained its shadowy dramas and theatrical effects. Mother Earth frames four labelled movements—Earth, Forest, Sea and River—between a prelude, midpoint interlude and postlude, and uses percussion, handheld devices and peas on a drum to depict natural phenomena. Fazil Say performed the solo part, employing extended techniques including direct string manipulation and unusual left-hand passages, producing moments that were exhilarating though occasionally obvious.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]