Programme:
Debussy Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune arr. Beno Sachs
Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ('Songs of a Wayfarer') - Gareth John, baritone, arr. Arnold Schoenberg
Reger Romantic Suite arr. Arnold Schoenberg
Conductor: Daniel Hill
Baritone: Gareth John
"Hear'st thou not the brooklets streaming Where sweet spring her blossom strewed, Where the woodland lakes are dreaming, By the marble icons gleaming In sweet nature's solitude?"
- Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff
The opening concert in our 2009/10 Cambridge Season is an exploration of the Second Viennese School and its glorious transcriptions for Arnold Schoenberg's Society for Private Musical Performances. All three works are incredibly personal journeys: Debussy's Faune journeys to a dream world of erotic fantasy and sensuality; Mahler's protagonist - perhaps Mahler himself - leaves behind his previous life of happiness to embark on a solitary journey to deal with his lost love; and Reger takes us on a journey into nature inspired by the poetry of Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, to a world not unlike Debussy's Faune, "Rise, O Sun on high! Trembling in the sky, Earth quivering with ecstasy. Boldly from the night The wooded splendor bright Is drawn in dreams still stirring."
In the Autumn of 1918 by Arnold Schoenberg formed the society with the aim of making performances of modern music available to genuinely interested members of the musical public. In the three years between February 1919 and 5 December 1921 the organisation gave 353 performances of 154 works in a total of 117 concerts by composers including Stravinsky, Bartók, Debussy, Ravel, Webern, Berg, and many others.
The jewel in the crown of the transcriptions that Schonberg engendered for his Society for Private Musical Performances, this gorgeous reworking of Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune is one of only two pieces in the entire repertory that is actually an improvement over the original work of genius (the Ravel "Pictures at an Exhibition" being the other).
Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ('Songs of a Wayfarer') is Mahler's first song cycle and was inspired by the conclusion of his unhappy love affair with soprano Johanna Richter. The lyrics are by the composer himself, though they are influenced by Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a collection of German folk poetry that was one of Mahler's favourite books, and the first song is actually based on the Wunderhorn poem "Wann mein Schatz". It traces the bitter-sweet emotions of a young man rejected in love. Gareth John, baritone, is the Norman McCann scholar at the Royal Academy of Music.
Reger, a firm supporter of absolute music, saw himself as being part of the tradition of Beethoven and Brahms. The Romantic Suite was composed and first performed in Dresden in October 1912 and is considered one of Reger's most successful and relaxed works. It is particularly remarkable for the influence of Debussy and the French school in both its harmonic language and orchestral colouring, producing a subtle and evocative sound world. Its three movements constitute the nearest that Reger was ever to come to writing a symphony and the mood is largely nocturnal and subdued, although its scherzo contains traces of whimsy and faintly satiric dance fragments.