NEC Philharmonia + Hugh Wolff: Chin, Sibelius, & Debussy

Unsuk Chin | Frontispiece for Orchestra (2019)

Program note

Unsuk Chin was born and raised in Seoul, Korea, studied composition with György Ligeti in Hamburg, and now lives in Berlin.  Her works have been honored with such accolades as the Grawemeyer Award and Sibelius Prize.  Of her 2019 orchestral work Frontispiece, she writes:

Frontispiece for orchestra was commissioned by the North German Radio Orchestra (Elbphilharmonie) to open Alan Gilbert’s inaugural season as their Chief Conductor.  This occasion prompted me to write a short piece which presents a kind of time lapse of the history of music: certain aspects of a number of key symphonic works of different epochs are evoked and poured into new moulds by letting them interact and comment upon each other.  These are never actual style quotations - mere allusions, and faint references… The work consists of many tiny fragments which all refer to gestures typical of certain works and composers, and these are ‘translated’ to each other in different and occasionally unexpected ways: certain chord sequences by Anton Bruckner are interpreted in a manner akin to Anton Webern, splinters of Strauss, Scriabin and Stravinsky collide, Brahmsian harmony passes through the prisms of, say, Charles Ives, and certain material from Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony – heaven forbid – is presented à la manière de Pierre Boulez… The work’s form is held together by a certain chord, which could be called its supporting pillar – a chord which, by way of exception, is completely autarchic.  Frontispiece reflects on my decades-long experiences with landmark works of the symphonic literature as composer and listener.  In extracting distinct aspects of works of certain composers, Anton Webern’s art of revealing a ‘universe in a nutshell’ by means of extreme compression served as a particular inspiration.

Jean Silbelius | Violin Concerto in D Minor, op. 47

Allegro moderato
Adagio di molto
Allegro, ma non tanto

Maria Ioudenitch

María Ioudenitch was born in Balashov, Russia, and moved with her family to Kansas City when she was 3 years old. Her teachers have included Gregory Sandomirsky and Ben Sayevich in Kansas City, then Pamela Frank and Shmuel Ashkenasi at the Curtis Institute of Music. Maria recently graduated with her master’s degree at NEC and is finishing her Artist Diploma, both degrees studying with Miriam Fried.
        In 2021, Maria received First Prizes at the Ysaÿe International Music Competition, the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition, and the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition, the latter including additional prizes such as a recording and distribution deal with Warner Classics, with her debut album set to release this summer with pianist Kenny Broberg. 
        Recent solo performances have taken place with the NDR Radiophilharmonie, Camerata Bern, Lithuania Chamber Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Israel Camerata, Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and Mississippi Symphony Orchestra.        
        Recent chamber music engagements include performances in Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile with Roberto Diaz, acclaimed violist and President of Curtis Institute, and performances in Chicago, New York, Connecticut, and Boston with renowned violinist and pedagogue Miriam Fried. 
        Maria has also taken part in multiple summer festivals and academies, such as Ravinia's Steans Music Institute, the International Summer Academy at Universität
Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, the International Music Academy in the Principality of Liechtenstein, and the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, and regularly performs for Music For Food.

Program note

Jean Sibelius’ passionate love affair with the violin began with lessons at the age of fourteen.  This late start handicapped his dream of becoming a great virtuoso.  As a young student in 1891, Sibelius failed an audition for the Vienna Philharmonic and gave up solo violin playing.  But his enduring love for the instrument is reflected in his Violin Concerto, begun in 1902 and finished two years later.  Sibelius was justifiably proud of its delicate, melancholy opening – the violin entering with a gentle dissonance against shimmering strings.  Dark, moody, and dramatic, the first movement follows Mendelssohn’s example in placing the cadenza just before the recapitulation.  The deeply felt slow movement seems like a farewell to the violin from a frustrated virtuoso and the exuberant finale – “a polonaise for polar bears” in the oft-quoted words of Donald Tovey – brings the work to a brilliant conclusion.

Claude Debussy | Images pour orchestre, L. 122

I. Gigues
II. Ibéria
     Par les rues et par les chemins (Along the streets and alleyways)
     Les parfums de la nuit (The fragrances of the night)
     Le matin d'un jour de fête (Holiday morning)
III. Rondes de printemps

Program note

Claude Debussy’s threeImagesfor orchestra were written out of order.  The middle one, Iberia, was written in 1908, Rondes de Printemps followed a year later, and Gigues (originally Gigues tristes) was finished in 1913.  Each takes inspiration from a different European culture: Gigues quotes the Scottish folk tune “Keel Row” with a plaintive lilting oboe d’amore; Iberia brims with Spanish dance rhythms and melodic shapes; and Rondes de Printemps features two French folk tunes from Debussy’s childhood: Nous n’irons plus au bois and the lullaby Do, do, l’enfant, do.  The central piece, Iberia, is itself composed of three movements with evocative titles: “Par les rues et les chemins” (Along the streets and alleyways), “Les parfums de la nuit” (The fragrances of the night), and “Le matin d’un jour de fête” (Holiday morning).  The sum total of Debussy’s experience of Spain was a single afternoon at a bullfight in San Sebastian, just across the border from France.  But none other than the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla marveled at Debussy’s way with the Spanish musical idiom:

“The character of the Spanish musical language has been assimilated by Debussy.  This composer, who really did not know Spain, was still able to write Spanish music spontaneously, perhaps unconsciously, in a way which was the envy of many who knew Spain all too well.” 

The suite of three Images displays Debussy’s astonishing ear for orchestral color and fresh harmonic progressions.  Parallel dominant chords, whole-tone scales, and pan-diatonic harmonies expand the new world of sounds Wagner had set in motion.  The extraordinarily intricate orchestration is both a challenge and a wonder.  Debussy was the master of multi-layered textures – particularly in quiet accompanying figurations.  That this level of complexity sounds lucid and transparent is nothing short of miraculous.                                                                                           
– Hugh Wolff
 

Personnel

First Violin
Isabelle Ai Durrenberger
Seunghee Lee
Lìyuán Xiè
Bella Hyeonseo Jeong
Jason Qiu
Emma Carleton
Cheng-Hsuan Ethan Chen
Thompson Wang
Hanks Tsai
Kate Knudsvig
Louis Liao
Caroline Jesalva
Justus Ross

Second Violin
Eric Chen
Qiyan Xing
Victoria Pan
Yulia Price
Evan Hjort
Haekyung Ju
Jia-Ying Wei
Jordan Hadrill
Chloe Hong
Hyeonah Hong
Wangrui Xu

Viola
Sae Rheen Kim
Ayano Nakamura
Steven Tse
Anabel Tejeda
Kwong Man To
Joy Hsieh
Yeh Chun Lin
Sophia Tseng
Daeun Hong
Ray Wang

Cello
Jiho Seo
Daniel Kim
Andres Sanchez
Cheyoon Lee
Eva Ropero
Très Foster
Aixin Vicky Cheng
Sebastian Ortega

Bass
Jesse Dale
Daniel Slatch
Alyssa Peterson
Minyi Wang
Misha Bjerken

Flute
Zoe Cagan^
Javier Castro
Anne Chao
Clara Lee*
Yechan Min
Joon Park
Mara Riley‡
Elena Rubin

Piccolo
Yechan Min
Joon Park*
Dianne Seo^

Alto Flute
Elena Rubin

Oboe
Izumi Amemiya
Ryoei Leo Kawai‡
So Jeong Kim^
Samuel Rockwood*

English horn
Izumi Amemiya

Oboe d’amore
Ryoei Leo Kawai

Clarinet
Ching-Wen Chen*
Benjamin Cruz^
Kevin Lin
Erica Smith‡

Bass Clarinet
Erica Smith

Bassoon
Zoe Beck*
Delano Bell‡
John Fulton^
Evan Judson
Daniel McCarty

Contrabassoon
Julien Rollins

French horn
Alex Daiker‡
Drew Hayes^
Xiang Li
Paolo Rosselli
Sophie Steger*
Jenna Stokes

Trumpet
Jake Baldwin
Sarah Heimberg
Charlie Jones^
Qiyu Liu‡
Dimitri Raimonde
Kimberly Sabio
Wentao Xiao*

Trombone
Katie Franke^
Zach Johnson*
Quinn McGillis
Jianlin Sha‡

Bass Trombone
Ki Yoon Park

Tuba
Jim Gifford

Timpani
Hayoung Song
David Uhlmann*
Leigh M. Wilson‡

Percussion
Parker Olson
Hayoung Song
David Uhlmann^
Tennison Watts*
Leigh M. Wilson

Harp
Shaylen Joos
Zi Li*^

Keyboard
Miles Fellenberg

Principal players
*Chin
‡Sibelius
^Debussy