A rusty bridge, a broken heart, a windswept castle, a majestic forest, a warming planet. Anna Clyne spins the meanings of the word ‘weathered’. “Each part of the work explores one weathered element. It also touches on our shared experiences of the pandemic and global warming.” Anton Bruckner did not give his eighth symphony an additional title, but over the years the term ‘apocalyptic’ has been widely adopted.
The clarinet concerto Weathered by HPO Composer-in-Residence Anna Clyne (b. 1980) was premiered in 2003 by the Concertgebouw Orchestra with Martin Fröst as the soloist. It is in five movements, each exploring a different weathered element: Metal, Heart, Stone, Wood and Earth. These weathered elements are both beautiful and poignant: a rusted bridge, a broken heart, a wind-worn castle, a majestic forest, and a warming planet. As Clyne puts it, “Weathered also touches on our collective global experiences of the COVID pandemic and the alarm of global warming.” When asked how she portrays physically weathered objects and elements in music, she replies that in Metal, she uses use a lot of metallic percussive instruments, while Wood features wooden ones. Heart explores the clarinet’s lower range, while Stone is more playful (imagining skipping stones on a lake); and Earth weaves together elements of the previous four movements, beginning with a sounding alarm. We are at a critical point.
The music of Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) requires both time and the right attitude. His works are often likened to a walk in the mountains, sometimes hard-going but well worth the effort for the splendid scenery. He completed the first version of his Symphony No. 8 in 1887 and sent it to Hermann Levi the conductor. To his dismay, Levi replied that though he found many of the themes magnificent and direct, he could not possibly perform the symphony in its current form. Bruckner therefore revised it, and it was not premiered until 1892. Eduard Hanslick the renowned critic walked out after the third movement, but Hugo Wolf thought the symphony was wonderful. Various editions exist of the work, but tonight’s performance is of the one made by Robert Haas.
Beginning in deepest darkness, the symphony ends in blinding light. Though the music is abstract, Bruckner did hint at a ‘programme’. The first movement suggests a clock that goes on ticking after someone has just died in the room. The second is packed with energy but the lyrical section tells, said Bruckner, of his insomnia. The slow third is a battle between faith and doubt, and the finale pictures a meeting between the Austrian Emperor and the Russian Tsar. The fanfares represent the cavalry. The final bars draw the main themes from all the movements together.
| Violin 1 Pekka Kauppinen Jan Söderblom Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä Katariina Jämsä Maiju Kauppinen Elina Lehto Ilkka Lehtonen Jani Lehtonen Kalinka Pirinen Petri Päivärinne Elina Viitasaari Totti Hakkarainen Angeles Salas Salas Klaus-Peter Haav Júlia Mušáková Tuuli Talvitie Violin 2 Kamran Omarli Krista Rosenberg Teppo Ali-Mattila Heini Eklund Liam Mansfield Siiri Rasta Terhi Ignatius Anna-Maria Huohvanainen Sanna Kokko Harry Rayner Virpi Taskila Johanna Koponen Kaisa Laurila Anna Vähälä Viola Torsten Tiebout Lotta Poijärvi Aulikki Haahti-Turunen Kaarina Ikonen Tiila Kangas Ulla Knuuttila Mariette Reefman Hajnalka Standi-Pulakka Liisa Orava Aida Hadzajlic Iina Marja-aho Albert Papp Cello Tuomas Ylinen Beata Antikainen Basile Ausländer Veli-Matti Iljin Jaakko Rajamäki Ilmo Saaristo Fransien Paananen Johannes Välja Tommi Wesslund Hans Schröck Bass Hugh Klüger Ville Väätäinen Adrian Rigopulos Tuomo Matero Paul Aksman Eero Ignatius Venla Lahti Akseli Porkkala | Flute Mika Tuomisalo |
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