Helix

Tomas Djupsjöbacka

Tomas Djupsjöbacka (b. 1978) first made a name for himself as a cellist, as a member of Finland’s internationally renowned Meta4 string quartet and of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, but in recent years he has been turning more and more to conducting. Since making his debut with the FRSO in 2016, he has conducted most of the professional Finnish orchestras, become Principal Guest Conductor of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Vaasa City Orchestra. For tonight’s programme he has chosen some of his personal favourites. “Schumann’s fourth symphony is played a lot,” he says, “but not so the original version. There are some surprisingly big differences between them. The original is more pliant and places Schumann closer to the eloquent tradition of Mendelssohn than to the broader, predictive approach of Brahms. Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Helix is positive hedonism, an incredibly fine timbral immersion that you physically feel in your body.”

Tomas Djupsjöbacka last conducted the HPO in spring 2021.

Martin Grubinger

Wizard multi-percussionist Martin Grubinger (1983) has composers queuing up to write works for him and has duly performed both theirs and others’ with orchestras all over the world. HPO audiences may recall his performance of the percussion concerto by Friedrich Cerha in 2013.

Born in Salzburg, Grubinger was keen to try his hand at whatever instrument he came across, from the recorder to the double bass, but most of all he was fascinated by percussions. His home is full of drums, for classical purposes or equally well for playing salsa, samba, tango, funk or jazz. He has several projects of his own – The Percussive Planet, Century of Percussion and Caribbean Showdown – and holds teaching professorships in Salzburg and Zurich.

Grubinger has repeatedly said he will be giving up his percussionist career when he reaches 40, which is next spring. His dream has been to make percussions part of the

Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 4 (original version)

Robert Schumann (1809–1856) wrote his first symphony in only a couple of weeks, in 1841. It was a tremendous success, especially considering that he had never before composed a single note for orchestra. In his second symphony, he wanted to revolutionise the whole concept of ‘symphony’, to break away from tradition, to be a symphonic innovator and inventor. He thus arrived at a free-form construct he termed a ‘symphonic fantasia’. The premiere was a catastrophe. The players were not up to the task of following his detailed instructions, and nor was the conductor-leader Ferdinand David. The symphony was abandoned and not until ten years later, when Schumann had been appointed conductor in Düsseldorf, did he give it a second chance. Now bearing the number 4, the symphony again saw the light of day in 1851.

Although the symphony is almost always performed in its later version, the earlier one has its staunch supporters. The biggest differences are in the orchestration; the ideas and form are the same. Practically all the themes and melodies spring from motifs heard in the introduction and their variation. The half-hour symphony covering the four traditional movements is performed without a break as one single entity.

Esa-Pekka Salonen: Helix

Esa-Pekka Salonen (b. 1958) composed Helix as a commission from the BBC Proms and the World Orchestra for Peace conducted by Valery Gergiev. “I decided to compose a celebratory and direct overture-like piece, which would nevertheless be very rigidly structured, and based on essentially one continuous process,” wrote Salonen. “The form of Helix can indeed be described as a spiral or a coil; or more academically a curve that lies on a cone and makes a constant angle with the straight lines parallel to the base of the cone. The process of Helix is basically that of a nine-minute accelerando.”

Salonen’s illustrious career as a conductor has sometimes tended to overshadow his role as a composer. His conducting experience is reflected in the virtuoso nature of his compositions, and Helix is no exception. “The driven and dazzlingly colourful Helix matches all the Concerto can offer in less than a third of its length,” wrote the BBC Music Magazine on comparing it with the piano concerto of 2007 tailored for Yefim Bronfman.

big orchestras’ repertoire and get them on the platform of the Vienna Musikverein. And now that his dream has come true, he can sit back and make another dream come true, which is studying history.

Daniel Bjarnason: Percussion Concerto

Composer/conductor Daníel Bjarnason (b. 1979) has fast become one of the most interesting and most performed composers of contemporary music. Together with Anna Þorvaldsdóttir, Hildur Guðnadóttir and others he is one of Iceland’s leading music exports, their characteristic Nordic soundscapes now being heard the world over, from large-scale Hollywood productions to hallowed, intimate chamber music venues. Works by Bjarnason have been performed by, for example, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Danish National Opera. He is at present Artist in Association with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

The music of Bjarnason has the ability to speak to a wide audience regardless of generic borders. [Listeners] may detect in his works a smidgen of machine music, a touch of modernism, a pinch of ethereal ambient and catchy pop style – yet his own, recognisable style shines through them all. The album Over Light Earth has won the award for Best Composer/Best Composition at Iceland’s music gala, and in 2020, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra's release Concurrence received a Grammy nomination for Best Orchestral Album.

Bjarnason always composes with the soloist in mind. His piano concertos were both tailored for Víkingur Ólafsson, and the violin concerto for Pekka Kuusisto. The three-movement percussion concerto (2021) to be premiered today was born around the technique and personality of Martin Grubinger. “Many things are of course born subconsciously, but for me, it was important to get to know Martin, his style and his character before I started composing,” says Bjarnason. “He’s an absolute virtuoso, and lives on the edge. He is very Austrian and admires Bruckner, but at the same time a very modern percussionist. The work has a prominent part for the marimba and Viennese timpani.”