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Thursday 13th August 2020


Unusual Instruments


Artistes include: Jorgan • Stefan Dollak • Fritz Mayr • Dieter Kirsch • Münchener Kammerorchester • Lewis Lipnick • Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra • Eric Poe • Contemporary Youth Orchestra
Yuan Li, guzheng • hr-Sinfonieorchester (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra)

Music by: O'Carolan • Albrechtsberger • Kalevi Aho • Glière • Tan Dun


Starts: when you are ready
latecomers will be admitted at your personal discretion

Listening position:

Relax with your choice(s) of beverage, in a place of your choosing, alone, or with company
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Unusual Instruments


Programme

Traditional Altaic/Turkish
Grandfather's Song

performed by Tjurgen Kam (pronounced Tjorgan) on Jew's harp and with Altaic throat singing


Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738)
Dr John Stafford, or O'Carolan's Receipt
 
 performed by Stefan Dollak on a 4-course mandora


Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809)
Concerto for Jew's Harp, Mandora and Orchestra (c1765)
    1 Allegro moderato
    2 Andante
    3 Menuetto. Moderato
    4 Allegro molto

performed by Fritz Mayr, Jew's harp • Dieter Kirsch, mandora
Münchener Kammerorchester, Hans Stadlmair, conductor


Kalevi Ensio Aho (b1949)
Concerto for Contrabassoon and Orchestra
    II Presto

performed by Lewis Lipnick
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton, conductor


Lewis Lipnick
Intro to the Contraforte


Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (1875 Kiev -1956 Moscow)
Concerto for Coloratura Soprano & Orchestra
in F minor Op 82 (1943)
1 Andante

performed by Anna Netrebko


Reinhold Glière
Concerto for Coloratura Soprano & Orchestra in F minor Op 82
1 Andante    ♦    2 Allegro

performed by Joan Sutherland
London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, conductor


Tan Dun (b1957)
Water Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra (1998)
Prelude: Largo molto rubato
    1 Adagio molto misterioso

performed by Eric Poe, percussion
Contemporary Youth Orchestra, Liza Grossman, music director

Extra Concerto

Tan Dun
Concerto for String Orchestra and Zheng (1999)
    I     Andante molto – Melancholia – Tempo I
    II   Allegretto
    III  Adagio
    IV  Moderato – Allegro – Tempo I Andante molto

performed by Yuan Li, guzheng
hr-Sinfonieorchester (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra), Julian Kuerti, conductor
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The Top Ten Concerts for Unusual Instruments
as published by BBC Magazine 2020
1  Albrechtsberger:  Concerto for Jews Harp, Mandora and Strings
2  Hindemith:  Concerto for Trautonium and String Orchestra
3  Glière :  Concerto for Coloratura Soprano
4  Jolivet:  Concerto for Ondes Martenot
5  Villa-Lobos:  Concerto for Harmonica
6  Piazzola:  Concerto for Bandoneon String Orchestra and Percussion
7  Maxwell Davies:  Piccolo Concerto
8  Tan Dun:  Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra
9   Kalevi Aho:  Concerto for Contrabassoon and Orchestra
10 Gabriel Prokofiev:  Concerto for Bass Drum and Orchestra
Number one on the list will ease us gently into the 'genre'. It is Viennese composer Albrechtsberger's Concerto for Jew's Harp, Mandora and Orchestra. Alongside his compositions, Albrechtsberger is noted for his theoretical writings and his teaching. Beethoven was one of his pupils,  and a notable collection of his writings on harmony was published in English, by Novello's in 1855.

He composed seven or more or these concertos for Jew's harp, three of which survive in the Hungarian National Library, in Budapest.

The instrument has many names:  jaw harp, mouth harp, gewgaw, guimbard, khomus, trump, Ozark harp, Galician harp, or murchunga. It is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed (the 'lamella') attached to a frame.

The mandora was a lute with 6 to 9 courses (pairs) of strings, popular in the 18th to early 19th centuries in Northern Italy  and Central Europe. In Germany it was often known as the gallichon.

First let's listen to these instruments on their own:
This, is Tjurgan Kam§. His video answers most of these questions:

    1 How do you play the Jew's Harp?
    2 Does anyone play the Jew's Harp nowadays?
    3 Would a Jew's Harp work in the pop world?
    4 And what about Altaic (Turkic-Mongolian) throat singing?
    5 What's the ideal outfit for a bruisingly hot TV studio?

Ukraine has Talent. I have no idea whether he won, but this gives a flavour of the instrument before we move on. And the song is called Grandfather's Song. 
        §He corrects an interviewer's pronunciation in another video.
Stefan Dollak plays his arrangement of Dr John Stafford, or Carolan's Receipt on the four-course lute, or mandora.

This tune is by the great Irish harper and composer Turlough O'Carolan, a contemporary of Geminiani and Corelli, and a composer who influentially blended Irish traditional styles with the Italian baroque.

This four-course lute is sold by Mid-East Mfg under the name "lute-kulele."
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809)
Concerto for Jew's Harp, Mandora and Orchestra (c1765)    (18m20)
1 Allegro moderato
2 Andante
3 Menuetto. Moderato
4 Allegro molto

performed by Fritz Mayr, Jew's harp • Dieter Kirsch, mandora • Münchener Kammerorchester, Hans Stadlmair, conductor
The contrabassoon plays one octave below the bassoon, although its music is written as for the bassoon. Fingering, however, has many differences from that of the bassoon.

Number 9 on the BBC Magazine list is Finnish composer Kalevi Aho's Contrabassoon Concerto. I didn't manage to find online recordings for the first Mesto, nor the third Misterioso, movements. Here then is the central Presto movement:
Kalevi Ensio Aho (b1949)    (7m50)
Concerto for Contrabassoon and Orchestra
II Presto

performed by Lewis Lipnick • Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton, conductor
Before we move on to the next unusual concerto, here's evidence that even classical instruments continue to develop.

Lewis Lipnick is Principal Contrabassoon of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC.

Here he demonstrates a new instrument with the same melodic range as the contrabassoon, and perhaps a more pleasing sound. It broadens the dynamic range of the original instrument, giving softer playing, and louder sounds too. The inventors also say they have placed the keys in better positions than on the contrabassoon. Bassoon fans, listen here:
Lewis Lipnick
Intro to the Contraforte    (8m47)

further info:

Next we hear a soprano, but using her voice in its open natural form, a voice without words.

Glière's Concerto for Coloratura Soprano is a beautiful work in just two movements. The Andante first movement is more reflective, melancholic, the faster second has that extra aspect of the word Allegro, the lightness.

I know some are less keen on pure voice but, if that is you, I urge you to listen to just the expressive first movement, sung here by Anna Netrebko. For the full experience, who better than Joan Sutherland to hold your hand for the complete concerto?
Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (1875 Kiev -1956 Moscow)
Concerto for Coloratura Soprano & Orchestra
in F minor Op 82 (1943)
1 Andante    (6m50)

performed by Anna Netrebko, in the Mariinsky Theatre,
in a concert celebrating the 300th anniversary of the founding of St Petersburg
Reinhold Glière
Concerto for Coloratura Soprano & Orchestra in F minor Op 82
1 Andante    ♦    2 Allegro    (11m40)

performed by Joan Sutherland, with the London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, conductor
For the final piece in this week's concert we have a recording of the first movement of Tan Dun's Water Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra.

The water percussion are instruments we would never experience in a Western orchestral concert. They bring us new and interesting sounds, with a distinctly Eastern feel.

Tan Dun's works often call for instruments made of materials such as paper, stone, or water, but the compositions he classifies as organic music feature these most prominently. The first major work for organic instruments was this Water Concerto in 1998, dedicated to the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.

According to the composer, the sounds made by the soloist are inspired by the sounds of everyday life growing up in Hunan. Basins are filled with water, and the contents are manipulated with bowls, bottles, hands, and other devices. Other water instruments used include the waterphone. Various means of amplification are used, including contact microphones on the basins.
A waterphone, ocean harp or AquaSonic waterphone, consists of a stainless steel resonator bowl or pan with a cylindrical neck, and bronze rods of different lengths and diameters around the rim of the bowl.

The resonator may contain a small amount of water giving the waterphone a vibrant ethereal sound used in film soundtracks, record albums, and live performance.

It was available in four sizes from Standard (7" diameter) to MegaBass (16"). It is generally played in a seated position, either bowed or drummed, with movements to affect the water inside.

This combines the resonant characteristics of the bowl and rods with the movement of the water. The sound of the waterphone is often used to evoke mystery and suspense.

The instrument was invented by American Richard Waters (1935- 2013). He was influenced by a Tibetan drum he encountered in the early 1960s, which contained a small amount of water, affecting its timbre.
Alex Wong, waterphone, percussionist,
percussionist Alex Wong bows the waterphone
Tan Dun (b1957)
Water Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra (1998)    (12m03)
Prelude: Largo molto rubato
1 Adagio molto misterioso

performed by Eric Poe, percussion, Contemporary Youth Orchestra, Liza Grossman, music director, at the Waetjen Auditorium of Cleveland State University


Follow the score on this link:

https://issuu.com/scoresondemand/docs/water_concerto_33596

Extra Concerto


If you enjoyed that visit to the Eastern idiom, you may also enjoy another of Tan Dun's works that was not on the BBC Magazine list.

This concerto is for Guzheng, or Zheng, a Chinese form of zither. This is the familiar plucked string we associate with Chinese and Japanese music. It is tuned to the same major scale we are used to hearing in Western music. The bridges on the guzheng are movable. Click on the instrument to see more detail.

In this concerto Tan Dun matches the instrument with western strings and, although not stated in the title, you will hear feet. This 24-minute work is composed straight through without the traditional breaks between movements.
Tan Dun
Concerto for String Orchestra and Zheng (1999)    (24m17)
I    Andante molto – Melancholia – Tempo I
II   Allegretto
III  Adagio
IV  Moderato – Allegro – Tempo I Andante molto

performed by Yuan Li, guzheng
hr-Sinfonieorchester (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra), Julian Kuerti, conductor
If this concert selection has been well-received, perhaps we can slip in another unusual instruments concert in November, or early in the New Year.

Presenter: Peter Steadman
Assisted by: Richard Miller & Jane Forrester

We hope you have enjoyed your Unusual Instruments  Concert Online


Watch your email and this website for next week's concert

comments welcome:  musiconthursdays@gmail.com
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Did we make it for

MENCAP ?

When I looked on Wednesday we had reached £5,065. Adding Gift Aid will take the total to more than £6,000.

A big thank you to everyone who donated.

Many charities are losing anticipated income as a result of the cancellation of the London Marathon. MENCAP would have raised around £1 million.
Picture
you can still click on the image above to donate to Mollie Canning's 100th Birthday Appeal for MENCAP
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Concert Selections Still Available for your listening on this Website:


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to access our From Sagbutts to Trombones concert please
click on the Date above or on the trombone player image

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Composers: Fern Brooks  •  André Caplet  •  CPE Bach  •  Grandjany  •  Deborah Henson-Conant  •  Scarlatti • Meredith Monk • Scriabin • Haldon Evans • David Watkins

access this Harp Haven concert: by clicking on the dateline or on the picture ►
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Gwenllian Llŷr

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Bradley Shoemaker-Webster ♦ Bernice Lee ♦ Maurice Bourgue
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Music by: Carl Nielsen • Christoph Förster • Edmund Rubbra • Ravel • Telemann
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access concert: by clicking on the date or the picture

Thursday

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anytime
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Gentle Guitar

Artistes include: Francisco Correa ♦ David Massey ♦ Jon Gjyalci ♦ Roland Dyens ♦ Gary Ryan ♦ Adam del Monte ♦ Irene Gomez ♦ John Williams ♦ Julian Bream ♦ Andrés Segovia ♦ D&A Duo: Dimitris Kourzakis & Angelos Botsis ♦ Manuel Barrueco

Music by: de Falla • Roland Dyens • Django Reinhardt • Gary Ryan • Piazzolla • Albéniz

access concert: by clicking on the date or the picture
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