Chamber Music New Zealand Presents

AROHA STRING

QUARTET

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1Aroha String Quartet

Beethoven String Quartet in A Opus 18 No 5 4

Shostakovich String Quartet No 1 in C Opus 49 5

Interval

Two Chinese pieces:

Hua Yan-Jun Er Quan Ying Yue华彦钧曲 二泉映月 6

Traditional Fan Shen Dao Qing 翻身道情 6

Ravel String Quartet in F 7

Nelson 13 October Invercargill 14 October Palmerston North 23 October New Plymouth 24 October Hamilton 25 October

ProgrammeWelcome

Thank you for joining us this evening for the final concert of our 2014 Kaleidoscopes season.

Aroha String Quartet celebrates its tenth anniversary this year and we are delighted to welcome them to our main stage for their first national tour. They have developed an international reputation for their colourful programmes and well-crafted ensemble. Tonight’s programme also has an international flavour, featuring music from Vienna, China, Paris and Russia.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your generous support this year.

Now sit back and enjoy a musical feast that caps off our year-long exploration of the string quartet genre.

Warmest wishes from the whole team at Chamber Music New Zealand, until next year.

Euan MurdochChief Executive Chamber Music New Zealand

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Please respect the music, the musicians, and your fellow audience members, by switching off all cellphones, pagers and watches. Taking photographs, or sound or video recordings during the concert is strictly prohibited unless with the prior approval of Chamber Music New Zealand.

2 Chamber Music New Zealand

Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Aroha String Quartet has established itself as one of New Zealand’s finest chamber ensembles, and been praised for its passionate musicality, impressive technique and multicultural innovation.

Alongside their busy schedule of orchestral and teaching duties, members of the Aroha String Quartet have an impressive record of giving concerts that range from traditional Chinese folk music to western classical and contemporary pieces from New Zealand and overseas. They also often invite other high-profile musicians, such as pianist Catherine McKay, violist Lyndon Taylor, cellists Andrew

Joyce and Rowan Prior, and bassist Hiroshi Ikematsu, to join them in presenting larger chamber ensembles.

The Aroha String Quartet regularly performs around New Zealand, and their international trips have included participation in the prestigious International Summer Academy in Austria in 2010, concerts and masterclasses in China in 2010 and 2013, and performances at the Huntington Music Festival in Australia in 2011. Their first CD was released this year, and features Haydn’s ‘Sunrise’ Quartet and the great Schubert Quintet with cellist Andrew Joyce.

Aroha String QuartetHaihong Liu violinBlythe Press violinZhongxian Jin violaRobert Ibell cello

3Aroha String Quartet

Chinese-born Haihong Liu is a graduate of the prestigious Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, where she won the China National Chamber Music Competition in 1995 with the Beijing String Quartet. As a member of that ensemble she enjoyed an international career of concerts, festivals, and competitions throughout China, as well as Asia and Europe.

After six years teaching violin and chamber music at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, Haihong came to New Zealand, initially playing as sub-principal first violin in the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, then joining the first violin section of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2002.

Blythe Press studied with Vesa-Matti Leppanen at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington, then with renowned teacher Yair Kless for five years at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. His competition successes include third prize at the 2008 Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Italy and second prize in the 2006 NZ National Concerto Competition.

As a freelance musician, Blythe has performed as Concertmaster of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and recently as Assistant Concertmaster of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He joined the Aroha String Quartet in 2012.

A graduate of Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, Zhongxian Jin was born

into a musical family, and from the age of nine followed his father and started to learn the violin. In 1985 he joined the staff of the Xinghai Conservatory, and spent 16 years there as a professor of violin and chamber music. During that time, he frequently played with the Guangzhou and Xinghai Symphony Orchestras. He was also a core member of the Quartet Star, with which he gave concerts and masterclasses in China and major cities in United Kingdom, Austria, France, and Germany.

Since moving to New Zealand in 2001, Zhongxian has toured nationwide with the Aroha String Quartet, and worked as a freelance musician and teacher.

Robert Ibell trained as a school teacher in his home town of Palmerston North and learned cello from Judith Hyatt in Wellington. He went on to study cello in London with Tania Hunt, Derek Simpson and Christopher Bunting, and perform in masterclasses, where his teachers included Alexander Baillie, Steve Doane, Anner Bylsma and Steven Isserlis.He also taught, gave recitals and played in professional and amateur orchestras.

Since 1993 Robert has been a member of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Formerly the cellist of the Nevine Quartet, Robert has been a member of the Aroha Quartet since 2009. He also plays in contemporary music group Stroma and is a Recording Artist for Radio NZ Concert.

“ Aroha is a worthy name for this ensemble because of the warm and impassioned performances they give.”

Andrew Buchanan-Smart Waikato Times, 27 May 2014

4 Chamber Music New Zealand

Ludwig van BeethovenBaptised Bonn, 17 December 1770 Died Vienna, 26 March 1827

String Quartet in A Opus 18 No 5 Allegro Menuetto Andante cantabile Allegro

After moving from Bonn to Vienna in 1792, Beethoven worked hard to establish himself as a virtuoso pianist and ground-breaking composer. Thanks to the patronage of influential members of the aristocracy, he quickly earned a reputation as a genius, albeit an eccentric one.

Following the pattern set by both Haydn and Mozart, publishing a set of six string quartets came to be seen as one of the ‘rites of passage’ for young composers. As a result, a ‘correct’ style of quartet writing developed and was followed by many of Beethoven’s fellow students.

It is likely that Beethoven took the challenge very seriously. Writing his first quartets took him an unusually long time, and he was probably working on them from 1796 until 1800. He also revised some of them extensively before they were published in 1801, changing the order of movements as well as the melodic material and density of textures. On June 1st 1800 he wrote to his friend Carl Amenda, to whom he had sent the first one:

“Don’t lend out my Quartet any more, because I have made many changes in it. I have only just learnt how to write quartets properly, as you will see when you receive them.”

At this time, Beethoven’s style was changing as he began to reject Classical ideals and search for a new form of expression. Although the Opus 18 quartets generally follow the expected conventions, they also contain many instances of Beethoven’s individuality, and signal some of his later developments of quartet style. It is thought that Beethoven used Mozart’s Quartet in A K464 (which is itself known as one of the ‘Haydn’ quartets) as a model for his Quartet No 5, though he sought to emulate Mozart’s work by following his compositional strategies and ideas rather than through musical themes.

In the first movement of Beethoven’s Quartet, the bright and open key of A major is exemplified through an energetic dance-like style that quickly moves between lilting relaxation and tense uncertainty. The elegant and refined Menuetto is paired with a more earth-bound trio that unusually features the middle instruments in a melodic role. Like Mozart, Beethoven uses a theme and variations form for his third movement, marked Andante cantabile [at a walking pace and in a singing style]. The initial statement is followed by four variants and an extensive and discursive coda, and a final reminder of the theme. The last movement has a lightness that recalls the music of later composers such as Mendelssohn, and displays Beethoven’s fondness for contrapuntal techniques.

5Aroha String Quartet

Dmitry ShostakovichBorn St Petersburg, 25 September 1906 Died Moscow, 9 August 1975

String Quartet No 1 in C Opus 49Moderato Moderato Allegro molto Allegro

By the time he was 29 Shostakovich was highly regarded in the Soviet Union as a leading composer. His opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District was regarded as a “major achievement of Socialist construction” at its première in 1934, and was performed to packed houses for two years. At the beginning of 1936, though, his confidence was shattered when the Soviet newspaper Pravda attacked the work. Further articles, thought to be initiated by Stalin, then criticised Shostakovich for writing ‘formalist’ music. In the climate of fear that followed, during which several of his acquaintances disappeared, Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony was withdrawn from its planned première. Fortunately he managed to regain official approval the following year with his Fifth Symphony, a work with the required optimistic ending and simpler musical style.

The String Quartet No 1 was written in the summer of 1938, in the wake of this traumatic time, and was premièred in Leningrad later that year. Shostakovich recounted beginning it as an exercise, “but then work on the quartet captivated me and I finished it rather quickly”.

The work is a simple, almost neo-classical start to his cycle of fifteen string quartets, which occupied much of the last part of his life and which form one of the most significant contributions to the genre in the 20th century.

The first Moderato opens in triple time with repeated C’s in the first violin line. Although it is in C major, the music has a somewhat doleful and uncertain feeling, even in the slow waltz-like second theme. During the short development section, the instability is increased by a change of time signature from triple to duple metre.

The second movement, also Moderato, is a set of variations around the solemn opening viola solo. Short outbursts by the other instruments provide emotionally intense moments, but these are quickly overridden and the music returns to a more stable state.

The third movement, Allegro molto, is a short scherzo, with minimal thematic development. The instruments are muted throughout. When the Beethoven Quartet (with whom Shostakovich worked closely on his subsequent string quartets) was preparing to present the work in Moscow in 1938, Shostakovich suggested that it should be “very quiet and fantastical”.

The last movement is a cheerful romp through a traditional (though shortened) sonata form. The second subject, introduced by the cello, includes several changes of time signature from duple to triple, giving the music a rather off-beat feel, and the work ends as it began, with repeated C’s.

6 Chamber Music New Zealand

Hua Yan-Jun华彦钧曲(arr. Ding Shan-De 丁善德编)Born Wuxi, 17 August 1893 Died Wuxi, 4 December 1950

Fan Shen Dao Qing翻身道情

Fan Shen Dao Qing [Song of Emancipation] is based on a traditional folk tune from Shaanxi province in Northern China. ‘Fan Shen’ means ‘turn around’ and the tune became widely known in the 1940s when it became a rallying cry for people who were celebrating their new life with the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In tonight’s arrangement for string quartet by violinist and composer A Ke-Jian and jazz musician Zheng De-Ren, the piece takes the form of a stirring celebration with a contrasting slow and sentimental middle section.

Er Quan Ying Yue二泉映月

Hua Yan-Jun (also known as Blind A-Bing) grew up in a Taoist temple and was trained as a musician by his father, learning drums, dizi (flute) and erhu (two-stringed fiddle). An opium addiction led to him living on the street, earning money by playing the erhu. He lost his sight at the age of 34 due to syphilis, but became famous for his performances and his songs that commented on current issues.

Shortly before he died, two Beijing professors recorded six of his compositions, including Er Quan Ying Yue, which has become a much-loved work within China. It is considered a masterwork for the erhu, but has also been arranged for and recorded by numerous other instrumental combinations. Tonight’s arrangement for string quartet was made by the noted Chinese composer and pianist Ding Shan-De, who studied composition at the Paris Conservatoire and taught for many years at the Shanghai Conservatory.

The title can be translated as ‘Spring Water Reflects the Moon’ and the piece acquired its name after Hua said he played it by the Er Quan spring, now part of a park in Wuxi.

Traditional (arr. A Ke-Jian阿克俭

& Zheng De-Ren郑德仁编曲)

7Aroha String Quartet

Maurice RavelBorn Ciboure, Basses Pyrénées, 7 March 1875 Died Paris, 28 December 1937

String Quartet in F Allegro moderato - Très douxAssez vif - Très rythméTrès lentVif et agité

Ravel was a young man of 27 when he wrote his much-loved and only String Quartet. Already well known in France, he had gained a reputation for his sensuous melodic writing, particularly in works such as the song cycle Shéhérazade, and the miniature masterpiece Pavane pour une infante défunte.

The String Quartet is an important landmark in Ravel’s career, although like most of his works it attracted mixed responses in its first few years. At the first performance in 1904, the work was praised by his contemporaries Debussy and D’Indy, but was harshly criticized by the dedicatee, Ravel’s teacher Gabriel Fauré. Initially composed as part of a quartet written in honour of Fauré by four of his pupils, the first movement was submitted by Ravel for the Paris Conservatoire composition prize in 1903. Despite reaching the final round he was unsuccessful, with the Conservatoire Director Théodore Dubois commenting that Ravel’s movement “lacked simplicity”. However, Debussy, with whom Ravel was personally acquainted, told him not to change a note.

The overall form of the String Quartet in F draws on the cyclic structure found in the quartets of Franck and Debussy. In Ravel’s work, the main themes reappear throughout all four movements, and much of the Quartet’s material is derived from the melodic and rhythmic transformation of these themes.

The first movement (marked ‘moderately fast – very sweetly’) is written in sonata form and opens with a flowing melody in first violin accompanied by gentle parallel scale passages. After a short outburst of energy a delicate second main theme is presented by the first violin and viola, playing in unison but two octaves apart. A triplet upbeat figure from this theme becomes a signature motif for the whole Quartet.

The second movement (‘quite lively – very rhythmically’) is a scherzo that is notable for its interlocking pizzicato effects, which clearly show the influence of Debussy’s Quartet. A central slow passage, for muted instruments, recalls the tenderness of the first movement, and at one point requires the second violin to play “like a harp”. The ‘very slow’ third movement is a type of free rhapsody, although Ravel’s emotional restraint controls its expression and gives it a nostalgic character.

The final movement (‘lively and restless’) ends the Quartet with a splash of rhythmic energy. Beginning with furious tremolando phrases and percussive pizzicato chords, it contains many references to material from earlier movements, with dance-like versions of the main themes and frequent changes of time signature.

8 Chamber Music New Zealand

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BoardChair, Roger King; Paul Baines, Gretchen La Roche, Sarah Sinclair, Vanessa Van den Broek, Peter Walls, Lloyd Williams.

StaffChief Executive, Euan MurdochBusiness Manager, Jenni Hall Business Support Coordinator, Gemma RobinsonOperations Coordinator, Rachel HardieOffice Administrator, Becky HolmesArtist Development Manager, Catherine Gibson Programme Coordinator (Education and Outreach), Sue Jane Programme Writer, Jane Dawson Audience Development Manager, Victoria DaddMarketing & Communications Coordinator, Candice de VilliersTicketing & Database Coordinator, Laurel BruceDesign & Print, Chris McDonaldPublicist, Sally Woodfield

BranchesAuckland: Chair, Victoria Silwood; Concert Manager, Ros Giffney

Hamilton: Chair, Murray Hunt; Concert Manager, Gaye Duffill

New Plymouth: Chair, Joan Gaines; Concert Manager, Susan Case

Hawkes Bay: Chair, June Clifford; Concert Manager, Liffy Roberts

Manawatu: Chair, Graham Parsons; Concert Manager, Virginia Warbrick

Wellington: Concert Manager, Rachel Hardie

Nelson: Chair, Annette Monti; Concert Manager, Clare Monti

Christchurch: Chair, Colin McLachlan; Concert Manager, Jody Keehan

Dunedin: Chair, Terence Dennis; Concert Manager, Richard Dingwall

Southland: Chair, Shona Thomson; Concert Manager, Jennifer Sinclair

Regional Presenters Blenheim, Cromwell, Gisborne, Gore, Hutt Valley, Kaitaia, Kerikeri, Morrinsville, Motueka, Rotorua, Taihape, Tauranga, Te Awamutu, Tokoroa, Upper Hutt, Waikanae, Waimakariri, Waipukurau, Wanaka, Wanganui, Warkworth, Wellington, Whakatane and Whangarei.

© Chamber Music New Zealand 2014 No part of this programme may be reproduced without the prior permission of Chamber Music New Zealand.

Regional Concerts & Other Events

The Troubles ( jazz band) Whangarei, 15 October Kaitaia, 18 October

Donizetti Trio (flute, bassoon, piano) Gore, 19 October Wanaka, 21 October Cromwell, 22 October Motueka, 24 October

Stephen de Pledge (piano) Whakatane, 2 November

Koru Quintet (wind quintet) Rangiora, 24 October Motueka, 21 November

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KALEIDOSCOPES 2015 Chamber Music New Zealand

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