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Full marks for originality of concept and for execution, which has all this ensembles trademark style

and communicative nous - Andrew Mellor, The Gramophone

Solitudes
Baltic Reflections
Music from Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Introduction and Tango Overture Aulis Sallinen


Bangos (for solo piano) Zita Bruait
Lamento (for two violas) Kalevi Aho
Dedication (for cello and piano) Erkki-Sven Tr
Toccata Olli Mustonen

interval

Fratres (for string quartet) Arvo Prt


Fr Alina (for solo piano) Arvo Prt
A Little Summer Music (for violin and piano) Pteris Vasks
Le Grand Tango (for violin and piano) Astor Piazzolla
Tysikuu Toivo Krki (arr. Robert McFall)
Einsames Lied (Solitude) Jean Sibelius (arr. Robert McFall)
Satumaa Unto Mononen (arr. Robert McFall)

Cyril Garac: 1st violin


Robert McFall: 2nd violin/ viola
Brian Schiele: viola
Su-a Lee: cello
Rick Standley: double bass
Maria Martinova: piano

Introduction
Mr McFalls Chamber brings a programme of music from the Eastern seaboard of the Baltic.
Expectations of music from this part of the world centre on the icy minimalism of Arvo Prt but this
programme, while including two works by Prt, also includes traditional Finnish tango classics along
with Aulis Sallinens tango-inspired Introduction and Tango Overture. Side by side with Finnish pianist
Olli Mustonens fiery Toccata, this music is red-hot.

Living on the cultural and political fault-line between Russia, Scandinavia and Germany, the four
countries which face the Baltic Sea from the East Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have all
had to struggle for independence from neighbouring superpowers. As a result, their musical culture is
colourful and richly cross-fertilised, but often imbued with a dark intensity, traversing deep emotional
landscapes. Here we present music ranging from Jean Sibelius, founder of Finnish nationalism in
music, through the sombre minimalism of Arvo Prt, to the hard-hitting works of Estonian ex-prog-
rocker Erkki-Sven Tr, taking in pianist Olli Mustonens Bach-influenced Toccata and the sensuous
ebb and flow of Lithuanian Zita Bruaits Waves.

Programme Notes
Introduction and Tango Overture op 74a, Aulis Sallinen (b. 1935)
Composed in 1997, Introduction and Tango Overture moves from an introduction based on material
from Sallinen's seventh symphony to an overture which is, in the composer's words, a salute to the
tango, a musical phenomenon that is very popular in Finland as well as in Argentina.
Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen was born in 1935 in Salmi on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga, a
part of the country which was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1944. After studying with Aarre
Merikanto and Joonas Kokkonen at the Sibelius Academy, he joined the teaching staff there. In 1983
he shared the Wihuri International Sibelius prize with Penderecki. The Finnish Government made him
Professor of Arts for life in 1981 - the first appointment of its kind, which made it possible for him to
devote himself full time to composing.

His extensive catalogue of compositions includes eight symphonies, three major choral works and six
operas - The Horseman (1975), The Red Line (1978), The King Goes Forth To France (1983), The
Palace (1991-3), Kullervo (1988) and King Lear (1999). Since 2001, Aulis Sallinen has concentrated
on writing works for solo instruments, ranging in scale from the Cello Sonata (2005) to the Horn
Concerto (2002). His latest compositions have been chamber works for a variety of soloists. Sallinens
music for string orchestra is widely performed - Some Aspects of Peltoniemi: Hintrik's Funeral March
and Chamber Music III: The Nocturnal Dances of Don Juanquixote in particular. The German record
label CPO has released a series of seven CDs of his music, featuring all of his major orchestral works.

Bangos (Waves), Zita Bruait (b.1966) [note taken from the Lithuanian Music Information Centre
and quoted verbatim]
Zita Bruait graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music in 1994. The structural organisation
in Zita Bruait's music is so organic that the rationality of construction is almost imperceptible by ear.
Her concert works are often influenced by theatrical imagery; here one can hear echoes of jazz and
ethnic music, medieval asceticism as well as processions of modern harmonies, rhythms and timbres.
Although the composer used to say that her music never comes as a torrent of sounds and never
interferes with listeners perceptions and expressive outbursts, now she admits that her compositions
are constantly fluctuating between tranquillity and fauvistic rush. The audience of Kaunas Musical
Theatre memorised the name of Zita Bruait well after the premiere of the opera-parody War and
Peace of Mushrooms, which was recognised as the best performance for children in Kaunas in 2001. In
2007 the opera-ballet Spiders Wedding was presented.
In 2008 Zita Bruait was awarded the Fortune Prize for the major deposit into the musical life of

Daiva epauskait (from Charles Perrault) and Adventures of Puss in Boots. The composers works
Kaunas theatres by the created opera Mermaid, Spiders Wedding and music for the rhymed tale of

have been released in the selection Sonnets (2008) as well as in joint selections of music recordings of
Lithuanian composers: Mosaic (Kaunas String Quartet 2006) and Reflections of Space and Time
(Vilnius Arsenal 2007). [Lithuanian Music Information Centre quoted verbatim]

Lamento (for two violas), Kalevi Aho (b.1949)


This duo, dedicated to the memory of violinist Sakari Laukola, is published in two versions one for
two violins and one, a fifth lower, for two violas. We have chosen to play the viola version.
Kalevi Aho was born in Forssa in southern Finland in 1949. He went to the Sibelius Academy in
Helsinki, where, besides studying violin, he studied composition with Einojuhani Rautavaara. He
continued his studies in Berlin with Boris Blacher. From 1974 until 1988 he was a lecturer in
musicology at Helsinki University, and from 1988 until 1993 a professor of composition at the Sibelius
Academy.

Since the autumn of 1993 he has worked in Helsinki as a freelance composer, initially made possible
by a fifteen-year grant from the Finnish state in 1994. His output includes four operas, thirteen
symphonies, three chamber symphonies for string orchestra, twelve concertos and a large number of
chamber and solo works. He is also a well-known writer about music.

Dedication (for cello and piano), Erkki-Sven Tr (b. 1959)


Tr writes: It was started in 1990 as a three-movement cello sonata, but working on it I realised that
it was complete the way it was. I consider it one of my best chamber pieces from that period although it
was never recorded then. I dedicated it to the memory of Kuldar Sink who was one of the most
influential figures of the Estonian avant-garde in the sixties.

In his early career, Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tr straddled the line between conservatory-based
classical music studies and pop music. He studied flute, composition and percussion at Tallinn
Conservatory, while at the same time, from 1979, leading a rock group called In Spe, which
incorporated elements of Renaissance and Baroque music. Along the way, Tr also composed music
for theatre productions and went on some electronic music courses in Darmstadt. In Spe disbanded in
1983. Tr composed music for chamber ensembles throughout the 1980s such as the group of seven
pieces which constitute his Architectonics. The chamber music of this period uses the rhythmic drive of
minimalism, while incorporating harmonic gestures and effects from the avant-garde.

With Tr's Requiem (1994) his reputation was made, and he soon became one of the most performed
contemporary composers in Estonia. Tr has written a Mass, an oratorio Ante Finum Saeculi,
symphonies (including his Symphony no 2, commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra),
concerti and much chamber music. Recordings of Tr's music have been released by ECM, Virgin,
Teldec, BIS, Erdenklang, Ondine etc

Toccata, Olli Mustonen (b. 1967)


The fact that he is a pianist of international standing has made it easier for Olli Mustonen, in his own
compositions, to forge his own style, independent of prevailing schools and fashions. His predilection
for contrapuntally interwoven compositions and works by 20th century composers which take up ideas
from the 17th and 18th centuries, such as the arrangements of Bach by Busoni and the cycles of
preludes and fugues by Hindemith and Shostakovich, is reflected in his own works. His musical
language is tonal and rooted in the sonority of the music of his native Finland.
He emerged as a composer at the age of twelve with his neo-classical Divertimento (1979) for piano
and orchestra. His most significant early work is Fantasia (1985) for piano and strings, combining
minimalist patterns with romantically tinted rich harmonies. His later style appeared in more or less its
finished form in Toccata (1989) for piano, string quartet and double bass, which we play tonight, and
which combines a romantic idiom with a rhythmic drive harking back to Bach's Brandenburg
Concertos. Mustonens principal works in his later period are the two Nonets (1995, 2000) for two
string quartets and double bass, and the Concerto for Three Violins (1998).

interval
Fratres, Arvo Prt (b.1944)
Composed in 1977 using Prt's recently invented tintinnabuli technique, (the word means, literally,
the sound of a bell ringing after it has been struck) this luminously simple work has been arranged by
the composer for a host of different instrumentations. In this version for string quartet the 2nd violinist
holds a constant drone of G and D open strings, while the rest of the group repeat the six-bar theme,
moving each time to new tonal levels, usually a third lower. In order to reach the lowest level of the
final section, the first violin has to detune their G string to an Eb, producing a strikingly sombre final
statement of the theme.

Fr Alina, Arvo Prt


Fr Alina was first performed in Tallin in 1976, along with six other works, after a long preparatory
period in Prts life as a composer. This concert was the first to introduce his new signature style of
composition, referred to as the tintinnabuli style. Fr Alina was dedicated to a family friend's eighteen
year-old daughter who had just gone to study in London.

A Little Summer Music (1985)


The apparent simplicity of Little Summer Music by Latvian composer Vasks is, as so often, deceptive.
Like so much else in his output, it suggests a landscape, but this is the landscape of Latvia while still a
part of the Soviet Union, so while its folk-like transparency evokes summer, there is also a sense of
nostalgia for a truly Latvian summer. Indeed, the composers symphony for strings, Voices (1990-
91), was a direct reflection of his countrys final transition from occupation to freedom.
Each of the six brief movements nevertheless has a different character. The three most evocative of
folk songs (or dances) are the second, third and fifth, which all nevertheless end ambiguously. The
fourth movement opens with clangorous, bell-like chords in the piano, before the violin begins its
meditative journey, again finishing on an unresolved dissonance. The sixth movement is a variant of
the first, in which the instruments melodic lines do not quite coincide: a quasi-heterophonic effect is
produced by the interweaving of tiny decorated melodic cells; one might perhaps think of drowsy bees
circling round each other, or moths circling a lantern as darkness overtakes the Latvian summer
evening. [Ivan Moody, 2015]

Le Grand Tango, Astor Piazzolla (1921 1992)


Originally written for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, but played tonight in a version transcribed for
violin, Le Grand Tango was published in Paris. Although structured in a single movement, the work
has three broad sections. It opens with the indication Tempo di tango, in which strongly accented
tango rhythms dominate. In the second section, performers are told to allow more motion, with a
libero e cantabile spirit. It contains extensive dialogue between the violin and piano. The final
giocoso section presents a mood of electric energy and humour. The music charges forward to its
conclusion, giving the violinist many challenging double-stops and glissandi.

Tysikuu, Toivo Krki (1915 1992)


No sooner had the tango travelled from its native Argentina and settled in Paris in the early 20th
century than it continued its journey to Finland. By autumn 1913 the newspapers were publishing little
news items about the fashionable new dance along with advertisements for lessons and demonstrations.
Once the initial enthusiasm had worn off, tango receded into the background. The Finnish tango of the
1930s was closely related to the "ballroom tango" of Central Europe. It was the grim conditions of
wartime Finland which led to the creation of a genre of tango with a Finnish flavour all of its own. It
may even be said that the war gave the northern tango its soul.

While the war was still raging, or not long afterwards, Toivo Krki composed a number of sensitive,
melancholy tangos some of which, like Liljankukka and Siks oon m suruinen, later became classics.
The lyrics, telling of parting and longing, held special meaning for many who had lost their loved-ones
for ever. Krki was by far the most prolific of all the Finnish tango composers, and in his hands it
gradually developed into a genre of its own distinct from its Argentinian model. Finnish tangos are,
unlike their Argentinian relatives, almost always in a minor key. For their tunes they draw on Finnish
folk songs and waltzes. These elements, along with the tempo, which is slower than in the Argentinian
tango, tend to create the impression of a somewhat dragging music. The most common rhythmic motif
in the Finnish tango is that of a march pure and simple, a clear reflection of the German influence
during its formative years. The most Argentinian aspect is often the instrumental interlude, as is the
case in Tysikuu, written in 1953. Harmonically the Finnish tango is usually fairly simple, though
Toivo Krki introduces some more complex jazz harmonies.

Einsames Lied (arranged for piano sextet), Jean Sibelius (1865 1957)
Jean Sibelius was born Johan Sibbe, of an ethnic Swedish family in Finland. At the age of 20 he
started to use a more Finnish-sounding version of his name the name familiar to us now. As a young
man he became interested in Finnish folk poetry and started to study the language though he was
never fluent. Finland had, by that time, passed from Swedish rule and had become a grand duchy
within the Russian empire. The country didnt achieve independence until 1917, and Sibelius music
was instrumental in defining his nation and its aspirations. Like Grieg in Norway, Verdi in Italy and
Dvorak in Czechoslovakia, Sibelius music came to be seen as embodying the spirit of his native
Finland.
After studying at the Institute of Music in Helsinki under Busoni, Sibelius went on to further study in
Berlin and, eventually, Vienna, where he studied with, amongst others, Karl Goldmark. Finnish
literature, however, was always a prime influence and he repeatedly drew inspiration from works such
as the Finnish national epic poem, Kalevala.

Amongst his other output his symphonies and chamber music Sibelius also composed music for
theatre. Tonight we are playing a short movement from his incidental music to a production of
Belshazzars Feast by Hjalmar Fredrik Eugen Procop. This fragment, originally called The Jewish
Girls Song is entitled Einsames Lied, or Song of Solitude.

Satumaa, Unto Mononen (1930 1968)


Although Toivo Krki has possibly been the greatest Finnish tango composer to date, the icon for the
genre as a whole is nevertheless Unto Mononen. By far the best known of his songs is Satumaa, for
which he wrote both the music and the lyrics. It was first recorded by Henry Theel in 1955, and
subsequently became a hit as recorded by Reijo Taipale in 1962. Since then it has been recorded
dozens, if not hundreds of times and is one of the most frequently performed Finnish pieces of music
(even Frank Zappa did an ad hoc version of it once while on tour in Finland).
[material drawn largely from the Finnish Music Information Centre]

Mr McFall's Chamber
Mr McFalls Chamber was formed in Scotland in 1996 with the ambition of creating new music and
surprising programming combinations to draw together new audiences. By and large, the group has
tried to make its programmes accessible and, at the same time, full of experimentation.
Concerts are intimate and fun, delivered with a lightness of touch and quiet sense of humour. Why
cant all concerts be like this engaging, relaxed, sophisticated, exquisitely played and just plain fun?
The Times

The group has worked with many creative musicians and composers from classical, traditional, jazz
and popular backgrounds, including the late Scots music icon Michael Marra with whom the group
collaborated on the album Michael Marra and Mr McFalls Chamber; with Chilean singer songwriter
Valentina Montoya Martnez for the album La Pasionaria and with bandoneonist Victor Villena, who
directed their performance and forthcoming recording of Piazzolla's operita, Mara de Buenos Aires.

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