Concerts with works by

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Guest performance

Le Voyage intérieur

Oramo conducts Vaughan Williams

England’s dreaming: Sakari Oramo rediscovers rare and wonderful British masterpieces by Vaughan Williams, Doreen Carwithen and Malcolm Arnold.

Lied concert with Konstantin Krimmel

The young German-Romanian baritone Konstantin Krimmel won several competitions early in his career and is now part of the ensemble at the Bayerische Staatsoper. From 2021 to 2023, he was a BBC New Generation Artist.Lied singing is an important part of his artistry, and he has recorded songs by composers such as Schubert and Silvestrov on a couple of CDs with pianist Hélène Grimaud. For his debut at Konserthuset, he performs songs by Brahms, Vaughan Williams, and Schubert.Magnus Svensson is the artistic director of Konserthuset’s Lied concerts. In addition to concerts in the Nordic region and elsewhere in Europe, he has also performed in Russia and the US. Since 2012, he has also worked at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music with re-publishing older Swedish music.

Symphonic Concert

Anna Sułkowska-Migoń, photo: Joanna Gałuszka The contemplative nature of much of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s work is said to stem from his love of poetry. After his teacher introduced him to the visionary work of Walt Whitman, the collection Leaves of Grass became the composer’s ‘constant companion’ and the inspiration for Toward the Unknown Region, a song for choir and orchestra first performed in Leeds in 1907. One critic at the time hailed Williams as the leading British composer of the new generation. Futurist poetry, meanwhile, would suit the character of Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto. This work reveals the complex nature of the instrument, which, according to the composer, ‘can be at the same time warm-hearted and completely hysterical, as mild as balsam, and screaming like a tram-car on poorly-greased rails’. Having befriended the members of the Copenhagen Brass Quintet, he wished to compose a musical portrait for each of them, in the form of a solo concerto. Perhaps it was the broad phrases of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s symphonic writing that led observers to associate many of his works with the landscapes of the countries he visited. His Symphony No. 3 in A minor, for example, supposedly evokes the dense fog-shrouded mountain landscapes of Scotland, which the composer visited in 1829. Yet the composer himself did not refer to such inspirations after completing the long journey of several years to completing this work, which received its Scottish nickname from well-meaning listeners.

Symphonic Concert

Anna Sułkowska-Migoń, photo: Joanna Gałuszka The contemplative nature of much of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s work is said to stem from his love of poetry. After his teacher introduced him to the visionary work of Walt Whitman, the collection Leaves of Grass became the composer’s ‘constant companion’ and the inspiration for Toward the Unknown Region, a song for choir and orchestra first performed in Leeds in 1907. One critic at the time hailed Williams as the leading British composer of the new generation. Futurist poetry, meanwhile, would suit the character of Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto. This work reveals the complex nature of the instrument, which, according to the composer, ‘can be at the same time warm-hearted and completely hysterical, as mild as balsam, and screaming like a tram-car on poorly-greased rails’. Having befriended the members of the Copenhagen Brass Quintet, he wished to compose a musical portrait for each of them, in the form of a solo concerto. Perhaps it was the broad phrases of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s symphonic writing that led observers to associate many of his works with the landscapes of the countries he visited. His Symphony No. 3 in A minor, for example, supposedly evokes the dense fog-shrouded mountain landscapes of Scotland, which the composer visited in 1829. Yet the composer himself did not refer to such inspirations after completing the long journey of several years to completing this work, which received its Scottish nickname from well-meaning listeners.

Silesian String Quartet / British Fantasy on the 110th anniversary of the birth of Andrzej Panufnik

“Music is the expression of emotions and feelings. I hold as my ideal a piece in which poetic content is combined with excellence of musical craftmanship. Poetry alone does not determine the musical value of a piece, just as craftmanship alone risks falling into a pitfall of using worn-out formulas. Enduring beauty is only born from a balance of both” Andrzej Panufnik (1952) Silesian String Quartet – 45 years of experience, more than 150 first performances of chamber works, thousands of concerts in the world's most famous concert halls, more than 60 albums, more than 20 nominations, 10 ‘Fryderyk’ statuettes and the most important – the ‘musical Oscar’, i.e., the Gramophone Classical Music Award. The ensemble specialises in the discovery, promotion and recording of Polish music and is famous for its first performances under the guidance of composers. Ditching the traditional hierarchical model of performing music, the ensemble emphasises exchange and collaboration with other musicians. This season, the artists will introduce the work of Sir Andrzej Panufnik on the 110th anniversary of the birth of the only Polish composer to be awarded a title of nobility by Queen Elizabeth II. The programme will be complemented by works by native British composers Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar, whose String Quartet in E minor, op. 83 is an example of late Romantic aesthetics, demonstrating the composer's ability to combine deep lyricism with expressive formal structure. Hommage à Chopin is one of Andrzej Panufnik's most treasured pieces, demonstrating his deep fascination with the work of the great Polish composer. The original version of this musical homage was for solo piano. Later, Panufnik made arrangements for various instrumental ensembles, including flute and string quintet. The piece contains nuanced references to Chopin's style, both in harmony and melody. Panufnik employs variation techniques, developing the theme to draw on the Romantic tradition while introducing modern rhythmic and harmonic elements. [Alexandra Kozowicz]Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 110 minutes

Jubilee concert 100 years Rundfunkchor Berlin