ConcertPulse
Our honorary conductor Herbert Blomstedt
Vincent van Gogh was of the firm belief: "If you truly love nature, you will find everywhere beautiful." Mendelssohn went on several grand tours across Europe, often taking inspiration from natural events and painting numerous watercolours. In 1829, the Scottish landscape served as a musical inspiration for him – despite miserable weather conditions, as he wrote in a letter: “Together, the Scottish Highlands and the sea brew nothing but whiskey, fog, and bad weather." But Mendelssohn also visited Edinburgh and the "palace where Mary Queen of Scots lived and loved." His Third Symphony captures the atmosphere of Scotland magnificently, and with its allusions to the sound of bagpipes creates a music that is "reminiscent of a vanished time". In this concert, our orchestra will also present a stirring 1845 work that is a perfect match for Mendelssohn’s musical idiom: the Fourth Symphony by Franz Berwald – an exciting composer from the homeland of our honorary conductor Herbert Blomstedt, who is always keen to promote his Swedish compatriot. Berwald likewise travelled extensively throughout Europe, living in Vienna and Berlin for a time, but then returned to Sweden. Many of his charming pieces were written in the picturesque town of Nyköping – his wife once described the atmosphere there: "One day passes like another, without any variety other than that which God's beautiful nature presents to those whose hearts are receptive to impressions of this kind. Franz is busy composing throughout the day, and in the evening we regularly walk out into the surrounding countryside."