RSNO Dvořák’s New World Symphony Usher Hall Edinburgh 6th December 2024 Review
RSNO Dvořák’s New World Symphony at the Usher Hall tonight saw the orchestra performing for their final orchestral concert of this year (there are two other special concerts though still to go) one of the most popular symphony works of all time.
This evening’s music, however, started with a very festive work – Tchaikovsky’s famous “The Nutcracker Suite”. This was, however, not the one that so many RSNO audience members would be familiar with, but Tchaikovsky arr Ellington, Strayhorn, Tyzik The Nutcracker Suite, and this one is very different from the original whilst also maintaining many recognisable elements.
This version is the work of two giants of 20th century Jazz music – Duke Ellington and his long time band arranger Billy Strayhorn, and for the summer of 1960 a new LP record was released featuring this work. This was not only the first time that Duke Ellington had released a full length album devoted to another composer’s work, but also the first time that anyone in the Jazz world had re-imagined a whole suite of music from the classical music world.
The first time that I heard this music performed live was by the SNJO (Scottish National Jazz Orchestra) and the instrumental line up was as scored/arranged by Ellington/Strayhorn, and if you have only before heard the original Tchaikovsky music then this one can come as a bit of a culture shock on first hearing.
For tonight, the original Ellington/Strayhorn arrangement would not have been created for an orchestra like the RSNO and it is Jeff Tyzik’s symphonic arrangement that has expanded the instrumentation and given us something that is still very much a Jazz version of “The Nutcracker Suite”, but also something closer to the original Tchaikovsky score in parts. The choice to use some jazz musicians that I have seen perform many times with the SNJO, including Martin Kershaw (Saxophone), Alyn Cosker (Drum Kit) and Calum Gourlay (Jazz Bass) was a wise one too, as each of these musicians has their own very distinctive talents to add to this music. A special note has to go to Alyn Cosker who is simply one of the best jazz drummers out there.
Following on from the RSNO’s trip into the world of Jazz, a return to perhaps more familiar music from Samuel Barber and his 1941 violin concerto performed by the RSNO’s 2024/2025 Concert Season Artist in Residence, violinist Randall Goosby. Having said that this was familiar ground musically is perhaps not quite true as, when this music was first written and performed it broke many accepted rules of what classical music should sound like and the almost immediate start of the violin on the opening movement was only one of them. In its own way, this music was as ground-breaking as the Ellington/Strayhorn “The Nutcracker Suite”.
There are parts of the music that Samuel Barber wrote for violin that have a reputation for being notoriously difficult for any violinist to play, but none of this seemed to take Randall Goosby out of his musical stride and he was so obviously enjoying being on stage and performing this music.
The second movement of this work is something exceptional and perhaps goes a long way to explaining why this violin concerto has so firmly established its place is the hearts of musicians and audiences today.
The final work performed this evening, the ever popular Dvořák Symphony No9 From the New World needed no introduction tonight and more than a few people in the audience (like myself) will be so familiar with the music from the second movement and perhaps famous cor anglais melodies of all time – the one to the Hovis Bread advert from 1973 and that delivery boy pushing his bike up that huge hill. It is a bit odd then that, because of this, so many of us associate this particular music with the North of England (even though it was filmed in Dorset) and narrated with a West Country accent. This of course is a long way from its original setting and response by Dvořák to the symphony that he wrote for America whilst living and teaching in New York in 1893 (he would return home to his native Bohemia in 1895).
When you listen to the New World Symphony you can almost feel how Dvořák felt as he was completely overwhelmed by the majestic beauty of this new land. In some ways he was almost like a small child in a sweet shop too as this new country’s many diverse musical influences were picked up and absorbed by him. Here we can hear the sounds of city streets, the vast outdoor spaces, native American, Gospel, American and European music fusing together into something new as Dvořák did not directly copy any of them, but instead took structural elements from each of them to reweave into his new symphony. All of this wonder and cultural blending of music was perfectly captured by the RSNO’s performance tonight
Perhaps the most visionary aspect of Dvořák’s time in America is not in the music performed itself tonight, but in one of his own quotes in tonight’s programme notes (© Charlotte Gardner) – “I am now satisfied that the future of this country must be founded upon what are called the Afro American melodies”.
Bringing the worlds of Jazz and classical music together tonight was conductor Patrick Hahn.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
This evening’s music, however, started with a very festive work – Tchaikovsky’s famous “The Nutcracker Suite”. This was, however, not the one that so many RSNO audience members would be familiar with, but Tchaikovsky arr Ellington, Strayhorn, Tyzik The Nutcracker Suite, and this one is very different from the original whilst also maintaining many recognisable elements.
This version is the work of two giants of 20th century Jazz music – Duke Ellington and his long time band arranger Billy Strayhorn, and for the summer of 1960 a new LP record was released featuring this work. This was not only the first time that Duke Ellington had released a full length album devoted to another composer’s work, but also the first time that anyone in the Jazz world had re-imagined a whole suite of music from the classical music world.
The first time that I heard this music performed live was by the SNJO (Scottish National Jazz Orchestra) and the instrumental line up was as scored/arranged by Ellington/Strayhorn, and if you have only before heard the original Tchaikovsky music then this one can come as a bit of a culture shock on first hearing.
For tonight, the original Ellington/Strayhorn arrangement would not have been created for an orchestra like the RSNO and it is Jeff Tyzik’s symphonic arrangement that has expanded the instrumentation and given us something that is still very much a Jazz version of “The Nutcracker Suite”, but also something closer to the original Tchaikovsky score in parts. The choice to use some jazz musicians that I have seen perform many times with the SNJO, including Martin Kershaw (Saxophone), Alyn Cosker (Drum Kit) and Calum Gourlay (Jazz Bass) was a wise one too, as each of these musicians has their own very distinctive talents to add to this music. A special note has to go to Alyn Cosker who is simply one of the best jazz drummers out there.
Following on from the RSNO’s trip into the world of Jazz, a return to perhaps more familiar music from Samuel Barber and his 1941 violin concerto performed by the RSNO’s 2024/2025 Concert Season Artist in Residence, violinist Randall Goosby. Having said that this was familiar ground musically is perhaps not quite true as, when this music was first written and performed it broke many accepted rules of what classical music should sound like and the almost immediate start of the violin on the opening movement was only one of them. In its own way, this music was as ground-breaking as the Ellington/Strayhorn “The Nutcracker Suite”.
There are parts of the music that Samuel Barber wrote for violin that have a reputation for being notoriously difficult for any violinist to play, but none of this seemed to take Randall Goosby out of his musical stride and he was so obviously enjoying being on stage and performing this music.
The second movement of this work is something exceptional and perhaps goes a long way to explaining why this violin concerto has so firmly established its place is the hearts of musicians and audiences today.
The final work performed this evening, the ever popular Dvořák Symphony No9 From the New World needed no introduction tonight and more than a few people in the audience (like myself) will be so familiar with the music from the second movement and perhaps famous cor anglais melodies of all time – the one to the Hovis Bread advert from 1973 and that delivery boy pushing his bike up that huge hill. It is a bit odd then that, because of this, so many of us associate this particular music with the North of England (even though it was filmed in Dorset) and narrated with a West Country accent. This of course is a long way from its original setting and response by Dvořák to the symphony that he wrote for America whilst living and teaching in New York in 1893 (he would return home to his native Bohemia in 1895).
When you listen to the New World Symphony you can almost feel how Dvořák felt as he was completely overwhelmed by the majestic beauty of this new land. In some ways he was almost like a small child in a sweet shop too as this new country’s many diverse musical influences were picked up and absorbed by him. Here we can hear the sounds of city streets, the vast outdoor spaces, native American, Gospel, American and European music fusing together into something new as Dvořák did not directly copy any of them, but instead took structural elements from each of them to reweave into his new symphony. All of this wonder and cultural blending of music was perfectly captured by the RSNO’s performance tonight
Perhaps the most visionary aspect of Dvořák’s time in America is not in the music performed itself tonight, but in one of his own quotes in tonight’s programme notes (© Charlotte Gardner) – “I am now satisfied that the future of this country must be founded upon what are called the Afro American melodies”.
Bringing the worlds of Jazz and classical music together tonight was conductor Patrick Hahn.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
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