TRUITE D’AVRIL
Join Orchestre Nouvelle Génération and brilliant soloist Ilya Poletaev for an exhilarating evening, filled with the finest music of Bach, Schubert and Zaharava. The evening, not without the mischievous spirit of April Fool’s Day, will be full of surprises – perfect for our reunion, once again, in the concert hall.
ILYA POLETAEV harpsichord
VERONICA UNGUREANU voice
Programme
J. S. BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
J. S. BACH Air on the G String
J. S. BACH Concerto for Harpsichord in D minor
* TROUT TRILOGY
FRANZ SCHUBERT « Die Forelle »
(arr. for voice and strings by Alexandru Sura)
FRANZ SCHUBERT « Thema e variazioni » (from the Quintet in A major, D. 667 “The Trout”)
(arr. for strings by Yuli Turovsky)
YULIYA ZAKHARAVA « Schubert Off » for Strings, Harpsichord and Laughter Obligato
TROUT TRILOGY
(based on Schubert’s famous work, The Trout)
The mysteries behind the creative process have always fascinated me… where do our ideas come from, what triggers and influences them…And is there such a thing as creative chain reaction? The most original works of art, music, literature – how would they be different if another work of art had not influenced their creator… would they exist at all?
The idea of the Trout Trilogy was born out of these questions, gently influenced by the fact that this concert program was created for April Fool’s Day ( in French, Jour du Poisson d’Avril ).The trout, being a fish, makes a perfect protagonist for our Trilogy.
Beginning with the lied Die Forelle, composed in early 1817 by Schubert and sung here by ONG violinist Veronica Ungureanu, the trilogy continues with his piano quintets Thema e variazioni on Die Forelle, which earned Schubert’s quintet the nickname The Trout ( In this performance, Thema e variazioni will be performed in a string arrangement by Yuli Turovsky.) The last part of the trilogy will bring The Trout into the 21st century with the original composition Schubert Off by Yuliya Zakharava, a Quebec composer of Belarusian origin.
Die Forelle or The Trout is probably Schubert’s most famous and popular lied. It is set to a poem by Christian Friedrich Schubart, who was part of Schubert’s wide circle of friends. Describing a rather simple story in which the poet observes a fisherman and a trout, it is fairly typical of Schubert’s compositional prowess in turning a simple poem into one of his greatest musical works.
This song was extremely popular with the public at the time. In 1819, when Sylvester Paumgartner, a wealthy music lover and amateur cellist, was so enchanted by Die Forelle that he commissioned Schubert to write a piano quintet, specifying that one of the movements should be a set of variations on his beloved song.
In addition to being one of Schubert’s most joyous and exuberant creations, The Trout Quintet has become one of the most popular chamber music works of all time. In turn, Thema e variazioni prompted us to commission a new work from a very talented composer, Yuliya Zakharava. Inspired by Schubert’s Trout and in the mischievous spirit of April Fool’s Day, this will be a playful composition for strings, harpsichord, and laughter obligato…
To return to the previous question of the creative chain reaction, an anecdote comes to mind:
It is said that Schubert was once on the verge of destroying Die Forelle . Shortly after he finished this song, the young composer showed it to a group of friends, one of whom recognized in a few bars an unconscious quotation from Beethoven’s The Coriolan Overture. “Schubert saw it immediately, too, and wanted to destroy the song” – recounted one of his friends – “but we didn’t allow it and that saved this glorious song from destruction.”
Had it not been for this intervention by Schubert’s friends, the Trout Trilogy might never have seen the light of day…or perhaps had Beethoven not written the Coriolan Overture…
Natasha Turovsky
