Presents CELLO QUARTET - Music Network

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presentsCELLO QUARTETwith William Butt, Rosalie Curlett,Martin Johnson & Ailbhe McDonagh12th – 21th May 2021A digital tour presented in partnership with Waterford Music,The Courthouse Arts Centre, Riverbank Arts Centre, St. John’sTheatre & Arts Centre, Linenhall Arts Centre and glór.ProgrammeClaude Debussy Arr. David Johnstone Clair de luneWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Arr. David Johnstone Ave verum corpus KV 618J.S. Bach Arr. Claudio Jaffe and Johanne Perron Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor (BWV 1004)Ludwig van Beethoven Arr. Ailbhe McDonagh Adagio cantabile (2nd movement) from Sonata No. 8,Op. 13 “Pathétique”Conor Linehan An Autumn Night’s Dream New Music Network CommissionAilbhe McDonagh CellangoJean-Baptiste Barrière Sonata No. 10 in G majorGeorge Gershwin Arr. Lee Armstrong ‘Summertime’ from Porgy and BessBéla Bartók Arr. Lee Armstrong Romanian Folk Dances (Sz68)

ProgrammeNotesClaude Debussy (1862-1918)Arr. by David JohnstoneClair de lunePaul Verlaine’s poem Clair de lune (‘Moonlight’)inspired three composers who re-defined Frenchmusic in the early years of the 19th century, GabrielFauré and Louis Vierne included. But it is ClaudeDebussy’s setting, composed in 1890 as the thirdmovement of his Suite bergamasque, that hasproved the most indelible and enduring. Debussywas not yet out of his twenties when he wrotethis beautifully elegant, gossamer-soft miniaturemasterpiece. David Johnstone’s arrangementfor cello quartet gently accents its long, liquid,lyrical lines, spinning them out into a tapestry ofdiaphanous threads woven together by a veritablechoir of cellos.J.S. Bach (1685-1750)Arr. by Claudio Jaffe and Johanne PerronChaconnefrom Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor (BWV 1004)Yehudi Menuhin described the Chaconne, the finalmovement of the BWV 1004 Violin Partita, as “thegreatest structure for solo violin that exists”. Muchadapted for other instruments, it lends itself easily tothe plangent mahogany timbres of the cello.It was published along with five siblings as Sei Soloa Violino senza Basso accompagnato (BWV 100106) in 1720. Then Kapellmeister to the Köthen courtof Prince Leopold, Bach’s access to experiencedmusicians, a number of virtuoso instrumentalistsamong them, encouraged him to strive towards newheights of technical accomplishment and expressiveintensity.What’s striking about the Chaconne is its disguisingof such ambition. Never has concentratedcomplexity seemed so loose, natural and freeflowing, qualities accented by Claudio Jaffe andJohanne Perron’s nimble, nuanced arrangement fortwo cellos.In the warp and weft of their layered voices, the darkhued, contemplative interiority of the cello’s baritonalvoice captures the music’s shifting gradations anddynamic contours to reveal new textures, hiddendepths and unexpected peaks within the remarkablesubtlety of design.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(1756-1791)Arr. by David JohnstoneAve verum corpus, K.618Mozart composed his motet Ave verum corpus(‘Hail, true body’) to the text of a 14th-century Latinhymn for the feast of Corpus Christi in June 1791,six months before his death at the age of 35. Lastingonly 46 bars and originally scored for SATB choir,strings and organ, David Johnstone’s gently sombrearrangement for four cellos accentuates the gravityof the Latin text and the profundity of the mostconsecrated element of the Catholic Mass it wasintended to accompany and illustrate.Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)Arr. by Ailbhe McDonaghAdagio cantabile (2nd movement)from Sonata No. 8, Op. 13 “Pathétique”Completed during the summer of 1798 and publishedin the autumn of the following year as Grande sonatePathétique, Beethoven’s Op. 13 gave the Romanticera a new anthem.It shares an inherited (or appropriated) kinshipwith Bach’s Partita No. 2 (BWV 826) and Mozart’sPiano Sonata No. 14 (K.457), both also cast inmelancholically reflective C minor. In Beethoven’smiddle-movement Adagio cantabile, it’s possibleto discern a distinct echo of an equally delicate,similarly placed theme in Mozart’s Sonata. Whateverinfluences may have fed Beethoven’s tragedy-lacedsonorities, they were transformed into one of thehigh-watermarks of the piano repertoire.It is tempting (if fanciful) to think that AilbheMcDonagh’s arrangement finds in the originalthat particularly Irish fascination with music thatseems more articulate and revealing than merewords. Perhaps it is the faux-religious serenity ofthe music’s measured heart-beat pulse that speaksmost eloquently? Or the sweetly sincere, whisperedsense of a soul-baring confessional and the promiseof forgiveness it contains that most immediatelyconnects. These are questions that McDonagh’sarrangement explores with exquisite poetry.

Conor LinehanAilbhe McDonaghAn Autumn Night’s DreamCellangoNew Music Network CommissionComposer’s note:The title of this piece comes from the fact that itsmain theme literally came to me in my sleep. I wasstaying in Galway last September, writing music forDruidGregory, Druid Theatre’s production of six LadyGregory plays, staged in the grounds of her formerhome of Coole Park. One night, the opening melodycame to me in a dream. On waking up, I quickly sangit into my phone before the mist cleared and it wouldbe forgotten forever!The piece is in an almost palindromic form. It opens withthe ‘dream tune’, a slow, meditative melody, which thentransforms into a graceful dance for one bowed andthree pizzicato cellos in ever shifting time signatures.The dance is interrupted by a more driven, playful,section which alternates between 4/4 and 6/8 bars,subsequently incorporating the initial melody. Thismoves back into a variation on the more pensiveopening music before a brief coda of the ‘pizzicato’dance.The brief, such as it was, when writing the piece wasto compose music which is optimistic and warm, inthe face of such difficult times. It also distributes thematerial evenly between Martin, Ailbhe, Rosalie andBill. After all, in a quartet of four cellos there is nomusical hierarchy!I hope that the piece invokes a little of the tone ofMendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream music.I also hope that it also might have absorbed some ofthe magical spirit of Coole Park.I’m very grateful to have been asked to composethis piece for four such superb musicians. I hope youenjoy it.Conor LinehanComposer’s note:Cellango is a cello quartet composed by AilbheMcDonagh based on the tango dance form. A cellotango, it is an homage to the Argentine composerAstor Piazzolla who is famous for his tango writing.The cello quartet ensemble is perfectly suited to thetango because of its range as both high and lowareas of the instrument are explored in the piece,giving it the ability to sound lyrical but also rhythmicand sultry.The opening sets an energetic scene with bothfirst and second themes but then becomes moretranquil towards the middle section of the piece.The rhythmic tango bassline is heard in pizzicatocelli here in a lyrical interplay between the otherinstrumental voices. As the opening theme returns,it adds more layers, textures and techniques tothe original, gathering excitement as the pieceapproaches its end. Segments of all the themesreturn towards the finale and with dramatic glissandithe piece rushes to an exciting finish. Cellangois dedicated to Aisling Drury-Byrne with whom Istudied the cello.Ailbhe McDonagh

Jean-Baptiste Barrière (1707-1747)Sonata for two cellos, No. 10 in G major1. Andante2. Adagio3. Allegro prestissimoCello champion and pioneer Jean-Baptiste Barrièrehelped bring the recently developed instrument toprominence to end the long dominance of the viol.A lauded virtuoso cellist, he was also a composer ofnote. One for whom an enamoured Louis XV brokewith the convention of conferring royal privilegeonly for six years to grant Barrière a life-longdispensation, all too briefly enjoyed before his death,aged 40, in 1747.He published four books of cello sonatas, all for solocello with figured bass line (accompanied solos, inother words). Uniquely, the fourth sonata from BookIV, No. 10 in G major, adds a second cello voice asaccompaniment. It opens with a stately Andantewhich treats both voices equally, the ensuingshort Adagio a sobering arioso for the lower voicecomplemented by the higher voice’s ornamentedmelody. The Allegro prestissimo finale is a helterskelter dialogue between the two, fluid, quicksilverfleet and a dazzling display of Baroque exuberance.George Gershwin (1898-1937)Arr. by Lee Armstrong‘Summertime’ from Porgy and BessGeorge Gershwin’s 1935 “American folk opera”Porgy and Bess is one of musical theatre’s seminalworks. Set in the fictional African-American ghettoof Catfish Row in early-1920s’ Charleston, SouthCarolina, it tells the story of a beggar, his drugaddicted girlfriend, her violent ex-boyfriend and theirlong-suffering, hard-praying neighbours.Now securely in the repertoire of theatre and operacompanies the world over, several of its songs havebecome popular standards. None more so than theheat-hazed lullaby-like ‘Summertime’. Its blendingof African-American temperament, Blues attitudeand jazz-inflected tone produced one of the mostevocative and unforgettable of songs to come outof Broadway.Béla Bartók (1881-1945)Arr. by Lee ArmstrongRomanian Folk Dances (Sz68)1. Jocul cu bâta (Stick dance)2. Brâul (Sash Dance)3. Pe loc (Stamping Dance)4. Buciumeana (Horn (Bucium) Dance)5. Poarga Româneascã (Romanian Polka)6. Mãruntel (Fast Dance)Composed for solo piano in 1915 and orchestratedfor chamber ensemble in 1917, Bartók’s RomanianFolk Dances are based on traditional tunes fromTransylvania that would originally have been playedon rustic fiddle or flute.One of the first composers to recognise the richvitality of folk music, Bartók avidly collected andarranged tunes from what was then his nativeHungary. His interests ranged across Eastern Europeto embrace the musical heritages of modern-daySlovakia, Bulgaria and Romania.Each of the six miniature, played-through danceshave a distinctive signature of their own, variouslyconjuring a pirouetting soloist, the romance ofcelebrations around a gypsy camp fire, a livelypolka and a languid moment of introspection, withthe finale a fast, celebratory affair intertwining twovivacious melodies. Lee Armstrong’s arrangementdeftly distils the music’s blend of pastoral vibrancy,peasant charm and Arcadian delicacy.Programme notes by Michael Quinn

BiographiesWilliam Butt celloWilliam Butt was born in London. His musicalcareer started early, as a chorister in St.George’sChapel, Windsor. Later he studied at the RoyalNorthern College of Music with Moray Welsh andafter winning awards and scholarships such asthe Royal Society of Arts, Martin Trust and firstprize in the Muriel Taylor competition, he furtheredhis studies with Antonio Lysy in Montreal. Henow enjoys a busy career as soloist and chambermusician, and is professor of cello at the RoyalIrish Academy of Music in Dublin. On the concertplatform he has performed extensively throughoutIreland, the UK, Europe and the Far East. He is amuch-admired exponent of the solo cello repertoire,having performed and broadcast numerous works bycontemporary composers, as well as the formidablesolo sonatas by Kodály and Ligeti and the suitesof Bach and Britten. In recent seasons he hasappeared as soloist with the RTÉ National SymphonyOrchestra, the Orchestra of St Cecilia and the UlsterOrchestra for BBC Radio 3. He has worked withconductors such as Alexander Anissimov, GerhardMarkson, Rumon Gamba, Vernon Handley and BarryDouglas.His 2004 recording of the three suites for solo celloby Benjamin Britten by Warner Music UK (WarnerClassics/Apex) received very positive reviews inthe English press. He has performed and givenmasterclasses throughout Europe and China, and isconstantly in demand as a chamber music player,something that he is passionate about.William plays on a fine cello made by GiovanniGrancino in Milan (1690), and works regularly withhis own string quartet the Esposito Quartet.Rosalie Curlett celloRosalie began her studies at the Royal NorthernCollege of Music in Manchester, graduating witha first-class honours degree in 2012. After severalyears of freelancing Rosalie was awarded a full-timeposition with the Ulster Orchestra, and moved toBelfast in February 2018.Rosalie has performed regularly with the BBCPhilharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra,Manchester Camerata and the Hallé Orchestra,and has also performed with the Royal ScottishNational Orchestra and with the Royal PhilharmonicOrchestra. She has been fortunate enough toperform all over the world in countries such asGermany, Poland, Spain and China, to name a few,and has recorded under Chandos and DeutscheGrammophon record labels.Rosalie is a passionate teacher, and holds teachingpositions at the Ulster College of Music, VictoriaCollege and Campbell College in Belfast. She isa former string sectional coach at the prestigiousChetham’s School of Music and now works closelywith the outreach and education department of theUlster Orchestra.

Martin Johnson celloAilbhe McDonagh celloMartin studied cello at the Royal College ofMusic, London, under the direction of AnnaShuttleworth and the Philharmonia Orchestra’s CelloConcertmaster, Andrew Shulman.Irish cellist Ailbhe McDonagh performsinternationally as a soloist and chamber musician.She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music,Rochester, U.S.A. and the Royal Irish Academy ofMusic (RIAM), Ireland.In 2000, he joined the RTÉ National SymphonyOrchestra and moved to Dublin, where he wassubsequently appointed Section Leader.In January 2008 Martin made his debut as a soloistwith the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra,performing Saint-Saëns Concerto No. 1 in A minorOp.33. In January 2015 Martin gave the worldpremiere of Grainne Mulvey’s new cello concertoExcursions and Ascents as part of the RTÉ NSO’s2015 Horizons Concert Series. Shortly afterwards,in March 2015, Martin made his eighth appearanceas soloist with the RTÉ NSO performing the worldpremiere of Frank Corcoran’s brand-new CelloConcerto to critical acclaim. This has since beenrecorded on the RTÉ lyric fm Label and was releasedin June 2017.As a soloist, Martin has given many otherperformances of concerti by Elgar, RobertSchumann, Joseph Haydn, Lalo, Saint-Saëns, SirMichael Tippett, Delius, Corelli, Ibert, Beethoven’sTriple Concerto and perhaps most notably RichardStrauss’s tone poem Don Quixote op.35 for cello andorchestra with the RTÉ NSO and conductor PascalRophé at Ireland’s National Concert Hall. Martin isdue to give the World Premiere of a brand-new CelloConcerto by Shaun Davey in the autumn of 2021with the RTÉ NSO.Martin plays a fine cello by Thomas Kennedy ofLondon c.1810 and an exceptional French bow byEugene Sartory from the personal collection of thelate and celebrated bow maker, Bernard Millant.In 2006 Martin was invited to become a lifetimemember of the World Philharmonic Orchestra. He isa Countess of Muster Scholar and is also supportedby Music Network’s Music Capital Scheme, fundedby The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts,Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Music Network isfunded by The Arts Council.Ailbhe gave her debut recital at the National ConcertHall, Dublin with celebrated Irish pianist JohnO’Conor with whom she has recently recordedBeethoven’s five cello and piano sonatas. Ailbhe hasappeared as a concerto soloist numerous times inIreland and abroad. Performances include concertsat Carnegie Hall, the Yale Norfolk Festival, SchleswigHolstein Music Festival, St. Martin in the Fields andon television and radio.As a chamber musician, Ailbhe performs as part ofThe McDonagh Sisters with pianist Orla McDonagh.She is also a member of the Ficino Ensemble, TheBelisama Trio and traditional Irish music group TrioElatha.Ailbhe is also an established composer withnumerous compositions and commissions to date.Boosey & Hawkes have published two books ofher piano music entitled It’s a Piano Thing. Currentprojects include It’s a Cello Thing, a collection of twobooks of cello music which will be published shortly.Keenly interested in performing contemporary music,Ailbhe collaborates with many composers worldwideand has recorded several CDs of contemporarymusic.Ailbhe joined the cello faculty of the RIAM in 2010.Her debut solo CD It’s a Cello Thing was named ‘CDof the Week’ on Ireland’s national classical musicstation RTÉ lyric fm. Her Skellig album was releasedin 2020. She performs on a Postaccini cello.

Romanian Folk Dances (Sz68) 1. Jocul cu bâta (Stick dance) 2. Brâul (Sash Dance) 3. Pe loc (Stamping Dance) 4. Buciumeana (Horn (Bucium) Dance) 5. Poarga Româneascã (Romanian Polka) 6. Mãruntel (Fast Dance) Composed for solo piano in 1915 and orchestrated for chamber ensemble in 1917, Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances are based on .

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