LSO Discovery

1 Allegro serioso, non troppo

Zoltán Kodály had a long and prolific career at the forefront of 20th-century music. He was born in Hungary in 1882 and, after taking up the violin at the age of ten, he taught himself to compose. He studied science at Budapest University and folk song at the conservatoire, completing his thesis on the latter in 1906. Between 1907 and 1914 he toured the countryside with his friend and fellow composer Béla Bartók, collecting and notating folksongs. Both young composers believed in the importance of folk music and featured folk tunes often in their pieces. There is a surprisingly lack of pieces for the obvious combination of violin and cello but this duo is one of the absolute best known and deservedly so. It was written in 1914 but remained unperformed for ten years.

_{Note by Rachel Leach}

3 Mischievous
4 Peaceful

Thea Musgrave was born in Edinburgh and studied at Edinburgh University before becoming a pupil of the great Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and then Copland in the US. She moved to the US permanently in 1972, and has held several important teaching posts there as well as completing commissions for many major orchestras and opera companies. Several of her many operas feature strong female heroes such as Mary, Queen of Scots and Harriet Tubman, but she does not see herself as an activist for women composers. She recently said ‘This thing about singling out women composers drives me nuts! I think it is old-fashioned. It’s time we got over it.’ This four-movement piece is for a constantly changing combination of flutes, piccolos and alto flutes. The line-up changes to show off the different instruments and match the title of each section.

_{Note by Rachel Leach}

Betsy Jolas is a composer with a long history and extensive worklist who until recently was little known outside of France and the US. Born in Paris, friends with Bartók and Igor Stravinsky, and taught by composers Darius Milhaud and Olivier Messiaen (whom she had a long working relationship with), Jolas made her home in the US where she held many high-profile teaching posts. In 2018 she was ‘discovered’ by Sir Simon Rattle who brought her music to the LSO to great acclaim. Jolas was by then in her 90s and came over for the resulting performances stating in an interview, ‘It’s nice that it’s happening when I’m still alive!’ This short piece for solo clarinet from 1990 is one of a number of 'episodes' for a variety of different instruments.

_{Note by Rachel Leach}

1 Vivace

Max Reger was a composer and pianist who worked hard and wrote a lot, but is now largely forgotten or thought of as a ‘second tier’ composer. Perhaps this is because of his use of often ‘old-fashioned’ structures such as fugues and variations, or perhaps it is because he made his home in Leipzig instead of the centre of the musical world in Vienna. He wrote mostly chamber music, songs and pieces with piano or organ before becoming interested in writing for larger orchestral forces when he was approaching middle age. Sadly he died aged just 43 so his ambitions in that arena weren’t realised. This charming Serenade is from 1914 and shows off just what a skilled composer Reger was.

_{Note by Rachel Leach}

Next Lunchtime Concert:
Relaxed performance

_{Friday 11 June 12.30pm}

Mozart First movement from 'String Quartet No 17, 'The Hunt'
Lucy Hale Four Folk Songs
Puccini Crisantemi
Prokofiev Third movement from 'String Quartet No 2'

Julián Gil Rodríguez violin
Maxine Kwok violin
Sofia Silva Sousa viola
Daniel Gardner cello
Rachel Leach presenter

About Relaxed Performances

Relaxed performances are particularly suited to anyone who would prefer a more relaxed performance style, including people with autism, sensory and communication impairments, and learning disabilities.

The concert on 11 June will have a socially-distanced audience and will be streamed live for free on the LSO's YouTube channel. It will feature an adapted BSL interpretation which will include more visual and gestural elements. There will also be closed captions provided by StageText and accessible digital programme notes available to download in advance or on the day.

We hope you will join us at LSO St Luke's. Or watch the live stream on YouTube from the comfort of your own home, where you'll be free to move and make as much sound as you like! 

Join us in the Jerwood Hall by booking a free ticket in advance. Available from 10am Friday, two weeks prior to each concert.