The Scottish Ensemble’s critically acclaimed 2005-06 series, the first under the artistic direction of Jonathan Morton, concludes next month (April 2006)  with the Fiddlers tour, six concerts that offer a further opportunity to experience string playing at its very best. After three tours featuring a range of different instrumental soloists, the final one now puts the players of the Scottish Ensemble centre stage. The programme includes works by two leading Finnish composers, Jean Sibelius and Einojuhani Rautavaara, and concludes with one of the Scottish Ensemble’s signature works, Béla Bartók’s epic Divertimento for string orchestra. Opening on Monday 24 April 2006, The Fiddlers tour runs until Saturday 29 April 2006 with concerts in Aberdeen, Inverness, Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth.

One characteristic common to all the composers featured in the Fiddlers programme is a sharp sense of nationalism. For Sibelius this was tied up with the prevailing political situation – until 1917 Finland formed part of the Russian Empire. Encouraged in his work by the Finnish Nationalist movement, by the turn of the 20th century he was a great symbol of national self-determination During his long life he was to became a national figure – indeed for many people he was Finland. His fame as a composer also stretched far beyond his native land raising the profile of Finland across the world, and his musical personality has been described as “the most powerful to have emerged in any of the Scandinavian countries.” His pre-first world war compositions, such as those featured in the Fiddlers tour, are characterized by a delicious romanticism, something that is also central to much of the work of his fellow countryman, Rautavaara. Born in 1928, Einojuhani Rautavaara is the most significant living Finnish composer, and his work has been highly regarded internationally for over 50 years. Like his prestigious forebear, Rautavaara’s extensive and versatile output has also done much to raise the profile of Finnish music internationally. The two works featured in the programme were both originally composed in the 1950s. The Fiddlers was initially conceived as a work for solo piano, whilst the Epitaph for Bela Bartók was written for piano and cello. Over 20 years later Rautavaara revisited both works rescoring them for string ensemble.

"Many people think it is a comparatively easy task to write a composition on found folk tunes... This way of thinking is completely erroneous. To handle folk tunes is one of the most difficult tasks; equally difficult, if not more so, than to write a major original composition.”
Béla Bartók

As Sibelius was Finland, so Bartók was to many Hungary, with indigenous folk music being one of the key influences in his compositions. Divertimento, with which the Scottish Ensemble’s 2005 – 06 series ends, is typical of how he worked these age-old themes and tunes into his music. Much of the music for which he is now remembered was written in the turbulent years of 1930s, often in response to commissions from abroad. Divertimento, 1939 was one of several, including the Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, 1936 and the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, 1937 that he composed for Swiss conductor Paul Sacher. Divertimento was written at a time when both personal and national events were impacting on the composer’s life. As Europe moved inevitably towards war, Bartók knew his time in his beloved Hungary was limited. Meanwhile his mother, perhaps the most important influence in his life, was on her death bed. Divertimento, one of the last pieces he was to complete before leaving for what he always saw as exile in the USA, features in its outer movements many life-affirming, joyful themes and tunes from Hungarian and Jewish folk music, yet at its heart lies a lament for the tragic times in which it was composed. Full of anguish, it has been compared to “the final rays of the setting sun, tainted red with the blood that was to be spilled in the years to come.”

The Fiddlers tour follows a sensational performance of the Eight Seasons at the City Hall, Glasgow featuring the world famous Paganini violin. The event was greeted with “rapturous applause” not unlike those that met Paganini himself when he played the violin in Glasgow almost 175 years earlier and was universally praised by the critics

“The City Hall itself became an instrument for Clio Gould from which she drew strains of such finesse that Vivaldi’s Four Seasons sprang to life anew….Jonathan Morton was sensational soloist in Piazzolla’s Four Seasons in Buenos Aires… The sound of the cellos and basses supplied a foundation of warm tone to which the harpsichord added a delicate shimmer. This was musical craftsmanship of the highest order”
The Herald

The combination of Gould and Morton was electric…Gould inspired daring in the Vivaldi colouring each concerto with imaginative and expressive detail. Morton elicited equal character from the Piazzola, his performances, and that of the Ensemble having a lusty energy and alluringly sardonic edge. The programme struck a perfect chord.”
The Scotsman

“Join me on a voyage of discovery said Gould introducing the concert and the violin… and what a trip it was! We were treated to electrifying performances of both Vivaldi and Piazzolla. I have never heard a performance as thrilling.”
The Times

The work of the Scottish Ensemble combines Scotland-wide performances, a broad education programme and appearances at Europe’s leading music festivals, and consistently features playing of the highest quality. Its unique contribution to classical music has now been recognised by the Scottish Arts Council with the award of Foundation Funding. The only classical music ensemble to have been granted this support, the Scottish Ensemble will use the increased long-term financial support for a range of new initiatives further details of which will be unveiled next month.

TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday 24 April 2006 at 7.30pm
The Sanctuary, Queen’s Cross Church, Aberdeen
Tickets priced £3-£13.50 (including concessions)
Box Office: 01224 641 122

Tuesday 25 April 2006 at 8pm
Eden Court in Exile: Drumossie Hotel
Tickets priced £3-£13.50 (including concessions)
Box Office: 01463 234 234

Wednesday 26 April 2006 at 7.30pm
Marryat Hall, Dundee
Tickets priced £3-£13.50 (including concessions) Box Office: 01382 434 940

Thursday 27 April 2006 at 7.45pm
City Halls, Glasgow
Tickets priced £3-£13.50 (including concessions)
Box Office: 0141 353 8000

Friday 28 April 2006 at 7.45pm
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
Tickets priced £3-£13.50 (including concessions)
Box Office: 0131 668 2019

Saturday 29 April 2005 at 7.30pm
Perth Concert Hall
Tickets priced £3-£13.50 (including concessions)
Box Office: 01738 621 031