On Saturday, February 6th, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is thrilled to welcome Canadian violinist Erika Raum to Showplace Performance Centre for “Erika’s Violin” — a special performance of the concerto written especially for Erika by her mother.
Filmmaker Jessica Raum’s 1993 documentary Like Mother, Like Daughter explores the relationship between her mother, composer Elizabeth Raum, and her sister, violinist Erika Raum.
In 1992, Elizabeth was commissioned to create a violin concerto especially for Erika, who was gaining international attention for her musical talent. Jessica’s film documents the process and the premiere of the piece, titled Concerto for Violin (Faces of Woman).
Ahead of the PSO’s February 6 concert featuring Erika and Concerto for Violin, both mother and daughter took time to look back on the experience documented in Jessica’s film, and the evolution of their relationship with each other as musicians and family.
Elizabeth is an oboist and composer. Her husband Richard is a trombonist. So their Halifax, then Regina, households were very musical ones in which to raise their daughters. Erika’s childhood was so filled with music that she cannot pinpoint her first musical memory.
“[Music was] too much a part of every aspect of every day for me from the time of conception,” she says.
Elizabeth confirms that music was a part of Erika’s life from an early age.
“When Erika was a baby, I wondered what would happen if I started her on music that early in her life,” she reminisces.
“When she was still almost a baby, just over a year old, I’d sit her on my lap at the piano and play her nursery tunes with her fingers hitting the keys, only I would actually be pushing the keys because her little fingers were so small I was afraid it would hurt them. Soon I noticed her muscles were taking over until she was guiding my hand to play the tunes instead of the other way around.”
“I think my biggest challenge was practising,” Erika says. “Somehow a passion for music doesn’t always translate into a passion for the grunt work of practising every day.”
However, Elizabeth acknowledges that Erika’s situation was unique. She has been asked about why she did not move Erika to a city where she may have had more artistic opportunities.
“I figured she already had that in Regina,” Elizabeth responds. “She had wonderful teachers and the chance to play in a professional orchestra at age 12. I also felt that people who move away from home because a child is talented put too heavy a burden on that child to succeed. What if, after all, she had decided she didn’t want to become a violinist?”
Erika definitely wanted to become a violinist. During the 1980s, she attended The Banff Centre in Alberta and the Wiener Meisterkurse in Vienna. In 1989 she enrolled at the University of Toronto to study violin. In 1992 Erika won first prize and the prize for best interpretation of a Mozart concerto at the Josef Szigeti International Violin Competition in Budapest. That same year, Elizabeth was asked to write the violin concerto for Erika. It debuted in 1993, as did Jessica’s documentary.
The Concerto for Violin (Faces of Woman) was certainly a special work for Elizabeth. She wanted it to describe Erika through various stages of life.
“The first movement is the young girl, very romantic and innocent, passing directly to the second movement in which the woman becomes more mature and sure of herself,” Elizabeth explains. “I used music that Erika herself had written for her sister Jessica’s wedding in the trio section.”
“Then the third movement, The Sibyl, depicts the mystery of woman, moving to the fourth movement which is the strife that one encounters in life. Here again I used music that Erika had written for Jessica’s wedding, only where she wrote it as an exit march, I adapted it to be more powerful, a fight against adversaries.”
“I suppose the relationship has changed as it does with all my ‘baby’ repertoire — music I’ve played since before I was 21 or so,” Erika says. “We all mature. But I don’t think it has anything to do with my mother and me. In fact, I don’t approach her concerto any differently than I would Mendelssohn or Tchaikovsky, which I think shows the respect I feel for her work.”
Elizabeth concurs that her relationship with Concerto for Violin has not really changed as the years have passed. Instead, she reflects on how her relationship with Erika has evolved.
“My relationship with Erika has gone from ‘mother to daughter’ to ‘mother to mother’ as she now has four children,” Elizabeth says. “It’s been a wonderful experience, having an extended family including my other daughter, Jessica, and her husband and children.”
Erika echoes her mother’s appreciation for the network of support that has continued within the family.
“My parents are a big part of this picture,”she says. “My eldest is nine, but less than three years after she was born I had my triplets. Shortly after that, my parents moved here from Regina to help keep this whole production going.”
Erika continues to perform internationally and across Canada. She is also on the faculties of the University of Toronto and The Glenn Gould School. Outside of performing and teaching, she enjoys spending time with her family and gardening.
“Erika’s Violin” begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 6th.
Ticket holders are invited to attend the “Meet the Maestro” pre-concert talk with PSO Music Director Michael Newnham at 6:40 p.m. in the Showplace theatre.
Tickets are $36.50 for adults and $15 for students and are available at the Showplace Performance Centre box office (290 George St. N., Peterborough), by phone at 705-742-7469, or online www.showplace.org.
