The Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is welcoming the arrival of spring with a nature-inspired concert on Saturday, March 29.
With Canadian violinist Erika Raum as a special guest for the evening, “Spring Sunrise” will bring an evening of rejuvenating, iconic compositions to Showplace Performance Centre.
“This time of year, sometimes spring is here and sometimes it really isn’t, but either way we can try to put ourselves mentally there,” says PSO music director and conductor Michael Newnham.
The main work of the evening is Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, which is called his “Pastorale Symphony.” Completed in 1808, the music is known as program music, meaning it renders a narrative for the listener. In this piece, it depicts a character’s longing for the countryside.
The music begins by embodying the excitement of going to the countryside — which Newnham compares to the happiness experienced when heading to the cottage — while the longer second movement depicts the scene of walking alongside a brook.
“The music is echoing all the things you might hear, see, or feel, including this feeling of water flowing in the brook, and then there’s a beautiful imitation towards the end using woodwind instruments of different birds,” describes Newnham, referring to the birds Beethoven himself labelled as a nightingale, a cuckoo, and a quail.
VIDEO: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 – Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
The music continues as the character comes up to a village celebration, though it gets interrupted as a large storm bursts through.
“You can hear the thunder and this power of nature in Beethoven’s orchestra and then, almost as quickly as it came, it dissipates, and then you hear this beautiful melody of a bird singing,” Newnham explains. “It then becomes a general feeling of rejoicing that everything is back to where it should be.”
“This symphony is an absolutely great description of how we are tied to the world, to nature, and to our planet, but also how storms come and go — and maybe that’s important to us now politically.”
Newnham describes the work as “liberating,” noting Beethoven’s ever-present appreciation for the natural world.
“Beethoven was a great lover of nature,” he says. “He loved nothing more than go out for a long walks in the countryside around Vienna, and you can really feel that in this music.”
During “Spring Sunrise,” Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony will be paired with Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Another piece that tells a story, the concerto’s opening was composed in 1915 and inspired by Prokofiev’s love affair with writer and poet Nina Meshchersky.
Though he temporarily shelved it to compose his opera The Gambler, Prokofiev completed the concerto in 1917 during the country’s revolutions. Despite the turmoil, the year was thought to be the composer’s most accomplished.
Given the state of affairs, however, his First Violin Concerto did not premiere until 1923 at the Paris Opera, and when it did, it was not met with rave reviews. In fact, Prokofiev was already considered to be the “enfant terrible” of Russian music at the beginning of the 20th century.
VIDEO: Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 – Lisa Batiashvili with Berliner Philharmoniker
“He was there trying to upset all the old rules, and he had a very spiky way of writing music,” Newnham says. “He was new and, at the same time, he had this great lyrical talent for beautiful melodies. His music sometimes has this feeling of nostalgia, longing, and an incredible beauty.”
Despite the initial less-than-ideal reviews, it didn’t take long for opinions on the concerto to change and for it to ultimately become a hit.
“It’s just magical, and it feels like it is about this magical world with a fairy tale type of feeling,” Newnham says. “He uses the orchestra in a different way than composers did before. He gets different sounds that seem strange and uses the violin doing fiendishly difficult things.”
To take on the challenge, Erika Raum is joining the PSO as guest violinist. With a distinct musicality and tone, Raum has been playing professionally since the age of 12 and got her rise through the ranks after taking first place at the 1992 Joseph Szigeti International Violin Competition in Budapest. Since then, she has been a guest artist for orchestras across Europe and Canada.
The concert will mark the second time the Canadian violinist is joining the PSO, following a 2016 performance of a violin concerto written by her mother, oboist and composer Elizabeth Raum.
“She’s an amazing violinist and I’ve done other work with her since then, so she’s one the soloists I really love working with,” says Newnham. “I asked her to join us for the Prokofiev concerto because it’s very spring-like to me, and she was really enthusiastic about getting involved.”
VIDEO: Carrabré’s “Chase the Sun” conducted by Michael Newnham
“Spring Sunrise” will open with a musical composition originating closer to home and modern times with a piece by Juno Award-nominated T. Patrick Carrabré, a Métis composer originally from Winnipeg.
A survivor of the Sixties Scoop (the forced mass removal in Canada of Indigenous children from their families into the child welfare system), Carrabré has since reclaimed his identity and now uses his music to reflect his complex identity. In 2021, he was recognized as the Classic Composer of the Year by the Western Canadian Music Awards.
Carrabré was inspired to compose Chase the Sun by commuting both ways between Brandon and Winnipeg in Manitoba, which Newnham likens to the experience of driving down Highway 401 as the sun is setting.
“It’s one of those days you can imagine the sun is shining straight in your eyes as you’re driving. You can’t really see anything and anybody and it’s during rush hour so everyone’s going 120 kilometres,” Newnham says. “This short piece instills this frantic energy.”
Choosing to pair the piece, which Carrabré composed in 1996, with Beethoven and Prokofiev — each separated by nearly a century — was a deliberate choice on Newnham’s part.
“When we do pieces that belong to the repertoire or were written 200 years ago or 100 years ago, we try to also find ways of showcasing other music that’s from our own time and our own country just to show how there’s some connection,” he says.
“Spring Sunrise” begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 29 at Showplace Performance Centre at 290 George Street North in downtown Peterborough. A pre-concert “Meet the Maestro” talk takes place at 6:45 p.m., where Newnham will introduce audiences to the music they will experience during the concert.
Single tickets are $33, $48, or $55, depending on the seat you choose, with student tickets costing $12 for all seats. Tickets are available in person at the Showplace Box Office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, and one hour before the concert, or online anytime at showplace.org.
For more information about the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra’s 2024-25 season, visit thepso.org.
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