Debussy - Filas - Korsakov

The symphonic poem Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune is considered CLAUDE DEBUSSY’s (1862–1918) first true masterpiece. It was the piece with which Debussy entered the orchestral world and it was so successful that Debussy’s style of instrumentation became a model and synonym for sensual, orchestral beauty. Debussy loved poems by Stéphan Mallarmé (1842–1898), one of the key protagonists of symbolism in poetry. Mallarmé wrote the large-scale poem L'après-midi d'un faune in 1865 and it is based on an ancient myth surrounding the god Pan, who played a flute (syrinx) made from reed. The premiere of the piece took place on the 22nd December 1894 at a Société Nationale de Musique concert conducted by the Swiss conductor Gustav Doret. The famous flute theme appears in the composition altogether ten times, each time harmonised differently. Debussy also arranged the piece for two pianos and Václav Nižinský demonstrated his great appreciation for the work when he choreographed it as a ballet for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1912.

JURAJ FILAS (1955-) is currently Artist in Residence at the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK. His Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra Don Quixote or-else a Self-Portrait is one of the compositions which FOK is performing as part of the composers’ residency. The concerto was written in 2000 and its premiere took place in Tonhalle St.Gallen in 2003 with the St. Gallen Symphonic Orchestra under the batton of Andrej Borejk. Juraj Filas studied operatic singing and composition at the Prague conservatory, composition with F. J. Bartoš (the student of Josef Suk) and R. Karel (the last student of A. Dvořák). By his teachers he became the descendent of Dvořák´s composition school. Works of Juraj Filas has often been described as emotionally charged and passionate, with a prominent melodic quality. This latter feature was noted by critics in his Trombone Concerto and the piece is very rewarding for the soloist as well being very well orchestrated.

The symphonic suite Scheherazade Op. 35 by NIKOLAJ RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844–1908), premiered in 1888, is a collection of four movements that follow the tales told by the wise storyteller Scheherazade, the main character in The One Thousand and One Nights stories. In the introduction to The Tale of Sinbad the Sailor, the theme of both the cruel Sultan and the theme of Scheherazade are introduced; both important themes that appear in the following movements. The Kalendar Prince acts as a scherzo in the suite, whilst the lyrical The Young Prince and the Young Princess is built on two themes that are intertwined with Scheherazade’s theme. The two-part final movement first presents the hustle and bustle of a Baghdad market, an image that doesn’t quite satisfy the Sultan and makes Scheherazade change the subject. Instead she tells him about a ship which is drawn towards a magnetic rock and suffers a wreck. Korsakov achieved a very individual orchestral sound in this suite through the use of colourful instrumentation, distinctive rhythms and ‘exotic’ melodic and harmonic components. The suite was later given a libretto and choreographed by Mikhail Fokine for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. This ballet version was premiered in the Paris Opera on the 4^th June 1910 and many other choreographers have since turned to this suite.