Programme Guide

In the words of Igor Stravinsky, violinist Samuel Dushkin had “a keen understanding and a truly exceptional restraint in the exercise of his profession”, which was the reason he composed his violin concerto for him. Transcending Romantic exuberance and virtuoso self-expression, the work is reminiscent of Johann Sebastian Bach with its movement titles toccata, aria and capriccio – “even if only superficially” (Stravinsky). The solo part is technically very challenging thanks to the dedicatee, who advised the composer on “how his ideas could best be adapted to the requirements of the violin as a demanding concert instrument”. The result is a masterpiece of Neoclassicism in an idiom that Stravinsky envisioned as his ideal: “dry, cold, clear and fiery like an extra-dry champagne”.

Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony, on the other hand, falls somewhere between late Romanticism and Modernism. A work that begins with a spatial sound vision of nature awakening, only to lead by way of a Ländler in the spirit of Franz Schubert into the achingly beautiful music of the third movement. In this movement, Mahler quotes the canon Frère Jacques and at the same time evokes the dance music of Bohemian bands. In the centre of the movement, he places the last verse of his lied “Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz”, transposed into symphonic form. The finale begins, in the composer’s words, “with a sudden despairing outcry”, before a triumphant chorale provides a radiant finale.