Amanda Cook is playing in Southern Pro Musica’s “Great Classics” concert on 17 May at Saint Paul’s Church, Chichester. She tells us more.
Programme:
Mendelssohn – Symphony no. 4 (Italian)
Rodrigo – Concierto d’Aranjuez
Beethoven – Symphony no. 8
It’s a wonderful programme. There are two pieces by Mendelssohn and Beethoven for the orchestra, and I’m playing Rodrigo’s famous Concierto d’Aranjuez, which is his most famous guitar concerto: for good reason it’s the one that mainly gets programmed. The reasons for this are because it simply has got the most gorgeous melodies, and that it simply works so well.
Obviously, guitar doesn’t naturally necessarily blend well volume-wise with an orchestra. However the way he’s written it, it’s in a lovely conversational style: there are the tutti sections where the guitar adds quite a lot of texture, and then contrasts are made with these wonderful solo passages as well. So it’s a concerto that’s really well written for the instruments.
Southern Pro Musica provides a small string section, but all the “regular” instruments are in the orchestra. There is the wonderful and the famous Cor Anglais solo at the beginning of the second movement, which duets with the guitar. I will be just very slightly miked up in a subtle way just to give it that bit of a boost, which obviously we can do in this day and age, just to help the guitar sing out.
The work was written in 1939. Rodrigo wanted to write a piece framing his experience of spending time in the gardens of the palace in Aranjuez. He decided to write a piece that was inspired by these beautiful gardens.
The first movement is very lively – it’s got a real Spanish flavour and opens with these Spanish rasgueado (or strumming) chords. It has a really dance-like opening. The third movement is dance-like as well, but it’s more courtly: it is refering to the history of the palace. The middle movement has the most famous opening with a slow movement melody that is so poignant.
For many years, Rodrigo and his wife kept quiet about what the inspiration for the piece was, and people made assumptions about what they thought the piece was referring to or was inspired by. But in later years, they informed people that it was partly relating to the joy of their honeymoon, partly referring to their relationship, the joy of their honeymoon and the love they had. There was such a close couple, but it also has this real poignancy, since it relates to the loss of their first child: Victoria Joaquin miscarried their first baby. The final chord with an arpeggio and with rising notes is meant to represent the baby’s soul going up to heaven.
So once you know that, the piece takes on a whole another level of goosebumps! It’s really beautiful to play and to listen to. I think that concerto has got everything actually really – it’s a good package. I’ve played it once before with Jonathan Willcocks conducting in Petersfield a few years ago.
I’m really looking forward to this concert. They’re a great orchestra, and he’s obviously a wonderful leader. So it’s really lovely and looking forward to working with him and the orchestra again.
www.amandacook.co.uk
