Introduction by Music Director Ronald Royer

In honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017, the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) presents our first commercial recording, Canadian Panorama. The creation of this album has been a journey of celebration that started in 2013 through our collaboration with seven Canadian composers who have been closely involved with the SPO. Our request to the composers was simple: provide music that would celebrate Canada’s cultural heritage and expand the musical repertoire for our talented wind players.

Canadian culture, history or geography inspires each composition featured on this album. Four works are original commissions by the SPO and four are arrangements of existing music that fit our theme. The compositions Fundy, Saturday Night at Fort Chambly and McIntyre Ranch Country are each inspired by different regions of Canada and their local folksong traditions: the East Coast, Québec, and Alberta respectively. The new works Allemande and Whirligig illustrate the ways in which European classical music has inspired Canadian composers to create new, colourful works. Rhapsody and Travels with Mozart are inspired by the rich cultural diversity of Canada. And finally, Serenade pays tribute to Canada’s vibrant film industry and culture.

The ensemble featured in this album consists of eleven wind players, two percussionists and one string bass player. One goal of this project is to help expand the limited repertoire for medium-sized woodwind ensembles such as ours.  Beyond the wonderful compositions by composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak, Gounod, and Richard Strauss, we now have the addition of eight exciting Canadian works. The SPO has enjoyed many concert performances featuring this ensemble’s special musical and artistic qualities, and we are pleased to be able to share this music for Canada’s 150th anniversary.

Program Notes

Rhapsody for Oboe, Horn and Wind Ensemble, by Ronald Royer

Sarah Jeffrey: Oboe, Gabriel Radford: Horn

Rhapsody was commissioned by principal oboist Sarah Jeffrey and hornist Gabriel Radford of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. This husband and wife team wanted an addition to the limited repertoire for oboe and horn that would showcase this unique musical combination. Inspired by the 19th century rhapsodic form made famous by Liszt, Royer allows the oboe and horn to demonstrate their melodic expressiveness and technical prowess through a variety of musical styles and moods. In Rhapsody, Royer pays tribute to the 19th century tradition as well as 20th century rhapsodies by Bartok, Enescu, Debussy, Ravel and Rachmaninoff. As well, Royer was influenced by North and South American musical elements, combining them with Canadian connections. Composed in three continuous sections, Rhapsody starts with a slow section, featuring majestic and mysterious elements. The second section was written in an Eastern European playful dance-like style in a moderate speed, inspired by Bartok. The third section features virtuosic writing for the oboe and horn, including horn calls and fast passage work for the oboe. Originally written for Oboe, Horn and Orchestra (and premiered by the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra), Rhapsody was specially arranged for this project.

Travels with Mozart: Variations on a Theme from The Magic Flute, by Ronald Royer

Danielle Johannes: English Horn, Richard Burrows: Darabukkah

Theme: Bei Männern, welche Liebe Fühlen

Variation #1 – London – Mozart’s Symphony No. 1

Variation #2 – Munich – Minuet

Variation #3 – Mannheim – The Mannheim Orchestra

Variation #4 – Rome – Allegri’s Miserere

Variation #5 – Prague – Furiant

Variation #6 – Vienna – The Turkish Influence

Variation #7 – Paris – Gavotte

Finale – Naples- Tarantella 

Travels with Mozart: Variations on a Theme from “The Magic Flute” seeks to explore the ways in which different cultures affect an artist and the artist’s music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart spent one third of his lifetime traveling, visiting nine European countries and over two hundred cities. He was also eager to learn about, and be influenced by, cultures outside of Europe. The Turkish influence on Mozart’s music is well known through such compositions as The Abduction from the Seraglio and the Rondo alla Turca. On November 29, 1765, Beda Hubner, librarian at St. Peter’s in Salzburg, wrote in his diary: “There is a strong rumour that the Mozart family will again not long remain here, but will soon visit the whole of Scandinavia and the whole of Russia, and perhaps even travel to China, which would be a far greater journey and bigger undertaking still…”. The Mozart family didn’t have these experiences, but it is interesting to imagine how these far-flung travels might have influenced him.

Like Mozart, Royer has been profoundly influenced by his exposure to a wide range of cultures through his travels and by living in the culturally-diverse cities of Toronto and Los Angeles. In Travels with Mozart, Royer takes a theme from Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute, and brings it on a journey through Europe to North and South America, the Middle East and Asia. For each variation, Royer starts with a destination Mozart visited and uses a musical element or idea that was present in that city during Mozart’s time. Royer combines this musical element or idea with the original theme and then adds more contemporary musical elements. For some variations, Royer adds elements from music outside of Europe. In one destination, Prague, the variation is cast in the form of a Czech dance, but also picks up some Latin American rhythms and percussion. In Paris, the theme is transformed into a courtly gavotte, combined with the gamelan music of Bali. Originally written in 2006 for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart by five commissioning orchestras, Travels with Mozart was arranged for the Canadian Panorama project.