Ung Filharmoni Rachmaninoff Paus Chen

The concert begins with the orchestral piece Masquerade by British composer Anna Clyne (b. 1980). The piece was written as a commission for "Last Night of the Proms" in 2013, and is dedicated to "the Prommers" − the colorful audience of the Proms concerts.

Clyne drew inspiration for Masquerade from the multifaceted promenade concerts that took place in London's "pleasure gardens" in the 18th century. There, people from different walks of life met to experience music, acrobatics, exotic entertainment, fireworks and masquarades.

Marcus Paus’ Tuba Mirum: Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra is written especially for the Oslo Philharmonic and tubaist August Schieldrop. The composer writes of the work:

“The title refers to both to the instrument as a widely-defined miracle in the hands of a virtuosic soloist, but also to the sequence from the Catholic death mass, “Dies Irae” (“Day of Wrath"), from which it borrows both the title and musical iconography.”

August Schieldrop had desired a work which would allow the tuba to unfold not just in a technical sense, but also lyrically and reflectively, sombrely and elegantly. This concerto reflects “both the serious and the playful, or perhaps more precisely, serious play – or playful seriousness”.

Serge Rachmaninov (1873–1943) wrote his Symphonic Dances in 1940, which proved to be his final large work. Rachmaninov had for a long time wanted to write ballet music, and in 1939, his Paganini Variations had been used successfully in a ballet by renowned choreographer Michel Fokine. Fokine was prepared to engage in a new collaboration with Rachmaninov on Symphonic Dances, but died before the process started.

Symphonic Dances can be described as a melancholy reminiscence on a unique artistic career. In the first dance, Rachmaninov makes a reference to his first symphony from 1895, which was a colossal failure and was forgotten by everyone at the time with the exception of the composer. In the last movement he refers to his great liturgical choral work, Vespers, from 1915, where he evokes his own “Day of Wrath” with its famous Dies Irae motive. Rachmaninov bids us farewell with yet another refererence from Vespers – a hymn depicting the resurrection of Christ.

(Translation from Norwegian: Sarah Osa)