NOSPR / Young / Richard-Hamelin / Breaking the Mould - NOSPR

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 3 begins with an orchestral march – military, weighty, and at times triumphant. Before long, however, it becomes apparent that the emotions evoked by the soloist’s virtuosic flights are varied. There is exuberance, certainly, but also songful lyricism and moments of deep intimacy. The concerto emerged from a process of improvisation. At its premiere, the piano part was only partially committed to paper, and Beethoven performed largely from memory and a handful of hastily jotted sketches, leaving his student responsible for turning the pages in a state of despair. Later, the student ensured that the anecdote was passed down to posterity.

The dramatic quality of Beethoven’s work is reinforced by its dark key of C minor. Antonín Dvořák’s concert overture Othello, by contrast, oscillates between the brightness of A major and the strangeness of F-sharp minor. Such ambiguity is hardly surprising. Othello, in the grip of destructive jealousy, is also portrayed as an outsider: a Black man, someone whom others readily reduce to supposedly primal instincts. Racism? Certainly – and by no means foreign to the world of classical music. Yet Dvořák’s own position requires a more nuanced assessment. The composer, whose commitment to the Czech national revival was widely recognised, inspired Americans to seek their own musical idiom. He postulated that the national music for the United States should be built upon the folk traditions of Indigenous peoples and formerly enslaved Black communities.

William Levi Dawson carried this revolutionary idea forward with his Negro Folk Symphony, first presented in 1934 and drawing heavily on Dvořák’s legacy. For many years, however, the music of Black composers was relegated to the margins of what was considered ‘serious’ composition. Only in recent years has Dawson’s work begun to claim the attention of audiences across the globe.

Adam Suprynowicz (Polskie Radio)

Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 110 minutes

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