Chamber Series: Resonance
CHAMBER SERIES
Saturday 6 June 2026, 2pm | Fremantle Town Hall
Sunday 7 June 2026, 2pm | Government House Ballroom
West Australian Symphony Orchestra respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and Elders of Country throughout Western Australia, and the Whadjuk Noongar people on whose lands we work and share music.
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Resonance
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH arr. Rudolf BARSHAI Chamber Symphony, Op.110a
Interval (25 mins)
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART Serenade No.10 Gran Partita, K.361/370a
Listen to WASO
This performance is recorded for broadcast Sunday 28 June, 1pm (AWST) on ABC Classic. Date subject to change. For further details visit abc.net.au/classic
WASO On Stage
About the Music
Dmitri Shostakovich
(1906–1975)
arr. Rudolf Barshai from the String Quartet No.8 in C minor
Chamber Symphony Op.110a
Largo
Allegro molto
Allegretto
Largo
Largo
The Russian violist and conductor Rudolf Barshai formed the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in 1956 and was its director until 1976. It was for this celebrated ensemble that he made numerous transcriptions for small orchestra, including Prokofiev’s piano suite Visions Fugitives, and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.8 in C minor.
The Quartet No.8 was composed by Shostakovich in 1960, during a visit to Dresden, where the sight of the destruction wrought by World War II in that once beautiful city, apparently freshened the composer’s memories of his own country’s sufferings. Dedicated to the memory of those who fell in the fight against Nazism, the quartet is altogether a retrospective contemplation – sorrow alternating with wrath – of the ravages of war.
The music is punctuated by many quotations from the composer’s earlier works and is dominated throughout by a motif of the four notes that form the German transliteration of Shostakovich’s personal monogram: DSCH (the letter H in German nomenclature denoting what we would call B natural).
The five movements lead into one another without pause in such a way that the whole work seems to be a set of fantasy variations or elaborations upon a basic idea rather than a sequence of five separate movements. The first Largo, beginning at once with the ‘monogram’ theme, forms a deeply mournful prelude, leading to the terrifying fury of the Allegro molto. This music breaks off as abruptly as it had begun, at the height of breathless, discordant excitement; there is only a moment’s rest before a new version of the monogram theme ushers in the Allegretto, a scherzo-like movement with predominant waltz rhythms and sardonic undertones.
The deeply tragic fourth movement is partly declamatory, partly hymn-like in character, punctuated by the effect of gunfire and the strains of an old revolutionary song. The final movement – a slow fugue that evokes the counterpoint of the opening Largo – concludes the work in a mood more resigned than reconciled.
© Martin Buzacott
First Performance of the string quartet:
10 February 1960, Leningrad. Beethoven Quartet.
First Performance of Rudolf Barshai's arrangement:
03 January 1998, Hiratsuka (Japan). Hiratsuka Chamber Orchestra.
Most Recent WASO Performance:
03 March 2019.
Glossary
Counterpoint – two or more lines of music or melodies that are played at the same time. Music which uses counterpoint is said to be ‘contrapuntal’. ‘Imitative’ counterpoint is when the various parts are playing similar or identical melodies one after the other – canons and fugues are examples.
Motif – a short, distinctive melodic or rhythmic figure, often part of or derived from a theme.
A Note from the Players
In our Chamber Series, all concerts have been curated from pieces selected by the musicians themselves. Read on to discover what drew the WASO musicians to this piece.
Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony is a work that was composed in dedication to the victims of fascism and war. This piece offers the listeners a powerful and somewhat hypnotic reflection on war and the fear, violence, and heartbreak it inflicted. Shostakovich used his own initials D-S-C-H (D, E-flat, C, B) to create a musical signature which returns throughout the work. This signature allowed him to express his individual persona and musings in a time when free speech was stifled.
This piece is a personal favourite of mine due to its intense ability to transport the listener directly into the emotional reality of those who suffered. It captures their raw fear, anger, apprehension, and heartbreak, bridging the gap between the past and present.
The Chamber Symphony unfolds in five continuous movements, beginning by immersing the listeners into a haunting and desolate quietness and introducing the mournful D-S-C-H. The silence is shattered by an explosion of panic which launches the strings into a wild and wailing ‘dance of death’ to capture the relentless terror of total control. The music morphs into ghostly macabre waltz, warping the main theme into a bitter nod towards Shostakovich’s own tragic reality. From this, the strings are led into heavy chords depicting the terrifying sound of a fist hammering on the door late at night, creating a feeling of the impending doom. Finally, the piece circles back to the feeling of despair from the beginning with a final lament, leaving its listeners with a powerful feeling of grief and reflection.
— Andrea Mendham, Tutti Violin
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About the Music
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756–1791)
Serenade in B flat, K.361/370a Gran Partita
Largo – Molto Allegro
Menuetto (Allegretto) – Trio I-II
Adagio
Menuetto (Allegretto) – Trio I-II
Romanze (Adagio-Allegretto-Adagio)
Tema con variazioni (Andante)
Finale (Molto Allegro)
The fictional biopic of Mozart, Amadeus (1984, based on the 1979 play by Peter Shaffer), shows Salieri’s first meeting with Mozart at a performance of the Gran Partita. Appalled by Mozart’s uncouth behaviour before the concert, Salieri is nonplussed by the magical music of the Adagio: ‘This was no composition by a performing monkey. This was a music I’d never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God.’
Salieri was impressed by one of numerous sublime moments in this work. And yet it is a piece that Mozart had simply called a Serenade, a form of light music of the day, intended for some occasion (often outdoors) where it would be heard as background music and promptly forgotten. Mozart, however, invested the form with a grandeur that was clearly intended to impress – which it apparently did, for an unknown scribe added the more auspicious appellation ‘Gran Partita’ to the score, giving rise to the name by which the piece is now often recognised.
The composition is dated to 1781 or 1782 on primarily forensic evidence, and there is speculation that Mozart wrote it either as demonstration of his credentials for a position at the Munich royal court or as a gift to his wife Constanze on their marriage in August 1782. The first actual record of its performance, however, dates from 1784, when Mozart’s friend, the clarinettist Anton Stadler, presented several movements at a concert of music for wind band, billing it as a ‘grand wind piece of a wholly special kind’ – and from that moment the Serenade has been hailed as a masterwork.
That Mozart had set out to achieve something ‘special’ with this piece is clear from the fact that he expanded the normal instrumental forces employed for wind bands (known as Harmoniemusik) of the day, adding two horns, two bassett horns (alto clarinets) and double bass. He also extended the scale of the work by adding two extra movements beyond the conventional five. The work is a demonstration of the expressive power and richness of these wind instruments individually and in combination, which may give rise to the sense of ‘longing’ which Salieri (or Peter Shaffer) noted. It shows Mozart’s love of wind sonorities and the instruments’ melodic and textural capabilities. From the imposing stateliness of the opening Largo, proceeding through the operatic ensemble of the Adagio and the gracefully mellifluous variations of the sixth movement to the rollicking send-off of the Finale, Mozart crafted the apotheosis of the serenade.
James Koehne © 2010
Year/Date of Composition:
1781 ca - March 1784 (between).
Most Recent WASO Performance:
03 March 2018.
Instrumentation:
2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 basset-horns, 2 bassoons, double bass (or contrabassoon), 4 horns.
A Note from the Players
In our Chamber Series, all concerts have been curated from pieces selected by the musicians themselves. Read on to discover what drew the WASO musicians to this piece.
I first played the Gran Partita at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music as a student back in 2017 (the recording of which is still on YouTube!) and thought that it was strange that Mozart was a composer included on the roster of the con’s wind ensemble. But upon playing it, I was so enamoured by the writing, both for the double bass itself and also for the other instruments. I also remember feeling a profound sense of grandeur as we moved through one of the most unique and elegantly composed works by Mozart. Enter the WASO chamber series - I couldn’t resist requesting this to be programmed! I’m thrilled that I am able to now be conducting the work today.
What makes this piece unique is both the length (50 minutes is long even for Mozart, for a “serenade”, and for wind chamber music up until this point in history) and how Mozart writes for winds (and double bass). Each player contributes equally with melody and meaningful rhythmic support, and the way Mozart intertwines the instruments is crafty and exhilarating. Another interesting feature in this work is the inclusion of basset horns, an older style clarinet that sits in range between a bass clarinet and an A clarinet. Especially notable is the beautiful Adagio which was made famous in the movie Amadeus.
— John Keene, Associate Principal Double Bass, Conductor for Gran Partita
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About WASO
Engage | Excite | Experience | Educate
From the centre of Perth to the furthest corners of the state, we have provided the soundtrack to life in WA since 1928.
As the State Orchestra, Perth’s first and finest, WASO is the largest employer of performing artists in Western Australia and reaches two million people with musical experiences each year on stage, in our community, and online.
From concert stages to classrooms, hospitals to aged care, we bring joy, inspire learning, and nurture participation in our community, because everybody deserves the opportunity to experience live music. Every year, through community and leading industry partnerships, we engage a new generation of young and emerging artists to help secure a bright future for music in Australia.
We celebrate our rich classical music heritage with great artists from all over the world and commission and perform new repertoire to renew and expand it. The Orchestra collaborates widely with major arts companies and independent artists, performing opera to ballet, movies to musicals, jazz to rock.
Asher Fisch is Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of our Orchestra. We champion the diversity of music in all its forms, with a team of talented and passionate people who create unforgettable experiences for all West Australians to enjoy.
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