On 12 and 13 November Gustavo Gimeno and the Toronto Symphony give the Canadian premiere of Colin Matthews’ 2009 orchestration of Gustav Mahler’s 1876 Piano Quartet movement “Nicht zu schnell” – one of the few works from Mahler’s early period to have survived.
Matthews’ 12-minute orchestration is full-blooded, with savagely seething climaxes. Even in this early work, Matthews detects an “ominous atmosphere and sweeping, almost symphonic gestures” that are “very much Mahlerian” in character and mood. In creating the piece, Matthews had to supply certain tempo and dynamic indications missing from the manuscript, as well as clarifies the thick, overwrought texture of Mahler’s original work, contending with the virtuosity of the piano writing.
The orchestration was commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and premiered with them, conducted by Lothar Zagrosek, in 2009. It has since appeared with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Filarmonica della Scala (with Riccardo Chailly), the Bournemouth Symphony (with Mark Wigglesworth) and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg with Gimeno. Zagrosek recorded the work with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2011; Gimeno has also recorded it with OPL.
Matthews has had a longstanding interest in Mahler’s music, collaborating with Deryck Cooke on the performing edition of the 10th Symphony in 1972 (along with his brother David), and writing his doctoral thesis at the University of Sussex on the composer. In 2016 Musikkollegium Winterthur and Ian Bostridge premiered Matthews’ transcription of the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen for tenor and a chamber ensemble of 12 players.
On 22 October the Hallé debuted Matthews’ Songs Without Words – an orchestration of three Ravel songs – at the Bridgewater Hall, conducted by Nicholas Collon - composed to celebrate the 80th birthday of his brother David. The 6 ½-minute set reworks Les grands vents venus d'outre-mer (‘The great winds coming from overseas’) composed in 1906 to a poem by Henri de Régnier, Rêves (‘Dreams’) composed in 1927 to a text by Léon-Paul Fargues, and Noel des jouets (‘The toys’ Christmas’) composed to Ravel’s own words in 1905.