Staying in Switzerland for a while with another gem from the Swiss Radio Archives. This one is from a concert by the Basle Chamber Orchestra, led by Paul Sacher and featuring Etudes for Orchestra by Frank Martin, commissioned by Paul SAcher. It was recorded on November 23, 1956 for its premier.
*Although he was largely self-taught, Frank Martin, known for his rhythm expertise, taught for a long time at the institute of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, the creator of eurhythmics (a concept in which music is learned and experienced through movement). He even asked Martin to succeed him as head of his school, an honour which he declined in order to ensure his artistic independence. Martin was later appointed to teach at the Geneva Conservatoire and also set up the Technicum Moderne de Musique, where he met Maria Boeke who would later become his wife.
His leading role in the Swiss composers’ circuit was apparent by his activities within all musical genres and the international interest in his work since the 1940’s. In 1946 he left Switzerland and settled in The Netherlands, home-country of Maria, with whom he would have two children (he already had a son and three daughters from previous marriages). Initially he settled in Amsterdam, later he moved to Naarden where he devoted himself to composing in peace and where he remained until his death in 1974. The only appointment he accepted during his years in The Netherlands was that of teacher of composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne from 1950 to 1957. One of his pupils there was Karlheinz Stockhausen, who soon disassociated himself because of their incompatible ideas about the twelve-tone technique.
Characteristic of Martin’s style of composition is an extreme lyricism, where melodic lines, often very pronounced and intense, are supported by constantly changing chords in the bass. Neither tonal nor atonal in the strict sense, his music demonstrates a most original response to the question which concerned all of the most important composers of the 20th century.
– *Excerpted from Frank Martin’s Biography on his website.
*Paul Sacher (1906–1999) devoted himself to the music of his century in many different ways: as a performer, as a patron of new compositions, and as a member and sponsor of many committees and institutions. As early as 1926 he assembled his first orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra (Basler Kammerorchester, BKO), which remained in existence until 1987. This was followed in 1941 by the foundation of the Collegium Musicum Zurich (CMZ), which remained active until 1992. At first the programs of the BKO in particular were dominated by the contrast between early and modern music – a contrast considered novel in the early twentieth century. In later decades the repertoire expanded to include avant-garde currents from the latter half of the century.
– *excerpted from the Paul Sacher website.
Enjoy this delightful collaboration of Paul Sacher and Frank Martin.
