young music of europe – Concert dedicated to European Spring

Works by
Bertold Hummel: Concertino for Solo Bassoon and Strings
Periklis Koukos: Chorika for Violin, Piano and Strings
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony no 4, in b flat major op. 60

YOUTH Soloists:
Dimitris Koukos – piano
Miltiades Papastamou – violin
Thomas Gesios – bassoon,
Ioannis Lampros – bassoon

Artistic Director – Conductor: Maria Makraki
orchestra: camerata europaea youth

Free admission

With the kind support of
the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation
the Cultural Center BETON7
and the Hellenic Public Radio Television

youth@camerata.eu
www.camerata.eu
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Comments about the programme of April 6, 2014
The programme “Young Music of Europe” aims for an energetic dialog of the youth members in the orchestral field. Camerata Europaea Youth reaffirms its commitment to dynamic young musicians and demonstrates this with a fresh and experimental concert in connection with spring. The concept is based on the Spring Campaign of the European Institutions, which encourages young people to discuss and reflect the success and future of a common Europe. The selection of the three works demonstrates a variety of current moods concerning Youngsters within the European Union. Hummel sets in with the Concertino expressing an overarching unity in a competitive environment. Beethoven’s 4th Symphony revers the joy of life and absolute acceleration about feelings, the vernal freshness and juvenile love move in the centre of attention. Kouko’s Chorika, with his strong focus on piano and violin in dialogue with the strings, highlights the despair and forceful protest and concludes the vivid but contrasting programme of “Young Music of Europe”.

Works for the concert on 6 April 2014
Bertold Hummel composed the Concertino for bassoon and string orchestra with first basset horn as a solo instrument, before he set it on for bassoon at the suggestion of Eberhard Buschmann. Characteristic for the piece is the use of French folk song melodies, which are involved in their own thematic material. The piece consists of a prologue, the concerto, which forms the main part and is played as part of the concert and the epilogue. The Concerto, the second movement, is based on the word meaning concertare (to vie). Soloist and string orchestra are joined competitively to an overarching unity. The short epilogue is a fading away in the strict alternation of bassoon and strings.

Ludwig van Beethovens 4th Symphony enjoyed great popularity during his lifetime, today it is one of his relatively rare played symphonies. The work completed in 1806 is characterized as “cheerful, in the mood for every joke, jocund, jauntily, fun-loving, witty, often satirical”. It is believed that Beethoven himself was due to his love Comtesse Therese of Brundswick in an absolute exhilaration and feeling of happiness and the resulting creative imagination of the master is reflected in his fourth symphony.

This contrasts sharply with the piece Chorika of Pericles Koukos for string orchestra, solo piano and violin and is inspired by Aeschylus “The Persians “. Koukos had drafted within the concertante Chorica a flow of stage music. The augmentation in the composition leads to an extreme acceleration until the end – a frenzied, orgiastic primitive intentional ritual that corresponds to the scene of Aeschylus drama in which the despaired Persians call their deceased king Darius to return from the underworld.
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Camerata Europaea Youth is a young European orchestra based in Athens/Greece and a member of the CE orchestral association. It works entirely with young musicians from all over Europe and enjoys the consistent support of the CE-Academy. With its wide range of master courses, residencies, seminars, lectures, symposiums and workshops, the CE-Academy is an integral part of Camerata Youth and the other CE ensembles. Camerata Youth also offers support programmes, prizes and scholarships, as well as various orchestral projects.

The musical training of young musicians is Camerata Europaeas highest priority. Talented young artists receive a high level training through the CE-Academy. Under the musical auspices of well-known conductors, they prepare competitive concert projects, which allow them to develop their individual skills and distinguish themselves as professional and recognized musicians.

The Camerata Youths artistic programme is consistent with the model for ambitious artistic integration work entitled Overcoming barriers through music. The Camerata Youth allows the development of further inspirational and sustainable features – the mobility of cultural players, the cross-border dissemination of artistic works and intercultural dialogue – in connection with the fundamental issues of the EU Agenda for Culture 2014 to 2020.