Gaudiana (2005)

The first performance of Gerard Schurmann's new orchestral work, Gaudiana: Symphonic Studies, took place on 2 December (with repeat performances on the two following days) at the recently-built concert venue, L' Auditori, designed by Rafael Moneo for the city's symphony orchestra (OBC). Before considering the Schurmann premiere, several things call for comment. The first concerns the venue. The entire interior of the performing space is constructed from maple, which no doubt contributed to the lustrous sound the orchestra produced. The space also somehow seemed intimate, despite having a seating capacity for some two and a half thousand. The second concerns the programming. The programme, conducted by Rumon Gamba, consisted of four works all written within the last 80 or so years, with two works being from living composers. The thought of such a programme being given within a regular symphonic concert series in the British Isles is well nigh impossible to imagine: if a premiere is risked at all, it will almost certainly be embedded (hidden?) amongst the warhorses of the repertoire. Yet with near-capacity audiences envisaged for all three nights, Catalonians were obviously undeterred. True, the concen ended with Ravel's Bolero, but all the works were well received (the others were Adams's The Chairlllan Dances and Kun Weill's Violin Concerto, quite a rarity in itself and more than ably played by the orchestra's leader Angel Jesus Garda). Presumably a willingness and appetite to heat fresh music lies behind this, but one could not help thinking what a good and beneficial idea it was to vary the start times of the concerts: Friday at 21:00, Saturday at 19:00, Sunday at 11:00. Hats off to Barcelona!

Schunnann's Gaudiana is dedicated to his wife Carolyn and reveals his admiration for the Catalonian architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926), whose work abounds in the city, and in particular for the unfinished cathedral La Sagrada Familial - indeed the composer has stated that on a recent visit he was unexpectedly moved by the building's innate sadness and prescient drama, the interior of which he has likened to an enormous empty carcass. This is not to imply Schunnann's music is programmatic or that one need be familiar with the architecture which inspired it, for this piece weaves a powerful symphonic argument, being a 25-minute set of symphonic studies, falling into six movements. However, the long slow opening chorale scored for strings alone, with its impassioned, almost elegiac, theme announced by cellos neat the outset, seemed to form a telling musical invocation of the atmosphere the composer describes.'

Xylophone heralded the start of the next movement and the entrance of the rest of the orchestra with music of a more forceful nature, which at times featured the rhetoric and volatility associated with the composer in works such as the early orchestral piece Six Studies of Francis Bacon, although in more refined vein. Yet another movement featured very elegant string writing, imbued with delicate patterning in the other sections of the orchestra which betrayed the influence of gamelan music which Schurmann imbibed in his Indonesian childhood. By contrast a discernible influence with a more local flavor was music suggestive of the Sardana, the Catalonian round dance. The final movement was marked by energetic music which lead to series of climaxes, before returning to the dramatic yet quiet string music of the opening (underscored by timpani), to end ominously on a fading string chord.

The work was conducted with the infectious energy and aplomb so typical of Rumon Gamba and was greeted most enthusiastica1ly by the audience: the composer being visibly moved to be twice called to platform and so warmly received by Gaudi's compatriots.

Gaudiana by Gerard Schurmann delineates with symphonic mastery the capricious architecture of Gaudi. It contains an abundance of orchestral devices within a solid musical construction.

Gaudiana, Symphonic Studies by Gerard Schurmann, inspired by the works of Antoni Gaudi, displays an intense expressivity within a sincere style, not clearly tonal but with tonal centres. The work begins with a long, slow introduction by the string section, after which the percussion introduces the second section, in which the whole orchestra participates.

The Symphonic Studies, Gaudiana, 25 minutes in duration, is a composition inspired by the work of "the most famous Catalan in the world." The piece, however, is intentionally not descriptive, but rather captures the feelings of the works by this modernist genius, bringing them to life in the music.

Gaudiana, by Schurmann, a piece which resonates the Catalan dance sardanas, is gripping for its skilled orchestral writing.