Lunchtime Concert: Matej Lackovic

Enjoy our lunchtime concert series in collaboration with Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag!

The guitarist Matej Lackovic will be performing.

Program:

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

CHACONNE (from Violin Partita No. 2, BWV 1004)

Leo Brouwer (1939*)

SONATA NO. 1

I. Fandangos y Boleros

II. Sarabanda de Scriabin

III. La Toccata de Pasquini

Tomi Räisänen (1976*)

FORGED

Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999)

TRES PIEZAS ESPAÑOLAS

I. Fandango 

III. Zapateado

Program notes:

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - composer and organist of the Baroque period, was born in Eisenach (Germany) - as the youngest son of city’s court musician, Johann Ambrosius Bach. At the age of eighteen, he accepted the work of a court musician in Weimar, and was later also working as cantor in Arnstadt and Köten, where he wrote his greatest instrumental works for Prince Leopold of Anhalt, including "Six Brandenburg Concertos", and the first part of "The Well Tempered Clavier". In 1723, he became a cantor in the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, which is considered as being one of the richest periods of his career, where he composed until his death. Bach composed works, worth of an entire music library, which is unparalleled neither in scale, nor in artistic value. It combined the centuries-old development of Western music culture, and once and for all exhausted and consolidated traditional forms. The Chaconne from the Partita II for Violin Solo, BWV 1004 is one of the most astonishing monuments in music history. With its’ timeless character and profundity, it is no wonder why so many different editions, accompaniments, arrangements, and transcriptions have been adapted to other instruments, without losing the depth and value of the original work, created in 1720. The composition takes on dance form, known as chacona – a Baroque dance in triple meter, following the compositional scheme of continuous variations. This makes in total 64 variations, which gradually increase in complexity of the main theme, mixing in various compositional effects. It is said Bach wrote the piece in memory of his first wife, when the news of her death reached him after returning back from the trip. A listener can hear and experience the range of emotions and pain this piece evokes – composer’s trip to the afterlife and the homecoming, back to earth. The following transcription is of Andrés Segovia, famous guitarist of the 20th century. This is what musicologist and violinist, Marc Pincherle wrote after Segovia’s 1935 premiere of the Chaconne for guitar: “...a direct connection with the guitar may yet be brought to light. The very key, in which the Chaconne is written, is the perfect tonality for the guitar... The Iberian origin of the Chaconne might have suggested Bach the idea of assigning it to a Spanish instrument.”

Leo Brouwer (1939*) born in Havana, is considered one of the most important and original Cuban composers of all time. In the initial compositions, the influence of classical and Afro- Cuban folk music can be felt, which is later enriched by using elements of contemporary, avant-garde, and experimental music. He acquired his classical guitar skills from Isaac Nicoli, a student of Emilia Puyol, and later specialized in composition, which he completed at the Juliard School of Music, and the Hartt College of Music. With his eclectic sense of cultural activity and multidisciplinary artistic activity (guitarist, pedagogue, composer, researcher), he has risen to the very top of world composers of his generation in the last 30 years. His compositional oeuvre includes many compositions for classical guitar. Sonata No. 1 is a cyclical work, homage to the Spanish/Cuban cultural roots and famous composers. 1st movements introduces ethereal harmonics, accompanied with improvisatory introduction. Soon, fragments of fandango, which serves as a motto theme – appears, and we can hear it repetitively throughout the movements. The exchange between fandango and bolero serves as an intermedium, balancing the rhythmically energized and hypnotically gentle counterparts. The recapitulation is briefly interrupted by a quotation from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”), labelled as Beethoven visita al Padre Soler (eighteenth-century Catalan composer, known for famous fandango works). 2nd movement is triple meter traditional sarabanda form. Rather than quoting specific work, Brouwer introduces modal and whole-tone scales, with which he imitates the mysterious character of Alexander Scriabin’s music. Final movement is a brilliant toccata in rondo form, which quotes a work from the Italian Baroque composer Bernardo Pasquini and his Scherzo del cucco. The main motive presents itself as the falling-third “cuckoo” motive (long tailed songbird), where the motto theme from 1st, and opening bars of the 2nd movement accompany the final resolution of themes in a relentlessly driven character of toccata.

Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) was a Spanish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing “Concierto de Aranjuez”, one of the most important classical guitar pieces - as well as being known for his influence on raising classical guitar to an equal level with other instruments, which paved its’ path to becoming a recognized and respected concert instrument. J. Rodrigo was born in Sagunto (Valencia) and completely lost his sight at the age of three, after contracting diphtheria. His first introduction to music started at the age of eight - with the violin, piano, and solfeggio lessons. He studied music with Francisco Antich in Valencia, and Paul Dukas at the “École Normale de Musique” in Paris. He continued to study musicology in Paris with Maurice Emmanuel, and later on with André Pirro. From 1947, Rodrigo was a professor of music history at “Complutense University” of Madrid. One of his most famous guitar works, “Concierto de Aranjuez” was written in 1939 in Paris for the guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza. In 1983, he was awarded Spain's highest award for composition, “Premio Nacional de Música”. On 30 December 1991, Rodrigo was raised into the Spanish nobility by King Juan Carlos.

Tres piezas españolas, “Three Spanish Pieces”, dedicated to Andrés Segovia, fwere composed in 1954. 1st movement, Fandango - with its “wrong”

note beginning, contains fine moments of lyricism, accompanied by colourful chords, as well as many brilliant passages of triplets, in which the player’s dexterity is exploited to the full. Fandango is a slow folk dance that seldom includes ballads - and it is postulated to be of Arabic cultural roots and descents. 3rd movement - Zapateado demonstrates a virtuoso finale by lining passionate rhythms of flamenco, perpetual motion, inventive modulation and subtle rhythms, where composer mixes the rich, colourful and picturesque cultural peculiarities of Catalonia and Andalusia regions. Zapatear, meaning “striking with the shoe” is the main component of the dance, where the dancer punctuates the rhythm on every up-beat (2nd, 4th, etc.) – often accompanied by the clapping of castanets and guitar.

Tomi Räisänen (1976*), one of the most performed composers of his generation in Finland, studied composition at Sibelius Academy, under Erkki Jokinen. His list of works amasses around 100 compositions, ranging anywhere from solo pieces to chamber and choral music, and includes orchestral works and concertos as well. Achieving great successes at several esteemed competitions brought composer international exposure, where his music is actively broadcasted across Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia. This is how Tomi describes the making of Forged: “The compositional form has usually been more or less free in my works. I have let the form, in a way, find its own shape after an organic compositional process. However in this case I decided to do otherwise. First I constructed a very strict and detailed, predetermined form. The result was a kind of a mold in which I then had to cast the music. This task wasn't as easy as it might sound. The music had to be forged very carefully that it would finally fit the predetermined form, hence the title Forged”. I will leave it to your imagination and interpretation - to run freely and create your story!

Biography

Matej Lacković (1995) started his musical path on a local Music School in Nova Gorica. After completing all six grades under the supervision of Eva Slokar Šviligoj, he continued with the studies at the Conservatory for Music and Ballet Ljubljana, with prof. Jerko Novak as his mentor. He proceeded his studiesfurther on Academy for Music Ljubljana under the tutelage of prof. Tomaž Rajterič. In September of 2020, he has performed a Master concert at Kazinska dvorana and finished his Master study at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. He successfully passed the audition for Master studies at Royal Conservatorium in The Hague, where he is currently a 2nd year Master student of classical guitar, under the tutelage of prof. Enno Voorhorst. Throughout the study, Matej has participated at many renowned seminars and courses with various artists, such as Paolo Pegoraro, Darko Petrinjak, Marcin Dylla, Alvaro Pierri, Istvan Römer, Gerard Abiton, Costas Cotsiolis, Leon Koudelak, David Pavlovitz, Leo Brouwer, Alexander Swete, Carlo Marchione etc., with whom he received new proficiencies about guitar and gathered new information, perspective and interpretations of pieces and many more aspects.

All this time, he had performed throughout Slovenia as a soloist or as a member of guitar ensemble or chamber group. As a soloist, he received 2. Prize in “Murski Festival Kitare”, Golden Plaquette at Slovenian National Competition “Temsig”, 3d prize and Golden Plaquette at International guitar Competition Kočevje, 2d Prize and 2d Place at International Competition “Svirel”... He is also a member of a chamber group called “Trio Agitato” (Violin, Guitar, and Accordion). They received 2d Prize at International Competition for Accordion and Chamber Groups “Pula” (Croatia) in a division with no age limit, 2d Prize and Golden Plaquette at International Competition “Svirel”... They also participated in the Festival “Glasba na vodi” (Water music) in Ljubljana.

He was also an Erasmus+ Exchange programme student at LUCA, School of Arts (Leuven, Belgium) at prof. Roland Broux during winter semester of 2018/19