David Dalle
Thursday September 18th, 2025 with David Dalle
Frank Horvat's Banff Suite; Shostakovich vs Russian tyranny
Today we will hear a new release of music by Frank Horvat with "The Banff Suite" for piano. This work was composed during Horvat's residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in the fall of 2021. This had been a lifelong dream of Horvat's and he was the first artist invited after their gradual post-Covid reopening. The campus was still very quiet, but Horvat was able to enjoy the breathtaking natural beauty of Banff. Horvat and his wife went on many hour long hikes, and it was particularly restorative after being secluded in their Toronto home during the lockdowns. This suite was inspired by the natural grandeur they encountered. In eight movements, I find the work is not simply a pastoral portrayal of nature, but a tremendous spiritual invocation of wonder. Much of the piece occupies the highest registers of the piano and I find this helps capture this rapturous mood.
| The Banff Suite i. Sulphur Mountain Frank Horvat/Vicky Chow - The Banff Suite - Redshift Records 
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| The Banff Suite ii. Sundance Canyon Frank Horvat/Vicky Chow - The Banff Suite - Redshift Records
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| The Banff Suite iii. In Town Frank Horvat/Vicky Chow - The Banff Suite - Redshift Records
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| The Banff Suite iv. Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain Frank Horvat/Vicky Chow - The Banff Suite - Redshift Records
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| The Banff Suite v. Johnston Canyon Frank Horvat/Vicky Chow - The Banff Suite - Redshift Records
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| The Banff Suite vi. Bow River Frank Horvat/Vicky Chow - The Banff Suite - Redshift Records
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| The Banff Suite vii. Moraine Lake Frank Horvat/Vicky Chow - The Banff Suite - Redshift Records
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| The Banff Suite viii. Lake Louise Frank Horvat/Vicky Chow - The Banff Suite - Redshift Records
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| The NAC orchestra has started its new season, and sadly, the final season with musical director Alexander Shelley, who has done so much to transform the orchestra, greatly improving both the diversity and intelligence of the repertoire, as well as greatly improving the quality of the orchestra as a whole. The NACO is currently sitting at their peak of their 56 year history. Tonight's program is superb with Shostakovich's 1st violin concerto, and Sibelius 2nd symphony, two works widely interpreted as being against Russian tyranny. Composed in 1902, Sibelius' grand, ecstatic 2nd symphony, with a sweeping finale that makes the soul soar (and perhaps akin to moments in Frank Horvat's "Banff Suite"), was taken by most Finns as a cry for independence from Imperial Russia, which would not come until 1917. The other work was a cry against tyranny from within Russia. Shostakovich's 1st violin concerto was composed in 1948, during the time Shostakovich was officially condemned by the Soviet Composer's Union. This became one of his most famous works "for the desk drawer", very personal works which he knew had no chance of being performed. The concerto was not premiered until 1955, two years after Stalin's death. Shostakovich's very real fear of a knock on the door at midnight and being dragged off to the Gulag greatly eased with Stalin's death, but he was still harassed and hounded by Soviet authorities until his death in 1975, 50 years ago. His 1st violin concerto is full of anguish, demonic energy, and sardonic wit. It reminds one that Russians have almost only known tyranny for their entire history. This work is as searing today as it was when first heard 70 years ago. We will hear a 1956 recording with the dedicatee David Oistrakh who premiered it in 1955.
The Sibelius and Shostakovich live in concert tonight, with tickets only $15 for under-30! https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/38404 |
| Violin Concerto No. 1 in a minor Op. 99 Dmitri Shostakovich/David Oistrakh, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Yevgeni Mravinsky - Violin concertos 1, 2 - Musical Concepts |
| A few Ukrainian tracks to end the show. The first, a short Ukrainian folk song sung by Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko with electronic accompaniment from Heinali. The last two, from a new album by the Montreal based Ukrainian quartet Murmurosi, which we will hear a lot more from on subsequent shows. |
| Zelenaia Dubrovonka Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko - Hildegard - Unsound
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| Kotyku Sirenkyi Murmurosi - Svitanok - Independent
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| Yak Pryikhav Murmurosi - Svitanok - Independent
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