Music Editor Dan Brophy narrates the spectacularly fierce opening night of the 2024/2025 season of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
As the voice of the announcer echoed through John Carrick’s luxuriously designed market complex, now one of Glasgow’s premier performance venues, the full house took their seats. Chatter subsided, and the crowd fixed their eyes upon the stage at the centre of the shoebox-shaped auditorium described as the “Grand Hall”, home to the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Scotland’s national broadcasting orchestra, an original and boundary-pushing collective of musicians formed in 1935, adorned the stage in all-black glamour, tuned up and ready for the evening’s spectacle.
The night began with “Folk”: a world premiere of Helen Grime’s visceral musical interpretation of Zoe Gilbert’s book of the same name. Comprising four songs, each depicting what Gilbert describes as “the lives and longings of the people of Neverness, a fictional island inspired by the Isle of Man and its folklore”, the piece was performed by the radiant soprano Clare Booth, a close friend of Grime’s, and accompanied by the SSO.
“Prick Song”, the opening piece, stirred visions of Gilbert’s “Gorse Mother”, a “folkloric figment who haunts the headland where boys and girls play dangerous games of seduction among the thorns”, conjuring a hauntingly primal soundscape created by continuously intense percussion and a fiddle inspired melody. “Fishskin Hareskin” followed, a clear homage to folk music, swirling with emotionality as created by the piercing tones of Booth. A representation of the grief of a young woman for the loss of her hares, wrestling with her new life as a fishwife, the folkloric presence of the composition began to settle in the space.
The cacophonous “Water Bull Bride”, envisioning a young woman’s seductive encounter with a sea-spirit, allowed each performer to demonstrate their virtuosity. In a mercurial and fierce song, Booth seemed to sing from the depths of a primordial urge, delivering intensity to the fervidly constructed lyrics. “How hard his body curls. Breathe in deep, his scent. Of water bull, water bull”. “Folk” ended with “Long Have I Lain Beside the Water”, a sombre lament sung from the mind of a murderous sister. Encompassing the savage nature of the composition, marked by a dark bewilderedness, it provided a close to an impeccable composition.
“Bravo”, cried the audience, as a rapture of applause filled the auditorium. A shared feeling of wonder overcame the room as Grime, Booth, and the orchestra bowed poignantly. As the crowd exited for the interval, many evoked a sense of pride in Grime’s Scottish heritage, proud that one of the most distinguished compositional voices in the industry hailed from their homeland.
Now, the main event.
Despite the shockingly beautiful premiere from Grime, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.5 was the reason for the full house. As seats were retaken and silence returned to the room, the figure of the SSO’s chief conductor, Ryan Wigglesworth, took to the stage. Despite his slew of awards, residencies, and position as a professor of composition and contemporary music at London’s Royal Academy, he exuded humility, as well as a great appreciation for the all-encompassing epic he would soon be conducting.
All-encompassing; however, in the case of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, is a vast understatement. Despite no title, no programme notes, and no sung texts, Symphony No.5 relays numerous narratives, emotions, and turning points. It seems to portray the force of life itself. Written in 1901-1902 after a near-fatal haemorrhage, exacerbated by mounting anti-Semitism in Mahler’s adopted hometown of Vienna, a consciousness of life and death is clearly present in the symphony; however, it must also be noted that Mahler met his future wife Alma Schindler in the same period, adding explanation to the beauty shining through sections of the composition, in particular its legendary fourth movement.
The main event began thunderously through its first movement, “Funeral March: In Gemessenem Schritt. Streng, Wie ein Kondukt”. Sprawling and soldierly, conveyed exceptionally through the dynamic performance of the SSO, an ambience of death pompously shot around the room, reminiscent of a Wagner-esque flavour. Mahler’s near-death experience was clearly conveyed through his composition, as understood through the remarkable performance of the SSO. The second movement: “Stürmisch bewegt”. Mit größter Vehemenz”, followed, thrashing with an imperial intensity before culminating in a glittering crescendo of brass.
As the first part of the Symphony came to an end, its second began with the third movement: Scherzo: “Kraftig, nicht zu schnell”. Comedically transforming into a kind of waltz parody, the movement provides an escape from the previously sombre tones, at times edging into the trance of a plucked string section; however, the vast and sprawling nature of the composition remains, twisting throughout into scattered moments of escape and intensity.
The third part began with the fourth movement: “Adagietto: Sehr langsam.” A moment of fleeting love, tender harp tones, and bursting highs, the SSO ensured the fourth movement left few dry eyes in the room. The most unforgettable moment of the Symphony, and of the night.
The night ended with the triumph of the fifth movement: “Rondo-Finale: Allegro-allegro giocoso”. The full might of the orchestra was unleashed through this finale, as each player’s virtuosity created a wall of noise for the full might of Mahler’s adieu.
To see such an unbelievably vast composition portrayed in such a dynamic, nuanced, and careful way was an undeniable spectacle. The audience’s reaction, a lasting ovation before a gleeful exit, marked the end to a truly great performance. If an opening night can be said to be a sign of things to come, then what is to come for the BBC SSO will surely be nothing but various exceptional displays of virtuosic talent, spectacular versatility, and a representation of compositional excellence from across history and around the world.
A fierce performance portrayed with immense humility and grace.