Varying variations: Toronto Symphony Orchestra presents Elgar and Vaughan Williams

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra presented a sort of potted history of tonalism from the turn of the 20th century to the present day. Works by Vaughan Williams, Copland, Elgar and Canadian composer Dinuk Wijeratne were conducted by TSO Resident Conductor Trevor Wilson, each offering a unique response to the more ostensibly ‘progressive’ musical developments in that timespan. 

Wijeratne’s Polyphonic Lively was inspired by Swiss-German painter Paul Klee’s Polyphony which “immediately conjured up high-vibration, high-intensity ‘chatter’” for the composer. The result is a lively, almost cinematic, fanfare that exploits the characteristic, contrasting colours of each section of the orchestra. Brass and percussion are prominent with a notable clarinet cadenza (a nice link to the Copland concerto later in the program) and exuberant bongo in the finale. A rousing program opener.

Vaughan Williams’ Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus emerged from the British composer’s intense research into the history of British folk song. Its main tune is based on a 16-stanza melody from 1590 which the composer also famously set as the hymn tune Kingsfold in 1906. Scored for string orchestra and harp, the TSO immediately reminded us of their deep involvement with Vaughan Williams through their celebrated performances of his symphonies under former Music Director Peter Oundjian. Rich, burnished string tone announced the main tune that undergoes five uninterrupted variations. Particularly moving was its solo cello iteration in Variation 5 played with understated introspection by principal cellist Joseph Johnson. Exquisite harp playing by an unfortunately unnamed soloist was a highlight, as it was in the subsequent concerto.

Copland’s Clarinet Concerto shares a reduced string and harp orchestration with the Vaughan Williams, adding in piano for the work’s second section. TSO Principal Clarinet Eric Abramovitz was the soloist in a work famously composed for the celebrated American swing clarinettist Benny Goodman. Its simple two-part structure consists of an opening section featuring extended, dreamlike melodies played in impressive long-breathed phrases by Abramovitz. Jazz inflections are introduced in a linking cadenza which sets up the virtuoso demands of the much more angular, rhythmic second section. Abramovitz handled all of this with aplomb, but whether it’s the work itself, or a certain restraint in the soloist, any sort of jazzy give-and-take seemed to be missing. 

The program closed with Elgar’s Enigma Variations, offering young conductor Wilson the first real chance to put his directorial stamp on the concert. This set of variations, one of the cornerstones of the orchestral repertoire, puts any conductor into competition with countless legendary recorded and live interpretations. Wilson set a very slow pace for the opening variation dedicated to Elgar’s wife, Caroline Alice. While certainly within a conductor’s prerogative, the choice threatened to sap the momentum out of this intensely moving portrait. Similarly, several of the other slower variations suffered from exaggerated rallentandi. The famous ninth variation, Nimrod, began with exquisitely hushed strings and built to a noble climax. The subsequent Allegretto intermezzo, Dorabella, emerged somewhat foursquare in its execution, lacking the requisite dancelike character. The final variation, portraying Elgar himself, found the TSO pulling out all the stops to deliver a suitably grand finale to this life-affirming masterpiece.