Consistently praised for his intense musicality and impressive technique, Canadian violinist Terence Tam has performed in Canada, the U.S.A, Australia, Europe and Japan as a recitalist and chamber musician.
He has also appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Europe, Australia and across Canada including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony and Symphony Nova Scotia. His performances have been heard on Canadian and Australian national radio and television. Tam made his New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1994 and his Paris concerto debut in 2000 playing the Ligeti violin concerto with the Academy of 20th Century Music Orchestra. His CD recording of Dutch composer Wim Zwaag’s violin concerto was chosen as one of CBC In Concert’s best classical recordings of 2011.
Currently concertmaster of the Victoria Symphony, he also previously held this prestigious position with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in Australia and Symphony Nova Scotia in Canada. An active chamber musician, Tam’s performances have taken him to the Sarasota, Ravinia, Meadowmount, Banff, Aspen, Encore, Hamptons, Scotiafest and La Conner music festivals. He has collaborated with musicians from the Juilliard, St. Lawrence, Ying and Pacifica string quartets. In recent seasons he has been featured as guest violinist at the Montreal Symphony’s ‘La Viree Musique’ festival, the Sweetwater Festival in Ontario, Music in the Morning in Vancouver, the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival, the St. Cecilia Concert Series in Halifax, the 35th International Viola Congress in Australia and at the Eine Kleine Summer Music Festival in Victoria.
Tam regularly gives masterclasses and chamber music coachings across Canada. He is a regular faculty member of the Pacific Regional International Summer Academy and has also taught at the Elder School of Music at the University of Adelaide.
Written by Kimberley Manerikar
The Four Seasons, op. 8, nos. 1-4
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons comprise an enduring classic that captures the hearts and imaginations of listeners nearly three hundred years after its publication.
These four violin concertos—distinctive for their formal design, stylistic invention, and programmatic elements—were published in 1725 alongside eight other concertos as a collection under the title il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention), op. 8.
Four accompanying sonnets were included with the published scores. Each sonnet pairs with one of the Seasons and is broken down into three sections effecting the careful alignment of each poem with the three-movement structure of each concerto.
Cited as an early example of program music, The Four Seasons are full of evocative sounds and textures. Vivaldi inserted text from the poems directly into the musical score, indicating a deliberate correspondence of certain instrumental parts or sections to specific images from the text.
It’s not difficult to understand the enduring popularity of this work; the vividness of Vivaldi’s imagination, the deftness of his orchestration, and his virtuosic command of the violin are all harnessed to great effect.
Spring
Allegro: A cheerful ritornello is broken up with interjections by the trilling and chirping of birdsong, the murmur of flowing brooks, and the tremulous growls and electric flashes of a thunderstorm.
Largo: A dreamy melody drifts over the sounds of a meadow’s rustling vegetation provided by a gently rippling accompaniment. A barking dog can be heard in the viola’s biting iterations.
Allegro: A light and airy dance evokes the sound of bagpipes and conjures reflections on the splendour of spring.
Summer
Allegro: A goatherd languishes in the punishing heat of summer. The agitated calls of the cuckoo, the turtledove and the goldfinch warn of a coming storm. What begins as a gentle breeze eventually gives way to great gusts of wind.
Adagio: The buzzing of insects provides accompaniment to a sombre melody, periodically disrupted by furious swarms and rumbling thunder.
Presto: The heavens open and a terrible storm rages.
Autumn
Allegro: Celebrating the rich autumnal harvest drunken revellers dance until they succumb to the sweetness of sleep.
Adagio: A melody gently lifts and falls over an arpeggiated continuo—almost in the likeness of the chest of a sleeping reveller.
Allegro: A great drama unfolds in the form of a hunt; a lively ritornello is interspersed with episodes depicting the chase of hunters after prey, capped off by the animal’s eventual demise.
Winter
Allegro: Repeated notes and trills create a thematic motif depicting shivering and chattering teeth amongst cadenza-like violin passages evoking icy gusts of wind.
Largo: Pizzicati imitate drops of rain, observed from the warmth of the fireside.
Allegro: The depiction of a slippery journey over treacherous ice in the midst of bitter winter winds.
The Victoria Symphony would like to thank the following sponsors and Government funders for their support during our 2020/21 Virtual Season.
Platinum Sponsors:
Butler Brothers Supplies, Ltd.
Royal MacPherson Theatres Society
Chateau Victoria Hotel & Suites
Silver Sponsors:
Island Savings Wealth Management
MET Fine Printers
Horne Coupar LLP
Long & McQuade
Media Sponsors:
CFAX 1070 Radio
CTV Vancouver Island
Virgin Radio
Times Colonist
used.ca
Fine Floral Designs
KPMG
LA Limousines
Lighthouse Brewing Co.
Tom Lee Music
Rogers’ Chocolates
Royal MacPherson Theatres Society
Odlum Brown Limited
Toque Catering
Vessel Liquor Store
Government Funders & Foundations:
BC Arts Council
Canada Council for the Arts
Canadian Heritage
City of Victoria
CRD
Province of British Columbia
Victoria Foundation
Final touches on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
About to enter the concert hall.
Rehearsing for Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
Getting ready for Four Seasons.
A lighter moment at Victoria Symphony rehearsal.
Rehearsal for Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
620 View Street, Suite 610
Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 1J6
Hours: Monday to Friday 9am-12pm & 1-4pm, except holidays.
The Victoria Symphony performs on the traditional lands of the Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. We extend our respect as well as our appreciation for this opportunity.