The Old Masters of Speyside

The Old Masters of Speyside (2012) is a work for string orchestra structured around a distinctive generating rhythm—two short notes, a rest, then a single short note—which serves as a leitmotif throughout the piece. First articulated by the lower strings (violas, cellos, and double basses), this rhythmic pattern provides the foundation for a long, expressive and solemn melody, introduced by the second violins. Set in modal C minor (three flats in the key signature), the melody exudes a dark, mysterious, and almost hypnotic character.

This theme is then restated by the first violins, now a major third higher, while curiously remaining anchored in the tonality of C minor. Meanwhile, the second violins take up the rhythmic ostinato, in canon with the lower strings, adding a layer of harmonic density. A heightened expressive moment ensues as the two violin sections combine, playing the melody in parallel sixths, while the rhythmic ostinato is redistributed, with the violas now doubling as rhythm-bearers alongside their melodic role.

This culminates in an intense climax before an unbroken decrescendo ushers in the second section—a stark contrast to the preceding atmosphere. Now, the music celebrates the lively, rhythmic, and playful qualities of stylised Celtic folk dances. Two motifs, including one derived from the initial generating rhythm, interweave, overlap and compete, traversing numerous modal changes and producing a vibrant, kaleidoscopic texture.

At the apex of this exuberance, a solo violin cadenza emerges, ethereal and intimate, delicately accompanied by harmonic tones from the ensemble. This initiates a return to the material of the opening, now in A minor, with the concertmaster singing the main melody in the upper register, punctuated by three fortissimo statements of the generating rhythm from the orchestra. As the solo line descends, the melody is transferred to the violas and cellos, once more in parallel sixths, while the violins echo the rhythmic motif and the double basses contribute in pizzicato.

In the final transformation, the violin section divides: one group reiterates the rhythmic ostinato in pizzicato, while the other joins the lower strings in developing the melody canonically, now in F-sharp minor (three sharps in the key signature). This shift heightens the tension to an exultant second climax, which serves also as the radiant conclusion of the work.

The Old Masters of Speyside received its world première in Brussels on 9 December 2012, performed by I Musici Brucellensis under the baton of Zofia Wisłocka. The Polish première followed shortly thereafter in Gdańsk on 20 December 2012, performed by the Chamber Orchestra of the Gdańsk Academy of Music under the direction of Sylwia Janiak, during a concert dedicated entirely to the music of Michel Lysight.