Orchestra strikes historic note

The orchestra will play the Great Hall of the People

By BBC Scotland arts correspondent Pauline McLean

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is set to make musical history by becoming the first Scots orchestra to tour the Republic of China.

The concert tour begins on Saturday at the Shanghai Festival.

And it seems everyone - including the country's president - is tuning in.

By Thursday morning, the orchestra's musicians, instruments and management will be half way round the world on their way to becoming the first Scottish orchestra to tour the country.

It's not that Chinese audiences don't want Western music - it is just the bureaucracy that prevents it.

The festival is seen as quite prestigious by the Chinese people

Marian Caldwell, assistant orchestra manager

Other orchestras have given up after being bogged down in red tape.

Assistant orchestra manager Marian Caldwell said it had taken two years to get this far.

"It has taken a determined effort by the director and the manager and the development people here to see it through, because at times it was falling into a black hole and nothing was happening," she said.

"The festival is seen as quite prestigious by the Chinese people and I think that has been the impetus to make this tour happen."

Closely involved

The orchestra was founded in 1935, when it became Scotland's first full-time professional orchestra.

It is closely involved with the Edinburgh Festival, and down the years has worked with artists such as Artur Schanbel, Yehudi Menuhin and Claudio Arrau.

It has been invited to perform nine concerts in China - from Shanghai to Beijing - and their visit is being paid for by the Chinese.

All of which makes life a lot easier, according to the BBC's Shanghai correspondent Duncan Hewitt.

"There is always a lot of bureaucracy," he said.

"The Germans who came over here last week came at pretty short notice.

The orchestra was founded in 1935

"There was a rather strange change to the programme where they suddenly cancelled the Kirov Opera from Moscow and decided to replace them with a German orchestra.

"But because they were coming at short notice they were worried that they would not be able to get their musical instruments through customs in time.

"Things like that can be complicated, but so far it appears that things are going to plan."

Like most Western orchestras, the BBC SSO will stick to conventional classics - but there are some unusual requests.

In Shanghai, they will perform Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait, which includes the narration of the Gettysburg Address.

Same scale

And if they are asked for an encore they have some Chinese folk tunes rearranged by a Scottish folk musician.

But Eddie McGuire, of the Whistlebinkies, says that isn't so strange.

"The reason why Chinese people appreciate Gaelic and Scottish music is that they are based on the same five-note scale.

"I exploited the similarity, and the first dance is very pentatonic and it matches very well a Scottish form of dance.

"The second one is almost like a two-step, it could be danced by Scottish step dancers," he said.

It is going to be a bit like Wembley Stadium

Elizabeth Layton, orchestra leader

Perhaps the strangest - and most prestigious - venue will be the Great Hall of the People.

Once it echoed to the speeches of Chairman Mao. Today it reverberates to music.

Elizabeth Leyton, the leader of the orchestra, said: "It is going to be a bit like Wembley Stadium.

"It is going to be a bit more like doing a rock concert or something. We will have amplification because we simply can't make enough noise to fill a space that big.

"I think it is 10,000 people it seats, so it will be an amazing experience."

With about 7,000 invited guests, some of the country's top ranking politicians - and possibly even President Jiang Zemin - the concert is unlikely to be dull.

And it will be a piece of cultural history.