"Deserving of all honor ... for a girl." This is how Alma Schindler recorded in her diary in 1899 the praise her teacher gave her latest songs. Even the good-natured praise had a sexist sting, and her career as a composer ended with her promise to her fiancé Gustav Mahler that she would only live for him and his music. The sparkling "5 Songs" and their range from intoxication to irony at least give an idea of ​​her talent. Fortunately, the British composer Anna Clyne was born a hundred years later. "Within her arms" is an intimate mourning piece; a string elegy like Samuel Barber's Adagio or Richard Strauss's Metamorphoses. The piece develops gently towards a more hopeful conclusion. Tchaikovsky also takes us on a musical journey in his 5th Symphony. An even greater journey that encompasses the clarinet darkness of the beginning and the yearning horn solo of the Andante; that knows heartache and waltz happiness. The fact that Tchaikovsky's work ends in frenetic optimism is perhaps just another form of melancholy... 

An astonishing concert program that fits beautifully with the season’s theme of “Being” and at the same time reflects the artistic stature of the young American conductor Kalena Bovell. (Kalena Bovell dirigiert Tschaikowsky. Konzerte & Events - Detailseite - Musikkollegium Winterthur. (2023). https://www.musikkollegium.ch/programm-tickets/programm/konzerte-events-detailseite?event=6386. (translated from German))

Anna Clyne: Within Her Arms
Alma Mahler: Five Songs arr. Jorma Panula
Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 5 in E minor