The Farewell, Part One

All things eventually come to an end. Over the course of the next month, Sir Simon Rattle will mark the conclusion of his sixteen years as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic with a series of concerts designed, it would seem, to provide an encapsulated overview of his tenure. Perhaps fittingly, the programmes will be skewed toward the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The oldest work will be Brahms’ First Symphony from 1876, but there will be no fewer than five world premières from younger composers. The remainder of the programmes will be filled with works for which Sir Simon has a particular affinity, or perhaps merely pieces that he wanted to take out for a final spin before saying goodbye to Berlin.

One of the more intriguing features of the farewell concerts was the chance to hear the four movement completion of Bruckner’s…