MIRÓ QUARTET. Thursday, September 13, 7:30 PM Bates Recital Hall

Transcription

1 MIRÓ QUARTET Thursday, September 13, 7:30 PM Daniel Ching, violin William Fedkenheuer, violin John Largess, viola Joshua Gindele, cello This concert will last approximately two hours with one intermission

2 PROGRAM Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13 (1827) ( ) Adagio Allegro vivace Adagio non lento Intermezzo. Allegretto con moto Allegro di molto Presto Adagio non lento Kevin Puts Credo for String Quartet (2007) (b. 1972) The Violin Guru of Katonah Infrastructure Intermezzo: Learning to Dance Infrastructure (continued) Credo All movements played without pause Intermission Beethoven String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132 (1890) ( ) Assai sostenuto Allegro Allegro ma non tanto Molto adagio Alla marcia, assai vivace Allegro appassionato 4 th and 5 th movements played without pause PLEASE SILENCE YOUR ELECTRONIC DEVICES

3 ABOUT THE PROGRAM Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13 Born: February 3, 1809, Hamburg, Germany Died: November 4, 1847, Leipzig, Germany Composed: 1827 Premiered: 1830 Duration: 30 minutes A revered German composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher, Mendelssohn s legacy has withstood the test of time. As a composer, he is known for largely observing the structure of Classicism while integrating the Romantic ideals which value feeling over rigidity. As a child, Mendelssohn, along with his siblings including Fanny Mendelssohn, studied piano, composition, literature, and landscape painting, molding him into a well-rounded intellectual and musician. In 1829 Mendelssohn was responsible for conducting the first performance of Bach s St. Matthew Passion since the death of the composer, reigniting a German appreciation for the Baroque master. He valued musical education and taught along with Schumann at the Leipzig Conservatory until his death in Written shortly after the death of Beethoven, Mendelssohn s String Quartet No. 2 is heavily influenced by Beethoven s late chamber works. As one of the earliest and most significant examples of cyclic form (formal structure where the theme, melody, or thematic material occurs in more than one movement as a unifying device,) this work recycles its unifying motive from a previous Mendelssohn lied called Ist es Wahr? Because this lied was originally written for a childhood crush of Mendelssohn s, some believe he may still have been thinking of her while he wrote Quartet No. 2, his first mature chamber work. Though this quartet follows the strict formal guidelines of the Classical era, its expressive melodic content is more reminiscent of the Romantic era, another signifier of Beethoven s musical influence on Mendelssohn. Originally, this piece featured a Minuet and Trio movement, but was later replaced by a more sentimental and tributary Intermezzo movement after the first violinist to perform the quartet died.

4 Kevin Puts Credo for String Quartet (2007) Born: January 3, 1972, St. Louis, Missouri Composed: 2007 Premiered: by the Miró Quartet, Caramel, California, 2007 Duration: 19 minutes [Credo (krä då) first person sing. of Latin credere, to believe] Daniel Ching of the Miró Quartet approached composer Kevin Puts in 2007 to write a quartet exploring the lighter side of America, a task the composer found daunting at the time. In his own words about his trepidations for the inspiration of the work he writes, The government stubbornly and arrogantly continued to pour young lives and billions of dollars into a hopeless war, one to whose protest millions at home and abroad marched with what E.L Doctorow described as the appalled understanding that America was ceding its role as the best of hope of mankind, that the classic archetype of democracy was morphing itself into a rogue nation. Also around this time, a disturbed loner finally enacted his plan to gun down a record-breaking number of his fellow students at Virginia Tech and amazingly this failed to prompt any heightened talks over gun control by politicians who feared they might offend their gun-loving constituents before the next election. Puts goes on to explain the small moments in Baltimore where he found solace despite the dire political climate. He notes that in some situations, it feels all you can do is believe. Kevin Puts studied composition and piano at the Eastman School of Music and Yale University before earning his D.M.A. in composition from the Eastman School of Music. His ties to Texas are strong as he has served as the composer in-residence for the Ft. Worth Symphony as well as held the position of Associate Professor of Composition at the University of Texas at Austin in the past. Puts has had works premiered by world renowned musicians including the Miró Quartet and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. In 2012 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his opera, Silent Night, written with librettist Mark Campbell. He currently teaches composition at the Peabody Conservatory.

5 Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132 Born: December 17, 1770, Bonn, Germany Died: March 26, 1827, Vienna, Austria Composed: 1825 Premiered: November 6, 1825 by Schuppanzigh Quartet and dedicated to Russian Prince Nikolai Galitizin Duration: 44 minutes Taught piano rigorously and brutally by his father, Ludwig van Beethoven was musically successful from a young age. His is known for his role as a crucial transitional figure between the Classical and Romantic eras. By 1816 he was completely deaf, and it was during his late years he wrote the pinnacle of his transcendent works. Many consider his late works to be unsurpassed in the tradition of Western art chamber music. Along with his prolific chamber works, Beethoven is known for combining vocals into instrumental works. After dying at the age of 56, an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be post-hepatitic cirrhosis of the liver and the likely cause of his deafness to be typhus, which he contracted in the summer of Russian aristocrat and amateur cellist Prince Nikolai Galitizin approached Beethoven in 1823 asking the composer to write a series of chamber works for him. While Beethoven readily agreed, a series of illness prevented him from completing the task quickly. At this point in his life, he had become completely deaf and struggled with other illnesses related to his death. His doctor recommended he spend time in the countryside to recuperate and it was in the Viennese suburb of Baden that Beethoven completed this quartet and two others for the Russian prince. While it is not overly programmatic, the five movement work does follow a minor to major or dark to light structure, similar in progression to the Fifth and Ninth Symphonies. Viennese Classical biographer Maynard Solomon observes an implicit agency of healing and a talisman against death. The slow movement is known for its peculiar use of the Lydian mode and the fourth movement that acts as a bridge to the finale is one of the shortest Beethoven had ever written. Likely because of Galitizin s instrument, the cello commands an important role throughout the work.

6 ABOUT THE MIRÓ QUARTET The Miró Quartet is one of the world s most celebrated and dedicated string quartets, having been labeled by The New Yorker as furiously committed and noted by the Cleveland Plain-Dealer for their exceptional tonal focus and interpretive intensity. For the past twenty years they have performed throughout the world on the most prestigious concert stages, earning accolades from critics and audiences alike. Based in Austin, TX, and thriving on the area s storied music scene, the Miró takes pride in finding new ways to communicate with audiences of all backgrounds while honoring the longstanding tradition of chamber music. Formed in 1995, the Miró Quartet was awarded first prize at several national and international competitions, including the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition. Since 2003 the Miró has served as the Faculty Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Texas at Austin s Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music. Visit miroquartet.com for more information.

7 UPCOMING MIRÓ QUARTET CONCERT MIRÓ QUARTET Tuesday, November 13, 2018, 7:30 PM with guest faculty Brian Lewis, violin Roger Myers, viola Bion Tsang, cello Sandy Yamamoto, violin Franz Schubert String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major Leoš Janáček String Quartet No. 2 Felix Mendelssohn Octet in E-Flat Major Tickets at music.utexas.edu/calendar

8 UPCOMING FACULTY CONCERTS AND EVENTS JONATHAN GUNN, CLARINET AND ANTON NEL, PIANO WITH ROGER MYERS, VIOLA Sunday, September 16, 4:00 PM THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS JAZZ FACULTY CONCERT Thursday, October 4, 7:30 PM RICK ROWLEY, PIANO Sunday, October 14, 4:00 PM STEPHEN PAGE, SAXOPHONE WITH GUEST ARTIST CAMERON HOFMANN, PIANO Thursday, October 25, 7:30 PM VOICES FROM THE GREAT WAR A faculty concert commemorating the centenary of the end of World War I. Sunday, December 2, 4:00 PM Tonight s program notes written by Julissa Shinsky, program annotator for the Butler School of Music. For more information about Butler School of Music concerts and events, visit our online calendar at music.utexas.edu/calendar Become a member of The Butler Society and help us successfully launch tomorrow s brightest performers, teachers, composers and scholars. Make a gift today at music.utexas.edu/giving THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS Douglas Dempster, Dean SARAH AND ERNEST BUTLER SCHOOL OF MUSIC Mary Ellen Poole, Director