Emerson String Quartet

Transcription

1 CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES SAMUELI THEATER February 8, 2018 Thursday at 7:45 p.m. Preview talk by Dr. Byron Adams at 7:15 p.m. Emerson String Quartet with Calidore String Quartet The Center applauds: First Essay: Nimrod (2016) Sextet, from Capriccio (1942) Adagio, from String Quintet in F major Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11 ( ) Prelude: Adagio Scherzo: Allegro molto CAROLINE ADELAIDE SHAW (1982 ) RICHARD STRAUSS ( ) ANTON BRUCKNER ( ) DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH ( ) INTERMISSION String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20 Allegro moderato con fuoco Andante Andante Scherzo: Allegro leggierissimo Presto FELIX MENDELSSOHN ( ) Out of courtesy to the artists and your fellow patrons, please take a moment to turn off and refrain from using cellular phones, pagers, watch alarms and similar devices. The use of any audio or videorecording device or the taking of photographs (with or without flash) is strictly prohibited. Thank you. Emerson String Quartet appears by arrangement with IMG, LLC. Calidore String Quartet management: Opus 3 Artists 1

2 About the Program 2 CAROLINE ADELAIDE SHAW Born: 1982, Greenville, North Carolina First Essay: Nimrod First Essay: Nimrod began as a simple exercise in translating the lilt and rhythm of one of my favorite authors, Marilynne Robinson, into music. She writes beautifully and bravely on notions of the human soul, weaving delicately in and out various subjects (politics, religion, science) in each of her rich, methodical essays. In addition to thinking deeply about how the Calidore String Quartet approaches music and who they are as musicians, my jumping off point for this piece was considering Robinson and other writers. Usually my music is inspired by visual art, or food, or some odd physics quirk, but this time I wanted to lunge into language, with all its complex splintering and welding of units and patterns! The piece begins with a gentle lilt, like Robinson herself speaking, but soon begins to fray as the familiar harmony unravels into tumbling fragments and unexpected repetitive tunnels. These unexpected musical trap doors lead to various worlds that are built from the materials of the beginning, like the odd way dreams can transform one thing into another. The tide refers to the legendary biblical figure Nimrod, who oversaw the construction of the Tower of Babel a city designed to be tall enough to reach heaven but which resulted in confusion and scattering of language. This image of chaos and fragmentation, but also of extraordinary creative energy, may serve as a framework for listening to this musical essay. RICHARD STRAUSS Born: June 11, 1864, Munich Died: September 8, 1949, Garmisch-Partenkirschen, Bavaria Sextet, from Capriccio (1942) There was a time when the music of Richard Strauss was the center of great controversy. At the end of the nineteenth century, when the successors of Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner were discovering new potentials of poetic expressiveness in music, Strauss was in the vanguard of the creative search. The tone poems Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel, Also sprach Zarathustra and Ein Heldenleben were composed before The highly dissonant operas Salomé and Elektra appeared during the first decade of the twentieth century. Ironically, many of the works which were the subject of the most heated controversy have since come to be recognized as the masterpieces most representative of his genius. After 1900, most of his interest was centered in opera. Unlike his friend and contemporary Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss received acclaim at an early age for his compositions. By 21, he was hailed as the successor to Brahms and Wagner, and the tone poems composed in his twenties immediately became part of the standard orchestral repertoire. Capriccio was Strauss last opera, and the Sextet, which acts as the overture, is his only composition for strings alone. The opera is based on a libretto by the composer s friend, the conductor Clemens Krauss, who conducted the premiere performance in Munich on October 28, This would be the last premiere of his stage works that Strauss would attend. Capriccio is subtitled a conversation piece in music, and deals with the aesthetic problem of which of the arts, words or music, should take precedence above the other. The opera is in one act, and is set in a castle near Paris, ca The argument puts on a human face when the Countess Madeleine is wooed by the poet Olivier and the composer Flamand. At the end, she remains torn between the two. The Sextet is a lovely piece of late Romantic chamber music set in a ternary form. The instrumentation is for two violins, two violas and two celli. The tempo is a leisurely Andante con moto in 3/4 time, and acts as an appropriately wordless declaration of love for the Countess from Flamand. When Flamand s melody is combined with a sonnet from Olivier, the Countess is so moved that she is placed in an impossible situation. This is quietly refined and elegant society music. While the subject matter may be far from his earlier operas, such as Elektra or Salomé, no doubt a concession to the reactionary taste of Hitler s National Socialist government, the music nonetheless has an elegant grace that can still capture an audience.

3 ANTON BRUCKNER Born: September 4, 1824, Ansfelden, near Linz Died: October 11, 1896, Vienna Adagio, from String Quintet in F major The Romantic movement had from the beginning a revolutionary tinge, with a corresponding emphasis on the virtue of originality in art. The past was manifested by the persistence of Classical tradition. Composers still wrote in the Classical forms of sonata, symphony and string quartet. The Classical system of harmony was still the basis of their music, but there were conservatives and radicals within the general movement. Bruckner was a conservative and the most important church composer of the late nineteenth century. A solitary, simple, profoundly religious soul, Bruckner succeeded as no one before him in uniting the spiritual and technical resources of the nineteenth century symphony with a reverent and liturgical approach to the sacred texts. Not until 1884, almost 20 years after completing his First Symphony, was the virtuoso organist, musical theoretician and composer to find appreciation as a symphonist outside the narrow circle of his pupils and intimate friends. The premiere of the First Symphony, in Linz in 1868 was met with incredible prejudice and gross misunderstanding. The other symphonies that followed did not fare much better, despite the esteem voiced by the initiated few. Bruckner s tardy rise to fame was due to various circumstances, which cast a rather tragic shadow on the life of the composer. The city of Vienna itself was partly to blame, his hometown since 1868, after years of provincial life as a teacher in several Austrian villages. As a teacher he communicated the contrapuntal system of Simon Sechter to a generation of Viennese students that included Felix Mottl, Heinrich Schenker, Franz and Josef Schalk and Ferdinand Löwe. During Bruckner s early career, there was a great public dichotomy of opinion on symphonic aesthetics, particularly in the Austrian capital. On the one side, there were those who favored Wagner s highly Romantic and impassioned emotional approach. On the other side, there were those who favored Brahms who, though no less Romantic than Wagner, tended to be more devoted to a Classical conception of form in his symphonic writing. While there is no question that Vienna was firmly under the magic spell of Wagnerian opera, in terms of the symphony it was Brahms who reigned supreme. In the midst of this very heated public debate, Bruckner made no secret of his affiliation with and admiration for Wagner. In fact, he became known as the Wagner symphonist, a title which at the time carried no uncertain pejorative connotations. Moreover, until the age of 40, Bruckner had concentrated mainly on writing masses and other assorted sacred works, and there was no indication that after 1864 he would explore other avenues of composition. In late 1878, Bruckner began his only mature chamber music composition and inarguably one of the finest works of his later life: the String Quintet in F Major. Commissioned by and composed for Joseph Hellmesberger, director of the Vienna Conservatory and leader of an eponymous string quartet. Completed in July of 1879, the piece poses numerous technical challenges, which might be the reason Hellmesberger did not perform it until Despite that delay, the Quintet was premiered in December 1881 by the Winkler Quartet, joined by Franz Schalk as second violist in a wellreceived performance. Contemporaneous with his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the String Quintet in F major is a deftly composed Romantic work, symphonic in scale but intimate in character. The Adagio expresses an almost overwhelming bliss. The warm glow of Bruckner s extended themes brings to mind the lyricism of Schubert. The lush chromatic language of Bruckner s scores is oven viewed by scholars as evidence of Wagner s unavoidably powerful influence. Also, the String Quartet in C minor brings into play Bruckner s love of Bach and admiration for Schubert while pointing towards his own later symphonic style. The Adagio begins with one of Bruckner s most moving themes of an ineffable beauty. In the rich key of G flat it slowly and effortlessly unfolds in wave after wave of resplendent dignity spawning several closely related but subsidiary themes. A succession of repeated Fs leads into the glorious second subject, ascending first on viola, then cello. The first theme returns as the basis for extended development, the second theme being drawn in as the music unfolds with calm predictability. The second theme is reprised with even more searching counterpoints. There is an impassioned unison derivation that brings about the emotional climax, then the first theme returns to effect a heartfelt conclusion. DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Born: September 25, 1906, St. Petersburg Died: August 9, 1975, Moscow Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11 ( ) Shostakovich s fame is attributed to his 15 symphonies, however, he also devoted considerable attention to chamber music. The composer s chamber works added much originality of art and style to contemporary music and constitute an innovative phenomenon which deserves the description of modern classicism. Beginning with the series of string quartets, Shostakovich s chamber music contain his innermost thoughts and feelings 3

4 4 and are judged by many critics to be among the towering accomplishments of twentieth century music. Among his chamber works, which share many features in common with his symphonic music, there are no less than 15 string quartets. During the winter of 1925, Shostakovich was sent to Moscow at the government s expense as a representative of Leningrad s modern composers. Moscow received him very well, he was revered wherever he went, and it was promised that compositions would be published after the premiere performance of his First Symphony. His Octet for Strings and his Three Fantastic Dances for piano would be published along with the symphony. Aside from his first Piano Trio, which remains unpublished, Shostakovich s first major chamber work was the Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11. The composer wrote this work between 1924 and 1925 at the age of 19, immediately after having completed his First Symphony. Written for the unusual combination of string octet or, essentially a double string quartet, the ensemble allows for a variety of expressive means. The first of the two pieces, Prelude, is of a serious nature and makes oblations to the spirit of the old masters. It is a small essay in three part form, with an opening and closing Adagio framing a livelier episode which bears the inscription Piu mosso. With its vivacious and impetuous music, the Scherzo anticipates the composer s future symphonic scherzos fiery and full of sharp wit and biting sarcasm. This particular Scherzo begins Allegro molto, and abruptly becomes Moderato, before settling down to the Allegro which prevails thereafter. There is no formal Trio section, but a shift from the opening G minor to a more chromatic section without key signature provides effective contrast. The design is rounded out by the return to the previous G minor. Thematic material heard at the beginning provides the climax and conclusion Ileen M. Zovluck FELIX MENDELSSOHN Born: February 3, 1809, Hamburg Died: November 4, 1847, Leipzig Octet in E Flat Major, Op. 20 The Octet, written during the summer and fall of 1825, when Mendelssohn was but 16 years old, is considered the most outstanding major composition in the entire history of music by one so young, far surpassing comparable efforts of such famous child prodigies as Mozart and Schubert. But the Octet is more than an example of precocity; it is a consummate work of art, able to hold its own with the finest pieces of chamber music. While Mendelssohn was growing up, his lavish home was the setting for weekly Sunday morning musicales, with the most distinguished Berlin musicians as well as touring performers taking part in the informal music-making. It is believed the young Felix wrote the Octet for one of these gatherings, and that he made the score a birthday present to his violin and viola teacher Eduard Rietz. The composer probably played viola (he was reputedly an excellent violist, even though he never practiced) at the first performance. The piece came to occupy a special place in his affection; he later called it my favorite of all my compositions and said, I had a most wonderful time in the writing of it. Mendelssohn opens the first movement with a thickly textured carpet of orchestral sound. Above this deep, rich surface the first violin soars aloft with the nobly striving principal theme. As he expands the melody, Medelssohn s scoring creates a palette of tone colors that approximates an orchestra in range and variety. Additional motifs and a transitional section lead to the subsidiary subject a sedate, smooth melody pre- sented initially by the fourth violin and first viola. Medelssohn extends this theme with several snippets of the first subject tossed in. Near the end of the concise development, the instruments join in one after another in continuing syncopations that build up to a fortissimo unison passage, leading to the abruptly quiet start of the recapitulation. The movement ends with a fiery coda. The elegiac, dreamlike Andante derives its shape from the interplay and patterns of its tone colors than from any memorable melodies or striking formal design. The sonorous music proceeds by its own unerring inner logic; the complex polyphonic interweavings add a true depth of feeling. The light, gossamer Scherzo is a wondrous fantasy that seems to spin forth effortlessly. The ease of flow, of course, is deceptive; it actually rests on a solid foundation of brilliant compositional technique. Mendelssohn s sister, Fanny, wrote this about the movement: The whole piece is to be played staccato and pianissimo with shivering tremolos and lightning flashes of trills. All is new, strange, and yet so familiar and pleasing one feels so close to the world of spirits, lightly carried up into the air. Indeed one might take a broomstick so as to follow the airy procession. At the end the first violin soars feather-light aloft and all is blown away. The last phrase is a reference to the Walpurgisnacht scene from Goethe s Faust, which fanny knew was her brother s source of inspiration. The quote comes from the concluding lines. Flight of clouds and trail of mist Are lighted from above, A breeze in the leaves, a wind in the reeds, And all is blown away. Medelssohn follows the elfin spirits of the Scherzo with the Presto s more down-to-earth humor. The opening theme of the second cello sounds like it might be a continuation of the Scherzo except it is at the lowest, most awkward part of the cello tessitura, a passage that Mendelssohn surely meant as a joke, since no cellist, then or now, can possibly play it with grace and clarity. Up through the instruments the melody goes in imitation, climaxing with the second theme, a series of thundering, reiterated unison notes. The opening theme easily dominates the movement, but Mendelssohn occasionally applies the brakes with the repeated stamping notes and even offers us a tantalizing glimpse of the Scherzo tune. The work closes with a long, slow buildup of the first theme to ending of unbridled vehemence. Guide to Chamber Music, Melvin Berger

5 About the Artists Emerson String Quartet The Emerson String Quartet has amassed an unparalleled list of achievements over four decades: more than 30 acclaimed recordings, nine Grammys (including two for Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, the Avery Fisher Prize, Musical America s Ensemble of the Year and collaborations with many of the greatest artists of our time. The arrival of Paul Watkins in 2013 has had a profound effect on the Emerson Quartet. Mr. Watkins, a distinguished soloist, award-winning conductor, and devoted chamber musician, joined the ensemble in its 37th season, and his dedication and enthusiasm have infused the quartet with a warm, rich tone and a palpable joy in the collaborative process. The reconfigured group has been praised by critics and fans alike around the world. The Emerson brought the requisite virtuosity to every phrase. But this music is equally demanding emotionally and intellectually, and the group s powers of concentration and sustained intensity were at least as impressive. (The New York Times) Having celebrated its 40th anniversary last season a major milestone for a groundbreaking ensemble that has earned its place in the pantheon of the classical chamber music world, the Emerson looks towards the future by collaborating with today s most esteemed composers and premiering new works, thus proving their commitment to keeping the art form of the string quartet alive and more relevant than ever. In 2016, Universal Music Group reissued their entire Deutsche Grammophon discography in a 52-CD boxed set, and in April 2017, the quartet released its latest album, Chaconnes and Fantasias: Music of Britten and Purcell, the first release on Universal Music Classics new U.S. classical record label, Decca Gold. The season reflects all aspects of the Emerson s venerable artistry with high-profile projects, collaborations and tours. In fall 2017, the Emerson continues its series at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC for its 39th season, and performances at the Lincoln Center s White Lights Festival and at Alice Tully Hall. Other North American highlights of the season include a subsequent performance at the Princeton University of Shostakovich and Emerson String Quartet The Black Monk: A Russian Fantasy, the new theatrical production co-created by the acclaimed theater director James Glossman and the Quartet s violinist, Philip Setzer; collaborations with the Calidore Quartet at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, and the Dover Quartet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; and concert appearances at Cleveland, Philadelphia and Corpus Christi Chamber Music Societies, Vancouver Recital Society, Chamber Music Houston, Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts, South Mountain Concerts, Duke Performances and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, as well as in Sleepy Hollow, NY, Louisville, KY, Shreveport, LA and Richmond, VA. In April 2018, the renowned pianist Evgeny Kissin joins the Emerson for three performances at New York s Carnegie Hall, Chicago s Symphony Hall and Boston s Jordan Hall, and appears with the quartet in France, Germany and Austria. Throughout the season, the Emerson embarks on multiple tours in South America, Asia and Europe comprising dates in Austria, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Formed in 1976 and based in New York City, the Emerson was one of the first quartets whose violinists alternated in the first chair position. The Emerson Quartet, which took its name from the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, is Quartet-in-Residence at Stony Brook University. During the spring of 2016, fulltime Stony Brook faculty members Philip Setzer and Lawrence Dutton received the honor of Distinguished Professor, and parttime faculty members Eugene Drucker and Paul Watkins were awarded the title of Honorary Distinguished Professor. In January 2015, the quartet received the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, Chamber Music America s highest honor, in recognition of its significant and lasting contribution to the chamber music field. Photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco 5

6 Calidore String Quartet The Calidore String Quartet s deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct (The New York Times) and balance of intellect and expression (Los Angeles Times) has won them accolades across the globe and firmly established them as one of the finest chamber music ensembles performing today. The Calidore String Quartet violinists Jeffrey Myers and Ryan Meehan, violist Jeremy Berry and cellist Estelle Choi made international headlines as the winner of the $100,000 Grand Prize of the 2016 and inaugural M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition, the largest prize for chamber music in the world. Also in 2016, the quartet became the first North American ensemble to win the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and was named BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists, an honor that brings with it recordings, international radio broadcasts and appearances in Britain s most prominent venues and festivals. Most recently in 2017 the Calidore was honored with the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award. The season continues the Calidore s three-year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center s CMS Two program. The Calidore String Quartet regularly performs in the most prestigious venues throughout North America, Europe and Asia such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, Berlin Konzerthaus, Seoul s Kumho Arts Hall and at many significant festivals, including Verbier, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Music@ Menlo, Rheingau, East Neuk and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In addition to winning the M-Prize, the Calidore String Quartet won grand prizes in virtually all the major U.S. chamber music competitions, including the Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs competitions and captured top prizes at the 2012 ARD Munich International String Quartet Competition and Hamburg International Chamber Music Competition. Highlights of the season include debuts at the Kennedy Center and in Boston, Philadelphia, Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Barcelona. The quartet returns to Wigmore Hall and the Verbier Festival as well as major series across North America from Montreal to Seattle. In April 2018 the Chamber Music Society of Calidore String Quartet Lincoln Center presents the Calidore in their Alice Tully Hall recital debut. As protégés of the Emerson Quartet, the Calidore String Quartet will perform a joint program with the Emerson at the Ravinia Festival as well as major series in Portland, Ann Arbor and Southern California. In addition to their Emerson collaboration the Calidore will also perform with cellist David Finckel, pianists Wu Han and Alessio Bax and violist Roberto Diaz. In Summer 2017 the Calidore String Quartet debuts in France and Chamber Music Northwest (Portland, OR) and returns to the Ravinia, Great Lakes and Hudson Valley Chamber Music festivals. Additionally, the Calidore serves as quartet-in-residence at both the the Bellingham Festival of Music and Center Stage Strings Institute. The Calidore String Quartet has released three commercial recordings, the most recent of which is quartets by Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn recorded live in concert at the 2016 Music@Menlo Festival. The French label Editions Hortus released the Calidore String Quartet s second studio recording: Serenade: Music from the Great War, featuring music for String Quartet by Hindemith, Milhaud and Stravinsky, along with the world-premiere recording of Jacques de la Presle s Suite en sol, and the second recording ever of Ernst Toch s Serenade. February 2015 marked the release of the Calidore s critically acclaimed debut recording of quartets by Mendelssohn and Haydn for which Gramophone dubbed the Calidore String Quartet the epitome of confidence and finesse, The Calidore was featured as Young Artists-in-Residence on American Public Media s Performance Today and their performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio, BBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Korean Broadcasting Corporation, Bayerischer Rundfunk (Munich), Norddeutscher Rundfunk (Hamburg), and were featured on German national television as part of a documentary produced by ARD public broadcasting. In the season the Calidore gave world premieres of works by Caroline Shaw, Hannah Lash and Benjamin Dean Taylor. In addition, the Calidore premiered string quartets of Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw in New York, Berlin, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Portland, Detroit and Belfast. The Calidore has collaborated with many esteemed artists and ensembles, including Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Joshua Bell, David Shifrin, Inon Barnatan, Paul Coletti, David Finckel, Paul Neubauer, Ronald Leonard, Paul Watkins, Raphael Merlin and the Quatuor Ebéne, among others. Formed in 2010 at the Colburn School of Music, the Calidore has studied closely with such luminaries as the Emerson Quartet, David Finckel, Andre Roy, Arnold Steinhardt, Günther Pichler, Gerhard Schulz, Guillaume Sutre, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Paul Coletti, Ronald Leonard, Clive Greensmith, Martin Beaver and the Quatuor Ebène. As a passionate supporter of music Photo by Sophie Zhai 6

7 education, the Calidore String Quartet is committed to mentoring and educating young musicians, students and audiences. Since 2016 the Calidore serve as Visiting Guest Artists at the University of Delaware. From the Calidore served as Artists-in-Residence at Stony Brook University. The Calidore has conducted master classes and residencies at Princeton, Stanford, the University of Michigan, UCLA and Mercer University. Previously, the Calidore served on the faculty of the Ed and Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute at the Colburn School. Using an amalgamation of California and doré (French for golden ), the ensemble s name represents a reverence for the diversity of culture and the strong support it received from its home of origin, Los Angeles, California, the golden state. The Calidore String Quartet aims to present performances that share the passion and joy of the string quartet chamber music repertoire. 7