Thursday, May 18, 2017 9:00 p.m Sean Lee Junior Recital DePaul Recital Hall 804 West Belden Avenue Chicago
Thursday, May 18, 2017 9:00 p.m. DePaul Recital Hall Sean Lee, violin Junior Recital Mary Drews, piano PROGRAM Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Valse Scherzo, Op. 34 (1877) Mary Drews, piano Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003 (1720) III. Andante IV. Allegro Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880) Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 22 (1862) Allegro moderato Romance. andante non troppo Allegro con fuoco - Allegro moderato, a la Zingara Mary Drews, piano Sean Lee is from the studio of Janet Sung.This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the degree Bachelor of Music. As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you.
Sean Lee May 18, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003 (1720) Duration: 9 minutes A cornerstone in every violinist s repertoire, Bach s sonatas and partitas for solo violin are perhaps one of the most celebrated works in music history. For such a universally celebrated work, it is almost uncanny to think that they were forgotten for nearly a hundred years after completion. However, as appreciation for Bach as a composer began to rise many decades after his death, the collection was eventually published and endorsed by the great virtuosos of the time. As with his works for many other instruments, Bach s compositions for violin have become an ever-changing kaleidoscope throughout violinists careers, as many musicians view Bach s sonatas and partitas as a lifelong challenge (the one they never achieve ). It is not rare to see a musician record Bach s same work multiple times throughout their career with, each version often stunningly different from the previous one. The two movements of the second sonata, Andante and Allegro, make up the shorter second half of the sonata. The Andante is an aria-like movement with two distinct voices that entwine throughout the whole procession. Its gentle conclusion is followed by the sharply contrasted Allegro, an energetic movement that journeys through jagged dynamic contrast and changes in pulses and momentum. The movement is nearly exclusively 16th notes; however, the occasionally added faster licks provide interesting rhythmic focal points to the listeners. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Valse Scherzo, Op. 34 (1877) Duration: 6 minutes The year 1877 in Tchaikovsky s life was a turbulent one. With the rising gossip on his homosexuality, Tchaikovsky decided to marry one of his former students, Antonina Miliukova, in order to protect his reputation as well as his family s interests. Heavily taxed emotionally and creatively, the
Sean Lee May 18, 2017 Program Notes composer ultimately left his two-and-a-half-month-old marriage. This engendered Tchaikovsky s wandering year, and thanks to his generous patroness, Nadezhda von Meck, he was able to focus on maturing as a composer and travelling. The same year, Tchaikovsky wrote the Valse Scherzo for Iosif Kotek, his favorite pupil and a witness at the wedding who eventually became (if not already was) his lover. The same confidante aided Tchaikovsky in his creation of Violin Concerto Op. 35 a year later. The Valse Scherzo begins with the accompaniment playing a little dance until the solo violin enters. A dominant force from its very first note to its last, the solo violin takes the piece s brilliant energy to its slower middle section, then leads the momentum back up until the very end. Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880) Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 22 (1856-1862) Duration: 21 minutes Once in awhile, music history encounters a phenomenon in which a prominent virtuoso also extends his/her legacy as a composer. Today, Henryk Wieniawski is remembered as one of the legendary virtuosos of the 19th century and also as a composer who gifted the violin repertoire with rich Romanticism in his writing. Henryk s talent was groomed early in his life and he began his career as a virtuoso violinist shortly after being accepted into the Paris Conservatoire when he was nine years old. Impressive seasons of concerts and tours followed, with the world beginning to recognize this astonishing talent. Anton Rubinstein, a famed pianist, persuaded the Polish virtuoso who was then only at the age of 24, to teach at his conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia; this eventually led to Wieniawski being appointed as the Tsar s personal violinist as well. During his tenure at the school, he met Tchaikovsky, who was a student at that time (more on this later).
Sean Lee May 18, 2017 Program Notes Wieniawski continued his rigorous life as a concert violinist, and historians believe that this lifestyle led to his death at the early age of 44. Two years before passing, Wieniawski had to cut short his last public performance while performing this very concerto due to cardiac seizure. Joseph Joachim, another famous virtuoso, rose from the audience and finished the concert with Bach s Chaconne after apologizing that he could not finish the great concerto in lieu of his respected colleague. This marked the last of the great virtuoso s complete performances. Having squandered his money through gambling, Wieniawski suffered difficult final years. However, when Tchaikovsky learned of deathly ill Wieniawski in Moscow, he successfully convinced his (aforementioned) patroness, Nadezhda von Meck to let him stay at her residence until his passing. The critics and prominent musicians of his time remembered Wieniawski as a fiery, passionate and unrelenting violinist who was taken too soon from his art (epitaph). Wieniawski s Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor opens with a grand orchestral introduction before the solo violin enters singing the melancholic melody. From there begins a journey that exhibits Wieniawski s superb understanding of violin s wide tonality. The first movement seamlessly connects to the beloved second movement, Romance, a slow movement that Leopold Auer (a prominent violinist and a pedagogue) once said, It is a song to be sung in a way to make us forget the instrument. The third movement is a Gypsy-ish, fiery conclusion that that exploits the violin s soloistic bravura. Notes by Sean Lee.
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