Ethos

carthage music department presents

Ethos Violin Recital featuring

Azniv Khaligian in collaboration with

Yevanhelina But and Yuhan Xue

Sunday, April 3, 2022 | 2 p.m. | Recital Hall

program Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 94a Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) I. Moderato II. Scherzo: Presto III. Andante Yevanhelina But, piano Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22 Clara Schumann (1819-1896) I. Andante molto II. Allegretto III. Leidenschaflich schnell Yevanhelina But, piano Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor, L.140 Claude Debussy (1862-1918) I. Allegro vivo II. Intermède (fantasque et léger) III. Finale (Très animé) Yuhan Xue, piano

program notes and acknowledgements Ethos refers to “the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations.” The pieces on this program were influenced by three different ethea during their composition, and are being performed for an audience, and by musicians whose worldview is vastly different from the composers’.

This distinctly musical phenomenon is the intersection of time and individuals in the creation and experience of art.

Sergei Prokofiev composed his D Major sonata as an evacuated Soviet artist in 1942 during the second World War. The sonata takes a Neoclassical style and form, a rebirth of the timeless tradition and structure of the 18th century Classical period favored by Soviet censorship, to which the composer brings his own voice. The piece was originally written for flute and transcribed for violin at the urging of violinist David Oistrakh, which adds another layer of intent for the performer and listener to consider. In my mind, the Prokofiev score is shabby from copious notations etched in pencil and effortful eraser smudges.

In 1853 amidst the height of German musical Romanticism, piano virtuosa Clara Schumann wrote the Three Romances, one of just 23 published works by a mother of 8 with a busy performance schedule. Musical romanticism is an aesthetic characterized by a male-dominated expression of individuality, nationalism, realism, and exoticism through the transcendent medium of music, which expresses what words cannot. For Schumann, who did not get to enjoy composition as often as she wanted, I imagine the score would be smudged by purple wine-glass rings that signify what the act of composing meant to her: “Composing gives me great pleasure. There is nothing that the surpasses the joy of creation, if only because through it one wins hours of self-forgetfulness, when one lives in a world of sound.”

The Debussy is tea-scented, with singed edges from too-close candlelight reading. At the end of WW1, a sick Claude Debussy wrote his last work, the Sonata for Violin and Piano in 1917 Paris. In a letter to a friend, Debussy wrote “This sonata will be interesting from a documentary point of view and as an example of what may be produced by a sick man in time of war.” The music is understated, trading a defined melody for ever-shifting colors, improvisatory rhythm, and chromaticism evocative of Spanish, Romani, and Javanese flavor that Debussy had experienced in lighter times during travels and at the Paris Exhibition.

Many aspects of the preparation for this recital were unprecedented for me.

Even though I’ve been playing violin for 13 years, this culminating performance is filled with firsts. The pieces are more cerebral than virtuosic, and collaboratively demanding; I feel I have just scratched the surface of what it means to learn and play this type of music in a short amount of time. I am humbled by the opportunity to engage with these works, and present the audience this opportunity as well.

This project would not have been possible without • Dr. Charlene Kluegel, for challenging and supporting me with this learning experience • Drs. Etsushi Kawakami and Dimitri Shapovalov, recital faculty panelists, for musical and intellectual ideas and encouragement • Mrs. Fumi Nakayama, for many hours of chamber music coaching • Yuhan and Yevanhelina, for enthusiastic participation and amazing musicianship • Mrs. Kim Edwards, for dress alterations And many other people and events that have shaped me and my music education.

upcoming events Student Recital: Bryan Tamayo Monday, April 4 • 7:30 p.m.

Recital Hall • Tickets required Big Guns April 7-9 • 7:30 p.m.

Studio Theatre • Tickets required Choral Symphonic Concert Saturday, April 9 • 7:30 p.m.

A. F. Siebert Chapel • Tickets required Student Recital: Jessica Golinski Sunday, April 10 • 2 p.m.

Recital Hall • Tickets required Chamber Music Recital Monday, April 11 • 7:30 p.m.

A. F. Siebert Chapel • Tickets required Jazz Ensemble Wednesday, April 13 • 7:30 p.m.

A. F. Siebert Chapel • Tickets required Student Recital: William Dowell Tuesday, April 19 • 7:30 p.m.

Recital Hall • Tickets required

Fine Arts at Carthage acknowledges that the land on which our building stands is part of the traditional Potawatomi, Sioux, Peoria, Kickapoo, and Miami peoples past, present, and future. These homelands reside along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes. We honor with gratitude the land itself, and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. Many Indigenous peoples thrive in this place—alive and strong, and this calls us to commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit as well.

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