CHAMBER MU SIC H OUSTON PRESEN TS
64 th Season
Balourdet Quartet CMH DÉ BUT Angela Bae | Justin DeFilippis violin Benjamin Zannoni viola | Russell Houston cello
TUESDAY 23 JANUARY 2024
HAYDN
Quartet in C major, op.33/3 (“The Bird”) 1) Allegro moderato 2) Scherzo: Allegretto 3) Adagio ma non troppo 4) Finale: Rondo—Presto
NIELSEN
Quartet #1 in G minor, op.13 1) Allegro energico 2) Andante amoroso 3) Scherzo: Allegro molto 4) Finale: Allegro (inquieto)
INTERMISSION AL-ZAND
Quartet #4, Strange Machines (2022) (Houston Premiere) 1) Alberti Machine 2) Goldberg Machine 3) Mannheim Machine
MENDELSSOHN
Quartet #4 in E minor, op.44/2 1) Allegro assai appassionato 2) Scherzo: Allegro di molto 3) Andante 4) Presto agitato
No photography or audio or video recording is allowed during the performance. Please silence and dim phones and other devices.
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) Quartet in C major, op.33/3, Hob.III:39 (“The Bird”) (1781) Haydn was born in 1732, in the last decades of the Baroque era of music composition. By the 1760s the social structure of Viennese society had changed with the emergence of a prosperous middle class interested in attending concerts and, with it, a lighter, more easily understood music in which, instead of complex multiple levels interacting with each other, as in Baroque music of Bach and Handel, there tended to be a single melodic line above, to the accompaniment of the voices below. This is the “Classical style” of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, first developed in Mannheim, an enlightened and advanced musical enclave in southwest Germany which became a flourishing cultural center with a school for conductors, violinists, and composers. At the same time, light Italian comic opera made its way north to Vienna, introducing the concept of humor in music and finding a receptive audience. Overt humor played no role in Baroque compositions, except for the intentional rare comedy like Bach’s secular “Coffee Cantata” (a spoof on officialdom’s absurd reaction to the importation of coffee into the public sphere). But the music of Haydn, but also of Mozart and Beethoven, contains musical jokes, now and then, which even an untrained musical audience would understand. Charles Rosen, author of The Classical Style, claims that the essential quality of the classical style was basically a comic one, related to comic opera in its forms, and interestingly quotes Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach, deploring the demise of the contrapuntal Baroque: “I believe, with many intelligent men, that the present love for the comic accounts for this more than anything else.” We have commented before that the German music establishment considered Haydn a buffoon and that is what may well have spurred him to write the previous op.20 quartets, which are rich in counterpoint (including fugal endings to some of them). Nine years, during which Haydn was occupied writing operas for the Esterhazy court, separate the two opus numbers. It was in this context that Haydn announced to his publisher that his new collection of string quartets was “written in an entirely new way.” Op.33/3 is the most popular of the six and for years was the most popular of all his string quartets. You will hear in the opening Allegro how the work got its nickname. It opens with a two measure tattoo in the middle strings, an original gesture which would be picked up by future composers like so many of Haydn’s inventions. This is followed by the entry of the first violin with a cheerful melody embellished by grace notes and trills. The movement proceeds in classic sonata form (an invention of the Mannheim School), with twittering phrases all along the way. You may notice that the movement ends with the identical phrase with which it began, another signature gesture of Haydn’s that would be frequently emulated by his successors. The second movement is indeed something new. Remaining in the key of C major, Haydn calls it a “scherzando allegretto.” It earlier would have been called a minuet-trio. Scherzo, of course, means joke and there really is a major joke going on here: it is uniquely pitched exclusively on the two lower strings, never rising above the lowest octave available to the violins, with instruction to play “sotto voce” (whisper), except when he demands “mezza voce” (quiet). Is there any difference you, or any one, could hear? The second section is, as expected marked “Trio”. But in fact it is a duet by just the two violins in high register all the way through, written, no doubt with tongue deep in cheek.
The Adagio is one of Haydn’s loveliest, providing a great contrast to the wittiness of the rest. Heartfelt, with passages rich in warm chromatics, one imagines his opera-writing contributed to this beautiful, romantic song. The closing Rondo is scandalously lighthearted, the sort of thing that the more serious German audience might have called “frivolous” (“slapstick” is Richard Wigmore’s term). It is a gay audience-pleaser in rondo-variation form, concluding another Haydn work which leaves one filled with admiration and delight. The dedication to Crown Prince Paul of Russia, grandson of Catherine the Great, was occasioned by the music-loving Prince’s trip through Europe with his wife; when Haydn discovered they were attending his concerts he dedicated the entire opus to the Prince. —Nora Avins Klein
Carl August Nielsen (1865–1931) Quartet #1 in G minor, op.13 (1888/1898) Carl August Nielsen was a Danish composer originally from the small town of Sortelung on the Danish island of Funen. Nielsen reminisces on his childhood and early exposure to music, writing “when nearly six I had measles…and since I suppose in bed I found time hang heavy Mother lent me a three-quarter violin that hung on the wall, saying I could try to play it…she would sit near the bed…and sing tunes for me that I had to try to find on the violin… and when I played out of tune she would say, ‘No, now listen properly.’” In true Romantic fashion, Nielsen poetically describes his mother’s singing voice, stating “there was a wistful note in her voice, as if she longed for something right over the farthest trees” (My Childhood, translated by Reginald Spink). Nielsen continued to learn violin and would eventually play for local festivals and weddings alongside his father, who played violin and cornet for such occasions. At 18 years of age he was accepted at the Copenhagen Music Conservatory, where he studied from January 1884 to December 1886. He was a pupil of Niels Gade, Denmark’s most famous composer at the time and head of the Conservatory, but he did not end up composing much music during his student years. He nevertheless made significant progress as a violinist, eventually earning himself a spot in the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen in September 1889. In the interim between finishing his studies at the Conservatory and joining the Royal Orchestra, he freelanced as a violinist and composed string chamber works. He wrote his first string quartet, in G minor, in 1887–1888, but the work did not receive its official premiere until a public performance of a revised version in 1898 (it was subsequently published in 1900). The first two of Nielsen’s four published string quartets earned him considerable recognition, despite the works being tonally conservative in overall key scheme for the time period. The first movement, “Allegro energico”, indeed follows the standard model for sonata form in a minor key by having Theme 2 modulate to the relative major key: Theme 1 is a syncopated tune in G minor, elegiac in tone, while Theme 2 is a more lyrically sweet melody in B-flat major. The coda features a rocking triplet eighth-note pattern that sets the tone for the opening of the ternary form (ABA) second movement, “Andante amoroso”. The A section of the second movement contains a balmy E-flat major tune in a somnolently slow compound meter, while the contrasting B section in G minor, marked “Agitato”, is restless and fleet in character with incessant offbeat eighth-notes in the accompaniment. The third movement, “Scherzo: Allegro molto”, bursts forth in a lively C minor, still maintaining a rocking compound me-
ter as heard in the second movement’s A section; the trio section in G major, meanwhile, discards compound meter, but brings back the dreamy quietude of the second movement’s A section. The G-minor fourth movement, “Finale: Allegro (inquieto)”, opens with a similar offbeat eighth-note accompaniment as heard in the B section of the second movement, while two main tunes reappear in rondo-like fashion throughout the remainder of the movement. Towards the end of this last movement, Nielsen features a “Résumé” section that combines melodies from previous movements in counterpoint. Theme 1 from the first movement then makes one final appearance, only now in the major mode, leading to a fiery “Allegro molto” section that brings the work to a rousing close. With the interweaving of themes and musical ideas across different movements, Nielsen’s quartet perfectly captures the Romantic-era penchant for cyclic and organic unity, in which all parts of the work are connected like branches of the same [Danish] tree. — Michael S. Richardson
Karim Al-Zand (b. 1970) Quartet #4, Strange Machines (2022) Strange Machines imagines three quirky musical automata. In “Alberti Machine” we encounter a steam-punk music box, its buttons, levers, and dials adjusting a familiar accompanimental pattern until the machine breaks. Bach meets Rube in “Goldberg Machine”, a contraption that careens between variations in a musical chain reaction. “Mannheim Machine” is a cliché-bot, an unhinged device that furiously spits out distorted musical tropes from the dawn of the symphony. Strange Machines was written for the Balourdet Quartet with support from the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program, with generous funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. —Karim Al-Zand
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) Quartet #4 in E minor, op.44/2 (1837) In 1837, aged 28 and already famous, Felix Mendelssohn married his 20-year-old bride, Cécile Jeanrenaud, the charming daughter of a deceased Pastor of the French Reform Church in Frankfurt. He had just celebrated the critical acclaim of the premiere of Paulus, his first oratorio, which tells the story of the conversion of Saul, the Jew, to the Apostle Paul. It fixed in no uncertain terms his international celebrity. One month into their honeymoon journey along the Rhine, during which they stopped for a few cheerful days in Mannheim, he began work on tonight’s quartet. Listed as number two in the three quartets of op.44, it was in fact the first to be written. After it was finished he ran into the Crown Prince of Sweden and decided for some reason to dedicate the work to him, the holdover of a custom from the days when chamber music was commissioned by the nobility. It was, however, composed for the string quartet of the great violinist Ferdinand David, concertmaster of the Leipzig Orchestra, the same violinist for whom Mendelssohn would write his famous violin concerto. As you will hear, this is not music for amateurs. Among other features of the op.44 quartets is their clarity. In form they are perfect models of the Classical era. Yet their sensibility is most definitively Romantic. Mendelssohn has been
criticized for having a foot in both camps, for being a romantic neoclassicist, or a classical Romanticist, instead of being the inventor of new forms—in other words for being himself and not Beethoven or Schubert or Wagner. This strikes one as silly. His music is sui generis, unmistakably from his pen, easy to decipher but complex and inventive, original, elegant; exciting and frankly beautiful. The first movement starts with a quote, hidden in full view, of the first seven notes of the last movement of Mozart’s G minor symphony (#40). This is a rising sequence known as “the Mannheim rocket,” one of the forms developed by the Mannheim School, an important group of 18th century composers who assembled in the city of Mannheim under the patronage of Duke Karl Theodor (1743-99), the Elector Palatine. They are the acknowledged developers of Classical Style (in revolt against the Baroque) which exerted a tremendous influence on Haydn and Mozart. Here the tempo is slow, greatly altering its character. It is amusing to remember that the Mendelssohns had just spent a few carefree days in Mannheim. The second movement is a hallmark Scherzo, the kind that made its first appearance on the world stage in Mendelssohn’s youthful Octet, twelve years before. It had to be encored at the quartet’s debut. The Andante provides a lovely, unpretentious prelude to the last movement, a “Presto agitato” that marks this work “for professionals only” when played at tempo. It too had to be encored. Despite the obscurity which Mendelssohn’s string quartets and quintets suffered in the latter part of the 19th century and much of the 20th, from which, happily, they have now been rescued, it is fair to say that, as demonstrated by this work, they constitute a glorious collection of major importance to the string literature. —Nora Avins Klein
Balourdet Quartet The Balourdet Quartet, currently in residence at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, received the Grand Prize at the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, as well as prizes in international competitions including the Banff, Borciani, and Carl Nielsen Competitions. The Quartet was also awarded the Gold Medal at the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the 2021 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. The Quartet is the recipient of Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award for 2024–2025. Notable upcoming performances include those at Northwestern University, the La Jolla Music Society, Schneider Concert Series, and Chamber Music Houston. The Quartet will serve as the quartet-in-residence for the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle in 23/24. Highlights of the Balourdet’s 2022-23 season included appearances at Chamber Music Detroit, the Grand Piano Series in Naples, FL, NEC’s Jordan Hall, Merkin Hall, and Wigmore Hall. Summer 2022 also saw the Balourdet performing at festivals including Bravo! Vail, Music Mountain, and Strings Music Festival. Additionally in 22/23 the Quartet was thrilled to premiere a new commissioned work by celebrated composer Karim Al-Zand, made possible through Chamber Music America’s Classical Commissioning Grant. The Balourdet has performed at festivals and series including Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, La Jolla Music Society Summerfest, the Dame Myra Hess Concerts, Montgomery Chamber Music, Santa Fe ProMusica, and the Schneider Concert
Series. Committed to sharing their musical values with the next generation, the Quartet has given masterclasses and coaching at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory Department, the Fischoff Chamber Music Academy, Upper Valley Chamber Music, Wright State University, as well as a residency teaching and performing at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. The Balourdet Quartet was formed in 2018 at Rice University in Houston, Texas, under the tutelage of James Dunham, Norman Fischer, and Cho-Liang Lin and considers Paul Katz, Miriam Fried, and members of the Cleveland and Borromeo Quartets mentors. The Quartet is currently working closely with the estimable Pacifica Quartet at Indiana University. The Quartet takes its name from Antoine Balourdet, chef extraordinaire at the Hotel St. Bernard and beloved member of the Taos School of Music community. The Balourdet Quartet appears by arrangement with Concert Artists Guild.
Karim Al-Zand The music of Canadian-American composer Karim Al-Zand (b.1970) has been called “strong and startlingly lovely” (Boston Globe). His compositions are wide-ranging in influence and inspiration, encompassing solo, chamber, vocal and orchestral works. From scores for dance, to compositions for young people, to multi-disciplinary and collaborative works, AlZand’s music is diverse in both its subject matter and its audience. It explores connections between music and other arts, and draws inspiration from varied sources such as graphic art, myths and fables, folk music of the world, film, spoken word, jazz, and his own Middle Eastern heritage. Al-Zand’s music has enjoyed success in the US, Canada and abroad and he is the recipient of several national awards, including the Sackler Composition Prize, the ArtSong Prize, the Louisville Orchestra Competition Prize and the “Arts and Letters Award in Music” from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is a founding and artistic board member of Musiqa, Houston’s premier contemporary music group, which presents concerts featuring new and classic repertoire of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In his scholarly work, he has pursued several diverse areas of music theory, including topics in jazz, counterpoint, and improvisation (both jazz and 18th century extemporization). Al-Zand was born in Tunis, Tunisia, raised in Ottawa, Canada and educated in Montreal (McGill University, BMus 1993) and Cambridge (Harvard University, PhD 2000). He has taught composition and music theory at the Shepherd School since 2000.