danish string quartet
oneppo chamber music series David Shifrin, Artistic Director February 17, 2015 • Morse Recital Hall
Robert Blocker, Dean
Oneppo Chamber Music Series
danish string quartet Tuesday, February 17, 2015 • 7:30 pm • Morse Recital Hall David Shifrin, Artistic Director frederik øland, violin • rune tonsgaard sørensen, violin asbjørn nørgaard, viola • fredrik sjölin, cello Franz Joseph Haydn 1732–1809
String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5 I. Allegro moderato II. Menuetto III. Adagio IV. Finale: Fuga a due Soggetti
Thomas Adès b. 1971
Arcadiana I. Venezia notturno II. Das klinget so herrlich, das klinget so schon III. Auf dem Wasser zu singen IV. Et… (tango mortale) V. L’Embarquement VI. O Albion VII. Lethe intermission
Franz Schubert 1797–1828
String Quartet in G major, Op. 161, D. 887 I. Allegro molto moderato II. Andante un poco moto III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace IV. Allegro assai
As a courtesy to the performers and audience, please silence all electronic devices. Please do not leave the hall during selections. Photography or recording of any kind is prohibited.
Artist Profile
Embodying the quintessential elements of a chamber music ensemble, the Danish String Quartet has established a reputation for possessing an integrated sound, impeccable intonation and judicious balance. Since making its debut in 2002 at the Copenhagen Festival, the highly sought-after quartet has demonstrated a passion for Scandinavian composers while also proving skilled and profound performers of the classical masterworks. The Danish String Quartet’s 2014–2015 season brings first-time tours to Israel and South America. Other international tours include stops in Brussels, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Dortmund, Weimar, and London as well as the Lofoten Festival in Norway. Currently in their second season with Lincoln Center’s CMS Two program, they collaborate with pianists Gilles Vonsattel and Jon Kimura Parker. The Quartet presents the U.S. premiere of Danish composer Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen’s Quartet No. 7, “The Extinguishable” in Chicago, followed by performances in St. Paul, Santa Barbara, Pasadena, Gainesville, Jacksonville, and Laramie. Their robust schedule rounds out with Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Vancouver, Tulsa, New Orleans, La Jolla, and Houston. In November the ensemble launched their recording of Danish folk songs, Wood Works, on the Dacapo label, at Subculture in New York. The Quartet has been named a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist for 2013–2015. » www.danishquartet.com The Danish String Quartet is represented in North America by Kirshbaum Demler & Associates. The Danish String Quartet has recorded for DaCapo and CAvi-Music/BR Klassik.
Notes on the Program
franz joseph haydn String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5 Franz Joseph Haydn spent a large part of his life working at the court in rural Hungary. His employment there began in 1761, and in 1766 Haydn became Kapellmeister. From this time to about 1772 Haydn intensely explored musical styles. His output from this period is characterized by great richness and diversity; certain genres (notably the symphony, string quartet, and keyboard sonata) show a new level of expressivity, prompting some to link the works with the Sturm und Drang movement that arose in German literature several years later. Haydn may have been responding (positively) to the minor-mode intensity of Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice, and (negatively) to German newspapers which had criticized his works as provincial. The first movement of Op. 20, No. 5 exploits the tension and pathos of the minor mode. There is dramatic potential in minor-mode sonata movements: in the first part, the second group of themes is usually in a major key, giving respite from the tension of the first few themes in minor. In the recapitulation of this material, however, the minor mode reclaims this second group, ending the movement with tonal unity but denying the relief of modal contrast. Haydn takes full advantage of this potential, adding a coda which moves quickly through extremes: after a sudden brief turn to the major, a haunting pianissimo passage moves to a stridently tragic presentation of the second theme motive, which then dies away to silence. The arrival of the second movement does not provide further respite; Haydn stays in F minor for the minuet.
Movement III, in F major, presents a tune in the first violin with lilting yet dignified siciliana rhythms. After this first presentation, the first violin decorates the melodies and harmonies of the rest of the quartet with flourishes that imply an improvisatory freedom. The fourth movement exemplifies the archaic, learned style which Haydn deploys as a contrast to the more direct, witty style of other works. The two subjects of the fugue are presented as subject and countersubject, heard in counterpoint with one another at the very outset. Very soon, the presentations of the first subject begin to overlap with one another, creating a dense and ever-changing fabric of music that presses forward to the dramatic close. — Orianna Webb thomas adés Arcadiana “Et in Arcadia ego.” This beguiling Latin phrase, the meaning of which is nearly impossible to capture in translation (though an approximation would be “Even in Arcady Am I”) appears in two paintings by the French Baroque painter Nicolas Poussin. They depict pastoral scenes in which shepherds examine a tomb marked with the cryptic inscription. Its significance remains elusive. Is it the nostalgic expression of the dead, saying, “though I once existed in the paradise of Arcady, I now am dead?” Or is it more ominous: the warning of death itself to those of us living, reminding us that, even in paradise, the shadow of death lurks? The expression subtitles the central movement of the seven comprising Thomas Adès’s
Notes on the Program
string quartet Arcadia, a work elusive in its own right. The piece is allusive, too, with a broad collection of poetic references. With an air of irony, “Et in Arcadia ego” corresponds with a death tango, a symbolic dance with death. By this moment, the dramatic apex of Arcadia, the listener realizes that the elements of surprise, irony, and humor are inevitable in Adès’s music. Successive moments play out like turning a corner in an art museum: one never knows what awaits on the other side. Arcadia is the musical equivalent of a heptaptych: a series of seven sound paintings. Each depicts a distinct scene, yet when taken as a whole, patterns and symmetries begin to emerge. One can almost hear this music from the center outward, rather than from beginning to end. Each subsequent movement reveals something about its predecessor, and also relates thematically with what will come. Arcadia was an ancient region of modernday Greece, covering much of the central and eastern portions of the southern Peloponnesian peninsula. It is an idyllic setting, with lush valleys framed by verdant mountains and miles of Mediterranean coastline. To the ancient Greeks, it was the home of Pan, god of shepherds and wilderness. The pastoral setting fascinated medieval and baroque artists, poets, and musicians, as it fascinates Adès. The first, third, fifth, and final movments each refer in some way to aquatic themes. The first opens with a barcarolle (a Venetian gondolier’s song), with the lilting rhythm in the lower voices mimicking the undulating current of the canal, and of the oar lapping
at its surface. The third movement, referencing a choral work by Schubert, evokes a gentle rain shower in cascading pizzicati and falling glissandi. The fifth recalls a departure, by boat, from the island birthplace of Venus on the mythic river of Oblivion, as depicted by Antoine Watteau’s painting L’Embarquement pour Cythère. Another river serves as the theme to the final movement, this time Lethe, the river of forgetting in the underworld. The theme, introduced first in the cello, is itself forgotten, steadily fading away as it is taken up by the other voices. The second and sixth movements refer to the idyllic Arcadian landscape and the rustic, idealized life of its inhabitants. The second, with a nod to Mozart’s Magic Flute, faintly recalls the birdcatcher Papageno’s bells, and concludes with a subtle reminiscence of his themes. The sixth refers to the pastoral English countryside, with a faint shadow of Elgar’s Nimrod. Like Elgar’s variations, Àdés’s work is enigmatic. Its truth lies behind an extravagant surface. Adès adores the ornate French baroque, in both its musical and visual incarnations. His style is like a modern equivalent of rococo: a highly decorated, even occasionally grotesque depiction of a scene, filled with captured motion and energy, as the baroque masters even in a static painting. If we listen carefully enough, we find a structure of clarity behind his endlessly shifting, kaleidoscopic surface. This is highly kinetic music, like the flowing of water and the energy of a tango mortale to which it exuberantly alludes. — Patrick Campbell Jankowski
Notes on the Program
franz schubert String Quartet in G major, Op. 161, D. 887 Composed in just ten days in June of 1826, Schubert’s fifteenth and final string quartet is a striking work in every way. Unappreciated during Schubert’s lifetime, the premiere did not occur until 1850, with publication following in 1851, twenty-three years after the composer’s early death. It is epic in both length and scope, lasting roughly forty-five minutes and featuring huge — almost orchestral — sonorities. Ingenious modulations occur regularly, with subtle shifts in tonality altering the mood. This is an imaginative, noble, yet ultimately elusive work: not as lyrical or accessible as the Schubert often programmed, but a more mercurial creation, filled with a haunting power and poignancy. Beginning from almost nothing, the massive opening movement bursts forth with large sustained chords, sharply dotted rhythms, and a jagged staccato response. The harmony lurches uneasily between G major and minor, and after this introduction the opening theme is presented over dramatic tremolos. A more delicate and graceful second theme provides some relief from the drama, but even here a syncopated underpinning maintains a level of tension. The remainder of the exposition focuses on variations of the second theme with the subsquent development emphasizing the opening material. There are two impassioned climaxes towards the movement’s end, before a rhapsodic recapitulation and coda complete the exploration of the material. After a lyrical opening featuring a beautiful cello melody, the second movement sud-
denly turns agitated. Fierce clamoring erupts from the first violin amidst ambiguous tremolos. Though the initial music innocently returns, the stormy passages continue to interrupt throughout the movement, before the ominous proceedings ultimately fade to a quiet conclusion. The Scherzo, with its airy, carefree approach and scampering, lightning-quick activity, calls to mind the best characteristics of Mendelssohn’s scherzo compositions. The contrasting trio section is slower, more legato, and more leisurely in nature. In spite of the change in pace and energy from the Scherzo, the music here remains decidedly warm and jovial in character. As is customary, the Scherzo is repeated after the trio. The finale is full of gleeful abandon, written with such virtuosity that it challenges even the most seasoned ensembles to maneuver both the individual parts and the collective musical shape. Here Schubert echoes the developments in the later Beethoven quartets, where the Enlightenment idea of chamber music for amateurs in the home gave way to the Romantic notion of the master composer crafting difficult, complex music intended only for the highest level of players. The specter of Beethoven’s late quartets—which originated from the same era (1824–26)— looms large over Schubert’s late quartet. Clearly inspired by the spirit and content of Beethoven’s late works in the genre, one is left to speculate where Schubert may have journeyed had he lived long enough to continue exploring the many possibilities of the string quartet. — Jacob Adams
Oneppo Chamber Music Series 2014–2015 Patrons
Becoming a Yale School of Music Patron is a wonderful way to support our performance programs. We offer benefits to our patrons that range from preferred seating to invitations for the School’s Academic Convocation. To find out more about becoming a Yale School of Music Patron:
» music.yale.edu/giving You can also add a contribution to your ticket purchase to any of the Yale School of Music concerts. Concert Office · 203 432-4158
Charles Ives Circle $600 and above Victoria Keator DePalma Susan Forster & Bill Reilly Ronald & Susan Netter Bill Tower, in memory of Liz Tower
Paul Hindemith Circle $250 to $599 Laura & Victor Altshul Henry & Joan Binder Carole & Arthur Broadus Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Crowley Jamie Brooke Forseth Deborah Fried & Kalman L. Watsky Mark Bauer & Joseph W. Gordon Attys. Barbara & Ivan Katz Ramsay MacMullen Marc & Margaret Mann Barbara & Will Nordhaus Ray Fair & Sharon Oster Patty & Tom Pollard Jean & Ron Rozett Maggie & Herb Scarf
Mary and Norman Shemitz Josephine Shepard Lorraine D. Siggins Clifford & Carolyn Slayman George S. Warburg Abby N. Wells horatio parker circle $124 to $249 Anonymous (2) Nina Adams & Moreson Kaplan Saundra & Donald Bialos Phoebe Coleman Anne Reed Dean, in memory of Professor & Mrs. E. B. Reed Richard & Madlyn Flavell Carolyn Gould Constance & Joseph LaPalombara Rev. Hugh J. MacDonald George Miller William & Irene Miller Dr. Leonard E. Munstermann Dr. E. Anthony Petrelli Maryanne & W. Dean Rupp Nathan M. Silverstein Thomas & Joan Steitz Betsy & Lawrence Stern
Samuel Simons Sanford Circle $50 to $124 Anonymous (2) Francis Adams, Jr. Susan S. Addiss Henry E. Auer Stephen & Judith August Irma & Bob Bachman Richard & Nancy Beals David and Carolyn Belt Victor & Susan Bers Eric & Lou Ann Bohman Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Robert & Linda Burt Walter B. Cahn Judith Colton & Wayne Meeks Anne Curtis Drew Days & Ann Langdon Emma S. Dickey Kathryn Feidelson Anne-Maria & William Foltz Steven Fraade & Ellen Cohen Geraldine Frei Howard & Sylvia Garland
Clara Genetos Dr. Lauretta E. Grau Patricia LaCamera & Paul Guida Elizabeth Haas Kenneth R. Hanson Robert and Noël Heimer Jay & Marjorie Hirshfield John Hollander & Natalie Charkow Jennifer L. Julier Elise K. Kenney Alan & Joan Kliger Stanley A. Leavy Judith & Karl-Otto Liebmann Ann Marlowe Colin & Suki McLaren William E. Metcalf Alice S. Miskimin Peter & Kathryn Patrikis Jules Prown Emilie & Richard D. Schwartz Cis & Jim Serling Drs. Dorothy & Jerome Singer A. Roxanne Turekian Charles & Barbara Perrow Priscilla Waters Norton Nonna D. Wellek, Ph.D. Hannah & Herber Winer Marcia & Richard Witten Werner & Elizabeth Wolf
Gustave Jacob Stoeckel Circle $25 to $49 Peter & Diana Cooper Howard & Willa Needler Paul Pfeffer Sophie Z. Powell Karen & Mel Selsky Barbara & Michael Susman Peter & Wendy Wells
Upcoming Events
Lunchtime Chamber Music
Philharmonia in Sprague Hall
february 18 Morse Recital Hall | Wednesday | 12:30 pm YSM Student Ensembles Music for a variety of chamber ensembles Wendy Sharp, director Free Admission
february 27 Morse Recital Hall | Friday | 7:30 pm Yale Philharmonia Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor Mozart: Bassoon Concerto, with soloist Darren Hicks; Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. Shinik Hahm, Louis Lohraseb, Heejung Park, conductors Tickets start at $10 • Students $5 $3 surcharge for purchases at the door
Aulos Ensemble february 22 15 Hillhouse Ave. | Sunday | 3 pm Collection of Musical Instruments Gold and Glitter: Music from Venice and Versailles Tickets $25 • Seniors $20 • Students $10
Czech Chamber Music february 22 Morse Recital Hall | Sunday | 4 pm Faculty Artist Series Kyung Yu, violin; Ole Akahoshi, cello; Wei-Yi Yang, piano. Music by Dvořák, Janácek, Smetana, and Suk Free Admission
Vista: Music and Commentary march 2 Morse Recital Hall | Monday | 7:30 pm YSM Student Ensembles Outstanding chamber ensembles share a personal take on the music they perform Wendy Sharp, director Free Admission
Concert Programs & Box Office: Krista Johnson, Donna Yoo Communications: Dana Astmann, Monica Ong Reed, Austin Kase Operations: Tara Deming, Chris Melillo Piano Curators: Brian Daley, William Harold Recording Studio: Eugene Kimball wshu 91.1 fm is the media sponsor of the Oneppo Chamber Music Series at the Yale School of Music connect with us:
facebook.com/yalemusic
P.O. Box 208246, New Haven, CT · 203 432-4158
@yalemusic on Twitter
music.yale.edu
If you do not intend to save your program, please recycle it in the baskets at the exit doors.
Robert Blocker, Dean