Robert Blocker, Dean
oneppo chamber music series
An Unlikely Muse
David Shifrin, Artistic Director February 28, 2017 • Tuesday at 7:30 pm Morse Recital Hall
Oneppo Chamber Music Series
An Unlikely Muse harry clark, playwright • troy hollar, director • jack gilpin, narrator david shifrin, clarinet • ani kavafian, violin • julie eskar, violin ettore causa, viola • ole akahoshi, cello • melvin chen, piano
Johannes Brahms 1833–1897
Excerpt from Clarinet Sonata in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1 II. Andante un poco adagio
Brahms
Clarinet Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 120, No. 2 II. Allegro appassionato
Brahms arr. Samuel Suggs
Excerpt from Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 II. Andante moderato
Brahms
Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 II. Adagio
Franz Schubert 1797–1828
Excerpt from Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D. 965
Carl Maria von Weber 1786–1826
Excerpt from Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 74 III. Alla Polacca
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791
Excerpt from Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 III. Rondo. Allegro
Brahms
Intermezzo in E-flat major, Op. 117, No. 1
Yale School of Music
Brahms
Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 IV. Allegro
Brahms
Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 IV. Con moto intermission
Brahms
Intermezzo in E-flat minor, Op. 118, No. 6
Brahms
Clarinet Sonata in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1 IV. Vivace
Robert Schumann 1810–1856
FantasiestĂźcke, Op. 73 I. Zart und mit Ausdruck
Brahms
Intermezzo in B minor, Op. 119, No. 1
Brahms
Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 II. Adagio
Brahms
Clarinet Sonata in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1 II. Andante un poco adagio
As a courtesy to the performers and audience, silence electronic devices. Please do not leave the hall during selections. Photography or recording of any kind is prohibited.
Synopsis • Artist Profiles
An Unlikely Muse
Harry Clark, playwright
Nearing his sixtieth birthday, Brahms announced that he was done composing. It was time to relax and take it easy. In a chance encounter in which he met and heard clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, Brahms’ contemplated retirement was eschewed, and with renewed zeal he wrote four seminal works for the instrument and in so doing claimed the woodwind instrument as a primary musical voice.
Playwright Harry Clark has reconceived the ways and means of classical music presentation with some fifty groundbreaking works for the stage. His pathway to his singular concert-dramas began with the cello, a childhood passion. Next came a musical partnership with his wife, pianist Sanda Schuldmann. Together, the pair created Chamber Music PLUS, one of America’s most innovative producing companies. Besides commissioning and premiering works by dozens of composers and searching out neglected gems, with a special emphasis on women’s often unheralded contributions, Chamber Music PLUS’ mission is that added ‘plus’: music plus an exploration of the animating spark of inspiration. Clark’s concert-dramas are a continuation of this need to understand the whys and the hows of creative enterprise, imparting stories — funny, poignant, heartbreaking, heart-warming ones — and using the subject’s own music and words. The results are fully realized theatrical events produced with the simplest of means: a few fine musicians and a wonderful actor or two.
This last muse, unanticipated and unassuming in manner, was nonetheless destined to enter Brahms’ most select company of Robert and Clara Schumann and violinist Joseph Joachim, kindred spirits all. Recollecting that fateful first meeting and his eventual ordination into the composer’s inner sanctum, our storyteller never misses the tale’s fundamental truth of the unlikely, felicitous confluence of creator and muse — the indelible creations left us — to enjoy, to savor, and to ponder, a lasting testament.
Clark has had the greatest fortune to work with a “who’s who” of film, television, and stage, including such luminaries as Robert Beltran, Jill Clayburgh, Theodore Bikel, Edward Herrmann, Barbara Feldon, Mason Adams, Keir Dullea, Philip Bosco, Hayley Mills, Harvey Fierstein, Caroline Kava, Rosemary Prinz, Sandy Duncan, Tovah Feldshuh, Jessica Walter, Michael Learned, Ron Leibman, Sharon Gless, Jean Marsh, Elke Sommer, Kathleen Chalfant, Katherine Helmond, Beth Grant, Stephanie and Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jasmine Guy, Talia Shire, Jenny Sterlin, John Rubinstein, Margot
Artist Profiles
Kidder, Robert Picardo, Armin Shimerman, Shirley Knight, Lou Gossett, Jr., Bob Clendenin, John Schuck, Michael York, Richard Thomas, Jack Gilpin, and Lynn Redgrave. His work has been directed by many, including Rob Ruggiero, Samantha Wyer, Howard Allen, Dan Guerrero, Cindy Meier, and Deborah Lavine. His creations have been presented in more than three hundred concert halls and theaters coast-to-coast, including such memorable and diverse stops as Chicago’s Ravinia Festival (Lisztian Loves, pianist André Watts & Michael York); New York’s Apollo Theater (Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey, Avery Sharpe Trio and Jasmine Guy); Chamber Music Northwest & Norfolk Chamber Music Festival (An Unlikely Muse, dedicated to pianist André Watts and clarinetist David Shifrin, in collaboration with the Miró Quartet and Jack Gilpin); and the Los Angeles Theatre Company (Still Life: Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe, Beth Grant & Zilah Mendoza). A more recent work being re-conceived for national touring, Passionately, Piazzolla, stars Robert Beltran as tango legend Astor Piazzolla. Another work in progress, Sax Degrees of Separation, brings to light the story of the saxophone’s inventor, Adolphe Sax. Orchestras, too, appreciate Clark’s inventive productions, and commissions from the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (Unanswered Question, about Charles Ives) and Orchestra New England (Pardon My English, about Ira Gershwin) have delighted the symphony-going public. In addition to his genre-defying musical plays, Clark has also written more than two dozen non-musical plays. Some are
based on historical incidents or draw from personal experiences including book clubs, student days, or even beloved pets of the past. Others ponder the meaning and import of memory, sensory perception or deprivation, and recollection. Recent examples include a reconfiguration of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens (A Man from Minot), a remembrance of Clark’s student days at the Peabody Conservatory structured as a theme and fifty-seven variations (The Baltimore Variations), and a reconsideration inspired by two cases of recently recovered stolen Stradivari violins (The Return). Harry also has a first screen treatment and two books near completion to his credit. The first book, Of Suites, Songs and Sonatas, concerns the symbiotic relationship between composers and their instrumental muses; the second, Tucson Transmogrifications, is a remembrance and reconciliation of his early childhood home, Tucson, a place he again calls home, shared with Sanda and their two Welsh terriers, Mic and Lola. Troy Hollar, director Troy has directed and produced more than 80 theater productions and live events in such diverse venues as Carnegie Hall, La Mama E.T.C., the Public Theater, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Theater Row, the Ravinia Festival, and the Merchant’s House Museum. He has managed theaters including New York’s award-winning Soho Rep and Malaparte, where he produced new American plays with Artistic Director Ethan Hawke. Screen projects include Highly Unlikely, a comedy series about climate change currently
Artist Profiles
in production; One & Done, a scripted comedy series with Matt Letscher and Nipper Knapp; the award-winning short film Grace of a Stranger; and the feature film Unsound. As an entrepreneur, he founded and sold two technology companies. He is a recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanity Award for his work in social innovation. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Michigan and a master of business administration degree from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management.
Good Wife, Madam Secretary, The Cosby Show, New York Undercover, Damages, The Equalizer, Alpha House, Forever, Billions, and, most recently, The Night Of.
Jack Gilpin, narrator
He has performed with numerous major orchestras including the Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Milwaukee, Detroit, Denver, and Memphis symphonies, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras. Internationally, he has performed with orchestras in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Taiwan. In addition, he has served as principal clarinetist with the American Symphony Orchestra (under Stokowski), with the Cleveland Orchestra, Honolulu, and Dallas symphonies, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the New York Chamber Symphony.
Jack Gilpin has performed on, off-, and off-off-Broadway, originating roles in plays by A.R. Gurney, Christopher Durang, Wendy Wasserstein, Tina Howe, Shel Silverstein, Ken Ludwig, Romulus Linney, Paul Rudnick, John Ford Noonan, Peter Parnell, and many others. He has played leading roles in most of the major regional theatres around the country, including the Long Wharf Theatre, the Guthrie, the Hartford Stage Company, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, the Barrington Stage Company, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, the Kennedy Center, the Cleveland Playhouse, the Philadelphia Drama Guild, and the Westport Country Playhouse. He has acted in more than thirty feature films, including Trouble with the Curve, Adventureland, 21, Quiz Show, The Juror, Something Wild, Heartburn, She-Devil, Reversal of Fortune, Funny Farm, Quick Change, The Dream Team, and Random Hearts. On television he has been seen on all the New York shows, including Law & Order (as defense attorney Jeff Axtell), Kate and Allie (as Roger), The
David Shifrin, clarinet One of only two wind players to have been awarded the Avery Fisher Prize since the award’s inception in 1974, clarinetist David Shifrin is in constant demand as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber music collaborator.
Mr. Shifrin has appeared in critically acclaimed recitals around the world, including at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the 92nd Street Y in New York City, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and throughout Germany. His recordings (on Delos, DGG, Angel/EMI, Arabesque, BMG, SONY, and CRI) continue to garner praise as well as awards, and he has received three Grammy nominations. Sought after as a chamber musician, he has appeared with such distinguished artists as the Guarneri,
Artist Profiles
Tokyo, and Emerson string quartets and Wynton Marsalis. Mr. Shifrin continues to broaden the repertoire for clarinet and orchestra by championing the works of twentieth and twenty-first century American composers including, among others, John Adams, Joan Tower, Bruce Adolphe, Ezra Laderman, Lalo Schifrin, David Schiff, John Corigliano, Bright Sheng, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. An artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1989, Mr. Shifrin served as its artistic director from 1992 to 2004. Along with his work at CMSLC, Mr. Shifrin is also the artistic director of Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon. David Shifrin has been a professor at the Yale School of Music since 1987. He has also served on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the University of Southern California, the University of Michigan, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Hawaii. Mr. Shifrin has been the artistic director of the Oneppo Chamber Music Series at Yale and Yale in New York since 2008. Ani Kavafian, violin Violinist Ani Kavafian enjoys a prolific career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She has performed with virtually all of America’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. A renowned chamber musician, she has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1979. Her numerous solo recital en-
gagements include performances at New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully halls, as well as other major venues across the country. Ani Kavafian serves as concertmaster of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, with whom she has performed the Mozart violin concertos. She has participated in the Heifetz International Music Institute, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Yale Summer School of Music/Norfok Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest Festival (Portland, Oregon), Great Lakes Festival, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and Music from Angel Fire. Kavafian appears frequently with her sister, violinist and violist Ida Kavafian. With violist Barbara Westphal and cellist Gustav Rivinius, she is a member of the Trio da Salò. And with hornist William Purvis and pianist Mihae Lee she is a member of the Triton Horn Trio. She also has teamed with David Shifrin and pianist André-Michel Schub to form the Kavafian-Schub-Shifrin Trio. She is co-artistic director of the New Jersey chamber music series “Mostly Music.” Kavafian has premiered and recorded a number of works written for her, including pieces by Henri Lazarof, Tod Machover, Michelle Ekizian, and Aaron Kernis. Ani Kavafian has received the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions award, has appeared at the White House on three occasions, and has been featured on many network and PBS television specials. Her recordings can be heard on the Nonesuch, RCA, Columbia, Arabesque, and Delos labels.
Artist Profiles
Ani Kavafian is a professor of violin at the Yale School of Music. She plays the 1736 Muir McKenzie Stradivarius violin. Julie Eskar, violin Julie Eskar is currently concertmaster of the Danish National Chamber Orchestra and has performed as a soloist with several orchestras in Denmark and abroad. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Eskar has played at major festivals around the world such as Prussia Cove (England), Horten (Norway), Incontri in Terra di Siena, BIMF (Italy), Tivoli (Denmark), Norfolk, and others, performing alongside musicians such as Boris Berman, Jeremy Denk, Clive Greensmith, Thomas Demenga, Ralph Kirshbaum, Michael Kannen, Antonio Lysy, Alberto Lysy, Vilde Frang, Ani Kavafian, and Ettore Causa. Julie is a founding member of the awardwinning Eskar Trio, which has established a reputation as one of the leading ensembles on the Danish chamber music stage. The trio has enjoyed great success in Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Portugal, Japan, and the Netherlands. The Eskar Trio has released several critically acclaimed CDs, including the complete Brahms piano trios and works by Ravel and Chausson. The Trio’s second CD, featuring never-before recorded Danish Romantic piano trios, was awarded Best Chamber Music Recording and Best Classical Recording of the Year by the Danish Radio Music Awards.
Ms. Eskar studied under Professor Milan Vitek at the Danish Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen and with Professor Gerhard Schultz at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. She has also worked under the guidance of Alberto Lysy, Ana Chumachenco, Christian Tetzlaff, and Ivry Gitlis. Ettore Causa, viola Italian-born violist Ettore Causa is praised for his exceptional artistry, passionate intelligence, and complete musicianship. He was awarded both the P. Schidlof Prize and the J. Barbirolli Prize for the most beautiful sound at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. Causa has made solo and recital appearances at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Zurich Tonhalle, Madrid National Auditorium, Salle Cortot (Paris), Tokyo Symphony Hall, and Teatro Colon, and has performed at the Menuhin (Gstaad), Salzburg, Tivoli (Copenhagen), Prussia Cove (England), Savonlinna (Finland), Launadire (Canada), and Norfolk (Connecticut) festivals. Mr. Causa is a former member of the Aria Quartet and is a current member of the Poseidon Quartet and has collaborated with such renowned musicians as the Tokyo, Artis, and Elias string quartets, Pascal Rogé, Boris Berman, Peter Frankl, Thomas Adès, Natalie Clein, Ana Chumachenco, Ani Kavafian, Alberto and Antonio Lysy, Liviu Prunaru, Thomas Demenga, Anthony Marwood, Ulf Wallin, William Bennett, and others. Ettore Causa studied at the International Menuhin Music Academy with Alberto Lysy and Johannes Eskar, and later at the
Artist Profiles
Manhattan School of Music with Michael Tree. After teaching for many years at the International Menuhin Music Academy, Mr. Causa joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music in 2009. His recordings include two Claves CDs: one of the Brahms Viola Sonata and the other his transcriptions of Romantic pieces, which was awarded five Diapasons. Mr. Causa performs on a viola made for him by Frederic Chaudière in 2003. Ole Akahoshi, cello Cellist Ole Akahoshi from Germany enjoys a concert career playing for audiences in North and South America, Asia, and Europe in recitals, chamber music concerts, and as a soloist with orchestras such as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Symphonisches Orchester Berlin. He has won numerous competitions, including Concertino Praga and Jugend Musiziert, and is a recipient of the Salon de Virtuosi fellowship award. Mr. Akahoshi has performed in Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Suntory Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei Concert Halls, Wigmore Hall, Wiener Musikverein, and the Berliner Philharmonie. His performances have been featured on CNN, NPR, WQXR, Korean Broadcasting, and the major German stations. He has recorded for the Albany, New World, Calliope, Bridge, and Naxos labels. His most recent releases include the string quartet by Behzad Ranjbaran, and the Mendelssohn Octet with Gil Shaham. Ole Akahoshi has collaborated with the Tokyo, Michelangelo, and Keller quartets and with Sarah Chang, Cho-Liang Lin, Elmar Oliveira, Leon Fleisher, Garrick
Ohlsson, and Elizabeth Parisot, among many others. He has served as faculty at the festivals in Banff, Norfolk, Brazil, and the GMMFS in Korea. He has given numerous classes, most recently at the conservatories in Beijing and Sichuan. At age eleven, Ole Akahoshi was the youngest student to be accepted by Pierre Fournier. He studied with Aldo Parisot at the Yale School of Music and the Juilliard School, as well as Janos Starker at Indiana University. Mr. Akahoshi has served as teaching assistant for both Aldo Parisot and Janos Starker. Ole Akahoshi is the principal cellist of the Sejong Soloists. In 1997 he joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music, where he is an assistant professor of cello. Melvin Chen, piano A native of Tennessee, pianist Melvin Chen has received acclaim for performances throughout the United States and abroad. As a soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Chen has performed at major venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Boston’s Jordan Hall, in addition to other appearances throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia. Mr. Chen’s performances have been featured on radio and television stations around the globe, including KBS television and radio in Korea, NHK television in Japan, and NPR in the United States. Solo recordings include Beethoven’s “Diabelli” Variations on the Bridge label, praised as “a classic” by the American Record Guide, and a recording of Joan Tower’s piano music on the Naxos label. Recordings of the Shostakovich
Artist Profiles • Notes on the Program
piano sonatas and Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice were released in 2007.
johannes brahms Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120
An enthusiastic chamber musician, Mr. Chen has collaborated with such artists as Ida Kavafian, David Shifrin, Pamela Frank, Peter Wiley, and with the Shanghai, Tokyo, Miami, Penderecki, and Miró quartets. He has performed at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Yale Summer School of Music/Norfolk Chamber Music Festival (of which he became director following the 2016 season), Bard Music Festival, and Music from Angel Fire, among others.
Written in 1894 following his transformative introduction to clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld’s playing, the two sonatas, Op. 120, for clarinet and piano are Johannes Brahms’ last works of chamber music. They were intended to be played as a pair, and were arranged by Brahms himself for viola and piano, as well as for violin and piano.
Melvin Chen completed a doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University, and also holds a double master’s degree from the Juilliard School in piano and violin. Previously, he attended Yale University, receiving a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and physics, and studying with Boris Berman, Paul Kantor, and Ida Kavafian. Mr. Chen was previously on the piano faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where he was also associate director. In 2012 he rejoined the faculty of the Yale School of Music, where he serves as associate professor (adjunct) of piano and Deputy Dean.
The first sonata, in F minor, begins with an acrobatic display from the clarinet. Traversing two octaves within the first two measures, the clarinet’s theme brings a feeling of restlessness familiar not only to this sonata but also to the Trio and Quintet as well. While a lilting triple meter undergirds the movement, Brahms inculcates a sense of pervasive instability by regularly accenting the second and third, rather than the grounding first, beats. The two middle movements, in the relative-major key of A flat, prefigure a change in mood, realized in the third movement’s sweet Ländler, which lilts into the final movement’s boisterous, joyful Rondo. Evoking changing masks in a Greek tragedy, the F-major finale’s searching, minor-mode second theme, reminiscent of staged drama, serves as a foil for its primary thematic material. Within the span of a mere three movements, each of which is in E flat, the second and last Sonata illuminates a remarkably different shade of Brahms. The placid, peaceful opening theme bears the mark of Brahms’ well-loved lyricism. And the warm key of E flat infusing the whole piece with its pacific glow suits the clarinet well, inducing a feeling of embrace that the music seems
Notes on the Program
to insist upon. The second movement, dolorous and fast-paced in E-flat minor, relies on contrasts between the clarinet’s lower and upper registers to effect its swift changes in character. Its chorale-like middle section in B major maintains a precariously poignant affect through its uneven bar structures and its distant, unfamiliar key relationship to the original E-flat. The final movement, a theme and variations, features a buoyant, simple theme beautifully complemented by richly robust piano chords. As the movement progresses, Brahms emphasizes rhythmic variation— syncopations, then triplets, thirty-second notes, and so on—until the fiery fifth variation in the minor mode. A series of syncopations and arpeggios tumble into the coda, closing Brahms’ opus with a joyful and unparalleled exuberance. johannes brahms Clarinet Trio, Op. 114 The year 1891 marked a period of unanticipated productivity in Johannes Brahms’ life. Following the completion of his third and final Violin Sonata in D minor and the G-major String Quintet, both in 1890, Brahms had every intention of retiring, but a concert by clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld at the Ducal Court of Meineken changed his mind. Upon hearing the Mühlfeld’s performance of Weber’s F-minor Carinet Concerto, Brahms wrote to his friend Clara Schumann praising the extraordinary musician: “It is impossible to play the clarinet better than Herr Mühlfeld does.” Inspired, Brahms returned to Vienna with newfound motivation to compose, producing as a result four clarinet-centered works: the Trio, Op. 114; Quintet in B minor for
strings and clarinet, and two sonatas for clarinet and piano. Though written with the idea of the clarinet as the featured instrument, the Trio presents a harmonious, well-balanced relationship between clarinet, cello, and piano. The first movement, beginning in A minor, commences with a melancholy ascent in the cello, answered promptly by the clarinet. The conversational quality between the two instruments continues throughout the work, though the clarinet’s technical virtuosity and flexibility remains in the foreground. Written to showcase the clarinet’s particular array of strengths, the piece employs long, ceaseless phrases that allow for an impressive display of range, blend throughout the ensemble, and a sense of endless wandering due to the clarinet’s ability to sustain pitches and phrases for long periods of time without changing a bow or taking a breath. Following its premiere with Brahms on piano, Mühlfeld himself on clarinet, and Robert Hausmann (cellist of the Joachim quartet), the trio was received with much acclaim; however, it has fallen to the wayside in contemporary performance not only due to its unconventional instrumentation, but also to its proximity to Brahms’ other clarinet masterpieces. Because of its understated, slow-moving melodies as well as the piece’s key structure beginning and ending in A minor, the work seems to lack impetus or momentum, yet its beckoning introspection and sensitivity lend it a soft-spoken, if often overlooked and underestimated, grandeur. – Danielle Wiebe Burke
Notes on the Program
johannes brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 In 1890, after publishing a four-hand version of a quintet for strings Op. 111, Brahms announced that he was retiring from composition, saying, “The time has come for you to say goodbye to any further compositions of mine.” Shortly thereafter he became closely acquainted with the clarinetist Mühfeld at the Meningen orchestra, a privately funded ensemble considered one of the finest in Germany. As previously mentioned, Brahms was so captivated by Mühfeld’s playing that he wrote four new chamber pieces that employ the instrument, including the Clarinet Quintet. Brahms’ final chamber pieces are often regarded as his swansong, and in the quintet there is indeed often a sense of gentle, autumnal nostalgia. The key of B minor pervades all four movements (even the second movement in B major has a long central section in the parallel minor), and all four movements close at a soft dynamic. The Quintet explores several virtuostic possibilities of the clarinet, but at the same time fully integrates the instrument into the string ensemble to create a piece of true chamber music. The first movement maintains presents a lyrical, melancholy mood that is occasionally contrasted by impassioned outbursts. It opens with a four-bar introduction played by the strings that hovers ambiguously between B minor and D major. Two longbreathed phrases in the first theme proper expounded upon the two motives presented in the introduction: a turn figure and a half-step neighbor. The strings initiate a resolute bridge section marked by a
hemiola and lead the piece to a subdued second theme marked by a syncopated melody over a dominant pedal. In the development section all five players exchange fragments of the turn figure and break into an agitated imitative texture. A long and serene melody follows, based on the rhythm from the bridge section, marked “quasi sostenuto.” The development ends with the clarinet and violoncello playing fragments from the opening to lead back to original key. The movement ends with a brief coda that further develops the opening figure and gives a subdued conclusion. The much beloved second movement opens with a tender and slow melody in B major, introduced by the clarinet. In its extended central section in B minor, the clarinet plays free rhapsodic figures against a vivid string accompaniment. When Brahms was a young man, he toured Northern Germany with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi. He absorbed from Reményi a dazzling style of playing that combined Hungarian and gypsy elements and included syncopated rhythms and fantastic, freely conceived ornament-ations and rubato. These folk elements became an integral part of Brahms’ musical language, and in the middle section of his Quintet he gives license to his imagination to evoke the gypsy style of playing that he absorbed as a young man. The movement concludes with a brief coda that plays a gentle and slower transformation of the main figure from the middle section. The third movement functions as a pithy interlude. It opens with a brief cheerful melody in D major that introduces the main motives and acts as a frame to the following B-minor scherzo section (Presto
Notes on the Program
non assai, ma con sentimento), which is a miniature sonata form. The scherzo opens with a light melody in the strings that is a transformation of the opening; later the clarinet interjects with playful arpeggios. The second theme, a syncopated melody with pizzicatto accompaninement, is in the dominant minor. The scherzo section concludes with a brief coda that leads back to a shortened restatement of the original melody in D major. The final movement presents a theme in B minor and five variations. After a variation in B major, the final variation changes to a triple meter. As the variation reaches its conclusion the turn figure from the first movement emerges in the upper strings, and it becomes apparent that the whole movement had in many ways been subtly pointing to the very beginning of the quintet. The movement concludes with a coda that puts the themes from the first and last movement in dialogue, and provides a serene conclusion to the work. – David Heetderks
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ONEPPO CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES SEP 27
2016–2017
BRENTANO STRING QUARTET With Ettore Causa, viola; Argus Quartet
OCT 25
PRISM QUARTET Bach, Gershwin, Schumann, and Martin Bresnick
DEC 13
MIRÓ QUARTET With Martin Beaver, viola; David Shifrin, clarinet
JAN 24
BRENTANO STRING QUARTET With Jonathan Biss, piano; Hsin-Yun Huang, viola
FEB 14
IMANI WINDS Wei-Yi Yang, piano
FEB 28
AN UNLIKELY MUSE A concert drama about Brahms and the clarinetist who inspired his later works
MAR 28
JERUSALEM STRING QUARTET Haydn, Prokofiev, and Beethoven
MAY 09
COMPETITION WINNERS Winning student chamber ensembles
brentano string quartet
miró quartet
DAVID SHIFRIN Artistic Director TUESDAYS, 7 : 30 PM Morse Recital Hall BOX OFFICE 203 432-4158 music-tickets.yale.edu
Robert Blocker, Dean
Upcoming Events Lunchtime Chamber Music march 1
School of Music students perform a midday chamber music concert Wendy Sharp, director Morse Recital Hall | Wednesday | 12:30 pm Free Admission
Kyung Yu, violin march 4
Faculty Artist Series Faculty violinist Kyung Yu performs Corigliano’s Sonata for Violin, and works by Bach and Sarasate, with pianist Melissa Rose Morse Recital Hall | Saturday | 7:30 pm Free Admission
Viacheslav Gryaznov, piano march 1
Artist Diploma Recital Music by Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev, and Rachmaninoff Morse Recital Hall | Wednesday | 7:30 pm Free Admission
Vista: Chamber Music march 2
Yale School of Music Ensembles Student ensembles, under the direction of faculty violinist Wendy Sharp, perform and provide insight into the repertoire Morse Recital Hall | Thursday | 7:30 pm free admission
Yale Jazz Ensemble march 6
Yale Bands Music by Thad Jones, Count Basie, Earl Hagen, Hoagy Carmichael, Samuel Adams, and more Thomas C. Duffy, music director Morse Recital Hall | Monday | 7:30 pm Free Admission
Robert Blocker, piano march 8
Horowitz Piano Series Faculty pianist and School of Music Dean Robert Blocker performs Mozart Piano Sonata No. 12 in F major, K. 332; Mozart Piano Concerto No. 11 in F major, K. 413, “a Quattro,” with the Béla Quartet; and Brahms Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5 Morse Recital Hall | Wednesday | 7:30 pm Tickets start at $13 • Students $7
concert programs & box office Krista Johnson, Kate Gonzales communications Donna Yoo, Katie Dune, David Brensilver operations Tara Deming, Chris Melillo piano curators Barbara Renner, Robert Crowson, Brian Daley, William Harold media production Matthew LeFevre, Travis Wurges production coordinator & lighting designer Doug Harry stage manager Denise Santisteban
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If you do not intend to save your program, please recycle it in the baskets at the exit doors. Robert Blocker, Dean