Margaret Tait and Alison Luedecke

Margaret Tait, cello
Alison Luedecke, piano

 


 

Today’s Program

 

FRANCOIS COUPERIN (1668 – 1733)
arr. Paul Bazelaire

Pieces en Concert

Prelude
Siciliene
La Tromba
Plainte
Aire de Diable

FLORENCE PRICE (1887 – 1953)
Adoration for Cello and Piano

GABRIEL FAURE (1845 – 1924)
Sicilienne

JOSEPH HAYDN (1732 – 1809)
arr. Gregor Piatigorsky
Divertimento

Adagio
Menuet
Allegro di molto

INTERMISSION

ANTONIN DVORAK (1841 – 1904)
Waldesruhe (Restful Woods), Op. 68, No. 2

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770 – 1827)
arr. Steven Isserlis
Andante con Viriazioni

ARVO PART (1935 – )
Spiegel im Spiegel (1978)

BELA BARTOK (1881 – 1945)
arr. Luigi Silva

Jocul cu bata (Stick Dance)
Braul (Sash Dance)
Pe Loc (In One Spot)
Buciumeana (Dance from Bucsum)
Maruntel (Fast Dance)


 

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Travis Maril and Karen Follingstad

Travis Maril, viola
Karen Follingstad, piano

 


 

Today’s Program

 

GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN (1681 – 1767)
Violin Fantasia No. 1 in E-flat Major
Largo – Allegro – Grave – Allegro
(movements played without pause)

EFREM ZIMBALIST (1889 – 1985)
Excerpts from Sarasateana:
Polo
Malagueña

FREDERIC CHOPIN (1810 – 1849)
arr. William Primrose
Nocturne No. 20, op. posthumous

INTERMISSION

JOHANN HUMMEL (1778 – 1837)
Sonata in E-Flat Major for Viola and Piano, op. 5, no. 3
1. Allegro moderato
2. Adagio cantabile
3. Rondo: Allegro con moto


 

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May 8, 2022: Duo Apollon

Duo Apollon
Aaron Haas, guitar
Anastasia Malliaras, soprano

 


 

Today’s Program

Click Here for Texts and Translations

JOAQUÍN RODRIGO (1901-1999) 
Tres Canciones Españolas
I.  En Jerez de la Frontera
II. Adela
III. De ronda

BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976)
Selections from Folksong Arrangements
Sailor Boy
I will give my love an apple
Master Kilby
The Shooting of  his Dear

MATYAS SEIBER (1905-1960)
Selections from  Four French Folk Songs
I. Réveillez-vous
III. Le Rossignol
IV. Marguerite, elle est malade

INTERMISSION

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Selections from Wintereisse Op. 89. D.911
1. Gute Nacht
2. Die Wetterfahne
4. Der Lindenbaum
11. Frühlingstraum
15. Die Krähe
24. Der Leiermann

MANUEL DE FALLA (1876-1946)
Selections from Siete Canciones Populares Españolas
I. El Paño Moruno
V. Nana
VII. Polo

 


 

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April 24, 2022

278805759_7401295283276956_4264450996137172306_nWest Coast Woodwind Quintet:
Kate Prestia-Schaub, flute
Cat Cantrell, oboe
Margaret Worsley, clarinet
Elizabeth Low Atwater, bassoon
Danielle Ondarza, horn

 


 

Today’s Program

 

“Spring” from The Four Season s – Antonio Vivaldi  (1678 – 1741)

Three Summer Dances  –  Joseph Turrin (1947 – )

Frolic
Intermezzo
Rondo

Autumn Leaves – Joseph Kosma (1905 – 1969), arr. Fiona Hickie

Winter Music – Adam Schoenberg (1980 – )

 INTERMISSION

Selections from “Jazz Salad” – Ron Levy (1951 – )

Funky Cheese
Tomato Tango
Walnut Waltz

Chordal Memories from “Book of Meditations” –  Ron Levy

 Twelfth Night Music – Ron Levy
Overture
Pastorale
Orsino’s Theme
Exit Music

INTERMISSION

Roaring Fork – Eric Ewazen (1954 – )

Whitewater Rapids (Maroon Creek)
Columbines (Snowmass Lake)
At the Summit (Buckskin Pass)

 


 

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April 10, 2022

Rong-Huey Liu, oboe

Felici Trio:
Rebecca Hang, violin
Brian Schuldt, violincello
Steven, Vanhauwaert, piano

 


 

Today’s Program

 

Trio Sonata in D minor for Oboe, Violin and Basso Continuo – Joan Baptista Pla (c.1720 – 1773) and Josep Pla (1728 – 1762)

1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Allegro

Five Pieces – Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975)

1. Prelude
2. Gavotte
3. Elegy
4. Waltz
5. Polka

 

 INTERMISSION

 

Kakadu Variations, Op. 121a, for violin, cello and piano — Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)

Trio for oboe, violoncello and piano — Sergey Prokofiev (1891 – 1953) / Lera Auerbach (b. 1973)

 


 

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April 9, 2022 — A Fine Romance

CCO Logo Blue with Dana

Saturday, April 9, 2022, 7:30 p.m.
Gershwin Performing Arts Center | Murrieta Mesa High School

Tonight’s Program

Symphony in D Major, Op. 11, No. 2 — Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745 – 1799)

  1. Allegro Presto
  2. Andante
  3. Presto

Siegfried Idyll (Triebschen Idyll with Fidi’s Birdsong and Orange Sunrise) — Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883)

Deux Marches et un Intermede (1937) — Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963)

  1. Marche 1889
  2. Intermede Champetre (Country Interlude)
  3. Marche 1937

INTERMISSION

Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550 — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)

  1. Allegro molto
  2. Andante
  3. Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio
  4. Finale. Allegro assai
PegMoore

Peg Moore (1935 – 2022)

We dedicate this evening’s program to the memory of Peg Moore, our long time advisor, patron, and friend

Thanks to the Murrieta Valley Unified School District for their support of this concert.

Concession sales this evening benefit performing arts programs at Warm Springs Middle School.

 


Dana_headshot

Dana Zimbric is marking her 12th season as Artistic Director and Conductor of the California Chamber Orchestra.

In addition to her work with us, she is Associate Conductor of San Diego’s California Ballet, Music Director of the Classics Philharmonic Orchestra, which performs educational programs for San Diego area students, and recently made her conducting debut with the San Diego Symphony.

Dana’s past conducting experience includes positions with the San Diego Youth Symphony, Avante Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Nova San Diego, and the University of Wisconsin Chamber and Symphony Orchestras.

An accomplished clarinetist, Dana holds a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two young daughters.


Members of the California Chamber Orchestra

Violin I

Kathryn Hatmaker (Concertmaster)
Ai Awata
Nicole Sauder
Angela Xing

Violin II

Kenneth Liao (Principal)
Isaac Allen
Anne Delgado
Batya MacAdam-Somer

Viola

Michael Molnau (Principal)*
Ethan Pernela
Annabelle Terbetski

Cello

Andrew Hayhurst (Principal)
Erica Erenyi
Joanna Morrison

Bass

Sam Hager (Principal)

*Personnel Manager and Librarian

Flute

Pam Vliek-Martchev (Principal)

Oboe

Rong-Huey Liu (Principal)
Rodion Belousov

Clarinet

Frank Renk (Principal)
April Leslie

Bassoon

Leyla Zamora (Principal)
Katherine Ortega

Horn

Darby Hinshaw (Principal)
Tricia Skye

Trumpet

Jon Hoehne (Principal)

 

 

 

AFM logo

All musicians performing in this concert are members of
The American Federation of Musicians, Local 325


Program Notes

First up on this evening’s program is Symphony No. 2 by French composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799). Though his name may not be familiar, he was considered an incredible talent during his lifetime. In fact, today you can still find a street named after him in Paris.

Joseph Bologne was born in the French colony of Guadaloupe. His mother, Anna (called Nanon), was an enslaved person of Sengalese origin. His father was a wealthy plantation owner. Bologne moved to Paris when he was around 8 years old. His father received an appointment by the King of France allowing Joseph to receive a “gentleman’s” education.  Eventually Joseph was also given the honorary title Chevalier de Saint-George” by King Louis XVI. Bologne became a 33rd degree Freemason (the first black member).

Bologne was prodigious as a violinist, composer, fencer, and academic. He composed numerous operas, symphonies, and concerti and was even nominated by Queen Marie Antoinette to be the next director of the Paris Opera in 1776. However, some of the performers complained that they should not be forced to take direction from a person of color. Bologne withdrew his name from consideration to prevent embarrassment to the Queen.

Young_Saint-Georges_in_1768

Joseph Bologne in 1768

 

Bologne’s Symphony No. 2 is in three movements. The first movement is quick and bright and gives the feeling of a celebration. The second movement, a slower andante, focuses on the strings of the orchestra and has a darker mood. The final presto is the most developed of the symphony’s movements. It begins with an energetic passage, and continues with various repeated sections, highlighting different combinations of the orchestra, contrasting dynamics, and instrumental color. Joseph Bologne used this symphony as the Overture to his 1780 Opera “The Anonymous Lover.”

Cosima Wagner in 1879, painted by Franz von Lenbach

Cosima Wagner in 1879, painted by Franz von Lenbach

Next up on the program is a programmatic work by German composer Richard Wagner. The Siegfried Idyll premiered on December 25, 1870 in Wagner’s home, upon the staircase landing. It was a birthday surprise for his wife Cosima and inspired by the birth of their son Siegfried.

Cosima wrote of the surprise, “When I woke up I heard a sound, it grew ever louder, I could no longer imagine myself in a dream, music was sounding, and what music! After it had died away, R[ichard] came in to me with the five children and put into my hands the score of his “symphonic birthday greeting.” I was in tears, but so, too, was the whole household; R[ichard] had set up his orchestra on the stairs!” Wagner’s score contains many musical quotes that Cosima would have recognized, including a bird’s song frequently heard at their home, and the Siegfried leitmotif from the Ring Cycle operas.

 

Paris-Expo-1937-carte_postale-00

One of the great melodists of the twentieth century, French composer Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) was largely self-taught as a composer. In the early 1920s he belonged to the Paris-based group of composers Les Six who led the neo-classical movement, rejecting the overstated emotion of Romanticism.

Poulenc composed the short orchestral suite Deux Marches et un Intermede for dinner entertainment during the 1937 Paris World’s fair. The short three movement work captures the energy, sparkle, and modern nature of Paris in the late 1930’s. The striking orchestral harmonies, interesting color combinations, and edgy rhythms make these movements a delight to share.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) first learned music from his father and manager Leopold Mozart, who was a professional musician and teacher. Mozart’s sister Maria Anna (nicknamed Nannerl), was also an astonishing musical talent and was Mozart’s performance partner during his younger years. Between the ages of six and ten, Wolfgang and Nannerl spent nearly all their time on tour throughout Europe performing for Dukes, Kings, and similar royalty.

Mozart excelled as a performer on both piano and violin. At various points in his career he was able to focus on one, or both, and also create new music to perform as needed.  In 1772, at age 16, Mozart was awarded the title of Konzertmeister for the prince archbishop Colloredo in Salzburg. His job entailed writing music for special occasions and performing when necessary.

Wolfgang and Nannerl c. 1763 by Eusebius Johann Alphen

Wolfgang and Nannerl c. 1763 by Eusebius Johann Alphen

The final selection for tonight’s concert is one of Mozart’s last symphonies. Written in 1788, Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 was composed in only a few months, along with symphonies number 39 and 41. It is possible Mozart never actually heard this symphony performed live in concert, although all three of his final symphonies have been performed thousands of times since.

Wagner called Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, K. 550 “pivotal to the romantic world.” The symphony’s tone is dark, serious, and grounded. As Mozart matured as a composer and artist, and dealt with life’s losses (his parents, infant son, and sister), his art changed, too. Where we might imagine a silly, spoiled young man in his early works, a more worldly, somber and serious person comes through in his later pieces. In his final symphonies we also clearly understand why art, and music, can move its audiences and live-on for hundreds of years.

 


Thank You to Our Sponsors and Donors

Society Sponsors

Judy Call
Prudhomme Associates, CPAs
City of Temecula
Leslie and Joseph Waters

Season Sponsors

Mark Margolin
Nicola Helm & Stephen Ryder

Education Sponsors

Craig Carper, LaPointe Wealth Management
Murrieta Rotary

Concert Sponsors

Susan & Ken Dickson
Walt Fidler

Conductor’s Circle

John Stubbs

Concertmaster’s Circle

Barry Weiss

Principal’s Circle

Kiyoe MacDonald
John Welniak
Rudy Wokoek

Musician’s Circle

Candace Flint
Susan Humphrey
Sarah Ivar


Classics_07.11.2021

Join us at The Merc on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month for recitals by some of the region’s best musicians. These intimate performances include opportunities to hear from the musicians about their art, their careers, and the music being performed.

March 27, 2022

Aki Tsai, violin
Sakura Tsai, violin
John Stultz, viola

 


 

Today’s Program

 

Grand Duo for Violin and Viola – Ignaz Pleyel (1757 – 1831)

Terzetto, Op. 74 for Two Violins and Viola – Antonin Dvorak (1841 – 1904)

1. Introduzione. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Larghetto
3. Scherzo. Vivace
4. Tema con variazioni. Poco adagio

 INTERMISSION

Viola Space No. 4: Nine Fingers – Garth Knox (b. 1956)

Sonata in B Minor for Two Violins, Op. 12, No. 1 – Jean Marie Leclair (1697 – 1764)

1. Allegro ma poco
2. Andante: Amoroso – Altro
3. Allegro assai

Serenade Op. 12 for Two Violins and Viola – Zoltán Kodály (1882 – 1967)

1. Allegramente – Sostenuto ma non troppo
2. Lento ma non troppo
3. Vivo


 

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March 13, 2022

Quartetto Sorrento

Ondrej Lewit, violin
Jorge Soto, violin
Paula Simmons, viola
Gordon Grubbs, cello


 

Today’s Program

 

Quartet in E Flat Major, Op. 76, No. 6 – F. J. Haydn (1732 – 1809)

1. Allegretto, Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Menuetto, Alternativo, Menuetto
4. Allegro

Juntos otra vez – Gordon Grubbs (b. 1960)

 INTERMISSION

Quatuor– Juoaquin Turino (1882 – 1949)

1. Pre’lude, Andantino
2. Allegro moderato
3. Zortzico
4. Andante quasi lento
5. Finale, Allegro moderato

 


 

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December 12, 2021 – Candlelight Classics

i. e. Brass

shutterstock_115381549

Phil Pacier and John Tribelhorn, trumpets
Bruce Clausen, horn
Bret Kelley, trombone
Cory Hungerford, tuba


 

Today’s Program

Fanfare in C – Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695), arr. Keith Snell

My Spirit Be Joyful – J. S. Bach (1685 – 1750), transcribed by Harry Herforth

Antiphonal: Hodie, Christus Natus Est – Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562 – 1621)

Nutcracker Nuggets – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893), arr. Arthur Frackenpohl

1. March
2. Chocolate
3. Trepak
4. Waltz of the Flowers

Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us – arr. William Broughton

Joy to the World – G. F. Handel (1685 – 1759), arr. Ken Barker

 INTERMISSION

Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson (1908 – 1975), arr. Tim Jameson

O Come, All Ye Faithful – John Francis Wade (1711- 1786), arr. John Wasson

Three Selections from “The Messiah” – G. F. Handel

 1. And the Glory of the Lord (arr. MacKinnon)
2. He Shall Feed His Flock (arr. Forkert)
3. Hallelujah (arr. Holcombe)

Silent Night / Away In a Manger – Franz X. Gruber (1787 – 1863) / James R. Murray (1841 – 1905), arr. John Gage

We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Traditional, arr. John Rutter


 

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Lost and Found

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Saturday, November 20, 2021, 3:00 p.m.
Gershwin Performing Arts Center | Murrieta Mesa High School

Today’s Program

Andante moderato (1929) – Florence Price (1887 – 1953)

Juba (from String Quartet in A Minor) – Florence Price

Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite III – Ottorino Respighi (1879 – 1936)

I. Italiana
II. Arie di corte
III. Siciliana
IV. Passacaglia

INTERMISSION

Serenade for Strings, Op. 48, C Major – Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
(Urtext by John Stubbs)

I. Pezzo in forma di sonatina
II. Valse
III. Elegia
IV. Finale (Thema Russo)

Thanks to the Murrieta Valley Unified School District for their support of this concert.
Concessions support the Murrieta Educational Foundation for the Arts.

Gershwin Performing Arts Center requests that all patrons wear face coverings inside the building. Thank you for your cooperation.


Candlelight ad


Dana_headshot

Dana Zimbric is marking her 12th season as Artistic Director and Conductor of the California Chamber Orchestra.

In addition to her work with us, she is Associate Conductor of San Diego’s California Ballet, Music Director of the Classics Philharmonic Orchestra, which performs educational programs for San Diego area students, and recently made her conducting debut with the San Diego Symphony.

Dana’s past conducting experience includes positions with the San Diego Youth Symphony, Avante Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Nova San Diego, and the University of Wisconsin Chamber and Symphony Orchestras.

An accomplished clarinetist, Dana holds a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two young daughters.


Members of the California Chamber Orchestra

Violin I

Kathryn Hatmaker (Concertmaster)
Kenneth Liao
Nicole Sauder

Violin II

Missy Lukin (Principal)
Ai Awata
Batya MacAdam-Somer

Viola

Ethan Pernela (Principal)
Linda Piatt

Cello

Alex Greenbaum (Principal)
Elizabeth Brown

Bass

Kathryn Bradley (Principal)

Personnel Manager and Librarian

Michael Molnau

AFM logoAll musicians performing in this concert are members of
The American Federation of Musicians, Local 325


About John Stubbs

 

John Stubbs is a longtime musical pillar of the San Diego orchestral and ballet world. A member of the San Diego Symphony’s violin section, he has recently been named Music Director and Conductor of the Golden State Ballet Company which will make its company debut at the Civic Theatre in December 2021 with the San Diego Symphony.

JohnStubbs

For many seasons, John Stubbs conducted the San Diego Symphony for California Ballet Company productions ranging from ballet standards such as The Nutcracker, Paquita, and Serenade to premieres of new works with music of Bach, Vivaldi, De Falla, Albinoni, George Crumb, and Yoav Talmi. Additionally, Stubbs has led the Colorado Springs Symphony, the Wyoming Symphony, and the San Diego Chamber Orchestra at the re-opening Gala of the historic Balboa Theatre.

Stubbs conducted the world premiere of “ALICE: Re-imagining Wonderland through Dance, Music and Spoken Word,” a collaboration between The Art of Élan and Colette Harding Contemporary Dance Company with a commissioned score by composer Joseph Hallman. Recently Mr. Stubbs traveled to Japan to conduct the full length ballet, “La Bayadere”, for the Ochi International Ballet in Nagoya, Japan.

In addition, Mr. Stubbs is the creator and director of Luscious Noise, an eclectic performance series at local jazz club Anthology, bringing new audiences to classical music through the combination of live music and videos in a hip dinner club setting.

Mr. Stubbs’ Tchaikovsky research has led him to make critical corrections to Tchaikovsky’s Serenade and Nutcracker scores. When not performing, studying, or conducting, Mr. Stubbs enjoys a nice glass of red wine with his wife, and former Prima Ballerina, Denise Dabrowski.

Visit John Stubbs’ website


Program Notes

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, composer Florence Price (1887-1953), displayed genius tendencies early in life. With a music teacher for a mother and a dentist father, Price had her first piano performance at the tender age of 4; her first composition was published at age 11; and by age 14 she had graduated valedictorian of her high school class.

She excelled at the New England Conservatory where she studied piano and organ, graduating in 1906 with Honors. In 1933, after years focusing on teaching, raising her family and struggling to be noticed in the classical realm, Price’s Symphony in E minor was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Price became the first Black American woman to have her music performed by a major symphony orchestra.

 

florence-price

According to the New Yorker, Price sent a letter to conductor Serge Koussevitzky in 1943, writing “My dear Dr. Koussevitzky, To begin with I have two handicaps—those of sex and race. I am a woman; and I have some Negro blood in my veins.” She understood these two factors were handicaps to her career. Koussevitzky ignored her and only the German-born conductor Frederick Stock, Music Director of the Chicago Symphony, took her seriously. Despite her unquestionable music gifts, her musical works were little known during her lifetime, with few exceptions.

In a twist of fate, a number of Price’s musical manuscripts were discovered in a dilapidated house outside the Chicago area. The home had previously been Price’s summer home and in 2009 a couple had purchased the run-down property with plans to renovate. In the attic they found boxes of handwritten musical scores with the name Florence Price. Following research of the name, the couple found that the University of Arkansas already had a collection of her scores in their library. Archivists identified the manuscripts as authentic, and to their delight the cache included dozens of musical works thought to be lost, including Price’s First and Second Violin concerti. This discovery has led to a modern resurgence of Price’s music.

During today’s program the California Chamber Orchestra will perform two movements from Price’s string quartets.

Andante Moderato is an arrangement for string orchestra of the second movement of Price’s String Quartet in G Major, written 1929. The beautiful work is a prime example of Price’s melodic prowess. The movement is in ABA form. The movement begins, and ends, with a richly legato texture and beautiful harmonies with a hymn-like feel. The middle section takes on a minor bluesy feel with a bouncy baseline.

Juba comes from Price’s String Quartet No. 2. Originally the third movement of the quartet, today we perform an arrangement for string orchestra. The main theme of the third movement is in the style of a Juba dance or hambone, a patently African lively dance that involved body-slapping, foot-stomping, and hand-clapping; this section frames a more relaxed allegretto that is likewise based on African American dance idioms.


Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) was both a scholar of early music and an innovative modern composer. He spent two years as a student of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, a member of “The Five” (an exclusive group of Russian composers which also included Balakirev, Mussorgsky, and Borodin). Rimsky-Korsakov was known for his use of tonal color and imaginative music (i.e. Flight of the Bumblebee), and certainly Respighi also had a knack for creating unique tonal color in his compositions.

Composed in 1931, Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite III, for string orchestra is a collection of arrangements of 17th century Italian and French lute music. Each movement is based on old melodies with Respighi’s modern accompaniment added.

The four movement suite begins with an Andantino, which features an anonymous Italian popular melody from the 17th century. The second movement, is a collection of 6 distinct court songs (Arie di corte) by French lutenist and composer Jean-Baptiste Bresard, born in 1567. The third movement, Siciliana, is based on another anonymous Italian melody from the 17th century. The final movement, Passacaglia, is built around a 1692 work by 17th century Italian guitarist and composer Ludivico Roncalli.

lute player


Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky began piano lessons at age 5, and though he showed early talent in music, his parents discouraged him from being too serious about a musical career. Instead he was encouraged to study law. By age 10 he was attending a boarding school in St. Petersburg and at age 19 Tchaikovsky was working as a bureau clerk with the Ministry of Justice. Though Tchaikovsky had been obedient to his parents, the call of musical composition was too loud to ignore.

While still working as a bureau clerk, Tchaikovsky began music lessons at the Russian Musical Society, and within a few months he had enrolled in the newly founded St. Petersburg Conservatory and became one of the school’s first composition students. In 1863 he moved to Moscow and began working as a professor of harmony at the Moscow Conservatory. Tchaikovsky had a very brief marriage to a young music student named Antonina Milyukova in 1877. Tchaikovsky abandoned the marriage within weeks of the wedding, had a nervous breakdown (including a suicide attempt) and fled the country.

Tchaikovsky composed his Serenade in 1880 and it premiered in St. Petersburg in the fall of 1881. Tchaikovsky’s famous 1812 Overture, commissioned for the unveiling of a Pushkin memorial in Moscow, was among the other works he wrote during this time.

The Serenade has four movements, and in many respects is modeled after a traditional symphony. The opening movement is an homage to Tchaikovsky’s favorite composer, W.A. Mozart, and subtitled, “Piece in form of a sonatina.”

The second movement, a Waltz, was such an audience favorite that during the piece’s premiere those in attendance asked for the movement to be repeated. The Waltz begins in a very simple fashion with a straightforward melody and off-beat accompaniment. From the onset, one can imagine beautiful dancers waltzing across the ballroom floor.

In stark stylistic contrast to the Waltz, the third movement is a slow Elegy based on the same ascending scale Tchaikovsky used for his Waltz. This Elegy is full of emotion, with a dramatic musical romance played out between the violins and cello.

Tchaikovsky’s finale (“Russian Theme”) draws from two Folk melodies. It begins quietly, as to not disturb the audience after the third movement, and slowly builds to the full-spirit Russian theme. When we arrive at the full running of the movement, listening (and playing) this kind of music makes you feel grateful to be alive and kicking.

 


 

Donors 02-2021


Classics_07.11.2021

Join us at The Merc on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month for recitals by some of the region’s best musicians. These intimate performances include opportunities to hear from the musicians about their art, their careers, and the music being performed.
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