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October 18, 2009 – David Chan, violin; Jeewon Park, piano FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Duo Sonata in A, Op. 162, D. 574, for violin and piano October 18, 2009 – David Chan, violin; Jeewon Park, piano Although Schubert was never a great instrumental virtuoso in the mold of Paganini or Liszt, he grew up in a family that loved music, and he performed from his earliest years as a singer, violinist, organist, and pianist. His schoolteacher father, an amateur cellist, organized family string quartet sessions in which the young Franz played the violin and viola, and he often performed the piano parts for his own songs and chamber works. In 1816, at the age of 19, Schubert composed three sonatas for violin and piano (later published as “Sonatinas”), which demonstrated his hands-on knowledge of both instruments and the influence of Beethoven’s works for that combination. The following summer, his lyrical sensibilities now in full flower, the 20-year-old Schubert wrote the exquisite “Duo” in A major for violin and piano. The entire work is an unbroken stream of graceful, beautifully crafted melody, reflecting his quintessential genius for song. Although the designation “Duo” was not appended to the A-Major sonata until its publication some 23 years after his death, the aptness of the title is justified by the continuous dialogue between the two instruments, particularly in the third and fourth movements. The Allegro moderato begins with a strolling, dotted-rhythm piano figure over which the violin floats a sweet and constantly evolving melodic line. The piano contributes to the thematic dialogue, but the violin dominates the musical texture of this uncommonly lovely movement. Taking a cue from Beethoven, Schubert follows the first movement with an exuberantly heroic Scherzo, featuring leaping intervals, brusque cross rhythms, and unexpected juxtapositions of forte and piano. A soft, sinuous chromatic violin scale announces the contrasting trio, which is characterized by a subtle dynamic range and trimly gliding intervals. The piano fully establishes its musical partnership in the lyrical, 3/8 Andantino. Composed in the ABA form of one of his Lieder, Schubert provides a mellow “duet without words” in which the violin and piano contribute equally to the musical discourse. The final Allegro vivace continues the melodic interweaving of the violin and piano parts. Cast as a whirling Viennese waltz, the movement brings Schubert’s Duo Sonata to a buoyant conclusion. By Michael Parloff Return to Parlance Program Notes

SUSANNA PHILLIPS, SOPRANO Alabama-born soprano Susanna Phillips, recipient of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2010 Beverly Sills Artist Award, continues to establish herself as one of today’s most soughtafter singing actors and recitalists. 2012-13 sees Phillips take the stage of the Met for her fifth consecutive season, this time to perform Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, conducted by Edward Gardner. Her opera season in New York City continues with her return to the Perlman stage at Carnegie Hall for a special concert performance, portraying Stella in Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire opposite Renée Fleming—a role which she will then perform at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Phillips also makes her solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall this season, presenting a program with accompanist Myra Huang in Weill Recital Hall. Other 2012–13 operatic highlights include Phillips’s return to Santa Fe Opera as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, and a concert production of Idomeneo at the Ravinia Festival under the direction of James Conlon. Symphonic appearances include Mozart’s Requiem with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Lord Nelson Mass with Music of the Baroque in Chicago, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Alabama Symphony, works by Berg and Beethoven with the St. Louis Symphony conducted by David Robertson, performances with Musica Sacra led by Kent Tritle at Alice Tully Hall, and Paul Moravec’s Blizzard Voices with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall. Phillips’s recital performances include appearances with tenor Joseph Kaiser and Myra Huang in Boston with Celebrity Series and in New York City at the Morgan Library, as well as solo recitals at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Cal Performances, Sarasota, and Huntsville Chamber Music Guild. Last season, Phillips reprised her celebrated portrayal of Musetta in the Met’s timeless production of La bohème—the same role with which she made her Met debut in 2008. Phillips also released her first solo album on Bridge Records, Paysages, lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle as “sumptuous and elegantly sung.” Her 2011–12 season also boasted appearances in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor with Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Minnesota Opera; her European debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona; and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. In concert, Phillips appeared with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the Santa Fe Concert Association. Highlights of Phillips’s previous seasons include numerous additional Metropolitan Opera appearances: as Pamina in Julie Taymor’s celebrated production of The Magic Flute, Musetta in La bohème (both in New York and on tour in Japan), and she was a featured artist in the Met’s Summer Recital Series in Central Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park. She made her Santa Fe Opera debut as Pamina, and subsequently performed a trio of other Mozart roles there: Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Countess Almaviva in Figaro, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. Phillips made two appearances with Boston Lyric Opera (A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s Helena and Don Giovanni’s Donna Anna), and three with Opera Birmingham (the Countess, Violetta, and the title character in Lucia di Lammermoor). She portrayed Adina in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s L’elisir d’amore, and as a participant in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, she sang Juliette in Roméo et Juliette and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus. Phillips made her Minnesota Opera debut in the notoriously challenging role of Elmira in Tim Albery’s production of Reinhard Keiser’s The Fortunes of King Croesus, and later sang Euridice there opposite David Daniels in Orfeo ed Euridice. Phillips has played Mozart’s Countess with the Dallas Opera and Donna Anna with the Fort Worth Opera Festival. In August 2011, Phillips was featured at the opening night of the Mostly Mozart Festival, which aired live on PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center. She has also been a resident artist at the 2010 and 2011 Marlboro Music Festivals, was part of Marilyn Horne Foundation Gala at Carnegie Hall, made her New York solo recital debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall (in 2009 as a Juilliard School alumna and Alice Tully Vocal Arts Debut Recital Award recipient), and has appeared at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC (under the auspices of the Vocal Arts Society). Her ever-expanding concert repertoire has been showcased with many prestigious organizations: she performed with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert; sung in Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Chicago Symphony; and also took part in Beethoven’s Mass in C major and Choral Fantasy at Carnegie Hall with Kent Tritle and the Oratorio Society of New York. Phillips has sung Dvorák’s Stabat Mater with the Santa Fe Symphony, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with the Santa Barbara Symphony, and Wolf’s Spanisches Liederbuch at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Other recent concert and oratorio engagements include Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, the Fauré and Mozart requiems, and Handel’s Messiah. She also made her Carnegie Hall debut with Skitch Henderson, Rob Fisher, and the New York Pops. Following her Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut under Marin Alsop, the Baltimore Sun proclaimed: “She’s the real deal.” Phillips had a magnificent 2005, winning four of the world’s leading vocal competitions: Operalia (both First Place and the Audience Prize), the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the MacAllister Awards, and the George London Foundation Awards Competition. She has also claimed the top honor at the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, and she won first prizes from the American Opera Society Competition and the Musicians Club of Women in Chicago. Philips has received grants from the Santa Fe Opera and the Sullivan Foundation, and is a graduate of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center. Born in Birmingham, Alabama and raised in Huntsville, Susanna Phillips is grateful forthe ongoing support of her community in her career. She sang Strauss’s Four Last Songs and gave her first concert performances in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor with the Huntsville Symphony, and returns frequently to her native state for recitals and orchestral appearances. Over 400 people traveled from Huntsville to New York City in December 2008 for Phillips’s Metropolitan Opera debut in La bohème.

Bucky PIzzarelli, guitar Pizzarelli began his professional career at 17 when he joined the Vaughn Monroe dance band in 1944. In 1951, he did his first recording as a sideman outside the Monroe orchestra with Joe Mooney. In 1952 Pizzarelli became a staff musician for NBC, playing with Skitch Henderson. In 1964, he became a member of The Tonight Show Band on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. During his time spent performing for the Tonight Show, he accompanied guest bands and musicians playing through a variety of musical genres, including playing with Tiny Tim (after tuning the performer's ukulele) on the day that Tiny Tim married Miss Vicki on Carson's show. From 1956 to 1957, Pizzarelli used the stage name "Johnny Buck" and performed with The Three Suns pop music trio. During the following year, he and guitarist George Barnes formed a duo and recorded two albums, including a live performance in August 1971, at The Town Hall in New York City. Beginning in the 1970s, he began recording as a leader, issuing many tributes to musicians of the 1930s. He toured several times with Benny Goodman until Goodman's death in 1986. He performed with Benny Goodman at the White House in Washington, D.C., and he performed for presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and First Lady Pat Nixon. "Jersey Jazz Guitars" was the name of a 1985 concert held at the Rutgers University Nicholas Music Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The ticket featured Pizzarelli, Les Paul, Tal Farlow, and Pizzarelli's son, John. The concert was aired on New Jersey's public radio station as part of their three-part New Jersey Summerfare Series. Pizzarelli and Les Paul had performed together before, as they were neighbors and friends. The show aired for one hour in August 1985, with son John adding his vocals on two selections. Pizzarelli continued to play into his 90s, making several appearances even after a stroke in 2016, officially retiring after a final brief appearance with Michael Feinstein in 2018. He died of COVID-19 on April 1, 2020, in Saddle River, New Jersey. He had been battling several serious health problems in recent years.

April 3, 2016: Sir James Galway, flute; Benjamin Beilman and Danbi Um, violins; Mark Holloway, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Timothy Cobb, bass; Paolo Bourdignon, harpsichord JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Suite in B minor, BWV 1067 for flute, strings, and continuo April 3, 2016: Sir James Galway, flute; Benjamin Beilman and Danbi Um, violins; Mark Holloway, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Timothy Cobb, bass; Paolo Bourdignon, harpsichord When music scholars began sifting through Bach’s long-forgotten works in the nineteenth century, they came across four orchestral masterpieces that they catalogued as “orchestral suites” because of their similarity to suites for keyboard or individual string instruments—and simply to avoid confusion. Bach, however, had called them “ouvertures” in the tradition of his German contemporaries, who used the term for orchestral works headed by a “French overture,” followed by a string of French-style dance movements, such as bourrées, gavottes, and minuets, in binary form—two halves each repeated. Since the seventeenth century, French composers had been introducing their ballets and operas with multisectioned ouvertures, which Jean-Baptiste Lully expanded and standardized into what became known as the “French overture.” These introductory pieces consisted of two contrasting sections: the first marchlike and majestic with characteristic dotted (long-short) rhythms, and the second faster, in contrasting meter (triple or compound) with imitative, contrapuntal texture. They often closed with a brief return to the opening stately music. English and German composers adopted this style to satisfy the prevailing taste for things French. Bach’s four existing orchestral suites (there may have been others that did not survive) cannot be precisely dated, but the First in C major and Fourth in D major probably stem from about 1725 (the Fourth also exists in a later version). The Second in B minor may date from around 1738–39, and the Third Suite—also in D major—from about 1731. Since 1723 Bach had been working in Leipzig, where he was responsible for the music of the town’s four principal churches and civic music events, and trained the musicians at the Thomasschule. In addition to those myriad duties, he began directing the Collegium Musicum in 1729, continuing until the early 1740s (with a short interruption from 1737 to 1739). The Collegium Musicum presented weekly public community concerts, for which he produced all manner of music: overtures, duo and trio sonatas, sinfonias, concertos, and suites. The earliest existing copies of the orchestral suites indeed date from Bach’s Leipzig days, but it is conceivable that he could have composed some of them previously in Cöthen when he was employed by music-loving Prince Leopold. The beloved seven-movement Second Suite, with the sparest scoring of the four, includes only flute along with the strings and continuo. Its opening “French overture” features characteristic dotted rhythms and elegant ornamental figures in its majestic first section and a fugal fast section. Here for the most part, and in the Rondeau, Sarabande, and Minuet, the flute mainly doubles the first violin part, but in the movements that include an interior second dance before the opening dance returns—the Bourrée and Polonaise—the middle dance contains a more elaborate solo flute part. In the lively perpetual-motion final movement—Badinerie—the flute takes the spotlight throughout in the manner of a flute concerto. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

November 14, 2021 – Schumann String Quartet FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) String Quartet in A minor, Op. 13 November 14, 2021 – Schumann String Quartet Mendelssohn’s A minor Quartet would have been an amazing achievement for a mature, fifty- or sixty-year-old composer. That he wrote it at the age of eighteen can scarcely be comprehended. Yet it may have been just because of his youth that it emerged as a masterpiece: he was young enough to have been greatly impressed by the works of Beethoven’s late period, but not old enough to be daunted by them. Mendelssohn wrote his A minor Quartet in 1827, the very year Beethoven died. Not only was Mendelssohn influenced by Beethoven’s Quartet in the same key, op. 132, which he must have known even though it was not published until the end of 1827, but he took thorough notice of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, especially the recall of themes from preceding movements in the Finale and Beethoven’s use of instrumental recitative. Earlier in 1827 Mendelssohn had composed a short song entitled “Frage” (Question), which set some lines by J. G. Droyson (known as “Voss”): “Ist es wahr? das du stets dort in dem Laubgang?” (Is it true that you are always waiting for me in the arbored walk?) The song, marked Thema, is printed at the head of the Quartet score in the Breitkopf & Härtel Complete Works edition. Mendelssohn used the three-note questioning motive for “Ist es wahr?” as the Quartet’s motto. The use of a “texted” motto naturally brings to mind Beethoven’s last String Quartet, op. 135, published in September 1827, with its “Muss es sein?” “Es muss sein!” motto. The Opus 135 Quartet was not premiered until 1828; but provided Mendelssohn became acquainted with Beethoven’s immediately upon its publication, he would have had nearly a month to incorporate this idea into his Quartet, which he completed on October 27. Mendelssohn first presents his “Ist es wahr?” motive in the Adagio introduction just before the onset of the Allegro vivace. He also bases the main theme of the movement on the motto, though disguised by the change to the minor mode and a switch to 4/4 instead of 3/4: after the scurrying sixteenth notes, the viola, imitated by the other instruments, plays the theme based on the motto rhythm. The use of E minor as the secondary key area gives the first movement some of its intensity, as do the fugal writing and high level of dissonance, which again bring Beethoven to mind. We know from some remarks Mendelssohn made about the Quartet’s success with the Parisian avant-garde that he knew he was being revolutionary. The slow movement, curiously marked Adagio non lento, reaches an even higher level of dissonance, especially in the fugal D minor section that follows the opening F major passage. Links to the motto theme can be found in both. After the climax of the developmental middle section, a violin cadenza brings about the return of the opening theme; the fugal section is recalled, but masterfully transformed. Rather than a scherzo, which was usual by this time, Mendelssohn wrote an Intermezzo for the third movement. Its elfin “trio” brings to mind the fleeting scherzos from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Octet. The main theme and the trio are cleverly joined in the coda, a feature he would return to in his later quartets. The finale shows a truly remarkable conception. It opens with a dramatic violin recitative over tremolo chords, and ingenious thematic references begin to crowd in. Mendelssohn increases the drama by delaying the establishment of the home key of A minor. The exposition ends forcefully in E minor. The development begins with a subdued treatment of the fugal subject from the slow movement in three-part counterpoint. The violent octave outburst signals the end of the development at which point the movement’s opening recitative over tremolo reappears. Eventually the first violin alone states the fugal subject in the original key, meter, and tempo. Its continuation prepares the work’s perhaps inevitable conclusion: the return of A major, and the opening of the first movement, based on “Ist es wahr?” This time, however, Mendelssohn fully makes the connection with the song by quoting its ending completely: “Was ich fühle, das begreift nur, die es mitfühlt, und die treu mir ewig bleibt” (What I feel, can only mean, she feels it with me, and will stay ever true to me). (Note: Though it is generally agreed that the Quartet is in A minor, it is frequently listed in A major because of the short opening and closing sections in the major.) © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

KEVIN ZHU, VIOLIN Nineteen-year-old Kevin Zhu has amassed an outstanding record of concert performances and competition wins since he began playing violin at age three. Praised for his “awesome technical command and maturity” (The Strad) and “absolute virtuosity, almost blinding in its incredible purity” (L’ape musicale), Kevin regularly performs on the world’s largest stages, ranging from Carnegie Hall in New York to London’s Royal Festival Hall to the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Initially coming to international attention after winning the 2018 Paganini Competition and 2012 Yehudi Menuhin Competition, he has established himself as a leading figure among the next generation of musicians, astonishing audiences with his peerless technical mastery and inimitable artistic voice. In the 2020-21 season, Kevin will make debuts with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Polish Baltic Philharmonic, and Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and returns to the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa performing Elgar’s Violin Concerto. He also performs solo recitals in Dresden, New York City, and Washington, D.C., embarking on a project to perform Paganini’s complete 24 Caprices in one concert, one of few violinists to ever do so. Recent orchestral highlights include concerto appearances with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, and China Philharmonic Orchestra. A highly sought-after recitalist, he has toured across the United States and Europe with repertoire ranging from Beethoven to contemporary commissions. Kevin is also a passionate chamber musician, collaborating with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Lawrence Power, and Jan Vogler. In addition to his efforts on stage, Kevin serves as a Culture Ambassador of the Lin Yao Ji Music Foundation of China. He has repeatedly been featured on BBC Radio 3, NPR’s From the Top, and RAI Radio 3. Kevin is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where he studies with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin. Kevin performs on the c1722 “Lord Wandsworth” Antonio Stradivari violin, which is on loan from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.

November 15, 2015 – Jeremy Denk, piano; Stefan Jackiw, violin JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, op. 100 November 15, 2015 – Jeremy Denk, piano; Stefan Jackiw, violin Brahms composed the A major Violin Sonata during the summer of 1886 in idyllic Hofstetten, Switzerland. That summer he eagerly anticipated the visit of Hermine Spies, the young contralto for whom he wrote many of his late songs. He noted that the Sonata’s second theme quotes one of the songs he wrote with her in mind, “Wie Melodien zieht es mir” (As if melodies were moving), op. 105, no. 1. Commentators have also linked “Komm bald” (Come soon), op. 97, no. 6, with this movement and found references in the finale to two other Opus 105 songs, “Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer” (My slumber grows more and more peaceful)—which climaxes with the words, “Komm’, O komme bald ”—and “Auf dem Kirchhofe” (In the churchyard). Brahms’s friend Elisabet von Herzogenberg was moved to characterize the entire A major Sonata as “a caress.” As was his custom, Brahms himself participated in the premiere of the Sonata on December 2, 1886, with violinist Joseph Hellmesberger, leader of the Hellmesberger Quartet and enthusiastic supporter of the composer. The performance occurred a little over a week after Brahms had accompanied Hermine in her Viennese debut recital. The first movement breathes the kind of lyricism associated with Brahms’s songs whether or not one hears the specific allusions. It is the second theme in this sonata form that recalls his lovely “Wie Melodien,” borrowing the first phrase only, which Brahms varies rhythmically and gives a new continuation. The tune reappears in the recapitulation and furnishes the violin’s last utterance to close the coda. The second movement combines a slow movement and scherzo in alternating sections, in a manner similar to the middle movement of the F major Quintet. Each returning section brings a subtle variation of its former appearance. Brahms marked the finale “Allegretto grazioso quasi Andante” in order to achieve a non-hurried, graceful atmosphere. The climactic phrase “Come, o come soon” (from “Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer”) can be detected in the rondo theme. The first contrasting episode introduces a haze of arpeggiated chords rather than a “tune” before the rondo refrain returns, but the second episode sounds more traditionally songful. A variation of the first theme returns in the coda, extended by warm double stops in the home key. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

October 27, 2019: Quartetto di Cremona OTTORINO RESPIGHI (1879-1936) String Quartet in D major October 27, 2019: Quartetto di Cremona Respighi received his earliest musical training on the violin. At age twelve he enrolled at the Liceo Musicale in Bologna, where he studied violin with Federico Sarti, eminent teacher of a whole string of violin prodigies. Judging by contemporary reports of his playing, Respighi could have made a career solely as a violinist had not his interests turned toward composition and, partly as a composition tool, toward the piano. While in Russia in 1900 he played principal viola in the Imperial Opera orchestra, continuing to study violin between rehearsals and performances. While in St. Petersburg he also met and studied with Rimsky-Korsakov, who had a profound influence on his development as a composer. Even after Respighi’s return to Bologna in 1902, when his compositions began receiving wider recognition, he continued to perform as a violinist and violist. In 1903 he also became the violist of the Mugellini Piano Quintet, with which he performed until 1908. Thus, though Respighi is known principally for his large orchestral pieces that celebrate the glories of Rome, it makes complete sense that he also wrote smaller scale chamber music all his life. Most of his chamber works, however, date from his early period, 1895 to 1910, and many of the early works remain unpublished. Respighi composed the D major Quartet, actually his third quartet, in 1904 (not 1907 as often stated), and it was first performed in 1906 in Bologna, but it remained unpublished until 1921. The first movement’s lush, Romantic, harmonically ranging first theme immediately proclaims Respighi’s confidence. Some consider it a precursor to his Trevi Fountain music in The Fountains of Rome. The more playful second theme provides contrast with its leaps and silences. Both themes frequently incorporate triplet motion. The movement ends in ethereal high harmonics over a poignant rising cello solo, followed by a more earthbound closing gesture. The highly chromatic slow movement unfolds as a moody theme and variations. Seamlessly, the first admits faster note values, the second becomes almost eerie in its winding chromaticism, and the third features an active cello melody with persistent “chatter” in the other parts. There follows a slow waltz over a drone, a slow smooth contrapuntal variation led off by the cello, a sprightly dancelike variation, and a sorrowful final variation whose lush lines for the three upper instruments are intensified by insistent drone-like repeated notes in the cello. A tender introductory gesture launches Respighi’s lightly scampering scherzo, which he calls Intermezzo. After an impassioned central section, he repeats the scherzo literally and appends a sweetly pensive coda. The finale takes off like a galloping tarantella over persistent, fast repeated-note chords. The second theme provides lovely lyrical contrast. After recapping his themes, Respighi inserts a shimmering passage of harmonics and builds over another drone to polish off his tarantella grandly in the major mode. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

September 29, 2024: Edward Arron, Carter Brey, Rafael Figueroa, and Zvi Plesser, cellos Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich hiermit arr. for four cellos by Finckel Cello Quartet September 29, 2024: Edward Arron, Carter Brey, Rafael Figueroa, and Zvi Plesser, cellos Bach, who stayed remarkably healthy for most of his life, began losing his sight toward the end to the point that the unbearable pain and hindrance to his work led him to undergo an eye operation by the noted English oculist John Taylor, who was lecturing in Leipzig in March 1750. Though the operation initially seemed successful, a second operation had to be performed, which might have helped had not the post-operative procedures of the day weakened Bach’s entire system, causing total blindness, fever, and—ten days before he died—a stroke. Only at this point did Bach realize that death was near. Sometime during his last week, Bach’s thoughts turned to Wenn wir in hochsten Noten sein (When we are in greatest need), BWV 668, a 45-measure chorale prelude that he had expanded from his 12-measure chorale setting c. 1712–13 of the same name (BWV 641) and included in the Orgel-Büchlein. The expanded work belongs to the collection of chorale preludes known as the “Great Eighteen,” revised c. 1739–42 in Leipzig. As Bach lay on his deathbed, apparently having asked an organist friend to play the chorale prelude for him, he began thinking about the original sixteenth-century melody that had also been sung to the words “Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich hiermit” (“Before your throne I now appear”) and that their complementary texts perfectly suited his own end-of-life thoughts. Ever the earnest perfectionist, he realized even then that he wanted to make several improvements prior to standing in judgment before his God. Bach dictated the tweaks to a student, and apparently the same student or another copyist made a fair copy of this slightly revised version at the end of a manuscript of organ works in Bach’s hand that included revisions to others of the Great Eighteen. (Unfortunately the last page of that copy disappeared at some point.) The year after Bach’s death, his son Carl Philipp Emanuel—who knew that his father had been tinkering with BWV 668 on his deathbed—issued The Art of Fugue with this chorale prelude at the end, thinking it a more fitting conclusion than the final four-voice fugue that the elder Bach had left incomplete. Not knowing about the dictated revisions, C.P.E. simply included BWV 668 as it had appeared earlier but with the new title, Vor den Thron tret’ ich hiermit. In either version Bach demonstrates his great artistry, and his deathbed revisions stand as a testament to his continual striving for perfection. The work, heard this afternoon in the four-cello arrangement made by the Finckel Cello Quartet, presents the four phrases of the chorale melody in the upper voice, each preceded by a fugal exposition based on what eventually appears as counterpoint to that section of the melody. Bach’s brings contrapuntal mastery to his fugal entries by incorporating inversion (mirror image of intervals) and, toward the end, diminution (shortened note values). A nice harmonic diversion dramatically sets up the final chord. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

December 16, 2018: Emerson Quartet FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828) String Quintet in C major, D. 956, op. posth. 163 December 16, 2018: Emerson Quartet Between August and October 1828, just before his tragically early death in November, Schubert completed an amazing number of pieces, widely varying in character and containing some of his most beautiful music—the three late piano sonatas, the song collection Schwanengesang, the incredible C major String Quintet, and Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The Shepherd on the Rock). The great quantity and quality may have been an act of defiance by one who knew he had little time left, but they could just as easily have been the product of one confident in his creative powers who had no thoughts of dying, since he had always recovered from previous illnesses. No sketches nor autograph manuscript of the miraculous String Quintet survive to give clues about its gestation. It is entirely possible that the work’s total creation took place within two weeks that September. We know only that the Quintet had been recently completed from a letter to publisher Probst on October 2 offering the work for publication along with the three piano sonatas and some Heine songs. In that letter Schubert mentioned that the Quintet would be “tried over in the near future,” something that did not actually happen until 1850 and in a cut version at that. Probst turned down the Quintet, probably because such a large-scale chamber work would not sell well (though he expressed interest in the songs). This masterpiece was not published until 1853. Schubert’s String Quintet has become one of the most beloved chamber music works of all time. Its endless flow of gorgeous melodies and advanced modulating harmonies, its engaging mixture of tenderness and robustness, and its luxurious sonority enhanced by the presence of a second cello have spoken in an especially personal way to audiences and performers alike. Much has been made of Schubert’s pioneering medium—the presence of two cellos rather than two violas as in Mozart’s great Quintets. “Pioneering” is justified here since Boccherini’s earlier two-cello quintets contained a soloistic first cello part to show off his own playing, whereas Schubert’s five players are all equal participants in a true piece of chamber music. Many reasons for his choice have been offered, but the simplest is probably that he loved the sound of the cello in its tenor range but did not want to give up its bass support. This wondrous work, like his G major Quartet two years earlier, begins simply with a sustained chord that blossoms into melodic and rhythmic fragments. The way in which he immediately transforms these elements portends a movement of great breadth and imagination, but nothing can fully prepare the listener for the melting beauty of the second theme. If for no other reason, the sonority of the two cellos singing high above the viola’s bass line more than justifies Schubert’s chosen quintet configuration. This lilting theme makes many appearances in various instrumental configurations, giving the movement its overall sense of serenity, though Schubert does introduce enough dramatic conflict, particularly in the development section, to provide balance. One of the crowning jewels of the Quintet is its exquisite Adagio, one of Schubert’s rare essays in such a slow tempo. The drawn-out unfolding of his theme seems to suspend time, a quality that speaks volumes about Schubert’s confidence and prowess. His memorable texture has the three middle instruments playing the sustained theme while the first violin provides fragmented outbursts and the second cello pizzicato support. Without warning the middle section explodes passionately in a distantly related key, after which the sublime opening section returns with inspired variants. Toward the end, the turbulent music tries to intrude but is quickly repressed by the prevailing calm. The extraordinarily moving quality of this music led both celebrated pianist Artur Rubinstein and esteemed writer Thomas Mann to say they would choose this movement to hear on their deathbeds. The scherzo’s stomping peasant dance, replete with hunting calls, contains remarkable harmonic shifts and bold dissonances that lend a sophisticated sheen to the merriment. No greater contrast can be imagined than the somber, introspective trio that is ultimately brushed aside by the return of the merry Scherzo. The finale imparts rustic Hungarian flavor with its vigorous short-long rhythms in the accompaniment and shifts between minor and major. The lilting second theme gives a more elegant, courtly impression. Toward the end he creates an unforgettable sonority by offsetting the cellos, again in duet, against delicate arching chords in the upper three voices. His exuberant coda speeds up twice to provide a dazzling conclusion. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

May 6, 2018: Kerry McDermott, violin; Clara Neubauer, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Oliver Neubauer, violin Y. DOBON (1916-1996) Zowie! Goes the Weasel for 3 violins and viola May 6, 2018: Kerry McDermott, violin; Clara Neubauer, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Oliver Neubauer, violin Zowie! Goes the Weasel , a humorous arrangement for four violins of the well-known nursery tune “Pop! Goes the Weasel,” appeared in print in 1947 in Fiddle Sessions , a collection of ensemble pieces for two, three, and four violins compiled by Livingston Gearhart. A pianist, educator, composer, and arranger, Gearhart published a series of nine such Sessions, known for their humor and liveliness as they build students’ music skills. He may be best known, however, for his arrangement of the classic “Dry Bones” for Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians. Gearhart studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, where he also met Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, and Robert Casadesus—and formed a successful piano duo with his future wife, Virginia Clotfelter (professional name Morley). They returned to the U.S. owing to WWII conditions, and by 1954 they had performed over 2,000 concerts, most of them under contract with Columbia Concerts and the Fred Waring Show . They also made many recordings for Columbia Masterworks and Decca Records, and Gearhart worked as a staff arranger for the Fred Waring Show . In 1955 Gearhart joined the faculty of the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo) where he taught piano, theory, and orchestration until his retirement in 1985. Also in 1955, divorced from Virginia, he married violinist and conductor Pamela Gerhart (not a misspelling!), for whose students at SUNY Buffalo, the Community Music School of Buffalo, and many workshops and clinics he continued to compose and make arrangements. Gearhart included no biographical information in Fiddle Sessions about “Y. Dobon” the composer of Zowie! Goes the Weasel , but it is entirely possible that it was one of his colleagues at the Fred Waring Show or someone he encountered on tour. Information about Dobon may lie somewhere in the 507 folders of Gearhart’s original compositions, arrangements, collections, and personal papers held at the SUNY Buffalo Library, but for the present, Gearhart deserves the credit for making this jazzy, lighthearted arrangement known. Here the four-violin arrangement is adapted for three violins and viola. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

May 6, 2018: Kerry McDermott, violin; Clara Neubauer, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Oliver Neubauer, violin CHARLES DANCLA (1817-1907) Variations on Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman for three violins and viola May 6, 2018: Kerry McDermott, violin; Clara Neubauer, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Oliver Neubauer, violin Charles Dancla was so accomplished on the violin at age nine that Pierre Rode gave him letters of introduction to Pierre Baillot, Luigi Cherubini, and Rodolphe Kreutzer. He studied at the Paris Conservatory with Paul Guérin and Baillot, winning the premier prix in 1833. He also studied composition, playing in Paris theater orchestras to support his family. A lover of chamber music, Dancla played in his family’s own group, which became a regular feature of Paris seasons. His career did not unfold as he had hoped, however, when he was passed over for Baillot’s position in 1842. He declined the position of assistant conductor at the Opéra-Comique in 1848 and left Paris because of the political unrest. After returning as an official in the postal administration, he finally won a violin post at the Paris Conservatory in 1855. Forced to retire against his will in 1892 at age seventy-five, he continued to perform his own works. Dancla did not tour, so his reputation relied on his compositions, of which there were many. He composed his Variations on Ah! vous dirai-je , maman! for four violins, op. 161, around 1884—arranged here for three violins and viola. This was the same French folk song on which Mozart had produced his famous set of piano variations in 1781 or ’82. Dancla’s piece begins with a singing introduction, followed by the theme in alternating forceful and quiet sections. The variations highlight each player in turn starting from the bottom up—1) a florid spun-out line, 2) fast notes using sautillé (bouncing bow) technique, 3) spirited gestures ending with fast filigree, and 4) contrasting sections of lightly arpeggiated chords and soaring vocal leaps. The fifth variation features a darting figure that migrates among all the players, the lovely sixth variation provides songlike lushness, and the seventh merrily contrasts the players in pairs. The eighth is especially striking for its presentation of the theme in harmonics—first over pizzicato triplets, then lyrical counterpoint, and finally hushed tremolo—which serves as a perfect foil for the exuberance of the finale and its dazzling coda. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes