PROGRAM
STRING QUARTET Yevgenia Strenger, violin Sander Strenger, violin William Frampton, viola Robert Burkhart, cello WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
1756 - 1791 STRING QUARTET NO. 21 IN D MAJOR, K575 (1789-1790) Allegretto Andante Menuetto – Allegretto – Trio Allegretto HUGO WOLF 1860-1903 ITALIAN SERENADE IN G MAJOR, WW XV/3 (1887) ROBERT SHUMANN 1810-1856 STRING QUARTET NO. 2 IN F MAJOR, OP. 41, NO. 2 (1842) Allegro vivace Andante quasi variazioni Scherzo – Presto – Trio Finale – Allegro molto vivace |
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Born: January 27, 1756, Salzburg, Austria Died: December 5, 1791, Vienna, Austria String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K575 (1789-1790) Allegretto Andante Menuetto – Allegretto – Trio Allegretto Of the composers who have emerged as twins in the public's mind and only conveniently in history's galaxy (most notably Bach and Handel, Bruckner and Mahler), the pairing of Haydn and Mozart has some legitimacy, for their reciprocal artistic nourishment can be readily documented. From Haydn, Mozart learned the value of motivic development and in general of a strengthened architectural plan. As he became influenced by his generation-younger colleague, Haydn paid more attention to long-phrased melody and to thematic contrast. In the field of the string quartet, however, the influence traveled a one-way street that went directly from Haydn to Mozart. The benefit to Mozart of the example set by Haydn's string quartets was inestimable. With a set of his own quartets published in 1785, Mozart won unstinting praise from the older master. Thus it was no surprise when in 1789 Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia, an accomplished cellist and patron of music, commissioned six string quartets from Mozart after the composer played for the monarch in Berlin. Back in Vienna, ill and in desperate financial straits (as usual), Mozart soon began work on a quartet for the King; he finished it in a month, then completed two more. But, depressed about his deplorable situation and unable (unwilling?) to fulfill the commission for the six ordered works, Mozart sold the three quartets to a publisher. "I have now been forced to give away my quartets (that exhausting labor) for a mere song," he complained to a friend, "simply in order to have cash in hand merely to meet my present difficulties." There has been some gossipy musicological speculation that there wasn't really a commission for quartets from the king, that Mozart used that as a ruse to explain to his long-suffering wife his trip to Berlin which, 'tis suggested, was for a liaison with an attractive soprano. If true, the wily Wolfgang carried the deception off cleverly by writing generous parts for the cello, the king's instrument. At any rate, his poor health and his poor financial straits were very real. Setting depression aside as he had so often done and was to do until the end of his days, Mozart operated on the happiest, most lighthearted of levels when writing the "Prussian" Quartets. Dispensing ebullient, graceful music with amazing ease and masterly craftsmanship, he contributed fine examples to the genre without breaking any new ground. The final movement of the K. 575 Quartet is not exactly innovative, but it is a bit more complex than the first three movements. Even so, the music still says Mozart the consummate charmer at work here. – Orrin Howard, Los Angeles Philharmonic |
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HUGO WOLF
Born: March 13, 1860, Windisch Gräz, Styria (Slovenia) Died: February 22, 1903, Vienna, Austria Italian Serenade in G Major, WW Xv/3 (1887) Hugo Wolf was an elusive figure remembered primarily for his masterful lieder, his trenchant criticism of Brahms and his eventual decay into dissolution and madness. He was a fierce disciple of Wagner and the "new" German school and can be regarded as a late Viennese Romantic before the turning of the tide with Schoenberg after Wolf's death. Leaving only a few works for small ensemble, his lone and rarely performed string quartet in D minor is the closest thing we have to Wagnerian or even Mahlerian chamber music. Wolf also penned a two single movement works for string quartet, a substantial Intermezzo and his one "outlier", the celebrated Italian Serenade. Completed in 1886, the Italian Serenade occupied Wolf for some time with the word "Italian" added to the simple title Serenade only in later revisions. Nonetheless, the predominantly buoyant music, tuneful, colorful and rhythmically animated, seems to naturally support free associations with things Italian if not in some way enhanced by association with Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony and Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence written only a few years after Wolf's musical postcard. A lithely ornamented melody warbles to the evocation of strumming guitars with a strong penchant for dance if not even a suggestion of operatic comedy. The word serenade historically implies music of honor, tribute or amorous entreaty, music that is calm, "light" and suitable for relaxed social evenings. Music that entertains and possibly dazzles with delight. Wolf's bright serenade largely conforms to this character. But there is more than just this in the music. The rhythmic and occasionally contrapuntal writing is skillful and meticulous with a rich variety of textures weaving throughout. The music develops into a sharply articulated adventure with a bit more intrigue one might expect of a little "night music." Wolf's late Viennese Romantic sensibilities emerge in the middle as the texture dramatically falls apart into dissonant recitative, a kind of expressionistic call and response accompanied by disorienting swirls, mocking echoes, parody and a brief touch of the macabre. But it seems entirely consonant with an Italian evening, particularly the wild intrigue of a psychedelic Venetian carnival. And just like a group of masked figures that approach, pass and disappear into the night, the intrigue evaporates and the music resumes its giddy serenade. © Kai Christiansen |
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ROBERT SHUMANN
Born: June 8, 1810, Zwickau, Germany Died: July 29, 1856, Endenich, Germany String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41, No. 2 (1842) Allegro vivace Andante quasi variazioni Scherzo – Presto – Trio Finale – Allegro molto vivace Robert Schumann remained a diligent music student throughout his life, poring over the works of the canonical masters as well as reviewing the newest compositions for his music journal. He also tended to concentrate on specific genres at particular times. Following the so-called ‘Year of Song’ (1840) during which Schumann poured out almost 140 of his finest Lieder, the newly-married composer turned to weightier forms. In 1842 Schumann composed the Three String Quartets Op. 41, the Piano Quintet Op. 44 and the Piano Quartet Op. 47, a veritable ‘Year of Chamber Music’. Influenced by the late quartets of Beethoven and the quartets of Haydn and Mozart, Schumann’s string quartets are masterpieces in their own right, filled with musical inventiveness, youthful exuberance and intense poetic feeling. His “chamber music year,” 1842-1843 (see below), got off to a bad start, as he felt snubbed and disrespected while travelling with his wife, Clara, on her tour of northern Germany and Denmark. He abandoned the tour before it ended, returning to Leipzig alone. There, he fought depression with counterpoint exercises and studied string quartets by Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn. After Clara returned home at the end of April, they worked together at this study, and in June Robert began sketching a pair of his own string quartets, finishing them in early July. He had sketched some quartets several years earlier, but these were the first he completed, and a few weeks later he added a third to the set, which became his Opus 41, dedicated to his friend Felix Mendelssohn. All three were premiered as presents for Clara on her 23rd birthday, September 13. The composer’s counterpoint work bore obvious fruit in the intense introduction to the A-minor Quartet, though it was written after the main body of the movement, very curiously a generally cheery dance in F major, with its own contrapuntal elaborations. (Beethoven’s Op. 131 may have been a model here.) The Scherzo is a spiky romp in A minor, with a contrastingly liquid Intermezzo in the relative major for its brief Trio section. The slow movement is an ardent love song in F major again, and the finale is a wild ride of driving rhythms and arresting sonorities that also summarizes the unusual harmonic strategy. The influence of Haydn is apparent in Schumann’s obsession with a single principal theme in the first movement of his Second String Quartet, and Haydn also of- ten employed some of the imitative twists that Schumann uses so effectively here. For his slow movement, Schumann offers an offbeat – often literally – set of variations in A-flat major, formally rounded with the recall of the opening and an allusive coda. The athletic Scherzo is in C minor, with a funny little Trio in C major; Schumann combines these in a coda, which sets up the introduction to the whirlwind finale. Like the finale to the First Quartet, this one consolidates and clarifies the harmonic ad- ventures of the preceding movements with vigorous joy in the doing. — John Henken ABOUT THE ARTISTS
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Yevgenia Strenger, violin
Yevgenia Strenger has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in concert halls of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, and played in every major concert hall worldwide on New York Philharmonic orchestra tours. Before coming to USA she toured the former USSR as a member of Kalinin String Quartet. Upon arrival in New York Ms. Strenger became a member of the New York City Opera where she became the Concertmaster in 2001. Her contribution to Live from Lincoln Center performance of “Madame Butterfly” was honored by Emmy awards. She is also a member of New York City Ballet and has been a frequent player with the New York Philharmonic for many years. Ms. Strenger made her debut with the Lviv Symphony Orchestra in her native Ukraine at the age of 13, performing as a soloist in concertos by Conius and Sibelius. Since her arrival in this country she performed and recorded with wide range of artists, from classical to popular to avant-garde, in concerts on TV, radio and in motion pictures.Guild. |
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Sander Strenger, violin
Sandor Strenger is recognized as one of the rare breed of left-handed players in Ovation Magazine, Sander Strenger, moves comfortably between the violin and viola. Employing a lyric and graceful approach to the violin, and a beautifully balanced sound to the viola, Mr. Strenger was praised for his "lively…elegant performance"(Boston Globe). His playing calls attention to those small details of phrasing, articulation and tone which separate a performance from a mere reading. Mr. Strenger has appeared as soloist with the Bronx Symphony, the West Side Symphony, Broadway Bach Ensemble, and the Missouri Symphony Society. Mr. Strenger was also a member of the Lydian and Estehazy Quartets, the Berkshire Chamber Players, Euterpe Ensemble, and the Music Project. In addition, he has been heard in recitals and chamber music concerts at the Lenox Arts Center, Winthrop University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Emelin Theater, Merkin Hall, Weil Recital Hall, the Bronx Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and the National Arts Club. Formerly an assistant professor of music at the University of Missouri, Columbia, he served as Assistant Concertmaster of American Ballet Theater and the Opera Orchestra of New York. |
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William Frampton, viola
William Frampton has been praised by critics for his “impressive” performances (The New York Times) and “a glowing amber tone” (The Boston Globe). Since his New York recital debut in 2009 at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, William has enjoyed a career of performances around the world as a chamber musician, soloist, orchestral player, and teacher. Recent highlights include over 100 performances with a string quartet led by Midori Goto in tours of Asia and North America, numerous appearances as principal viola with the American Symphony Orchestra, appearances as guest artist with the Johannes Quartet, and world premieres of chamber music by J. Mark Stambaugh and a concerto by Peter Homans. He can be heard frequently in the Broadway orchestras of Hamilton, Wicked, and The Lion King, and on film scores including The Joker, The Greatest Showman, West Side Story, and many others. William is Artistic Director of Music at Bunker Hill, a chamber music series in Southern New Jersey he co-founded in 2008 that brings five professional chamber music performances to Gloucester County, New Jersey every year. The community built as a result of Music Bunker Hill has brought regular collaborations with schools, libraries, orchestras, and civic organizations, contributing to the cultural life of Southern New Jersey. William has performed at festivals including Bard Summerscape, Bravo! Vail, Verbier, and IMS Prussia Cove, as soloist with conductors Joseph Silverstein and David Hoose, and as an orchestral player with New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, and Philadelphia Orchestra. He holds degrees from New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School, and studied with Kim Kashkashian, Samuel Rhodes, Choong-Jin Chang, and Byrnina Socolofsky. William teaches viola and chamber music at The College of New Jersey and Queens College, CUNY. www.williamframpton.com Robert Burkhart, cello
Hailed as “The adventurous cellist” by The New Yorker Magazine, Robert P. Burkhart performs all across New York City’s diverse musical landscape. As a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral principal, section player, and Broadway musician, he has performed in most major concert halls in New York, in more than 30 states across the country, and internationally. Cellist Robert Burkhart is a sought-after performer across New York City’s diverse musical landscape. With performance credits at Alice Tully Hall, Bargemusic, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, and The Rose Studio at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Robert has also appeared as a soloist throughout Japan as a member of the New York Symphonic Ensemble, and been featured in recital on WQXR’s “Young Artist Showcase.” At the center of new music in New York, Robert has performed with the American Modern Ensemble, Argento New Music Project, counterinduction, DaCapo Chamber Players, Electric Earth Concerts, Newspeak, The Orchestra of the League of Composers, and SONYC. Recent composer collaborations include Uri Caine, Georg Friedrich Haas, Aaron Jay Kernis, Steve Mackey, Joan Tower, Charles Wourinen, and Chen Yi. He has performed the New York premiere of John Harbison’s Abu Ghraib for cello and piano, and was the soloist in Augusta Read Thomas’s Passion Prayers for cello and chamber ensemble at the New York Times Center. Since his first orchestral appointment with the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans, Robert has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival Orchestra, and as guest principal of the Stamford Symphony. Robert’s major teachers include Paul Tobias at The Mannes College of Music and Uri Vardi at University of Wisconsin Madison, and he has worked with Timothy Eddy, Aldo Parisot, and Janos Starker at festivals and masterclasses. He has taught at the Eastern Music Festival, Juilliard Pre-college, Mannes Prep, Syracuse University, and Music Conservatory of Westchester, and been artist-in-residence at Yale University and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. His recent CD “20/21: Music for Cello and Piano from the 20th and 21st Centuries,” features pianist Blair McMillen. Robert’s recording of solo Bach on the American Express commercial “Don’t Take Chances. Take Charge.” has garnered national attention. www.robertpburkhart.com www.juilliard.edu/music/faculty/burkhart-robert |