Mainstage Concert 1 – July 8, 2021
Mainstage Concert 1 – July 8, 2021
2:00PM & 7:30PM, Arkell Pavilion, SVAC
Franz Joseph Haydn (b. Austria | d. Austria; 1732 – 1809)
Piano Trio in E Major, Hob. XV: 28 (published 1797)
“Papa” Haydn earned his moniker for pioneering the forms and genres that have become synonymous with what we refer to as the classical style. His innovations across the symphonic, oratorio, chamber, and sonata genres advanced the possibilities inherent to these idioms, influencing generations of musicians to follow.
The Piano Trio in E Major, Hob. XV: 28, presents a fascinating specimen of the piano trio canon. The first movement makes extensive use of string pizzicatos – a technique of plucking the string rather than bowing it – and this strumming has the effect of yielding the melodic limelight to the piano at moments during which one would more commonly expect the strings to “sing” and the piano to accompany. At other times, the strings dominate with lyrical motives while the piano plays an active role in embellishing the material, using frequent staccato articulations to imitate pizzicatos. The second movement is a passacaglia – an antique form that uses a recurring bass line throughout while harmonic and melodic changes occur around it – and the emotional sobriety of the movement marks a sharp contrast with the lighthearted outer movements. The finale is a rondo incorporating saucy tunes and dance rhythms that conclude the work with refreshing humor and emotional gaiety.
Rebecca Clarke (b. United Kingdom | d. United States; 1886 – 1979)
Sonata for Viola & Piano (composed 1919)
Clarke’s groundbreaking Sonata for Viola & Piano defied the odds by achieving its vaunted status in the repertoire, attaining solid international prominence as recently as 1976. In 1919, Clarke submitted the work for a music competition, and despite the unanimous praise of the jury, Swiss composer Ernest Bloch was declared the winner and Clarke given second prize. Controversy swirled around the results, and according to Clarke herself, “the rumour went around, I hear, that I hadn’t written the stuff myself, that somebody had done it for me. And I even got one or two little bits of press clippings saying that it was impossible, that I couldn’t have written it myself. And the funniest of all was that I had a clipping once which said that I didn't exist, there wasn't any such person as Rebecca Clarke, that it was a pseudonym for Ernest Bloch.”
Bold from the outset, the work commences with a fanfare that showcases the viola in an extroverted display. Throughout the first movement, the viola and piano are treated as equals, exchanging musical phrases that alternate between militant declarations and mystical yearnings. The second movement is a rapid-fire scherzo using techniques such as harmonics and glissandi, to brilliant effect. The finale wraps two movements into one, achieving synthesis via a compositional technique called cyclic form – a means of structural cohesion achieved by recycling motives and themes from previous movements. The initial main area is expressive and meditative, followed by a faster area spurred into action by a recollection of the first movement’s main themes. Though the movement digresses briefly into fantasia-like improvisation, an ensuing energetic coda propels the movement to the finish line.
Ernest Chausson (b. France | d. France; 1855 – 1899)
Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 30 (composed 1897)
Owing much to the perfumed harmonic language of his master teacher, Belgian composer César Franck, Chausson’s music impresses an indelible mark upon audiences. Seeping with sentiment, yet disciplined in structure, Chausson’s multilayered compositions unspool emotional tensions that repeatedly deny resolution until the very end of the works, resulting in riveting emotional catharses. Despite the deserved popularity of his chamber music works, one can only regret that Chausson did not live longer, as his small compositional output hints at a deep well of tragically untapped potential.
The Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 30, opens with a buoyant main theme that sets an optimistic tone for the first movement. Teeming with energy, the four instruments engage in extensive conversation while charting exotic harmonic landscapes on the way to final reconciliation. The second movement is a deeply heartfelt song, initiated by the viola in its low register and passionately expanded upon by the other instruments. Some elements of darkness emerge that, at first, are lovingly assuaged by the meditative nature of the recurring first theme, yet, ultimately, plunge the movement into a morose conclusion. A breezy third movement sweeps through as a palette cleanser, presenting a lilting dance soaring upon arpeggiated piano textures that coolly disappear into thin air by the movement’s conclusion. The powerful fourth movement emerges with no preamble, engaging in frantic gestures that whip the movement across mysterious and, at times, threatening musical regions. Just when it seems that the work can edge forward no longer, it halts completely; Chausson re-frames the tender second movement theme and ingeniously enjoins it to the main motives of the first and fourth movements. Together they accelerate and magnify in a dazzling apotheosis.