Saturday, March 27, 2PM Matinee: Romantic String Music

Featuring Gregory Vajda conducting MIM Festival Orchestra String Soloists
Richard Strauss.... Capriccio, Op. 85: Introduction
Schonberg.... Verklarte Nacht Op. 4 (Transfigured Night for String Sextet)
Schubert.... Quartetsatz in C Minor, D. 703
Ludwig van Beethoven.... Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 in Bb Major

This Concert is Sponsored by Jeffrey S Leiter

CONCERT NOTES by Jack Roberts

Richard Strauss (1864-1949) A Proud Father
Strauss’s father was Wagner’s most trusted horn player and he passed his love of the instrument to Richard, who started his compositional career off with the Serenade in E-flat for 13 Wind Instruments at age 18. Then, in 1888, he began his adventures into the world of tone poems – 10 incredible examples of creativity and vision. His inspiration for many of his works were arcane, to say the least: Nietzsche was the cornerstone for the tone poem, Thus Spake Zarathustra; von Hofmannsthal’s libretto guided the opera Electra; and Oscar Wilde’s play set up the opera Salome… unique teams often equal good results! His operatic composing started in 1894 and on the third try he hit gold with Salome! Tonight’s Capriccio – Introduction, was written in 1942 and was the last of his 15 operas, at least five of which are in the current international repertory.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) Tangled Webs
His first large scale and tonally accessible work, Transfigured Night, Op.4, was written in 1899 and based on a beautifully sensitive poem by Richard Dehmel with themes of love, confession, understanding, forgiveness/transfiguration and love. Arnold was in love with Mathilde von Zemlinsky and they married two years later (more on her brother when we meet Alma Mahler in the SummerFest program notes). Then, in 1907, Mathilde took off with a local artist and left Arnold with their two children. He was not amused and lost his tonality – completely. “The emancipation of dissonance”, was his term for his atonal rebirth, and the subsequent song-cycle The Hanging Garden Book – talk about “Quantum shifts”!

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Hat Trick
In hockey, it’s three goals by a player. For Schubert, it was three unfinished works: The Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished), the oratorio Lazarus and Quartetsatz in C minor. Written in 1820, it was originally intended to be a full string quartet in four movements. Franz stopped writing after a few measures into the second movement. Why? Perhaps he couldn’t maintain the intensity and dynamism established in the first movement. But, as with Symphony No.8, let’s not worry about the “what ifs” and simply enjoy the beauty, structure and melody of the work. As musicologist Phillip Hale commented, “Let us be thankful that Schubert never finished his work. Possibly the lost arms of the Venus de Milo might disappoint if they were found.” Hmmm…

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Stand Alone
The Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 was originally the last movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet, Op.130. His publisher requested a new fourth movement, which resulted in Op. 133 being identified as an individual piece. The complexity and artistic demands on the performers are immense, and the sustained urgency of the work places it in a singular position. It is one of his less-accessible works, with complex fugal patterns and dissonances that truly signal the emergence of ‘new music’. Not surprising at all…it was Beethoven!

Details:
Directions:To Amaral Family Festival Center, Gate 1, Bldg. 1 in the Nevada County Fairgrounds: 11228 McCourtney Road, Grass Valley. Take Highway 49 to Highway 20 toward Marysville. Take the first exit (right on Mill, right on McCourtney) and continue approximately ¼ mile. The Fairgrounds are on your right. Please follow the signs and park as directed. Amaral Family Festival Center is the red building next to the parking area.

Handicap Access: Park in Gate 1 parking lot.

For more information call the Box Office 265-6124.
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