Johann Sebastian Bach Ludwig Van Beethoven Ottorino Respighi

CONCERT #2 - Released JULY 20, 2021 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV 807 Prélude Allemande Courante Sarabande Bourrée I Bourrée II Gigue Alessio Bax piano LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN String Trio in G Major, Op. 9 No. 1 Adagio—Allegro con brio Adagio, ma non tanto e cantabile Scherzo: Allegro Presto Amy Schwartz Moretti violin / James Ehnes viola / Edward Arron cello OTTORINO RESPIGHI Quintet for Piano and Strings in F minor Allegro Andantino Vivacissimo Amy Schwartz Moretti violin / Arnaud Sussmann violin / James Ehnes viola Edward Arron cello / Alessio Bax piano JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH first. Quick, energetic, and rooted in rustic dance, the (1685–1750) bracing élan of Bourrée I shifts easily into the major English Suite No. 2 in A minor, for Bourrée II, softening the overall effect before BWV 807 (1715, or 1718-20) returning to the minor tonality of the first Bourrée. SCMS premiere As is the general rule, the Suite concludes with a boisterous and rousing Gigue, high on energy but in a How “English” are the “English” Suites? In truth, not more upbeat mindset than the dramatic Prélude that very. The title was added because a contemporary set everything in motion. copy owned by one of Bach’s sons bears the inscription “Fait pour les Anglois.” In any case, the arbitrary title makes it easier to distinguish these LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN six works from the so-called “French” Suites and (1770–1827) Partitas. The late musicologist Karl Geiringer opined String Trio in G Major, Op. 9 No. 1 (1798) that the “English” Suites were typically longer, more Most recent SCMS performance: Summer 2016 brilliant, complex, and virtuosic that the “delicate and intimate” “French” Suites.” These perceived As the Baroque era got under way around 1600, differences persuaded him that the two sets of composers adopted four-part harmony as the suites were conceived respectively for the larger, basic texture of tonal harmony that replaced earlier more “public” harpsichord and the intimate acoustic Church modes. From that point on choral music properties of the much smaller clavichord. increasingly was written for the familiar SATB division of labor—soprano, alto, tenor, and bass—and the For a long time it was believed that Bach composed same principle was applied to purely instrumental this set of six works between 1718 and 1720, though music. Four-part writing ultimately led to the string recent research suggests the somewhat earlier quartet as the dominant format in chamber music. year as 1715 when Bach was still plying his trade in Composers simply thought “naturally” in terms of Weimar before being hired on at the Court at Cöthen four parts or “voices.” Compared to the vast body of in 1717. string quartets, which continues virtually unabated to this day, precious few pieces for string trio have A strongly inflected and imposing Prélude opens emerged. As one might imagine, it’s a bit of a English Suite No. 2, its minor-key tonality imparting challenge to fit four-part harmony into three stringed a surging, even demonic quality enhanced by instruments, even with such devices as double- and sequences of rising diminished chords (formed by triple-stopping. (With a keyboard, of course, such successive intervals of a minor third, e.g., A–C—E- problems do not exist with ten independent fingers flat—G-flat). Constructed in ABA form, the middle on tap.) section provides a quieter, relatively introspective, counterpoint to the opening and closing energetic “A” Beethoven took up the challenge of the string trio episodes. A musing and flowing Allemande follows, before he composed his landmark set of six string bringing a cease to the emphatic and virtuosic quartets, Op. 18. He composed three string trios nature of the Prélude. Number 3 is a quicker Italian- published as Op. 3, by which time he had already based Courante (“Corrente” in Italian), livelier by written his three masterly piano trios, an easier design, of course, than the stately Allemande though format to work in. He had also completed the Op. 8 considerably less assertive than the Prélude. Rich string trio, which he titled Serenade. with harmonic suspensions, the ensuing Sarabande (originally a Spanish dance) unfolds slowly, each The Trio for Violin, Viola, and Cello in G Major, Op. ornamented note and expressive chord deepening 9, No. 1 begins with an Adagio introduction with the character of the music. Two Bourrées follow, the an assertive descending three-note unison motive second functioning essentially as a variant of the that immediately presents a graceful theme treated SUMMER FestIVAL // contrapuntally but without letting the listener know listener. Near the end, rather than adopt a quickening where he was heading. After about a minute-plus of pace, he actually cuts the speed in half, giving anticipatory transitional passagework he launches the viola a sequence of repeated notes while the the Allegro con brio, which fully lives up to its tempo cello posits a pedal tone. Only at that point do the marking. The faster paced thematic ideas already three instruments unite in a rush to an abrupt and show that Beethoven expected performers to have emphatic end. the requisite “chops” to bring this challenging music to full realization. A contrasting gentler theme soon emerges and interacts throughout the lengthy OTTORINO RESPIGHI movement with consummate skill. Out of nowhere (1879–1936) a minor-key theme intrudes a couple of minutes Quintet for Piano and Strings into the piece, which provides not only contrast but in F minor (1902) a sense of expanding scale. Always on the edge of SCMS premiere surprising the listener, Beethoven adds a coda chock full of weirdly accented dissonances, sudden key Born into a family of musicians, Respighi was virtually changes, and a tempestuous battle for dominance groomed for a life in that field. Blessed with abundant fought by the cello and violin while the viola simply talent, he balanced the demands of a performer tries to keep afloat. (violin and viola) with that of a composer—frequently serving in both capacities. In his early years, he The ensuing Adagio, ma non tanto e cantabile seems played viola in the orchestra of the St. Petersburg to be saying, “Hey, I was only kidding” or “time for Opera, which gave him the opportunity to study a breather.” Beginning in the harmonically remote composition with Rimsky-Korsakov, whose orchestral key of E Major, the mood and method belongs to the brilliance obviously rubbed off on Respighi—himself world of song. The music glides by with the calming a true magician of tone painting. He gained further feel of a barcarolle, though a few well-chosen shifts mentoring from Max Bruch, but it was Rimsky- into the minor darken the mood to good effect. In the Korsakov whose influence was most pronounced, end, however, it is Beethoven’s lyrical side that most enhanced by exposure to Debussy and Richard persuasively defines the movement. Strauss. Beethoven ended the previous movement on a He adored Renaissance and Baroque music, G-sharp (the middle note in an E-Major triad). Since particularly from his native land, and created a the following Scherzo begins on a G-natural, this shift number of appealing orchestral canvasses based in key signature has the effect of shattering the spell on lute and harpsichord works from the 17th and propelling us into an energetic, quirky, and deftly century, most famously in his three sets of Ancient humorous enterprise. To stress the comic aspect of Airs and Dances. His interest in old music led him the movement he fills the first of two trios with a to edit many pieces by such early Baroque Italian series of unexpected stops and re-starts, anticipating masters as Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Tartini, and Vitali. similar jests in his Symphony No. 1, Op. 21. The Well before the blossoming of the 20th-century’s second trio offers the cello a chance to show off their early music movement, Respighi was unearthing prowess before the return of the Scherzo’s “A” section. great treasures for pre-Classical lute tablatures, investing them with new life and new audiences by A Presto brings the work to a high-spirited conclusion, transcribing them “freely,” as the composer put it, for beginning with a perpetual motion swirling theme various combinations of orchestral instruments. from the violin that soon stops to allow for a passing lyrical episode. Notes then scurry by dizzyingly, each No doubt Respighi’s reputation derives from such instrument taking turns in propelling this nearly technicolor orchestral scores as The Pines of Rome, manic gallop forward. Yet Beethoven has more Church Windows, and Gli Ucceli among others. These tricks with which to entertain and/or befuddle the JULY 20, 2021 // ProGram notes remain popular despite his presumed but incorrectly Lasting but two minutes, the almost mournful assumed support of Mussolini, who greatly liked and Andantino begins with a song-like incantation awarded his music. Early in his career Respighi delved from the strings with a sotto voce accompaniment into the world of chamber music. His Quintet for from the piano. The keyboard then has a reflective Piano and Strings in F minor evokes Brahms, whose moment by itself before the strings join in this own Piano Quintet in the same key may well have touching paragraph. been a source of inspiration for the Italian composer. In the Vivacissimo finale, dancing Italianate The work is laid out in three movements of which the sunniness is quickly established by the piano and is opening Allegro is almost three times longer than the almost immediately partnered by the strings. As if following two.

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