concert program ii: Viennese Roots JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809) July 20 and 22 Piano Trio in C Major, Hob. XV: 27 (1797) Allegro Sunday, July 20, 6:00 p.m., The Center for Performing Arts at Andante MS MS Menlo-Atherton Finale: Presto A A Tuesday, July 22, 8:00 p.m., Stent Family Hall, Menlo School Gloria Chien, piano; Kristin Lee, violin; David Finckel, cello FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828) Impromptu in A-flat Major, D. 899, no. 4 (op. 90) (1827) Gilbert Kalish, piano PROGRAM OVERVIEW Complementing the irresistible influence of his Czech musical FRANZ SCHUBERT heritage, Dvořák likewise aspired to write music of broader, Rondo brillant in b minor for Piano and Violin, D. 895 (1826) more universal appeal. The foundation of Viennese Classicism Sean Lee, violin; Gloria Chien, piano that Dvořák drew upon is more deeply explored in this IntermissiON summer’s second Concert Program. “Viennese Roots” begins with music by the father of the Classical style, Joseph Haydn, ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904) whose contributions to the piano trio literature elevated the String Quintet no. 2 in G Major, op. 77 (1875, rev. 1888) genre from light salon music to chamber music of the highest Allegro con fuoco CONCERT PROGR CONCERT sophistication. Franz Schubert inherited the tradition cultivated Intermezzo: Nocturno PROGR CONCERT Scherzo: Allegro vivace by Haydn and ushered it into the Romantic era. The tradition Poco andante is further explored in Dvořák’s Bass Quintet, which realizes the Finale: Allegro assai potential of this new aesthetic. Erin Keefe, Kristin Lee, violins; Paul Neubauer, viola; Dmitri Atapine, cello; Scott Pingel, bass SPECIAL THANKS Music@Menlo dedicates these performances to the following individuals and organizations with gratitude for their generous support: July 20: The Martin Family Foundation July 22: The Jeffrey Dean and Heidi Hopper Family and also to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Artist unknown. Mirror gallery, Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria, nineteenth century. Watercolor. Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY CONCERT PROGRAMS Program Notes: Viennese Roots JOSEPH HAYDN first appeared in the early nineteenth century in the work of Bohemian (Born March 31, 1732, Rohrau, Lower Austria; died May 31, 1809, Vienna) pianist Jan Václav Voříšek in a set of six pieces published in 1817. The title appears to have been suggested by Voříšek’s publisher in Leipzig, but Piano Trio in C Major, Hob. XV: 27 its implementation unintentionally created a new genre of piano music Composed: ca. 1797 characterized by its refined improvisatory quality. Franz Schubert, who Other works from this period: String Quartet no. 59 in g minor, Rider encountered Voříšek at Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Society concerts in (1793–1795); Symphony no. 104 in D Major, London (1795); String Quartet Vienna in the mid-1820s, retreated to his lakeside villa in Chiatri to work no. 62 in C Major, Emperor (1797) on a similar set of piano miniatures, eschewing traditional sonata form. Approximate duration: 17 minutes Schubert likely wrote these with the intention of performing them at social events himself, or even possibly at the Society. He published four of these Following the death of Prince Nicolas Esterházy in 1790, Joseph Haydn, a pieces (D. 899) between summer and fall of 1827. Coincidentally—and longtime employee of the Esterházy estate, was invited by the prominent presumably for entrepreneurial reasons—Schubert’s publisher decided impresario Johann Peter Salomon to take a year’s leave in London. Haydn to label these pieces as impromptus, with Schubert’s permission. He accepted the invitation and arrived in London on January 2, 1791. This year wrote a second set in the spring of 1828 (D. 935), which he likewise titled was an exciting one for Haydn, both artistically and personally; however, at impromptus, perhaps evidence of the initial success of the first set. the request of Prince Anton, Nicolas’s successor, Haydn returned to Vienna One can see immediately the intrinsic qualities that lead Schubert’s on July 24, 1792. The following eighteen months were uneventful and publisher, Tobias Haslinger, to adopt the title impromptu, after which such uninspiring to Haydn, and after the death of Anton in 1794, he returned to piano virtuosos as Chopin and Liszt would soon write their own. Tonight’s London, where he was feted as a celebrity. program features the final impromptu of the D. 899 set, no. 4 in A-flat major. As he was preparing to depart London again in 1795, Haydn returned The piece can be split into three sections, each given its improvisational to writing piano trios, adding four sets of three trios each to his already character by a pensive and leisurely transition between them. The subtle substantial catalog, dedicated, respectively, to Maria Therese Esterházy interconnectedness, such as the continuous arpeggiated accompaniment (the widow of Anton); the wife of Anton’s successor; his mistress, Rebecca or similarly voiced melodies, gives the work an overarching completeness. Schroeter; and his dear friend Therese Jansen-Bartolozzi, an accomplished The fleeting arpeggios that open the piece enigmatically traverse MS pianist in London. Well regarded for his contributions to the string quartet three keys (a-flat minor, C-flat major, and b minor) before eventually A and symphony repertoire, Haydn also made equal advancements in the arriving at A-flat major, the home key of the piece. A second theme piano trio literature. In contrast to today’s piano trio, Haydn referred to appears in the tenor register as the right-hand arpeggios become these compositions as keyboard sonatas with string accompaniment. subordinate. In c minor, the middle section—a momentary Sturm und Traditionally the piano would take a prominent role while the violin Drang full of immense pathos—decelerates as the piece transitions to the occasionally served as soloist and the cello provided either basso continuo contemplative third section. The lyrical quality of the melody becomes or a conservatively harmonic accompaniment. However, in the Trio in C swooning; the right-hand melody projects a weeping sensation as the Major, Hob. XV: 27, Haydn’s “keyboard sonata” title is quite deceptive. left’s rampant momentum brings the piece to a majestic repeat of the The leisurely theme of the opening Allegro is misleadingly simple. opening arpeggiated theme. Though the opening arpeggios give the piano a prominent role, the violin —Andrew Goldstein and cello are nevertheless liberated from their traditional supporting roles. Though the movement is in sonata form, the brief development begins with an unprecedented return of the theme, not in G major as the FRANZ SCHUBERT listener would expect but in the unusual key of A-flat major. After a full Rondo brillant in b minor for Piano and Violin, D. 895 CONCERT PROGR CONCERT recapitulation, a placid Andante more prominently features the violin October 1826 trading the melody with the piano. Haydn writes a furious Sturm und Drang Composed: phrase described by musicologist Charles Rosen as “close to brutality.” Published: 1827 The breathless and dainty finale further incorporates the violin and cello Other works from this period: Sonata in a minor, D. 821, Arpeggione as independent voices, bringing the work to a brilliant exclamatory close. (1824); String Quartet in G Major, D. 887 (1826); Sonata in a minor for —Andrew Goldstein Piano, D. 845 (1826) Approximate duration: 13 minutes FRANZ SCHUBERT Like its better-known sibling, the much beloved C Major Fantasy, (Born January 31, 1797, Vienna; died November 19, 1828, Vienna) Schubert’s Rondo brillant in b minor, composed one year prior in 1826, was intended for the young Bohemian virtuoso Josef Slavik. Also like the Impromptu in A-flat Major, D. 899. no. 4 (op. 90) C Major Fantasy, the Rondo brillant offers all the trappings of a virtuoso Composed: 1827 showpiece—perhaps with a Viennese audience that was enthralled with Published: 1827 Paganini’s Caprices in mind—but beneath its explosive virtuosity, the Other works from this period: Four Impromptus for Piano, D. 935 (1828); rondo contains finely wrought music of piercing expressive depth. Die Winterreise (1827); Piano Trio in B-flat Major, D. 898 (1827); Piano Trio The work begins with a stately introduction, marked by double- in E-flat Major, D. 929 (1828) dotted chords in the piano and upward flourishes in the violin. More than Approximate duration: 8 minutes merely a striking curtain raiser, this prologue, upon close listen, reveals Schubert’s thoughtful compositional craftsmanship. The first violin flourish An impromptu is a composition for solo instrument, usually piano, the races to the top of the staff and then stresses the last two notes, B and nature of which may occasionally suggest improvisation. The name C-sharp. *Bolded terms are defined in the glossary, which begins on page 100. Major, op. 23 (1875); Nocturne in b minor for Violin and Piano, op. 40 (1875–1883) Approximate duration: 35 minutes Though cataloged as the second of Dvořák’s three string quintets, the Quintet in G Major, op. 77, is unique in Dvořák’s oeuvre. The First and Third Quintets are scored for the conventional quintet ensemble of string quartet with a second viola; the Opus 77 Quintet calls for string quartet and double bass. After the lyrical introduction runs its course, it ends, suspensefully, on The Bass Quintet marks an important point in Dvořák’s early those same two pitches. career. At thirty-three years old, he had recently come to the attention of Johannes Brahms, who had served on the panel of judges awarding Dvořák the Austrian State Stipendium. Brahms was particularly taken by the distinct Czech elements of Dvořák’s music and took up the young composer’s cause, writing to his publisher Fritz Simrock: “As for the state stipendium…I have enjoyed works sent in by Antonín Dvořák of Prague.