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Home , DSCH motif, Johannes Brahms

Season 20102010----20112011

The Philadelphia

Sunday, November 2121,, at 3:00 22262666thth Season of Chamber ConcertsConcerts————PerelmanPerelman Theater

Dvořák Terzetto in , Op. 74, for two violins and I. Introduzione: Allegro, ma non troppo— II. Larghetto III. : Vivace IV. Tema con variazioni: Poco adagio David Kim Violin Daniel Han Violin Anna Marie Ahn Petersen Viola

Shostakovich String No. 8 in , Op. 110 I. Largo— II. Allegro molto— III. Allegretto— IV. Largo— V. Largo David Kim Violin Daniel Han Violin Anna Marie Ahn Petersen Viola Thomas Kraines (Guest)

Intermission

Schubert String in C major, D. 956 I. Allegro, ma non troppo II. Adagio III. Scherzo: Presto—Trio: Andante sostenuto IV. Allegretto Leonidas Kavakos Violin (Guest) MeiMei- ---ChenChen Barnes Violin (Guest) CheChe- ---HungHung Chen Viola Derek Barnes Cello Efe Baltacıgil Cello

This program runs approximately 2hours.

Terzetto in C major, Op. 74, for two violins and viola

Antonín DvDvořáořáořáořákkkk Born in Nelahozeves, Bohemia, SeSeptemberptember 8, 1841 Died in Prague, May 1, 1904

Antonín Dvořák was born in a small Bohemian village to a non-musical family, but his talents were so evident—he played organ at church while still a little boy, and picked up violin and viola by ear—that even his parents knew something special was afoot. They sent him to Prague at age 12, where he studied at the National Conservatory. After graduation, young Antonín became a violinist for the Czech National Orchestra under the direction of Bedřich Smetana, whose opera The Bartered Bride and orchestral suite Má vlast (My Homeland) would give Czech music a classical voice.

But Dvořák’s career as a composer stalled. Little of what he wrote before the age of 30 survives. In fact he went virtually unnoticed as a composer until 1873, when his choral work Hymnus won a prize adjudicated by the great German composer Johannes Brahms and Europe’s most powerful music critic, . Beyond giving Dvořák the award, Brahms and Hanslick recognized a talent that had the potential to raise Czech music to the next level of importance and sophistication. With Brahms’s help, Dvořák’s music was published by the prestigious house of Simrock, and with Hanslick’s praise in his pocket he began to get prominent commissions. The remainder of Dvořák’s career consisted of one triumph after another, as he became known around the globe. He was invited to America, where the vast plains and diverse influences caused him to write two of his most famous scores: the No. 9 (“From the New World”) and the nicknamed the “American.”

The year 1887 found Dvořák at the top of his game. In one week of January that year he composed the Terzetto in C major, Op. 74. It is a perfect example of Hausmusik (“house music”), which is simply music originally intended not for the concert hall or recital but for friends to play their own entertainment. A piece of house music is first and foremost an interesting work for the musicians to perform, for they, and not an audience, are the market the composer and publisher attempt to reach. Dvořák wrote the Terzetto with two specific musicians in mind: the violinist Jan Pelikan of the National Theater Orchestra, and Pelikan’s student, violinist Josef Kruis. When, in a reading of the work, Kruis fell short of the skill level necessary, Dvořák, in sympathy, composed a second, simpler Terzetto, Op. 75a.

In a sense, however, it was Dvořák who failed to fulfill the task of writing Hausmusik by composing, in the first Terzetto, a much richer and technically more demanding score than might be playable by an average musician. Part of the reason for this may have been that he used himself as a model for the violist; he was, in fact, violist for the first readings of the score by Pelikan and Kruis. Like many great composers before and after—Mozart and Hindemith are but two— Dvořák was particularly attracted to the viola, and fond of the instrument’s ability to negotiate the alto range. The viola’s middle place in the range of string instruments means it defines the texture of a string score. The soprano-range violin gets the melody, the cello provides the bass, and in between, the viola fills out the rest—but it is precisely how the filling-out is done that goes far to give a composition its particular character.

Despite the fact that in the Terzetto the viola is actually the de facto bass, the viola line throughout the score still carries with it the nature of a defining inner part. There are sections, including most of the scherzo, where the viola accepts the role of providing a bass. But for most of the time, the viola is in real dialogue with the violins, an equal partner in a contrapuntal discussion of sophistication and breadth.

Marked simply “Introduction,” the opening AllegroAllegro,,,, ma non troppo is deceptively easy- going, a three-part (ABA) movement that does little more than let us hear the instruments, gauge their balance, and prepare for what’s coming. The A section is a simple lyrical melody; the B section provides some bustling sixteenth notes for contrast. Then, suddenly, just as the return of the A section seems about to go into its final measures, there is a shocking change from C major in the direction of an E-major . The E-major tonic chord is delayed, however, until the start of the second movement, played without pause after the first. This is the Larghetto, marked dolce and molto espressivo, and as ethereal a piece as Dvořák ever penned. The ensuing Scherzo (VivaceVivaceVivace) is an A-minor furiant, or rapid-fire Czech folk dance, with a three-beat meter that sometimes gives the illusion of being in two. The gently contrasting Trio in is reminiscent of a Brahms allegretto.

The final movement (PocoPoco adagioadagio) is a set of variations on a theme surprisingly in C minor rather than C major, though the fleet, inventive variations do eventually lead to a C-major conclusion. By this movement, the Hausmusik aspect of the score has long been overtaken by virtuoso elements that now come to the foreground for all three instruments.

—Kenneth LaFave String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110

Dmitri Shostakovich Born iiinin St. Petersburg, September 25, 1906 Died iiinin Moscow, August 9, 1975

At Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, one imposing tombstone is emblazoned with the musical notes D—E-flat—C—B. It’s the grave of , whose initials, in German transliteration, those notes spell: D(mitri) SCH(ostakowitch). (In German musical notation, E-flat is “S” and B-natural is “H.”)

This four-note musical motif was Shostakovich’s signature during the second half of his career. It shows up prominently in many of his scores, including the Tenth and Fifteenth , the First Violin , and the First . But nowhere is it as ubiquitous as in the String Quartet No. 8, a somber meditation on death that, despite its surface bleakness, is the most widely played of the composer’s 15 string , and one of the most-played string quartets written in the 20th century.

The “DSCH” motif dominates the Quartet for the very good reason that the work was intended as a farewell. In 1960, when the piece was composed, Shostakovich was at an emotional lowpoint. Decades of fighting Stalinist control of his artistic output had taken their toll and he was a nervous wreck, his face “a bag of tics” as one friend commented. And although Stalin had been dead for seven years, Shostakovich’s relationship with the Soviet authorities in 1960 remained problematic at best. That was the year he finally joined the Communist Party, an act so fraught with ethical implications that the decision must have caused him great anxiety. We still don’t know for certain if the decision was entirely his, or if he was in some way coerced into joining. We do know his psychic strength was strained by the act of acquiescing to a political system that had repeatedly opposed his art.

The composer’s physical health as well was in peril. In 1958 he had begun to notice chronic pain in his right hand. Joints and muscles in that hand started to shut down. Slowly the pain overtook him and by 1960 he could barely play the . (In 1965 the condition would be diagnosed as polio.) According his friend Lev Lebedinsky, Shostakovich’s response to all this was to plan his suicide. In just three days in July 1960, he penned his suicide “letter”: the String Quartet No. 8, with its three-out-of-five Largo movements, dirge-like overall character, and obsessive employment of “DSCH.” The writing of the Quartet proved less a valedictory than a purgative, however, so Shostakovich went on living—and composing, including seven more string quartets.

The suicide story, uncorroborated by other sources, may or may not be true. But it’s clear that Shostakovich had by this time entered a morbid phase of his artistic life. Death would be the subject of many remaining works, such as the Symphony No. 14. If the String Quartet No. 8 is not a literal farewell, it is certainly the beginning of a series of goodbyes.

The Quartet’s first movement, marked Largo, begins with the “DSCH” motif intoned in turn by all four instruments and played in various keys until, 28 measures in, the cello, viola, and second violin all fall softly onto their bottommost open notes in a gesture of release. For 17 measures they remain there, while the first violin plays something that might be an atonal chant for the dead. An eerie chromatic makes up the rest of the first movement. A motif that sounds oddly like the first five notes of the end to the old popular song “Shave and a haircut, two bits” is heard prominently. While the connection may seem ridiculous, it would make sense if Shostakovich, who embraced popular music and often mocked himself in his own scores, really saw this piece as “the end.”

The first movement concludes on an A-flat that becomes the enharmonic G-sharp to set up G-sharp minor for the second movement, marked AllegroAllegro molto but more closely resembling a Presto and played (as all subsequent movements are played) without pause. This is a frantic essay in sheer energy that abruptly veers into a quotation of a Jewish theme from the composer’s own in . The self-borrowed theme dissipates and the frantic pseudo-Presto returns, only to be replaced at last by the borrowed theme, which is in turn cut short as the score plunges into another fast movement. This one is an Allegretto that sputters along congenially in triple meter, sometimes interrupted by measures in two, at last settling into duple meter. At the end, the first violin holds onto an A-sharp that gets us into the grim C-sharp minor of the fourth movement.

This second Largo is the heart of the Quartet, a grief-laden movement that fights with repeated three-chord blows against the fate that is coming. A plaintive cry is set up in the form of a dolce melody from the cello in its highest range. The hammer blows of the dissonant chords sound increasingly futile until at last, the first violin is left alone to sound the “DSCH” theme reluctantly. The brief concluding movement (LargoLargoLargo) returns once more to the world of “DSCH,” now extended into a theme the composer treats in gently contrapuntal manner. The first movement is fleetly referenced and the final C-minor chord sounds softly, marked morendo —dying away.

—Kenneth LaFave

String Quintet in C major, D. 956

Franz Schubert Born in , January 31, 1797 Died there, November 19, 1828

By age 23 Schubert had composed some two-thirds of his oeuvre, but he remained virtually unknown to the Viennese public until a series of important performances and publications, mostly of his songs and domestic music. Schubert struggled for attention in a musical culture awed by Beethoven’s dominating presence, enchanted by Italian opera (particularly Rossini’s), and dazzled by the technical wizardry of Paganini and other virtuosos. He negotiated this scene with varying degrees of success, but was partially thwarted by health problems and by the realities of Viennese concert life. He yearned for recognition in the prestigious genres of opera and symphony, exemplified by Rossini and Beethoven, and composed prodigiously in both. After it became clear to him that he had little chance of succeeding with German operas, he devoted the remaining years of his life to emulating Beethoven by turning to instrumental music that stood a better chance for performance and publication.

Schubert initially focused on chamber and keyboard music and this strategy met with success in the mid 1820s. Violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh, the preeminent exponent of Beethoven’s , took up Schubert’s cause and brought some of these larger pieces to public awareness. The A-minor String Quartet (dedicated to Schuppanzigh) and three piano were published. These were Beethoven’s last years and Schubert’s name was increasingly associated with the older master’s musicians, publishers, critics, patrons, and audiences. When Beethoven died in 1827 Schubert was poised to emerge as his artistic heir. A particularly significant event occurred on March 26, 1828—the anniversary of Beethoven’s death—when Schubert presented the first public concert devoted entirely to his music.

The in C major, Schubert’s last chamber composition, is just one of many astonishing products dating from his final months. During the summer and fall of 1828 he wrote or finished the Drei Klavierstücke, the Mass in E-flat, the 14 songs published as Schwanengesang, three magnificent piano duets (including the Fantasy in ), the last three piano sonatas, as well as various brief sacred works, partsongs, dances, Lieder, and some remarkable sketches for a new symphony. The Quintet was not performed during Schubert’s life and remained unknown for decades—it was first heard in Vienna in 1850 and published three years later. This was the fate of many of Schubert’s late works, which led the critic Eduard Hanslick to observe in his classic study of Viennese concert life: “If Schubert’s contemporaries rightly gazed astonished at his creative power, what shall we, who come after him, say, as we incessantly discover new works of his? For thirty years the master has been dead, and in spite of this it seems as if he goes on working invisibly—it is impossible to follow him.”

Beethoven was writing a String Quintet (WoO 62) at the time of his death and Schubert, who saw the sketches of various compositions, may have been aware of the project. Mozart, of course, had written string as well, in which he added a viola to the customary quartet, whereas Schubert incorporated a cello, an instrument he loved. The most immediate model may have been quintets by that Schuppanzigh’s quartet performed. The advantage of this disposition of instruments is that one cello can fill the traditional bass role supporting the harmony, while the other can sing lyrically in the register.

The Quintet’s opening movement (Allegro,Allegro, ma non troppotroppo)troppo is one of Schubert’s most beautiful creations and has come to epitomize his late style. Its leisurely unfolding of themes, the graceful slide into the flat mediant key for the melting second theme, the characteristic fluctuations between major and minor, refine traits long used by the composer. In a similar way, the meditative serenity of the second movement AdagiAdagioooo bespeaks a sublimity often associated with Schubert, but also includes one of his terrifying outbursts of pain, even violence, a feature also found in the “Great” C-major Symphony, the A-minor and G-major quartets, and some of the late piano sonatas. The Scherzo (PrestoPrestoPresto) is unusual for its Trio section in a slower tempo (AndanteAndante sostenutosostenuto) and in a quadruple rather than the expected triple meter.

The Finale of the Quintet (AllegrettoAllegrettoAllegretto) projects a more social and carefree attitude that some commentators have found trivial in comparison with the first three movements. At times it even seems to glance sideways to neighboring Hungary and to project a dancing gaiety. Such a mixture of moods over the course of a work, even within movements of a single composition, is typically Schubertian. Few composers embrace such a range of genres, styles, and feelings. Within this all, however, darker forces continue to lurk. One example: The work ends with a manic coda building to a dissonant fortissimo chord having a D-flat trill in both , and then a final tonic chord inflected by a D-flat appoggiatura. The effect is overwhelmingly powerful, hardly carefree or affirmative, and forces us to reassess some of the preceding lightness.

Schubert died in November, shortly after finishing the Quintet. How could any artist sustain such a breathless pace of production and breathtaking level of achievement? The direction in which these late miracles point, all written in the heady months after his successful public concert in March 1828, is one of the reasons there has been so much speculation about what more Schubert might have written. First family and friends, and later audiences and critics, marveled at what the composer had created during such a brief life and, irresistibly, wondered at what more he might have accomplished. The epitaph on his grave, written by Franz Grillparzer, Austria’s leading writer, captures just this: “The Art of Music Here Entombs a Rich Possession, but even Far Fairer Hopes.”

—Christopher H. Gibbs

Program notes © 2010. All rights reserved. Program notes may not be reprinted without written permission from The Association and/or Kenneth LaFave. GENERAL TERMS Appoggiatura: A “leaning-note.” As a melodic ornament, it usually implies a note one step above or below the “main” note. Atonality: A term used to describe music that is not tonal, especially organized without reference to key or tonal center Cadence: The conclusion to a phrase, movement, or piece based on a recognizable melodic formula, harmonic progression, or dissonance resolution Chord: The simultaneous sounding of three or more tones Chromatic: Relating to tones foreign to a given key (scale) or chord Coda: A concluding section or passage added in order to confirm the impression of finality Contrapuntal: See counterpoint Counterpoint: A term that describes the combination of simultaneously sounding musical lines D.: Abbreviation for Deutsch, the chronological list of all the works of Schubert made by Otto Erich Deutsch Dissonance: A combination of two or more tones requiring resolution Mediant: The third degree of the scale Op.: Abbreviation for opus, a term used to indicate the chronological position of a composition within a composer’s output. Opus numbers are not always reliable because they are often applied in the order of publication rather than composition. Scherzo: Literally “a joke.” Usually the third movement of symphonies and quartets that was introduced by Beethoven to replace the minuet. The scherzo is followed by a gentler section called a trio, after which the scherzo is repeated. Its characteristics are a rapid tempo in triple time, vigorous rhythm, and humorous contrasts. form: The form in which the first movements (and sometimes others) of symphonies are usually cast. The sections are exposition, development, and recapitulation, the last sometimes followed by a coda. The exposition is the introduction of the musical ideas, which are then “developed.” In the recapitulation, the exposition is repeated with modifications. Terzetto: A trio Tonic: The keynote of a scale Trill: A type of embellishment that consists, in a more or less rapid alternation, of the main note with the one a tone or half-tone above it Trio: See scherzo

THE SPEED OF MUSIC (Tempo) Adagio: Leisurely, slow Allegretto: A tempo between andante and allegro Allegro: Bright, fast Andante: Walking speed Dolce: Sweet, smooth, gentle Espressivo: With expression, with feeling Larghetto: A slow tempo Largo: Broad Presto: Very fast Sostenuto: Sustained Vivace: Lively

TEMPO MODIFIERS Ma non troppo: But not too much Molto: Very Poco: Little, a bit

DYNAMIC MARKS Fortissimo (ff): Very loud

Efe Baltacıgil was appointed assistant principal cello of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2002 and became associate principal cello in 2003. He won the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Peter Jay Sharp Prize, and the Washington Performing Arts Society Prize. He has performed the Brahms Sextet with , Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, and Jessica Thompson at Carnegie Hall; participated in Mr. Ma’s Silk Road Project; and toured with Musicians from Marlboro. He is also a member of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society II. Born in Istanbul, Mr. Baltacıgil began studying violin at age five and cello at seven. He received a ’s degree from Mimar Sinan University Conservatory in Istanbul and an artist diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Peter Wiley and David Soyer.

DeDeDerekDe rek Barnes, cello, has been a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1995. A Philadelphia native, he received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute. Formerly co-principal cello of the Concerto Soloists (now the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia), he was also principal cello of the South Jersey Symphony and a member of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and the New York String Orchestra. He has appeared as soloist with the Curtis Symphony and the Indianapolis, Anderson, Muncie, and Tanglewood Music Center symphonies, and he has also participated in the Tanglewood Fellowship Program and in the Taos School of Music, Encore School for Strings, and Congress of Strings summer festivals.

MeiMei----ChenChen Barnes, violin, is associate concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. She is a top prize winner of the Washington International, Great Neck Symphony, Hartford Symphony, and Juilliard Concerto competitions. She has appeared as soloist with the Hartford Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, and The Philadelphia Orchestra, as winner of its Senior Student Competition. Ms. Barnes has also performed with the Lincoln Chamber Players, the Brandenburg Ensemble, and on tour with Music from Marlboro. A native of Taiwan, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Yumi Ninomiya Scott, Ivan Galamian, and Arnold Steinhardt. Ms. Barnes earned her master's degree at the where she studied with Dorothy DeLay.

CheChe----HungHung Chen, viola, joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2001, the first Taiwanese citizen to become a member of the Orchestra. He won first prize at the seventh Banff International String Quartet Competition as a member of the Daedalus Quartet. A three-time top prize winner at the Taiwan National Instrumental Competition, he entered the Curtis Institute at age 14, where he studied with Joseph de Pasquale and served as principal viola of the Curtis Symphony. Mr. Chen has appeared as soloist and given recitals throughout the U.S. and Asia; toured with Musicians from Marlboro; and participated in the Ravinia, Caramoor, Kingston, and Bridgehampton chamber music festivals and Music from Angel Fire. He is on the faculties of Temple University and Temple Music Prep.

Daniel Han, violin, joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2006. He was previously a member of the Minnesota Orchestra and the Fort Worth Symphony, and guest concertmaster of the Daejeon Philharmonic in Korea. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and artist diploma from Boston University, where he was a student of Roman Totenberg. A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Mr. Han studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus and Dorothy DeLay at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Preparatory Department. Mr. Han has performed as soloist with the CCM-Starling, Philharmonia, and Boston Classical , and the Fort Worth, Northern Kentucky, Boston University, and UK symphonies, among others. He also attended the Aspen Music Festival, Kneisel Hall, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, and Music in the Mountains Festival.

In the 2010-11 season, violinist Leonidas Kavakos will be seen as concerto soloist, conductor, and chamber musician, performing with orchestras such as the , the Royal Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, the London Symphony, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie- Orchester Berlin, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Winner of the Sibelius Competition in 1985 and the Paganini Competition in 1988, Mr. Kavakos was principal guest artist and later artistic director of the Camerata Salzburg. His recordings for the BIS, Chandos, Delos, Finlandia, ECM, and Sony Classical labels have received the Gramophone Award and the Echo Klassik Award, among others. His most recent CD is Mendelssohn’s and piano trios with the Camerata Salzburg, cellist Patrick Demenga, and Enrico Pace for Sony Classical. He plays the “Abergavenny” Stradivarius violin from 1724 and a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini from 1782.

Concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1999, David Kim started playing the violin at the age of three and began studies with Dorothy DeLay at the age of eight. He later received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. In 1986 he was the only American violinist to win a prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition. He was a prize winner at the 1990 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Mr. Kim is founder and former artistic director of the Kingston Chamber Music Festival at the University of Rhode Island. Conductors with whom he has performed as soloist include Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Jurowski, Andrew Litton, Peter Oundjian, and . Mr. Kim also appears internationally at festivals such as Finland’s Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Japan’s Pacific Music Festival, and the Seattle Chamber Music Festival. He has been featured nationally on the CBS, NBC, and PBS networks, on NPR, and in Newsweek magazine.

Anna Marie Ahn Petersen, viola, joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1992 upon her graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she was a student of Joseph de Pasquale, then principal viola of The Philadelphia Orchestra. She made her solo recital debut in Seoul, Korea, in 1988, which was sponsored by Jeunesses Musicales. She has performed as soloist with the Seoul Philharmonic and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, and she has served as principal viola of the Brandenburg Ensemble and the Jupiter Symphony. Ms. Petersen enjoys reading, cooking, mountain biking, and golf in her free time. She and her husband, Bill, have a son, Matthew.