Avalon String Quartet
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Faculty Recital Series Avalon String Quartet Blaise Magnière, violin Richard O. Ryan Endowed Chair in Violin Marie Wang, violin Anthony Devroye, viola Cheng-Hou Lee, cello Saturday, April 17, 2021 7 p.m. Boutell Memorial Concert Hall PROGRAM String Quartet in A minor, No. 2 Florence Price Moderato (1887-1953) Andante cantabile Juba: Allegro Finale: Allegro String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1 Ludwig van Beethoven Allegro (1770-1827) Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando Adagio molto e mesto Thème russe: Allegro PROGRAM NOTES Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1 (1806) When Andreas Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador in Vienna, commissioned a set of quartets from Beethoven, the composer threw himself into the project and wrote three in 1806. Exhibiting a breadth and difficulty never before encountered in the medium, the so-called "Razumovsky" Quartets confused both performers and listeners at first but quickly found favor. In these works, Beethoven applied the middle-period style he had initiated in the "Eroica" Symphony of 1803; they also feature "symphonic" passages in which he seems to make the four instruments sound like a string orchestra. Beginning in the cello, the expansive opening theme of the first quartet gently climbs up four octaves. The next theme moves by contrast with leaps and staccato articulations. After a harmonically quirky transition, a graceful secondary melody unfolds, which ends by trading half notes among the voices. The development begins like the exposition (which does not repeat) but suddenly veers off in a new direction; it features a wide variety of textures, including a double fugue. As in the "Eroica" Symphony, the recapitulation begins unexpectedly: the lower three instruments reprise the opening melody as the first violin continues to close off the development. The secondary theme is set against a countermelody in running triplets, with the violin reaching into a very high range (as it frequently does in this quartet). To begin the coda, Beethoven states the opening melody triumphantly, with full harmonization and offbeat punctuations. The first violin ascends to its highest range and then gently glides down two octaves. The scherzo is one of Beethoven's most eccentric, innovative, and mesmerizing utterances: fast rhythms, often set to repeated notes with staccato articulations and unpredictable turns of harmony, serve as its driving force. The instruments "converse" in a kaleidoscopic array of textures, requiring virtuosic levels of coordination. The form resembles a scherzo with two trios. A static rhythmic pattern in the cello begins the scherzo in B-flat Major. The first trio, in F Minor, goes far afield through enharmonics (respelling sharp notes as flats or vice-versa) and "wrong-note" resolutions. The repeat of the scherzo is developmental. The second trio transposes the first to B-flat Minor. The movement ends with a last recapitulation of the scherzo. The highly expressive slow movement, marked Adagio molto e mesto (Very slow and sad), recalls the funeral march of the "Eroica." The opening section features accented dissonances and melodic sighs as well as hollow open fifths, while the transition breaks out in "sobs." Beethoven maintains the mournful mood in the C-Minor secondary section. The development begins in A-flat Major with the secondary theme scored between the cello and second violin; a sudden change to G Minor brings back the primary theme. Beethoven varies the recapitulation with countermelodies and pulsating thirty-second notes (such subdivisions occur frequently in his slow movements). At the end, a cadenza in the first violin, moving in even faster sixty-fourth notes, sweeps aside the sorrowful atmosphere and ushers in the finale. As the violin continues its trill, the cello introduces a Russian folk song (in his commission, Count Razumovsky apparently asked Beethoven to incorporate Russian music). Originally a somber melody sung by a war-weary soldier, Beethoven transposes it to the major mode and makes it jaunty and lighthearted. The secondary theme is very slight, but the closing motive is energetic, moving in propulsive and subtly differentiated rhythms. The development moves to D Minor, the original key of the song; the recapitulation begins quietly. Near the end, the song appears briefly in its original Adagio tempo; as in the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven concludes the quartet with a brief contemplative moment followed by a rapid close. --Brian Hart, Professor of Music History, Northern Illinois University AVALON STRING QUARTET Hailed as “one of the most exciting young string quartets in America” (The Washington Post), the Avalon String Quartet has established itself as one of the country’s leading chamber ensembles and has earned international acclaim for the bold musicality and passionate intensity of its performances. Formed in 1995 at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Quartet came to the fore after participating in Isaac Stern’s Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall in 1997. As a result, Mr. Stern invited the Avalon Quartet to perform in the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Encounters in Jerusalem and in March 2000 presented the ensemble’s Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall. The Quartet made its New York debut on the Alexander Schneider Series at the New School in 1998. The Quartet won First Prize, the Channel Classics Prize, and the Rockport Chamber Music Festival Prize at the 1999 Concert Artists Guild Competition, which led to the critically acclaimed recording Dawn To Dusk. In 2000 the Quartet won top prize at the ARD Competition in Munich, Germany. The Quartet is in residence at Northern Illinois University, a position formerly occupied by the distinguished Vermeer Quartet. As a part of their residency, they perform four programs annually in DeKalb and Chicago, and the members teach individual studios and coach chamber music at the school. This follows previous residencies at the Juilliard School and at Indiana University-South Bend. The Quartet has performed in many of the major halls, including Alice Tully Hall in New York, 92nd St Y, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress in Washington DC, Wigmore Hall and Herculessaal in Munich. Other performances include appearances at the Caramoor Music Festival in NY, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, NPR’s St. Paul Sunday Radio, Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, Isabella Gardner Museum, Barge Music, Dame Myra Hess and the Ravinia Festival. Dedicated educators, the Quartet has taught at the Interlochen Quartet Institute, the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival, Madeline Island Music Camp, Britten-Pears School in England and the Juilliard School. The Quartet is also dedicated to outreach in various communities, including working with the Center for Abused Children in Hartford and with the Music for Youth Organization that works with the Bridgeport and Trumbull School Systems. The Quartet’s live performances and conversations have been featured on Chicago’s WFMT-FM, New York’s WQXR-FM and WNYC-FM, National Public Radio’s Performance Today, Canada’s CBC, Australia’s ABC, the ARD in Germany and France Musique. To find out more about Avalon, please visit their website at www.avalonquartet.com .