American Masterpieces Chamber Music Answering the “What Is American?”

That American composers should draw on their Question own country’s wealth of homegrown sources instead of emulating European music was a position most famously expressed by Antonin Dvorˇák back in the 1890s. Today, the very terms of the debate—Europe versus America— seem almost quaint. Instead of taking the obligatory trip PRESENTER: Bargemusic, Brooklyn NY to Leipzig or Paris, young 20th-century American PERFORMER: American String Quartet, ensemble-in-residence, composers—like Colin McPhee in the 1920s and Steve Manhattan School of Music Reich in the 1970s—traveled as far afield as Indonesia PROGRAM: Louis Gruenberg, Four Diversions for String Quartet and Africa to explore music that was not only (op. 32, 1930); Tobias Picker, String Quartet No.2; Roger Sessions, non-European but non-Western. All the while, America’s Canons (to the memory of Igor Stravinsky), 1972; George Whitefield jazz and experimental composers were expanding their Chadwick, String Quartet No. 4 in E Minor influence on the nation’s collective ear. And in the past few AMCM PERFORMANCE: January 24, 2009 decades, composers and performers from China, Latin America, Eastern Europe and South Asia have come to hough its name might suggest a specialization in works by live in the U.S.—and have been melding their musics United States composers, the American String Quartet has never with our own. Music has become global, and American Trestricted itself to any particular segment of the rich string music is simply the music that American composers write. quartet repertoire. That said, the foursome nonetheless has an abiding interest in music written on this side of the Atlantic and likes to search All of this complex history is reflected in abundant out and perform under-explored compositions. In 2007 the quartet was performances of American chamber music now taking approached by Bargemusic, the remarkable floating venue moored off place as part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ the north coast of Brooklyn, to collaborate in programming a uniquely American Masterpieces: Chamber Music American concert for the American Masterpieces initiative. The ASQ initiative. These presentations—as well as related welcomed the opportunity and fashioned a broad program spanning masterclasses, lectures, and residencies—started during music from the mid-nineteenth century through the jazz age and into the 2008 summer festival season and will continue in the present. 2009. (A second round of NEA-supported American Louis Gruenberg’s jazz-infused Four Masterpieces projects will be announced this spring.) Diversions for String Quartet represents the kind of music “Gershwin should have written The current January–February calendar of for string quartet,” says ASQ violist Daniel American Masterpieces activities can be seen on Avshalomov. Joel Smirnoff of the Juilliard the opposite page. Some of the works being performed Quartet recommended the Gruenberg piece are acknowledged American classics, others are worthy to the ASQ about five years ago, and it but little known and rarely performed, and still others “turned out,” says Avshalomov, to be “one of are very recent commissions. our happiest finds.” About ten minutes in duration, the four-movement work is one of On the following pages, we spotlight two of the many three similar sets that Gruenberg produced. interesting programs and single works to be performed in the next two months as part of American Louis Gruenberg, in a 1920 painting Masterpieces: Chamber Music. by Heinrich Vogeler

12 january/february 2009 Jascha Heifetz. commissionedby themed violinconcerto scor copiously (includingOscar-winning film Vienna before World War I.He composed Schoenberg, whomhehadfirstmetin settled inCalifornia,reconnecting with music.Gruenberginto new eventually American elementsasjazzandspirituals the incorporationofsuchindigenous the LeagueofComposers,headvocated range ofsymphonicworks. Afounderof thr released six-discbox, temporar instances ofHeifetz championingacon- ear andacommission—one of therare strain, hismusicstillgotJascha H wonder thatdespiteGruenberg’s maverick America couldhave created. It’s nosmall Age tingethatonlysomeone basedin Jazz Prokofiev, combinedwithacredible Q of A “We chosetoperform playing.” (N in itthatyou’d imagineCharlieParker and rhythmiccuriosity, andthere are licks strong. The work hasalotofhisfreedom ending ofitslastmovement isparticularly kno the av centrate oncomposition.Afollower of whenhebegantocon- his mid-thirties, Europe, notreturning totheU.S.until spent mostofhisyoung adulthoodin began hismusicalcareer asapianistand he arrived intheU.S.withhisfamily. He andwasonlytwoyearsBelarus) oldwhen Brest-Litovsk (theninPoland, now that hav Diversions Music Center’s composeradvocate. “The pieces?” asksFrank J.Oteri, theAmerican of thesamename).Gr Jones vshalomov, “because,ofthethree, the uartet, canbehearduartet, onthenewly “ G ee full-length string quartets anda ee full-lengthstringquartets Why ar Diversions, wn forhis1933opera,TheE es) andproduced anAmerican- ruenberg (1884–1964)wasbornin ruenberg (based ontheEugene O’Neill play ant-gar e the wonderful brashnessof e thewonderful y composer ar en e totallydelightfulminiatur OTE ’t more groups doingthese de, hewasprobably best : A brand-new recording: Abrand-new played by theEscher .” Music@Menlo uenberg alsowrote Diversions mperor ,” says eifetz’s .) es hme Music Chamber mrcnMasterpieces American www Invisible Ink)intwo Dallas-areaschools. commission fromAnneStrickland (working title, Mas Whittington, cello;HughHinton,piano;MichaelP and s Path ofBeauty [email protected] percussion; Taylore Mahogany Scott,singer/actor Laitman; “A V cello, pianoandbaritone,MORcommissionfromLori V FEBRUARY Music ofR J Quar Bargemusic 24 &25 JANUARY lif sites in“Ain’t IaW L Belle Glade,&BocaRaton, FL 19–22 JANUARY Shanghai StringQuar Friends ofChamberMusic JANUARY 17 Onl Chamber MusicSocietyofSaintCloud ( JANUARY 17 www.bargemusic.org by AmericanStringQuartet the performed Georg Sessions “Canon, includes CharlesMingus,“Roland Kirk’sMessag Clementine Hunter, andFannie LouHamer. Music www.musicofremembrance.org viola andharp,by David Stock www.freewebs.com/stcloudchambermusicsociety city’shighschoolstudents. forthe and anopenrehearsal center, University, St.CloudState St.CloudPublicLibrary, school,asenior localboysthe &girlsclub,anelementary by days residencyactivitiesat three ofeighth-blackbird David Can’s Lang,MichaelGordon&JuliaWolfe. Preceded work by Steve Reich andaco-composition by Bangona (Good Shepherd Center) Frederick Tillis, “Motherless Child” “Motherless Frederick Tillis, Ostinato,”Motion,” “Lamentation,” “Fugue”; “Calvary Chris “Naima”; Duke JohnColtrane, Pearson, and Disgusted”; Blues, “Blues for Miles,” “Groovin’ R Lo Nellie,”Thelonious Monk,“Crepusculewith “Sweet and St. CloudState University) oices ofChang ynn U ANUARY 31 e and times of Zora Neale Hurston, Sojourner Tr Sojourner NealeHurston, e andtimesofZora v el y Moving Thing,” with eighth blackbird performing a y Moving Thing,” blackbirdperforming eighth with terpieces project,Voices ofChange willpresent its .v to Redentor; Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, “Perpetual tet), Tobias No.2),Roger Picker (StringQuartet y”; Bessie Smith, “CarelessLo y”; BessieSmith, tring quartet www.chambermusic.org tring quartet e Whitefield Chadwick (String Quartet No.4) Chadwick(StringQuartet e Whitefield ” and“ISmellTrouble”; “Memphis Slim,“Blue oicesofchang niversity niversity ” and“Devil Woman”; MaxRoach, “TheProf (Canons [to the memory of Igor Stravinsky]) ofIgor (Canons [to thememory emembrance Louis Gruenberg (Four Diversions forString (FourDiversions Louis Gruenberg anished World,” MORcommissionfor flute, e In the third part ofitsfour-par part third In the (2008), asongcycle for mixed choir presents the CoreEnsembleatt presents the Dallas e.com A Seat Kansas City, MO St. Cloud,MN oman, tet perform Chen Yi’s From the ChenYi’s tet perform Lak , TX tle, W ” a program celebrating t celebrating ” aprogram “The SeedofaDream,” for Brooklyn, NY oots, e W Chanticleer andthe ” “Spiritual,” “Fleetin’ v PERFORMERS orth, orth, e”; DianeMonroe, presents “The t American : January andFebruaryJanuary Performances in Tahirah arola, hree ut it”; e, he h, ” ; Ger b Theater ofthePerforming Arts) b and Mark-Anthony Turnage’sand Mark-Anthony PianoTrio, JohnHarbison’sPianoQuintet, Jalbert’s Pierre Trio; (NightMusicII), FourNocturnes George Crumb’s Brookl Celes forStringStreet Quartet Stuff Anger’s willperform Anger. TheMontclaireStringQuartet Georg “Ne Chamber MusicSocietyofLincolnCenter FEBRUARY 5 t ofChicagoPresents University FEBRUARY premieres ofCMSL Chamber MusicSocietyofLincoln Center FEBRUARY 24 i Cantus FEBRUARY 23 wit ofMusic Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory (L FEBRUARY 21 Stephen Har The U FEBRUARY 19 t Brooklyn PhilharmonicSymphonyOrc FEBRU Beautiful, Mat Glass; W FEBRUAR PERFORMERS ensemble http://bqcm.org/concer American women writers. www.brooklynphilharmonic.orgAmerican women writers. www.chambermusicsociety.org/calendar and George Tsontakis t Midnight W Eddy, cello)www.chambermusicsociety.org Todd Phillips,violins;Steven Tenenbom, viola;Timothy (Daniel Phillips, cello;OrionStringQuartet Julie Albers, Meanwhile..., T arr. andM.Hoganwww.cantus.org by Burleigh,Hatfield S. Paulus, &songs EdieHill,M.Bosch,D.Gawthrop, Gilles V ncluding performances ofvocal works by E.Whitacre, performances ncluding he HilliardEnsemble.http://chicagopresents.uchicago.edu he projectwillpresentworkshops by composer Darol he Shelves” (freepublicprogr y Florence Price, with readingsfromw y FlorencePrice,with y the CedarWaltony the Trio andCedarWalton 1 estern Wind Vocalestern Wind Ensemble ong Island University’s Kumble h CedarWalton &HisMusic”: shwin andmorewww w Music in the Rose”— EllenTaaffew Musicinthe Zwilich’sPiano ernity W tis; Lev Zhurbin’s e Crumb’s Black Angelse Crumb’s yn PublicLibr Batéy niv onsattel, pianos;Yoon Kwon, SusiePark, violins; Daylong program at Sartell HighSchool, Daylong atSartell program ersity ofChicagoPresents ersity ARY 15 : S.A. W altz, etal.,by CedarWalton, performances , deLeón&M.Camilo; Musicians of the Society—Gilbert Kalish, Society—Gilbert Musicians ofthe ard, tk Y 13 ituli e” ( Charleston, WV ard; “ Lat The Horse withtheLav The Horse ary) ary) med by blackbirdand eighth ) per C commissionsby WilliamBolcom New York, NY e Show, Bolcom; Brattleboro Chicago, IL Brooklyn NY Br New York, NY Sartell, MN Sartell, F f America, or iv ooklyn NY .w Bagel ontheMalecon e FolkSongsinCount Slide Stride es ; AaronJay Kernis’s ternwind.org ternwind.org . www.wvsymphony.org On fourdays inFebruary, am at main branch of am atmainbranch ” Ber Bask from Bolivia, Firm Roots, Bolivia, Firm ts.htm , VT hestra , for PianoQuintet. ns et R orks by African “The Musicof Vessels, Philip tein; Ellington America the ondo “An Evening ender Eye, “Music Of presents erpoint 0-piece , Monk Musica World , and , , f ; 2009 American Masterpieces Chen Yi Chamber Music

Also on the Barge- Koessel adds, and its tonal language, while The result is a music program is the “flavored by postmodern harmonies,” seven-movement fourth of five string evokes the sound world of the past. suite evoking vari- quartets written by Tobias Picker’s major efforts have been ous Chinese arts: bronzes, calligraphy, poems George Whitefield in opera; but “everybody needs to write a (by Li Qingzhao), clay figurines, opera, song, Chadwick (1854-1931). quartet once in a while, to cleanse the and the music of folk instruments. The first Known during his life- palate,” remarks Avshalomov. Picker’s String movement may be performed by either time as the dean of Quartet no. 2 was commissioned for the voices or string quartet, four movements American composers, American String Quartet by the Manhattan are written for the combined ensemble, Chadwick served as School of Music as part of the school’s and two movements are for string quartet director of the New celebration of its 90th anniversary. Unlike alone. “The relationship of the instru- England Conservatory the composer’s first quartet, which is dark mental and vocal ensembles is not one of from 1897 to 1930. and powerful, Quartet no. 2 has both ‘soloist’ and ‘accompanist’,” reports George Whitefield (“Like César Franck, manic and meditative movements. The Matthew Oltman, one of Chanticleer’s Chadwick Chadwick taught every- five movements are played almost with- tenors and its music director. “This was a body whose music out pause. The partnership for a group of sixteen; we are you love,” says Daniel Tobias Picker American String both leaderless ensembles, so it is true Avshalomov.) With Amy Beach, Arthur Quartet worked chamber music.” Foote, Edward MacDowell, John Knowles with Tobias Picker Each movement has a unique character, Paine, and Horatio Parker, Chadwick was while the quartet but throughout no words are sung; the one of the so-called Boston Six and his was being com- singers voice only nonsense syllables taken influences on the next generation included posed. (“He was from various Chinese folksongs. “In the Daniel Gregory Mason, Frederick Converse, flexible about some ‘Clay Figurines’ movement, exaggerated and William Grant Still. things and adamant expressions and poses are evoked by a lot While Chadwick was a conservative about others,”— a of disjunctive sevenths,” says Oltman. composer who imitated European forms, combination The “Opera” movement is written for the he nonetheless drew on American themes Avshalomov thinks strings alone, and uses “a lot of gliss.” The and his music is usually described as being of as perfect.) joyous final movement, says Oltman, distinctively American. The 1896 String evokes “a village percussion-and-wind band, Quartet no. 4 contains allusions to American PRESENTER: Friends of Chamber Music pleased with its homemade instruments folk tunes, was written while Dvorrˇák was (Kansas City, MO) and just clanging away.” in America, and was dedicated to the Boston PERFORMERS: Chanticleer and The combination of strings and voices Symphony’s Kneisel Quartet. The ASQ the Shanghai String Quartet works so well, says Oltman, because the first performed the work at a bicentennial PROGRAM: From the Path of Beauty, two ensembles speak the same language. chamber music festival sponsored by the song cycle for mixed choir and string “We at Chanticleer often use the language Juilliard School and Carnegie Hall. Says quartet (2008), by Chen Yi of strings (“bow it this way”),” he explains, Avshalomov: “It is tuneful and well-crafted AMCM PERFORMANCE: January 17, 2009 “and the Shanghai often talk about their music to which we have returned with playing in terms of singing.” In terms of pleasure many times since 1976— and its hen Yi’s From the Path of Beauty is such an unwieldy group getting along, idiom is undeniably American.” unusual not only for its string- “there wasn’t a difficult moment in the Nineteen seventy-six was also the year Cquartet-and-vocal-ensemble scoring, whole project,” says Oltman, “aside from that the American String Quartet first but also for its commissioning genesis. learning the music itself.” performed Roger Sessions’s Canons (to the Chen Yi had been independently Since its March 2008 premiere in San memory of Igor Stravinsky). One of several approached by the Shanghai Quartet Francisco, From the Path of Beauty has pieces commissioned soon after Stravinsky’s (which wanted to commission a piece been performed by Chanticleer and the death, it is a tightly crafted two-minute from her for its 25th anniversary) and Shanghai Quartet at the Ravinia and work with, says ASQ cellist Wolfram Koessel, Chanticleer (which wanted to do the same Tanglewood festivals—and in May the “a certain reverence and elegiac quality.” The thing for its 30th). It was the composer’s combined ensemble will perform the piece’s spareness is reminiscent of Webern, idea to combine the commission. work in China.

14 january/february 2009