Mercyhurst University D’Angelo Department of Music
PRESENTS Senior Recital Ashley Viszneki Violin with Elizabeth Etter, piano and guest Mackenzie Leonard, violin
Sunday, November 15, 2020 – 2 P.M. LIVESTREAM from Walker Recital Hall Program
Allegro in G major Gioseffo Hectore Fiocco (1703-1741)
Schön Rosmarin (Lovely Rosemary) Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
Concerto in G minor, Op. 12, No. 1 Antonio Vivaldi I. Allegro (1678-1741) II. Largo III. Allegro
Meditation from Thais Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043 Johann S. Bach I. Vivace (1685-1750) Mackenzie Leonard, violin 2
Ashokan Farewell Jay Ungar I. Allegro molto moderato (b.1946)
Ashley Viszneki, violin Elizabeth Etter, piano
Please, silence all electronic devices. Audio and Video recording are strictly prohibited for copyright and license laws. Please, no flash photography during the performance. Program Notes
Fritz Kreisler was an accomplished violinist, composer, Army Officer, author, collector and publisher born in Vienna, Austria. At the young age of four years old, it was obvious that he had a natural talent for the violin. As he grew, so did his talent, he was known for having extraordinary technique and unbelievable tone. Studying under masters such as Jacob Dont, Jacques Auber, and Massart to name a few. As a composer he is known for writing some of the world's most popular pieces and performing as a soloist and a recitalist all around the world. It is not known exactly when Schön Rosmarin (which literally translates to Lovely Rosemary) was written. This is because Kreisler had a habit of crediting his own work to someone else. This is true for Schön Rosmarin to whom he originally credited Josef Lanner for writing. This piece is a lively piece featuring a flexible tempo and fun bowing style.
Gioseffo Hectore Fiocco was born in Brussels, Belgium into a family of musicians. His father and half brother were both composers and helped educate him in music. Throughout his life he worked as a composer, church musician, and a teacher of the Latin and Greek languages. He composed works choir and harpsichord. One piece he composed for the harpsichord but is now heard often on the violin is the Allegro in G major. This piece was originally one of the movements of Fiocco’s harpsichord suites written around the 1730s. This piece is advanced in the left hand and consists of various finger patterns throughoutthe piece.
Antonio Vivaldo was a world renowned violinist and composer from Italy. He grew up learning the violin from his father Giovanni Battista who was an accomplished violinist. As a young man he became an ordained priest and nicknamed “the Red Priest” because of his red-tinted hair. His first public appearance was a performance with his father in 1696. Vivaldi became an excellent violinist and composer. He wrote over five-hundred concerti during his lifetime. One is named the Concerto in G minor, Op.12, No.1. This concerto contains three movements; an allegro, adagio, and another allegro. This particular concerto was one of six concerti in a collection all written for violin and piano.
Jules Massenet was a French Opera composer. Massenet started his composition studies under Ambroise Thomas at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of eleven. After his education he became a celebrated composer of Opera and incidental music. He composed a total of twenty four Operas, which were all written in a French style. Thäis ;was one of his most famous operas and the piece Meditation (from Thäis) has become a staple of the violin and piano repertoire. This piece is an instrumental piece that is played during Act II of the Opera. It is a piece that starts and ends with a peaceful melody but as the piece progresses it becomes passionate.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer during the Baroque period. Bach wrote six concertos for the violin but the Concerto for Two Violins in D minor was the only one written for two violins and is a perfect example of his late Baroque style. This piece, better known as the “Bach Doubles” has three movements. The Bach Double is a concerto grosso usually performed by a small solo group, two violins, and is accented with a larger group, an orchestra. The movement that will be performed is the Vivace which translates to very fast and lively. It is widely believed that he composed this work in Leipzig around the years 1730 and 1731. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins shows his fascination with Vivaldi and the influence that Vivaldi had on Bach. Inspired by Vivaldi, Bach wrote in quick rhythms, added character throughout, and virtuosic solos.Through the use of dynamics and expressions, Bach creates different moods throughout the concerto. All three movements of this concerto point to or use the ritornello form and the opening statement is a fugal form which is quite unusual for concertos. Bach’s counterpoint is heavily present throughout the three movements of the concerto, specifically the fugue, present with the constant repeat from one soloist to the other.
Jay Unger is a folk musician and composer born in 1946 from the Bronx in New York City. During his early teenage years he went to many concerts in Greenwich Village. In his later teenage years he played in several bands including Cat Mother and the All Night News Boys and the Putnam String County Band. His most well known composition is Ashokan Farewell. Ashokan is the name of a camp where he and his wife Molly Mason teach music and dance. The word Ashokan is a Native American word meaning, “A place to fish”. This piece is a beautiful bittersweet Lament Ungar wrote in 1982 shortly after the camp closed for the season. It was later featured in Ken Burn’s documentary about the civil war.