sign in sign up
<<
Home , Iosif Kotek, Leopold Auer

Friday, April 21, 2017 • 8:00 p.m ​

Christopher Stark

Graduate Recital

DePaul Concert Hall 800 West Belden Avenue •

Friday, April 21, 2017 • 8:00 p.m. ​ DePaul Concert Hall Christopher Stark, Graduate Recital Jason Chen, piano

PROGRAM

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Violin Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 378 (1779) Allegro Moderato Andantino Sostenuto e Cantabile Allegro

Jason Chen, piano

Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964) Incantation (1995)

Intermission

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) in D Major, Op. 35 (1878) Allegro Moderato Andante Finale. Allegro Vivacissimo

Jason Chen, piano

Christopher Stark is from the studio of Janet Sung. This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Music.

As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you.

Christopher Stark • April 21, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Violin Sonata in B-Flat Major, K. 378 (1779) Duration: 20 minutes In 1777, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart set out from his hometown of Salzburg with his father, Leopold Mozart. Leopold had hoped he could find his son better recognition as a prodigy than he had received in Salzburg. At the time, Wolfgang held a position at the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg, but he yearned for larger opportunities. Leopold’s ultimate destination was , but he was not allowed to leave Salzburg because of his court duties; however, his son was allowed to leave with permission from the Archbishop, so Wolfgang left with his mother instead. They reached Paris in March 1778, but found little success there. Soon after arriving, Mozart’s mother died, leaving him unable to handle his own affairs. He then decided to return to his family in Salzburg.

Mozart’s Sonata in B-Flat Major, K. 378 was written in 1779 after the ​ ​ ’s return to Salzburg. It is in the usual form of Mozart’s day, with the violin and piano sharing the work equally. The opening of the first movement is unusual in that the violin starts as an accompaniment to the piano playing the main theme, with the violin playing it second. Similarly the second theme is introduced this same way, with more tension due to the change of harmony in the key. The development demonstrates wide leaps for both the violin and the piano in a call-and-response figure. The contrasting second movement features slow moving melodies and gestures, and dotted quarter note rhythms in the violin against triplets in the piano. The final movement is an exciting Allegro Rondo that alludes to the first movement with the piano introducing the main theme before the violin.

Christopher Stark • April 21, 2017 Program Notes Augusta Read Thomas (b.1964) Incantation (1995) Duration 5 minutes Incantation was one of the earlier works by Augusta Read Thomas that were not withdrawn by the composer. This piece was commissioned and premiered by Cathryn Tait, a violin teacher at the Eastman School of Music. Tait was dying of cancer at the time, and she beautifully premiered the work just a few weeks before her passing. This piece represents Thomas’s love for strings, and in particular, the violin.

With this piece, Thomas celebrates Tait’s spirit. The piece begins in subtle tones, creating an ambience of mystery, but at the same time beauty. The work falls into a loose ABA form, with the second section being more active and aggressive while still retaining the cantabile sound. The piece then ​ ​ returns to the themes first established to finish in a haunting yet beautiful ending.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 (1878) Duration: 35 minutes In the spring of 1878, Tchaikovsky sought a vacation on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland to recover from depression brought on by his disastrous marriage to a former student, . He was joined by his composition pupil and violinist Iosif Kotek. The two played piano and violin duos together over the course of this vacation. Tchaikovsky’s depression put a damper on his compositional process, but his sessions with Kotek reinvigorated him. It was in one of these sessions that the two read Lalo’s , the work that most likely inspired this ​ ​ concerto. Tchaikovsky admired “the lightness of the rhythms, the beautiful

Christopher Stark • April 21, 2017 Program Notes and excellently harmonized melodies…” He made quick work on writing the concerto, finishing it in almost a month, even after having to completely overhaul and rewrite the middle movement. Not being a violinist, he consulted Kotek throughout the composition process. Tchaikovsky had intended to dedicate the finished work to Kotek and have him premiere the work, but Kotek declined, stating that it may be poorly received and might damage his budding career. Tchaikovsky then opted to dedicate the work to renowned Russian violinist Leopold Auer, who also refused to premiere it until some revisions were made. Auer felt that the work in its original form was “not suited to the character of the instrument, and that however perfectly rendered, they would not sound as well as the composer imagined.” Hurt by this, Tchaikovsky travelled to in 1881 to have the piece premiered by and dedicated to violinist . Unfortunately, the concerto’s premiere met with unfavorable reviews, with critics saying that “the violin was not played but beaten black and blue,” and that the last movement was “odorously Russian”.

The concerto opens with a motive that one would expect to carry on as a main theme, but this proves to simply be an introduction for the violin solo to begin with a , which then leads to the first theme played by the violin. What follows is an exploration of the violin’s technical facilities, leading to a beautifully Romantic second theme, and it is the development of these themes during the movement that show Tchaikovsky’s talent as a composer. The Canzonetta opens with a mellow almost morose first theme ​ ​ followed by a brighter second theme. The first theme returns, followed by a re-establishment of the opening of the second movement that leads immediately into the exciting and bombastic finale.

Notes by Christopher Stark.

804 West Belden Avenue Chicago, IL 60614 773.325.7260 music.depaul.edu