Saturday, May 7, 2016, 8pm First Congregational Church David Finckel, , piano

The Passionate Cello

Richard STRAUSS (1864–1949) Cello Sonata in F Major, Op. 6 Allegro con brio Andante ma non troppo Finale: Allegro vivo

Olivier MESSIAEN (1908–1992) “Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus” from Quatuor pour la fin du temps

Isaac ALBÉNIZ (1860–1909) Selections from Suite española , Op. 47 Granada (Serenade) Cádiz (Canción) Sevilla (Sevillanas)

INTERMISSION

Alexander GLAZUNOV (1865–1936) Song of a Minstrel in F-sharp minor, Op. 71

Frédéric CHOPIN (1810–1849) Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65 Allegro moderato Scherzo: Allegro con brio Largo Finale: Allegro

This performance is made possible, in part, by Patron Sponsor Bernice Greene. Cal Performances' 2015-2016 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. PROGRAM NOTES

Originally conceived for the celebration of dialog between the cello and piano, and an Music@Menlo’s 10th anniversary season, this ingenious four-part fugue leads into the reca - program celebrates music’s power to transmit pitulation. intense emotion. From the youthful exuberance The second movement, with its pensive, of Strauss, to the burning desire of Chopin, to dark-hued atmosphere and sensitive theme in the profoundly spiritual Messiaen, the cello “romanza” style, is clearly inspired by gives voice to mankind’s spectrum of passions. Mendelssohn—possibly by one of his “Songs Providing added dimension, the soulful selec - without Words.” (Strauss also composed a tions of Albéniz and Glazunov evoke vivid sen - Romance for Cello and Orchestra in the same sations of time and place. This is a recital year, 1883.) In the finale, Strauss draws inspira - designed to capture the heart of every listener. tion from Mendelssohn’s Scottish and Wagner’s Parsifal (which he had heard in Cello Sonata in F Major, Op. 6 Bayreuth). In addition, the movement reveals some unmistakably Straussian characteristics, Strauss was born in Munich on the June 11, including a cadence that foreshadows his own 1864, the son of Franz Joseph Strauss, principal , written 15 years later. hornist in the Court Orchestra (Hoforchester), The F-Major Cello Sonata was written for the and Josephine Pschorr, whose family were Czech cellist Hanuš Wihan, who gave the first prominent brewers in the Bavarian capital (a performance in Nuremberg on December 8, city still famous the world over for its beer). 1883. (Twelve years later, Wihan was the dedi - This lineage provided the young Richard with a catee of Dvořák’s Cello .) The Dresden background both musically and financially premiere of the sonata took place two weeks secure and, indeed, he showed great promise later, with the cellist Ferdinand Böckmann and from an early age; he started piano at age four Strauss himself at the piano, after which the (he could read musical notes before letters and composer reported proudly to his mother, “My words) and began composing at the age of six sonata pleased the audience greatly, and they (lieder , piano pieces, and orchestral overtures). applauded most enthusiastically. I was congrat - At the age of eight, Strauss began violin stud - ulated from all sides, and the cellist, Böckmann, ies and at 11, theory, harmony, and instrumen - reflected quite wonderfully in his playing how tation (of which he was to become an much he liked the work and plans to play it acknowledged master). His father encouraged quite soon again in his concerts.” him to listen to the music of the older masters— —Steven Paul including Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Schu - mann—all of whose influences can be clearly “Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus” heard in Strauss’s Cello Sonata, which he began from Quatuor pour la fin du temps to compose in 1881 at the age of 17. He revised Olivier Messiaen the work extensively during the winter of 1882– In 1939, Messiaen was called to serve in World 1883, preserving only the introductory Allegro War II. In May of the following year, he was con brio, in which the cello is treated in a heroic captured and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp style anticipating his tone poem of 1888, Don in Görlitz. It was there that he completed the Juan . When the sonata was first performed in Quartet for the End of Time, one of only a hand - Berlin in 1884, he was congratulated on the ful of chamber works he composed and one of opening lyrical theme by the legendary violin - his most powerful and significant contributions ist and composer . to the repertoire in any medium. Although The vitality and verve of the opening per - work on the quartet had begun well before vade the entire first movement, whose unified Messiaen’s imprisonment, the piece neverthe - thematic structure shows the influence of less represents his catharsis from, in his own Beethoven and Schumann. There is extensive words, the “cruelty and horrors of camp.”

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Messiaen also suffered from synesthesia, a con - Selections from Suite española, Op. 47 dition that caused him to see music and hear Isaac Albéniz colors. The bleakness of Görlitz made him At an early age, Isaac Albéniz moved with his thirst for what he called “sound-colors,” which family from the remote northern Spanish city he attempted to capture in his music. of Camprodón to the bustling metropolis of The Quartet for the End of Time alludes to a Barcelona. Although Albéniz would eventually passage from Chapter 10 of the Book of go on to study in Paris and , his Cata- Revelations: lonian upbringing in the warm landscape and culturally rich city of Barcelona would continue And I saw another mighty angel coming to have a lasting effect on his musical language. down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, By 1885, Albéniz had settled in Madrid, where with a rainbow on his head; his face was he immersed himself in the city’s cultural fabric. like the sun, and his legs like pillars of A pianist of prodigious talent, he performed ex - fire… Setting his right foot on the sea tensively in the homes of wealthy patrons and and his left foot on the land… and, stand - on various concert series throughout the city. ing on the sea and on the land, he raised Albéniz quickly established himself as a con - his right hand toward Heaven and swore summate improviser, impressing the public by He who lives forever and ever… say - with his skill at turning simply rendered tunes ing: “There will be no more Time; but in into coloristic masterpieces. He wrote many of the days when the seventh angel is to these improvisations down, producing a re - blow his trumpet, the mystery of God markable body of solo piano music in a short will be fulfilled.” amount of time. Albéniz began composing movements of Messiaen wrote in his preface to the score of his Suite española in 1886, eventually compiling the quartet, “When we are freed from before the works into a set in 1887. As with many of and after, when we enter into that other di - Albéniz’s compositions, the work evokes spe - mension of the beyond, thus participating a cific locations throughout Spain. Granada, a little in Eternity, then we shall understand the peaceful and serene serenade, pays homage to terrible simplicity of the angel’s words, and then the city and region in southern Spain. The indeed there shall be Time no longer.” movement features strumming, guitar-like • • • chords, with a beautifully simple melody in the Composer’s note on the movement: piano’s tenor register. Cádiz captures the essence of the port city of the same name on Spain’s Praise to the Eternity of Jesus. Jesus is here western coast. The Sevilla movement takes the considered as one with the Word. A long form of a sevillanas , a type of folk music and phrase, infinitely slow, by the cello, expi - dance of Seville and its region, derived from the ates with love and reverence on the ever - old Castillian seguidilla form and influenced lastingness of the Word. Majestically the in the 19th century by flamenco. The grand, melody unfolds itself at a distance both in - sweeping chords in the opening of the move - timate and awesome. “In the beginning ment evoke the vivid style of this favorite was the Word, and the Word was with couples dance, full of turns and brightly colored God, and the Word was God.” costumes, and often performed at local festi - vals. The contrasting lyrical middle section, —Patrick Castillo with its sparkling octaves and hazy rubato, stirs a hint of nostalgia that soon winds into a return to the movement’s opening melody, concluding with a flourish. —Isaac Thompson and Rachel Sokolow PROGRAM NOTES

Song of a Minstrel in F-sharp minor, Op. 71 tented.” The result is a grand sonata on a scale Alexander Glazunov with Chopin’s most serious and significant Russian composer Alexander Glazunov com - works. A big, virtuosic cello part is counterbal - posed his short elegiac Chant du méne - anced by masterful piano writing in which strel in 1900, one year after being appointed Chopin never compromises his unique style. professor of composition at the St. Petersburg All cellists owe a debt of gratitude to Auguste Conservatory. In the decade prior, Glazunov Franchomme (1808–1884), Chopin’s close had completed three , two string friend during his later years, for whom the quartets, and the immensely successful bal - sonata was written. let . The overwhelmingly positive re - A melancholy piano solo foreshadows a long sponse to Glazunov’s robust compositional and complex story. A fragment of the main output during that period had launched his ca - theme is introduced, supported by rich and in - reer to new heights. The Song of a Minstrel, tense harmonies, and gives way to an impres - originally scored for solo cello and orchestra, sionistic flourish. The cello, interrupting, states contributed to Glazunov’s international ac - the theme in its entirety, and both instruments claim, partially owing to the many perform - proceed together through melodic episodes, ances of the work given by the young British culminating in a heroic transformation of the cellist Beatrice Harrison, a sen - theme. The excitement quickly dissipates to sation at the time. allow for the appearance of the second subject, The Chant du ménestrel evokes the image of beautifully still and thoughtful, only 10 notes a Russian troubadour, a traveling performer long. As if sacred, this theme is not further de - who wandered and freely sang his or her own veloped and is heard again only in its original original compositions. The piece begins with a form. Chopin continues rhapsodically, bring - short piano introduction before the cello enters ing in new melodies in both the cello and piano, with the plaintive and sorrowful theme. until a spectacular climax is reached in which Through out the work, the cello is scored pri - the two instruments play a rapid scale in oppo - marily in the instrument’s tenor range, giving site directions. The exposition is repeated, and the melody a distinctively songlike feel. Though the development is again introduced by a piano the majority of the melodic material is given to solo. A standard recapitulation is abandoned in the cello, the piano offers wonderful dialog favor of a sudden reappearance of the magical throughout, commenting on the cello’s rather second subject. The movement concludes in an improvisatory melodic musings. appropriately stormy fashion. —Isaac Thompson The second movement’s energetic theme uses repeated notes in rapid succession, giving Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65 it a hammering momentum, especially when Frédéric Chopin played by the piano. This scherzo is almost Chopin’s Cello Sonata represents an extraordi - quirky, alternating lyrical phrases with thun - nary effort on the part of a composer who, only derous chords and virtuosic flourishes. In the a few years from the end of his life, determined cantabile trio, the cello is given the upper hand to master a genre he had never before at - the whole way, spinning out a seamless tempted. Only five chamber works by Chopin melody over plangent harmonies reminiscent exist; three of them are for cello and piano. of a folk song. (That the cello was Chopin’s favorite instrument The heart of the work is indeed the gorgeous after the piano is not in doubt for me!) In poor Largo, as tranquil and brief as its neighbors are health and the middle of an anguished breakup troubled and lengthy. Words cannot adequately with George Sand, Chopin found it within him - describe this little gem, the only really extended self to labor extensively on this work, making peaceful experience in the sonata. numerous sketches and revisions. “With my The Finale is again in a minor key, its main cello sonata I am now contented, now discon - theme dramatic and complex. There is some -

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thing of a martial air about the first and tion. The second subject returns, curiously second subjects, which both utilize dotted drained of its energy by the disappearance of rhythms. But seriousness soon turns to fun as the dotted rhythms. The rollercoaster leads us the dotted rhythms, repeated over and over, to an even faster coda, full of brilliant writing are turned into a rollicking rollercoaster ride. for both instruments. Chopin’s great work The main theme then reappears, but Chopin ends triumphantly, its penultimate chord has worked it into a canon, and a highly con - somehow reminding us of the magnitude of trapuntal episode creates the development sec - the experience. —David Finckel ABOUT THE ARTISTS David Finckel and Wu Han are among the most prestigious venues and concert series most esteemed and influential classical musi - across the United States, Mexico, Canada, the cians in the world today. In 2012, they were the Far East, and Europe. London’s Musical Opinion recipients of Musical America’ s Musicians of the said of their Wigmore Hall debut: “They en - Year award, one of the highest honors granted thralled with performances whose idiomatic by the music industry. The talent, energy, imag - command, technical mastery, and unsullied in - ination, and dedication they bring to their mul - tegrity of vision made me think right back to tifaceted endeavors as concert performers, the days of Schnabel and Fournier, Solomon recording artists, educators, artistic adminis - and Piatigorsky.” trators, and cultural entrepreneurs go un - Aside from their distinction as world-class matched. Their duo performances have performers, David Finckel and Wu Han have garnered praise from the press, public, and pre - established a reputation for their dynamic and senters alike. innovative approach to the recording studio. In In high demand year after year among cham - 1997, they launched ArtistLed, classical music’s ber music audiences worldwide, the duo has first musician-directed and internet-based appeared to critical acclaim each season at the recording company, which has served as a ABOUT THE ARTISTS model for numerous independent labels. All 18 ternational acclaim, currently celebrating its ArtistLed recordings, including Wu Han LIVE, 13th season. Additionally, David and Wu Han Wu Han’s most recent release in collaboration are artistic directors of Today, with the Music@Menlo LIVE label, have met an annual festival held in , Korea. with critical acclaim and are available via the David and Wu Han have achieved universal company’s website at www.artistled.com. renown for their passionate commitment to The duo’s repertoire spans virtually the en - nurturing the careers of countless young artists tire literature for cello and piano, with an equal through a wide array of education initiatives. emphasis on the classics and the contempo - For many years, the duo taught alongside the raries. The artists’ commitment to new music late at and the has brought commissioned works by many of Jerusalem Music Center. Under the auspices of today’s leading composers to audiences around the Chamber Music Society of , the world. In 2010, the duo released For David David Finckel and Wu Han direct the LG and Wu Han (ArtistLed), an album of four con - Chamber Music School, which serves dozens of temporary works for cello and piano expressly young musicians in Korea annually. In 2013, composed for them. In 2011, Summit Records they established a chamber music studio at released a recording of the duo performing the Aspen Music Festival and School. David Gabriela Lena Frank’s concerto, Compadrazgo, Finckel serves as professor of cello at the with the ProMusica Columbus Chamber , as well as artist-in-residence at Orchestra. David Finckel and Wu Han have . In addition to his duo also overseen the establishment and design of activities, Finckel served as cellist of the the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Grammy Award-winning Emerson String CMS Studio Recordings label, as well as the Quartet for 34 years. Society’s recording partnership with Deutsche David Finckel and Wu Han reside in New Grammophon; and Music@Menlo LIVE, York. which has been praised as a “the most ambi - tious recording project of any classical music festival in the world” ( San Jose Mercury News ). David Finckel and Wu Han appear by arrange - Now in their third term as artistic directors ment with David Rowe Artists. of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, David Finckel and Wu Han hold the www.davidroweartists.com longest tenure as directors since Charles Wads - worth, the founding artistic director. Last Milina Barry PR, public relations and press season, they oversaw several major interna - representative tional CMS tours, including the Society’s historical first performances in China; per form - David Finckel and Wu Han recordings are ances in Germany and , and at available exclusively on ArtistLed. London’s Wigmore Hall; and a second resi - dency season at the Saratoga Performing Arts www.ArtistLed.com Center in Saratoga Springs, NY. They are also the founders and artistic directors of www.davidfinckelandwuhan.com Music@Menlo, a chamber music festival and institute in Silicon Valley that has garnered in - Wu Han performs on the Steinway Piano.

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