Franz Schubert Notturno in E-flat major Op. 148 Schubert’s Adagio for Piano Trio D 897 was composed in 1827 but only published decades later, under the publisher’s title Notturno. And indeed, the opening section does conjure up images of nighttime … Continue reading
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The challenges of being a concert presenter are many and varied. Sometimes there are problems that can be anticipated and we’re usually pretty adept at solving or mitigating them. But, on occasion, things happen “in real time” that are beyond our control, and these unexpected issues can someti...
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Don’t miss your chance to hear the Danish String Quartet when they perform at the Vancouver Playhouse on Sunday, November 3!
A big thank you to the Z.E.N. Trio for a wonderful afternoon of music at the Playhouse yesterday. For those of you who asked, the encore was an arrangement of Rachmaninov's Vocalise.
Program notes: Nikki and Timmy Chooi and Angela Cheng
Posted onClaude Debussy Sonata in G minor for violin and piano The sound of Debussy’s music confounded many of his contemporaries. From a tonal point of view, it floated in stasis in a world of pastel sounds that arrived at their … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: TETZLAFF-TETZLAFF-VOGT TRIO
Posted onWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major K 502 The piano trio developed out of the ‘accompanied’ keyboard sonata, a makeshift compositional genre that attempted to compensate for the weak ‘tinkly’ tone of the early fortepiano (forerunner … Continue reading
Program notes: Andrew Tyson
Posted onAlban Berg Sonata Op. 1 The tonal system in use throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, from Bach to Tchaikovsky, was predicated on the understanding that pieces would be in a home key – from which they would depart, and to … Continue reading
Program Notes: Jonathan Roozeman
Posted onLuigi Boccherini Sonata in A major G 4 Luigi Boccherini was perhaps the greatest cellist of the 18th century, and like his compatriot of a previous generation, Domenico Scarlatti, he spent the most active portion of his professional life at … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: Yevgeny Sudbin
Posted onDomenico Scarlatti Sonata in B minor K 197 Sonata in G major K 455 “Probably one of the most outrageously individual compositional outputs of the Baroque era is to be found in the keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti,” writes Yevgeny … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: Chiaroscuro Quartet and Kristian Bezuidenhout
Posted onFranz SchubertString Quartet No. 14 in D minor (“Death & the Maiden”) Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” string quartet is a sombre work, with all four of its movements set in a minor key. It takes its name from the … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: PAUL LEWIS
Posted onFranz Joseph Haydn Sonata in E minor Hob. XVI:34 It is unusual to encounter a sonata in a minor key from “Papa” Haydn, a composer best known for his chipper disposition. But his Sonata in E minor likely dates from … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: DANISH STRING QUARTET
Posted onLudwig van Beethoven String Quartet in C minor Op. 18 No. 4 In the Napoleonic era, when a Viennese aristocrat was thinking of entertaining friends at home, he might pop down to the local shop to pick up a six-pack—of … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: FILIPPO GORINI
Posted onLudwig van Beethoven Sonata A flat major Op. 110 Beethoven’s penultimate piano sonata is remarkable for the utter simplicity of its musical ideas and the directness with which they are expressed. The most obvious late-period features of this work are … Continue reading