Ludwig van Beethoven 12 Variations on “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from The Magic Flute Op. 66 Beethoven’s set of variations on a theme from Mozart’s Magic Flute features twelve sharply chiselled operatic duets between piano and cello, widely differentiated in … Continue reading
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Even though our physical office is closed, people are still emailing and mailing us to subscribe to our 2020-21 Season. If you haven't yet checked out the wonderful musicians we've lined up, you can take a look online, or download our brochure and order form. We've extended our Early Bird deadline t...Although we won't hear Pablo this season due to concert cancellations, we can still enjoy his playing courtesy of videos like this. Thanks for sharing, Pablo!
Program Notes: Danish String Quartet
Posted onJohann Sebastian Bach The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I Fugue No. 16 in G minor BWV 861 (arr. Förster) If you have ever happened to see one of those cooking shows in which a chef is challenged to create an entire … Continue reading
Program Notes: Z.E.N. Trio
Posted onFranz 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
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