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WILLIAM SHORT, BASSOON William Short was appointed Principal Bassoon of the MET Orchestra in 2012. He previously served in the same capacity with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and has also performed with the Houston and Detroit Symphonies and the Philadelphia Orchestra. William has performed as soloist with the Vermont and Delaware Symphonies, the New York Classical Players, and the Strings Festival Orchestra. He is a founding member of the Gotham Wind Quintet and has performed many times with the Camerata Pacifica, Dolce Suono, and MET Orchestra Chamber Ensemble chamber music series. A dedicated teacher, William serves on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and Temple University, and is a Valade Fellow at Interlochen Arts Camp. In addition, he is a Visiting Faculty member at The Tianjin Juilliard School and has held visiting guest positions at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has presented classes around the world, including at conferences of the International Double Reed Society, for which he served as a board member from 2017-2021. William has performed and taught at the Lake Champlain, Lake Tahoe, Mostly Mozart, National Orchestral Institute, Stellenbosch (South Africa), Strings, Twickenham, and Verbier Festivals. An occasional arranger, editor, and composer, his work has been published by the Theodore Presser Company and TrevCo Music. William received his Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Daniel Matsukawa and Bernard Garfield, and his Master of Music at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Kamins. As a student, he attended festivals including the Music Academy of the West, Pacific Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Verbier Festival. Additional major teachers have included Jeanine Attaway, Kristin Wolfe Jensen, and William Lewis.

Bucky PIzzarelli, guitar Pizzarelli began his professional career at 17 when he joined the Vaughn Monroe dance band in 1944. In 1951, he did his first recording as a sideman outside the Monroe orchestra with Joe Mooney. In 1952 Pizzarelli became a staff musician for NBC, playing with Skitch Henderson. In 1964, he became a member of The Tonight Show Band on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. During his time spent performing for the Tonight Show, he accompanied guest bands and musicians playing through a variety of musical genres, including playing with Tiny Tim (after tuning the performer's ukulele) on the day that Tiny Tim married Miss Vicki on Carson's show. From 1956 to 1957, Pizzarelli used the stage name "Johnny Buck" and performed with The Three Suns pop music trio. During the following year, he and guitarist George Barnes formed a duo and recorded two albums, including a live performance in August 1971, at The Town Hall in New York City. Beginning in the 1970s, he began recording as a leader, issuing many tributes to musicians of the 1930s. He toured several times with Benny Goodman until Goodman's death in 1986. He performed with Benny Goodman at the White House in Washington, D.C., and he performed for presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and First Lady Pat Nixon. "Jersey Jazz Guitars" was the name of a 1985 concert held at the Rutgers University Nicholas Music Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The ticket featured Pizzarelli, Les Paul, Tal Farlow, and Pizzarelli's son, John. The concert was aired on New Jersey's public radio station as part of their three-part New Jersey Summerfare Series. Pizzarelli and Les Paul had performed together before, as they were neighbors and friends. The show aired for one hour in August 1985, with son John adding his vocals on two selections. Pizzarelli continued to play into his 90s, making several appearances even after a stroke in 2016, officially retiring after a final brief appearance with Michael Feinstein in 2018. He died of COVID-19 on April 1, 2020, in Saddle River, New Jersey. He had been battling several serious health problems in recent years.

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Elizabeth Roe, piano The Anderson & Roe mission: To make classical music a relevant and powerful force in society. Known for their adrenalized performances, original compositions, and notorious music videos, GREG ANDERSON and ELIZABETH JOY ROE are revolutionizing the piano duo experience for the 21st century. Described as “the most dynamic duo of this generation” (San Francisco Classical Voice ), “rock stars of the classical music world” (Miami Herald ), and “the very model of complete 21st-century musicians” (The Washington Post ), the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo aims to make classical music a relevant and powerful force around the world. Their five critically acclaimed albums have spent dozens of weeks at the top of the Billboard Classical Charts, while their Emmy-nominated, self-produced music videos have been viewed by millions on YouTube and at international film festivals. 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of Anderson & Roe’s debut. Since forming their dynamic musical partnership as students at The Juilliard School, Anderson & Roe have toured extensively worldwide as recitalists and orchestral soloists; appeared on NPR, MTV, PBS, and the BBC; presented at numerous international leader symposiums; and served as hosts of “From the Top” and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. A live performance by Anderson & Roe was handpicked to appear on the Sounds of Juilliard CD celebrating the school’s centenary. While isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic, Anderson & Roe performed several innovative and interactive virtual events, produced over a dozen new music videos, appeared in MasterVoices’ Myths and Hymns (2021 Drama League Nominee for Best Digital Concert Production) alongside luminaries of opera and musical theater, and hosted a year of Two Piano Tuesday livestream conversations on Facebook Live which drew an enthusiastic and devoted global audience each week.

DAVID KRAUSS, TRUMPET David Krauss joined The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as Principal Trumpet in 2001and occupies theBeth W. and Gary A. Glynn endowed chair. He has has performedwith James Levine in the MET chamber series at Carnegie Hall and has appeared as guest principal trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. A native of Long Island, New York, he earned both Bachelor andMaster of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and studied Wynton Marsalis,William Vacchiano, Chris Gekker and James Pandolfi. Prior to joining the Met, heperformed with a variety of ensembles in and around New York City including Orchestraof St. Luke’s, The New Jersey Symphony, and on several Broadway shows. He coproduced three recordings, including the Metropolitan Opera Brass’s self titled debut album and the subsequent “Waltzes, Songs & Festive Scenes” and “Sacrae Symphoniae”, as part of which he was praised by the American Record Guide for his “singing tone which is luxurious and inviting.” He is currently trumpet professor at the Mason Gross School of Arts, Rutgers University and teaches trumpet in the pre college division of The Juilliard School. In the summertime, he is the head brass coach and trumpet teacher at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. David lives in Manhattan with his wife Kristen and their four children Noah, Eli, Margot, and Ava.

March, 10 2024: Richard Goode, piano LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Sonata No. 30 in E, Op. 109 March, 10 2024: Richard Goode, piano In 1826, the last year of his life, Beethoven told his friend Karl Holz that he would write no more piano pieces. He made the statement during a discussion of his last three piano sonatas—opp. 109, 110, and 111—which he considered the best piano sonatas he had written. “It [the piano] is and remains,” he said, “an inadequate instrument. In the future I shall write, in the manner of my grandmaster Handel, one oratorio and one concerto for any string or wind instrument per year, provided that I have finished my Tenth Symphony (C minor) and my Requiem.” Commentators still argue over whether Beethoven felt limited by the physical qualities of the piano of his day or whether he needed more moving parts/voices than pieces for piano alone could accommodate, but these last three sonatas certainly show no waning of interest in the creative possibilities of form within the sonata genre. Written between 1820 and 1822 while Beethoven was working on the Missa solemnis and Ninth Symphony, these late sonatas return to exploring the fluid forms and balances among movements that had characterized his piano sonatas of 1814–16—opp. 90, 102 (Nos. 1 and 2), and 101. In the interim years, the Hammerklavier Sonata, op. 106, a revolutionary work in many other ways, had reverted to a traditional four-movement pattern. Beethoven completed the present E major Sonata mainly in the summer of 1820. He dedicated the work to Maximiliane Brentano, the daughter of Antoinie (whom many believe to be the intended recipient of the famous “Immortal Beloved” letter) and Franz Brentano, Beethoven’s frequent benefactor and financial provider for the publication of the Missa solemnis . There is no evidence that Maximilane ever played the Sonata or was even capable of handling its challenges, but along with the dedication copy Beethoven included a sweet personal letter full of appreciation for her and her parents, saying, “While I am thinking of the excellent qualities of your parents, there are no doubts in my mind that you have been striving to emulate these noble people and are progressing daily—my memories of a noble family can never fade, may your memories of me be frequent and good.” Given the astounding form of the E major Sonata—two unusual and brief sonata-form movements capped by an expansive slow variation movement—several salient details bear noting. The sonata-form of the first movement is unprecedented in both the surprising brevity of its carefree main theme and the shocking interruption by the dramatic, slow recitative-like second theme. Further, Beethoven’s lively development section never varies the arpeggiated, alternating hands texture from the short opening theme; instead the process of development comes from harmonic manipulations. The fierce Prestissimo erupts from the subdued close of the previous movement. Even faster than Presto, the movement serves the purpose of a scherzo but with the more serious framework of a concentrated sonata form. The regular four- and eight-bar phrase lengths contrast with the previous movement’s metric ambiguities. Beethoven not only shows his academic prowess by invoking double counterpoint but uses it for the novel purpose of showing off the piano’s registral range. The hauntingly beautiful variation set that concludes the E major Sonata aptly shows Beethoven concentrating the weight of these late sonatas toward the end. Following the theme, marked “Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung” (Songful, with innermost feeling), the first two variations add harmonic interest, whereas the third, fourth, and fifth variations feature various contrapuntal techniques. The fourth variation, in particular, presents an exquisite study in the timing of certain sounds decaying while others are held. The sixth variation returns, seemingly to the simplicity of the theme, but the added insistent repeated notes suggest a grander purpose here as Beethoven intricately builds up his layers of ornamental sonorities. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

ANTIOCH CHAMBER ENSEMBLE, CHOIR Widely regarded as one of the finest professional choral ensembles in the United States, The Antioch Chamber Ensemble is currently celebrating its 23rd season of exceptional music-making. Under the leadership of founding Artistic Director Joshua Copeland, and executive director Stephen Sands, the ensemble strives to present as diverse a program as possible of the world’s greatest choral literature, both sacred and secular, and has performed works ranging from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary masterpieces with a core group of ten to twelve of the New York metropolitan area’s finest singers. Antioch has been awarded first-place honors in the highly prestigious Tolosa International Choral Competition in Spain, establishing them among the top rank of professional choirs in the world. In recent seasons, Antioch has been called “stellar,” “flawless,” “an exceptional group,” and “a spectacular example of what a classical choir should sound like” by the national press. Of the ensemble’s début for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The New York Times wrote: “The Antioch Chamber Ensemble performed … with clarity of tone and intonation so pure that you could hear the buzz of overtones created by some of the close harmonies. The most daring of these often color the sighs and wordless exclamations that punctuate both spiritual and secular texts, and the Antioch singers gave each its expressive register: impassioned, weak-kneed, swooning.” Other past performance highlights include concerts for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the American Choral Directors Association Eastern National Conference and the Festival des Choeurs Lauréats in France.

transcr. Sharon Isbin November 2, 2014 – Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano, Sharon Isbin, guitar FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA (1898–1936) Canciones españolas antiguas transcr. Sharon Isbin November 2, 2014 – Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano, Sharon Isbin, guitar García Lorca may be best known for his literary achievements, yet few great poets and playwrights have been involved in music to the extent that he was. Reported to have hummed tunes before he could talk, he received early musical training; by the age of eleven he was studying piano in Granada with Antonio Segura and Francisco Benítez. Pedro Revuelta, in his article “Lorca and Music” somehow assigned the precise figure of 87% to his life activities revolving around music. Lorca’s poems frequently bear musical titles—Songs, Gypsy Ballads, Suites; and many of his essays are devoted to musical topics—Ancient Spanish Lullabies, How a City Sings and Sleeps , and El cante jondo (often translated as “deep song,” referring to the whole body of flamenco or Gypsy music). Lorca’s inspiration came not only from his native Spanish music, but from composers of Western art music—he apparently listened obsessively to Bach’s Cantata 104: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme while writing the second act of his famous tragedy Blood Wedding (1933). Lorca loved the music of Debussy, particularly his Spanish-inspired works—he is said to have given exquisite performances on the piano of La soirée dans Grenade from Estampes and La puerta del vino from the second book of Préludes. Lorca formed one of the greatest friendships of his life with composer Manuel de Falla, to whom he was introduced as a prodigy poet when Falla visited Granada in 1919. Falla settled there permanently the following year and the two collaborated on many projects, including the celebrated cante jondo festival in 1922 for which Lorca wrote his lecture/essay El cante jondo . This discussion of the history and techniques of flamenco singing is notable for its consideration of the guitarist as the equal of the singer, since the latter had always been considered the main attraction. In his lecture/essay Ancient Spanish Lullabies , first given at Vassar College in 1930, Lorca dealt with a subject that had been part of him since birth. He particularly stressed that Spanish lullabies, unlike other European lullabies, are not sweet, soft, and monotonous, but they “awaken” the child to the dangers outside the mother’s protective arms; aware of the dangers, the child will realize the security of those arms and fall asleep. Eventually, however, the child must realize that he or she is alone. Lorca collected and arranged many Spanish folk songs, particularly from his native Andalusian region in the south—perhaps tinkering with their words himself. His moving performances of them, sometimes singing and accompanying himself on piano or guitar, became well known to millions of Spaniards before he was shot in the early days of the Spanish Civil War, apparently by supporters of Franco. His refusal to write down his arrangements is in keeping with the history of the oral tradition that so fascinated him. He also disliked the inability of the musical notation to reflect the characteristic microtonal and rhythmic complexities of this music. Fortunately in 1931 he made five records of his arrangements, sung by La Argentinita and accompanied by himself on the piano; these have been transcribed and performed countless times since. This evening’s selections of Canciones españolas antiguas , all arranged by Sharon Isbin, are interspersed throughout the program, beginning with “El café de Chinitas,” a song taught to Lorca by his great uncle, who earned his living playing in this flamenco nightclub in Málaga. The song’s protagonist brags that he is a better bullfighter and Gypsy than his brother and will kill the bull before four-thirty. The open-ended harmony (dominant) that ends all the song’s phrases and verses seems fitting in that we never find out what happens in the bullfight, but it is actually a typical practice in Spanish folk song, as in “Romance de Don Boyso.” Here, with distinctive melodic leaps of a fourth, we hear the story of a Spanish nobleman who finds a Christian girl held captive by the Moors, who turns out to be Rosalinda, his long-lost sister. “Nana de Sevilla” falls into the category of unsettling lullabies that Lorca mentioned in his famous lecture, since it tells of a baby, abandoned by its Gypsy mother, whose father may or may not build it a cradle. Lorca often performed his best-remembered song “Anda, jaleo” (Come, clap hands—or “have a good time,” or “make a commotion”) in his lectures and in his play La zapatera prodigiosa . La Argentinita made “Ande, jaleo” a dramatic popular dance when she toured in the 1930s and ’40s—she once called it a “romance of the smugglers of the nineteenth century” and a dance about “the cavaliers of the Sierra in their, fights, loves, and adieus.” Fit with explosive lyrics, it became a powerful resistance song during the Spanish Civil War, then resurfaced after Franco’s time as a flamenco number. With its repeating bass line and jaunty rhythms—together with Lorca’s occasionally piquant harmonic inflections—the folk version tells of a hunter tracking down his beloved who’s been taken away, and of the conflict between shooting to kill a dove (symbolic of her if she’s been unfaithful) and the pain it will cause him. Following pieces by Tárrega and Albéniz (see below), the evening’s second Lorca set begins with the Salamancan folk song “Los mozos de Monleón” (The Boys of Monleón). The music’s outward simplicity—with some sung and some recited text—belies the dramatic ending to its tale of boys going to a bullfight. For “Zorongo” Lorca took sensual Andalusian dance music—said to date back to the Moors—and fitted it with his own verses for La Argentinita to sing; he also imbued his guitar introduction with a plethora of parallel chords. The music’s quickly repeating patterns mingled with slowing phrases have made it a popular addition to flamenco tradition. The fifteenth-century “La morillas de Jaén” (The Three Moorish Girls of Jaén) unfolds with a simple chordal accompaniment and characteristic melodic ornaments. Its patterned introduction and interludes in 3/8 meter contrast with the tune itself, which mixes 6/8, 4/4, and 2/4 to reflect the declamatory style of the text. The vivacious “Sevillanas del Siglo XVIII” (Sevillanas of the Eighteenth Century) takes its name from the fast, triple meter, major-mode couples dance from Seville, which originated as an Andalusian variant of the Castilian seguidilla. The dance is typically performed to a traditional type of verses of four or seven lines with footwork reflecting the animated rhythms of the guitar, castanet, or tambourine. Triana and La Macarena in the poem refer to neighborhoods in Seville, Triana being associated in particular with flamenco. In the concert’s second half, the jaunty style of Lorca’s “La Tarrera” provides a marked contrast to the pensive style of the opening “Aranjuez, ma pensée” by Rodrigo. One might be tempted to ascribe it to the difference between the southern Andalusian style and that of the area in central Spain where Aranjuez lies (to which Rodrigo pays tribute), except that “La Tarara” has often been traced back to Castilian roots. It is such an old children’s song (there’s a Spanish saying that something is “as old as Tarara”) that it has many regional variants, and Lorca may have picked up one in Analusia. The protagonist, “La Tarara,” is a free-spirited, dancing, flirting girl (some say alma gitano or Gypsy soul) who likes to wear all manner of crazy clothing—some versions have her wearing pants completely covered in buttons or a white dress on Maundy Thursday in addition to the verses with frills and bells. More recently she has been seen as a cross-dresser. In any case, this remains one of Lorca’s most lively and popular songs, here arranged by Emilio de Torre and transcribed by Sharon Isbin. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

October 14, 2018: Garrick Ohlsson, piano JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) Variations on an Original Theme, op. 21, no. 1 and Variations on a Hungarian Song, op. 21, no. 2 October 14, 2018: Garrick Ohlsson, piano Brahms wrote to his friend Elisabet von Herzogenberg, “I have a singular affection for the variation form, and I believe that this form still compels our talent and ability.” His fondness stemmed in large part from his training in piano and composition with Eduard Marxsen, who stressed above all the importance of being able to vary a theme and whose own output contains a plethora of pieces in variation form. Brahms’s entire body of work is permeated with variation techniques, but the variation form itself also looms large—eight individual sets of variations and ten movements within larger works. These span four decades, from his Variations on a Theme by R. Schumann Variations of 1854 (or his Variations on a Hungarian Song if he indeed began them in 1853) to the variation movement in his E-flat Clarinet Sonata of 1894. Alongside the musical evidence, Brahms’s verbal statements make it clear that he preferred “strict” variation form over “fantasy” variations that strayed too far from the structure of the theme. Further, he said, within each discrete variation the resemblance to the theme, even if subtle, should be recognizable and not “found only with the eyes.” Nevertheless, he clearly allowed for great leeway within each distinct variation and showed remarkable ingenuity in his overall organization within a set. Brahms composed the two sets of Opus 21 variations in different waves of inspiration—the Variations on an Original Theme by February of 1857, preceded by the Variations on a Hungarian Song by 1856. On the surface they share little beside their form and D major key, yet in both instances Brahms groups together the minor-mode variations as a unit, connects many of the major-mode variations through melodic figuration, and concludes with a grand finale that returns to elements of the first variation. The differences in the two sets have much to do with his choice of themes—in the first case an expressive original theme written with an eye toward its potential for myriad sophisticated variations, and in the second an existing Hungarian song, which lent itself to a more melody-oriented and often extroverted treatment. Both themes, in different ways, show his penchant for metric play. The lovely theme of the Variations on an Original Theme unfolds in two nine-bar halves—each with a regular four-bar phrase plus an irregular five-bar phrase, a configuration he maintains almost throughout. The first two variations grow out of a gentle left-hand figuration that draws on the harmonic framework even as it contains references to the melodic outline. Brahms includes a nice hemiola (shift between groups of three pulses and two) toward the end of the first variation, and in the second he subtly introduces new harmonies. The third and fourth bring back the theme’s feature of a repeating bass note (pedal tone) with quiet, fluid chordal patterns above—tied over bar lines in the third and in a spate of little two-chord units in the fourth. Variation 5 introduces a delicate canon in contrary motion and Variation 6 scampers off like quicksilver but in gentle arching phrases. Variation 7 is remarkable for its spare, leaping textures. Brahms forcefully unleashes the minor mode in Variation 8 in a texture that quickly alternates right and left hands—something he would return to many times in his career. Variation 9 brings the set’s tempestuous climax, abetted by ominous left-hand rumbles that derive from the original pedal tones. Variation 10 remains agitated even as it recedes from the previous peak. The major mode returns with Variation 11, which is striking for its insistence on the pedal tone in the form of long trills. Brahms varies the repeats in this variation and adds an expansive coda that recalls earlier variations before subsiding peacefully. Brahms first jotted down the theme of the Variations on a Hungarian Song in January 1853 while concertizing with Hungarian violinist Ede Rémenyi, who provided him with a rich store of his country’s tunes. That April Brahms sent a set of three piano settings of Hungarian tunes to another Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim, who was to have a longer and much closer association with Brahms. The second of these settings became the theme for the present set of variations, which Brahms sent to Joachim in July of 1865, following up with a revised version in 1857. What especially attracted Brahms was the theme’s alternating measures of 3/4 and 4/4, a kind of metric play that fascinated him as much as it did Marxsen, whose formal tutelage he had just left to tour with Reményi. Brahms maintains the metric alternation through his first eight variations, returning to it at the conclusion of the extended finale. Following his presentation of the brief eight-measure theme in strong chords, Brahms immediately shifts to the minor mode for Variations 1 through 6. Their brevity allows only a glimpse at some fascinating characters—grandiose, lightly chordal, fleeting, imposing, ruminating (with some cimbalon-like accompaniment), and scampering. The switch to major at Variation 7 brings a supremely delicate variation over “quasi pizzicato” left hand. Throughout Brahms retains a melodic connection to the theme, sometimes altered subtly and sometimes migrating into another voice (Variations 2, 7, and 8 in part). The smoothing out of the meter begins in Variation 8, which is fascinating for its texture of little grace notes in the upper left-hand. Variations 9 through 12 retain the expressive vein with increasingly elaborate figuration building to the capping Variation 13 with its kaleidoscopic further variations, excursions to B-flat major and minor, and triumphant recall of the theme. We would be remiss not to mention that Brahms waited until 1861 to send both sets of variations to his publisher Simrock, who issued them in two volumes under the same opus number in March of the following year. The first public performance of the Variations on an Original Theme did not occur until October 31, 1865, when Clara Schumann presented them in Frankfurt am Main. The English pianist Florence May, Brahms’s student and biographer, gave the first public performance of the Variation on a Hungarian Song in London on March 25, 1874. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes