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October 17, 2021: Adam Barnett-Hart, violin; Brook Speltz, cello; Roman Rabinovich, piano JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809) Piano Trio in G, Hob. XV: 25 (“Gypsy”) October 17, 2021: Adam Barnett-Hart, violin; Brook Speltz, cello; Roman Rabinovich, piano Ethnomusicology—the comparative study of musics of the world, music as part of culture, and music of oral tradition—has only been considered a formal scholarly discipline since the 1880s. Yet the study of non-Western music dates back to the Renaissance with occasional flowerings in subsequent periods. Liszt in the Romantic period, for example, published The Gypsies and Their Music in Hungary (1859). In this context Haydn’s “ethnomusicological” activities in the Classic era prove intriguing. Haydn biographer Giuseppe Carpani (plagiarized by Stendhal in his well-known Haydn biography, translated in 1817 by William Gardiner) reported: Some years after Haydn’s establishment at Eisenstadt, when he had formed his style, he sought food for his imagination, by diligently collecting those ancient and original airs, which are to be found among the peoples of every country. The Ukraine, Hungary, Scotland, Germany, Sicily, Spain, Russia were laid under contribution by him. Though this passage confuses Haydn’s arrangements of folk tunes for British publishers with his other real use of folk tunes, it does speak to Haydn’s genuine interest in folk song. He was particularly interested in Hungarian-Gypsy lore (and their food!), a natural result of the geographical position of Esterháza in Hungary. The Esterházys’ appreciation of Hungarian-Gypsy folk music is reflected in an engraving made in 1791 from a drawing by Carl Schütz of an elaborate ceremony at the Esterházy castle that includes a Gypsy band playing off to the side. Haydn’s love of Hungarian-Gypsy melodies manifests itself from the 1760s through the 1790s. Haydn made no distinction (as in Bartók’s later painstaking work) between Hungarian and Gypsy music, using the label “Rondo all’ongarese” in his D major Piano Concerto (c. 1780) and “Rondo, in the Gypsies’ stile” (so-labeled in the authentic Longman & Broderip print) in the present G major Trio (1795). Hungarian scholar Ervin Major noted that the folk tunes Haydn used in his Finale are of particular significance for the history of Hungarian music: the dance melodies woven into [the Trio] belong to our earliest hitherto known recruiting [verbunkos] dances: among our more notable records, only the Hungarian dances of József Bengráf (1790) and four Hungarian dances in the ‘Hadi és más Nevezetes Történetek’ are of an earlier date. Bibliographic details on the wealth of information about Haydn’s borrowed folk melodies can be found in H. C. Robbins Landon’s monumental multivolume Haydn study. Some of Haydn’s Hungarian melodies, with slight variances, are paralleled in an 1805 publication issued by the Vienna “Chemische Druckerey.” The variances seem to indicate that Haydn used them as he knew them, possibly from childhood, without referring to any publication. Haydn’s Gypsy Trio was one of Three Trios, op. 73, probably the last compositions he wrote on his final English sojourn. He dedicated them to Mrs. Rebecca Schroeter, a piano student of his in London who had helped him with certain business matters and with whom he kept up a correspondence after his return to Austria. His piano trios at that time were called “sonatas for pianoforte with the accompaniment of a violin and violoncello”; accordingly the piano part is most prominent though the violin occasionally dominates as in the E minor variation in the first movement and the middle section of the Poco adagio second movement. The cello almost always reinforces the piano’s bass line. In his use of a leisurely (Andante) movement to begin the Trio, Haydn followed his old sonata da chiesa (church sonata) pattern of the 1760s. This lovely set of variations is followed, however, by an even slower second movement that presents a different harmonic world. The triplet accompaniment pattern of the slow movement continues through the three sections of the A-B-A form; a nice touch occurs in the penultimate bar when the cello alone continues the triplet motion. Haydn’s use of a leisurely movement followed by an even slower one intensifies the effect of his brilliant “Gypsy” Finale, which made this Trio an enormous favorite in England and soon after on the continent. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

February 8, 2015 – David Finckel, cello; Wu Han, piano SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891–1953) Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 119 (1949) February 8, 2015 – David Finckel, cello; Wu Han, piano In 1936, after nearly fifteen years spent living in Paris and traveling worldwide, Sergey Prokofiev, admittedly “patriotic and homesick” and longing to “see the real winter again and hear the Russian language in my ears,” moved back to the Soviet Union with his non-Russian wife and two sons. Relocating during one of the most savage political and social periods in Russian history, Prokofiev was set on establishing himself as one of Russia’s greatest composers. Rachmaninov had his hold on America, Stravinsky claimed Europe, and Shostakovich had just been censored by Stalin. Prokofiev kept his passport to tour without having to petition, but upon routine inspection it was confiscated without return, grounding Prokofiev in Moscow for the remainder of his life. The late 1930s saw very few public debuts of Prokofiev’s works, save the Cello Concerto op. 58 (1938) and Romeo and Juliet (1936), both met with negative criticism. In the years following World War II, seeking to recover the Soviet “socialist realism” ideal of art, Andrey Zhdanov, the leading Soviet cultural policy maker, passed a series of resolutions affecting literature, art, film, and finally, in 1948, music. This decree stunted artistic growth in the Soviet Union until Stalin’s death, lasting out the remaining years of Prokofiev’s life. The elderly composer grew ill and deeply insecure. Much of his work had been banned from public performance, and though still composing, he hardly was living the pampered lifestyle he had anticipated returning to Russia. Prokofiev’s Sonata for Cello and Piano, remarkably, was permitted by the Committee of Artistic Affairs to receive a public premiere. It was debuted in 1950 by cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and pianist Sviatsoslav Richter, with the first movement bearing the quote, “Mankind–that has a proud sound.” Despite the sheer horror that besieged Prokofiev at the time of the work’s composition, the work remains remarkably expressive. The first movement, marked Andante grave, opens with a resounding call by the cello, followed by a short call-and-response folk melody between the cello and piano. A throbbing interlude brings the main theme, a cheery and flippant duet. The movement slows as the cello rings out a beautiful harmonic cadence, and the second theme enters much more heavily mechanically than the first. The second movement, a playful Scherzo and Trio, follows suit. A percussive pizzicato entrance transmutes to a complacent romantic trio section. The final Allegro ma non tanto remains timid, with melodies and chordal structure based heavily on Russian folk music. The movement lacks not energy nor drive, yet each climax, rather than developing in timbre and expressive nature, actually becomes more simplistic; sometimes diminishing down to a single note piano melody. The coda recounts the opening resonant notes of the cello in a grand duet statement, marking a turbulent and virtuosic conclusion. ©2013 Andrew Goldstein Return to Parlance Program Notes

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October 30, 2022: EMERSON STRING QUARTET JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) String Sextet No. 2 in G, Op. 36 October 30, 2022: EMERSON STRING QUARTET Brahms’s Sextet in G major might be called his “Agathe” Sextet, because it is linked, whether as a salve to his conscience or as a farewell, to Agathe von Siebold, whom he had recently loved but rejected. Brahms wove a musical spelling of her name (or as close as he could get) into the continuation of the first movement’s beautiful second subject. The letter T is not available in musical terms so Brahms spelled it A–G–A–H–E (H is B-natural in German). Some have argued that he spelled it A–G–A–D–E, with the D coming out because it is so prominent in another voice, and that A–G–D is woven in elsewhere as well. In any case, the Sextet is a lovely tribute, though perhaps not as “Romantic” as, and certainly less exuberant than, the first Sextet in B-flat. The whole Sextet, in fact, has a veiled or mysterious quality, projected from the outset by the chromatically juxtaposed rising fifths of the first subject and the continuous oscillating half step of the viola accompaniment. The interval of a fifth and its inversion, the fourth, are thematically important to all four movements. The second movement is the Scherzo, but a scherzo in 2/4 rather than the customary triple meter. Brahms breaks into triple meter for the Presto giocoso trio, which is a thematic outgrowth of the Scherzo theme. The slow movement unfolds as a theme and variations, a form that held great fascination for Brahms ever since his student days with Eduard Marxsen. Brahms’s obvious examples in the form are his Haydn, Handel, Paganini, and Schumann variations and Fourth Symphony finale, but he also used variations frequently in his chamber music. The work ends with a turbulent sonata-rondo, in which the interval of a fifth is particularly exploited in the second theme. Brahms completed the first three movements in September of 1864 and the last movement in May 1865. The first public performance took place in Boston at a Mendelssohn Quintet Club Concert on October 11, 1866; the first European performance took place over a month later in Zürich. The performance in Vienna on February 3, 1867, which is often cited as the first, drew censure from the critics and indifference from the public. Brahms’s circle, however, was enthusiastic and subsequent performances convinced the public of the work’s great merit. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

April 7, 2024: Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI LE NUOVE MUSICHE: The Baroque Revolution (1550 - 1660) April 7, 2024: Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI This afternoon’s program offers an overview of great composers who lived in different European regions and straddled the Renaissance and the Baroque periods, a time when sixteenth-century compositional forms and techniques coexisted with those of the new century. The musica nova (new music) stemmed from Monteverdi's seconda prattica (second practice), which appeared in the world of instrumental music as well opera. The new music could be completely unknown or reappear like an old friend, who changes over time while maintaining characteristic features. The selections are ordered chronologically starting with three Renaissance pieces, collected in the first edition of Capricci in musica a tres voci (1564) by Vincenzo Ruffo (1508–1587) and here arranged in a small suite. Ruffo, from Verona with a musical career in Northern Italy, was appointed maestro di cappella of the Cathedral of Milan. The following year he dedicated his collection of Capricci , the earliest known instrumental pieces to bear that designation, to Marc’Antonio Martinengo, Marquis of Villachiara. He also sought to introduce himself to the local nobles, who were voracious consumers of instrumental music. La Gamba and La Disperata are joined by La Piva , a fast dance of popular origin that stemmed even from the fifteenth-century and which, although apparently absent from the choreographic world of the sixteenth century, appeared sporadically in instrumental music collections. The cameo appearances here of the Rappresentazione di Anima e di Corpo (Representation of soul and body) and the Ballo del Granduca (Ball of the grand duke) from the intermedii of La Pellegrina by Emilio de’Cavalieri (c.1550–1602) recall the invention par excellence of the new century, namely opera. The second of these had an incredible circulation and, by belonging to the cycle of intermedii , represents that exceptional moment of artistic ferment and experimentation that would lead to the birth of opera. The first belongs to a composition that vies with Peri’s Euriydice for primogeniture in the new musical genre. A very prevalent dance between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is the gagliarda , built on a basic scheme of five dance steps on six beats of music (in modern terms, 6/4 with the fourth note elongated), which could also be varied in a very virtuoso way choreographically. It was usually preceded by a pavane , a dance of slower, processional character. The gagliarda was very popular both as dance music and as a purely instrumental form. The Earle of Peembrookes Galiard , by the London composer and soldier Tobias Hume (1569–1645) appeared in the collection Poeticall Musicke (1607) together with Start ; this collection constitutes the first repertoire composed for lyra viola (a kind of viola da gamba), the real protagonist of Hume’s songs. Other gagliards are offered during the program with more specific connotations: the Gagliard Battaglia (Battle gagliard) by German composer Samuel Scheidt (1587–1654) and the closing Gallarda Napolitana by the blind Neapolitan composer Antonio Valente (c. 1520–c. 1580). The famous anonymous Greensleeves to a Ground reminds us of another element very present in the musical practice of the time throughout Europe—namely the composition on a basso ostinato (a ground, in English), on which the other parts propose a series of variations. We will return to other variation forms later in the program. Another important presence is that of the canzona , a term that developed largely in Italy around the seventeenth century. It is described by Michael Praetorius (1571–1621) as “a series of short fugues for ensembles of four, five, six, eight, or more parts, with a repetition of the first at the end.” Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643) dedicated himself on several occasions to this type of instrumental composition. The Canzon we hear this afternoon appears in his collection Il primo libro delle canzoni a 1–4, bc, accomodate per sonare [con] ogni sorte de stromenti (The first book of canzonas for one to four voices, basso continuo, accommodated to play [with] all sorts of instruments), published in Rome in 1628. Frescobaldi’s edition was prepared by his pupil Bartolomeo Grassi who, as he explained in the afterward of the work, gave each of the thirty-seven canzonas a dedicatory name inspired by the names of gentlemen from Lucca. We hear the Canzon terza, a due canti, which means that it is essentially a three-voice fugue with two instrumental upper voices and an instrumental bass voice (played by a sustaining bass instrument doubled by keyboard that also supplies harmonies, or basso continuo). We then proceed to the ciaccona , whose presence is already attested to in Spain at the end of the sixteenth century. Traditionally accompanied by guitars, tambourines, and castanets both in Spain and in Italy (and especially in Naples), the ciaccona was often introduced in theatrical performances of the commedia dell’arte. The Italian variant is more exuberant than the Spanish, with a faster tempo and multiple nuances. The Ciaconna by Andrea Falconiero (also known as Falconieri) (1585–1656) is from his collection Il primo libro di canzone, sinfonie, fantasie, capricci, brandi, correnti, gagliarde, alemane, volte, 1–3 vn, va, or other insts, bc (First book of canzone, sinfonias, fantasies, etc., for 1–3 violins, violas, or other instruments, and basso continuo) (Naples, 1650). In this piece the three instrumental parts launch into a passionate back-and-forth. One of the earliest known references to the lively guaracha , likely of Spanish origin, stems from the Mexican singer, viol player, and composer Juan García de Zéspedes (1619–1678). He includes one—as well as uses the term—in his mid-seventeenth-century song/carol Convidando está la noche (Inviting is the night). Its distinctive rhythms foreshadow the song form that later became popular in Caribbean colonies. We turn now to a later incarnation of the variation form, the folia . Though the folia originated in Portugal as a dance or dance song—often for guitar—it wasn’t until the last quarter of the seventeenth century that the harmonic pattern and melody became somewhat standardized. In Italian sources the earliest use of folia was by Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger (also known as Kapsperger) (c.1580–1651), who wrote four books of works for the theorbo or chitarrone (bass fretted lute) (1604, 1616, 1626, and 1640). The form is also represented on this program by Diferencias sobre la Folía (1660) by an anonymous Spanish composer. Falconiero appears again on the program in another variation form closely related to the ciaccona or chaconne —the passacalle (also called passacaille , passacaglia , and other variants) from the above-mentioned collection. Falconiero’s Passacalle consists of thirty-two variations on the stepwise descending four-note bass line. We can compare this with the Passacaglio by virtuoso violinist and composer Biagio Marini (1594–1663) from his collection Per ogni sorte di strumento musicale (For all sorts of musical instruments) (Venice, 1655). In this set of variations some delightful harmonic crunches appear over the ground bass. Based mostly in Cremona, Tarquinio Merula (1595-1665) was one of the most progressive composers of the Venetian School in the generation after Monteverdi. His Chiaccona from his Canzoni overo sonate concertate per chiesa e camera (Concerted songs for church and chamber) (Venice, 1637) begins in lilting style, becoming remarkably virtuosic as the vriations progress. To close the program we are treated to Valente ’s Gallarda Napolitana (mentioned above) from his Intavolatura de cimbalo (Naples, 1576), which was one of the earliest publications of the Naples school of keyboard composition that flourished in the late sixteenth- and early-seventeenth centuries. For this piece and other variations types such as folías and ciacconas, writes Jordi Savall, “both composition and successful performance require a succession of freely virtuoso elaborations over a preexisting bass line, pattern, or melody,” which in the performance by Hespèrion XXI leads to delightful creative moments. Finally a word about the viola da gamba, which in different sizes and different combinations is the protagonist of the evening. Born around the fifteenth century, the viola da gamba has conquered a particular space for its ability to propose itself in consort, in homogeneous ensembles, or mixed with different instruments, and then for the possibilities as a soloist, pushed to virtuosity. Today’s program, in addition to letting us experience the musical richness of early seventeenth-century instrumental pieces, also enables us to hear all the different shades of the viola da gamba’s voice. Text curated by Francesca Pinna in collaboration with the Dipartimento di Musicologia e Beni Culturali, Università degli Studi di Pavia, sede di Cremona; adapted by Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

INN-HYUCK CHO, CLARINET Inn-Hyuck Cho, a native of South Korea, was just named Principal Clarinet of Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Prior to his appointment in 2016, he was principal clarinet of the Basel Symphony Orchesra (Switzerland), one of the oldest European orchestras, as well as the Musikkollegium Winterthur (Switzerland). He has performed as a guest with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Zurich Philharmonia, Radio France Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra, and the Luzern Symphony Orchestra. 
He is member of the Alma Wodwind Quintet, which won first prize in the Henri Tomasi International Woodwind Quintet Competition in Marseille, France. Mr. Cho was a laureate of the Carl Nielsen International Music Competition and Debussy International Clarinet Competition. He studied at the Korean National University of Arts and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Prof. Michel Arrignon and Prof. Pascal Moragués.

November 2, 2014: Sharon Isbin, guitar ISAAC ALBÉNIZ (1860-1909) Asturias November 2, 2014: Sharon Isbin, guitar Composer and piano virtuoso Isaac Albéniz became one of the most influential figures in Spanish music history, creating a national idiom based on his native folk music. An amazing child prodigy, he was nevertheless such an unruly youth that he ran away from home several times, and by age thirteen he had journeyed to Argentina as a stowaway, and to Uruguay, Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, San Francisco, and back to Spain. He later traveled throughout Europe, composing his most Spanish-sounding pieces when he was away from his native land. In 1903 he moved to Nice, where he composed his most famous works for piano, collected in the Suite Iberia , published in four books between 1906 and 1909. He died in Cambô-les-Bains, Pyrenées, just before his forty-ninth birthday. Albéniz composed mostly for the piano though he wrote several works for the theater, of which Pepita Jiménez and San Antonio de la Flórida achieved a certain success. Many of his colorful piano works have been arranged for a variety of instruments—the present Asturias is more often heard on guitar than on piano, thanks to the popular arrangements by guitarists Andrés Segovia and Francisco Tárrega, among many others. Asturias dates from the early 1890s, probably during the time Albéniz was living in London. It was published as “Preludio” in two different collections before it ended up in the collection of eight pieces that German publisher Hofmeister issued two years after Albéniz’s death. Hofmeister titled the group Suite española , op. 47, after a work that had been advertised in 1886 but had never materialized. No. 5, Asturias , was subtitled “Leyenda” (Legend). One of the many nostalgic pieces he wrote outside of his native land, Asturias evokes the beautiful Asturias region of northwest Spain. Albéniz knowledgeably suggests the flamenco guitar style by using a pedal point on an open string and broken chord figurations. The slower central section imitates the improvisatory style of flamenco singing in which Gypsy, Indian, and Arabic influences are all present. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

January 4, 2015 – Emerson String Quartet LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 127 January 4, 2015 – Emerson String Quartet When Prince Nicholas Galitzin ordered “one, two, or three new quartets” from Beethoven in November 1822, he could hardly have realized that he was instigating a series of works by which all later generations would judge profundity. Beethoven had not forgotten the quartet medium in the twelve years since the F minor Quartet, op. 95, but the commission gave him the impetus to turn sketches into finished works. He completed the present E-flat major Quartet in early 1825, the A minor, op. 132, that July, and the B-flat major, op. 130, in early 1826. The prince loved the Quartets, but was only able to make one payment before going bankrupt and joining the army. Beethoven could not stop with three, however, and without commission but out of inner need for expression he added the C-sharp minor Quartet, op. 131, and the F major Quartet, op. 135, increasing the total by 1826 to the five works we know as the “late quartets.” It should be noted that, too late for Beethoven himself but in the proper spirit, a son of Galitzin paid with interest what was owed on his father’s three quartets into the Beethoven estate. While pestering Beethoven in 1823 and 1824 about when he would receive his quartets, Galitzin was always quick to say he understood that genius couldn’t be rushed. Beethoven’s problem was not a lack of ideas, but his hectic life as a world-famous composer. He could not concentrate on quartet writing until after completing the Missa solemnis, the Diabelli Variations, and the Ninth Symphony. He finally began the E-flat major Quartet in May of 1824 and completed it the following February. Beethoven wrote in a jovial manner to the members of the Schuppanzigh Quartet before the premiere exhorting each to “distinguish himself and to vie with his neighbor in excellence.” Unfortunately the players had only two weeks to rehearse, and the new style of this Quartet with its especially advanced independence among the parts led to a poor performance on March 6, 1825. Beethoven then offered to coach Joseph Böhm leading the same three players that had played with Schuppanzigh, but in his completely deaf state the composer could guide only by watching their fingers and bows move. Their two March 26 performances went only marginally better; Beethoven was pleased, but the critics and much of the audience objected to the work as “incomprehensible,” among other complaints reminiscent of the reception that typically greeted his most innovative works. Opus 127’s majestic opening chords remind us of the grandeur that Beethoven associated with the key of E-flat major—which he had also used for his Eroica Symphony and Emperor Piano Concerto. Almost immediately, however, he shifts to a sweetly lyrical melody and then to a third more energetic idea before his first group of themes is complete. The initial majestic passage is both less and more than a traditional introduction—less in its length and more in its structural role, returning in keys that define the Romantic rather than Classic bent of this work. What is especially remarkable is that the music of this passage opens the development section not as an inciter of instability but in an important new key. Furthermore, its forceful final return occurs toward the end of the development section and not at the beginning of the recapitulation, which in effect disguises the onset of the recap—a new aim of the Romantics. The second movement unfolds as a set of richly expressive variations with a kind of ecstatic continuity that would have been unthinkable in the composer’s earlier periods. Before the theme has even concluded Beethoven begins varying it. This broadly proportioned movement harbors enough space for a marchlike variation, an animated dialogue between the two violins, and a cello and violin conversation, while still leaving the overall impression of a profound, solemn proceeding. The main theme of the Scherzo injects rhythmic incisiveness and a bit of capriciousness into the work. Introduced by four curious pizzicato chords, this theme plays out primarily in a fugal texture, enlivened by frequent trills and seamless interpolations of chordal or unison passages. The trio is almost demonic in its drive, but occasional moments of harmonic relaxation keep it from utter seriousness. Toward the end of the movement Beethoven reintroduces the trio as if to invoke the extended scherzo-trio-scherzo-trio-scherzo form of several of his earlier works, but he breaks off abruptly, pauses, introduces a snippet of scherzo, then just as quickly calls a halt. The Finale begins in dramatic unison before breaking out into a more lighthearted folklike theme. Several striking features belie the outward innocence of the movement: one is possibly the most remarkable “false reprise” in the repertory on account of its length, its key (subdominant), and the subtle alterations of the scoring. It sets up an ethereal “proper” recapitulation, which in turn prepares an exquisite, magical coda. Here, beginning with an extended trill, Beethoven spins an intricate web of figural patterns and harmonic shifts that bespeaks his visionary stance in this new phase of quartet writing. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

March 9, 2025: Ravel’s 150th Birthday Concert, with Erika Baikoff, Soprano; Soohong Park, piano Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Vocalise Etude en forme de habanera for soprano and piano. March 9, 2025: Ravel’s 150th Birthday Concert, with Erika Baikoff, Soprano; Soohong Park, piano Ravel was asked by Professor Amédée L. Hettich of the Paris Conservatoire to contribute a vocalise—a wordless vocal exercise—to his ongoing publication of vocalises by various composers, which would eventually number over 100. Fauré’s Vocalise-étude (1907) inaugurated the series, with Ravel’s following soon after, also in 1907. The collection eventually included contributions by Honegger, Ibert, Roussel, Copland, and Messiaen. Originally titled Vocalise-étude en forme de habanera , Ravel’s contribution employs the characteristic habanera rhythm—alternation of triplets and duplets—over which he spotlights the vocalist’s technique. The habanera, originally a song and dance form of nineteenth-century Cuba named after Havana, became extremely popular in Spain and elsewhere in Europe—Bizet’s adaptation in Carmen is one of its best known examples. Ravel’s use of the habanera was no doubt tied to his love of Spanish music, familiar to him since childhood through Spanish songs sung to him by his Basque mother who had spent time in Madrid. His Spanish phase produced such works as L'heure espagnole , Alborada del gracioso , Boléro , and Rapsodie espagnole . His Vocalise became popular as Pièce en forme de habanera in an arrangement for violin and piano, which spurred versions for numerous other melody instruments. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

January 19, 2025: THE VIRTUOSO ORGANIST PAUL JACOBS, ORGAN Charles Ives (1874-1954) Variations on "America" January 19, 2025: THE VIRTUOSO ORGANIST PAUL JACOBS, ORGAN Charles Ives was an eighteen-year-old organ virtuoso when he composed his celebrated variations for organ on the patriotic hymn “America.” He would not enter Yale until two years later, and his primary musical influence was his bandmaster father George. When he first performed the Variations on “America” on February 17, 1892, at the Methodist church in Brewster, New York, he was still improvising parts of it, as he recalled, and his father had something to say about what he could and could not include. Apparently the piece sometimes contained an interlude of canons (exact or close imitation as one part overlaps another) in three different keys, which George had ruled out because it “made the boys laugh out loud.” Furthermore, he had forbidden the polonaise (a Polish-style dance in 3/4 time) on account of the conflict he perceived between a European form and an American tune. (He later reinstated it as Variation 4.) As with many of Ives’s works, the Variations on “America” were not published until long after they were composed, in this case 1949, but the piece was one of his first to become widely known and played. As it stands, the work features an introduction, a theme, Variations 1 and 2, an interlude, Variations 3 and 4, a second interlude, Variation 5, and a coda. Influences of pieces Ives studied around the time of composition certainly play a role—particularly those by John Knowles Paine, Dudley Buck, and Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck—but the work also manifests Ives’s great streak of originality. In the variations themselves he constantly fragments, reorders, and recomposes his source tune in quite sophisticated ways. Further, the interludes, which were added around 1909–10, show the bold use of two keys at once—F major and D-flat major in the first and A-flat major and F major in the second. Many casual listeners have supposed Ives to be poking fun at the patriotic main theme, whereas those more familiar with his sense of humor have suspected him rather of mocking the more stodgy variation forms of his time. His sense of humor is certainly evident, but he was most likely earnest in showing his mastery of the variation form and of his given instrument. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

November 20, 2022: Steven Banks, Saxophonist-Composer Xak Bjerken, Piano, Principal Strings of The Met Orchestra STEVEN BANKS (1993) As I Am for baritone saxophone and piano November 20, 2022: Steven Banks, Saxophonist-Composer Xak Bjerken, Piano, Principal Strings of The Met Orchestra Each of us has an undeniable spark of humanity within us which sets us apart from anyone that has ever lived or ever will. We each have the capacity to leave a lasting impact on the world through our relationships, creations, and ideas. In the world that we live in today, it is so easy to lose touch with the spark that is deep within our consciousness. We are set back by failure, fear, the everyday hustle of life, and so much more. As I Am is inspired by my constant struggle to keep my spark from being dimmed and eventually put out entirely. The piece loosely follows my journey as an artist from times of genuine, deep, beautiful contentment, to times of anguish, frustration, and serious thoughts of giving up. I choose to end the work with a relentless ascent of hope that the spark within me will, in fact, carry me through a life of positivity and love. My hope is that people with similar life experiences will find something to identify with in this piece. I don’t claim to have created a masterpiece or a miraculously intricate work. I just want to share a bit of myself with you, and this is the best way I know how! The work is dedicated to the master pianist and my musical hero, André Watts. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

December 7, 2025: The Tallis Scholars THE TALLIS SCHOLARS “MOTHER AND CHILD” December 7, 2025: The Tallis Scholars THE TALLIS SCHOLARS – Programme Notes Programme: ‘Mother & Child’ Tallis: Missa Puer natus - Gloria Byrd: Votive Mass of the Virgin Ave maris stella Rorate Caeli Tollite portas Ave Maria Ecce virgo concipiet Matthew Martin: Salve Regina* ---interval --- Tallis: Missa Puer natus - Sanctus and Agnus Britten: Hymn to the Virgin Taverner: Mater Christi Nesbett: Magnificat *composer’s note to follow in November 2025 One of the most common types of Orthodox icon features the Theotokos , the ‘Godbearer’, and depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary, usually with the Christ-child on her lap (or, occasionally, mystically represented in her womb). This programme likewise focusses on the heavenly duo of Mother and Child, with music in honour of the Virgin Mary interspersed with a grand mass celebrating the birth of her child, Jesus. In fact, it was not only the birth of the Christ being celebrated in Thomas Tallis’ mass, but the expectation of another child King. In 1554, Queen Mary had recently married Philip of Spain, in a union designed to strengthen England's newly-restored bond to Roman Catholicism (after the Protestant dalliances of her brother's short reign). In addition, Mary seemed to most observers to be pregnant. Accordingly, there is a sense of jubilance in Thomas Tallis's grand, seven-voice mass, which was likely first performed at this time. It is based on the plainsong 'Puer natus est nobis' – 'A boy is born to us, and a son is given to us whose government shall be upon his shoulders'. Even though the text of the chant is not used, the allusion encoded into the DNA of the music would have been picked up by those who heard it. It was an expression of hope, that the throne of Catholic England might be granted the security of a male heir. The unusual original scoring of the work – seven voices at low pitch – can probably be attributed to the presence of Philip's Capilla Flamenca, or 'Flemish Chapel Choir', who would have accompanied their King to England. It is conceivable that the mass was envisaged for joint performance by the two royal choirs together. Philip's choir also contained composers of considerable repute, including Philippe de Monte. It's not inconceivable that Tallis saw an occasion to demonstrate the virtues of English music to his continental rival. The English composer rose to the challenge, demonstrating virtuosic skill in the assembly of the mass. The plainchant is slowed down, and runs in long notes in the tenor voice. The composer juxtaposes this (by this time somewhat old-fashioned) technique with more modern features which were associated with 'continental' composition, such as close imitation between the other voices. This allows him to maintain musical interest whilst the chant is deployed in such long notes (in the Agnus Dei, one such note sounds for a nearly unbroken stretch of thirty-one bars!). An unusual, even experimental work, the mass must surely have impressed those who heard it, in its skilful composition and fervour. Around fifty years later, Tallis’ colleague William Byrd embarked on a monumental project: a complete set of compositions for use in the ceremonies of the Catholic Church. The following selection of motets, drawn from the Gradualia collection, mostly belong to the celebration of a Votive Mass for the Blessed Virgin. The strophic, intimate Ave maris stella is for only three voices, providing an immediate textural contrast with Tallis’ mass. Rorate caeli , featuring the powerful imagery of the heavens coming down to earth and raining righteousness upon it finds a match in Byrd’s fervent setting. Ever alive to the nuance of the words, the composer characterises each section carefully, leading to a doxology of awesome solidity. Tollite portas is notable for its frequent rising melodic phrases to musically depict the lifting up of the gates, while Ecce virgo concipiet builds towards ringing repetitions of the name by which the child shall be called: Emmanuel. For A Hymn to the Virgin , the youthful Benjamin Britten turned to a macaronic carol – that is, one in which the text is in both Latin and the vernacular – originally dating from the 13th-century. In an early example of the astonishing compositional fecundity he was to display throughout his life, the eighteen-year old composer divides the choir, allocating the Latin exclamations to a semi-chorus, as if in an angelic, hieratic commentary on the earthly Incarnation. Such hymns to the Virgin Mary have a long history. When John Taverner was employed at the new Cardinal College in the early sixteenth century, its statutes included a direction that antiphons to her be sung daily. Mater Christi sanctissima is a confident work of polyphony, making full use of the five-voice texture by alternating statements for upper and lower voices. In this case, the opening invocation to Mary is really a sort of preamble to the true prayer. In the first part, Mary is asked to pray her son to listen to our pleas. This done, in the second part we may pray directly to Jesus for the gift of grace and his Holy Spirit. Of John Nesbett’s life we know little, save that he worked for a time at Canterbury Cathedral. His Magnificat , an attractive and useful setting, is found in the Eton Choirbook, one of the most important sources of early Tudor polyphony to have survived. The piece alternates chanted verses of the canticle with full polyphony, exhibiting the unhurried and virtuosic style common to the pieces in this collection, and concludes with a ringing final ‘Amen’. © James M. Potter, 2025. Return to Parlance Program Notes