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September 25, 2016: Jason Vieaux, guitar; Escher String Quartet LUIGI BOCCHERINI (1743-1805) Quintet in D for guitar and string September 25, 2016: Jason Vieaux, guitar; Escher String Quartet Boccherini achieved widespread recognition in his day both as a cellist and as an extremely prolific composer, primarily of chamber music. He wrote more than 100 string quintets, close to 100 string quartets, and some 150 other chamber works, including more than thirty cello sonatas. He became especially celebrated for his string quintets in the two-violin, viola, two-cello configuration, contributing more to the genre than any other composer in history. Many of them were written while he served as “virtuoso of the chamber and composer of music” at the Aranjuez court of the Infante Don Luis, younger brother of the king of Spain. The quintets were to be played by a court quartet made up of the Font family, father and three sons, plus Boccherini himself. The renown Boccherini enjoyed in his prime is attested to by the remarks of the typically cautious Charles Burney, famed eighteenth-century historian, who rated him “among the greatest masters who have ever written for the violin or violoncello,” placing him second only to Haydn. The taste for Boccherini’s elegant, galant style waned, however, and he died in Madrid in poverty. Many gaps exist in our knowledge of Boccherini’s life and works, made worse by the destruction of many of his manuscripts and his own thematic catalog in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. The latter half of the twentieth century witnessed a periodic resurgence of interest in his music: Gérard’s thematic catalog was published in 1969, and hence the “G.” in the listings of the composer’s works. A complete edition was begun in the 1970s, and a manuscript containing eighteen cello sonatas—three not known since Boccerini’s time—was discovered in 1982; yet most of his music awaits rediscovery. Boccherini mentioned in a letter to the publisher Pleyel in December 1798 that he had just completed six guitar quintets—guitar with string quartet—for the Marquis de Bénavent, for which the guitar-playing Marquis apparently paid the composer 100 francs apiece. These Quintets were most likely those that survive in a copy made in the 1820s by François de Fossa, a military man who was also a talented guitarist and composer. The present D major Quintet, which is fourth in that collection, is the only one of the six that also survives in another manuscript. It was published together with two other guitar quintets (different than those for the Marquis) in 1925 in Leipzig. The Marquis’s Quintets were not published until 1973, after the enterprising Ruggero Chiesa located them in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Following a common practice of the period, Boccherini adapted material from earlier sources to fulfill the Marquis’s commission. Thus he transcribed the Pastorale and the Allegro maestoso of the D major Guitar Quintet from the first two movements of a 1771 String Quintet in the same key (G. 270, op. 12, no. 6); the Grave assai and the colorful Fandango he borrowed from the opening of another D major String Quintet (G. 341, op. 50, no. 2), written in 1788. Together these movements make a stellar guitar quintet—the last movement, the Fandango, is perhaps even more fitting with guitar as one of the instruments rather than a second cello as in the original. The Pastorale is a lovely movement, with the sweetness of parallel thirds and the lilting rhythms in 6/8 meter that one would expect from the genre. Characteristic of all Boccherini’s guitar quintets, the guitar alternates between passages in which it takes a leading role and passages in which it accompanies the bowed strings. The cello is particularly featured in the Allegro maestoso, at the outset and later in its highest register, reminding us of Boccherini’s prowess as a cellist. The Grave assai serves as the slow introduction to the crowning Fandango, which begins softly enough, but erupts into a high-spirited affair. Boccherini even adds actual castanets to the accompaniment as in the folk-dance models of his adopted country of Spain. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

November 2, 2025 BENJAMIN APPL BENJAMIN APPL ON DIETRICH FISCHER-DIESKAU November 2, 2025 He let poetry resound and music speak‘ Franz Grillparzer's draft for Schubert's gravestone inscription An die Musik expresses my great gratitude to Dieter Fischer-Dieskau for the many hours we spent together: ‘Beloved art, for this I thank you!‘ I met Fischer-Dieskau for the first time in 2009 when I took part in a masterclass at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg. Afterwards he offered me the opportunity to study with him privately. From that point on until just a few weeks before his death, I had the incredible fortune of working with him regularly at his homes in Berlin and Berg. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was born in Berlin in 1925. His father was a schoolmaster who loved to compose, for example he wrote the Singspiel Sesenheim (Heidenröslein ). Dieter's mother was denied the opportunity to become a singer, so she ensured that great care was taken over the musical education of her three sons Klaus, Martin and Dietrich. The eldest brother, Klaus began composing at an early age and dedicated Nocturne to his mother, and Wehmut to his brother. It soon became clear that Dieter wanted to be a singer, and the first song he studied was Wie bist du, meine Königin . Shortly before his military service in 1944, he became engaged to Irmgard ‘Irmel’ Poppen, his future wife. Torn from his homeland, he wrote many love letters full of longing for and memories of (Andenken ) his distant beloved. In 1944, the Nazis murdered Dieter’s younger brother Martin. During the early years of the war and Dieter’s subsequent imprisonment in Italy, he learned countless pieces of music, regularly hearing of the atrocities at the hand the National Socialists. Reimann's Tenebrae deals with the suffering of Jewish victims during the Holocaust in a haunting way, and was written for Dieter. His singing gave strength to thousands of prisoners. Shortly after the end of the war, he sang songs from previously hostile countries for example Sinding's Sylvelin and Tchaikovsky's Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt . His repertoire also included operetta (Ich bin nur ein armer Wandergesell ). In 1947 he finally returned to Germany (Die Heimkehr ) and started his international career in Berlin where he began to receive major recognition (Vier ernste Gesänge ). Irmel gave birth to three sons, but tragically she died during the birth of her third child ( Süßes Begräbnis ). As is so often the case, Dieter saw music as the only path out of suffering (An mein Klavier ). Benjamin Britten dedicated his Songs and Proverbs of William Blake to him – ‘For Dieter: The past and the future‘ (Proverb III ) after this terrible loss. Another bitter moment of grief was the death of his beloved and mother Theodora (Mutters Hände ) to whom he was very close. His private life in the years to come was not very stable: his marriage to the actress Ruth Leuwerik (1965-1967), famous from the film Vater braucht eine Frau , only lasted a short time, as did his marriage to Kristina Pugell (1968-1975) (Liebhaber in allen Gestalten ). In 1977 he married the soprano Julia Varady (Liebst du um Schönheit ). Fischer-Dieskau received countless commissioned compositions during his lifetime, and took part in important premieres, such as the historically significant and emotionally stirring premiere of Britten's War Requiem in 1962 which he then translated into German. Additionally,Samuel Barber wrote his three songs op. 45 especially for him. Teaching played an important role in Dieter’s later decades. Often demanding, strict and with a great attention to detail, he shared his unfathomable knowledge with his students. I fondly recall him telling me that he liked my recording of Sterb' ich, so hüllen in Blumen meine Glieder so much, that he would like to mentor me. From the many hours we then spent together, I particularly remember the moments when he felt unobserved, sharing his mischievous sense of humour and dancing through the living room. When I visited Fischer-Dieskau for the final time, it was just a few weeks before his death in May 2012. Coming away that day, I somehow felt that could be the last time I would see Dieter. I wrote him a very long letter, thanking him for the experiences we had shared and expressing my gratitude for all I had learned from him. And then a few weeks later, I learnt that he’d passed away. This concert (and the accompanying CD recording) is both a personal and public dedication to this fine artist. I was and remain inspired by Dieter both from our private time together and his recordings, and this moment gives us all the chance to celebrate his enormous legacy on his 100th birthday. Return to Parlance Program Notes

ALEXI KENNEY, VIOLIN Violinist Alexi Kenney is forging a career that defies categorization, following his interests, intuition, and heart. Alexi has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, among many others, and in recital at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Princeton University Concerts, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, and the Phillips Collection. A passionate advocate for music of our time, Alexi has commissioned major works for the violin from composers including Salina Fisher, Angélica Negrón, and Paul Wiancko, and is constantly incorporating new works into his repertoire. Alexi regularly appears at chamber music festivals including Bridgehampton, Kronberg, Ojai, Seattle, and Spoleto, on tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Musicians from Marlboro, and as a member of the quartet collective Owls. A recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant, he has been profiled by the New York Times and Strings magazine, and written for The Strad. Born in Palo Alto, California, Alexi is a graduate of the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Donald Weilerstein and Miriam Fried. He plays a violin made in London by Stefan-Peter Greiner in 2009.

January 14, 2024: Goldmund Quartet ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856) String Quartet No. 3 in A, Op. 41/3 January 14, 2024: Goldmund Quartet In reviewing a prizewinning quartet by Julius Schapler in 1842, Schumann observed that “the quartet has come to a standstill. Who does not know the quartets of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, and who would wish to say anything against them? . . . the later generation, after all this time, has not been able to produce anything comparable. [Georges] Onslow alone met with success, and later Mendelssohn.” The canonization of the quartets of the great Classical masters left the composers of Schumann’s age feeling inadequate. Schumann and Brahms were each to publish three string quartets but only after suppressing several earlier ventures in the genre. Schumann apparently began one quartet in 1838 and three more the following year; none of these survives, unless certain ideas from them reappeared in the Opus 41 quartets of 1842. Schumann’s method of approaching the level of the Classical masters was to study their quartets intensely, as recorded in his household diary in the spring of 1842. The diary also reveals his depressed mood at the time, associated with his wife Clara’s extended concert tour; he mentions drinking too much and his inability to compose. Suddenly, however, his creative powers took over with such force that five shorts weeks after beginning the first of the Opus 41 quartets on June 4, all three were completed. He announced them to his wife Clara as “three children, barely born, and already completed and beautiful,” and arranged for a private performance of all three for Clara’s twenty-third birthday on September 13. The individuality of these quartets is remarkable in light of their having been composed one on top of the other. The Third Quartet takes up the key in which the First Quartet ended. The descending interval of a fifth that opens the A major Quartet’s brief slow introduction is often associated with Clara, but also may owe something to the opening of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata, op. 31, no. 3. The falling fifth also introduces the main theme of the Allegro molto moderato and makes an appearance in the second theme. This interval (or its inversion as a rising fourth) assumes a prominent role throughout the work. The F-sharp minor second movement, instead of a scherzo, takes the form of a theme and variations, though the theme is not revealed until after three variations. The theme when finally presented, appears as a canon between the first violin and the viola, at a slower tempo. This and other contrapuntal sections in the Opus 41 Quartets reflect Schumann’s self-prescribed study of fugal techniques during the gloomy period of Clara’s absence. The passionate slow movement gives off a restless quality owing to its frequent changes of key. The dotted rhythm so prominent in the second violin part is then featured in the last movement. Schumann’s inspired finale combines the form of a rondo with that of a scherzo and trio, and includes certain elements of sonata form. Its scherzo-like features are welcome as Schumann had earlier used a theme and variation movement instead of a scherzo. The movement particularly contrasts the two keys of A major and F major, again taking up the discussion of these two keys that concerns the entire Opus 41 “cycle.” The key of A major is positively affirmed in a brilliant coda. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

RICHARD GOODE, PIANO Richard Goode has been hailed for music-making of tremendous emotional power, depth, and expressiveness, and has been acknowledged worldwide as one of today’s leading interpreters of Classical and Romantic music. In regular performances with the major orchestras, recitals in the world’s music capitals, and through his extensive and acclaimed Nonesuch recordings, he has won a large and devoted following. Gramophone magazine recently captured the essence of what makes Richard Goode such an original and compelling artist: ‘‘Every time we hear him, he impresses us as better than we remembered, surprising us, surpassing our expectations, and communicating perceptions that stay in the mind.” Mr. Goode began his 2014–2015 season performing Mozart’s Concerto in A major (K.488) to open Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. He was featured in five appearances at Carnegie Hall, including a recital in the main hall, as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Andris Nelsons, in two chamber music concerts with young artists from Marlboro Music Festival and conducting a master class on Debussy piano works. He appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and San Diego Symphonies. In addition, this season includes recitals at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London, the Celebrity Series of Boston, Cal Performances in Berkeley, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, at Shriver Hall in Baltimore, in Toronto at the Royal Conservatory, at The Schubert Club in St. Paul, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, Yale School of Music, Dartmouth College, Duke Performances, Middlebury College, and in other major series in the U.S. and Europe. In addition, Mr. Goode will present master classes at top conservatories and universities around the world. In the 2013–2014 season, Mr. Goode appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic with David Zinman, the Chicago Symphony with Mark Elder, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with Herbert Blomstedt, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra with Peter Oundjian, with whom he also appeared in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal with the Toronto Symphony. His always compelling recitals were heard at Carnegie Hall in New York, in London, in Paris, at the Aldeburgh Festival, and on leading concert and university series around the world. Among the highlights of recent seasons have been the recitals in which, for the first time in his career, Mr. Goode performed the last three Beethoven Sonatas in one program, drawing capacity audiences and raves in such cities as New York, London, and Berlin. The New York Times, in reviewing his Carnegie Hall performance, hailed his interpretations as “majestic, profound readings…. Mr. Goode’s playing throughout was organic and inspired, the noble, introspective themes unfolding with a simplicity that rendered them all the more moving.” Recent seasons have also included performances with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra led by Fabio Luisi at Carnegie Hall; with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel; with Orpheus on tour and at Carnegie Hall playing the Schumann Concerto; and on tour with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. An exclusive Nonesuch recording artist, Goode has made more than two dozen recordings over the years, ranging from solo and chamber works to lieder and concertos. His latest recording of the five Beethoven concertos with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer was released in 2009 to exceptional critical acclaim, described as “a landmark recording” by the Financial Times and nominated for a Grammy award. His 10-CD set of the complete Beethoven sonatas cycle, the first-ever by an American-born pianist, was nominated for a Grammy and has been ranked among the most distinguished recordings of this repertoire. Other recording highlights include a series of Bach Partitas, a duo recording with Dawn Upshaw, and Mozart piano concertos with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. A native of New York, Richard Goode studied with Elvira Szigeti and Claude Frank, with Nadia Reisenberg at the Mannes College of Music, and with Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute. His numerous prizes over the years include the Young Concert Artists Award, First Prize in the Clara Haskil Competition, the Avery Fisher Prize, and a Grammy award for his recording of the Brahms Sonatas with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. His first public performances of the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas at Kansas City’s Folly Theater and New York’s 92Y in 1987–88 brought him to international attention, being hailed by The New York Times as “among the season’s most important and memorable events.” It was later performed with great success at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1994 and 1995. Mr. Goode served, together with Mitsuko Uchida, as co-Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Marlboro, Vermont from 1999 through 2013. Participating initially at the age of 14, at what the New Yorker magazine recently described as “the classical world’s most coveted retreat,” he has made a notable contribution to this unique community over the 28 summers he has spent there. He is married to the violinist Marcia Weinfeld, and, when the Goodes are not on tour, they and their collection of some 5,000 volumes live in New York City.

December 18, 2016: Mariko Anraku, harp; Emmanuel Ceysson, harp MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937) Ma mère l’oye, arranged for two harps December 18, 2016: Mariko Anraku, harp; Emmanuel Ceysson, harp Ravel often preferred the company of children to that of adults. In 1908 he wrote a delightful set of piano duets entitled Ma mère l’oye (Mother Goose) for two of his favorite children, Mimi and Jean Godebski. Their parents, Ida and Cipa Godebski, some of Ravel’s best friends, regularly entertained many of the famous artists, writers, and musicians of the period. Years later Mimi wrote: Ravel was my favorite because he used to tell me marvelous stories. I would sit on his knee and indefatigably he would begin “Once upon a time . . .” And it was Laideronnette, Beauty and the Beast and above all the adventures of a poor mouse that he had made up for me. . . . It was at la Grangette [the Godebski’s country house at Valvins] that Ravel finished or anyway presented us with Ma mère l’oye. But neither my brother nor I was of an age to appreciate such a dedication and we saw it rather as something that involved hard work. The piano duets were first performed on April 20, 1910, in Paris on the first concert of the Société Indépendente, founded as a rival to the Société Nationale. The work was played, not by the Godebskis, but by two young girls—Jeanne Leleu (student of Marguerite Long, one of Ravel’s great interpreters) and Geneviève Duronys (student of Madame Chesné). Ravel was extremely pleased by the performance, as he touchingly wrote to Mlle. Leleu afterwards. She later won the Prix de Rome and became a professor at the Paris Conservatory. Ravel wrote in his autobiographical sketch: “It was my intention to awaken the poetry of childhood in these pieces, and this naturally led me to simplify my style and to thin out my writing.” The contrast between these five pieces and Gaspard de la nuit, also written in 1908, could scarcely be greater in this respect, yet Ravel remains Ravel in the essentials—the modality of the melodies, the harmonic and rhythmic treatment, the recall of old dance styles, and the evocation of fairy worlds. Writers of the past provided the direct inspiration for Ravel’s set of little “tales”: Charles Perrault for Sleeping Beauty and Tom Thumb (1697 anthology); Comtesse d’Aulnoy (a Perrault contemporary) for Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas; and Marie Leprince de Beaumont for Beauty and the Beast (1757 Children’s Treasury of Moral Tales). The final piece takes up the end of the Sleeping Beauty story, thus neatly enclosing the set. As with many of his piano works, Ravel orchestrated Ma mère l’oye, in this case on a commission from Jacques Rouché, director of the Théâtre des Arts, for a January 1912 ballet performance, choreographed by Mme. Jeanne Hugard. To make a complete ballet Ravel added two numbers and several transitions, and changed the order slightly. The work is best known, however, in its five-movement concert suite version (which follows the order of the piano duets). In the Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty, Ravel depicts the 100-year sleep of the princess by employing the Aeolian church mode, evoking a sense of “long ago.” The accompaniment of gentle “chimes” sounds perfect when transferred from piano to harp. Tom Thumb is headed by a quotation from Perrault’s tale: “He thought he would be able to find the path easily by means of the bread which he had strewn wherever he had walked; but he was quite surprised when he could not find a single crumb; the birds had come and eaten them all.” The music depicts his trail with muted thirds in the accompaniment joined by a melody that often moves in parallel motion, lending an ancient flavor to the wistful passages. Ravel suggests bird twitterings midway through the piece. Ravel turned to the pentatonic (five-note) scale for Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas, to suggest its Eastern atmosphere. From the Comtesse d’Aulnoy’s story of the Ugly Little Girl (Laideronnette) and the Green Serpent, who both overcome their respective spells eventually to live happily ever after, Ravel depicted the following episode: “She undressed and got into the bath. The toy mandarins and mandarinesses began to sing and play instruments; some had theorbos made of walnut shells; some had viols made of almond shells, for the instruments had to be of a size appropriate to their own.” Ravel’s portrayal pays particular attention to their diminutive size. In Conversations of Beauty and the Beast (quotations from Mme. Leprince de Beaumont’s tale head the piece), Beauty tells the Beast that he does not seem so ugly when she thinks of his kindheartedness. He asks her to marry him, and though she refuses at first, she finally accepts. He of course, turns into a prince at that moment. Musically their conversation takes place as a kind of slow waltz. The Suite concludes with The Fairy Garden, in which Sleeping Beauty wakes up to her handsome prince. The “magic” glissandos (slides) at the end caused poor little Jeanne Leleu to hurt her finger in the piano version, she later recalled. Any hopes she had of being allowed to finger the notes individually were dashed by Ravel who said simply, “I am an assassin!” and left them as they were to create their enchanting effect. In this afternoon’s performance, movements I, II, III, and V were arranged for two harps by John Escosa. Movement IV, Conversations of Beauty and the Beast, is a special arrangement fashioned by our artists, Mariko Anraku and Emmanuel Ceysson. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

March 29, 2015 – Matthew Polenzani, tenor; Ken Noda, piano SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981) Hermit Songs, Op. 29 March 29, 2015 – Matthew Polenzani, tenor; Ken Noda, piano Samuel Barber excelled in both singing and composition as a student at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Upon graduation he worked briefly as a baritone for NBC on the Music Guild Series and was even hired for his own series of weekly song broadcasts in 1935. As a composer he was naturally drawn to vocal expression—two-thirds of his compositions consist of songs—but even his instrumental works are infused with a lyrical impulse. In November 1952, Barber was already a well-established composer and had just completed his lighthearted ballet Souvenirs, when another project seized his fancy, drawing on his love of Irish literature and poetry. He wrote to his uncle, composer Sidney Homer, who served as his mentor for much of his career: I have come across some poems of the 10th century, translated into Modern English by various people, and am making a song cycle of them, to be called, perhaps “Hermit Songs.” These were extraordinary men, monks or hermits or what not, and they wrote these little poems on the corners of MSS they were illuminating or just copying. I find them very direct, unspoiled, and often curiously contemporaneous in feeling. Barber himself was something of a hermit, often holing up to compose, so the idea of these ancient scholars scribbling in unguarded moments greatly appealed to him. He elaborated further in his printed preface: They are settings of anonymous Irish texts of the eighth to thirteenth centuries written by monks and scholars, often on the margins of manuscripts they were copying or illuminating—perhaps not always meant to be seen by their Father Superiors. They are small poems, thoughts or observations, some very short, and speak in straightforward, droll, and often surprisingly modern terms of the simple life these men led, close to nature, to animals, and to God. Some are very literal translation, and others, where existing translation seemed inadequate, were especially made by W. H. Auden [“The Monk and his Cat” and “The Praises of God”] and Chester Kallman [“St. Ita’s Vision”]. Barber composed four of the Hermit Songs immediately and by mid-February had completed the other six. A year after he had begun, he received a commission for the cycle from the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation—Mrs. Coolidge had been a great supporter of his work for thirty years. Barber’s search for the ideal singer to present the songs culminated with Leontyne Price, who had recently become known for her portrayal of Bess in Porgy and Bess but had yet to make her recital debut. Price, with Barber at the piano, gave the first performance at the Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., on Mrs. Coolidge’s eighty-ninth birthday, October 30, 1953. She presented them again with the composer in April in Rome at the Twentieth-Century Music Conference and in November at her New York recital debut—thus began a long and rewarding friendship. The ten songs vary considerably in length and mood according to their subjects, from the tender lullaby of “St. Ita’s Vision” to the bombast of “Sea-Snatch.” But they make a cohesive group based in part on ancient-sounding fourths and fifths and other shared motivic material (a descending whole tone followed by a descending fourth appears in eight of the songs). Whether fast or slow, jaunty or reflective, Barber’s style of declamation fits the text precisely because he allows unhampered metric flow by omitting time signatures altogether. Attested to by the frequency of their performance and by the remarkable number of studies devoted to both their textual and musical analysis, The Hermit Songs rank among the great songs cycles of the twentieth century. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

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September 25, 2016: Jason Vieaux, guitar FRANCISCO TÁRREGA (1852–1909) Capricho árabe September 25, 2016: Jason Vieaux, guitar At the age of ten Tárrega studied classical guitar with Julian Arcas, followed by training at the Madrid Conservatory, where he also studied theory, harmony, and piano. He soon began to teach and at the same time establish himself as a guitar virtuoso. His international reputation grew after successful appearances in Paris and London in 1880; he was acclaimed as “the Sarasate of the guitar.” Tárrega did much to promote the instrument at a time when the piano had almost completely overshadowed it. He not only composed some eighty original works for the guitar—Recuerdos de la Alhambra, Capricho árabe, and Danza mora are among his best-known solo pieces—but he transcribed over 140 works by other composers for one or two guitars, including pieces by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Granados, and Albéniz. Albéniz once stated that Tárrega’s transcriptions were better than his own piano originals! Tárrega’s extremely popular Capricho árabe, composed after a trip to Granada, is dedicated to his friend and composer Tomás Bretón. A brief introduction—an isolated open fourth, an improvisatory riff, a brief chordal motive, all repeated—precedes Tárrega’s well-known melody with its signature beginning of two repeated notes. The accompanimental pattern of four bass notes with afterbeat chords is intriguing to follow as it changes harmonically to introduce new sections. The main theme alternates between presentations in minor and in major, with periodic improvisatory passages providing further contrast. A shortened return of the melody in minor closes the piece. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2024 AT 4 PM GOODE PLAYS BEETHOVEN RICHARD GOODE, PIANO “Every time we hear him, he impresses us as better than we remembered, surprising us, surpassing our expectations and communicating perceptions that stay in the mind.” — Gramophone ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS Hailed for music-making of tremendous emotional power, depth and expressiveness, Richard Goode is one of today's most revered artists, drawing capacity audiences and raves the world over. The New York Times, in reviewing his Carnegie Hall performance praised his “majestic, profound readings... Mr. Goode’s playing throughout was organic and inspired, the noble, introspective themes unfolding with a simplicity that rendered them all the more moving.” Widely acknowledged as one of today’s premier Beethoven interpreters, Richard Goode will perform late works including Six Bagatelles from Op. 119, Sonata No. 30 in E, Op. 109, and the monumental “Diabelli Variations ,” Op. 120, widely considered one of the greatest sets of variations ever composed. 2023-2024 SEASON October 15, 202 3 Lysander Piano Trio November 12, 2023 Angel Blue, soprano Bryan Wagorn, piano December 3, 2023 Brentano String Quartet Antioch Chamber Choir January 14, 2024 Goldmund String Quartet February 18, 2024 Candlelit Music of The Spirit March 10, 2024 Richard Goode, Piano Late Beethoven April 7, 2024 Jordi Savall, Conductor Hespèrion XXI May 12, 2024 Mothers Day Concert June 2, 2024 Mozart’s Double Concertos Artist Roster Parlance Program Notes LOCATION At West Side Presbyterian Church 6 South Monroe Street Ridgewood, NJ 07450 For map and directions, click here . CONCERT AMENITIES Whee lchair Accessible Fr e e Parking for all concerts FEATURING BUY TICKETS Richard Goode , piano PROGRAM Beethoven Program Notes Six Bagatelles from Op. 119 Beethoven Program Notes Sonata No. 30 in E, Op. 109 Beethoven The Diabelli Variations, Op. 120 Program Notes Watch Richard Goode perform the first movement of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110:

January 29, 2023: Danish String Quartet WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Divertimento in F, K. 138 January 29, 2023: Danish String Quartet Mozart’s Divertimento in F major, K. 125c, is one of a set of three written in Salzburg during the winter months of 1772, after Mozart had returned from his second journey to Italy. The Italian influence certainly seems present in these works, for they all use the three-movement structure then popular in Italian symphonies, direct descendants of the three-part opera overtures. Clear echoes can also be perceived of the young Mozart’s most admired composers, Joseph Haydn and Johann Christian Bach. The F major Divertimento’s first movement follows sonata form, as do most of the movements in these Divertimentos. The interplay between the two violin parts is especially striking. The lovely slow movement, also in sonata form, contains a truly melting second theme: long held notes in the two violins, reached each time by leap in a dotted rhythm, culminating in suspensions against contrasting figuration in the lower voices. The sparkling Presto finale, a rondo, is all too brief. The presence and character of the minor episode in the finale is particularly reminiscent of J. C. Bach. These three Divertimentos, K. 125a, b, and c (K. 136–138), present interesting questions similar to those surrounding the famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik: it is not clear whether these works were meant to be performed as string quartets or by larger string ensembles. Though they sound equally compelling in both settings, historical evidence suggests that Mozart envisioned them being played with one on a part—not, though, by the typical string quartet, but the “divertimento quartet” comprised of two violins, viola, and bass. The illustration on the title page of Mozart’s Musical Joke shows such a quartet with the addition of two horns. The matter was not of great importance to Mozart, and the great Mozart scholar Alfred Einstein suggested that Mozart and his father might have taken the Divertimentos along to Milan, and if asked for a new symphony could have simply added oboe and horn parts. Scholars even differ as to the correct title of the Divertimentos—the alternate names of “Quartett-Divertimenti” and “Salzburg-Symphonies” have been used; the title “Divertimento” on the original autograph was not written in Mozart’s hand. If, however, one takes the broadest definition of the word divertimento, namely entertainment or amusement, these works provide just that. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

GARRICK OHLSSON, PIANO Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, pianist Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Although long regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Frédéric Chopin, Mr. Ohlsson commands an enormous repertoire, which ranges over the entire piano literature. A student of the late Claudio Arrau, Mr. Ohlsson has come to be noted for his masterly performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire. To date he has at his command more than 80 concertos, ranging from Haydn and Mozart to works of the 21st century, many commissioned for him. This season that vast repertoire can be sampled in concerti ranging from Rachmaninoff’s popular Third and rarely performed Fourth, to Brahms Nos. 1 and 2, Beethoven, Mozart, Grieg and Copland in cities including Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Miami, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, Liverpool, and Madrid ending with a spring US West Coast tour with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic conducted by Yuri Temirkanov. In recital he can be heard in LA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, New York, New Orleans, Hawaii and Prague. A frequent guest with the orchestras in Australia, Mr. Ohlsson has recently visited Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart as well as the New Zealand Symphony in Wellington and Auckland. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Ohlsson has collaborated with the Takacs, Cleveland, Emerson, and Tokyo string quartets, among other ensembles. Together with violinist Jorja Fleezanis and cellist Michael Grebanier, he is a founding member of the San Francisco-based FOG Trio. Passionate about singing and singers, Mr. Ohlsson has appeared in recital with such legendary artists as Magda Olivero, Jessye Norman, and Ewa Podles. A native of White Plains, N.Y., Garrick Ohlsson began his piano studies at the age of 8, at the Westchester Conservatory of Music; at 13 he entered The Juilliard School, in New York City. His musical development has been influenced in completely different ways by a succession of distinguished teachers, most notably Claudio Arrau, Olga Barabini, Tom Lishman, Sascha Gorodnitzki, Rosina Lhévinne and Irma Wolpe. Although he won First Prizes at the 1966 Busoni Competition in Italy and the 1968 Montréal Piano Competition, it was his 1970 triumph at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, where he won the Gold Medal (and remains the single American to have done so), that brought him worldwide recognition as one of the finest pianists of his generation. Since then he has made nearly a dozen tours of Poland, where he retains immense personal popularity. Mr. Ohlsson was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 1994 and received the 1998 University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award in Ann Arbor, MI. He is also the 2014 recipient of the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music. He makes his home in San Francisco.