PHILIP SETZER, VIOLIN Violinist Philip Setzer, a founding member of the Emerson String Quartet, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and began studying violin at the age of five with his parents, both former violinists in the Cleveland Orchestra. He continued his studies with Josef Gingold and Rafael Druian, and later at the Juilliard School with Oscar Shumsky. In 1967, Mr. Setzer won second prize at the Marjorie Merriweather Post Competition in Washington, DC, and in 1976 received a Bronze Medal at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition in Brussels. He has appeared with the National Symphony, Aspen Chamber Symphony (David Robertson, conductor), Memphis Symphony (Michael Stern), New Mexico and Puerto Rico Symphonies (Guillermo Figueroa), Omaha and Anchorage Symphonies (David Loebel) and on several occasions with the Cleveland Orchestra (Louis Lane). He has also participated in the Marlboro Music Festival. Mr. Setzer has been a regular faculty member of the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshops at Carnegie Hall and the Jerusalem Music Center. His article about those workshops appeared in The New York Times on the occasion of Isaac Stern’s 80th birthday celebration. He also teaches as Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at SUNY Stony Brook and has given master classes at schools around the world, including The Curtis Institute, London’s Royal Academy of Music, The San Francisco Conservatory, UCLA, The Cleveland Institute of Music and The Mannes School. The Noise of Time, a groundbreaking theater collaboration between the Emerson Quartet and Simon McBurney–about the life of Shostakovich–was based on an original idea of Mr. Setzer’s. In April of 1989, Mr. Setzer premiered Paul Epstein’s Matinee Concerto. This piece, dedicated to and written for Mr. Setzer, has since been performed by him in Hartford, New York, Cleveland, Boston and Aspen. Recently, Mr. Setzer has also been touring and recording the piano trios of Schubert and Mendelssohn with David Finckel and Wu Han.

LUCILLE CHUNG, PIANO Born in Montréal, Canadian pianist Lucille Chung has been acclaimed for her “stylish and refined performances” by Gramophone magazine, “combining vigour and suppleness with natural eloquence and elegance” (Le Soir). She made her debut at the age of ten with the Montréal Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoit subsequently invited her to be a featured soloist during the MSO Asian Tour in 1989. Since then, she has performed an extensive concerto repertoire with over 70 leading orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Flemish Radio Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerífe, Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, Staatskapelle Weimar, Philharmonie de Lorraine, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Belgrade Philharmonic, the Seoul Philharmonic, KBS Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Dallas Symphony, UNAM Philharmonic (Mexico), Israel Chamber Orchestra as well as all the major Canadian orchestras, including Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Calgary, Winnipeg and Metropolitain, among others. She has appeared with conductors such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Vladimir Spivakov, Vasily Petrenko, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Peter Oundjian, Gerd Albrecht and Charles Dutoit. As a recitalist, she has performed in over 35 countries in prestigious venues such as the Wigmore Hall in London, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional, the Great Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Festival appearances include the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, MDR Sommer Festival in Dresden, Lübecker Kammermusikfest, Santander International Festival in Spain, Felicja Blumental Festival in Israel, Music@Menlo, Montreal International Festival, Ottawa Chamber Festival, Bard Music Festival in NY, International Keyboard Institute and Festival in NYC, ChangChun Festival in China, and the Bravissimo Festival in Guatemala. In 1989, she was recognized on the international scene as the First Prize winner at the Stravinsky International Piano Competition. She won Second Prize at the 1992 Montreal International Music Competition, at which she also won a Special Prize for the best interpretation of the unpublished work. In 1993, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Governor General of Canada and in 1994 won the Second Prize at the First International Franz Liszt Competition in Weimar. In 1999, she was awarded the prestigious Virginia Parker Prize by the Canada Council for the Arts. She graduated from both the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School before she turned twenty. She decided to further her studies in London with Maria Curcio-Diamand, Schnabel’s protégée, at the “Mozarteum” in Salzburg with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and received the Konzertexam Diplom from the Hochschule “Franz Liszt” in Weimar, where she worked with the late Lazar Berman. She also graduated from the Accademia Pianistica in Imola, Italy with the honorary title of “Master” and from Southern Methodist University under Joaquín Achúcarro where she is now a Johnson-Prothro Artist-in-Residence. Ms. Chung is the recipient of the prestigious Honors Diploma at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy. Lucille Chung has been hailed as “a considerable artist, admirable for her bold choice of music” by The Sunday Times for her recordings of the complete piano works by György Ligeti on the Dynamic label. The first volume was released in 2001 to great critical acclaim, receiving the maximum R10 from Classica-Répertoire in France, 5 Stars from the BBC Music Magazine, and 5 Stars on Fono Forum in Germany. The final volume, which also contains works for two pianos, was recorded with her husband, Alessio Bax and once again received the prestigious R10 from Classica-Répertoire. Her all-Scriabin CD won the “Best Instrumental Recording” prize at the 2003 Prelude Classical Awards in Holland as well as the coveted R10 from Classica-Répertoire in France. She also recorded the two Mendelssohn Piano Concerti on the Richelieu/Radio-Canada label, which was nominated for the Prix Opus in Canada. In August 2005, Bax and Chung recorded Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals with the Fort Worth Symphony under Maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya, which was released in 2006. In 2007 she released a solo album for the Fazioli Concert Hall Series. Lucille then embarked on an exclusive contract with Disques XXI/Universal. So far, she has released two CDs, Piano Transcriptions of Camille Saint-Saëns and Mozart & Me. Both CDs continue earning critical praise and have been broadcast internationally. 2013 marked the release of a piano duo disc with Alessio Bax, presenting Stravinsky’s original four-hand version of the ballet Petrouchka as well as music by Brahms and Piazzolla for Signum Records. In 2015, she released an all Poulenc album which was chosen as the “Recording of the Month” on MusicWeb and most recently in April 2018, a Liszt solo recital album for Signum Records. Lucille is fluent in French, English, Korean, Italian, German, and Russian. She and husband, pianist Alessio Bax make their home in New York City with their daughter, Mila, and are artistic co-directors of the Joaquín Achúcarro Foundation. www.lucillechung.com

April 13, 2025: Quartetto Di Cremona Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132 April 13, 2025: Quartetto Di Cremona 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. Nevertheless, he could not concentrate on quartet writing until after completing the Missa solemnis , the Diabelli Variations, and the Ninth Symphony, so the project did not begin in earnest until mid-1824. Beethoven completed the E-flat major Quartet, op. 127, in early 1825; the present A minor, op. 132, that July; and the B-flat major, op. 130, in early 1826. The prince loved the Quartets, but was able to make only one payment before going bankrupt and joining the army. The floodgates had been loosed, however, and out of inner necessity Beethoven completed two more quartets in 1826, the C-sharp minor, op.131, and the F major, op. 135, to arrive at the five works known 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 received 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, as mentioned above. With the A minor Quartet, illness was a major impediment. Though he began work late in 1824, from mid-April to mid-May 1825 he suffered from such a serious intestinal inflamation that part of the time he was bedridden. Though considerably weakened, he managed to complete the A minor Quartet by July, his recovery having prompted one of the few genuinely autobiographical manifestations in his music: he included a slow third movement entitled “Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart” (A Convalescent’s Holy Song of Thanksgiving to the Deity, in the Lydian Mode). The opening of the Quartet’s first movement has won special comment ever since the late quartets were considered as a group. Its signature four notes—an ascending half step then a descending half step—bears striking similarity to the main theme of the Grosse Fuge (the original finale of the B-flat Quartet) and the opening fugue subject of the C-sharp minor Quartet. Some have even traced it in all five quartets. Whether Beethoven intended the motive as a unifying feature or recognized instances where he or other composers had used it previously, it seems to have been associated with painful emotions, which fits with these profound, introspective late works and particularly with this Quartet’s underlying script of pain transcended. A remarkable aspect of the first movement is how Beethoven is able to relate this motive—of which he gives several permutations in the brief slow introduction—with the distinctive opening gesture of the fast main part. Another noteworthy feature of the movement is the “double recapitulation,” the first in the “wrong” key and the second capped by an especially key-confirming coda. For his second movement he wrote a new style of waltzlike scherzo with a pastoral musette (bagpipe piece) for a trio. In this slightly contemplative dance, pairs of half steps reappear, but with a third note added, which makes the lilting main theme so distinctive. Pronounced utterances of the half steps gruffly interrupt the end of the ethereal musette. Beethoven employs the Lydian church mode (like F major, but with B-naturals instead of B-flats) to give his convalescent’s hymn an archaic, reverent tone. This exquisitely calm music returns in two equally slow-moving variations, twice contrasted by livelier music with wide leaps and trills that he labeled “Feeling new strength.” At a very late stage Beethoven decided the “German dance” that had originally followed the Thanksgiving movement should be replaced by an almost fierce march. (The original movement wound up transposed as the Alla danza tedesca in his next quartet, the B-flat.) He often seemed to require something earthy after something heavenly, or a witticism after something poetic, which is just what the Alla marcia provides. Shortly, however, the first violin plunges into the dramatic recitative that introduces the finale. This rondo—Beethoven’s last except for the replacement finale of the B-flat Quartet—employs a main theme that he had originally sketched as a “Finale instrumentale” for his Ninth Symphony. He gives the lyrical, pensive melody a sense of unrest with his agitated rocking accompaniment. Toward the end Beethoven increases the speed to a dizzying Presto with the cello playing this theme in extremely high register. Having slipped into a scintillating A major, Beethoven decided at the last phase of composition to extend his coda significantly to provide the proper tonal balance in this key for the entire Quartet. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2018 AT 3 PM NEUBAUER-McDERMOTT FAMILY CONCERT BUY TICKETS GILAD COHEN, COMPOSER KERRY McDERMOTT, violin New York Philharmonic PAUL NEUBAUER, VIOLA “A master musician.” — The New York Times ANNE-MARIE McDERMOTT, PIANO Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society CLARA NEUBAUER, VIOLIN “It was a committed, refreshing performance displaying absolute technical security.” — The Epoch Times OLIVER NEUBAUER, VIOLIN (2021) “His was a captivating performance, fully bringing-out the shifting moods, wit, and lyricism of Mozart’s music.” — The Epoch Times FEATURING ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS On May 6 , the stellar Neubauer-McDermott Family will bring our eleventh season to an exhilarating conclusion. Violist Paul Neubauer (of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society), violinist Kerry McDermott (of the New York Philharmonic), and their children, violinists Oliver and Clara Neubauer , will be joined by Kerry’s sister, CMS pianist Anne-Marie McDermott , in music of Bach, Dvořák, Ravel, and Schumann . The concert will include the World Premiere of Gilad Cohen’s* “Moonrhymes” for three violins, viola, and piano , commissioned by PCC especially for this event. Inspired by the familial theme, Cohen’s work will focus on children’s songs from Israel, America, and Spain. *Gilad Cohen is a Ridgewood resident and a music professor at Ramapo College. A Princeton Ph.D., he is the winner of the 2016 Barlow Prize and the 2010 Israeli Prime Minister Award for Composers. PROGRAM Johann Sebastian Bach Preludio from Partita No. 3 arranged for 3 violins & viola Program Notes Antonín Dvořák Terzetto in C, Op. 74 for 2 violins and viola Program Notes Maurice Ravel Tzigane for violin and piano Program Notes Gilad Cohen “Moonrhymes” (Premiere) for 3 violins, viola and piano Program Notes Robert Schumann Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105 for violin and piano Program Notes Mark O’Connor F.C.’s Jig for violin and viola Program Notes Charles Dancla Variations on Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman for three violins and viola Program Notes Watch Clara Neubauer perform Arensky’s Trio in D minor: Watch Paul Neubauer perform Benjamin Dale’s Romance for Viola and Piano: Watch Anne-Marie McDermott perform Haydn’s Piano Sonata in C:

April 19, 2009 – Jon Manasse, clarinet; John Novacek, piano JOHN NOVACEK Four Rags for Two Jo(h)ns for clarinet and piano April 19, 2009 – Jon Manasse, clarinet; John Novacek, piano John Novacek writes: American music may well force upon us the futility of certain distinctions: “popular” and “serious”, “folk” and “culivated”. Case in point, ragtime, that complex hybrid of black dance tunes filtered through the procedures of the polka, march, and white minstrel song. Classic ragtime flourished from 1895 to 1915 when a number of talented pianists gathered at Tom Turpin’s Rosebud Cafe in St. Louis. The greatest was Scott Joplin (1868-1917), whose infectiously syncopated marches conceal a solid compositional technique. Inspired by the Joplin revival of the 1970s (itself spurred by the soundtrack to the film The Sting), I found playing and composing rags habit-forming, and the habit persists. My own rags show various influences: classic ragtime, the classical showpiece, and stride (the highly embellished, virtuosic offshoot of ragtime practised by Harlem pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller). The Four Rags for Two Jo(h)ns were written at the insistence of clarinetist Jon Manasse and pianist Jon Nakamatsu. I’m mightily grateful to them for the pressure they exerted, for they play the set with virtuosity, panache, and an uncanny feel for the idiom, and I am delighted that they’ll be recording the rags for Harmonia Mundi later this year. This afternoon, I’ll do my best in filling Mr. Nakamatsu’s spot on the piano bench. By Michael Parloff Return to Parlance Program Notes

March 9, 2025: Ravel’s 150th Birthday Concert, Soohong Park, piano Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Le Tombeau de Couperin for piano March 9, 2025: Ravel’s 150th Birthday Concert, Soohong Park, piano The term tombeau originated in the seventeenth century as the title for memorial dirges composed to honor friends or famous people, specifically as used by lutenist-composer Denis Gaulthier (1603–1672). Couperin, influenced by Gaulthier’s style and his fanciful titles, went even further by composing entire suites to honor Lully and Corelli, entitled Apothéoses . Ravel took up the French tradition, paying homage “less, in reality, to Couperin himself,” he said, “than to eighteenth-century French music”—particularly harpsichord music. Conceived in 1914 but interrupted by Ravel’s participation in World War I, the original piano suite was completed in 1917. Ravel dedicated the six movements to the memory of six friends who had died in the War, making it a kind of double tombeau . Marguerite Long, a great champion of Ravel’s music, premiered the piano version on April 11, 1919. Before the year’s end Ravel heard that Rolf de Maré, director of the Ballet Suédois, wanted to produce a ballet of Le tombeau , but in an orchestral version. He happily chose four of the six original movements to orchestrate—Prélude, Forlane, Minuet, and Rigaudon. This version was first heard not as a ballet but at a concert of the Pasdeloup Orchestra of Paris in 1920 with the ballet version presented later that year. Reflecting Baroque style, the Prélude spins out in fast running triplets in a kind of perpetual motion, but with Impressionist harmonies. The Forlane, with its haunting melody, stems from the ancient dance of the same name, which actually originated in Italy and is distantly related to the French gigue. The lovely Minuet is a restrained movement, growing slightly more agitated in the middle section, but retaining the elegance of the courtly dance. Ravel based the festive Rigaudon on the ancient lively Provençal dance, which was immensely popular in its ballroom version during the reigns of Louis XIII, XIV, and XV. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

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2019-2020 ARTIST ROSTER BENJAMIN BEILMAN, VIOLIN 2019 INN-HYUCK CHO, CLARINET YING FANG, SOPRANO PAUL JACOBS, ORGAN BENJAMIN LUXON, ACTOR-NARRATOR JUHO POHJONEN, PIANO DANBI UM, VIOLIN DEMIAN AUSTIN, TROMBONE CHRIS COLETTI, TRUMPET DAVID J. GROSSMAN, DOUBLE BASS PAUL LEWIS, PIANO FRANK MORELLI, BASSOON QUARTETTO DI CREMONA ZUKERMAN TRIO IAN ROSENBAUM, PERCUSSION ANNI CROFUT, DANCER PAUL HUANG, VIOLIN MATTHEW LIPMAN, VIOLA KEN NODA, PIANO ANDREW TYSON, PIANO

ZUKERMAN TRIO Pinchas Zukerman, violin Amanda Forsyth, cello Shai Wosner, piano With a celebrated career encompassing five decades, Pinchas Zukerman reigns as one of today's most sought after and versatile musicians.  A prodigious talent recognized worldwide for his artistry, Zukerman has been an inspiration to young musicians throughout his adult life. In a continuing effort to motivate future generations through education and outreach, the renowned violin and viola soloist, conductor, and chamber musician teamed up in 2002 with four protégés to form a string quintet called the Zukerman Chamber Players. The quintet amassed an impressive international touring schedule with close to two hundred concerts and four discs on the CBC, Altara and Sony labels. The Zukerman Trio emerged out of the Zukerman Chamber Players with an official launch in 2013. Since then, the ensemble has performed globally in Japan, China, Australia, Spain, Italy, France, Hungary, Canada, South Africa, Istanbul, Russia and Germany. The Trio has appeared at major North American festivals, including Ravinia, Tanglewood, Aspen, Bravo! Vail and Banff and European festivals in Edinburgh, Verbier and Schleswig Holstein. In 2020, pianist Shai Wosner joined Zukerman and cellist Amanda Forsyth, and the three continue to find joy and inspiration performing the classical trio and duo literature. Born in Tel Aviv, Pinchas Zukerman came to America in 1962, where he studied at The Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian. The renowned virtuoso has long been admired for the expressive lyricism of his playing, singular beauty of tone, and impeccable musicianship, which can be heard throughout his discography of over 100 albums for which he earned two GRAMMY® awards and 21 nominations. Zukerman has been awarded a Medal of Arts, the Isaac Stern Award for Artistic Excellence, and was appointed as the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative's first instrumentalist mentor in the music discipline. A devoted and innovative pedagogue, Mr. Zukerman chairs the Pinchas Zukerman Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music, where he has pioneered the use of distance-learning technology in the arts. Since 2021, he has served as Artistic & Principal Education Partner for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He holds the title of Conductor Emeritus with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada. Canadian Juno award winning cellist Amanda Forsyth is considered among her peers and critics alike to be one of the most dynamic cellists on the concert stage today. Describing a recent performance, California’s Ventura County Star raves: “In Forsyth’s hands, it was sheer magic.” She has achieved an international reputation as a premiere soloist and chamber musician and previously enthralled audiences as the principal cellist of both The Calgary Philharmonic and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestras. Her intense richness of tone, exceptional musicality and passion are reminiscent of cellists of a former age. She captivates audiences with every phrase. Pianist Shai Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity, and creative insight. His performances of a broad range of repertoire—from Beethoven and Schubert to Ligeti and the music of today—reflect a degree of virtuosity and intellectual curiosity that has made him a favorite among audiences and critics, who note his “keen musical mind and deep musical soul” (NPR’s All Things Considered ). Mr. Wosner is a recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. He is on the faculty at the Longy School of Music in Boston.

December 5, 2021: Paul Jacobs, organ JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Sheep May Safely Graze, BWV 208 December 5, 2021: Paul Jacobs, organ Bach wrote secular cantatas for aristocratic patrons to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays, name days, and accession days, or for academic ceremonies. He wrote one of his most famous, Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd! (What pleases me is above all the lively hunt), BWV 208, on a text by Weimar court poet Salomo Franck for the birthday of Duke Christian Weissenfels in 1713. Known as the Hunt Cantata, it contains “Schafe können sicher weiden,” the well-known aria for Pales, second soprano to Diana, goddess of the hunt. For centuries listeners have been captivated by its texture of rocking parallel thirds for two flutes—the quintessential pastoral instrument—accompanying the tender main melody, which praises Duke Christian for ruling his people as a good shepherd. Though the lovely aria has been transcribed for myriad instruments, arrangements for organ are particularly felicitous because organs have “flute stops,” that is, settings for pipes that will sounds specifically like flutes. The present organ arrangement is by French organist and composer André Isoir (1935–2016). Isoir studied in Paris at the École Cesar-Franck before he became a student of Roland Falcinelli at the Paris Conservatory, where he received the premier prix in both organ and improvisation in 1960. Winner of numerous international prizes, Isoir served as organist at St. Médard, St. Séverin, and the Abbatial Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris from 1973 onward. He became especially known for his Bach performances. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

September 23, 2018: Arnaud Sussmann, solo violin; Michael Brown, piano; Sean Lee, violin; Emily Smith, violin; Matt Lipman, viola; Nick Canellakis, cello ERNEST CHAUSSON (1855-1899) Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet in D major, op. 21 September 23, 2018: Arnaud Sussmann, solo violin; Michael Brown, piano; Sean Lee, violin; Emily Smith, violin; Matt Lipman, viola; Nick Canellakis, cello Chausson is one of an illustrious group of composers who initially studied to be something else. Berlioz studied medicine, Vivaldi trained for the priesthood, Telemann, Rameau, Handel, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky all studied law, and so on. Chausson had to earn a law degree and license to satisfy his father. He had, nonetheless, been nurtured in music, painting, and literature by his wealthy parents and by the tutor they engaged for him, and he became acquainted with many of the most important artists of the day. He was twenty-five by the time he had finished his law studies and decided that of all the arts, music attracted him most. He then entered the Paris Conservatory, where César Franck became his most influential teacher. Because of his late start and untimely death at forty-four from a bicycle accident, Chausson had only a short composing career. His achievements were notable, however; his most successful compositions are probably his Poème for violin and orchestra, various songs, and the present Concert, op. 21. Written between 1889 and 1891, the Concert is unique in the chamber music repertoire—scored for solo piano and violin with string quartet. Chausson entitled it Concert (French for concerto) rather than “Sextet,” but it lies somewhere between a double concerto, in which the two solo instruments are pitted against an entire orchestra, and a sextet, in which all the instruments are more or less equal. The opening three-note motive of the introduction is the germinating cell of the first movement, which unfolds in full-fledged Romantic sonata form. The second movement is a brief intimate Sicilienne in A minor. The composer Vincent d’Indy, who arranged for the work’s premiere, described it as like “the gardens where bloom the charming fancies of a Gabriel Fauré.” Chausson is at his most brooding and chromatic in the third movement marked Grave. D’Indy remarked that the finale is “somewhat oddly conceived, and partakes rather of the nature of variation form than of one of the forms regularly employed in the sonata.” Yet it is like a rondo in many respects: the animated main theme regularly returns (albeit varied), and material of episodic nature intervenes, including material from the previous movements (second theme of the Grave). Franck’s influence on Chausson surfaces in the work’s cyclical form, modulatory procedures, and expressive lyricism. The Concert is dedicated, as is the Poème, to Eugène Ysaÿe, who played the solo violin part in the premiere in Brussels on March 4, 1892. The Crickboom Quartet played the remaining string parts, and Auguste Pierret was the pianist who saved the day when the originally scheduled pianist suddenly returned the score as too difficult. (Chausson dedicated his next chamber work, the Piano Quartet, op. 30, to Pierret in gratitude for his fine performance.) Chausson, a composer continually plagued by self doubt, was thrilled at the instant success of the Concert, which now occupies a permanent place in the chamber music repertoire. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

February 16, 2020: Ying Fang, soprano; Ken Noda, piano SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943) Six Songs, Op. 38: In My Garden at Night, To Her, Daisies, Pied Piper, Dreams, A-oo February 16, 2020: Ying Fang, soprano; Ken Noda, piano Rachmaninoff composed all of his approximately ninety songs in the first half of his life—the first in 1890, when he was a student at the Moscow Conservatory, and his final set, op. 38, in 1916, the year before he left Russia for what turned out to be the last time. This last collection and the one before, op. 34, came about in part through a fan letter he received in 1912 from someone signed “Re.” Soon discovering that the sender was poet Marietta Shaganian, he wrote to ask for suggestions of poems to set, saying: “The authors may be living or dead—it makes no difference!—only that the things must be original, not translations, and must be no more than 8 to 12 lines long, at most 16. And one more thing: the mood should be sad rather than happy. The lighter shades don’t come easily to me!” Of the fourteen songs in Opus 34, half, he wrote to Shaganian, were ones she had suggested and analyzed for him. Most were Romantic poets with the addition of the more modern Bal’mont. For the Opus 38 set, she again provided texts for him, trying to turn his conservative tastes toward more contemporary symbolist poets, such as Blok, Bryusov, Severyanin, Sologub, and again Bal’mont. Though the composer had noted his affinity for dark moods, which had characterized his earlier songs, these two last sets for the most part transmit more peaceful, uplifting, and even humorous aspects than gloomy ones. Rachmaninoff had plenty of reason for gloom in the fall of 1916 because he was being treated at a sanatorium in Essentuki for tiredness and a pain in his wrist. Shaganian visited him there and described his state of total despair and self-doubt saying that he broke into tears several times as he described his inability to work and the galling idea that it was impossible to be anything more than “a well-known pianist and a mediocre composer.” She ended her lengthy description saying, “He spoke of the impossibility of living in the state he was, and all this in a terrible dead voice, almost that of an old man, with his eyes lifeless and his face grey and ill.” It was during that visit that she gave him a notebook full of her suggestions of poems to set, just as she had done four years earlier. This helped to jolt him out of his creative slump, but he was also aided by visits from other friends, his move out of the sanatorium to nearby spa city Kislovodsk—and above all spending time with the young soprano Nina Pavlovna Koshetz, whom he had accompanied in a recital that spring and who had also visited him at Essentuki. They made plans for another concert, he composed the Opus 38 Songs in August and September, and they premiered them in Moscow in October 24. Rachmaninoff opens the Six Songs with the haunting “In My Garden at Night,” his setting of Alexander Blok’s translation of Avetik Isaakian’s poem, in which he responds to the images of the weeping willow—metaphorically a lovelorn maiden—with simple, melancholic unmeasured phrases. The second half rises to an impassioned peak at “bitterly” as the poem promises that “tender maiden dawn” will dry weeping willow’s tears. “To Her” continues the lovelorn theme, this time a poem by Andrey Bely in which each of three verses ends with the poet calling futilely to his beloved. Rachmaninoff allows great metric freedom in his through-composed setting but preserves the structural text refrains with recognizably similar but ingeniously varied, impassioned phrases. Other striking features include the opening five-note chromatic gesture, which permeates the setting even when the accompaniment becomes more dense, and the fluid music for the river Lethe, the mythological river in Hades that causes forgetfulness. For “Daisies,” op. 38, no. 3, Rachmaninoff chose a 1909 unassuming nature poem by Igor Severyanin. His setting exudes charm with its treble-oriented sonorities, its graceful, independent melodies for the voice and the piano right-hand, and its memorable extended piano postlude. “The Pied Piper,” fourth in the set, shows Rachmaninoff’s rarely seen humorous side as he responds to Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov’s 1914 poem, itself a play on the famous legend. The piper lures—not rats or children—but his beloved out of her house with the enticing sounds of his flute. Rachmaninoff delightfully depicts the flute in both the voice and piano parts. In “A Dream,” op. 38, no. 5, Rachmaninoff responds ingeniously to poet Fyodor Sologub’s images of disembodied dreaming. His atmospheric piano part uses various bell-like sounds—a favorite device of his—to set the scene for the soaring vocal lines. Placed last in Opus 38, “A-oo” sets a 1909 poem by Konstantin Dmitriyevich Bal’mont in which a lover remembers fondly the laughter of his beloved and a dream of them running together to a mountain slope. Rachmaninoff’s pianistic shimmer aptly conveys the poet’s eager, anticipation of finding her, his agitated chords and short vocal phrases portray the lover’s confusion at not finding her, and the music builds to an incredibly impassioned peak as the lover calls “A-oo” hoping she’ll answer back. That hope clearly dies in the piano postlude, which trails off in open-ended quiet. © Jane Vial Jaffe Texts and Translations Ночью в саду у меня Ночью в саду у меня Плачет плакучая ива, И безутешна она Ивушка, Грустная ива. Раннее утро блеснет, Нежная девушка Зорька Ивушке, плачущей горько, Слёзы кудрями сотрет. —Alexander Blok In My Garden at Night At night in my garden a weeping willow weeps, and she is inconsolable, weeping willow, sad willow. When early morning shines tender maiden dawn will dry bitterly weeping willow’s tears with her curls. К ней Травы одеты перлами. Где-то приветы Грустные слышу, Приветы милые . . . Милая, где ты, Милая! Вечера светы ясные, Вечера светы красные Руки воздеты: Жду тебя, Милая, где ты, Милая? Руки воздеты: Жду тебя, В струях Леты смытую Бледными Леты струями… Милая, где ты, Милая! —Andrey Bely To Her Pearls adorn the grass. From somewhere I hear mournful greetings, Cherished greetings . . . Dear one, where are you? Dear one! The lights of evening are clear, The lights of evening are red, My arms raised, I await you, Dear one, where are you? Dear one? My arms raised, I await you; In the streams, Lethe washes the years away, Pale Lethe, In the streams, Dear one, where are you? Dear one! (Маргаритки) О, посмотри! как много маргариток— И там, и тут . . . Они цветут; их много; их избыток; Они цветут. Их лепестки трёхгранные—как крылья, Как белый шёлк . . . В них лета мощ! В них радость изобилья! В них слетлый полк. Готовь, земля, цветам из рос напиток, Дай сок стеблю . . . О, девушки! о, звезды маргариток! Я вас люблю . . . —Igor Severyanin Daisies Oh, look! how many daisies— here and there . . . they are blooming; so many; they are abundant. they are blooming. Their petals are triangluar—like wings, like white silk . . . they have the power of summer! the joy of abundance! they are a radiant regiment. Earth, prepare the flowers a drink of dew, give the stems juice. Oh, maidens, oh starry daisies, I love you! Крысолов Я на дудочке играю,— Тра-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля, Я на дудочке играю, Чьи-то души веселя. Я иду вдоль тихой речки, Тра-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля, Дремлют тихие овечки, Кротко зыблются поля. Спите, овцы и барашки, Тра-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля, За лугами красной кашки Стройно встали тополя. Малый домик там таится, Тра-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля, Милой девушке приснится, Что ей душу отдал я. И на нежный зов свирели, Тра-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля, Выйдет словно к светлой цели Через сад через поля. И в лесу под дубом темным, Тра-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля, Будет ждать в бреду истомном, В час, когда уснет земля. Встречу гостью дорогую, Тра-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля, Вплоть до утра зацелую, Сердце лаской утоля. И, сменившись с ней колечком, Тра-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля-ля, Отпущу ее к овечкам, В сад, где стройны тополя. —Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov Pied Piper I play upon my little pipe,— tra-la-la-la-la-la-la, I play upon my little pipe, making people’s souls merry. I walk along a quiet stream, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la, gentle lambs doze, Fields wave softly. Sleep, sheep and lambs, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la, beyond the meadows of red clover slender poplars rise. A little house is hidden there, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la, a sweet girl will dream that I gave her my soul. And at the gentle call of my flute, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la, she will come as if to a radiant goal, through the garden, through the fields. And in the forest under a dark oak, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la, she will wait in dazed delirium for the hour when the earth falls asleep. I shall meet my dear guest, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la, I shall kiss her until morning, assuaging my heart with caresses. And once we have exchanged rings, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la, I’ll let her go to the lambs, to the garden with the slender poplars. Son (Сон) В мире нет ничего Дожделеннее сна, Чары есть у него, У него тишина, У него на устах Ни печаль и ни смех, И в бездонных очах Много тайных утех. У него широки, Широки два крыла, И легки, так лёгки, Как полночная мгла. Не понять, как несёт, И куда и на чем Он крылом не взмахнет И не двинет плечом. —Fyodor Sologub Dream There is nothing in the world better than sleep, he has an enchantment, he silence. He has on his lips neither sadness nor laughter and in bottomless eyes many secret pleasures. He has wide, two wide wings, and they are light, so light like a midnight shadow. How he carries you is unknown, and where, on what, he won’t flap his wing And he will not move his shoulder. Ау Твой нежный смех был сказкою изменчивою, Он звал как в сон зовёт свирельный звон. И вот венком, стихом тебя увенчиваю. Уйдём, бежим вдвоем на горный склон. Но где же ты? Лишь звон вершин позванивает Цветку цветок средь дня зажег свечу. И чей-то смех все в глубь меня заманивает. Пою, ищу, Ау! Ау! кричу. —Konstantin Dmitrevich Bal’mont A-oo! Your gentle laughter was a volatile fairy tale, calling like a flute in a dream. Now I crown you with a wreath of verse. Let’s go, let’s run together to the mountainside. But where are you? Only the sound of the heights is ringing a flower for another flower lit a candle midday. And someone’s laughter deep inside lures me. I sing, I search, “A-oo!” “A-oo!” I shout. Return to Parlance Program Notes