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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January 29, 2023: DANISH STRING QUARTET FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828) String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D. 804, Op. 29 (“Rosamunde”) January 29, 2023: DANISH STRING QUARTET Schubert wrote his first string quartets—seven or eight of them not counting lost or incomplete works—between 1812 and 1814 while he was a student at the Kaiserlich-königliches Stadtkonvikt (Imperial and Royal City College), Vienna’s principal boarding school for non-aristocrats. Already an excellent violinist and pianist, Schubert had begun playing viola in his family’s string quartet from about 1811 on during school vacations—with his brothers Ignaz and Franz on violin and his father on cello. Then, between 1814 and 1816, during his so-called “song years,” he wrote only three more quartets, followed by a hiatus of four years until he began writing a string quartet in C minor. He abandoned this work after writing just one movement, known as the Quartettsatz, and a few bars of a slow movement. Finally, in the spring of 1824 he took up quartet writing again with the A minor Quartet, which along with his next quartet in D minor, “Death and the Maiden,” are some of the best in the repertoire. Two events impacted Schubert’s writing of the A minor Quartet, which he completed very quickly in February and March 1824. One was that he met violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh, who led the quartet that had premiered Beethoven’s recent quartets. When the Schuppanzigh Quartet premiered the A minor Quartet on March 14 that year, it was the first public performance of any of Schubert’s quartets. Dedicated to Schuppanzigh, the work received only minimal though at least not negative notice in the press, and Schubert immediately began composing the D minor Quartet, but that work was not performed until two years later, and he gave up on his idea of writing a third quartet to publish in a set of three. He later did compose the G major Quartet as a separate work, but only the D minor was published during his lifetime—many of his works remined unpublished for decades. The other life event was his health having taken a turn for the worse. Schubert had contracted syphilis in late 1822, and this recent intensification brought extreme dejection as he realized his time was limited. Surely the poignantly beautiful A minor Quartet shows some of that despair. On March 31, shortly after the premiere of the work, he poured out his misery in a letter to his friend Leopold Kupelweiser: I find myself to be the most unhappy and wretched creature in the world. Imagine a man whose health will never be right again, and who in sheer despair continually makes things worse and worse instead of better; imagine a man, I say, whose most brilliant hopes have perished, to whom the felicity of love and friendship have nothing to offer but pain at best, whom enthusiasm (at least of the stimulating variety) for all things beautiful threatens to forsake, and I ask you, is he not a miserable, unhappy being? “My peace is gone, my heart is sore, I shall find it nevermore.” I might as well sing every day now, for upon retiring to bed each night I hope that I may not wake again, and each morning only recalls yesterday’s grief. The quote in that letter is from his 1814 song “Gretchen am Spinnrade,” words by Goethe, and it seems more than coincidence that the first movement of the A minor Quartet begins much like the song that deals with Gretchen’s forlorn state—a restless opening accompaniment figure topped by the violin’s lyrical outpouring of the main theme. The repetition of the theme in the major mode does not banish the mood, nor does the major-mode second theme. Schubert’s development section is a masterpiece of thematic and harmonic construction, exploring several minor keys in a dramatic arc, and the recapitulation takes some unexpected harmonic turns, ending in the minor mode. Schubert borrowed the theme of the slow movement from his incidental music to Wihelm von Chézy’s ill-fated play Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern (Rosamunde, princess of Cypress), which closed after only two performances in December 1823. Schubert employs the tender, memorable theme—originally the entrance music for a shepherdess and her flock—not as the subject for variations but for a simple A-B-A-B-coda form in which the coda expressively combines the music of the two sections. Schubert would return to the Rosamunde theme yet again in his B-flat major Impromptu. The characteristic long-short-short rhythm was a favorite with many composers, but it seems especially striking that Beethoven uses it so memorably in the Allegretto of his Seventh Symphony, which Schubert greatly admired. The Menuetto opens with another self-reminiscence, in this case from his song “Die Götter Griechenland” (The gods of Greece) where it sets Schiller’s words “Schöne Welt, wo bist du?” (Beautiful world, where are you?). It soon swings into a lilting dance rhythm, though still tinged with melancholy. Schubert carries the opening motive into the trio section, which provides major-mode though short-lived contrast. The finale gives the impression of a rustic peasant dance, though it does not project the kind of exuberance of, say, the last movement of Mendelssohn’s A minor Italian Symphony. Schubert constructed an ingenious sonata-rondo form in which the main theme does not return in complete form as a refrain. Instead the first part returns before the development section and the second part recurs after. The A major tonality of this movement, as customary in Schubert’s hands, is a very fluid affair; he eventually ends solidly in the major home key in some delightful delicacy topped off with two emphatic cadential chords. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2017 AT 3 PM LOS ANGELES GUITAR QUARTET BUY TICKETS LOS ANGELES GUITAR QUARTET “The world’s hottest classical ensemble or its tightest pop band? However it helps you to think about the LAGQ, keep the emphasis on superlatives for its unrivaled joy, technical élan and questing spirits.” — Los Angeles Times “Ensemble guitar playing doesn’t doesn’t come any better.” — The Kansas City Star FEATURING ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS On November 19 , the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will offer a varied program of classical favorites, tracing a broad dramatic arc and emotional journey. For three decades, the LAGQ has set the standard for expression and virtuosity among guitar ensembles. Their acclaimed transcriptions of concert masterworks provide a fresh look at the music of the past while their interpretations from the contemporary realm continually break new ground. The highlight of the program will be Road to the Sun , written for the LAGQ by guitar legend Pat Metheny. This six-movement work is a journey through the musical worlds of Metheny, including jazz, groove, ballad, rock and expressionist elements. Not to be missed! PROGRAM Music from the Time of Cervantes (arr. W. Kanengiser) Anonymous (17th century) Jácaras Antonio Martín y Coll El Villano Antonio Martín y Coll Diferéncias Sobre Las Folias Juan Arañéz Chacona (“La Vida Bona”) Juan de Encina Oy Comamos Program Notes Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, BWV 1051 Program Notes Three Brazilian Pieces Hermeto Pascoal Da Sábado pra Dominguihnos Hermeto Pascoal A Lenda do Caboclo Baden Powell Samba Novo Program Notes Opals Phillip Houghton Opals Program Notes Pat Metheny Pat Metheny Road to the Sun Program Notes Watch the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet play a Tarantella: Watch the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet play music from the time of Cervantes:

YOON KWON, VIOLIN Described by Dorothy DeLay as a violinist with “staggering imagination” and “one of the most expressive tones I’ve ever heard”, violinist Yoon Kwon’s compelling musicianship and dynamic stage presence have won the hearts of audiences around the world. Her performances have earned her critical acclaim across four continents, garnering remarks such as “magic that transcends mere pyrotechnical flash”, “infinitely beautiful sound… holding an audience spellbound”, and “utterly assured and carefree…a talent that kept us enchanted throughout”. Yoon Kwon began her professional career in 1993 as a thirteen-year-old, youngest winner in the history of the New Jersey Symphony Young Artists Auditions joining the roster of IMG Artists, alongside such artists as Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell. She has since concertized extensively as soloist with major orchestras and in recitals and chamber music appearances with distinguished musicians. Today, still only in her mid-twenties, Yoon Kwon is a seasoned artist with a remarkable and excitingly versatile career. In addition to her solo appearances, she is currently the youngest first violinist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, a member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Two, and the lead violinist of her own jazz ensemble, Emergence, appearing regularly in New York City’s jazz clubs. As soloist, Ms. Kwon has appeared abroad with such orchestras as the Cologne Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, (it’s 100th season opening gala) Orquesta Sinfonica de Teatro Colon (Argentina), Euro-Asian Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, Istanbul State Symphony, and the Mexico State Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. Her numerous US appearances include performances with the symphonies of Cincinnati, Chicago, Colorado, Greenville, Houston, Honolulu, Phoenix, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, St. Louis, and Wichita, and others. Among the conductors she has collaborated with are James Conlon, Lawrence Foster, Sergiu Commissiona, Paavo Jarvi, Haermann Michael, Stefan Sandering, Alan Gilbert, Tandeuz Strugala, Gurer Aykal, David Lockington, Andre Raphael Smith, and Enrique Batiz. Her recital credits are also numerous: Ravinia Rising Stars Series, St. Louis Great Artist Series, La Jolla Discovery Series, and Aspen Winter Series. During the 1998-2003 seasons, under the auspices of Columbia Artists Community Concerts, Yoon and her sister, pianist Min Kwon, undertook extensive tours of joint recitals and master classes across the US. Yoon Kwon is also a frequent performer at summer festivals, including Marlboro, Aspen, Santa Fe, La Jolla, Tanglewood, Vancouver, Rome and Cassamagiore (Italy), Kuhmo (Finland), and Interlaken, Verbier (Switzerland), collaborating with such distinguished musicians as Andras Schiff, Pinchas Zukerman, Richard Stolzman, Midori, Felix Galimir, Cho-Liang Lin, Robert McDuffie, Daniel Blumenthal, Carter Brey, and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, and Emerson string quartets. Yoon Kwon released her debut CD on the BMG/RCA Red Seal label in Korea in 1997 to critical acclaim, becoming the first Korean artist to record for the label. She has also recorded You and Me, an album of solo and duo works with pianist Min Kwon, Anthony Newman’s Sonata for Violin and Piano with the composer at the piano. She can be also heard on a jazz album entitled Phoenix on the Songlines label. Yoon Kwon’s captivating and passionate performances have been seen and heard by television and radio audiences worldwide. Ms Kwon has been a feature performer on CBS TV’s New Year’s Eve Peace Concert hosted by Maya Angelou, and broadcast from New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine. She has also been featured on NBC TV (USA), TV Stuttgart and WDR (Germany), KBS and SBS TV (Korea), and numerous FM stations across the US. A native of Seoul, Korea, Yoon Kwon began her musical studies at the age of three, studying the piano. At the age of six, she began studying the violin, and two years later was accepted into the Juilliard School, where she studied with the late Dorothy DeLay. In 1997, at the age of the 17, she was the youngest winner in the history of The Juilliard School Concerto Competition, resulting in her Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center debut later that year. Ms. Kwon received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees as well as the prestigious Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School where she studied with Dorothy DeLay, Hyo Kang, Cho-Liang Lin, and Donald Weilerstein. She was the recipient of the Avery Fisher Stradivarius on loan from The Juilliard School and Sennhouser Guarnerius del Gesu on loan from the Stradivari Society. She also enjoys teaching, and has taught at Columbia University’s Young Musicians Program, Kuhmo International Music Course in Finland, and as assistant to Cho-Liang Lin, at The Juilliard School.

December 15, 2024: THE VIRTUOSO FLUTIST. DENIS BOURIAKOV, FLUTE. A RECITAL FOR FLUTE AND ORCHESTRA, with Erin Bouriakov, Flute. Musicians From The New York Philharmonic. Michael Parloff, Conductor. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Flute Concerto in G, K. 313 December 15, 2024: THE VIRTUOSO FLUTIST. DENIS BOURIAKOV, FLUTE. A RECITAL FOR FLUTE AND ORCHESTRA, with Erin Bouriakov, Flute. Musicians From The New York Philharmonic. Michael Parloff, Conductor. In the winter of 1777 when Mozart was visiting Mannheim, he became very friendly with various wind players whose playing he thought was brilliant. One of these, flutist Johan Baptiste Wendling, had even gone so far as to try to get Mozart a position with Karl Theodor, Elector Palatine. When no position was available and it seemed Mozart would have to leave Mannheim, Wendling industriously procured commissions for him. One such commission came from wealthy Dutch surgeon and accomplished amateur flutist Ferdinand Dejean, who requested what the composer referred to in 1777 as “three short, simple concertos and a couple of quartets for flute” for which the fee was to be 200 gulden. By the time Dejean left for Paris on February 15, 1778, Mozart had completed two full-fledged concertos (though one was an arrangement of an earlier oboe concerto) and three quartets (though until relatively recently the C major Flute Quartet was not authenticated as dating from then because of a quirk in paper studies). He was chagrined, nonetheless, to receive only 96 gulden, saying it went against their agreement. Mozart’s father then surmised how many compositions the original commission must have entailed, based on the fact that his son had received less than half of his fee, and sent an angry letter berating him for his laziness. Yet the younger Mozart cannot be accused of lying about the scope of the commission to please his father, as has been repeated for more than a century—in fact his references to the commission vary as to number and type of composition. Rather, there simply remained an unknown number of works to be completed and Wolfgang wanted payment in advance. This suggests that Dejean would be crossing paths with Mozart after Paris—and indeed Dejean, a fellow Freemason, took up residence in Vienna. It is even possible that the Fourth Flute Quartet (associated with Gottfried von Jacquin) may have been played by Dejean and possibly even counted as an extension of the earlier Dejean commission. But to return to Mozart’s response to his father’s angry letter, it contains a line as an excuse that has grieved flute lovers ever since: “You know that I am quite powerless when I am obliged to write for an instrument I cannot bear.” Is this really what he meant? How can he have written such idiomatic, engaging music for an instrument he supposedly did not like? And did he not greatly admire the flute playing of his friend Wendling? The G major Concerto is a charming work and is by no means “short” and “simple.” The first movement’s opening tutti (ensemble) section presents the forthright main theme and hints at a second theme, but closes with a new, rhythmic arpeggiated passage that returns at important junctures. After the flute’s elaborated exposition of the majestic theme, a bit of the arpeggiated tutti returns to launch the second theme. One of the many ways Mozart displays the soloist’s prowess is in frequent wide leaps, which tests the ability to project in the low register and to move quickly between registers. Mozart provides an opportunity for a solo cadenza just before the arpeggiated tutti closes the movement. The Adagio ma non troppo is one of those leisurely, exquisite movements at which Mozart was so adept. He follows slow-movement sonata form, in which an exposition and recapitulation are separated by a short episode rather than a full development section. Of special note here is the velvety sonority achieved by having the upper strings play muted and the lower strings sometimes in gentle pizzicato. Throughout the flute shows its ability to play lyrically and ornament gracefully. Here, too, Mozart provides an opportunity for a cadenza toward the end. The closing sonata-rondo movement brings in the flute right at the outset. Each return of this delightful refrain brings subtle variants to keep the ear engaged. Mozart introduces the contrasting minor mode episode with a little hint that “something is up” by varying the little tutti scale figures that lead up to it. The placement of the cadenza here before the recapitulation allows this section to proceed without interruption and even to end in quiet elegance. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

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HUGO VALVERDE, HORN Hugo Valverde carries an orchestral and solo career in the United States and his native Costa Rica as a French horn player, currently holding the position of Second Horn with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 2017. As an orchestra player he has performed with the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Tahoe Festival Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Americas, The Pacific Music Festival Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra. In his role as a soloist he performed Richard Strauss’ Concerto No. 1 with the Lynn Philharmonia Orchestra under Guillermo Figueroa and he premiered the piece “Tributo al Ciudadano Pablo” by Marvin Camacho with the Heredia Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica under Josué Jiménez. The piece is written and dedicated to him by the composer and it reflects Hugo Valverde’s commitment to Latin American repertoire, having performed and premiered in concert pieces by Manuel Matarrita, and other Latin American composers. He often performs chamber music concerts with his colleagues of the, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at the Carnegie Hall Concert Series (Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble) at Weill Recital Hall and also with the woodwind quintet “Quinteto de Luz” in Costa Rica. Mr. Valverde studied at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Lynn University Conservatory of Music and the National Music Institute of Costa Rica. His main teachers are Luis Murillo, Gregory Miller and William VerMeulen. In his spare time, Hugo enjoys cycling in Central Park and his native Barva, in Costa Rica, and is a coffee lover.

2017-2016 SEASON 2015-2016 SEASON OCTOBER 4, 2015 Richard Goode, piano NOVEMBER 15, 2015 Jeremy Denk, piano, and Stefan Jackiw, violin DECEMBER 13, 2015 Kristin Lee, violin; Paul Watkins, cello; Gilles Vonsattel, piano MARCH 6, 2016 Escher String Quartet APRIL 3, 2016 Sir James Galway and Friends MAY 15, 2016 Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano; Craig Terry, piano 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

< Back Antonín Dvořák Terzetto in C, Op. 74 for 2 violins and viola Program Notes Previous Next

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

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