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April 24, 2022 – Marc-André Hamlein, piano C.P.E. BACH (1714–1788) Suite in E minor Wq 62/12 April 24, 2022 – Marc-André Hamlein, piano Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, third child of J. S. Bach to survive beyond infancy, asserted in his autobiography that he never had any music teacher but his father. Though he may have been exposed to various instruments, he apparently studied only keyboards—clavichord, harpsichord, and the new fortepiano. He traveled very little and held just two long-term major positions: royal chamber music accompanist at the Berlin court of Frederick the Great from 1738 to 1768 and—succeeding his godfather Georg Philipp Telemann—Kantor of the Lateinschule and director of music in the five principal churches in Hamburg (1768–88). As geographically constrained as his life seems to have been, by the time he moved to Hamburg at age fifty-four he was the most famous keyboard player and teacher in Europe. Rejecting much of the polyphonic style of his father, C.P.E. Bach turned to the new German “empfindsamer” (intimately expressive) style, elsewhere called “galant,” of which his music is considered the best representative. The empfindsamer Stil is apparent in his sudden changes of Affekt (affect or mood), bold harmonic schemes, “sighing” motives, and greater emphasis on melody. These characteristics occur to some extent throughout his one thousand or so works, ranging from songs and oratorios to symphonies and keyboard works. The keyboard works, which form the core of his output from the 1730s to the last years of his life, consist of sonatas, fantasias, dance movements, and variations. Only rarely did C.P.E. Bach employ the standard movements of his father’s suites—allemande, courante, sarabande, minuet (or alternate dance such as a gavotte or bourrée), and gigue—as in the present Suite in E minor. The piece first appeared in print under the title “Sonata” in 1761 in the fourth collection of Musikalisches Allerley von verschiedenen Tonkünstlern (Musical pot-pourri by various composers) issued by Berlin publisher Friedrich Wilhelm Birnsteil. Clearly Bach made revisions to certain movements for publication, as can be seen by comparison with his manuscript version of 1751. Scholars are divided on whether the work was actually composed in 1751 or, owing to its retrospective suite form, in the 1730s. The new complete works edition of C.P.E. Bach’s keyboard works, which runs to eighteen volumes (!), rightly classifies it as a suite and provides the opportunity to compare the 1751 version with that published a decade later. Despite C.P.E. Bach’s use of the old-fashioned sequence of movements, his originality shines in his expressive chromatic harmonies and melodic infections, rhythmic motives, syncopations and disruptions, and changes of register. The Allemande, the most extensive of the movements, adopts the stile brisé (arpeggiated texture) of the French harpsichordists, which helps to sustain decaying sounds of notes struck on the keyboard (or lute). The faster paced Courante also keeps up a constant motion with a texture that shift easily between three and two voices. The pensive Sarabande, in imitative style, is striking for its harmonic coloring and expressive peaks, especially in the second half. The fourth movement features three Menuets, the first returning after the second and third in the manner of a refrain. Each exhibits a different character—the first is notable for its striking bass-note downbeats while the upper voice is silent and for its plentiful dotted (long-short) rhythms, the second for its graceful sets of melodic repeated notes, and the third for a very different emphasis on repeated notes in the right hand over a non-stop running bass. The nimble Gigue again takes up the imitative style of an invention, highlighted by a shift to the upper register to begin the second half. Our featured artist Marc-André Hamelin, in a January 2022 interview with Presto Music’s Katherine Cooper, talked about his acclaimed new recording, C.P.E. Bach Sonatas and Rondos (Hyperion). Aside from his childhood knowledge of several C.P.E. Bach pieces, a crucial seed was planted when he listened to his wife’s broadcast of a Mikhail Pletnev C.P.E. Bach CD on her classical radio show around 2008–09, but it wasn’t until three or four years ago that Hamelin seriously explored making a C.P.E. Bach recording himself. The difficult part was choosing what to record out of the eighteen volumes of the complete keyboard works, which were offered to him by the edition’s managing director, Paul Corneilson. Said Hamelin, “I did this recording out of sheer love for the music—and out of hope that it might incite more pianists to look into it, because it’s a fascinating trove of treasures.” © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

March 6, 2016: The Escher String Quartet FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828) String Quartet in D minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden” March 6, 2016: The Escher String Quartet Schubert composed two of his most powerful works in an amazingly short time—the A minor Quartet between February and March 1824, and the D minor Quartet by the end of that March. He intended to add a third quartet and publish them together, but he did not return to the medium until 1826 when he wrote the equally masterful G major Quartet, and only the A minor was published during his lifetime. The D minor Quartet was not taken up by a publisher until three years after Schubert’s death, perhaps because his contemporaries were not ready for the intense world this Quartet projects. The Schuppanzigh Quartet, which premiered many of the Beethoven quartets, did rehearse the work in January 1826 at the home of Schubert’s friend Franz Lachner, and performed it privately on February 1 at the home of Josef Barth. Lachner reported, however, that Ignaz Schuppanzigh’s rendering of the first violin part left much to be desired and that he exclaimed to Schubert, “My dear fellow, this is no good, leave it alone; you stick to your songs!” Undaunted, Schubert went on to compose the third of his projected group, but the D minor’s trial performance may have had a negative effect on publication prospects. The Quartet’s nickname “Der Tod und das Mädchen” (Death and the Maiden), though not used by Schubert, stems from the theme of the slow movement, which he had refashioned from his 1817 song of that title (D. 531). The text, a Matthias Claudius poem, is actually a scene from a Totentanz (dance of death) in which Death dances with a number of human partners, one of whom is the Maiden. The dancers characteristically show the widely divergent attitudes of defiance and acceptance. There has been considerable discussion, however, about how far one can take the death imagery, especially since the other movements are musically unrelated, and the source for the powerful Scherzo is one of Schubert’s hundreds of innocuous German dances for piano. On the other hand, Schubert did reach a nadir of low sprits and ill health in March 1824, culminating in his famous letter to Leopold Kupelweiser on March 31. Expressing his despair in a manner similar to Beethoven’s “Heiligenstadt Testament,” Schubert says he might as well sing “My peace is gone, my heart is sore, I shall find it never and nevermore” (from his “Gretchen am Spinnrade”) since every night he goes to bed hoping not to wake again. Throughout the month he also jotted random thoughts in a notebook, which make it clear that through all his pain and suffering the ability to compose is his shining light. If his despair is in fact reflected in the dark intensity of the Quartets from that month, they also project the sheer glory of significant musical achievement. The D minor Quartet’s urgently driven first movement presents a defiant mood at the outset with a dramatic opening gesture. Many times during the movement Schubert seems to imagine an entire orchestra at his disposal, an idea reinforced by his statement to Kupelweiser that his three-quartet project was part of his intent to “pave my way towards grand symphony.” Despite a lilting second theme, a dark atmosphere permeates, and the coda seems to close in musical sobs. Schubert fashioned the theme for the slow movement’s variations not from the vocal melody of “Death and the Maiden” but from the piano prelude and part of the accompaniment. The simplicity of his grief-laden pulsing chords lends itself extremely well to variations, throughout which he maintains his basic harmonic progression. Schubert’s fertile imagination provides the first violin with passages that rank far above mere decoration and the cello with some wonderful acrobatics. He is also able to turn his somber chords into lively “hunt music” at one point. The minor-mode casts a certain seriousness over much of the movement, but the luminous contrast of the G major variation and the coda’s peaceful ending suggest a kind of transfigured quality—acceptance?—amid the darkness. The Scherzo again suggests defiance with its syncopations and sforzando jabs. It is utterly remarkable how Schubert was able to transform the sixth German Dance, D. 790, into a movement of such forceful energy. The Trio provides a sweet respite, in which the first violin takes a delicate flight of fancy. The Finale, a dark-hued saltarello (leaping dance), has been characterized as a Danse macabre and its galloping main theme may bring to mind another of Schubert’s legendary treatments of Death—his earlier song “Der Erlkönig.” These associations, however, may never have been made without knowing the song origin of the slow movement. The final movement, a grand sonata form with touches of rondo, is one of Schubert’s most riveting and energetic with its several tempestuous climaxes and breathless Prestissimo conclusion. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

September 23, 2018: Sean Lee, solo violin; Emily Smith, violin; Arnaud Sussman, violin; Matt Lipman, viola; Nick Canellakis, cello FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Rondo in A, D. 438 for violin and string quartet September 23, 2018: Sean Lee, solo violin; Emily Smith, violin; Arnaud Sussman, violin; Matt Lipman, viola; Nick Canellakis, cello In 1816 Schubert’s great interest in instrumental ensemble music—particularly violin music—probably stemmed from his involvement with the private orchestra that had grown from his family’s string quartet. He played viola in the quartet, though he had long since been recognized as an accomplished violinist and pianist. That year the orchestra took on new life, coinciding with the change of meeting place to the home of conductor Otto Hatwig. Schubert’s violin works of 1816 included three sonatas—mistakenly published as sonatinas—in D major, A minor, and G minor; the “Concerto” (Conzertstück) in D major for violin and orchestra; and the present Rondo in A major for violin and strings. The latter two works, along with the Adagio and Rondo concertante in F major for piano quartet, show Schubert coming as close as he ever did to writing concertos. All three works give the soloist ample opportunity for display. Just before beginning his A major Rondo that June, Schubert had been studying Mozart’s G minor String Quintet. It comes as no surprise, then, to find him influenced by Mozart’s finale—a rondo with one of Mozart’s rare slow introductions and a similar five-voice texture with a prominent violin part. Standing as a one-movement work, Schubert’s rondo is necessarily expansive in its proportions, beginning like Mozart’s with a substantial Adagio introduction and containing, as in Schubert’s similar works, sections within sections combined with elements of sonata form. In the rondo’s general design A–B–tutti–A–C–tutti–A–B–tutti, the return of “A–B–tutti” functions as a grand recapitulation. Schubert’s two bubbly, dancelike main themes along with his moments of drama, mercurial key changes, virtuosic violin treatment, and energetic ensemble passages combine to make a wonderfully satisfying whole. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

THE DANISH STRING QUARTET FREDERIK ØLAND (VIOLIN); RUNE TONSGAARD SØRENSEN (VIOLIN); ASBJØRN NØRGAARD (VIOLA); FREDRIK SCHØYEN SJÖLIN (CELLO) Among today’s many exceptional chamber music groups, the GRAMMY® nominated Danish String Quartet continuously asserts its preeminence. The Quartet’s playing reflects impeccable musicianship, sophisticated artistry, exquisite clarity of ensemble, and, above all, an expressivity inextricably bound to the music, from Haydn to Shostakovich to contemporary scores. Performances bring a rare musical spontaneity, giving audiences the sense of hearing even treasured canon repertoire as if for the first time, and exuding a palpable joy in music-making that have made them enormously in-demand on concert stages throughout the world. The recipient of many awards and prestigious appointments, including Musical America’s 2020 Ensemble of the Year and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, the Danish String Quartet was named in 2013 as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists and appointed to the The Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two). In 2021-2022, the Danish String Quartet introduce DOPPELGÄNGER, an ambitious 4-year international commissioning project. DOPPELGÄNGER pairs world premieres from four renowned composers—Bent Sørensen, Lotta Wennäkoski, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, and Thomas Adès—with four major works from the masterful chamber music repertoire of Schubert. Each season, the Danish String Quartet will perform a world premiere on a program with its doppelgänger—the Schubert quartet or quintet that inspired it—culminating in the premiere of a quintet by Adès, after the great String Quintet in C major. The DOPPELGÄNGER pieces are commissioned by the Danish String Quartet with the support of Carnegie Hall, Cal Performances, UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures, Vancouver Recital Society, Flagey in Brussels, and Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam. The first commission, composed by Bent Sørensen and inspired by Schubert’s quartet in G Major (D.887), is scheduled to premiere in 2021. In addition to performances of DOPPELGÄNGER, the Danish String Quartet gives over 20 performances throughout North America in the 2021-2022 season. Highlights include debuts at the University of Georgia, Virginia Tech’s Moss Arts Center, Shriver Hall, and Virginia Arts Festival, return trips to Boston’s Celebrity Series, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis, Chamber Music Cincinnati, and University of Washington’s Meany Hall, and a tour of Florida. European highlights include tours of Denmark, France, Germany, and Amsterdam. As part of a multi-year residency, the Danish String Quartet brought a series of five concerts, which mirror the programs in its ongoing recording project with ECM New Series, PRISM, to La Jolla Music Society in November 2019. Each PRISM program is an exploration of the symbiotic musical and contextual relationships between Bach fugues, Beethoven string quartets, and works by Shostakovich, Schnittke, Bartok, Mendelssohn, and Webern, forming an expertly curated musical evolution within each individual program and across the entire PRISM repertory. Prism I, the first disc of this five-album project for the ECM label, was released in September 2018 and garnered a GRAMMY® nomination in the category of Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for the group’s recordings of Beethoven’s Op. 127 in E-flat Major, Bach’s Fugue in E-flat Major (arranged by Mozart), and Shostakovich’s final string quartet, No. 15 in E-flat minor. Prism II was subsequently released in September 2019 to rave reviews including a five-star review from BBC Music Magazine, “Best Classical Music of 2019” from New York Times, and “Classical Music You Must Hear” from Apple Music. Prism III—featuring Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13, Op. 131, Bartók’s String Quartet No. 1, and Bach’s Fugue in C-sharp minor, BWV 849 from The Well-Tempered Clavier—was released in March 2021. The Danish String Quartet returned to North America in the 2019-2020 season as one of the most prominent musical voices in the monumental celebrations of Beethoven’s 250th year. With two sweeping North American tours, the Danish engaged its expansive audience in programming centered around the towering Beethoven string quartets, as well as many important works which inspired, and were inspired by, these revered giants of the classical canon. The Danish returned to Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as the featured string quartet performing the entire Beethoven cycle over the course of six concerts in February 2020. The Quartet performs the cycle again for the Schubert Club in St. Paul, MN, in November 2021. The group takes an active role in reaching new audiences through special projects. In 2007, they established the DSQ Festival, which takes place in an intimate and informal setting at Copenhagen’s Bygningskulturens Hus. The 2020 DSQ Festival featured an array of meticulously curated programs including such guests as violinist Malin William-Olsson, cellist Andreas Brantelid, and pianist Marianna Shirinyan. In 2016, they inaugurated a new music festival, Series of Four, in which they both perform and invite colleagues—the Ebène Quartet, mandolin player Chris Thile, among others—to appear at the venerable Danish Radio Concert Hall. Concerts this season featured collaborations with iconic Scandinavian artists including Andreas Brantelid, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, and the Danish National Girls Choir. Since its debut in 2002, the Danish String Quartet has demonstrated a special affinity for Scandinavian composers, from Carl Nielsen to Hans Abrahamsen, alongside music of Mozart and Beethoven. The Quartet’s musical interests also encompass Nordic folk music, the focus of Wood Works, an album of traditional Scandinavian folk music, released by Dacapo in 2014. As a follow-up, the Danish String Quartet released Last Leaf for ECM, an album of traditional Scandinavian folk music. This recording was one of the top classical albums of 2017, as chosen by NPR, Spotify and The New York Times, among others. Named Artist-in-Residence in 2006 by the Danish Radio, the Quartet was offered the opportunity to record the Nielsen string quartets at the Danish Radio Concert Hall. The two CDs, released in 2007 and 2008 on the Dacapo label, garnered enthusiastic praise for their first recordings—“these Danish players have excelled in performances of works by Brahms, Mozart and Bartók in recent years. But they play Nielsen’s quartets as if they owned them,” noted the New York Times. In 2012, the Danish String Quartet released a recording of Haydn and Brahms quartets on the German AVI-music label, for which they also received critical notice. “What makes the performance special is the maturity and calm of the playing, even during virtuosic passages that whisk by. This is music-making of wonderful ease and naturalness,” observed the New York Times. Subsequently, they recorded works by Brahms and Robert Fuchs with clarinetist Sebastian Manz, released by AVI-music in 2014, and in 2017, an album with music of Thomas Adès, Per Nørgård, and Abrahamsen, the Quartet’s debut on ECM. The Danish String Quartet has received numerous citations and prizes, including First Prize in the Vagn Holmboe String Quartet Competition and the Charles Hennen International Chamber Music Competition in the Netherlands, as well as the Audience Prize at the Trondheim International String Quartet Competition in 2005. In 2009, the Danish String Quartet won First Prize in the 11th London International String Quartet Competition, now known as the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet competition, and return to the celebrated London concert hall frequently. The Quartet was the awarded the 2010 NORDMETALL-Ensemble Prize at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival in Germany, and in 2011, they received the Carl Nielsen Prize, the highest cultural honor in Denmark.

November 19, 2017: Los Angeles Guitar Quartet PAT METHENY Road to the Sun November 19, 2017: Los Angeles Guitar Quartet Guitar is an interesting instrument. Across virtually all genres, it remains an ongoing research project – in the best possible sense. It is an instrument that in general is somewhat undefined by any single approach. There are seemingly infinite ways to deploy the potential of what it offers. And in multiples, those potentials grow exponentially. A few years back, I was flattered to have one of my compositions included in the LAGQ’s Grammy winning CD Guitar Heroes. Not long after that the idea came up that I might someday write something new for them. The idea of writing a guitar quartet inspired by the talents of the LAGQ has been simmering somewhere in the back of my mind ever since. The thought of really addressing the instrument in a more formal way under the auspices of what this quartet has come to embody, not to mention the sheer, almost overwhelming individual skills of the four players, was something I really wanted to do. It was just a matter of finding the time I knew that I would need to do it. Luckily for me, I am very busy as a bandleader and I feel privileged to be able to record and tour almost constantly with my own groups. But after a particularly active year in 2014 where I did more than 150 concerts around the world, I decided, for the first time, to take a year off from the road in 2015. Hopefully, I thought, I could get caught up with a few things. Kind of on my list was this lingering idea of finally writing something for the LAGQ. Near the end of the year, I saw a window opening up where I would have a few weeks that I might dedicate to this. With the approval of the guys and a few really useful tips from all of them, I jumped in, hoping to write a concert piece of 7 to 9 minutes. Two weeks later, I found myself with a nearly 30 minute, 6 movement treatise on the aforementioned potentials of what can happen in a multi-guitar format, blazingly inspired by the thought of hearing these four incredible guitarists play these notes. The piece just literally poured out. In truth, as much as I am identified as being a guitarist myself, I don’t really spend a whole lot of time thinking about the instrument in a specific way. It has always been an almost inadvertent tool for me to translate ideas into sound, and mostly as an improviser at that. And in fact, when I do compose for various projects or for my bands, I almost always am doing it at the piano, a much more forgiving and logical universe to write in than the odd geometry of guitar-thought. But for this piece, I decided to really embrace the instrument and kind of get under the hood of a bunch of things that I do with the instrument, things that are somewhat identified with what it seems has now become my particular style, while at the same time reach for the narrative element of storytelling that is the imperative and primary function for me always as a musician. And yet, with the piece now complete, as much as those components provided an aspirational environment to work from, the main quality that I think the piece offers is the emotional journey that it takes. Somehow through the challenge of writing for this unique platform and aiming it towards the hands of these especially talented players, I was able to get to a very personal area of what music itself is to me. It feels like a journey to me, almost a road trip in scale and scope. In settling on the title “Road to the Sun”, I thought back to my trip up to Glacier National Park on the famous “Going-to-the-Sun Road”, the day after hearing LAGQ play live for the first time at a festival in Montana. It has been a thrill to get the chance to write for the amazing Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and I am very excited to hear what William, Scott, John and Matt will do on their journey with this work. -Pat Metheny February 2016 Pat Metheny: Road to the Sun (2016) was commissioned through the International Arts Foundation, Inc. for the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet by the lead commissioners: Newman Center for the Performing Arts/University of Denver and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, College of Fine + Applied Arts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Additional support provided by co-commissioners: Lobero Theater Foundation, Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College, 92nd Street Y, Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College and Soka University of America/Soka Performing Arts Center. Return to Parlance Program Notes

DAVID FINCKEL, CELLO Cellist David Finckel’s multifaceted career as concert performer, recording artist, educator, arts administrator, and cultural entrepreneur places him in the ranks of today’s most influential classical musicians. In recognition of artistic excellence and achievement in the arts, David Finckel and his longtime recital partner, pianist Wu Han, are recipients of Musical America’s Musicians of the Year award, one of the highest honors granted by the music industry. David Finckel has been hailed as a “world class soloist” (Denver Post) and “one of the top ten, if not top five, cellists in the world today” (Nordwest Zeitung, Germany). In high demand as a chamber musician, he appears in over one hundred concerts each season in recital with pianist Wu Han, and in piano trios with violinist Philip Setzer, at the most prestigious venues and concert series across the United States and around the world. His activities as a concerto soloist include performances and recordings of the Dvorák Concerto, John Harbison Concerto, Britten Concerto, and Augusta Read Thomas’s Ritual Incantations. Highlights of his 2017–18 season include international and domestic tours as a duo and collaborations with a stellar lineup of artists and ensembles. David Finckel continues his important work with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS); reunites with violinist Philip Setzer for performances of the complete cycle of piano trios by Beethoven; announces Music@Menlo’s sixteenth season; and completes the filming of a two-part television feature soon to be carried on several PBS stations. Recently, he joined CMS artists on a grand tour of the Far East with appearances at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Hsinchu Performing Arts Center and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan; and continued to expand the presence of chamber music in South Korea with the seventh annual Chamber Music Today festival. In addition to his distinction as one of classical music’s most accomplished performers, David Finckel has established a reputation for his dynamic and innovative approach to the recording studio. In 1997, David Finckel and Wu Han launched ArtistLed, classical music’s first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company, whose catalogue of nineteen albums has won widespread critical acclaim. This is a milestone season as the label turns twenty in 2018. David Finckel’s recording for the ArtistLed label of the Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev sonatas received BBC Music Magazine’s coveted “Editor’s Choice” award. His most recent album, a reissue of the beautifully remastered and reimagined 2003 recording of Dvořák’s Cello and Augusta Read Thomas’s Ritual Incantations, is with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. Now in their third term as Artistic Directors of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, David Finckel and Wu Han hold the longest tenure since Charles Wadsworth, the founding Artistic Director. They are the founders and Artistic Directors of Music@Menlo, a chamber music festival and institute in Silicon Valley that has garnered international acclaim, and David also serves as Artistic Codirector of Chamber Music Today, an annual festival held in Seoul, Korea. David Finckel has achieved universal renown for his passionate commitment to nurturing the careers of countless young artists through a wide array of education initiatives. For many years, he taught alongside the late Isaac Stern at Carnegie Hall and the Jerusalem Music Center. David is professor of cello at The Juilliard School, Artist-in-Residence at Stony Brook University, and Codirector of the LG Chamber Music School in Korea. He also leads the Finckel-Wu Han Chamber Music Studio at the Aspen Music Festival and the Chamber Music Encounters program at CMS. David served as cellist of the Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet for 34 seasons.

PAOLO BORDIGNON, HARPSICHORD Paolo Bordignon has received critical acclaim for performances ranging from “outstanding… lively and distinctive” interpretations of early music to “compelling” performances of avant-garde repertoire throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. His diverse engagements have included recitals at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and St. Eustache in Paris, a performance for New York Fashion Week, and conducting appearances on NBC’s Today Show. Paolo was a featured soloist at the inauguration of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, performing the New York premiere of Philip Glass’s Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra. He serves as harpsichordist of the New York Philharmonic and has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, The Knights, Camerata Pacifica, English Chamber Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Ars Nova Copenhagen, as well as a Juilliard Gala performance with Renee Fleming and Wynton Marsalis. He has appeared on CNN, NPR, the CBC, and on Korean and Japanese national television with Orpheus and the Sejong string orchestra, performing with Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Kyung-Wha Chung, Cho-Liang Lin, Gil Shaham, Youngok Shin, and Lynn Harrell. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, David Robertson, Bobby McFerrin, Paul Hillier and, in 2008, with Midori on a series of concerts for Lincoln Center’s Great Performers of Lincoln Center performing Bach and Schnittke. A strong advocate of new music, Paolo has worked with composers such as Elliott Carter (performing his Double Concerto for Harpsichord and Piano), David Conte, Jean Guillou, Stephen Hartke, Christopher Theophanides, and Melinda Wagner. As harpsichordist for Jackson Hole’s Grand Teton Music Festival, he was recently a featured soloist with the Festival Orchestra in performances led by Reinhard Goebel, founder of Musica Antiqua Köln. He has participated at festivals in Bruges, Zurich, Aspen, Bridgehampton, at the Bard Music Festival, and at the Aston Magna Academy. He can be heard in recordings on Warner Classics, Universal Music, Tuneful Oasis, Red Bandana, and Eusonia Records. He recently presented a series of ten recitals in residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Musical Instruments. With the Clarion Music Society, he gave the world première of several newly rediscovered, unpublished works of Felix Mendelssohn, including a Sonata for Violin and Pianoforte, and the composer’s only surviving song cycle. In March 2014, he was appointed director of music and organist at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston, TX, where he directs St. Paul’s Choir (70 members) and oversees a vibrant music program in the Anglican tradition comprising St. Paul’s Choral Scholars (high school), Treble Choir, three children’s choirs, Whitechapel change ringing bells, organ recitals, a chamber music series, choral concerts, and residencies in the U.S. and Europe. He was previously Associate Director of Music at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City, where he helped oversee one of the nation’s preeminent church music programs. He directed the Boy & Girl Choristers, and played the Aeolian-Skinner pipe organs of the Chapel and Church, the latter being one of the world’s largest. Deeply committed to training the next generation of musicians, he has served on the VOICE Choral Music Charter School board of directors and has been on the faculty of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J. Paolo earned master’s and doctor of musical arts degrees from the Juilliard School. He studied organ with John Weaver, harpsichord with Lionel Party, and is the first person to graduate Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music with a degree in harpsichord (a double major with organ). Doctoral studies brought him to Leipzig and Berlin, where he examined Johann Sebastian Bach’s autograph and original performance materials of Cantata No. 67, Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ. From 1993 to1996 he was on the roster of associate organists for the Wanamaker Grand Court organ in Philadelphia, the world’s largest operational pipe organ. Paolo is an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, having won the major prizes. Born in Toronto of Italian heritage, Paolo studied organ with John Tuttle and received early musical training at St. Michael’s Choir School.

March 19, 2023 – Rachel Naomi Kudo, piano JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) French Suite No. 2 in C minor, BWV 813 March 19, 2023 – Rachel Naomi Kudo, piano As demand increased for his keyboard teaching, Bach realized that he needed instructive materials other than the virtuoso works of his early years—not only for students who sought him out, but for his own children who were beginning to show considerable musical talents. Thus between 1717 and 1725 he composed a large number of works of varying degrees of difficulty as teaching tools. Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber, who studied with Bach from 1724 to 1727, left an account of his teaching methods, which included starting a student on the two-part Inventions, followed by the three-part Sinfonias, moving on to the so-called French Suites, then the English Suites, and finally to the great “48,” the preludes and fugues of the Well-tempered Clavier. Bach’s own son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, reported the same course of study. The title “French” that became attached to these Suites in the years following Bach’s death is somewhat mystifying. Though he gave the title in French—Suites de clavecin—the Suites contain as many German and Italian characteristics as they do French. Similarly, the “English” Suites, whose original title was also given in French, do not seem particularly English. In Bach’s lifetime the French Suites were called the “Little” Suites to distinguish them from the more extensive English Suites. Bach first began collecting the so-called French Suites, composed c. 1722–25, in a notebook he was compiling for his second wife, Anna Magdalena. It is clear that these pieces were, to a certain extent, works in progress, because Bach returned to them several times to make revisions, perhaps with different students in mind. He also left his own copy relatively free of ornamentation, possibly to encourage his students to develop improvisational skills in that regard. What is now Suite No. 6 does not appear in that notebook, having been added to the other five around 1725; there also exist two other similar suites that Bach might have considered including at one time. In all of these “French” suites he decided to omit the prelude that opens his other suites, even going so far as to remove one he had already composed to make it fit the group. Bach based his suites on a standard series of Baroque dance movements, which by this time were no longer meant for actual dancing—Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, and Gigue. All the movements employ binary form (two sections, each repeated). A variety of additional dance movements could be inserted between the Sarabande and Gigue, the typical place for any slightly more “modern” dance forms. Because the French Suites contain no preludes, the opening Allemandes take on that function and even contain gestures and figuration similar to that of Bach’s preludes. Suite No. 2 in C minor is one for which several variants exist in the sources, particularly in the Allemande and Courante. The Courante exhibits the “running” style of the Italian corrente in a two-voice texture. For his inserted dances Bach chose an Air, also in two voices, and one or two minuets, depending on the version one follows. The delightful Gigue employs the upbeats, dotted rhythms, and strong-beat accents of the French dance known as the canarie. Bach’s imitative entries add another level of allure. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2026 AT 4 PM JONATHAN BISS, PIANO MOZART, JANÁČEK, AND SCHUMANN JONATHAN BISS , PIANO “Biss is known for his deeply insightful approach to the pillars of the repertoire and a desire to forge connections between that canon and the present…” — The Boston Globe, January 2024 ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS Pianist Jonathan Biss is internationally acclaimed for his impeccable taste, formidable technique, and profound musical insight. He has performed as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras and, since 2018, has served as Co-Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival alongside Mitsuko Uchida. In his thoughtfully curated program, Jonathan Biss charts an expressive journey through three centuries of piano masterpieces — from Mozart’s stormy Sonata in C minor, K. 457, to Janáček’s early 20th-century nostalgia in On an Overgrown Path , and the sweeping Romantic passion of Schumann’s Fantasy in C , envisioned as a coded love letter to his beloved wife-to-be, Clara Wieck. 2025-2026 SEASON September 14, 2025 “Singers” from the Met Orchestra October 12, 2025 Lawrence Brownlee, tenor November 2, 2025 Benjamin Appl, baritone; James Baillieu, piano December 7, 2025 The Tallis Scholars January 18, 2026 Benjamin Beilman, violin; Jonathan Swenson, cello; Orion Weiss, piano February 22, 2026 Radu Ratoi, accordion March 8, 2026 Jonathan Biss, piano April 26, 2026 Jerusalem String Quartet May 17, 2026 Chee-Yun, violin; Sterling Elliott, cello; Henry Kramer, 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 FEATURING BUY TICKETS PROGRAM Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in C minor, K. 457 Program Notes Leoš Janáček: On an Overgrown Path Program Notes INTERMISSION Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in F, K. 533/494 Program Notes Robert Schumann: Fantasy in C, Op. 17 Program Notes Watch pianist Jonathan Biss play Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 12: Watch pianist Jonathan Biss play Beethoven’s Sonata No. 31, Op. 110:

December 3, 2023: Brentano String Quartet; Antioch Chamber Ensemble ENGLISH MADRIGALS December 3, 2023: Brentano String Quartet; Antioch Chamber Ensemble The rise and fall of the English madrigal is remarkable in that it occurred within such a short period of time—roughly a quarter of a century—but what makes its performance and study so rewarding is the quality of the output of the composers within that short period. The English madrigal owes its existence to its Italian and Flemish models, which were being published by 1540, but the first English publication of what could be considered madrigals did not occur until 1588 with William Byrd’s Psalms, Sonets, and Songs. Madrigal singing was becoming popular in England before this, but for decades the only music available was that of the continental composers. English madrigalists were in a position to draw from some of the best literature in the English language for their lyrics. These composer were contemporaries of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Sidney, Donne, Spenser, Fletcher, Chapman and many others, and quite possibly were intimately acquainted with them. In “The Ape, the Monkey and Baboon,” Thomas Weelkes refers to the Mermaid Tavern, a famous club to which many of these poets belonged, and to which in all probability some of the great madrigalists belonged as well. Unfortunately it was not the custom to print the name of the author of the lyrics in music books, so it would be·nearly impossible to prove authorship of most madrigal lyrics. Also the poems themselves do not exist outside of the madrigal song-books, and many madrigal composers probably wrote their own lyrics, but it would be natural to suppose that some of the great poets wrote a few of the poems or suggested a line here and there. Weelkes indicated pretty clearly that he did not write his own lyrics. He describes himself as “untoucht with any other arts, and I hope, my confession is unsuspected, many of us Musitians thinke it is as much praise to be some what more then Musitians,” which in addition to suggesting that he wrote none of his lyrics, implies that other musicians did. The sole purpose of the madrigal was to enhance the beauty of a given text with appropriate music. Carefully setting individual lines and even individual words was the Italian idea which the English adopted. The structure was determined·by the text and often. new material was employed for each line. Rapid changes of mood were demanded by certain texts. The Italian methods of word painting and creating contrast were sometimes extreme in order to achieve a “dramatic” style. All Elizabethans “word painted,” but this did not completely dictate the form of their madrigals. Whereas many Italian madrigals tend to be more a series of contrasting episodes, English madrigals tend to be a more unified whole. Because “word painting” and “phrase painting” conventions were common practice among Elizabethans, much of what seems trite or trivial to the modern mind was completely ordinary and acceptable then. There are countless examples of these word painting devices. Words like happy, joy, fly, sing, or laugh were almost always set to phrases of rapid notes. The flight of a bird could be specifically portrayed by the curve of the notes. Words such as weep, moan, sobs, loud lamenting were set with slower notes, discords, or suspensions. “Dancing” was almost always set in triple rhythm. A device used by almost all madrigalists to set a “sigh” was to precede it by a rest for a more realistic effect—the list goes on forever. Since these realistic methods were used by all, the great composers stand out as the ones who did not let them become trivial or interfere with the beauty of their work. Our first selection, “All Creatures Now ” by John Bennet (fl. 1575–1614), was first published in the famous 1601–03 collection edited by Thomas Morley, The Triumphs of Oriana, which represented twenty-three English madrigal composers. It has long been thought that “Oriana” referred to Queen Elizabeth I, but an alternate theory suggests that Anne of Denmark (later Queen of England) was being honored in an early failed attempt to push out Elizabeth I in order to restore Catholicism in England. Text painting abounds, already apparent in the opening phrase at “merry.” Note, in particular, Bennet’s glorified treatment of the concluding word, “Oriana.” William Byrd (c. 1540–1623) is regarded as the founder of the English madrigal school since he was the first to publish “madrigals,” though not so named (see above) and “Though Amarillis Dance” first appeared in that 1588 collection. Although most of his contribution to music was in the area of church music, his madrigals are equally rewarding, some naturally exhibiting elements of his church style. Here though, triple meter and lively rhythmic play suggest the dance, and the effect of the popping “Hey ho”s in the refrain is delightful. Thomas Weelkes (?1576–1623) was one of the most gifted of the English madrigal composers, and like Byrd, he was also a composer of church music. Little was known about his life until 1597 when he published his Madrigals to 3. 4. 5. & 6. Voyces, many of which show his familiarity with the Italian madrigalists. The influence of Thomas Morley, who was apparently one of his good friends, shows more in his second book, published just one year later: Balletts and Madrigals to Five Voyces, which includes one of the all-time favorites in the madrigal repertory, “Hark, All Ye Lovely Saints above.” Here in this ballett (a form marked by its “fa-la” refrains), Weelkes’s wit and brilliance shines. Thomas Tomkins (1572–1656) was born to a family of musicians—son of a choirmaster and vicar—and, based on one of his dedications, appeared to have studied with William Byrd. He also marked up a copy of Morley’s Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music (1597), and must have been known to him personally, because Morley included one of his madrigals in The Triumphs of Oriana (see above). Tomkins’s Songs of 3.4.5. & 6. Parts (1622), besides the madrigal dedicated to Byrd, included “Adieu, Ye City Prisoning Towers” in its mixed compilation of sacred songs and madrigals. This lesser-known madrigal scintillates with its lively word-painting, rapid-fire imitation, and metrically contrasting sections. John Wilbye (1574–1638), one of the finest of the English madrigalists, was born to a prosperous tanner and soon entered the service of the Kytson family, remaining in their service for most of his career. Like other English madrigalists, he was influenced by Thomas Morley, but his style is often more subtle in his word painting. Though less prolific than some of the other madrigalists, he was a master of polish and sensitivity, as the classy melancholy of “Draw on Sweet Night” exhibits so well. He characteristically used varied repetition to expand and reinforce, such as here with the return of the opening music. Scholar David Brown goes so far as to say that this madrigal “is not only Wilbye’s finest single achievement, but perhaps also the greatest of all English madrigals.” We close with a return to Thomas Morley in his iconic “Fyer, Fyer!” published in his First Booke of Balletts to Five Voyces (1595). Yelling “Fire!” has always been an effective warning, and here in this ballett (think “fa-la” refrain), he likens that kind of emergency to being smitten in love. Admittedly, the cries of “My heart” never sounded so enjoyable. Texts Bennet: All Creature Now All creatures now are merry minded, the shepherd’s daughters playing, the nymphs are falalaing. Yon bugle was well winded. At Oriana’s presence each thing smileth. The flow’rs themselves discover, birds over her do hover, music the time beguileth, See where she comes, with flow’ry garlands crowned, queen of all queens reknowned. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, “Long live fair Oriana!” Byrd: Though Amarillis Dance Though Amarillis daunce in green, like Fayrie Queene, and sing full cleere, Corina can with smiling cheer: yet since their eyes make hart so sore, hey ho, chill* love no more. My sheepe are lost for want of food, and I so wood: that all the day, I sit and watch a heardmaid gaye: who laughes to see mee sigh so sore, hey ho, chill love no more. Her loving lookes, her beautie bright, is such delight: that all in vaine, I love to like, and lose my gaine: for her that thanks mee not therefore, hey ho, chill love no more. Ah wanton eyes my friendly foes, and cause of woes: your sweet desire, breedes flames of ice and freese in fire: yee skorne to see mee weep so sore, hey ho, chill love no more. Love yee who list I force him not, sith God it wot, the more I wayle, the lesse my sighes and teares prevaile, what shall I doe but say therefore, hey ho, chill love no more. *Obsolete word meaning I will. Weelkes: Hark, All Ye Lovely Saints above Hark, all ye lovely saints above Diana hath agreed with Love, his fiery weapon to remove. Fa la la. Do you not see how they agree? Then cease fair ladies; why weep ye? Fa la la. See, see, your mistress bids you cease, and welcome Love, with love’s increase, Diana hath procured your peace. Fa la la. Cupid hath sworn his bow forlorn to break and burn, ere ladies mourn. Fa la la. Tomkins: Adieu, Ye City-Prisoning Towers Adieu, ye city pris’ning towers, better are the country bowers. Winter is gone, the trees are springing, birds on ev’ry hedge sit singing. Hark, how they chirp, come, love, delay not, come, come, sweet love, O, come and stay not. Wilbye: Draw on, Sweet Night Draw on, Sweet Night, best friend unto those cares that do arise from painful melancholy. My life so ill through want of comfort fares, that unto thee I consecrate it wholly. Sweet Night, draw on! My griefs when they be told to shades and darkness find some ease from paining, and while thou all in silence dost enfold, I then shall have best time for my complaining. Morley: Fyer, Fyer! Fyer, fyer, my heart! Fa la la la. O help, alas, o help! Ay me! I sit and cry me, and call for help, alas, but none comes ny me! Fa la la la. O, I burne mee, alas! Fa la la la. I burne, alas, I burne! Aye mee! Will none come quench mee? O cast, cast water on, alas, and drench mee! Fa la la la. Return to Parlance Program Notes

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May 8, 2022: Arnaud Sussmann, violin; Anna Polonsky, piano; Paul Neubauer, viola; Fred Sherry, cello; Michael Parloff, lecturer WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Violin Sonata in G major, K. 373a (K. 379) May 8, 2022: Arnaud Sussmann, violin; Anna Polonsky, piano; Paul Neubauer, viola; Fred Sherry, cello; Michael Parloff, lecturer Mozart wrote from Vienna to his father Leopold in Salzburg on April 8, 1781: Today (for I am writing at eleven o’clock at night) we had a concert, where three of my compositions were performed—new ones, of course; a rondo for a concerto for Brunetti; a sonata with violin accompaniment for myself, which I composed last night between eleven and twelve (but in order to be able to finish it, I wrote out only the accompaniment for Brunetti and retained my own part in my head); and then a rondo for Ceccarelli, which he had to repeat. The three pieces were his Rondo for violin and orchestra (K. 373), the present G major Sonata, and the aria in rondo form “Or che il ciel” (K. 374). The occasion for this chamber concert was a command performance for the archbishop of Salzburg, who was visiting Vienna and had summoned a group of Salzburg musicians to perform for him and his father, Prince Rudolf Joseph Colloredo. Mozart had brought little music with him, and hence had to compose with haste. Clearly for him it went without saying how quickly the participants—among them violinist Antonio Brunetti and male soprano Francesco Ceccarelli—had to learn their parts, but it’s still astounding! The letter is informative in so many ways. First, we note how quickly Mozart was able to compose music of enduring substance, and, second, how for him the mechanical process of writing down the composition was something that could be taken care of later, for the creative part had already been accomplished in his mind. Further, we are reminded how Mozart viewed the present Sonata—and his others in this genre—as keyboard sonatas, with violin accompaniment. Mozart’s manuscript of the G major Violin Sonata gives testimony to the haste of the work’s genesis, but nothing in the listening experience betrays anything other than thoughtfulness having been lavished upon the piece. The first movement is remarkable for its serene, extended opening section in the major mode, which is almost a movement in itself. The suspenseful open ending (on the dominant) unleashes a stormy G minor fast section in sonata form, in which the two instruments unleash pelting rain, lightning bolts, and sighing figures with equal passion. The second and final movement is a graceful theme with five charming variations, followed by a return to the theme with a decorative coda. Of special interest is Mozart’s dramatic use of minor-mode harmonies at the outset of the second half in variations 1, 2, 3, and 5. What is so remarkable is that this striking feature is not present in the original theme. The entire course of the fourth variation unfolds in the minor mode except for a brief hint of major at the analogous spot. Variation 5 returns to the major mode with its sweetly ornamented melody supported by pizzicato broken chords in the manner of a serenader’s guitar. The “minor-mode switch” makes its most theatrical impression in this final variation. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes