March 24, 2019: Kristin Lee, violin JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Prelude from Violin Partita in E, BWV 1006 March 24, 2019: Kristin Lee, violin We find precedents for Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin in works by Johann Jacob Walther, Heinrich Biber, and Johann Paul Westhoff, but Bach’s contributions totally eclipsed these and remain unsurpassed to this day in invention and magnificence. Trained as a violinist in his youth by his father, Bach knew the capabilities of the instrument and expanded greatly upon them. The autograph manuscript, dated 1720, presents three sonatas in alternation with three partitas. The sonatas represent the serious Italian sonata da chiesa (church sonata) form with four movements in a slow, fast, slow, fast pattern; the partitas resemble the sonata da camera (chamber sonata), a series of dance movements, which if Bach had been writing in the French style would have been called a suite. Throughout the unaccompanied violin works and in those for solo cello, Bach showed his mastery at creating a many-voiced texture with what is essentially a single-line instrument, often by the use of double stops or rolled chords, but even more often by implying several melodic lines by artful figuration. He counted on the ability of the ear to pick out and hold onto notes in one register and string them together over time as an independent voice; one can often hear such implied voices in counterpoint, occurring in two or more registers. Whereas Bach began each of his solo cello suites with a Preludio, the E major Partita is the only solo violin work to open with such a movement and is notable for its larger than usual number of authentic dynamic markings. The cheerful perpetual motion of the Preludio has contributed greatly to the work’s popularity. Bach himself showed a fondness for it by transcribing it for organ and orchestra in Cantatas 120a and 29; he also made a transcription of the entire Partita for lute. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

December 5, 2021: Paul Jacobs, organ JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582 December 5, 2021: Paul Jacobs, organ For the last work in this 335th anniversary celebration of Bach, we turn to the earliest work on the program and one of his most famous, the Passacaglia in C minor. Not only has this organ work been arranged numerous times for orchestra, piano, or various chamber groups, but it has made its way into popular culture through films and such diverse renditions as Jimi Hendrix’s Lift Off and the jazz flute version by Hubert Laws, both in 1973. Precise dating of the Passacaglia is educated guesswork, but a range between 1706 and 1713 is typically given. Though no manuscript in Bach’s hand exists, the various sources show enough variants to suggest that the original version was written out in organ tablature (system of notation with numbers, letters, and other signs to indicate keys). The thinking is that Bach may have made such a version during his visit to Lübeck in 1705–06 or perhaps shortly after he got back to Arnstadt, where he soon felt stifled after the stimulation of Lübeck and moved to an organist position at Mühlhausen. Or it could be that a later version spilled over into his early years at Weimar (see the note for BWV 582 for more about Weimar). The form of a passacaglia, often indistinguishable from that of a chaconne, consists of a series of variations based on a repeating pattern in the bass—typically four or eight measures—and relies on traditional chord progressions. Such pieces flourished especially during the Baroque era, when many composers made use of existing passacaglia themes for their own sets of variations. In Bach’s case, his work consists of a theme and twenty variations, the last of which is extended without pause by a fugue, which could also count as Variation 21. Some scholars have conjectured that Bach may have composed the Fugue first, basing it on two main subjects—the first drawn from a mass by French organist André Raison from his Livre d’orgue, published in Paris in 1699, and the second, which he would tweak to become the Passacaglia’s second half, placed as a pulsing countersubject to the first subject. Yet a third fugue subject in faster note values then enters as a countersubject to the combined counterpoint of the first two. The tweaked second half of the Passacaglia has been found to be similar to a passacaille in a different mass by Raison, which some view as just a coincidence. Whether or not the Fugue or the Passacaglia came first, both show added influences of other composers such as Buxtehude and Legrenzi whose works on repeating patterns Bach was studying around that time. Many commentators have proposed theories of what sorts of symbolism or symmetries seem to be at work in the Passacaglia, and there are numerous differences of opinion as to where formal divisions and groupings lie. A general consensus, however, seems to be that there is a break in intensity after Variation 12, followed by an “interlude” of three variations and another group of five that ends with great majesty. The Fugue is the work’s crowning achievement—more complicated than a fugue on a single subject and thus called a double fugue by many, though definitions vary. The upshot is that Bach was thinking about counterpoint in remarkably sophisticated ways and surpassing all of his models in creating an original design. After the first presentation of the subject and countersubject, this pair returns four times, migrating systematically among voices and moving out of and back into the home key—and at the same time incorporating a third subject (countersubject) as well as a layer of freely composed material. All of this leads with dramatic purpose to a resounding conclusion. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

April 14, 2019: Jason Vieaux, guitar ANTÔNIO CARLOS JOBÍM (1927-1994) A Felicidade April 14, 2019: Jason Vieaux, guitar Composer, pianist, guitarist, and arranger Antônio Carlos Jobim was greatly influenced by the American West Coast jazz composers of the 1950s, such as Jerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, and Barney Kessel, and, he said, by French Impressionist composer Claude Debussy. But he always infused his music with a bit of Brazilian samba, which gave it an exotic uniquenesss that attracted enormous popularity. Jobim is especially known for helping to launch the bossa nova craze, the movement that sprang up in the late 1950s in Rio de Janeiro as a stylistic shift in the urban samba. The term bossa nova may have first been used publicly in 1957 by journalist Moyses Fuks in promoting a concert by the Grupo Universitário Hebraico do Brasil, but it was a style that was already being pioneered by guitarist João Gilberto. His recordings of bossa nova songs by Jobim and lyricists Vinicius de Moraes and Newton Mendonça took the world by storm. The term combined bossa —slang in Rio for “shrewdness”—together with nova to describe the new complex melodic intervals, harmonies, and rhythmic structure. The subdued, almost spoken delivery, blending with the innovative guitar style—Gilberto had just recently invented his now-famous “stammering” guitar stroke—became just as important for bossa nova as its melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic innovations. Jobim is known especially for his bossa nova song “Girl from Ipanema,” composed in 1962 with Moraes, but another of his famous songs, also written with Moraes, came at the outset of the bossa nova craze. They wrote “A felicidade” in 1958 for the French film Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), directed by Marcel Camus and released in 1959. Sung by Agostinho dos Santos with Roberto Menescal on guitar, the song accompanies the opening credits. Jobim underlays its lyrical, haunting melody with exuberant bossa nova rhythms, exemplifying the conflict of its opening lines: “Sadness has no end, happiness / happiness does.” In 2001 guitarist, composer, and arranger Roland Dyens arranged “A felicidade” for guitar only, dedicating it Gilberto. He added idiomatic figuration and flourishes that make it a great virtuoso showpiece. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

2012-2013 ARTIST ROSTER INON BARNATAN, PIANO EMERSON STRING QUARTET RICHARD GOODE, PIANO ANTHONY MCGILL, CLARINET DENIS BOURIAKOV, FLUTE - 2013 SIR JAMES GALWAY, FLUTE STEFÁN RAGNAR HÖSKULDSSON, FLUTE PHILLIP MOLL, PIANO NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS, CELLO LADY JEANNE GALWAY, FLUTE ROBERT LANGEVIN, FLUTE

GILLES VONSATTEL, PIANO A “wanderer between worlds” (Lucerne Festival), Swiss-born American pianist Gilles Vonsattel is an artist of extraordinary versatility and originality. Comfortable with and seeking out an enormous range of repertoire, Vonsattel displays a musical curiosity and sense of adventure that has gained him many admirers. Recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the Naumburg and Geneva competitions as well as a Honens laureate, he has in recent years made his Boston Symphony, Tanglewood, and San Francisco Symphony debuts, while performing recitals and chamber music at Ravinia, Tokyo’s Musashino Hall, Wigmore Hall, Bravo! Vail, Music@Menlo, the Gilmore festival, the Lucerne festival, and the Munich Gasteig. His most recent 2014 New York solo recital was hailed as “tightly conceived and passionately performed…a study in intensity” by The New York Times. Reengaged by the San Francisco Symphony, he has also appeared with the Warsaw Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony, l’Orchestre Symphonique du Québec, Boston Pops, Nashville Symphony, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Staatskapelle Halle, and L’orchestre de chambre de Genève. Chamber partners include musicians such as James Ehnes, Frank Huang, Nicolas Altstaedt, David Shifrin, David Finckel, Stefan Jackiw, Jörg Widmann, Gary Hoffman, Carter Brey, Anthony Marwood, Paul Neubauer, Paul Watkins, Phil Setzer, Emmanuel Pahud, Karen Gomyo, David Jolley, Ida Kavafian, and the Swiss Chamber Soloists. He has appeared in concert with the Pacifica, Orion, Ebène, Danish, Daedalus, Escher, and Borromeo Quartets. Deeply committed to the performance of contemporary works, he has premiered numerous works both in the United States and Europe and worked closely with notable composers such as Jörg Widmann, Heinz Holliger, and George Benjamin. His 2011 recording for the Honens/Naxos label of music by Debussy, Honegger, Holliger, and Ravel was named one of Time Out New York’s classical albums of the year, while a 2014 release on GENUIN/Artist Consort received a 5/5 from FonoForum and international critical praise. His upcoming solo release for Honens will include music of Scarlatti, Webern, Messiaen, Debussy, and George Benjamin’s Shadowlines. This season’s projects include the Berg Kammerkonzert with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, a tour with Jörg Widmann and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Mozart concerti with the Vancouver Symphony and Florida Orchestra, performances at Seoul’s LG Arts Centre and at the Beijing Modern Music Festival, as well as multiple appearances internationally and throughout the United States with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performing music ranging from Beethoven and Dvorak, to Lachenmann. Mr. Vonsattel received his bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Columbia University and his master’s degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal. He is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and makes his home in New York City. Gilles Vonsattel is a Steinway Artist.

MICHAEL BORISKIN, PIANO Best known as an internationally-active pianist and prolific recording artist, Michael Boriskin has been extensively involved in every aspect of the concert music world, and has been hailed by American Record Guide as “one of the most skilled and versatile musical figures of his generation.” A native New Yorker, he has performed throughout the United States and in over 30 countries. Taking listeners on captivating journeys across four centuries of music, he has appeared at many of the world's foremost concert venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the BBC, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Berlin and South West German Radios, and Vienna’s Arnold Schönberg Center. He has also performed as soloist with the Munich and Polish National Radio Orchestras, San Francisco, Utah, and Seattle Symphonies, UNAM Philharmonic of Mexico, and American Composers Orchestra, and as a sought-after chamber music collaborator with the Borromeo, Lark, St. Lawrence, and St. Petersburg String Quartets, Dorian and Arioso Wind Quintets, and New York Philharmonic Ensembles. His innovative broadcast series, CENTURYVIEW, on National Public Radio was heard regularly by over one million listeners on 200 stations coast-to-coast. A prolific recording artist, his large discography ranges from Brahms and Tchaikovsky to the present on labels such as BMG/Conifer, New World, Harmonia Mundi, Bridge, Albany, Koch International, and SONY Classical, which has re-released in Europe his acclaimed recording with Jonathan Sheffer and the EOS Orchestra of Gershwin’s complete works for piano and orchestra. Mr. Boriskin has worked with virtually every major American composer of the past 30 years. He is a frequent guest of major educational institutions for master classes, residencies, workshops, and lectures, and is also an accomplished writer whose work has been published by Schirmer Books, American Record Guide , Symphony , Fanfare , Piano and Keyboard , Clavier , Stagebill (Lincoln Center), Chamber Music , Ballet Review , and other periodicals. He was Music Director for three seasons of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, overseeing the musical production and performance of nearly 250 concerts on ten national and international tours. In addition, he has served as artistic advisor or program consultant for many prominent organizations and institutions, including the United States Department of State, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y, New Line Cinema, and Columbia University’s Miller Theater, among many others. Michael Boriskin was named Artistic Director of Copland House in 1998, and his title was expanded to include Executive Director in 2003. As Artistic and Executive Director, he works closely with the Board of Trustees to guide the institutional development and administration of Copland House, and formulate and implement all of its programs and operations.

September 24, 2017: Mihai Marica, cello; Michael Brown, piano CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) Romance, op. 36 September 24, 2017: Mihai Marica, cello; Michael Brown, piano Saint-Saëns was celebrated for his remarkable keyboard skills, his fabulous memory, and his sightreading abilities, which like Mozart’s showed themselves at an extremely early age. He chose the life of a composer rather than that of a touring virtuoso, though he did continue to perform his own works at home and abroad. He is known especially for his five piano concertos, his humorous Carnival of the Animals (which he did not allow to be performed publicly or to be published during his lifetime!), and his opera Samson and Delilah, but he also worked to fill in gaps for instruments in need of repertoire. In 1874 he wrote his alluring Romance for horn and orchestra for the famous horn player Henri Garigue. Well aware that it would work equally well with the warm timbre of the cello, he published it the same year with that option. The long flowing lines of this Romance (see definition above for Beethoven’s op. 50) unfold like a waltz, contrasted by a more impassioned middle section before returning to the lilt of the opening. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2019 AT 3 PM ANNE AKIKO MEYERS, VIOLIN, & JASON VIEAUX, GUITAR BUY TICKETS ANNE AKIKO MEYERS, VIOLIN “Vigorous master… stylish elegance” 
— Los Angeles Times JASON VIEAUX, GUITAR “Virtuosic, flamboyant, dashing, and ineffably lyrical.” — New York Times FEATURING ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS Two of today’s most scintillating artists will join forces for an afternoon of evocative violin and guitar duos. Anne Akiko Meyers is a best-selling recording artist with 35 albums. Jason Vieaux’s most recent solo album, Play, won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. Don’t miss their special collaboration! PROGRAM Archangelo Corelli Sonata in D minor Op. 5 No. 12 “La Folia” arr. Andy Poxon Program Notes Phillip Glass Metamorphosis II, arr. by Michael Riesman Program Notes Astor Piazzolla Histoire du Tango, arr. by Dmitriy Varelas Program Notes Rentarō Taki “Kojo No Tsuki” (“The Moon over the Ruined Castle”) arr. Anne Akiko Meyers Program Notes Antônio Carlos Jobím A Felicidade Program Notes John Corigliano Lullaby for Natalie Program Notes Manuel de Falla Siete Canciones Populares Españolas, arr. by Emilio Pujol Program Notes An introduction to violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and guitarist Jason Vieaux: Watch Jason Vieaux perform Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “A Felicidade”:

WEN QIAN, VIOLIN A “ Rare rill”, the Strad magazine review featured Ms. Wen Qian after her recital at Carnegie Hall, critic Dennis Rooney commented “ It was performed with enough insight and panache to thrill a listener while at the same time raising the question of why such results are so rarely achieved.“. Ms. Qian continues to enjoy a multifaceted career as an orchestra musician, soloist, chamber musician, and educator. Wen Qian was appointed as a first violinist in 1997 at the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, where she has also served as the acting Assistant Concertmaster for many years. Over the years she has been invited to be a guest concertmaster with the Philharmonia of the Nation, Germany, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, Jupiter Symphony of New York, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Tianjin Symphony Orchestra and Shenzhen Symphony. Ms. Qian has soloed with the Central Philharmonic of China, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Mannes Orchestra, Jupiter Symphony, South Shore Symphony, Centre Symphony and Long Beach Symphony. As a chamber musician, she has performed in music festivals and concert series including the Marlboro, Tanglewood, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and among others. Currently serves on the faculty at the Mannes College of Music, the demands of Ms. Qian’s teaching includes masterclasses and coachings at the New World Symphony in Miami, New York Youth Symphony, NYU, Conservatories throughout China and Taiwan.

STEFAN JACKIW, VIOLIN Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with impeccable technique. Hailed for playing of “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as a soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others. Following his summer performance with the New York Philharmonic , Jackiw opens the 2023-24 season returning to the orchestra to perform the Barber Concerto with Jaap van Zweden. His season also includes a quadruple World Premiere of new works at Roulette , and his return to Asia with the Taiwan Philharmonic and the China National Symphony . In the spring, the Junction Trio will make their Carnegie Hall debut with the New York premiere of John Zorn’s Philosophical Investigations. He was also recently invited to perform and curate a series of programs at the Edinburgh Festival (‘Stefan Jackiw and Friends’). During the 2022-23 season, Jackiw returned to the Cleveland Orchestra to perform Britten’s Violin Concerto with Thomas Søndergård, and to the Vancouver Symphony to perform Brahms with Otto Tausk. He also appeared at the 92NY with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Daniil Trifonov, and he embarked on a multi-city Junction Trio tour that included the group’s Celebrity Series of Boston debut, alongside performances in New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, and more. His European dates included his return to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with the Residentie Orkest , as well as appearances with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra , the Bournemouth Symphony , and the Sinfónica de Galicia . Other recent highlights include his performance of Mozart’s violin Concerto no. 5 with Alan Gilbert and the Boston Symphony, his return to Carnegie Hall to perform Bach with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s , and performances with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Alan Gilbert, and with Orchestre National de Lyon under Nikolaj Znaider. Jackiw recently performed a new Violin concerto, written for him by Conrad Tao and premiered by the Atlanta Symphony and Baltimore Symphony . He has also premiered David Fulmer’s concerto Jauchzende Bögen with Matthias Pintscher and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at the Heidelberger Frühling. Jackiw tours frequently with his musical partners, pianist Conrad Tao and cellist Jay Campbel l, as part of the Junction Trio. He also enjoys collaborating with pianist Jeremy Denk with whom he has toured the complete Ives Violin Sonatas, which the pair recorded for future release on Nonesuch Records. In 2019, he recorded Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Inon Barnatan, Alisa Weilerstein, Alan Gilbert and Academy St. Martin in the Fields. Jackiw has performed in numerous major festivals and concert halls around the world, including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Philharmonie de Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and the Washington Performing Arts Society. Born to physicist parents of Korean and Ukrainian descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Jackiw plays a violin made in 1705 by Vincenzo Ruggieri. He lives in New York City.

ORION WEISS, PIANO One of the most sought-after soloists in his generation of young American musicians, the pianist Orion Weiss has performed with the major American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him worldwide acclaim. The 2015-16 season will see Orion performing with the Iceland Symphony, among others, and in collaborative projects including those with the Pacifica Quartet and with Cho-Liang Lin and the New Orford String Quartet in a performance of the Chausson Concerto for piano, violin, and string quartet. The 2014-15 season featured Orion’s third performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as a North American tour with the world-famous Salzburg Marionette Theater in an enhanced piano recital of Debussy’s La Boîte à Joujoux. In 2015 Naxos released his recording of Christopher Rouse’s Seeing – a major commission Orion debuted with the Albany Symphony – and in 2012 he released a recital album of Dvorak, Prokofiev, and Bartok. That same year he also spearheaded a recording project of the complete Gershwin works for piano and orchestra with his longtime collaborators the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta. The 2013-14 season featured Orion with orchestras around North America, including the Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Vancouver Symphonies, and the 2012-13 season saw Weiss in repeat engagements with the Baltimore Symphony and New World Symphony. Named the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year in September 2010, in the summer of 2011 Weiss made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood as a last-minute replacement for Leon Fleisher. In recent seasons, he has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and in duo summer concerts with the New York Philharmonic at both Lincoln Center and the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival. In 2005, he toured Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Itzhak Perlman. Also known for his affinity and enthusiasm for chamber music, Weiss performs regularly with his wife, the pianist Anna Polonsky, the violinists James Ehnes and Arnaud Sussman, and cellist Julie Albers, as well as ensembles including the Pacifica Quartet. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Weiss has appeared across the U.S. at venues and festivals including Lincoln Center, the Ravinia Festival, Sheldon Concert Hall, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Chamber Music Northwest, the Bard Music Festival, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, the Kennedy Center, and Spivey Hall. He won the 2005 William Petschek Recital Award at Juilliard, and made his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall that April. Also in 2005 he made his European debut in a recital at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. He was a member of the Chamber Music Society Two program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 2002-2004, which included his appearance in the opening concert of the Society’s 2002-2003 season at Alice Tully Hall performing Ravel’s La Valse with pianist Shai Wosner. Weiss’s impressive list of awards includes the Gilmore Young Artist Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Gina Bachauer Scholarship at the Juilliard School and the Mieczyslaw Munz Scholarship. A native of Lyndhurst, OH, Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Schenly, Daniel Shapiro, Sergei Babayan, Kathryn Brown, and Edith Reed. In February of 1999, Weiss made his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. In March 1999, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Weiss stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He was immediately invited to return to the Orchestra for a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in October 1999. In 2004, he graduated from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax.

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 A major, K. 526 May 8, 2022: Arnaud Sussmann, violin; Anna Polonsky, piano; Paul Neubauer, viola; Fred Sherry, cello; Michael Parloff, lecturer Little is known about the circumstances surrounding the composition of the A major Violin Sonata, K. 526, other than that it was written in August 1787 in Vienna during the composition of Don Giovanni. Mozart himself was an accomplished violinist, but there is no evidence that he wrote it with himself in mind, nor is there evidence that he wrote it for anyone else. It seems unlikely, however, that Mozart would have interrupted work on the opera unless some occasion demanded it. Mozart’s violin sonatas span an interesting time in the history of the genre. His earliest violin sonatas belong to the tradition of keyboard sonatas for the amateur to which ad libitum violin (or flute, and sometimes cello) accompaniment could be added if available. His later violin sonatas, still called piano sonatas with violin accompaniment, exhibit greater equality and independence of the two instruments. In the present Sonata (his last except for “a small piano sonata for beginners, with a violin,” K. 547), the piano and violin are truly equal partners. The contrapuntal textures throughout may suggest the composer’s study of Bach, but the language remains thoroughly Mozartean. The Molto allegro is set in 6/8, an unusual meter for Mozart to use for a first movement. (It is interesting that he also cast the first movement of his other A major Violin Sonata, K. 305, in 6/8, a meter commonly associated with “the hunt,” and indeed the meter he used for the first movement of his Hunt Quartet in B-flat major, K. 458.) The hemiola effects (switching from rhythmic patterns of two groups of three to three groups of two) and extensions of cadential phrase endings constitute some of the delightful features of this sonata-form movement. The Andante, again in sonata form, is remarkable for its spare texture, often achieved by the kind of octave doublings that Brahms later favored. Mozart never ceases to amaze in his ability to create such expressive music with deceptively simple means—fragmented melodic utterances, flowing regular accompaniment, chromatic touches, major-minor shifts—how can these produce such a compelling effect? The finale, though one of Mozart’s longest in a chamber work, races by at a presto tempo. It combines virtuoso tendencies with an almost demonic high-spirited quality. Mozart scholars Derek Carew and Neal Zaslaw have independently reported that the movement is based on the finale of Carl Friedrich Abel’s A major Violin Sonata, op. 5, no. 5, possibly as a memorial tribute since Abel had died on June (Carew mistakenly says January) 20, 1787. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes