October 4, 2015 – Richard Goode, piano WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 300d (K. 310) October 4, 2015 – Richard Goode, piano Mozart petitioned the Salzburg court for release from employment in the summer of 1777 because of difficulties with Archbishop Colloredo and longstanding contempt for Salzburg musicians. Colloredo responded by dismissing both father and son—an unexpected blow to Leopold, who sent Wolfgang on a job-hunting trip accompanied by his mother. One of their stops was Mannheim, where Wolfgang was extremely impressed with the musicians but no offer materialized. He dallied there, however, because he had fallen in love with Aloysia Weber, a fine singer and daughter of a music copier. At home in Salzburg Leopold fumed and in February 1778 ordered his son to Paris. Mozart resumed contacts there from previous trips and kept extremely busy, but he disliked the French musical scene and desperately wished he were in Mannheim. Tragedy struck when his mother sickened in mid-June and died on July 3. Leopold, in his grief, wrote accusingly that Mozart had not done enough for his mother. Whether or not one accepts the premise that biographic events can be reflected in works of art, this time of grief and frustration was the backdrop for one of Mozart’s most dramatic and tragic-sounding pieces ever, the Piano Sonata in A minor, which he composed in July 1778. Long considered one of finest sonatas, it is one of only two he wrote in a minor key, among an enormous body of instrumental works predominantly in major keys. A particular influence that can be documented in the A minor Sonata is the music of Johann Schobert, active in Paris in the last years of his short life, whose sonatas Mozart had played since his childhood visits to Paris and imitated in some of his own sonatas. He had even arranged several movements from Schobert sonatas as concerto movements. Still fascinated, Mozart taught his students Schobert’s sonatas during his 1778 Paris sojourn. Schobert was known for his Romantic tendencies, in particular extreme contrasts of storminess and introversion. The A minor Sonata’s great juxtapositions of loud and soft, rage and despair show this influence, but even more specifically the slow movement quotes a passage from Schobert’s Sonata, op. 17, no. 2, that Mozart had already arranged ten years previously as the second movement of a pastiche concerto in B-flat major, K. 39. An almost violent intensity permeates the first movement, launched by insistent repeated chords and marked dotted rhythms. The great theorist Leonard Ratner associated this kind of music with Turkish or janissary military music, which Western composers often imitated in their art music. Mozart infuses intensity into his less forceful second theme with a spate of running fast notes against the repeated-chord idea, and by invoking a contrapuntal texture that creates great tension when coupled with driving dotted rhythms toward the end of the exposition, in the hair-raising development, and again in the recapitulation. The ferocity of his drive to conclude the exposition—even though it is in the major mode—and especially to end the movement inspires awe. Poignant tenderness radiates from the slow movement, for which Mozart requests a singing style, with expression. Yet the contrasts of soft and loud are extreme here, too, and agitation builds almost to turbulence in his development section. It is in this dramatic section that Mozart recalls a D minor sequence from Schobert’s F major Sonata. The restless, shadowy Presto darts by almost without pause. Contrasts of dynamics abound here too, and Mozart’s ingenuity shows in his remarkable pianistic textures that often consist of four-part writing. He does insert an episode in folklike musette style, but the shadows return, propelled to a dark, tumultuous conclusion. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

TOMMY MESA, CELLO Cuban-American cellist Dr. Tommy Mesa has established himself as one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging performers of his generation. The recipient of Lincoln Center’s 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Organization’s 2023 Medal of Excellence, its highest honor, Mesa has appeared as soloist at the Supreme Court of the United States on four occasions and with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Indianapolis, Madison, New Jersey, San Antonio, and Santa Barbara, among others. Mesa gave the world premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s cello concerto Divided in 2022 and has been the exclusive soloist since, performing at major halls across the United States and Brazil including Miami’s New World Center, Nashville’s Schermerhorn Center, and Carnegie Hall. His orchestral recording debut of the work was released in July 2023 on Deutsche Grammophon. In addition to serving as Artist in Residence with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in the 2024-25 season, orchestral highlights this season include debuts with the Delaware, Glacier, and Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestras as well as the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, a return to the Madison Symphony, and a performance of the rarely heard Lucid Dreams by Canadian composer Jocelyn Morlock with the Windsor Symphony. Last season Mesa celebrated enthusiastic performances with the Calgary and Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestras and the Ann Arbor, Columbus, Greenwich, Knoxville, Quad City, and Reading Symphony Orchestras, among others.

ABOUT THE 2013-2014 SEASON 2013-2014 SEASON 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

October 17, 2021: Escher String Quartet JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809) String Quartet in B-flat, Op. 76, No. 4 (“Sunrise”) October 17, 2021: Escher String Quartet When Count Joseph Erdödy commissioned the Opus 76 Quartets in 1796, Haydn had recently returned to Vienna from the second of his highly successful London visits. He had always composed with confidence, but a certain new boldness in his style may have come from the realization that the entire Western world considered him the greatest living composer. The six “Erdödy” Quartets show formal experiments (continued, as mentioned above, in his Opus 77 quartets) both within or instead of sonata-form movements, a new profundity in their extremely slow-paced Adagios, fast “modern” minuets—scherzos in all but name—and more weight and novel tonal approaches in their finales. In June 1797 Haydn played some or all of the quartets on the piano for Swedish diplomat Frederik Silverstolpe, who considered them “more than masterly and full of new thoughts.” The Quartets were completed in time for a September 1797 performance at Eisenstadt as part of the grand festivities surrounding the visit of the Viceroy of Hungary, Palatine Archduke Joseph. Count Erdödy’s rights to the Quartets precluded their being published until 1799. That year English music historian Charles Burney wrote to Haydn that he “never received more pleasure from instrumental music: [the Quartets] are full of invention, fire, good taste, and new effects.” The B-flat major Quartet exudes the composer’s supreme confidence and originality: in one of the greatest openings in chamber music, the lovely first violin melody rises out of a chord sustained by the three lower instruments in a wonderful sunrise effect that earned the Quartet its nickname. Several commentators have remarked on the feeling of growth that this idea initiates in the movement. The continuation of the main theme brings great contrast with an energetic idea that fosters all the fiery passages in the movement, including the remarkable fortissimo bursts that close the exposition and recapitulation. The second theme uses the “sunrise” idea of the opening but in a kind of mirror image—the cello plays a winding descent as the others sustain the chord. Throughout the movement one hears the kind of mastery that so impressed Beethoven as he began writing string quartets with his Opus 18 series. Haydn’s Adagio somberly explores the possibilities of its first five notes. For a major-mode movement, this is one of the most dark-hued in the repertoire and seems to create a direct link with the poetic slow movements of Beethoven’s later quartets. Delicate filigree erupts not merrily but poignantly and the great downward leaps at the ends of sections seem to release but not totally relieve built-up tension. The second half, which begins like the opening, exaggerates these qualities with more filigree and wider plunges. For his fast Menuetto Haydn takes a little repeated two-note slur and fashions two entire sections from it. The second much longer section includes a varied return to the first, signaled by the little repeated slur in the cello—a nice bit of humor. Partway through this return, the focus again shifts briefly to the cello, soon followed by the viola. The Menuetto ends with another subtle touch of humor as twice the upward arpeggio fails to resolve in its own register. The contrasting trio evokes a truly rustic atmosphere with its folklike drones in the manner of a musette or bagpipes. The finale is a little masterpiece based on what some suspect is an English folk tune heard on his travels, but which he treats to sophisticated bits of contrapuntal and rhythmic manipulations. The matching first and third sections surround a no less jolly minor-mode section that contains several impish surprises. Following the return of the opening section Haydn takes us on an extended whirlwind ride, suddenly picking up speed only to shift to yet a higher speed for a virtuosic thrill. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

September 24, 2017: Mark Holloway, viola; Michael Brown, piano FÉLICIEN DAVID (1810-1876) La nuit September 24, 2017: Mark Holloway, viola; Michael Brown, piano One of the world’s great violin prodigies, Henry Vieuxtemps also grew equally proficient on the viola, which he sometimes played in string quartets, a genre he loved. As a composer he developed largely on his own after some preliminary instruction from Simon Sechter in Vienna and Antoine Reicha in Paris. He gravitated naturally to the violin genres, but he also wrote chamber music—his three string quartets stand out in particular—and a select few viola compositions. His gently flowing La nuit for viola and piano draws on the “rêverie du soir” from Le désert, the programmatic ode-symphonie by Félician David that took Paris by storm in 1844. David had spent some years in Egypt to preach the Saint-Simonian gospel in hopes of restoring Egypt to its ancient greatness. His explorations there led to this descriptive work for soloists, male chorus, reciter and orchestra, which won extravagant praise from Berlioz. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

January 18, 2026: Benjamin Beilman, violin; Jonathan Swenson, cello; Orion Weiss, piano GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924) Élégie, Op. 24 for cello and piano January 18, 2026: Benjamin Beilman, violin; Jonathan Swenson, cello; Orion Weiss, piano Fauré composed an elegiac piece for cello and piano in C minor in 1880 as what he thought would be the slow movement of a cello sonata, and it was likely performed privately that June at the salon of Camille Saint-Saëns. Fauré never composed the surrounding movements, however, and instead published it in January 1883 as a stand-alone work titled Élégie . The piece’s dedicatee, cellist Jules Loeb, gave the public premiere with the composer at the piano on a concert of the Société Nationale de Musique on December 15 that year. Some three years later Fauré arranged the Élégie for cello and orchestra (published 1900), which Pablo Casals premiered with Fauré conducting at the Société National in 1901, adding to the piece’s status as one of the most beloved in the cello repertoire. The title itself, meaning a lament or song of mourning, hints at the work’s sorrowful character, which Fauré expresses with remarkable restraint and elegance rather than dramatic excess. The Élégie opens with a darkly expressive theme in the cello, accompanied by quietly pulsing chords in the piano. This principal melody is one of Fauré’s most memorable—noble, introspective, and tinged with melancholy. His harmonic language, characterized by subtle chromatic shifts and unexpected modulations, creates an atmosphere of wistful yearning. The central section provides contrast with a more agitated character, building to a climactic moment before subsiding. The return of the opening theme brings a sense of resignation and acceptance, with the work concluding in an atmosphere of quiet reflection. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

< Back Amilcare Ponchielli Quartetto for woodwinds & piano accompaniment Seth Morris, flute; Elaine Douvas, oboe; Anton Rist, B-flat clarinet, Jessica Phillips, E-flat clarinet; Bryan Wagorn, piano Program Notes Previous Next

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KEVIN J. MILLER, PIANO American pianist Kevin J. Miller, a Grammy Award nominee, has garnered widespread acclaim for his masterful and dynamically artful performances. His recent collaborations boast an impressive array of international artists, including distinguished vocalists Lawrence Brownlee, Joseph Calleja, Nadine Sierra, John Holiday, Karen Slack, Will Liverman, and Leah Hawkins. Notably, Mr. Miller had the privilege of preparing the incomparable soprano Jessye Norman for performances of Laura Karpman's production of Ask Your Mama, which culminated in a triumphant presentation at Carnegie Hall. His artistry can be heard on several recordings, including Been in da Storm So Long, featuring baritone Kenneth Overton, and Lawrence Brownlee's critically acclaimed release Rising. Mr. Miller's formidable musical foundation was laid at the Mannes College of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano. He further honed his craft at the University of Michigan School of Music, earning both a Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma in Collaborative Piano under the guidance of Martin Katz. Mr. Miller's distinguished career has been marked by esteemed appointments to the music staff of several of the nation's most revered opera companies. His impressive roster of affiliations includes The Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Cincinnati Opera, Austin Opera, Opera San Antonio, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

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. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Double Concerto for Two Flutes in D minor, BWV 1043, arr. by Denis Bouriakov (Denis and Erin Bouriakov, flutes) 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. An accomplished violinist as well as keyboard player, Bach wrote at least six concertos for one or more violins and several that combine violin with other types of solo instruments. The celebrated “Double” Concerto is in fact a concerto grosso, in which a small solo group (concertino )—here two violins—is contrasted with a larger group (ripieno or tutti ). Accordingly Bach titled his manuscript: Concerto à 6, 2 violini concertini, 2 violini e 1 viola di ripieni, violoncello e continuo di J. S. Bach . It was once thought that Bach had composed the work between 1717 and 1723 in Cöthen where he composed the Brandenburg Concertos, but scholar Christoph Wolff has convincingly suggested that this and the A minor Violin Concerto date from around 1730–31 in Leipzig, where Bach directed the Collegium Musicum. Founded at the University in 1702 by Georg Philipp Telemann, this society was made up primarily of students under professional leadership. The Collegium presented public community concerts, one of the first organizations to do so in Germany, and ultimately led to the renowned Leipzig Gewandhaus. During Bach’s tenure he was constantly composing for their weekly concerts: overtures, duo and trio sonatas, sinfonias, and concertos, which he often performed with his sons and pupils as soloists. A longtime admirer of the works of Vivaldi, Bach employed the concerto form that the Italian master standardized in the eighteenth century—three movements: fast, slow, fast. He also availed himself of Vivaldi’s ritornello form (in which a refrain alternates with episodic excursions). All three movements of the Double Concerto make use of or allude to ritornello form. Surprisingly for a concerto, the first movement’s ritornello refrain occurs in the manner of a fugue. In the Largo, ma non tanto, one of Bach’s most beautiful and heart-stirring slow movements, the soloists dominate. The way in which the solo parts intertwine, often weaving lovely chains of suspensions, continues to create a fascinating and emotional effect no matter how many times one has heard the work. The finale begins with a rhythmic cascade of close imitative counterpoint and unfolds in a free ritornello structure. Of special interest are the episodes in which, reversing their roles, the soloists play broad chords while the orchestra provides the motivic interest. The movement’s rhythmic drive creates a hypnotic momentum. Denis and Erin Bouriakov made the present arrangement for two flutes and orchestra (or piano accompaniment). Such a switch of scoring among treble instruments was common in Bach’s day, and the Double Concerto works extremely well with flutes as the protagonists. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

May 12, 2024: Chee-Yun, violin; Alessio Bax, piano Antonín Dvořák Songs My Mother Taught Me, arr. for violin and piano May 12, 2024: Chee-Yun, violin; Alessio Bax, piano Dvořák composed his Gypsy Songs, op. 55, in the first two months of 1880 for Gustav Walter, an admirer of his songs and a tenor at the Vienna Court Opera. In Walter’s honor, he set the songs in German, in a translation made expressly for this purpose by poet Adolf Heyduk, author of the original Czech poems. Nicolaus Simrock published the songs with German and English words later that year and issued another edition the following year with the Czech added. Some were performed separately in February 1881, but it’s not clear when all seven were first performed as a group. The song cycle has become Dvořák’s most successful. The songs display a number of characteristic Gypsy features, though all of the melodies are original Dvořák. The most famous of the set is No. 4, known in the English-speaking world as “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” but whose first line is better translated “When my old mother taught me to sing.” Here Dvořák gently pits the poignant melody in 2/4 meter against the 6/8 meter of the accompaniment and masterfully alters the music of the second verse enough to create a poignant peak. His expressive simplicity adds a wonderful dimension to the poet’s tearful, loving memories of his mother, carrying on her legacy as he teaches his own child those same songs. “Songs My Mother Taught Me” has taken on a purely instrumental life as well as a vocal one, with myriad arrangements for various combinations. Renowned violinist Fritz Kreisler often played his own transcription for violin and piano, first publishing it in 1914 and making several recordings, perhaps the earliest for a ten-inch single-faced Victor disc in January 1916. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes