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April 3, 2016: Sir James Galway, flute; Benjamin Beilman and Danbi Um, violins; Mark Holloway, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Timothy Cobb, bass; Paolo Bourdignon, harpsichord JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Air on the G String (from Suite in D, BWV 1068) for flute, strings, and continuo April 3, 2016: Sir James Galway, flute; Benjamin Beilman and Danbi Um, violins; Mark Holloway, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Timothy Cobb, bass; Paolo Bourdignon, harpsichord For background on Bach’s Orchestral Suites, see Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor. The Third Suite may be the most famous of the four on account of its meltingly beautiful Air. One of the most popular and arranged pieces of all time, it achieved special notoriety through August Wilhelmj’s version for the violin G string (1871). The Air’s binary form—two halves, each repeated—and its “stepping” bass overlaid with a long, sustained melodic line are standard Baroque procedures, but its poignant effect transcends all formulas. James Galway plays its haunting violin part on the flute. Return to Parlance Program Notes

November 19, 2017: Los Angeles Guitar Quartet JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, BWV 1051 November 19, 2017: Los Angeles Guitar Quartet Written in 1721 as a means of gaining favor from the Margrave of Brandenburg, Bach’s “Six concerts à plusieurs instruments” never garnered payment or even thanks for the composer. Yet they establish him today as the master of the concerto grosso style pioneered by Corelli. Brandenburg Concerto #6 is scored for string orchestra, but without violins; violas carry the upper melodic material. This lower tessitura makes the piece ideal for an arrangement for guitar quartet. Set in a fast-slow-fast structure, the piece showcases Bach’s peerless use of imitative writing. The first movement is drivingly propulsive, with the two top parts chasing each other in a canon at the 1/8th note. The middle movement is one of Bach’s stately and shimmering Adagios, while the final movement is one of Bach’s most joyous gigues, with a rondo theme recurring in a variety of guises. Return to Parlance Program Notes

2017-2018 SEASON Dear Friends, Welcome to the second decade of Parlance Chamber Concerts! Our eleventh season will bring thirty-one outstanding artists to our community in eight electrifying events. On September 24 , our gala opener will showcase nine dazzling artists in scintillating dances and soulful romances by Beethoven, Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Falla, and others . The afternoon will climax with their collaboration in Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet for strings , the 16-year-old composer’s miraculous melding of youthful exuberance and sovereign musical command. On October 29, pianist Peter Serkin will make his long-awaited Parlance debut. Hailed worldwide as an artist of passion and integrity, Serkin is one of the most thoughtful and individualistic musicians appearing before the public today. His program will feature sublime works by Mozart and Bach , culminating in the pinnacle of Bach’s keyboard art, The Goldberg Variations . On November 19 , the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will offer a varied program of classical favorites, tracing a broad dramatic arc and emotional journey. For three decades, the LAGQ has set the standard for expression and virtuosity among guitar ensembles. Their acclaimed transcriptions of concert masterworks provide a fresh look at the music of the past while their interpretations from the contemporary realm continually break new ground. December 17 ’s concert will highlight the pianistic partnership of Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung . Their musical marriage has been described as one “of wondrous colors and dextrous aplomb, subtly balanced to make a musical performance sound as one.” Their virtuosity, passion, and artistic chemistry will be on display in glittering duets by Mozart, Shostakovich, Lutoslawski, and Rachmaninoff . On February 17, Saturday at 8 PM , the highly acclaimed Chiara String Quartet will recreate the candlelit ambience of the 1787 premiere of Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ , his timeless masterpiece of spiritual music. At 7:00 PM , I will introduce the work and its history in a half-hour multimedia preview. Our March 11 event will spotlight two of today’s fastest-rising stars, violinist Benjamin Beilman and pianist Orion Weiss . Their deeply communicative performances go far beyond technical mastery and have won them worldwide acclaim. Their far-flung musical journey will range from the 18th to the 21st centuries, including music by Mozart, Beethoven, Kreisler, and a newly composed work by the renowned American composer Frederic Rzewski . On April 8 , it will be a thrill to introduce the sizzling Danish String Quartet to our community. The Danes’s rare combination of rock star charisma, ensemble perfection, and consummate artistry have made them one of the most in-demand quartets of our time. Their All-Beethoven concert will feature three masterpieces from his early, middle and late periods. On May 6 , the stellar Neubauer-McDermott Family will bring our eleventh season to an exhilarating conclusion. Violist Paul Neubauer (of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society), violinist Kerry McDermott (of the New York Philharmonic), and their children, violinists Oliver and Clara Neubauer , will be joined by Kerry’s sister, CMS pianist Anne-Marie McDermott , in music of Bach, Dvořák, Ravel, and Schumann . The concert will include the World Premiere of Gilad Cohen’s* “Moments of a Moonrise” for Three Violins, Viola, and Piano , commissioned by PCC especially for this event. Inspired by the familial theme, Cohen’s work will focus on children’s songs from Israel, America, and Spain. Michael Parloff * Gilad Cohen is a Ridgewood resident and a professor at Ramapo College. A Princeton Ph.D., he the winner of the 2016 Barlow Prize and the 2010 Israeli Prime Minister Award for Composers. Programs and artists are subject to change. 2017-2018 SEASON September 24, 2017 Dances, Romances, and Mendelssohn’s Octet October 29, 2017 Peter Serkin, piano Mozart and Bach November 19, 2017 Los Angeles Guitar Quartet December 17, 2017 Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung A Pianistic Partnership February 17, 2018 Chiara String Quartet Candlelit Haydn The Seven Last Words of Christ March 11, 2018 Benjamin Beilman, violin Orion Weiss, piano April 8, 2018 Danish String Quartet All-Beethoven May 6, 2018 Neubauer-McDermott Family Concert 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

PAQUITO D’RIVERA, SAXOPHONE Paquito D’Rivera defies categorization. The winner of twelve Grammy Awards, he is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer. Born in Havana, Cuba, he performed at age 10 with the National Theater Orchestra, studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music and, at 17, became a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony. As a founding member of the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, he directed that group for two years, while at the same time playing both the clarinet and saxophone with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra. He eventually went on to premier several works by notable Cuban composers with the same orchestra. Additionally, he was a founding member and co-director of the innovative musical ensemble Irakere. With its explosive mixture of jazz, rock, classical, and traditional Cuban music never before heard, Irakere toured extensively throughout America and Europe, won several Grammy nominations (1979, 1980) and a Grammy (1979). His numerous recordings include more than 30 solo albums. In 1988, he was a founding member of the United Nation Orchestra, a 15-piece ensemble organized by Dizzy Gillespie to showcase the fusion of Latin and Caribbean influences with jazz. D’Rivera continues to appear as guest conductor. A Grammy was awarded the United Nation Orchestra in 1991, the same year D’Rivera received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Carnegie Hall for his contributions to Latin music. Additionally, D’Rivera’s highly acclaimed ensembles—the Chamber Jazz Ensemble, the Paquito D’Rivera Big Band, and the Paquito D’Rivera Quintet—are in great demand worldwide. While Paquito D’Rivera’s discography reflects a dedication and enthusiasm for jazz, bebop, and Latin music, his contributions to classical music are impressive. They include solo performances with the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He has also performed with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, the Costa Rica National Symphony, the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, and the St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra, among others. In his passion to bring Latin repertoire to greater prominence, Mr. D’Rivera has successfully created, championed, and promoted all types of classical compositions, including his three chamber compositions recorded live in concert with distinguished cellist Yo-Yo Ma in September 2003. The chamber work “Merengue,” from that live concert at Zankel Hall, was released by Sony Records and garnered Paquito his 7th Grammy as Best Instrumental Composition 2004. In addition to his extraordinary performing career as an instrumentalist, Mr. D’Rivera has rapidly gained a reputation as an accomplished composer. The prestigious music house, Boosey and Hawkes, is the exclusive publisher of Mr. D’Rivera’s compositions. Recent recognition of his compositional skills came with the award of a 2007 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition, and the 2007–2008 appointment as Composer-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. As part of the Caramoor Latin American music initiative, Sonidos Latinos, D’Rivera’s new concerto for double bass and clarinet/saxophone, “Conversations with Cachao,” pays tribute to Cuba’s legendary bass player, Israel “Cachao” Lopez. D’Rivera’s works often reveal his widespread and eclectic musical interests, which range from Afro-Cuban rhythms and melodies, including influences encountered in his many travels, and back to his classical origins. Inspiration for another recent composition, “The Cape Cod Files,” comes from such disparate sources as Benny Goodman’s intro to the Eubie Blake popular song “Memories of You,” Argentinean Milonga, improvisations on the music of Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona, and North American boogie-woogie. His numerous commissions include compositions for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress, the National Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Ying String Quartet, the International Double Reed Society, Syracuse University, Montreal’s Gerald Danovich Saxophone Quartet, and the Grant Park Music Festival. Another commission came about through ensemble Opus 21′s interest in building bridges between audiences of different backgrounds. Dedicated to the works and art music of the 21st century, Opus 21 commissioned “The Chaser” and premiered it in May 2006. In 2005, Imani Winds, a woodwind quintet committed to the exploration of diverse world music traditions and the broadening of the traditional wind quintet literature, commissioned “Kites.” This work personifies freedom and the vision that liberty and independence have a foundation through culture and music. Just as a kite may fly freely, its path continues to be bound to the earth—its foundation, by the string. Regarding his 2002 commission for the National Symphony Orchestra and Rotterdam Philharmonic, critics had this to say about the flute concerto performed by Marina Piccinini with the National Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony: “…Best that night was Paquito D’Rivera’s, ‘Gran Danzon’ (The Bel Air Concerto) in its world premiere. A spiky and imaginatively colored piece of Latin American orchestral writing…” (Joe Banno, Washington Post, February 11, 2002) “…‘Gran Danzon’ …this dazzling work…reveals D’Rivera’s sophistication as a composer…” (L. Peat O’Neal, Washington Post, June 3, 2002) Paquito D’Rivera is the author of two books: My Sax Life, published by Northwestern University Press, and a novel, Oh, La Habana, published by MTeditores, Barcelona. He is the recipient of the NEA Jazz Masters Award 2005 and the National Medal of the Arts 2005, as well as the Living Jazz Legend Award from the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. in 2007. His numerous other honors include Doctorates Honoris Causa in Music (from the Berklee School of Music in Boston, the University of Pennsylvania), and the Jazz Journalist Association’s Clarinetist of the Year Award in both 2004 and 2006. In 2008, Mr. D’Rivera received the International Association for Jazz Education President’s Award and the Frankfurter Musikpreis in Germany, and the Medal of Honor from the National Arts Club in 2009. In 2010, he was named a Nelson A. Rockefeller Honoree and given the African-American Classical Music Award from Spelman College. He received his 10th and 11th Grammys this year for Panamericana Suite as Best Latin Album and Best Classical Contemporary Composition, adding to his previously awarded 8th and 9th Grammys for Riberas (Best Classical Recording) and Funk Tango (Best Latin Jazz Album 2008). Mr. D’Rivera is the first artist to win Latin Grammys in both Classical and Latin Jazz categories—for Stravinsky’s Historia del Soldado (L’Histoire du Soldat) and Brazilian Dreams with New York Voices. He has served as artistic director of jazz programming at the New Jersey Chamber Music Society and continues as Artistic Director of the famous world-class Festival Internacional de Jazz de Punta Del Este in Uruguay and the DC Jazz Festival in Washington, D.C., and add to that now in its second year, Jazz Patagonia 2013 in Chile. In 1999, and in celebration of its 500-year history, the Universidad de Alcala de Henares presented Paquito with a special award recognizing his contribution to the arts, his humane qualities, and his defense of rights and liberties of artists around the world. The National Endowment for the Arts website affirms “he has become the consummate multinational ambassador, creating and promoting a cross-culture of music that moves effortlessly among jazz, Latin, and Mozart.”

GOLDMUND STRING QUARTET Florian Schötz, violin 
 Pinchas Adt, violin 
 Christoph Vandory, viola 
 Raphael Paratore, cello The Goldmund Quartet is known to feature exquisite playing (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and such multi-layered homogeneity (Süddeutsche Zeitung) in its interpretations of the great classical and modern works of the quartet literature. Its inwardness, the unbelievably fine intonation and the phrases worked out down to the smallest detail inspire audiences worldwide. In keeping with the theme of their current CD "Travel Diaries", the past season was marked by international travel. The Quartet travelled to Colombia for the Cartagena Music Festival and toured the U.S. with stops in New York, Boston, Kansas, Tucson, Salt Lake City and Montreal. Back in Europe, their busy schedule took them to Italy, France, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark. The 2022/23 season features a firework display of musical highlights. A tour of Japan by invitation of the Nippon Foundation is followed by the Quartet's debut at Gewandhaus in Leipzig. Performances in Padova and at Teatro Reggio Emilia lead the Quartet to Italy while performances of Chausson's Sextet with violinist Noa Wildschut and pianist Elisabeth Brauss are scheduled in Holland and Belgium. In the second half of the season the Quartet follows invitations from Sociedad Filarmonica in Bilbao and the Hemsing Festival in Norway before concluding the season with recitals at Berlin Konzerthaus, Prinzregententheater Munich, Musikverein Graz, Mercatorhalle Duisburg, Mönchengladbach, Bensheim and the Marvão Festival in Portugal. The winners of the renowned 2018 International Wigmore Hall String Competition and the 2018 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition have been selected by the European Concert Hall Organisation as Rising Stars of the 2019/20 season. Since 2019, they have been performing Antonio Stradivari's Paganini Quartet, provided by the Nippon Music Foundation. In addition, the quartet was awarded the Jürgen Ponto Foundation Music Prize in March 2020 and the Freiherr von Waltershausen Prize in December 2020. In 2016, the quartet was already a winner of the Bavarian Arts Promotion Prize and the Karl Klinger Prize of the ARD Competition. In 2020, Berlin Classics released "Travel Diaries", the Goldmund Quartet's third album with works by Wolfgang Rihm, Ana Sokolovic, Fazil Say and Dobrinka Tabakova, which Harald Eggebrecht described as "one of the liveliest and most stimulating string quartet CDs of recent times". (Süddeutsche Zeitung). Their Travel Diaries are the musical diary from their last decade together and a sound document that is both reflective and forward-looking. Chamber music partners include artists such as Jörg Widmann, Ksenija Sidorova, Alexander Krichel, Alexey Stadler and Wies de Boevé, Nino Gvetadze, Noa Wildschut, Elisabeth Brauss, Maximilian Hornung, Frank Dupree, Simon Höfele. In addition to studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich and with members of the Alban Berg Quartet, including Günter Pichler at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia and the Artemis Quartet in Berlin, master classes and studies with members of the Hagen, Borodin, Belcea, Ysaye and Cherubini Quartets, Ferenc Rados, Eberhard Feltz and Alfred Brendel gave the quartet important musical impulses.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2018 AT 8 PM CANDLELIT HAYDN: THE SEVEN LAST WORDS OF CHRIST BUY TICKETS CHIARA STRING QUARTET “The performances had shape and grace and ample room to breathe, but they never lacked mystery or intensity.” — The Boston Globe “The Chiara’s deeply personalized performance felt so vital” — The New York Times FEATURING ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS “Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near the infinite.” — Thomas Carlyle Regardless of culture or style, music has always been experienced as a direct pathway to the spirit. In Haydn’s own description of his great wordless oratorio, he wrote, “Each movement is expressed by purely instrumental music in such a fashion that it produces the deepest impression in the soul of even the most uninstructed listener .” Haydn’s timeless masterpiece of spiritual music was conceived as a multimedia event combining special lighting, spoken words, and music. On Saturday , February 17 at at 8 PM the highly acclaimed Chiara String Quartet will recreate the candlelit ambience of the 1787 premiere in Cádiz’s Oratorio de la Santa Cueva. At 7:00 PM , Artistic Director Michael Parloff will introduce the work and its history in a half-hour multimedia preview. Haydn explained the origin of the work in the preface to the 1801 edition: “Some fifteen years ago I was requested by a canon of Cádiz to compose instrumental music on the Seven Last Words of Our Savior On the Cross. It was customary at the Cathedral of Cádiz to produce an oratorio every year during Lent, the effect of the performance being not a little enhanced by the following circumstances. The walls, windows, and pillars of the church were hung with black cloth, and only one large lamp hanging from the center of the roof broke the solemn darkness. At midday, the doors were closed and the ceremony began. After a short service the bishop ascended the pulpit, pronounced the first of the seven words (or sentences) and delivered a discourse thereon. This ended, he left the pulpit and fell to his knees before the altar. The interval was filled by music. The bishop then in like manner pronounced the second word, then the third, and so on, the orchestra following on the conclusion of each discourse. My composition was subject to these conditions, and it was no easy task to compose seven adagios lasting ten minutes each, and to succeed one another without fatiguing the listeners; indeed, I found it quite impossible to confine myself to the appointed limits.” — Franz Joseph Haydn PROGRAM Joseph Haydn The Seven Last Words of Christ for string quartet Program Notes Watch the Chiara String Quartet perform Ravel’s String Quartet (1st mvt) from memory: Watch Part 1 of Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ (Zemlinsky Quartet):

DAVID J. GROSSMAN, BASS Double bassist and composer David J. Grossman enjoys a multi-faceted musical career in both classical and jazz genres on both the East and West Coasts – as bassist in the New York Philharmonic (joining as its youngest member) and Principal Bassist with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. As a soloist, Mr. Grossman gave the West Coast premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s bass concerto Dark with Excessive Bright as part of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 2019-2020 subscription season. He has also given recitals and master classes at the Yale School of Music, The Boston Conservatory, the Hartt School of Music, Penn State University, as well as numerous faculty recitals at the Manhattan School of Music (where he is on faculty), among others. Mr. Grossman has released two albums (one classical and one jazz) entitled The Bass of Both Worlds , available from his website, www.davidjgrossman.com . Also a passionate chamber musician, he regularly performs in the New York Philharmonic Ensembles Concerts at Merkin Hall, has performed at the 92nd Street Y, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, to name a few. In the field of jazz, Mr. Grossman was a member of the Marcus Roberts Trio and has performed with Wynton Marsalis, among many others. As a composer, Mr. Grossman’s compositions include Mood Swings for trombone and double bass, written for New York Philharmonic Principal Trombonist Joseph Alessi, Fantasy on “Shall We Gather at the River?” , written for Thomas Stacy; and two early compositions: Swing Quartet and String Quintet No. 1 , which were premiered by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

September 14, 2025: “SINGERS” FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA; MICHAEL PARLOFF, CONDUCTOR JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809) Symphony No. 6 in D, Hob. 1/6 (“The Morning”) September 14, 2025: “SINGERS” FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA; MICHAEL PARLOFF, CONDUCTOR In May 1761 the twenty-nine-year old Haydn was hired in the newly created position of vice-Kapellmeister by Prince Paul Anton Esterházy to serve under the aging, increasingly infirm Gregor Joseph Werner. The prince was in fading health himself, but he saw the opportunity to modernize and upgrade his musical establishment and had already begun to hire top-notch musicians to create a small orchestra. His first order to Haydn was to compose three symphonies, and he suggested the “times of day” as a subject. Despite his myriad duties, Haydn fulfilled the order quickly, producing Symphonies Nos. 6, 7, and 8, which soon earned the nicknames “Le matin” (Morning), “Le midi” (Noon), and “Le soir (Night)—in French, owing to popular taste. Having already begun to help hire musicians in April, a month before the start of his official appointment, Haydn continued to shape the orchestra throughout the decades of his employment at Esterháza. The orchestra expanded considerably under Prince Nicolaus, an even more avid music-lover than his brother Paul Anton, who died only one year after hiring Haydn. At first, however, the orchestra consisted of just thirteen to fifteen players, several of whom performed on more than one instrument: approximately six violins and one each of viola, cello and bass; pairs of oboes and horns but just one bassoon and occasionally one or two flutes. Haydn led this early ensemble as a violinist (second to the virtuoso first violinist) rather than by playing keyboard continuo. Haydn was undoubtedly aware of Baroque precedents for programmatic orchestral works—he may have known Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and certainly Kapellmeister Werner’s twelve instrumental suites titled Der curiose musikalische Instrumentalkalender —and, given his amazing fount of originality, he could easily have made more of Prince Paul Anton’s “times of day.” Instead he limited himself to composing a storm as the fourth movement of Le soir and a “sunrise” introduction to Le matin , because he was far more interested in impressing the prince with his own ingenious approaches to abstract forms. Further, one of Haydn’s principal aims was to display the talents, individually and as a whole, of the ensemble of virtuosos that he now had at his disposal—among them violinist Luigi Tomasini and cellist Joseph Weigl along with flutist and oboist Franz Siegl, oboist brothers Michael and Georg Kapfer, bassoonist Johann Hinterberger, bassoonist and bassist Georg Schwenda (who must have played bass in Symphonies Nos. 6–8), violinists Franciscus Garnier and Georg Hegner (and several other violin and viola players), and horn players Johannes Knoblauch and Thadteus Steinmüller. Consequently these symphonies contain prominent solos for violin, flutes (an additional player must have doubled on flute), oboes, horn, cello, and bass. With this concertante focus Haydn updated the traditional Baroque concerto grosso with an attention to shifting orchestral colors that looks toward the future. Symphonies Nos. 6–8 received their first performance in May or June 1761, not at Esterháza in Eisenstadt, but at the Esterházy palace in the Wallnerstrasse, Vienna. Despite his failing health, Prince Paul Anton had to have been pleased because he continued his plans for musical expansion and requested many more works from Haydn. Slow introductions to symphony first movements were uncommon at the time, but Haydn’s “sunrise”—though only six measures long—makes the perfect opening to the “times of day” trilogy and to “The Morning” Symphony in particular. Beginning with violins alone, it ascends, growing from pianissimo to fortissimo as all the other instruments enter. In the merry exposition that ensues, the flute followed by oboes enter in birdlike solos. Haydn then ingeniously combines Classsic sonata form—exposition, development, and recapitulation—with the Baroque concertante principles of solo and tutti (ensemble) alternation, which must have delighted the prince. Haydn’s renowned wit shows in the solo horn’s imitation of the flute’s “bird” theme as a “false start” of the recap, something that Beethoven famously did in the first movement of his Eroica Symphony four decades later. The slow movement, for strings only, opens with an Adagio in which lovely dissonances create a poignant mood. A violin solo emerges, but this is just a prelude to the central Andante—an extended violin and cello duet in a stately minuet style. Haydn closes with a brief return to the Adagio’s poignant harmonies. The full ensemble returns for the third-movement minuet, which elicits a new sprightlier character in contrast to the Andante of the previous movement. For the central trio section, Haydn must have relished writing the surprising duet for double bass and bassoon, just as his musicians must have relished playing it. The finale barrels along with infectious enthusiasm alternating lively solos for almost every instrument with tutti ensemble passages in a concertante manner. Several times Haydn revels in pronounced dissonances that make their resolution all the more satisfying. —©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

ISABELLA BIGNASCA, VIOLA Isabella, 22, recently completed her Undergraduate Degree at The Juilliard School, under the tutelage of Paul Neubauer. Before she decided to begin her music studies in the US, she was a part of the Sydney Conservatorium Open Academy program with Roger Benedict. Isabella won the Multiple Section of the 2015 NSW KPO Concerto Competition and had several recordings broadcast on Fine Music FM102.5 as part of the Young Performers Award Broadcast Series. She has toured around Europe, playing chamber music, and also performed several times in the Sydney Opera House. Past summer festival participation include the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, Music Academy of the West and the Heifetz International Music Institute where she also later became a part of the Heifetz on Tour series.

QIAN-QIAN LI, VIOLIN Violinist Qianqian Li joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal, Second Violin Group, in December 2017. An avid chamber musician, she has performed with Donald Weilerstein, Roger Tapping, Natasha Brofsky, Brett Dean, Gilbert Kalish, Curtis Macomber, and Anthony Marwood. Her honors include First Prize at Kazakhstan’s inaugural International Violin Competition, the Jules C. Reiner Violin Prize at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Ishikawa Music Academy Award, and prizes won with the Clara Piano Trio, of which she was a member for one year. Ms. Li has performed at major music festivals including Aspen, Tanglewood, Yellow Barn, and Sarasota. As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras in major concert halls in Asia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. Her performances have been broadcast live on the radio, including by WGBH Boston. Before joining the New York Philharmonic, she served as a member of the first violin section of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for three years, after winning positions with the orchestras of Seattle, Atlanta, and St. Paul in the same period. She has also performed in the Boston, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta symphony orchestras and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Born in Nanjing, China, Qianqian Li received both her bachelor and master of music degrees from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein and served as his teaching assistant, and was granted the Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship. Her other mentors include Malcolm Lowe and Lina Yu.

February 12, 2023 – Gloria Chien, piano, Benjamin Beilman and Alexi Kenney, violins, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola, Mihai Marica, cello ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD (1897-1957) Suite for two violins, cello, and piano left-hand February 12, 2023 – Gloria Chien, piano, Benjamin Beilman and Alexi Kenney, violins, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola, Mihai Marica, cello Erich Wolfgang Korngold showed an incredible gift for composition at an early age. Upon hearing him play his cantata Gold in 1907, Gustav Mahler proclaimed him a genius and recommended that he study with Alexander Zemlinsky at the Vienna Conservatory. At age eleven he composed a ballet, Der Schneemann (The Snowman), that was so impressive that Zemlinsky orchestrated and produced it at the Vienna Court Theater in 1910 to sensational acclaim. Richard Strauss was deeply impressed by Korngold’s Schauspiel Ouvertüre (Dramatic Overture, 1911) and Sinfonietta (1912), as was Puccini by his opera Violanta (1916). The pinnacle of Korngold’s early career came at the age of twenty-three when his opera Die tote Stadt (The Dead City) achieved international recognition. By 1928 a poll by the Neue Wiener Tagblatt considered Korngold and Schoenberg the greatest living composers. In 1934 director Max Reinhardt took Korngold to Hollywood where the second phase of his career began. There he composed some of the finest film scores ever written—nineteen in all, including such classics as Captain Blood (1935), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939); he became Hollywood’s highest paid composer at that time. Yet he was caught between two worlds and two eras. He was criticized in some quarters for selling out to Hollywood and for ignoring modern trends in music; in Hollywood he was criticized for writing scores that were too complex. The Suite, op. 23, was written in 1930, several years before Korngold left for Hollywood and while he was under contract with the Theater-an-der-Wien as an arranger of operettas. His wife Luzi worried that his operetta work would lead to his abandonment of serious music, yet it was that work that had provided a steady enough income for him to marry. He did continue to compose serious works, though in fact their number was dwindling. The Suite, for the unusual combination of two violins, cello, and piano left-hand was written at the request of Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm in World War I, and whose financial status enabled him to commission left-hand piano concertos from many of the world’s leading composers. Though the Ravel Concerto has remained the best known, works by Prokofiev, Britten, Richard Strauss, and Franz Schmidt were also commissioned by him. And perhaps more to the point, Korngold had already written a remarkable left-hand Concerto for him in 1923. Though Wittgenstein was often known for his temperamental criticisms and rebukes, he performed the Concerto in 1924 and must have admired it enough to want Korngold to write him another piece. Korngold opted for “Suite” as a fitting title for a work of more than four movements, some of which are dance-related. He may also have liked its Baroque associations, for the work begins with a prelude and fugue. The harmonic and rhythmic language, however, displays its Romantically tinged twentieth-century orientation. The piano plays almost the entire Präludium alone, until the strings enter in unison toward the close, introducing the Fuge, which follows without pause. The fugue subject is presented by the cello, followed by the piano then the first violin. The second violin is not given its own fugal entry until the cantabile middle section. The Präludium returns to close the movement. The second movement consists of a waltz, played muted at the beginning and end. A more animated central section provides contrast. The third movement with its main theme of jagged, chromatic broken thirds is labeled “Groteske.” It functions much like a scherzo and trio, but contains intriguing metric shifts between 4/8 and 3/8. Following the Trio, which opens with an extensive piano solo, the “Groteske” is repeated. The Lied brings a singing and introspective contrast, again highlighting the piano at the outset, in an ingenious combination of melody and accompaniment all played by one hand. The Finale is a compositional tour de force, combining rondo and variation form. Introductory piano octaves preview the theme in diminution, whereupon the A theme is presented by the cello and piano, then put through a series of developing variations—developing in the sense that succeeding variations vary what has already been varied, becoming further and further removed from the theme. Korngold’s sophisticated variation techniques include diminution, augmentation, inversion, and retrograde. Episodic material leads to a B theme, which is also treated in a series of variations. The episodic material and the B theme are also closely related to the second section of the A theme, showing Korngold’s fascination with motivic unity. When the A theme returns, as in rondo form, it is in an altered minor key variation, which again leads to more “A” variations. Another set of B variations and another set of A variations bring on the coda—a wistful recall of A similar to its opening guise and a brilliant close. By Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes