POETRY INFUSION

A summer celebration of music and poetry takes more than Chamber Music Northwest to make it a party. That is why we are thrilled to be partnering with Literary Arts, Fear No Music, and leading poets from our community to bring both the music and poetry to life!

Poetry Preludes

Throughout the summer for selected concerts that feature poetry-inspired music, we will be joined by some of Oregon's best literary artists who will begin the concert with a "Poetry Prelude." These esteemed poets will read one of their own works, selected by them to compliment the music. You will have a chance to meet them as well, and learn more about their work, after the concert.

Poetry Prelude poets include: Kim Stafford, Irene Cooper, Katie Ford, Dr. S. Renee Mitchell, Daniela Naomi Molnar, Alicia Jo Rabins. *

* see concert program page for dates

Young Artist Trifecta

Young poets from Literary Arts’ “Bold New Voices” program are collaborating with four young composers from Fear No Music's “Young Composers Project” to create new poetry-inspired chamber works. These collaborative compositions will then be workshopped and premiered by the youth musicians of our Young Artist Institute as part of their final showcase performance.

July 7 @ 7pm | Pilot House, University of Portland

Poetry in Music Conversation

We’ve also partnered with Literary Arts for an entertaining and enlightening conversation with acclaimed composer David Serkin Ludwig, award-winning poet (and Oregon-native) Katie Ford, and moderated by Portland's own dynamic writer/poet/musician/composer/ filmmaker Alicia Jo Rabins. Attend this conversation to learn about their long creative partnership, and how they create music that brings together David's music and Katie's poetry.

July 15 @ Noon | Kaul Auditorium, Gray Lounge, Reed College

Saturday, June 24

Kaul Auditorium | 8pm Co-Sponsors: Anonymous Friends of CMNW

Prelude Performance | 6:30pm Young Artist Institute

AT-HOME Sponsor: Joella Werlin

Sunday, June 25

Lincoln Performance Hall | 4pm

Sponsors: Friends of CMNW, in honor of Linda Magee

Opening Night: Poetry in Music

Kim Stafford, Oregon Poet Laureate Emeritus

MOZART (1756-1791)

Duo for Violin & Viola in B-flat Major, K. 424 • (17’)

I. Adagio - Allegro

II. Andante cantabile

III. Tema con variazioni

KIAN RAVAEI (b. 1999) BRAHMS (1833-1897)

Gulistan • (15-20’)

CMNW COMMISSION • WORLD PREMIERE

I. Part 1 (Sari Gelin/Wildwood Flower)

II. Part 2 (Saye Chaman/Seeds of Love)

Zwei Gesänge (Two Songs), Op. 91 • (12’)

I. Gestillte Sehnsucht (Stilled longing)

II. Geistliches Wiegenlied (A sacred cradle-song)

Intermission

BRAHMS

Piano Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26 • (48’)

I. Allegro non troppo

II. Poco adagio

III. Scherzo: Poco allegro

IV. Finale: Allegro

Benjamin Beilman, violin

Hsin-Yun Huang, viola

Fleur Barron , mezzo-soprano

Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė , piano

Peter Stumpf, cello

Fleur Barron , mezzo-soprano

Hsin-Yun Huang, viola

Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė , piano

Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė , piano

Benjamin Beilman , violin

Hsin-Yun Huang, viola

Peter Stumpf, cello

Kian Ravaei’s Gulistan was commissioned through the generous support of the Chamber Music Northwest Commissioning Fund.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart deliberately imitated both Michael and his brother Joseph Haydn’s musical style when he wrote the Duo for Violin and Viola No. 2 in B-flat Major, K. 424 as a favor for the ailing Michael, who could not complete the set of duos he promised their mutual employer, the unsympathetic and rigid Archbishop of Salzburg. According to an early bio of Michael Haydn by one of his students, Mozart submitted this and another duo to the Archbishop under Michael’s name, a generous gesture.

Stylistically, Mozart consciously adopted Haydn’s approach in the decorative trills and grace notes of the first movement, the elegance of the Adagio cantabile, and the particular theme-and-variations format of the final movement initially developed by Joseph Haydn, and which showcases the viola’s virtuosity.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

In Gulistan, I bring together traditional songs from my Western and Middle Eastern heritage. The title comes from the thirteenth-century Persian poet, Sa'di, whose monumental work, Gulistan (“flower garden” in Persian), uses flowers as a metaphor for wisdom. Folk songs may be said to represent the collective wisdom of a culture, preserving generations of values and worldviews. Inspired by Sa'di, I chose folk songs that make reference to flowers, each with different metaphorical implications.

Part 1 combines the traditional Azerbaijani song, Sari Gelin, with the American folk song, Wildwood Flower. The former describes a man helplessly longing for his distant lover, while the latter tells the story of a heartbroken woman whose lover has abandoned her. I intertwine the songs, suggesting a dialogue between two inconsolable lovers, each pining for the other.

Part 2 unites two metaphorical commentaries on the nature of love: the traditional Iranian song, Saye Chaman, and the English folk song, Seeds of Love.

I set the Iranian melody in an American folk style, and the English melody in a style evoking Iranian classical music. The melodies are often presented in counterpoint—a kind of musical metaphor for the mixture of cultures in my own life.

This work was written expressly for mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, who shares in common with me a diverse heritage comprising Eastern and Western cultures.

—© Kian Ravaei

Johannes Brahms wrote the two songs of Op. 91—more accurately chamber works for mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano—for his good friends and colleagues Joseph and Amalie Joachim. In 1863, Brahms composed the cradle song, Geistliches Wiegenlied, (Sacred Lullaby) for the Joachims to celebrate the birth of their first child. The song, based on the opening bars of the German Christmas carol Josef lieber, Josef mein, features a gentle rocking movement that continues throughout, evoking the Virgin Mary singing to the baby Jesus asleep in her arms. Twenty years later, an altogether different set of circumstances prompted Brahms to compose Gestille Sehnsucht (Stilled Longing) for the Joachims. At this time, Joseph had become convinced— wrongly—of Amalie’s infidelity. In the hope of saving their troubled marriage, Brahms wrote a love song to a text by Friedrich Rückert. The poem uses recurring nature imagery, particularly soft wind in the trees, to soothe desire. It was Brahms’s hope that the Joachims would rediscover the fond feelings from their early years together in this song; Brahms even entertained the idea that the two might perform the song together. Unfortunately, the rift proved permanent, and the Joachims eventually divorced.

In both songs, the viola provides a second interpretive voice and partners equally with the mezzo. The similar range of both viola and mezzo provide an added richness and intimacy.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Throughout his life, Johannes Brahms displayed great facility for writing lyrical, singing melodies. In his early music, Brahms’s melodies seem to spill out in an endless stream. Brahms’s youthful style spotlights his preoccupation with melody and melodic development; as he matured, Brahms pivoted towards the use of short motivic fragments, which he then developed and amplified with great creativity and variety.

The Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 26 is Brahms’s longest chamber work, as well as one of the lengthiest piano quartets in the chamber music repertoire. In this expansive music, Brahms demonstrates his debt to Franz Schubert, another melodic genius.

The rhythmic back-and-forth theme of the Allegro non troppo, first stated by the piano, forms the basis of the entire movement, where the bold vigor of this short idea dominates. In the nocturnal Poco adagio, Brahms pays homage to his friend Robert Schumann with rich arpeggiated piano writing that supports the liquid expressiveness of the understated theme. In the sunny effervescent Scherzo and Trio, piano and strings vie for prominence—who plays fatter octaves? In the closing Allegro, Brahms features off-beat accents and up-tempo exclamations. The writing for strings features thick-textured octaves, and Brahms uses dynamic contrasts to highlight contrasting interludes.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Thursday, June 29

The Reser | 8pm Sponsor:

Prelude Performance | 6:30pm Young Artist Institute

AT-HOME Sponsor: Leslie Hsu & Richard Lenon