ONE HUNDRED T WENT Y-NINTH SE ASON Tuesday, March 10, 2020, at 6:30 Senn High School
All-Access Chamber Music Series THE ADDISON ENSEMBLE Aiko Noda Violin Diane Mues Viola Loren Brown Cello Andrea Swan Piano beethoven
String Trio in D Major, Op. 9, No. 2
Allegretto Andante quasi Allegretto Menuetto: Allegro Rondo: Allegro aiko noda diane mues loren brown
intermission
brahms
Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 60
Allegro non troppo Scherzo: Allegro Andante Finale: Allegro comodo aiko noda diane mues loren brown andre a swan
The All-Access Chamber Music series is generously underwritten by an anonymous donor, who attended similar concerts forty-five years ago. This evening’s concert is a collaborative production of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Public Schools.
comments by richard e. rodda ludwig van beethoven
Born December 16, 1770; Bonn, Germany Died March 26, 1827; Vienna, Austria
String Trio in D Major, Op. 9, No. 2 composed 1797–98
In November 1792, the twenty-two-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven, bursting with talent and promise, arrived in Vienna. The prodigious composer had already produced a robust body of work, including a sizeable amount of piano music, numerous chamber works, cantatas on the death of Emperor Joseph II and the accession of Leopold II, and the score for a ballet. So undeniable was Beethoven’s genius that Maximilian Franz, the elector of his hometown of Bonn, underwrote the trip to the Habsburg Imperial City—then the musical capital of Europe—to help further the young musician’s career (and the elector’s prestige). Despite Maximilian’s patronage, however, Beethoven’s professional ambitions quickly consumed any thoughts of returning to the provincial city of his birth, and, when his father died in December, he severed for good his ties with Bonn in favor of the stimulating artistic atmosphere of Vienna. Among the nobles who served as Beethoven’s patrons after his arrival in Vienna was one Count Johann Georg von Browne-Camus, a descendent of an old Irish family, who was at that time fulfilling some ill-defined function in Vienna on behalf of the Empress
Catherine II of Russia. Little is known of Browne. His tutor, Johannes Büel, later an acquaintance of Beethoven, described him as “full of excellent talents and beautiful qualities of heart and spirit on the one hand, and on the other full of weakness and depravity.” In the mid-1790s, Beethoven received enough generous support from Browne, however, that he dedicated several of his works to him and his wife, Anne Margarete, including the Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute for cello and piano (WoO 46), three op. 10 piano sonatas, B-flat piano sonata (op. 22), and three string trios of op. 9. The op. 9 trios were apparently composed in 1797 and early 1798—Beethoven signed an agreement with Johann Traeg on March 16, 1798, for their publication, which was announced in the Viennese press
to p to bot to m: Beethoven, 1801 oil portrait by Carl Traugott Riedel (1769–1832) A view of central Vienna along Kohlmarkt Strasse, ca. 1800, showing Beethoven’s publisher Artaria on the right
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COMMENTS
the following July 21. In the flowery dedication, written in French, the composer noted that he had “the rare satisfaction of presenting to the first Maecenas of his muse [i.e., Browne] the best of my works,” a mark of his high regard for the trios, though he never again returned to this particular genre of chamber music. The works were popular during the composer’s lifetime, and remained so for a considerable time—the records of London’s Monday Popular Concerts series, for example, show that the G major trio (op. 9, no. 1) was performed at least twenty times on the series between 1859 and 1896.
T
he expansive and lyrical Trio in D major, op. 9, no. 2, opens with a quiet, genial, arch-shaped theme from the violin. A sudden change of dynamics and intensity marks
the start of the transition to the subsidiary subject, a falling melody given in duet by violin and viola over a pulsing cello accompaniment. The treatment of the thematic materials in the development section is restrained and formal, so the arrival of the main theme in the cello to begin the recapitulation is more simply satisfying than dramatically cathartic. The tender Andante alternates two kinds of music: a hesitant strain of separated chords, and a touching theme in the nature of a sad serenade. Though Beethoven labeled it as a menuetto, the good-natured third movement is a harbinger of the propulsive and sometimes witty scherzos that were soon to become one of the defining elements of his mature style. The finale is a rondo of clear-cut design based on the returns of the striding tune given by the cello at the outset.
johannes br ahms
Born May 7, 1833; Hamburg, Germany Died April 3, 1897; Vienna, Austria
Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 60 composed 1855–56; revised 1874 first performance November 18, 1875; Vienna, Austria. The composer as pianist and members of the Hellmesberger Quartet
In April 1853, the twentyyear-old Johannes Brahms set out from his native Hamburg for a concert tour of Germany with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi. The following month in Hanover, they met the violinist Joseph Joachim, whom Brahms had heard give an inspiring performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto five years before in Hamburg. That summer, Brahms and Joachim spent eight weeks
together, setting the foundation for a creative friendship that lasted for almost half a century. As a parting gift, Joachim gave Brahms several letters of introduction, including one to Robert and Clara Schumann in Düsseldorf. On the last day of September 1853, Brahms met the Schumanns for the first time. “Here is one of those who comes as if sent straight from God,” Clara recorded in her diary. The friendship was immediate and unstinting.
to p to bot to m: Brahms, photographed by Ludwig Angerer (1827–1879), ca. 1870s Eduard Reményi (left) and Brahms, photographed in Altona (Hamburg), early spring 1853, just before their joint concert tour
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COMMENTS
Brahms’s euphoria over his new relationship with the Schumanns turned quickly to concern for their well-being when Robert, long troubled by severe nervous disorders, tried to drown himself in the Rhine on February 27, 1854. Brahms rushed to Düsseldorf, and a week later helped Clara admit him to an asylum at Endenich, near Bonn. Brahms visited Düsseldorf and Endenich frequently and eagerly during the ensuing months, both to pay his respects to Robert, who was still able to converse and even write a little music during his lucid moments, and to offer his support to Clara. It was during that difficult period, when Clara proved herself both vulnerable and strong, that Brahms, despite the fourteen-year difference in their ages, fell in love with her. Clara, however, though she may have been equally drawn to Brahms, never allowed their relationship to be anything more than completely proper, either before her husband’s death on July 29, 1856, or at any time thereafter. They remained the best of “just friends” for the next forty years. Since Brahms was prevented from demonstrating his emotions in the usual ways, he sublimated his feelings into the most eloquent language at his command—music—and wrote several impassioned compositions during the mid-1850s, notably the B major trio, op. 8, and a quartet for piano and strings that he began in 1855. The quartet, his first attempt at that genre,
was completed in its original form—in the key of C-sharp minor, and in just three movements—by April 1856, but Brahms refused to have it published and hid the score away for two decades. In 1874, Brahms thoroughly revised the piano quartet, transposing it into the key of C minor, rewriting the finale, and adding a scherzo. (The original version is lost, probably burned by the composer.) Even at that late date, the quartet remained a potent reminder of his earlier fervent emotions, which he explained in dramatic terms to Fritz Simrock, who was preparing to publish the score: On the cover, you must have a picture of a head with a pistol pointed at it. Now you may get an idea of the music. I shall send you a photograph of myself for the purpose. Blue coat, yellow breeches, and top-boots would do well. This last sartorial comment was a reference to the title character of Goethe’s 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, who, dressed as Brahms described, shoots himself to death because of his unrequited love for a married woman. Brahms, though he was unable to establish a life with Clara, did not follow Werther’s extreme example, but he almost completely eschewed further romantic involvements, and remained forever a bachelor.
to p to bot to m: Brahms and violinist Joseph Joachim Lithograph of Robert and Clara Schumann by Eduard Kaiser (1820–1895), Vienna, 1847; inscribed to their Zwickau friend, composer and writer Emanuel Klitzsch (1812–1889)
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B
rahms’s passion burns with white-hot ardor in the quartet’s powerful first movement. The work is begun by stark octaves for the piano, which are answered by the teardrop phrase in the strings that serves as the main theme; the subsidiary subject is a brighter legato strain initiated by the piano. The strings provide a palpitating triplet figure to round out the exposition’s thematic material. All of the motives (the main theme most prominently) are treated in the development section, which builds to an episode of furious octave-leap unisons as the gateway to the recapitulation. The main theme is somewhat condensed upon its return, but the second subject is retained largely intact. A coda built from the main theme brings the movement, passion spent, to an enervated close. The scherzo is ferocious, almost demonic in nature. There is no true formal trio here to serve as a foil to the headlong impetuosity of the music, only a lyrical string passage that is hurried along by an incessant triplet accompaniment. The tender Andante, according to Richard Specht, is
Brahms’s farewell to the vision of Clara as lover, “a painful acknowledgment of their impossible relationship.” The cello sings the lovely song used as the movement’s main theme; the second theme is given as a gently syncopated motive from the violin. The remainder of the movement follows sonata form. The violin presents the finale’s broad main subject to the accompaniment of motoric keyboard figurations; the strings provide a brief chordal phrase as second theme. Both of the principal ideas are treated in the development section, after which the recapitulation arrives with a unison statement of the main theme by the strings. The second theme is heard in the brighter key of C major, but the quartet’s darkly colored home tonality is not to be ultimately abandoned, however, and the music returns to C minor for its final despondent gestures. Richard E. Rodda, a former faculty member at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, provides program notes for many American orchestras, concert series, and festivals.
chicago symphony orchestra
All-Access Chamber Music Series 2019–20 Wednesday, April 1, at 6:30
Sunday, June 14, at 3:00
Chicago Pro Musica
Linden Ensemble
symphony center
Program includes works by Ibert, Debussy, Ravel, Pierné, and Taffanel
Wednesday, May 13, at 6:30 symphony center
b e v e r ly a r t s c e n t e r
Program includes Beethoven’s Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in B-flat major and Brahms’s Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano in E-flat major Presented in partnership with Beverly Arts Center
Pressenda Trio
Program includes Beethoven’s Piano Trio in E-flat major, op. 1, no. 1, and Brahms’s Piano Trio no. 2 in C major
The All-Access Chamber Music series is generously underwritten by an anonymous donor, who attended similar concerts forty-five years ago.
Reserve your free tickets at cso.org/allaccess or by calling 312-294-3000.
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profiles Aiko Noda Violin
Diane Mues Viola
Aiko Noda joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in September 2008. Born in Japan, she moved to Switzerland at the age of nine to study with Hungarian violinist and pedagogue Tibor Varga at the Ecole Supérieure de Musique de Sion. She continued her studies with Shmuel Ashkenasi at Musikhochscule Lübeck in Germany and in the United States at Northern Illinois University. Noda has received numerous awards, including the Young Concert Artist Award in Osaka, Japan; Tokyo International Association of Artists, Japan; and a special award at the International Music Festival Tibor Varga. Additionally, she was the winner of the Concerto Competition of Northern Illinois University. Since youth, she has been acclaimed for her musicianship and has performed in Europe, Japan, and the United States in chamber music and in recital. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra in Japan and the Radio Chamber Orchestra of Romania in Bucharest, among others. While she was student, Noda regularly played with orchestras such as the Tonhalle Orchestra and Opera House Orchestra in Zurich, Filarmonica della Scala in Milan, and Minnesota Orchestra. For many years she acted as leader of the second violin section and concertmaster of the Festival Orchestra in Sion, Switzerland. During the 2006-07 season, Noda joined the faculties of the Renaissance Music Academy and Radford University (Virginia) and became a member of the Avanti Ensemble. Locally, she has appeared on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts series and the CSO’s chamber music series, both broadcast by WFMT.
With an early ear for music and encouragement from her family, violist Diane Mues developed her playing through vigorous engagement in the Chicago classical music community. Raised and educated in suburban Addison, Illinois, Mues began her viola studies at the age of nine with Elaine Duckwall, which led to participation in the Chicago Youth Symphony, where she earned the principal viola chair under conductor Dudley Powers. She then began working with Ruth Ray, a student of Leopold Auer, in a period that greatly enriched her musical development. Mues earned a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University, where she was a student of longtime CSO principal viola Milton Preves. While in college, she was principal viola of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and received the Louis Sudler Foundation for the Arts Award. Following participation in the Tanglewood Music Festival, Mues was appointed assistant principal viola of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra. She joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1987. Over the years, she has enjoyed many collaborations in the Orchestra’s citywide educational programs, various chamber music performances, and on WFMT-FM Chicago.
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PROFILES
Loren Brown Cello
Andrea Swan Piano
Before joining the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1985, Loren Brown served as principal cello of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for ten years. While in Milwaukee, he was also principal cello of the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra and performed in the new-music ensemble Pro Musica Nova. Since joining the Chicago Symphony under Sir Georg Solti, Brown has performed extensively with such ensembles as Chicago Pro Musica, Chicago Chamber Musicians, and Chicago Symphony Chamber Players. With these and other ensembles, he has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Australia, and he has participated in several chamber music tours in Japan. Also in Japan, he served on the faculty of the Affinis Arts Foundation’s summer festival. Brown was a featured soloist with the Orchestra in a two-cello concerto by composer David Ott; he also performed in the Chicago and New York premieres of Arvo Pärt’s Passio with the Hilliard Ensemble of London. Brown’s career began in Washington, D.C., where he spent four years as a member of the U.S. Navy String Quartet, performing for dignitaries at the White House and the State Department. Also in Washington, he was principal cello of the National Gallery Orchestra and the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra.
Andrea Swan is a Chicago-area chamber musician, collaborative pianist, orchestral player, soloist, and teacher. She is the principal keyboardist of the Grant Park Music Festival and plays regularly in the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra. She also accompanies instrumentalists in their final auditions for positions in the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera orchestras. Swan has served as the official accompanist for many music festivals and competitions throughout the United States, including the Stulberg International String Competition. Swan performs regularly with two piano trios, the Evanston Chamber Ensemble and the Pressenda Trio. She appears frequently on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s chamber music series and performs annually at Northwestern University’s Winter Chamber Music Festival. In addition, she premiered many new solo and chamber music compositions as pianist of the University of Chicago’s Contemporary Chamber Players and Fulcrum Point New Music Project. She also maintains a large private class of adult piano students. Swan holds degrees from Oberlin College and Indiana University. Her mentors include Jack Radunsky, György Sebők, Menahem Pressler, Josef Gingold, and János Starker.
P H OTO BY TO DD RO S E NB E RG
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