CLASSICS UNCORKED
W inter E vening Friday, January 26, 2018 | 8pm | Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts Hosted by Resident Conductor - Interim Music Director, Daniel Brier At 7pm, explore exquisite wines as brought to you by the KSO’s sommelier, Ronald Merlino, during Wine Prelude.
BRAHMS Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 102, No. 2 1833 | 1897 Allegro amabile Allegro appassionato Andante con moto – Allegro Georgiy Borisov, clarinet Reiko Yamada, piano WALKER b. 1922
Violin Sonata No. 1 (1958)
BRAHMS Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor, Op. 78 1833 | 1897 Vivace ma non troppo Adagio – Più andante – Adagio Allegro molto moderato Daniel Brier, violin Reiko Yamada, piano COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Clarinet Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 10 1875 | 1912 Allegro energico Larghetto affettuoso Scherzo: Allegro leggiero Finale: Allegro agitato Georgiy Borisov, clarinet Burdick-Thorne String Quartet
Season 97 | 2017-2018
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johannes brahms
1833 | 1897
Serendipity and Tragedy Few composers exude as much warmth as Johannes Brahms. Yet, it is not only warmth. You see, at its core, Brahms’ music contains great complexity. Yes, the surviving works exhibit the absolute balance of great craft and deep expression—in other words, perfection. The two Brahmsian masterpieces which anchor this winter evening’s program provide but a glimpse into the mind of this great composer. By 1890, Brahms let his friends know he would retire as a composer. He even wrote a letter to his publisher to make it official. In 1891, while still in his selfimposed retirement, he traveled to Meiningen for a festival which included the playwright Joseph Weidmann’s tragedy Önone. Before he left for Meiningen, Brahms seemed to be in good spirits, warning his friends that Weidmann “had better watch out for bad jokes.” When he arrived in Meiningen, he was driven to the castle in the royal carriage. His spirits high and enjoying all the entrapments of his royal hosts, Brahms made good on his promise—poking fun at Weidmann each morning. While in Meiningen, however, Brahms heard Richard Mühlfeld perform Carl Maria von Weber’s Clarinet Concerto and Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. Brahms, captivated by Mühlfeld’s warm, deep sound, found his muse once again. Serendipity banished his retirement. He befriended Mühlfeld and spent hour after hour listening to him. Out of this newfound friendship, Brahms composed four incredible works—the Clarinet Trio, Op. 114; Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115; and the Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120, Nos. 1 and 2.
samuel coleridge-taylor
18753 | 1912
So towering were Brahms’ contributions to the clarinet repertoire, that a few years later, the English composer and self-professed admirer of Brahms, Charles Stanford, told his composition students that no one could write a clarinet quintet without showing the direct influence of Brahms. Clarinet Quintet, Op. 10 One pupil in the class, Samuel ColeridgeTaylor, took the challenge. The result: the Clarinet Quintet, Op. 10. Evidently, Coleridge-Taylor succeeded. “You’ve done it, me boy!” exclaimed Stanford. While trying to push back against the influence of Brahms, Coleridge-Taylor found another influence—that of Antonin Dvorak who, ironically, was directly influenced by Brahms. Alas, he could not escape Brahms’ influence. The clarinet quintet, an attractive work set in four movements, reveals the finished work not of a student, but of a master. KalamazooSymphony.com
Clarinet Sonata, Op. 120, No. 2 The Clarinet Sonata, Op. 120, No. 2—attractive on the surface, complex underneath—bears a certain autumnal quality consistent with his late works. The sweet, tender, and loving opening movement glows with a pleasant warmth. The second movement reveals its secrets subtilely. What appears at first glance to be a lilting scherzo is quickly transformed into a solemn, hymn-like procession in the central trio section. The scherzo returns, this time modified to take on the solemnity of the trio. In the third movement, the warmth of the first movement returns—this time merged with the solemnity of the trio of the second movement, thereby linking each movement. This is the music of a composer at the end—content but also resigned. Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 78 Whereas serendipity birthed the Brahms’ second clarinet sonata, tragedy birthed his Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 78. His twenty-four year old godson, the poet and violinist, Felix Schumann, tragically died. As an aside, note that Felix was the son of Robert and Clara Schumann. Robert—the preeminent composer who introduced the younger composer to the musical establishment when he proclaimed Brahms “a genius”—had passed away some years earlier. Ever loyal and generous, Brahms remained devoted to the Clara and the family. However, lest you think it simple, Brahms’ loyalty was not only that of a friend but also that of a lover. You see, Brahms loved Clara who seemed to love in return and yet, despite his infatuation, he remained a bachelor as best we can tell. So complex was
george walker
b. 1922
You cannot miss the influence of Brahms in the music of George Walker. Both composers were first piano virtuosos. Walker became the first black instrumentalist to appear with the Philadelphia Orchestra, performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Eugene Ormandy on the Podium. Both composers received critical acclaim late in their lives. Walker became the first living black composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize in composition. Both composers were mentored by the leading compositional voices of their day— Brahms by Robert Schumann and Walker by Nadja Boulanger. Violin Sonata No. 1 However, the parallels go far beyond biography. You see, both composers set out to write serious music displaying the highest craft. Both composer display a thorough knowledge of counterpoint through their work. Walker’s music, though it may not be immediately apparent, is inherently lyrical. Completed in France in 1958, Walker’s Violin Sonata No. 1 begins with a slow introduction. A vivacious Fuge follows and leads into a brief piano interlude. The second section alternates between playfulness and violence. The third section, a recitative for the violin, leads into an intensely lyrical return of the material from the introduction. 2017 | 2018 Season
their relationship that much ink has been spilled attempting to understand. Though we will never quite fully understand, the first published violin sonata provides a beautiful glimpse into their relationship. The sonata is a three-movement work which overtly alludes to two of the composers’ earlier songs about rain—Regenlied, Op. 59, No. 3 and Nachklang, Op. 59 No. 4. In the first song, rain awakens the dreams of childhood, bedewing the “soul with innocent childish awe.” In the second song, raindrops and tears mingle so that when the sun shines again, “the grass is doubly green: doubly on my cheeks glow my burning tears.” In the first two movements he only alludes to the songs with pervasive dotted rhythms. However, in the last movement, he quotes the songs directly. Of the last movement, a grieving Clara said “I could not help bursting into tears of joy over it.” She continues, “I wish the last movement could accompany me to the next world.” Therein lies Brahms’ genius. The first violin sonata is a work drenched in the sorrow of a life cut short, yet somehow, defying all odds, it is a work filled with hopeful consolation. It is a work which, in the words of Karl Geiringer, seems “to smile through its tears.” Again, as we saw earlier, below an attractive surface lies great depth and complexity. With Brahms, it never has to be just one thing. It can be sorrow and consolation or, in the case of the second clarinet sonata, contentment and resignation.
kalamazoo symphony orchestra chamber musicians KSO M U S IC IA N S Georgiy Borisov, Clarinet Reiko Yamada, Piano Daniel Brier, Violin BURDIC K -T H O R N E S T RIN G Q UART E T Julia Neckerman, Violin Lisa A. Williams, Violin Grace Byrd, Viola Igor Cetkovic, Cello
2017 | 2018 Season
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