THE ALBERS TRIO LAURA ALBERS, violin REBECCA ALBERS, viola JULIE ALBERS, cello String Trio in D Major, Op. 9 No. 2.....................................................................Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) I. Allegretto II. Andante quasi allegretto III. Menuetto: Allegro IV. Rondo: Allegro Tathata..............................................................................................................................................Ross BAUER (1951) INTERMISSION Divertimento in E-flat Major, K. 563............................................................ Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Menuetto – Allegro – Trio IV. Andante V. Menuetto – Allegretto – Trio I – Trio II VI. Allegro
Program subject to change
The Albers Trio appears by arrangement with Seldy Cramer Artists. Web site: alberstrio.com
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program notes String Trio in D Major, Op. 9, No. 2 Ludwig van Beethoven Baptized on Dec. 17, 1770 in Bonn, Germany Died on March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria Beethoven’s works are typically divided into three separate periods of composing, namely beginning, middle and late. Beethoven explored many aspects of writing chamber music during his first period, which lasted until about 1802. These included, but were not limited to, the piano sonata, duo sonata, piano trio, string trio, string quartet and chamber music for winds. During the course of this period, Beethoven began to break away from his piano compositions, which were the foundation of his compositional style at the time. He wrote String Trios in G, D and C Minor, Op. 9, No. 1-3 between 1797 and 1798 in Vienna and they were published in July 1798. Beethoven dedicated these to Count Browne-Camus, who was one of his most significant patrons in the earlier part of his life. Beethoven was very pleased with the string trios, calling them the best of his works up to that point. Despite his success with them, he never again revisited the genre, directing his focus in string chamber music to the string quartet, a genre that he would master, and would become a hallmark of his greatness. The first movement of Op. 9, No. 2 is in sonata form and contains two largely contrasting themes. The first theme is assertive and leads to a longing second theme. The change of mood between the two themes creates a certain amount of anxiety throughout that is perpetuated by the modulations in the development that lead farther and farther away from the home key of D Major. The second movement is in D Minor and holds a very somber mood. Traditionally, the second movement of this type of work would be slow, however Beethoven chose to make it moderately paced, which shifts the balance of the work as a whole. The third movement is a cheerful menuetto with a quiet trio section in minor and is followed by the last movement in rondo form. Program note by Mary Elizabeth Thompson-Meyer
Tathata Ross Bauer Born on Nov. 19, 1951 in Ithaca, N.Y. Bauer is a theory and composition teacher at the University of California, Davis who has also taught at Stanford and Brandeis Universities. He attended New England Conservatory and Brandeis studying composition with John Heiss, Martin Boykan, Arthur Berger and with Luciano Berio at Tanglewood. His music has been performed and recorded by the Radio Orchestras of Hilversum and Slovakia, the Alexander and Arianna Quartets, Speculum Musicae, the New York New Music Ensemble, Sequitur, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, sopranos Susan Narucki and Christine Schadeberg, violinist Curt Macomber, Paul Hillier and others. Bauer has received much prestigious recognition, including a 2005 American Academy of Arts and Letters award, the Walter Hinrichsen Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two Fromm Foundation commissions, Barlow and Koussevitzky commissions and an NEA Composition Fellowship. Tathata was composed during the summer of 2007. It was written for and is dedicated to the Athabasca String Trio, which premiered it in October of 2007 at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York. The word ‘tathata’” is from the Pali language (the language of the earliest Buddhist scriptures), and means ‘suchness’—a way of experiencing reality without the barrier of language and concepts. Tathata, in a single movement of about 11 minutes, falls into three large sections. The first begins with a viola solo accompanied by a tolling A pitch in the violin and cello. This soon grows into three-part counterpoint, but the idea of repeated notes proves to be ubiquitous throughout much of the piece. The middle section, marked Tranquillo, features a long melody in the violin. Near its end of the violin theme, the music moves to its highest register to lead into the final section marked Con Moto. Featuring the most varied, continuous and dramatic music of the piece, this section builds inexorably, finally leading to a version of the viola’s opening tune, now played in three-
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part unison. The final measures of the piece, again featuring the repeated A but now played over a sustained F-sharp in the violin, quietly dissolve into silence.
interest of the piece as a whole. Beethoven greatly admired this work and based his own String Trio, Op. 3 off of this model, even choosing to write in the same key.
Program note provided by Seldy Cramer Artists
During Mozart’s time, the divertimento was considered to be for the purpose of light entertainment music. Mozart’s divertimento, however, is a work of great magnitude and ingenuity and was not intended simply for light entertainment. The classic divertimento format is six movements, usually including sonata form, minuets and theme and variations. The first movement of K. 563 is a traditional sonata form, which includes an exposition that introduces two themes, a development that expands upon those themes and a recapitulation that revisits the exposition before the conclusion of the movement. The same form is used in the second and last movements. The second movement is very solemn and is followed by a nicely contrasting light minuet. The fourth movement is a theme and variations and the fifth is another minuet, although with two contrasting trio sections, unlike the first minuet. The final movement is a variation of sonata form.
Divertimento in E-flat Major, K. 563 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Born on Jan. 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria Died on Dec. 5, 1791 in Vienna, Austria This trio for violin, viola and cello was composed by Mozart in 1788 in Vienna following the completion of his last three symphonies. Mozart dedicated the trio to Johann Michael Puchberg, a friend who Mozart was desperately borrowing money from to help with his growing financial difficulties. This is the only work for string trio that Mozart actually completed and is arguably the first substantial work in the string trio repertoire. Mozart premiered this piece himself on viola with Anton Teyber on violin, and Antonín Kraft on cello. Mozart was a violist as well as a pianist and perhaps because of this, he wrote a very interesting viola part. All three voices are equally important, which adds to the melodic
Program note by Mary Elizabeth Thompson-Meyer
the albers trio From an early age the Albers sisters have captivated audiences with musical styles as diverse as their distinctive personalities and features. Beginning with their childhood performances on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colo., the sisters have gone on to perform at such venues as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, National Theatre in Taipei, Severance Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Wigmore Hall in London and Zankel Hall. The Trio’s performances have also been seen and heard on Live from Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center Honors, Japan’s NHK, Washington D.C.’s Voice of America and Bavarian Radio. Its current season includes performances in New York City, Boston, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, New Mexico and Texas. Violinist Laura is the associate concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera. She, as well as her sisters, began studying Suzuki violin with their mother, Ellie LeRoux, at the age of two. Laura went on to receive her Bachelor and Master of
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Music degrees from The Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein and Ronald Copes. She has performed and taught on both violin and viola throughout the United States and in Canada and Mexico. She has also participated in the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Rhode Island’s Newport Music Festival, the Sarasota Opera Festival in Florida and an Orpheus Chamber Orchestra tour. During the Opera’s off season, Laura enjoys traveling, preparing gourmet meals and racing as an age group triathlete. Violist Rebecca teaches at the University of Michigan School of Music Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor. She received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, where she was a student and teaching assistant of Heidi Castleman and Hsin–Yun Huang. In addition to the trio, she is a member of Mark O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz Trio and
also performs regularly with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, both as a section and principal player. As winner of Juilliard’s 2002-03 viola competition, Rebecca made her New York concerto debut performing the New York premiere of Samuel Adler’s Viola Concerto in Alice Tully Hall. She made her European recital debut at the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris. Rebecca has participated in such festivals as the Marlboro Music Festival, Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove (UK), Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Strings Music Festival and the Perlman Music Program. Past teachers include Ellie LeRoux and James Maurer. Cellist Julie studied with Richard Aaron at The Cleveland Institute of Music. She made her major orchestral debut at the age of 17 with
the Cleveland Orchestra, and thereafter has performed in recital and with orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia. Julie has received various awards including the grand prize in South Korea’s Gyeongnam International Music Competition and second prize in Munich’s Internationaler Musikwettbewerbes der ARD. In America, she has performed with the orchestras of Indianapolis, Seattle, Colorado, Syracuse, San Antonio, Dayton and San Diego among others. In addition to solo performances Julie regularly appears at chamber music festivals around the world. Julie is currently in the middle of a three year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two. October of 2005 marked the release of her solo debut recording on the Artek Label.
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