Cypress String Quartet CECILY WARD, violin TOM STONE, violin ETHAN FILNER, viola JENNIFER KLOETZEL, cello String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 13, Ist es Wahr?.......... Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847) I. Adagio; Allegro vivace II. Adagio non lento III. Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto IV. Presto Lento Assai............................................................................................................................. Kevin PUTS (1972 ) INTERMISSION String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135......................................................... Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) I. Allegretto II. Vivace III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo IV. Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß: Grave, ma non troppo tratto; Allegro
• •• Lento Assai is a new work co-commissioned by the Lied Center of Kansas, the Library of Congress, the Cypress String Quartet and the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center. It is an inspired “response” to Mendelssohn’s first and Beethoven’s last string quartets.
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PROGRAM NOTES String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 13, Ist es Wahr? Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Born on Feb. 3, 1809 in Hamburg, Germany Died on Nov. 4, 1847 in Leipzig, Germany Felix Mendelssohn wrote his quartet, Op. 13 in A minor in 1827, the year of Beethoven’s death. Although he was only 18, Mendelssohn was already an accomplished composer, having written the octet at age 16 and the overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream when he was 17. Mendelssohn found Beethoven’s late quartets to be incredible marvels and he made a careful study of them, adapting some of Beethoven’s ideas into his own music. The Op. 13 quartet takes many of its ideas (including a solo for the first violin) exactly from Beethoven’s Op. 132 quartet, also in A minor. Modeling on Beethoven’s quartets was a brave move on Mendelssohn’s part. At this time, Beethoven’s music was “out of fashion.” The majority of musicians had rejected Beethoven’s quartets, with composers like Louis Spohr and Carl Maria Von Weber calling them the ravings of a lunatic or “a deaf musician’s confused fantasies in sound.” Rossini was the most popular composer of the day, yet Mendelssohn made a serious study of all of the Beethoven quartets, as well as those by Mozart and Haydn. The subtitle of the quartet, Ist es Wahr? (Is it True?), comes from Mendelssohn’s song of the same title, Op. 9, no. 1. Mendelssohn uses a three note phrase of the song as a motto throughout the Op. 13 quartet. Other Beethoven-influenced ideas that appear in this quartet are the slow introduction of the first movement (which literally “introduces” us to the theme of the entire quartet) and the fugal textures that are found in the second movement. For the “dance movement” (Intermezzo) Mendelssohn writes music that is magical and beautiful (and all his own) and is reminiscent of the scherzo
of the Midsummer Night’s Dream. The final movement brings back the song theme to conclude the whole work. Although the whole work is an homage to the recently dead composer, Mendelssohn adapted Beethoven’s ideas in a completely personal way. This music sounds like Mendelssohn, not like Beethoven. Among his many accomplishments as a composer, conductor, performer, scholar, teacher and champion of his contemporaries, Mendelssohn is credited with bringing the music of J.S. Bach back from obscurity. He was also the first to conduct Schumann’s symphonies and, along with Schumann, founded the Leipzig Conservatory in 1843. Lento Assai Kevin Puts Born on Jan. 3, 1972 in St. Louis, Mo. Note from composer Kevin Puts Lento Assai was commissioned as part of the Cypress String Quartet’s ongoing Call & Response project, a program in which composers write works inspired by the timeless masterpieces of string quartet repertoire. The Cypress presented Mendelssohn’s Op. 13 and Beethoven’s Op. 135 for me to study and respond to. Like Felix Mendelssohn, who drew deep inspiration from the late quartets of Beethoven and in some cases, quoted them literally, I have found a wellspring of ideas flowing from the slow movement of Beethoven’s Op. 135 (Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo). Beethoven begins with the introductory building of a D-flat major chord followed by a haunting melody played by the first violin. The first several minutes of my piece can be heard as an expansion of these two ideas. I begin in exactly the same manner and then elaborate on Beethoven’s opening by continuing to build chords of my own in a
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“glacially” deliberate manner. Once returning to D-flat, my melody begins like Beethoven’s and then takes its own path. I also managed to include a curious “dottedrhythm” idea in the parallel minor of C-sharp. This serves as the middle section of Beethoven’s piece—in mine it forms the accompanimental basis for an angular melody which contrasts the smoothness and scalar nature of the main melody. As in several of my recent works, my intention—by way of the meditative quality of much of this piece—was to create a kind of musical refuge for the listener, a temporary place of peace and tranquility. I suspect my continuing desire to pursue this type of expression led me toward this particular moment in a Beethoven masterpiece of many great moments. Lento Assai was commissioned by the Cypress String Quartet in conjunction with the Lied of Center of Kansas, the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center and the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress. It premiered at the Library of Congress, Washington D.C. on Feb. 6, 2009. String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135 Ludwig van Beethoven Baptized on Dec. 17, 1770 in Bonn, Germany Died on March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria The last year of Beethoven’s life was difficult on every level. His health was poor, his finances were in shambles and his suspicious and distrustful nature had driven away all but a few friends. This made him cling desperately to his nephew (and adopted son) Karl. In August 1826, Karl attempted suicide, claiming later, “My uncle harassed me so.” Amid the chaos, Beethoven composed what was to be his last quartet in F major, Op. 135. His third quartet in the key of F (Op. 18, no. 1 and Op. 59, no. 1 share the key)—the work was written during the two
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months that Karl was recovering in the hospital. Completed in October 1826, Op. 135 was written only months after Beethoven’s surprising quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131. That the two share the same span of time and sprang from the same composer’s imagination is mind-boggling. After stretching the form of the quartet to its very limits in Op. 131 (which is in seven movements, played without pause), the Op. 135 quartet is in a new style, or rather, is a return to a more classical aesthetic. The brevity and “normality” of the piece makes it stand apart from the other quartets of Beethoven’s late period. Scholars suggest that perhaps he intended Op. 135 to be the first of a new set of quartets. The quartet in F major, Op. 135 is in a traditional four-movement form, but this is not to say that the piece is uninspired. It is as if Beethoven had distilled quartet writing to its very essence. The first movement (Allegretto) is capricious, while being gently conversational, providing the listener with an entertaining “tug of war.” The scherzo movement (Vivace) follows with humor and brilliance, at times wild (in one section the lower three voices repeat a rhythmic figure some 50 times while the first violin interrupts with bursts of what sounds like country fiddling). For the third movement (Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo), Beethoven returns to his beloved variation form, offering a song or hymn, with four variations. The composer’s working title while sketching the movement was Süsser Ruhegesang oder Friedengesang (Sweet Song of Rest or Peacefulness). For the final movement, Beethoven provides us with a riddle as a preface. Above the music, he writes Der Schwer gefaβte Entschluβ (The Difficult Resolution or Decision), and gives us two short examples of music. The first is marked Grave and contains the question Muß es sein? (Must it be?). The second is marked Allegro and states not once, but twice, Es muß sein! Es muß sein! (It must be! It must be!). What follows is a musical discussion, going back and forth between
the two, with the answer It must be! triumphantly claiming the end. The piece comes to a close with wit and lightheartedness. Scholars have hotly debated Beethoven’s meaning of the opening question and answer, with opinions ranging from discussions of Beethoven using music to debate a range of ideas including—but not limited to—free will versus destiny, the laundry bill,
the necessity of paying the rent and the inevitability of death. Published posthumously and released in August 1827, Op. 135 is dedicated to Beethoven’s friend Johann Wolfmayer, a musical amateur and wealthy merchant. Beethoven did not live to see the work’s publication or first performance.
CYPRESS STRING QUARTET Cecily Ward, violin Tom Stone, violin Ethan Filner, viola Jennifer Kloetzel, cello Widely celebrated for the power of its performances and its passionate dedication to the genre, the Cypress String Quartet combines technical precision with imaginative programming to create unforgettable concert experiences. Cecily Ward, Tom Stone, Ethan Filner and Jennifer Kloetzel have shown an unfailing dedication to exploring the masterworks of the time-honored, classic chamber music repertoire with its unique and refreshingly open sound. While individually acclaimed musicians in their own right with training from prestigious institutions including The Juilliard School, Interlochen Arts Academy, Cleveland Institute of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal College of Music, the Cypress String Quartet has honed its ensemble skills with more than 13 years experience performing around the world. On top of a busy schedule of more than 90 concerts each year at venues across America and abroad, the Cypress is a vibrant member of the San Francisco arts community and is dedicated to reflecting and enriching the city’s cultural landscape. The Quartet has had the opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Stanford Lively Arts, Krannert Center, Ravinia Festival and more.
The Cypress String Quartet is excited to release the first volume of its collection of Beethoven’s Late Quartets over three years. The highly anticipated first volume featuring the String Quartets in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 and in F major, Op. 135 was publicly launched in San Francisco in August 2009. Through its Call & Response commissioning and outreach program, the Cypress String Quartet has created a dialogue between the old masters and living composers, performing known and loved repertoire in a fresh context and introducing ground-breaking new works to the chamber music genre. In just a decade, the Cypress String Quartet has commissioned and premiered more than 25 new works, four of which are now included on Chamber Music America’s list of 101 Great American Ensemble Works. The Cypress String Quartet represents the voice of the new generation of American culture. As comfortable playing Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven in recital halls as it is being the foundation of multimedia collaborations, the Quartet brings passion, inspiration and enjoyment to every audience. The members of the Cypress Quartet play on exceptional instruments, including violins by Antonio Stradivarius (1681) and Carlos Bergonzi (1733), a viola by Vittorio Bellarosa (1947) and a cello by Hieronymus Amati II (1701). The Cypress Quartet takes its name from the set of 12 love songs for string quartet, The Cypresses, by Antonin Dvorak.
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