String Quartet No. 1 “Kreutzer Sonata” (arr. for String Orch.)
I. Adagio – Con moto
II. Con moto
III. Con moto – Vivo – Andante
IV. Con moto – (adagio) – Piu mosso
Symphony No. 15 in G major, K. 124
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Menuetto
IV. Presto
PROGRAM NOTES
SYMPHONY IN G MAJOR, WQ.180, H.655
C.P.E. Bach (1714-1788)
Composer, musician, and pedagogue Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was the fifth child and second eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach – and one of four of J.S. Bach’s 20 children who became notable composers in their own right. A prolific composer with a marked affinity for keyboard works, C.P.E. Bach produced sonatas, concertos, fantasias, and various chamber works all featuring keyboard instruments. He also authored a seminal keyboard treatise which became the definitive keyboard technique manual of his time. In contrast to his vast keyboard repertoire, Bach composed relatively few symphonies – fewer than 20 extant examples remain. However, his continued engagement with the genre throughout his long and successful career suggests he saw the genre as a meaningful avenue for exploration. His Symphony in G major, Wq.180 dates from 1758 during his tenure in Berlin at the court of Frederick the Great and exemplifies his signature compositional style.
C.P.E. Bach was a significant representative of the empfindsamer Stil (or “sensitive style”), a movement which emerged in German music during the transitional period between the Baroque and Classical eras. This intimate, contemplative style emphasized “true and natural” expression through dramatic mood shifts, dynamic contrasts, bold chromaticism, and ample use of sighing appoggiatura figures. These hallmarks are evident throughout Wq. 180, which follows a traditional three-movement (fast-slow-fast) structure with the strings taking center stage as the work’s primary expressive force.
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 IN C MINOR, OP. 35
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Like several other 20th century Russian composers – Prokofiev, Scriabin, and Rachmaninoff among them – Dmitri Shostakovich doubled as a concert pianist. The young composer completed the piano course at Petrograd University and worked as an accompanist for silent films throughout the 1920s. However, he never pursued a career as a virtuoso performer, preferring to focus on composition and primarily performing his own works. Still, Shostakovich played and recorded well into his 60s, and his deep understanding of the piano is evident in his compositions for the instrument. Of all his keyboard pieces, his two piano concertos are considered his masterworks. Written 24 years apart and vastly different in character, both remain staples of the concerto repertoire.
Shostakovich wrote his First Piano Concerto between March and July of 1933, a relatively prosperous period in the young composer’s life. At just 26 years old, he had recently married and was enjoying the success that came along with the premiere of his First Symphony while still several years away from the height of Stalinist repression. The concerto premiered in October 1933 with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring the composer himself on piano and Alexander Schmidt on trumpet – though nominally a piano concerto, the work grants the trumpet an equally prominent solo role. The work was met with great acclaim, revitalizing Shostakovich’s career as a performer.
Overall, the concerto’s musical material is rollicking and full of sardonic humor (the devastation of the second movement notwithstanding) with the unusual pairing of piano and trumpet reinforcing its ironic character. Shostakovich employs a simpler and less dissonant harmonic language than in much of his work form this period and incorporates several references to other compositions. Attentive listeners may recognize quotations from works by Beethoven and Haydn, snippets of jazz influence and silent film ideas, snippets from his own incidental music for the 1964 film Hamlet, and even a nod to the popular Viennese folk song “O du Lieber Augustin.” This eclectic blend of disparate inspirational elements comes together to form a charming, if somewhat satirical, whole.
STRING QUARTET NO. 1 “KREUTZER SONATA” (ARR. FOR STRING ORCH.)
Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)
Composed in just two weeks in October 1923, Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet No. 1 was inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s controversial 1889 novella The Kreutzer Sonata. Janáček translated the story’s psychological intensity into a four-movement work of striking emotional depth, portraying its themes of passion, torment, and betrayal.
Tolstoy’s novella opens on a train, where several passengers discuss marriage and divorce. One passenger, a man named Pozdnyshev, confesses to murdering his wife but reveals that he was acquitted. The story then recounts his failing marriage and increasing suspicions that his wife, a pianist, was having an affair with a violinist – the two perform Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 9, nicknamed the “Kreutzer” after the surname of its dedicatee, hence the novella’s title. Consumed with jealousy, Pozdnyshev fatally stabs her in a fit of rage. Though legally absolved from the crime due to his wife’s apparent adultery, he is left to grapple with the guilt of what he’s done, imploring forgiveness as the story ends.
“I was imagining a poor woman, tormented and run down, just like the one the Russian writer Tolstoy describes in his Kreutzer Sonata,” Janáček wrote of the inspiration behind String Quartet No. 1. The work flips the script on the dark tale of Tolstoy’s novella, shifting the perspective to the wife’s experience (as Janáček interprets it) rather than Pozdnyshev’s, conveying her anguish and longing through music that oscillates between dramatic outbursts and rhapsodic lyricism.
Following a brief melodic opening, the first movement devolves into fragments of jagged, unsettled melodies. A rhythmic motif evoking the train that carries the novel’s characters emerges and recurs throughout the piece. The second movement’s off-kilter, polka-esque dance figure and erratic melody combine to form a sense of musical instability, surging forward and retreating at unpredictable intervals.
The third movement opens with a canon based on a theme from Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” violin sonata, while the fourth and final movement weaves together elements from the preceding three. As the train rhythm intensifies, driving relentlessly toward its climax, the music becomes almost punishing. The quartet then concludes abruptly, leaving a haunting sense of resignation.
SYMPHONY NO. 15 IN G MAJOR, K. 124
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
It is well known that W.A. Mozart was a child prodigy, composing his first works at just five years old. However, while his later masterworks hold pride of place on concert programs worldwide, his early works are far less frequently performed. One such piece is Symphony No. 15, composed in early 1772 when the composer was just 15 years of age. Mozart wrote the symphony after returning to his home city of Salzburg with his father following their second tour of Italy. Scored for winds and strings and lasting around 12 minutes, the four-movement symphony maintains a conventional structure but already displays the striking clarity and elegance that would define the mature Mozart’s style.
The symphony opens with a bold Allegro that dances with exuberant energy. By contrast, the second movement Andante is delicate and lyrical, its soaring string lines interspersed with gentle oboe and horn calls. The third movement Menuetto is sharp and brisk, leading into a smooth, songlike Trio section. The abrupt dynamic contrasts and thrumming eighth-note undercurrent in the violins provide a fitting lead-in to the vibrant closing Presto, which is the most lighthearted of the four movements and rife with subtle musical humor. A brief coda rich with syncopation and tremolos rounds off the work with a final musical flourish.
Notes by Laney Boyd
ADMINISTRATION
Chief Executive Officer - Annie Lydford
Executive Director, Performance & Planning - Tim Davy
Head of Concerts & Tours – Hannah Bache
Concerts & Tours Manager – Aimee Walton
Orchestra Personnel Manager - Charlotte Templeman
Performance & Projects Coordinator - Anna Galloway
Project Manager – Alex Tighe
Stage Manager – Michael Pattison
Librarian – Helen Harris
Director of Development & External Affairs - Chris Martin
Head of UK Development - Amy Scott
Development Manager (American Friends) – Georgina Hamilton
Marketing & Communications Manager - Rose Hall
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Miles Bentley, Administrative Assistant
FOR THE ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS US TOUR
Leonard Stein, Consulting Producer
Peter Katz, Touring Coordinator
Sarah Vardigans, Company Manager
BIOGRAPHY
ACADEMY OF ST. MARTIN IN THE FIELDS
Founded in 1958 by Sir Neville Marriner, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields has evolved into a musical powerhouse, an orchestra renowned across the world for its commitment to the musical freedom of its players and the sharing of joyful, inspiring performances.
Today, with Music Director Joshua Bell, ASMF’s player-led approach empowers every member of the orchestra. This creates a direct line and electrifying connection between the orchestra and our audiences, resulting in ambitious and collaborative performances that transcend the more traditional conductor-led model.
ASMF will present more than 100 concerts across 2024/25, having kickstarted the season at the Royal Albert Hall with a BBC Proms performance of Handel’s Messiah with John Butt and a live show of The Rest is History podcast with Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. Internationally, ASMF and Joshua Bell toured Prague and Switzerland in September and the ASMF Chamber Ensemble toured the US in October. In November, the orchestra will visit Korea and China with pianist Khatia Buniatshvili and violinist Ning Feng, culminating in a concert at London’s Barbican Centre with Buniatishvili to launch her Barbican Artist Residency in December. International highlights early in 2025 include a 19-date European tour featuring cycles of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos with Jan Lisiecki alongside works by Errollyn Wallen, Ruth Gipps and Anna Clyne, followed by a visit to the USA with pianist Bruce Liu and an ambitious, player-led residency and performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade with Joshua Bell alongside the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
ASMF has announced a full 2024/25 season at the church of St Martin-in-theFields, which includes collaborations with cellist Anastasia Kobekina, pianists Bruce Liu and Alexandra Dariescu, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, violinist Augustin Hadelich and viola soloist Timothy Ridout. ASMF is the principal orchestral partner of St Martin-in-the-Fields, which is the orchestra's historic home.
Beyond the concert hall, our commitment to a social purpose manifests in impactful projects that harness the power of music to empower people. We have a longstanding history of work which connects with people experiencing homelessness, and our education projects develop autonomy and creativity among emerging musicians worldwide.
Our collective artistic responsibility fosters enduring collaborations with worldrenowned soloists, exemplified by our 15-year partnership with Music Director and virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell. These collaborations showcase the benefits of trust and true artistic collaboration developed over time.
Building on its rich global legacy, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields remains one of the world’s most-recorded orchestras, igniting a love for classical music in people around the world through live performance and digital initiatives. Today, we continue a busy international touring programme alongside a significant presence in the UK – making us one of the country’s most celebrated cultural exports.
TOMO KELLER was born in Stuttgart to German-Japanese musicians and started playing the violin at the age of six. At ten years old he gave his first performances with orchestra, going on to study at Vienna’s University for Music and Performing Arts and New York’s Juilliard School of Music. Numerous top prizes and awards followed: the Fritz Kreisler Competition, the Johannes Brahms Competition and the German Music Competition Berlin where he was awarded the Grand Prize. He has since performed at major concert halls all around the world and has been invited to music festivals including the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele, Edinburgh Festival and Bravo! Vail Colorado. He has also been a frequent guest on radio and television broadcasts on ARD, BBC, NHK and ORF.
Tomo is a much sought-after orchestral leader and director, having led the London Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and has also appeared with more than 20 orchestras as guest leader across Europe, the USA and Asia. Tomo was appointed Director and Leader of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 2016 and appears with them worldwide as leader, director, chamber musician and soloist.
As a soloist, Tomo has also performed with the Beethovenhalle Orchestra Bonn, St Petersburg Camerata, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Concert tours have led him all across Europe, as well as Russia, Asia, America and the Middle East. 2021/22, Tomo was artist-inresidence at the Loh-Orchestra Sondershausen in Germany, featuring as soloist, director and conductor, and premiered a new piece written for him by Christoph Ehrenfellner. Wiener G’schichten also received its UK premiere in London with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 2022.
Tomo’s recordings include solo works by Bach, Bartok and Ysaye, orchestral recordings including Stravinsky’s Apollon musagète with Sir John Eliot Gardiner/ LSO and Grammy Award winning Avant Gershwin with Patti Austin and the WDR Big Band. In 2020 a DVD/CD box set with all Beethoven piano concertos was released by Deutsche Grammophon to great critical acclaim, featuring pianist Jan Lisiecki with Tomo directing the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. A CD with works by Kurt Atterberg will be released on Ondine in 2024, featuring the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Tomo as soloist and director in Atterberg’s Suite for violin and viola.
He has given violin, chamber music and orchestral master classes at all major London Music Colleges as well as at Yale university and numerous other schools in the USA and the Far East. In 2022 he was appointed Professor of violin at the HEMU Sion in Switzerland.
Tomo plays a fine violin by Antonio Stradivari known as the ‘ex-Braga/bell’, kindly loaned to him through the Beare’s International Violin Society. tomokeller.com
ROSTER
VIOLIN I
Stephanie Gonley
Miranda Playfair
Amanda Smith
Fiona Brett
Sijie Chen
Richard Milone
VIOLIN II
Matthew Ward
Rebecca Scott
Antonia Kesel
Kathy Shave
Cecily Ward
VIOLA
Fiona Bonds
Alexandros Koustas
Matthew Maguire
Rachel Robson
CELLO
Richard Harwood
Will Schofield
Judith Herbert
Sarah Suckling
BASS
Lynda Houghton
David Stark
OBOE
James Hulme
Rachel Ingleton
HORN
Stephen Stirling
Joanna Hensel
TRUMPET
Mark David
The Academy’s work in the US is supported by Maria Cardamone and Paul Matthews together with the American Friends of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
The position of the Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields is generously supported by the Berry Charitable Foundation.
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CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE
TOM & LINDA HOEGEMEYER
Music has always been an important part of Tom's and Linda's lives. When they moved to Lincoln, they were drawn to the Lied Center for Performing Arts because of the variety of musical performances it brings to the city. They are pleased to support the Lied Center as a part of the Conductor's Circle.
KRISTEN AND GEOFF CLINE
We are avid supporters of the arts and arts education in all forms, and the Conductor’s Circle is a great way to further this mission. We feel it is vital that Nebraska has access and exposure to world class classical artists and orchestras, both in the audience and in the classroom.
DRS DAVID & MARILYN MOORE
We value good music, and we’ve both been involved in both instrumental and choral forms of it for most of our lives. We’re delighted to have the opportunity to help bring major orchestras to the Lied’s stage.
DIRK BROM AND KIM RUSSEL
We are pleased to support the Lied's ongoing commitment to bring classical music to Lincoln. The internationally and nationally acclaimed artists that share their gifts with Lied audiences add to the outstanding quality of life in Lincoln. We sincerely appreciate the community and state-wide support for the arts in Nebraska.
LIANA SANDIN – PEARLE FRANCIS FINIGAN FOUNDATION
Liana Sandin and the Pearle Francis Finigan Foundation are ardent supporters of the arts, especially of music, and more especially of classical music. We are happy to help the citizens of Nebraska find more opportunities to hear and enjoy great music. The Lied Center Conductor's Circle is a wonderful way to do this.
MARY-ANN K. CLINTON
My late husband (John) and I have loved music all our lives. However, our passion for classical piano started in 1967 when we learned that our four-year-old son Mark had extraordinary musical talent. From that time, we dedicated our efforts to help him develop his God-given talents. We recently discovered that Mark’s paternal grandmother was such an accomplished pianist that she had been awarded a music scholarship to attend Boston University in the 1930’s. Due to family reasons, she never fulfilled that dream. This made us realize that although God works in wonderful and mysterious ways, family genes may also have been involved. Following our move to Lincoln, John and I soon found a home for all things musical and cultural at the Lied Center. The growth of the Lied Piano Circle allowed us to contribute to having some of the best piano music in the world on the Lied stage. Our musical journey has been wonderful one, and my continued participation in the Piano Circle is an honor and privilege. I look forward to this year’s Piano Circle artists as they provide another season of exciting performances for our Nebraska audiences.
ANABETH H. COX
As the only member of the Piano Circle without a history on the piano, I must admit that my love of piano performance comes as a result of my sister, MarySue Harris. Her love of the piano, her 40+ years of teaching piano, and her joy in the performance on the piano, have sealed my commitment to perpetuating that love for the children, and the children at heart, in the beauty of the music written for the piano. I’m grateful to be a part of bringing that beauty to the Lincoln community. I can’t play the piano, but I can love it!
MARYSUE HARRIS FOUNDATION
The Piano Series, offered by the Lied Center, is truly an opportunity to hear first-rate piano performances throughout the year! Before the Piano Series, there was some poor attendance at piano concerts, but there is so much interest now, both in the Series and in the active response to the pianists, it is most gratifying and fulfilling!! There is an increased awareness of the excellent pianism and an expectation from the audience of a higher standard of performance overall!
As a life-long, performing pianist who taught piano for over 40 years, and had many students win top honors in competitions, MarySue was so thrilled with the resounding success of the Piano Series.
MarySue passed on in February of 2024.
KEITH HECKMAN
Having been a dealer in fine pianos for more than forty years, it gives me great pleasure to continue to provide Lincoln and the surrounding area the opportunity to hear some of the great artists of the world. It is also fulfilling to assist young piano students with interacting with excellent teachers and clinicians. What a treasure the Piano Circle is for the Lied.
CHARLOTTE HEERMANN
The Piano Series initially featured in the 2013–14 season of the Lied Center has enhanced the season program and promises to continue to do so in the 2023–24 season. Our community has had the special opportunity to experience piano performances of the highest quality presented by internationally acclaimed pianists. The response has been enthusiastic and has raised awareness and expectations of even more outstanding performances.
As a performing pianist and teacher for many years, I am particularly excited by the opportunity for students to hear some of the best pianists and performances in the world. What an inspiration! I look forward to another outstanding season with exceptional pianists and performances offered by the Piano Series.
MRS. LARRY H. LUSK
The piano is truly an international musical instrument, bringing wonderful talent from around the world to the Lied stage. The Lied Piano Series features outstanding artists, showcasing the endless variety, creativity and beauty of artist and this glorious instrument.
We welcome these artists to the Lied Center for all to enjoy.
CHRISTOPHER MARKS & JESSICA FREEMAN
We have loved the piano and the repertoire written for it since we were each very young. The Piano Circle concerts at the Lied Center have brought stellar artists to Lincoln and have been an exciting addition to the arts landscape here. We are very happy to be able to support the continuation of this series.
MARGARET OZAKI AND FAMILY IN MEMORY OF JOAN REIST
My mother spent her life teaching young people to play the piano and loved helping bring world-class pianists to the Lied Center, especially because it offered an opportunity for young people to hear them perform.
Music was her passion and she believed it made everyone’s life richer. She made sure it was a part of my life and her grandchildren’s lives and her family is honored to help carry on that passion through the Piano Circle and another season of outstanding performances.
RHONDA SEACREST
Since the early 1980’s, a priority of mine has been to provide visual and performing arts to underserved populations in Nebraska. The Piano Series is a wonderful extension of that objective.
