2019-20 DANISH STRING QUARTET
L JMS.ORG
OCTOBER-DECEMBER
DECEMBER PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS, guitar
TRIBUTE TO SEGOVIA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019 · 8 PM Special Event The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
2019 -20 SE A SON
OCTOBER CHICK COREA TRILOGY with
CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE & BRIAN BLADE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 · 8 PM Jazz Series Balboa Theatre
LILA DOWNS’ DÍA DE MUERTOS: AL CHILE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2019 · 7 PM Special Event Balboa Theatre
BÉLA FLECK, ZAKIR HUSSAIN, EDGAR MEYER with RAKESH CHAURASIA WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019 · 8 PM Jazz Series Balboa Theatre
NOVEMBER FARRUQUITO
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019 · 8 PM
Special Event The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
GARRICK OHLSSON BRAHMS EXPLORATION PART II SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2019 · 8 PM
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NAT GEO LIVE! BETWEEN RIVER AND RIM: HIKING THE GRAND CANYON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2019 · 7 PM New! Speaker Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
VOCTAVE THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2019 · 7 PM
Special Holiday Event The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
JANUARY MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020 · 8 PM Dance Series Civic Theatre
KIAN SOLTANI, cello JULIO ELIZALDE, piano SUNDAY, JANUARY 26, 2020 · 3 PM
Discovery Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
FEBRUARY JAZZY ASH & THE LEAPING LIZARDS
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2020 · 11 AM & 1 PM New! Family Concert The JAI at The Conrad
HANZHI WANG, accordion SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2020 · 3 PM
Piano Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
Discovery Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
DANISH STRING QUARTET PRISM PROJECT: FIVE CONCERT EXPLORATION
BRENTANO QUARTET FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 · 8 PM
Revelle Chamber Music Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
Revelle Chamber Music Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2019 · 8 PM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 · 3 PM FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2019 · 8 PM SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2019 · 3 PM & 8 PM
HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020 · 8 PM
LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASO
Piano Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
MARCH ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS
ZOLTÁN FEJÉRVÁRI, piano SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2020 · 3 PM
Special Event Jacobs Music Center – Copley Symphony Hall
MAY LES VIOLONS DU ROY
JOSHUA BELL, violin MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020 · 8 PM
MURRAY PERAHIA THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020 · 8 PM
Piano Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS AMERICANO TRIO FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020 · 7 PM & 9 PM The JAI at The Conrad
AROD QUARTET SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2020 · 3 PM
Discovery Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
DORRANCE DANCE SOUNDspace THURSDAY & FRIDAY, MARCH 19 & 20, 2020 · 8 PM Dance Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
NAT GEO LIVE! EXPLORING MARS THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020 · 7 PM
New! Speaker Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
Discovery Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
JONATHAN COHEN, music director & conductor AVI AVITAL, mandolin FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2020 · 8 PM Revelle Chamber Music Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
KENNY BARRON – DAVE HOLLAND TRIO featuring JOHNATHAN BLAKE SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020 · 8 PM Jazz Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS, guitar SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2020 · 11 AM & 1 PM New! Family Concert The JAI at The Conrad
NAT GEO LIVE! OCEAN SOUL THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2020 · 7 PM
New! Speaker Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
BEATRICE RANA, piano SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020 · 3 PM
Discovery Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
APRIL CHRISTIAN SANDS — 3 PIANOS
IGOR LEVIT THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020 · 8 PM
Jazz Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
SONIA DE LOS SANTOS SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020 · 11 AM & 1 PM
ERROLL GARNER TRIBUTE! FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020 · 8 PM
HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO GLENN EDGERTON, artistic director SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2020 · 8 PM Dance Series Spreckels Theatre
HAGEN QUARTET FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2020 · 8 PM
Revelle Chamber Music Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
Piano Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
New! Family Concert
The JAI
Celebrating Beethoven’s 250th Birthday 858.459.3728 ǀ LJMS.ORG
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L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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TABLE OF CONTENTS CALENDAR CHICK COREA TRILOGY WITH CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE AND BRIAN BLADE LILA DOWNS' DIA DE MUERTOS: AL CHILE BÉLA FLECK, ZAKIR HUSSAIN, EDGAR MEYER WITH RAKESH CHAURASIA FARRUQUITO GARRICK OHLSSON: BRAHMS EXPLORATION PART II DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS: TRIBUTE TO SEGOVIA NAT GEO LIVE! BETWEEN RIVER AND RIM: HIKING THE GRAND CANYON VOCTAVE: THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES SUPPORT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS · 2019-20
HONORARY DIRECTORS Brenda Baker Steve Baum Joy Frieman, Ph.D. Irwin M. Jacobs Joan K. Jacobs Lois Kohn (1924-2010) Helene K. Kruger (1916-2019) Conrad Prebys (1933-2016) Ellen Revelle (1910-2009) Leigh P. Ryan, Esq.
LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY STAFF Ted DeDee – President/CEO Inon Barnatan – SummerFest Music Director
Steve Baum – Chair H. Peter Wagener – Vice Chair Stephen Gamp – Treasurer Jennifer Eve – Secretary Gordon Brodfuehrer Wendy Brody Ric Charlton Linda Chester Sharon Cohen Robert O. Cornelison Brian Douglass Debby Fishburn Lehn Goetz John Hesselink Susan Hoehn Lynelle Lynch Sue Major Robin Nordhoff
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ADMINISTRATION Peggy Preuss Sylvia Ré Donald J. Rosenberg Sheryl Scarano Clifford Schireson Marge Schmale Maureen Shiftan Jeanette Stevens Haeyoung Kong Tang Debra Turner Lisa Widmier Clara Wu Tsai Katrina Wu Bebe L. Zigman
Chris Benavides – Director of Finance Debra Palmer – Executive Assistant & Board Liaison Brady Stender – Accounts Payable
PROGRAMMING Leah Rosenthal – Director of Programming Allison Boles – Education & Community Programming Manager Sarah Campbell – Programming Coordinator Eric Bromberger – Program Annotator Serafin Paredes – Community Music Center Director Xiomara Pastenes – Community Music Center Administrative Assistant Community Music Center Instructors: Noila Carrazana, Marcus Cortez, Armando Hernandez, Cesar Martinez, Michelle Maynard, Eduardo Ruiz, Rebeca Tamez
DEVELOPMENT Ferdinand Gasang – Director of Development Landon Akiyama – Development Coordinator
MARKETING & TICKET SERVICES Adam Thurman – Director of Marketing Jediah McCourt – Marketing Manager Hayley Woldseth – Marketing & Communications Project Manager Rachel Cohen – Marketing Coordinator Angelina Franco – Graphic & Web Designer Jorena de Pedro – Ticket Services Manager Shannon Haider – Assistant Ticket Services Manager Arik Lemon – Ticket Services Representative Patrick Mayuyu – Ticket Services Representative Janine Ponce – Ticket Services Representative Shaun Davis – House Manager Paul Body – Photographer
OPERATIONS & PRODUCTION
LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY
7600 Fay Avenue, La Jolla, California 92037 Admin: 858.459.3724 | Fax: 858.459.3727
Hannes Kling – Director of Operations Leighann Enos – Production Manager Anthony LeCourt – Event Manager Joshua Lemmerman – Facility Manager Jonnel Domilos – Piano Technician Erica Poole – Page turner
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PRELUDE 7 PM
Conversation with an artist hosted by Robert John Hughes Support for this program generously provided by
Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman
La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
CHICK COREA TRILOGY
with CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE & BRIAN BLADE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 · 8 PM BALBOA THEATRE
Chick Corea, piano Christian McBride, bass Brian Blade, drums PROGRAM Works to be announced from stage.
20-MINUTE INTERMISSION
ABOUT Chick Corea brings together bass powerhouse Christian McBride and drum master Brian Blade in a trio that earned 2 Grammy Awards for their first outing, 2014's landmark 3-CD set Trilogy. “Both are master musicians and together we have an easy rapport," Chick says of McBride and Blade. "There is a lot of give and take in our music. It’s always a lot of fun.” The trio's long-awaited follow-up album, Trilogy 2, arrives this fall on Concord Records. The two-disc set features tracks hand-picked by Chick from throughout the trio’s 2016 world tour, capturing the feel of an electrifying concert program. The material spans a range of inspirations, from American Songbook standards to jazz classics, reaching back into Chick own catalog as well as that of some of his most renowned collaborators, including Miles Davis and Joe Henderson.
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Chick Corea last performed for La Jolla Music Society in the Jazz Series on March, 20, 2015 . This performance marks Christian McBride and Brian Blade's La Jolla Music Society debuts. LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
DÍA DE MUERTOS: AL CHILE
LILA DOWNS
with appearances by
GRANDEZA MEXICANA FOLK BALLET COMPANY MARIACHI FEMENIL FLORES MEXICANAS La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2019 · 7 PM BALBOA THEATRE
Lila Downs, vocals Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company Mariachi Femenil Flores Mexicanas PROGRAM Works to be announced from stage.
20-MINUTE INTERMISSION
ABOUT Observe Día de Muertos early with one of Mexico’s greatest singers and cultural ambassadors, GRAMMY® Award-winner, Lila Downs, in AL CHILE—a fiesta of music, dance, and tradition, featuring Los Angeles’ Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company and the Southwest’s leading all-female mariachi group, Mariachi Femenil Flores Mexicanas.
This performance marks Lila Downs' La Jolla Music Society debut. L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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PRELUDE 7 PM
Conversation with an artist hosted by Robert John Hughes
BÉLA FLECK, ZAKIR HUSSAIN, EDGAR MEYER with RAKESH CHAURASIA
Support for this program generously provided by:
Royal India Restaurants and Royal Banquet & Events
La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain & Edgar Meyer’s recording, The Melody of Rhythm, featuring the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin, Music Director, is available on E1 Music CDs and Digital Recordings. Mr. Fleck is managed by David Bendett, artistsinc@aol.com and booked by Creative Artists Agency, 310.278.5657. Mr. Hussain, Mr. Meyer, and Mr. Chaurasia are mangaged by IMG Artists. 7 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019. 212.994.3500.
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019 · 8 PM BALBOA THEATRE
Béla Fleck, banjo Zakir Hussain, tabla Edgar Meyer, bass Rakesh Chaurasia, bansuri PROGRAM Works to be announced from stage. 20-MINUTE INTERMISSION
ABOUT Begin with the most creative exponent of the banjo in our time, Béla Fleck. Add the greatest living player of the tabla, the legendary drums—and drummer—of India, Zakir Hussain. Establish a trio with the acclaimed virtuoso of the classical (and bluegrass!) bass, Edgar Meyer. Combine with a special guest, the great Indian flautist Rakesh Chaurasia. Then finish the ensemble with the magic of improvisation. The results will be some of the most remarkable music anyone will hear this year.
This performance marks Béla Fleck's La Jolla Music Society debut. Zakir Hussain last performed for La Jolla Music Society in the Jazz Series on October 29, 2017. Edgar Meyer last performed for La Jolla Music Society in the Discovery Series on January 17, 1999
LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
FARRUQUITO La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019 · 8 PM THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
PROGRAM NO INTERMISSION
ABOUT Heir to the most renowned Gypsy flamenco dynasty, Farruquito is known as “one of the greatest flamenco dancers of this new century” (The New York Times). After a successful 20 city North American East Coast tour, Farruquito brings his new production to the West Coast for the first time! Experience his authentic and visceral flamenco dancing in the intimate setting of The Baker-Baum Concert Hall, alongside an exceptional cast of live musicians, singers, and dancers. .
Exclusive Worldwide Representation: IMG Artist in collaboration with CAMI Music.
This performance marks Farruquito's La Jolla Music Society debut. L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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PRELUDE 7 PM
Lecture by Michael Gerdes
Living in the Shadows... Amongst Vienna’s glimmering lights, Brahms lived his early life in the shadow of Beethoven. This concert paints a vivid picture of the composer wrestling with his idol and finding his own voice. From the unmistakable influence of Beethoven on the Piano Sonata No. 3 to the late Fantasien and their association with Clara Schumann, this lecture will take a deep dive, exploring the evolution of one of the world’s greatest composers and his lifelong love affair with the piano.
GARRICK OHLSSON BRAHMS EXPLORATION PART II SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2019 · 8 PM THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
BRAHMS Two Rhapsodies, Opus 79 (1833-1897) No. 1 in B Minor No. 2 in G Minor Fantasies, Opus 116 Capriccio in D Minor Intermezzo in A Minor Capriccio in G Minor Intermezzo in E Major Intermezzo in E Minor Intermezzo in E Major Capriccio in D Minor Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 35, Book II
La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
Exclusiver representation: Opus 3 Artists
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I N T E R M I S S I O N BRAHMS Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Opus 5 Allegro maestoso Andante espressivo Scherzo: Allegro energico Intermezzo (Rückblick): Andante molto Finale: Allegro moderato ma rubato Garrick Ohlsson, piano Garrick Ohlsson last performed for La Jolla Music Society in the Piano Series on May 3, 2019.
LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
GARRICK OHLSSON: BRAHMS EXPLORATION PART II - PROGRAM NOTES
itself. The form here is traditional sonata form, but again this is treated with imagination and freedom. From the first instant one feels the power of this music: Molto passionato, Two Rhapsodies, Opus 79 Brahms marks it, and this music drives implacably forward on the triplet rhythm that seems present at every instant. Born May 7, 1833, Hamburg The writing here is quite difficult, with handcrossings and Died April 3, 1897, Vienna Composed: 1879 hammered chordal themes, and some of the tension of this Approximate Duration: 15 minutes music rises from its harmonic uncertainty: the piece may nominally be in G minor, but we don’t hear a G minor Brahms spent three summers (1877-79) at the small chord until the eleventh measure. Once again, there is the town of Pörtschach on the Wörthersee in central Austria. same thematic richness of the first rhapsody, with several After twenty years of work, he had finally completed his distinct subthemes in each group: when the muttering and First Symphony, and now—on this beautiful lake surrounded dark second subject arrives, Brahms has already hinted at it even in the summer by snowy mountains—he could relax in the first theme group. The development treats both main a little. Music poured out of him: from the summer of 1877 themes, and the run up to the recapitulation is particularly came the Second Symphony, the next summer saw the impressive, with the music riding steadily forward on quiet composition of the Violin Concerto and some short piano but ominous triplets. The movement drives to a climax, and pieces, and in 1879 he wrote First Violin Sonata and the Two then—yet one more surprise! —in the last seconds, Brahms Rhapsodies, Opus 79. finally relaxes the iron grip of steady triplets, and the Brahms had not written anything for piano for over a Rhapsody concludes on two huge chords. decade when he returned to the instrument at Pörtschach, and the powerful Rhapsodies in particular seem to look Fantasies, Opus 116 back to the fiery piano music Brahms had written as a Composed: 1892 young man—his friend Theodore Billroth felt that they Approximate Duration: 23 minutes recalled “the young heaven-storming Johannes.” The title “rhapsody” can be confusing, for while composers from As he approached his sixtieth birthday, Brahms returned Liszt to Gershwin have used it comfortably, that term in to the instrument of his youth, the piano. The young Brahms fact has no specific musical meaning—it is derived from an had established his early reputation as the composer of old literary form that implies an epic or dramatic character. dramatic piano works, and then suddenly at age 32 Brahms For all the formal freedom we associate with the Rhapsody, walked away from solo piano music, and—except for some though, Brahms’ two Rhapsodies are disciplined music, full brief pieces in the late 1870s—that separation would last of taut and ingenious writing. Both are in minor keys, both nearly three decades. are dramatic, and both are in what might be called traditional When the aging Brahms returned to the instrument of musical forms. But Brahms then stretches these forms with his youth, he was a very different man and a very different an unusual sense of drama, harmonic freedom, and thematic composer from the “heaven-storming Johannes” of years richness. before. During the summers of 1892-93, Brahms wrote The Rhapsody No. 1 in B Minor is in ternary form, with twenty brief piano pieces and published them in four sets a fiery opening and a more lyric center section, but such a as his Opp. 116-119. While perhaps technically not as description reduces this music mindlessly. Each section is demanding as his early piano works, these twenty pieces built on a wealth of thematic ideas: the dramatic opening nevertheless distill a lifetime of experience and technical gives way to a rhythmically stuttering sub-group, which refinement into very brief spans, and in their focused, leads to a dark and silvery second subject in D minor; the inward, and sometimes bleak way they offer some of powerful opening shoulders this aside and turns virtuosic, Brahms’ most personal and moving music. Someone once with huge octave runs. But when Brahms gets to his center astutely noted that a cold wind blows through these late section, this “new” material turns out to be based on the lyric piano pieces; Brahms himself described them as “lullabies of theme from the opening section, now set in the unexpected my pain.” key of B major. Brahms treats this at length, the opening The seven pieces of Opus 116—composed during the material returns (complete with thunderous runs), and then— summer of 1892 at Bad Ischl, one of Brahms’ favorite in another surprise—the music draws to a quiet close on a retreats in the Alps—consist of three capriccios and four coda derived from the theme of the middle section. intermezzos. It should be noted that Brahms titled his piano The Rhapsody in G Minor has become one of Brahms’ pieces loosely, and his distinctions between capriccio, most famous piano compositions and is often performed by Program notes by Eric Bromberger
JOHANNES BRAHMS
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GARRICK OHLSSON: BRAHMS EXPLORATION PART II - PROGRAM NOTES
intermezzo, ballade, and rhapsody are often not so much a matter of form as of mood. Even the title of the set— Fantasies—suggests a freedom from strict form. In the very freest sense of these titles as Brahms uses them, however, we can note that capriccio suggests a dramatic piece, while intermezzo suggests a quieter, more introspective one. Most of these brief pieces are in ABA form: a first theme, a countermelody usually in a contrasting tempo and tonality, and a return to the opening material, usually varied on its reappearance. This set of seven Fantasies is anchored firmly on its outer movements, each of which is a Capriccio in D Minor. The first, marked Presto energico, flies restlessly along its 3/8 meter; much of the writing is sharply syncopated, with the accent falling on the final beat. No. 2, an Intermezzo in A Minor, opens with a simple melody, built on Brahms’ characteristic three-against-two rhythm; the glistening—and brief—center section flows smoothly on sixteenth-notes before the return of the opening material, now extended to form the longest section of the piece. No. 3, Capriccio in G Minor, is quite dramatic. Brahms marks it Allegro passionato, and the whirlwind outer sections frame a noble and expansive march in E-flat major. By contrast, No. 4, an Intermezzo in E Major marked Adagio, feels wistful and tentative, with halting triplets in the left hand and a hesitant melody in the right. Brahms originally thought of titling this piece “Nocturne,” and the music’s dark atmosphere readily suggests why; rather than making a full return to the opening material, he merges both themes in the brief final section. No. 5, an Intermezzo in E Minor marked Andante con grazia ed intimissimo sentimento, opens with halting, pulsing two-note phrases that begin off-the-beat. There is something broken and uneasy about this beginning, and the brief center section brings little relief, despite Brahms’ repeated markings of dolce and dolcissimo. This Intermezzo is not in ABA form but consists of two halves, both of which repeat. No. 6, an Intermezzo in E Major marked Andantino teneramente (“flowing tenderly”), moves along a steady pulse over chromatic harmonies; the melody—subtly embedded inside these chords—feels almost incidental to the music. The concluding Capriccio in D Minor, marked Allegro agitato, is the most dramatic of the set. Its violent beginning gives way to the middle section’s legato phrases, but even here the sharp syncopation contributes to an atmosphere of uneasiness.
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Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 35, Book II Composed: 1863 Approximate Duration: 24 minutes
Niccolò Paganini—rumored by some to be in league with the devil—published his Twenty-Four Caprices for Solo Violin in 1820, and the theme of the final caprice, full of angular leaps and coiled energy, has haunted composers ever since. Among those who have written extended works based on this sprightly theme are Paganini himself (twelve variations), Liszt (Transcendental Etudes), Schumann (Paganini Variations), Rachmaninoff (Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini), and—more recently—Witold Lutoslawski and Boris Blacher (both of whom have composed a set of Variations on a Theme of Paganini) and George Rochberg (Fifty Caprice Variations). Further sets of variations may still come, for the possibilities of this theme appear inexhaustible. Brahms composed his Variations on a Theme of Paganini in 1863, shortly after moving from Hamburg to Vienna, and published them as two books of fourteen variations each. These variations are extremely compact: each set—consisting of the theme, fourteen variations, and a blazing finale— lasts only about eleven minutes. Brahms himself described them as exercises (“Studies for Pianoforte”) and gave the two sets the slightly dry and academic title of “Books,” but listeners should not be put off by the composer’s usual selfdeprecation: this is ingenious and exciting music, pleasing for the verve of the writing for piano and for the sheer exhilaration of hearing Paganini’s theme put through so many transformations. It is also fiendishly difficult for the performer, and Brahms’ Paganini Variations are regarded as one of the supreme tests for pianists. Brahms’ close friend Clara Schumann, one of the finest pianists of the nineteenth century, found them so difficult that she called them Hexenvariationen (“Witches’ Variations”), implying that it would take supernatural powers to solve all the technical problems they present. Brahms himself gave the first performance of the two Books in Vienna on March 17, 1867. The Paganini Variations may succeed brilliantly as concert music, but there is at least an element of truth in Brahms’ description of them as exercises. Each variation presents the pianist with a particular technical problem: some are written in thirds, some in sixths, some in octaves; some present several rhythms simultaneously, while others require difficult trills or staccato or legato passages; still others require awkward hand-crossings. The music itself is quite varied, ranging from gentle passages that Brahms marks molto dolce to an explosive variation marked Feroce, energico. A generalization sometimes made is that Book I is distinguished by the difficulty of its technical hurtles, while
GARRICK OHLSSON: BRAHMS EXPLORATION PART II - PROGRAM NOTES
Book II is more satisfying from a purely musical point of view, though such a distinction may not matter much: it should be noted that a century ago pianists sometimes assembled their own sets of Paganini Variations by drawing variations from the two Books. Brahms’ music at its best fuses technically complex writing with engaging musical ideas, and the Paganini Variations can be enjoyed on many levels: for the virtuosity of the playing, the ingenuity of the variations, and the beauty of the music, as Paganini’s theme is made to sing in ways its creator never dreamed of.
the entire movement. In sharp contrast, the Andante is a nocturne, and Brahms prefaces it with a few lines from a poem of Sternau: “The twilight falls, the moonlight gleams, two hearts in love unite, embraced in rapture.” A quiet center section (marked “As gentle and tender as possible”) leads to a return of the opening material and then a stunning coda: over a quiet A-flat pedal, the music gradually rises to a triumphant climax before falling back to end quietly. The third movement is a lopsided scherzo that leaps across the keyboard; its quiet trio section is entirely chordal. Brahms marks the fourth movement Intermezzo, Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Opus 5 an unusual movement for a sonata, but even more unusual is his parenthetical subtitle: Rückblick (“Reminiscence”). Composed: 1853 He brings back the theme from the second movement, but Approximate Duration: 37 minutes now it is very somber—the gentle love-song has become Like so many other nineteenth—century composers, a funeral march. This is the movement that seems most Brahms burst to fame as a virtuoso pianist who happened to “orchestral” to the critics, and some claim to hear the sound compose. But the young composer chose as his model not of timpani, snarling basses, and trumpets as the movement the recent (and formally innovative) piano music of Liszt develops dramatically. The finale is a rondo-like movement and Chopin but the older classical forms of Haydn, Mozart, based on a halting main theme. Along the way, Brahms and Beethoven. Of Brahms’ first five published works, three remembers themes from earlier movements and treats them were piano sonatas. He completed the last—and finest—of contrapuntally as the sonata races to its thunderous close. these sonatas in October of 1853, when he was still only 20 In his piano music, Brahms turned next to variation form years old. and later to the short pieces he preferred in his mature years, By coincidence, in that same month appeared Robert and in these forms he would create some of the greatest Schumann’s article on Brahms in the Neue Zeitschrift für music ever written for the piano. But apparently he felt that Musik, extravagantly hailing the young composer as one “at with the Sonata in F Minor, composed at age 20, he had said whose cradle graces and heroes mounted guard,” a composer all the things he wanted to in piano sonata form. He never who would show the world “wonderful glimpses into the wrote another. secrets of the spirit-world.” Schumann had seen several of Brahms’ early manuscripts and significantly referred to “sonatas, or rather veiled symphonies.” Schumann had very probably seen an early version of the Sonata in F Minor, for this massive, heroic sonata has struck many observers as being of orchestral proportions, a symphony masquerading as a piano sonata. It is in five movements rather than the expected three, and the young Brahms apparently set out to wring every bit of sound possible from the piano: the sonata features huge rolled chords, the music races between the highest and lowest ranges of the instrument, and Brahms creates textures so rich in color and sound that virtually every critic who writes about this sonata refers to its “orchestral” sonorities. Schumann may have hailed Brahms as a “young eagle,” but in this sonata the composer comes on like a young lion. Brahms marks the sonata-form first movement Allegro maestoso, and majestic it certainly is. This powerful, heroic music grows almost entirely out the simple theme-shape announced in the first measure; Brahms marks one of the quiet derivations of this theme fest und bestimmt (“firm and determined”), and that might stand as a marking for L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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PRELUDE 7 PM Interview with the artists hosted by Nicolas Reveles
Support for this program generously provided by
Sam B. Ersan
La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
DANISH STRING QUARTET PRISM PROJECT I SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2019 · 8 PM THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
J.S. BACH Fugue No. 7 in E-flat Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, (1685-1750) Book II, BWV 876 (arr. Mozart) SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No. 15 in E-flat Minor, Opus 144 (1906-1975) Elegy (Adagio) Serenade (Adagio) Intermezzo (Adagio) Nocturne (Adagio) Funeral March (Adagio molto) Epilogue (Adagio) I N T E R M I S S I O N
Worldwide Representation and Public Relations: Kirshbaum Associates Inc. 711 West End Avenue, suite 5KN New York, NY 10025 www.kirshbaumassociates.com
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in E-flat Major, Opus 127 (1770-1827) Maestoso; Allegro Adagio, ma non troppo e molto cantabile Scherzando vivace Finale Danish String Quartet Frederik Øland, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, violins; Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola; Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello
The Danish String Quartet records exclusively with ECM New Series. They have previously recorded for DaCapo and Cavi-Music/BR Klassik.
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The Danish String Quartet last performed for La Jolla Music Society on Thursday, February 7-Saturday, February 9, 2019 as the first part of the quartet's three-year artist residency.
DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT I - PROGRAM NOTES
from a degenerative muscular disease that denied him the use of his right hand, and his final string quartet seems to speak directly from that agony. Fugue No. 7 in E-flat Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Shostakovich composed the quartet early in 1974, Book II, BWV 876 completing it on May 17. The parts were copied, and that fall he began rehearsals with his favorite quartet, the Beethoven Quartet. That quartet, founded in 1923 by four students at the Born March 21, 1685, Eisenach Moscow Conservatory, had given the premieres of thirteen Died July 28, 1750, Leipzig of the composer’s first fourteen quartets, and Shostakovich Composed: 1744 commemorated a half-century friendship by dedicating each Approximate Duration: 5 minutes of his Quartets Nos. 11 through 14 to a different member Shortly after his move to Vienna, Mozart began to attend of the Beethoven Quartet. The quartet had begun rehearsals of his Fifteenth Quartet when cellist Sergei Shirinsky died the Sunday afternoon musicales put on by Baron Gottfried suddenly on October 18. The devastated composer dedicated van Swieten. As a diplomat from Vienna to Berlin, Swieten the quartet to Shirinsky’s memory, but transferred the had come into contact with the music of J.S. Bach and premiere to the young Taneyev Quartet, and that group gave Handel, then barely known in Vienna, and he returned to the first performance on November 15, 1974, in Leningrad. spread his passion for the polyphonic music of an earlier The Beethoven Quartet, with a replacement cellist, was able era among enthusiasts in Vienna. On April 10, 1782, Mozart wrote to his father in Salzburg: “I go every Sunday at noon to to perform the quartet on January 11, 1975. Seven months Baron van Swieten’s—and there nothing is played but Handel later, Shostakovich died in a Moscow hospital. His final string quartet is a somber work, to say the least. and Bach. Right now I am making a collection of Bach Nearly forty minutes long, it consists of six adagios played fugues—including those of Sebastian as well as Emanuel without pause. A work made up entirely of slow movements and Friedemann Bach.” Under Swieten’s encouragement, poses particular problems for a composer, for the performers, Mozart made arrangements of several of Handel’s oratorios and for the audience. Nearly two centuries earlier, Joseph (including Messiah) and also pursued his interest in the Haydn had faced exactly this problem in his Seven Last polyphonic music of the Bach family—he wrote fugues for keyboard and arranged preludes and fugues by various Bachs Words of Christ, also written for string quartet. Haydn noted that it is “no easy task to compose seven adagios, lasting for string trio and string quartet. approximately ten minutes each, and to succeed one another This concert opens with Mozart’s arrangement for without fatiguing the listener,” and he solved that problem by string quartet of the Fugue in E-flat Major from Book II of varying the mood, tonality, and texture of his successive slow The Well-Tempered Clavier, which Bach had composed movements. But where Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ almost forty years earlier, 1744. This music had not yet been is fired by his religious faith, Shostakovich’s Fifteenth Quartet published but it was known among musical enthusiasts, for speaks from the despair of his final years. The dark E-flat handwritten copies had begun to circulate, and Mozart made minor tonality remains constant across the six movements these arrangements as a way of fully understanding Bach’s achievement in this music. The Fugue in E-flat Major, in four (often under considerable chromatic tension), textures are often thin, and the music seems to proceed numbly across voices, features a long subject and clean counterpoint as it its long span. Despite an occasional flash of sunlight, the makes its way to a noble close. landscape of Shostakovich’s final quartet is dark and bleak, and the names of some of the movements—Elegy, Nocturne, String Quartet No. 15 in E-flat Minor, Opus 144 Funeral March—make clear its content. Like another late multi-movement quartet—Beethoven’s Born September 25, 1906, St. Petersburg Quartet in C-sharp Minor—Shostakovich’s Fifteenth opens Died August 9, 1975, Moscow with a slow and expressive fugue. Though Shostakovich does Composed: 1974 not ask that it be played without vibrato, there is nevertheless Approximate Duration: 36 minutes an icy stillness to the string sound he generates in this long It has become a cliché with certain critics that all the movement, which is relieved only by a brief excursion into music of Shostakovich’s final years is haunted by the thought C major. Here, and throughout the quartet, Shostakovich’s of death. That is not always true—some of his late music voicing is unusual, with the lower strings sometimes set high speaks very firmly of life—but in the case of the Fifteenth above the violins. Quartet that cliché appears only too true. Shostakovich’s final The Serenade feels like an experiment in sound as oneyears were miserable: he died of lung cancer but also suffered note crescendos are snapped between the instruments. Program notes by Eric Bromberger
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (arr. Mozart)
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT I - PROGRAM NOTES
A wistful waltz runs through this movement, and this proceeds directly into the very brief Intermezzo, in which the first violin races ahead on a flurry of 32nd-notes; beneath this rush Shostakovich recalls some of the material from the Serenade. The Nocturne is one of the most appealing movements of the quartet: all four instruments are muted, and the viola sings its long somber song within a filigree of interlocking eighths from the other voices. Fierce dotted chords open the Funeral March, and solo instruments rise above these outbursts with long, lonely melodies. The Epilogue recalls material from the early movements, particularly the fugal idea of the opening Elegy. These are set off from one another by episodes of furious 32nd-notes from the first violin (the faster pulse of these sections defeats somewhat the notion that this is a slow movement). Shostakovich makes his way to the end of his last quartet on a final bleak E-flat minor chord that is itself unsettled by the viola’s trill.
this is the most traditional of Beethoven’s late quartets. It has a relatively straightforward structure: a sonata-form first movement, a variation-form slow movement, a scherzo in ABA form, and a dance-finale. But to reduce this music to such simplicity is to miss the extraordinary originality beneath its appealing and gentle surface. In the first movement, Beethoven seems to set out intentionally to blur the outlines of traditional sonata form, which depends on the opposition of material. Contrast certainly seems to be implied at the beginning, which opens with a firm chordal Maestoso, but this Maestoso quickly melts into the flowing and simple main theme, marked Allegro (Beethoven further specifies that he wants this melody performed teneramente—“tenderly”—and sempre piano e dolce). The powerful Maestoso returns twice more, each time in a different key, and then drops out of the movement altogether; Beethoven builds the movement almost exclusively out of the opening melody and an equally-gentle second subject. Here is a sonata-form movement that does not String Quartet in E-flat Major, Opus 127 drive to a powerful climax but instead remains understated throughout: the movement evaporates on a wisp of the opening Allegro theme. Born December 16, 1770, Bonn Two softly-pulsing measures lead to the main theme of Died March 26, 1827, Vienna Composed: 1825 the Adagio, a gently-rocking and serene melody introduced Approximate Duration: 37 minutes by the first violin and repeated by the cello. There follow six melodic variations, each growing organically out of the When Russian prince Nikolas Galitzin wrote to previous one until the music achieves a kind of rhapsodic Beethoven in the fall of 1822 to commission three string calm—and the original theme has been left far behind. Four quartets, his request met a sympathetic response: the sharp pizzicato chords introduce the scherzo, and these composer had been thinking about writing string quartets four chords then vanish, never to re-appear. The fugue-like for some time and promised to have the first done within a opening section, built on a dotted figure and its inversion, month or two. After seven years of intermittent activity he leads to a brief—and utterly different—trio section. In E-flat had resumed sustained composing in 1820 with a set of three minor, this trio whips past in a blistering blur: Beethoven’s piano sonatas, but other projects now intervened, and despite phrase markings here stretch over twenty measures at a time. the prince’s frequent inquiries Beethoven had to complete the Beethoven brings back the opening section, then offers a Missa Solemnis, Diabelli Variations, and Ninth Symphony surprise at the ending by including a quick reminiscence of before he could begin work on the first of the three quartets the trio just before the cadence. in the summer of 1824. This quartet—in E-flat major—was The last movement has proven the most difficult for not complete until February 1825. Performed immediately commentators, perhaps because of its apparent simplicity. by the string quartet of Ignaz Schuppanzigh, the music was a Marked only Finale (there is no tempo indication), it opens failure at its premiere on March 6, 1825. Furious, Beethoven with a four-measure introduction that launches off in the quickly had it rehearsed and performed by a quartet led by wrong direction before the true main theme appears in the first Joseph Böhm. The composer attended their rehearsals and violin. Of rustic simplicity, this melody has been compared to supervised their interpretation (though deaf, he could follow a country-dance, and the second theme—a jaunty march-tune their performance by watching the movement of their bows). decorated with grace notes—preserves that atmosphere. The The second performance was successful, and this quartet tunes may be innocent, but Beethoven’s treatment of them in was performed publicly at least ten more times in 1825—an this sonata-form movement is quite sophisticated, particularly extraordinary number of performances for a new work—and in matters of modulation and harmony. The ending is always to great acclaim. particularly striking. At the coda Beethoven rebars the music That fact is important because it undercuts the notion that in 6/8, moves to C major, and speeds ahead on violin trills, Beethoven’s late quartets were far ahead of their time. Certain chains of triplets, and shimmering textures. The very end, features of the late quartets did defy quick comprehension, but back in E-flat major, is calm, resounding—and perfect. this was not true of the Quartet in E-flat Major. At first glance,
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
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PRELUDE 2 PM Interview with the artists hosted by Nicolas Reveles
La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
DANISH STRING QUARTET PRISM PROJECT II SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 · 3 PM THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
J.S. BACH Fugue No. 24 in B Minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier, (1685-1750) Book I, BWV 869 (arr. Förster) SCHNITTKE String Quartet No. 3 (1934-1998) Andante Agitato Pesante I N T E R M I S S I O N
Exclusive Representation: Kirshbaum Associates Inc. 711 West End Avenue, suite 5KN New York, NY 10025 www.kirshbaumassociates.com The Danish String Quartet is currently exclusive with ECM Records and has previously recorded for DaCapo and Cavi-Music/BR Klassik.
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 130 (1770-1827) Adagio, ma non troppo; Allegro Presto Andante con moto ma non troppo Alla danza tedesca: Allegro assai Cavatina: Adagio molto espressivo Grosse Fuge Danish String Quartet Frederik Øland, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, violins; Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola; Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello
The Danish String Quartet last performed for La Jolla Music Society on Thursday, February 7-Saturday, February 9, 2019 as the first part of the quartet's three-year artist residency. L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT II - PROGRAM NOTES
Program notes by Eric Bromberger
Fugue No. 24 in B Minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 869
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (arr. Förster) Born March 21, 1685, Eisenach Died July 28, 1750, Leipzig Composed: 1722 Approximate Duration: 11 minutes
Mozart was not the only Viennese composer to fall under the spell of Bach’s contrapuntal music and to arrange it for chamber ensembles. Emanuel Aloys Förster (1748-1823) was an Austrian composer who came to Vienna about the same time as Mozart. Förster was a friend and colleague of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, and Beethoven turned to him for criticism and advice when composing his first set of string quartets in 1798-1800. Förster composed primarily for piano and for chamber ensembles, and he wrote a number of pedagogical works for piano. He also made some unusual transcriptions, including an arrangement for string quartet of the complete Book I of Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier. This concert opens with the final fugue from Book I. That book concludes with a massive prelude and fugue— those two movements stretch out to over eleven minutes. The fugue is slow—Bach marks it Largo—and is in four voices. What makes this fugue distinctive is the chromaticism of Bach’s writing: his fugue subject—which stretches over three measures—contains all twelve notes of the chromatic scale, and Bach will revel in the dissonances that sting off the steady, stately progression of his slow fugue, particularly as the four voices weave together in quite complex ways. This is glorious music, and Förster’s arrangement of a four-voice fugue for four stringed instruments makes perfect sense.
String Quartet No. 3
ALFRED SCHNITTKE Born November 24, 1934, Engels Died August 3, 1998, Hamburg Composed: 1983 Approximate Duration: 21 minutes
Born in the Volga Republic to parents of German extraction, Alfred Schnittke grew up in Vienna, where his mother was a music teacher and his father a newspaper correspondent. He returned to the Soviet Union while still in his teens, received his early training in Moscow, and began his career as a choral conductor. His own music then underwent a profound transformation: beginning as a composer who used traditional methods and forms, Schnittke became interested in new sounds and soon was recognized
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as a leading member of the Soviet avant-garde. Eventually Schnittke left Russia and settled in Germany, where he died after a long period of frail health. It was from Germany that the impetus for Schnittke’s Third String Quartet originally came: the quartet was commissioned by the New Music Society of one of the most famous cities in the history of German music, Mannheim, and was composed in 1983. This quartet is a perfect example of Schnittke’s “polystylistic” manner, for it is based on quotations from three important composers of the past: Orlando di Lassus’ Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, and the autobiographical D-S-C-H motto that Shostakovich used in music quite personal to him (those notes are D-EbC-B). Schnittke then uses this material for his own purposes, and it is extended and developed in a manner those earlier composers could never have dreamed of. The effect is of hearing several radically different kinds of musical language at the same time. Sometimes this can be sequential, and the effect is like riding an elevator as it passes floors on which different music is being played, but at other times the different styles of music can be in direct collision, overlapping and interpenetrating. The opening of the Andante illustrates both manners. Schnittke begins with the Lassus quotation, and we suddenly drop back in time four centuries. Within moments, Schnittke cuts to the first phrase of Beethoven’s fugue subject, and we find ourselves in 1825. And within a few bars, we are in Shostakovich’s Russia. But quickly these worlds collide, and the order implied in the quotations is turned inside out. The second movement is fast, and in sound and gesture this might almost be a scherzo of Brahms. But that world survives only for a few moments. Suddenly the music flares up (the marking is Agitato), recedes, and then explodes— and all the while the opening rush, so reminiscent of the nineteenth century, continues in the background as a sort of framework for these outbursts; the music vanishes in a flash. Schnittke marks the last movement Pesante, a good description of the heavy pace of the chordal beginning. Again, quotations from the past begin to intrude, and the music drives to a grieving march and series of ringing attacks at the center, then winds down and closes on fragments of themes. One can listen to Schnittke’s Third String Quartet in different ways. It is possible to follow this quartet by listening for his uses of the past: the themes that are invoked, the way they are treated, and where these evocations of the past finally end up. Or one can listen to this quartet simply as music drama, tracing the way each movement rises to a climax and then resolves the tensions it has created. Or one can listen to it simply as sound. This music is striking for the range of its techniques and the sounds it generates: glissandos, pizzicatos, ponticello passages, sul tasto, and different kinds of vibrato.
DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT II - PROGRAM NOTES
String Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 130
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Born December 16, 1770, Bonn Died March 26, 1827, Vienna Composed: 1825 Approximate Duration: 40 minutes
Beethoven composed the Quartet in B-flat Major between July and December of 1825, and the music had its premiere in Vienna on March 21, 1826, almost exactly a year to the day before the composer’s death. This massive quartet, consisting of six movements that span a total of nearly 50 minutes, concluded with a complex and extremely difficult fugue that left the first audience stunned. Beethoven, by this time totally deaf, did not attend the premiere, but when told that the fourth and fifth movements had been so enthusiastically applauded that they had to be repeated, he erupted with anger at the audience: “Yes, these delicacies! Why not the Fugue? Cattle! Asses!” But it was not just the audience at the premiere that found the concluding fugue difficult. With some trepidation, Beethoven’s publisher asked the crusty old composer to write a substitute finale and to publish the fugue separately. To everyone’s astonishment, Beethoven agreed to that request and wrote a new finale—a good-natured rondo—in the fall of 1826. Since that time, critics have debated which ending makes better sense artistically. For generations, the Quartet in B-flat Major was performed with the substitute rondo as the finale, but recently that practice appears to have evolved, and quartets today are increasingly following Beethoven’s original intention and concluding the Quartet in B-flat Major with the Grosse Fuge. The present performance offers the quartet in its original form. In either version, this music presents problems of unity, for its six movements are quite different from each other. The issue is intensified when the Grosse Fuge is used as the finale, for this movement is so individual, so fierce, that it does seem an independent statement. In its original form, the quartet consists of two huge outer movements that frame four shorter movements (two scherzos and two slow movements). The music encompasses a huge range of emotion, from the frankly playful to some of the most deeply-felt music Beethoven ever wrote. The unifying principle of this quartet may simply be its disunity, its amazing range of expression and mood. The first movement, cast in the highly-modified sonata form Beethoven used in his final years, is built on two contrasting tempos: a reverent Adagio and a quick Allegro that flies along on a steady rush of sixteenth-notes. These tempos alternate, sometimes in sections only one measure long—there is some extraordinarily beautiful music here, full of soaring themes and unexpected shifts of key. By contrast, the Presto—flickering and shadowy—flits past in less than two minutes; in ABA form, it offers a long center section
and a sudden close on the return of the opening material. The solemn opening of the Andante is a false direction, for it quickly gives way to a rather elegant movement in sonata form, full of poised, flowing, and calm music. Beethoven titled the fourth movement Alla danza tedesca, which means “Dance in the German Style.” In 3/8 meter, it is based on the rocking, haunting little tune that opens the movement. The Cavatina has become one of the most famous movements in all Beethoven’s quartets. Everyone is struck by the intensity of its feeling, though few agree as to what it expresses—some feel it tragic, others view it as serene; Beethoven himself confessed that even thinking about this movement moved him to tears. Near the end comes an extraordinary passage that Beethoven marks Beklemmt (“Oppressive”): the music seems to stumble and then makes its way to the close over halting and uncertain rhythms. This performance concludes with the Grosse Fuge Beethoven had intended as the original finale. Let it be said right from the start: the Grosse Fuge is a brilliant piece of music and a very tough one, and it has excited quite different responses. Stravinsky near the end of his long life came to know and respect Beethoven’s late quartets, and his admiration for the Grosse Fuge led him to call it an “absolutely contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever.” At the other extreme, the iconoclastic American critic B.H. Haggin was adamant that the Grosse Fuge should be considered “inaccessible—except for a quiet and lovely episode—by some music lovers who have listened to it repeatedly.” The Grosse Fuge is in fact not one fugue, but three different fugal sections, each in a contrasting tempo— Beethoven described it as a “Grand Fugue, freely treated in some places, fugally elaborated in others.” The brief Overtura suggests the shape of the fugue subject in three different permutations (all of which will reappear and be treated differently) and then proceeds directly into the first fugue, an extremely abrasive Allegro in B-flat major that demands a great deal from both performers and audiences. Much of the complexity here is rhythmic: its progress is often obscured by its overlapping triple, duple, and dotted rhythms. The lyric, flowing central section, is fugal in character rather than taking the form of a strict fugue. It gives way to the Allegro molto e con brio, which is derived from the second appearance of the fugue subject in the Overtura; here it bristles with trills and sudden pauses. Near the close, Beethoven recalls fragments of the different sections, then offers a full-throated restatement of the fugue theme before the rush to the cadence. Individual listeners may draw their own conclusions about the use of the Grosse Fuge, but there can be no doubt that the Quartet in B-flat Major—by turns beautiful, aggressive, charming, and violent—remains as astonishing a piece of music for us today as it was to that first audience in 1826. L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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PRELUDE 7 PM Lecture by Kristi Brown Montesano
Looking Back to the Future Composers in the western classical tradition inherit a rich foundation, yet they also face a challenge: how to engage with the illustrious past while establish one’s own “voice.” This lecture examines how Beethoven found inspiration in the contrapuntal legacy of Bach, crafting a late style that is often esoteric and introspective, and also how Bartók infused the Beethovenian model of the string quartet with modern (and Hungarian) invention. La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
Exclusive Representation: Kirshbaum Associates Inc. 711 West End Avenue, suite 5KN New York, NY 10025 www.kirshbaumassociates.com
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
DANISH STRING QUARTET PRISM PROJECT III FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2019 · 8 PM THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
J.S. BACH Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp Minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier, (1685-1750) Book I, BWV 849 (arr. Förster) BARTÓK String Quartet No. 1, Sz.40 (1881-1945) Lento Poco a poco accelerando al Allegretto Introduzione: Allegro; Allegro vivace I N T E R M I S S I O N
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Opus 131 (1770-1827) Adagio, ma non troppo e molto espressivo Allegro molto vivace Allegretto moderato Andante, ma non troppo e molto cantabile Presto Adagio quasi un poco andante Allegro Danish String Quartet Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Frederik Øland, violins; Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola; Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello
The Danish String Quartet is currently exclusive with ECM Records and has previously recorded for DaCapo and Cavi-Music/BR Klassik.
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
The Danish String Quartet last performed for La Jolla Music Society on Thursday, February 7-Saturday, February 9, 2019 as the first part of the quartet's three-year artist residency.
DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT III - PROGRAM NOTES
Program notes by Eric Bromberger
Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp Minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 849
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (arr. Förster) Born March 21, 1685, Eisenach Died July 28, 1750, Leipzig Composed: 1722 Approximate Duration: 6 minutes
For a general introduction to Emanuel Aloys Förster’s arrangement for string quartet of Book I of The WellTempered Clavier, please see the program note for the November 17 concert. The Fugue in C-sharp Minor, in five voices, is based on a figure of extraordinary compression: the fugue subject is only four notes long. But Bach builds this slow fugue into music of great expressive power, a structure so vast and powerful that some have compared it to Gothic architecture.
String Quartet No. 1, Sz.40
BÉLA BARTÓK
Born March 25, 1881, Nagyszentmiklos, Hungary Died September 26, 1945, New York City Composed: 1909 Approximate Duration: 30 minutes
Bartók composed his First String Quartet while he was a 27-year-old professor at the Budapest Academy of Music. He made the first sketches in 1907, did most of the composition in 1908, and completed the quartet on January 27, 1909, but the music had to wait over a year for its premiere. The Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet gave the first performance at an all-Bartók concert in Budapest on March 19, 1910. Any composer who sets out to write a string quartet is conscious of the thunder behind him, of the magnificent literature created for this most demanding of forms. When Beethoven composed his first set of string quartets in the last years of the eighteenth century, he was quite aware of the example of Haydn (who was still composing string quartets at that time) and of Mozart. A century later, Bartók too was aware of the example of the past, and many have noted that in his First Quartet Bartók chose as his model one of the towering masterpieces of the form, Beethoven’s String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Opus 131, heard on the second half of this concert. Both quartets begin with a long, slow contrapuntal movement that opens with the sound of the two violins alone, both show a similar concentration of thematic material, both quartets are performed without breaks between their movements, both recall in their finales themes that had
been introduced earlier, and both end with three massive, stinging chords. Yet Bartók’s First Quartet does not sound like Beethoven, nor was he trying to write a Beethoven-like quartet. Instead, Bartók took as a very general model a quartet that he deeply admired and then used that model as the starting point to write music that is very much his own. If the First Quartet does not have the distinct personality of Bartók’s later essays in this form, it nevertheless shows a young composer in complete command of the form. Bartók’s mastery is evident throughout the First Quartet. The quartet is in three movements rather than the traditional four, these movements are played without pause, and there are subtle relationships between those three movements. From the beginning, Bartók was quite willing to re-imagine quartet form (of his six quartets, only the last is in four movements, and even this is a highly-modified structure). Finally, one of the features of Bartók’s mature style already present in the First Quartet is his assured handling of motivic development. Ideas that first appear as only a tentative few notes will gradually yield unsuspected possibilities (and riches) as they evolve across the span of a complete work. Many have noted that the First Quartet gets faster and faster as it proceeds. The music moves from a very slow opening movement through a second movement marked Allegretto and on to a very fast finale that grows even faster in its closing moments. Simply as musical journey, this quartet offers a very exciting ride. It gets off to quite a subdued start, however. The Lento opens with the two violins in close canon, and their falling figure will give shape to much of the thematic material that follows. Cello and viola also enter in canon, and this ternary-form movement rises to resounding climax before the viola introduces the central episode with a chiseled theme marked molto appassionato, rubato. The reprise of the opening canon is truncated, though this too rises to a grand climax before falling away to the quiet close. Bartók proceeds without pause into the second movement. A duet for viola and cello and then for the two violins suggest another fundamental shape, and then the movement takes wing at the Allegretto. The first violin’s first three notes here take their shape from the very opening of the Lento, but now they become the thematic cell of a very active movement. Some have been tempted to call this movement, in 3/4, a waltz, but the music never settles comfortably into a waltz-rhythm, and soon the cello’s firm pizzicato pattern introduces a second episode. After all its energy, this movement reaches a quiet close that Bartók marks dolce, and he goes right on to the Introduzione of the finale. Here the cello has a free solo (Bartók marks it Rubato) of cadenza-like character, and the music leaps ahead on the second violin’s repeated E’s. Molto vivace, says Bartók, and he means it: this will be a finale filled with scalding energy. In L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT III - PROGRAM NOTES
unison, viola and cello sound the main theme (adapted from the main theme of the second movement), and off the music goes. For all its length and variety, the finale is in sonata form, with a second theme, a recurring Adagio episode, and a lengthy fugue whose subject is derived from what we now recognize as the quartet’s fundamental shape. As he nears the conclusion, Bartók pushes the tempo steadily forward, and his First String Quartet hurtles to its three massive final chords.
quartet), as if the music almost comes from a different world. In a sense, it did. Beethoven had been completely deaf for a decade when he wrote this quartet, and now—less than a year from his death—he was writing from the lonely power of his musical imagination. Molto espressivo, he demands in the score, and if ever there has been expressive music, this is it. The fugue reaches a point of repose, then modulates up half a step to D major for the Allegro molto vivace. Rocking along easily on a 6/8 meter, this flowing movement brings String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Opus 131 relaxation—and emotional relief—after the intense fugue. The Allegro moderato opens with two sharp chords and seems on the verge of developing entirely new ideas when Born December 16, 1770, Bonn Beethoven suddenly cuts it off with a soaring cadenza for Died March 26, 1827, Vienna Composed: 1826 first violin and proceeds to the next movement. The Allegro Approximate Duration: 40 minutes moderato seems to pass as the briefest flash of contrast—the entire movement lasts only eleven measures. Beethoven had been commissioned in 1822 by Prince The longest movement in the quartet, the Andante ma Nikolas Galitzin of St. Petersburg to write three string non troppo e molto cantabile is one of its glories. Beethoven quartets, though he had to delay them until after he finished presents a simple theme, gracefully shared by the two violins, the Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony. He completed and then writes six variations on it. At times the variations the three quartets for Galitzin in 1825, but those quartets grow so complex that the original theme almost disappears; had not exhausted his ideas about the form, and he pressed Beethoven brings it back, exotically decorated by first violin on to work on another. Begun at the end of 1825, the trills, at the very end of the movement. Out of this quiet close Quartet in C-sharp Minor was complete in July 1826. This explodes the Presto, the quartet’s scherzo, which rushes along is an astonishing work in every respect. Its form alone is on a steady pulse of quarter-notes; this powerful music flows remarkable: seven continuous movements lasting a total of easily, almost gaily. Beethoven makes use of sharp pizzicato forty minutes. But its content is just as remarkable, for this accents and at the very end asks the performers to play sul quartet is an unbroken arc of music that sustains a level of ponticello, producing an eerie, grating sound by bowing heartfelt intensity and intellectual power through every instant directly on the tops of their bridges. of its journey. This was Beethoven’s favorite among his There follows a heartfelt Adagio, its main idea introduced quartets. by the viola. Beethoven distills stunning emotional power On the manuscript he sent the publisher, the composer into the briefest of spans here: this movement lasts only 28 scrawled: “zusammengestohlen aus Verschiedenem diesem measures before the concluding Allegro bursts to life with und jenem” (“Stolen and patched together from various bits a unison attack three octaves deep. In sonata form, this and pieces”). The alarmed publishers were worried that he furiously energetic movement brings back fragments of the might be trying to palm off some old pieces he had lying fugue subject (sometimes inverted) from the first movement. around, and Beethoven had to explain that his remark was It is an exuberant conclusion to so intense a journey, and a joke. But it is at once a joke and a profound truth. A joke at the very end the music almost leaps upward to the three because this quartet is one of the most carefully unified pieces massive chords that bring the quartet to its close. ever written, and a truth because it is made up of “bits and pieces”: fugue, theme and variations, scherzo, and sonata form among them. The form of the Quartet in C-sharp Minor is a long arch. The substantial outer movements are in classical forms, and at the center of the arch is a theme-and-variation movement that lasts a quarter-hour by itself. The second and third and the fifth and sixth form pairs of much shorter movements, often in wholly original forms. The opening movement is a long, slow fugue, its haunting main subject laid out immediately by the first violin. There is something rapt about the movement (and perhaps the entire
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
PRELUDE 2 PM Lecture by Kristi Brown Montesano
Imitation, Allusion, and Homage Charles Colton wrote that “imitation was the sincerest flattery,” and there is no doubt that the connections between Bach’s G Minor Fugue, Beethoven’s String Quartet, Op. 132, and Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in A Minor all stem from the deepest appreciation of artistic “ancestors.” This presentation will examine closely the fascinating musical links between these remarkable works. La Jolla Music Society’s 50th Anniversary Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, National Endowment for the Arts, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Regents Bank, US Bank, The Dow Divas, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, La Valencia Hotel, The Westgate Hotel, Conrad Prebys and Debra Turner, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
Exclusive Representation: Kirshbaum Associates Inc. 711 West End Avenue, suite 5KN New York, NY 10025 www.kirshbaumassociates.com The Danish String Quartet is currently exclusive with ECM Records and has previously recorded for DaCapo and Cavi-Music/BR Klassik.
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
DANISH STRING QUARTET PRISM PROJECT IV SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2019 · 3 PM THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
J.S. BACH Prelude and Fugue No. 16 in G Minor from (1685-1750) The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 861 (arr. Förster) MENDELSSOHN String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 13 (1809-1847) Adagio; Allegro vivace Adagio non lento Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto Presto I N T E R M I S S I O N
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 132 (1770-1827) Assai sostenuto; Allegro Allegro ma non tanto Molto adagio; Andante Alla marcia, assai vivace Allegro appassionato Danish String Quartet Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Frederik Øland, violins; Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola; Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello
The Danish String Quartet last performed for La Jolla Music Society on Thursday, February 7-Saturday, February 9, 2019 as the first part of the quartet's three-year artist residency. L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT IV - PROGRAM NOTES
movement. The music leaps ahead at the Allegro vivace, and Mendelssohn’s instructions to the players indicate the spirit Prelude and Fugue No. 16 in G Minor from of this music: agitato and con fuoco. The second movement The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 861 also begins with a slow introduction, an Adagio that has reminded some of the Cavatina movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 130; the main body of the movement is fugal, based on a subject that appears to be Born March 21, 1685, Eisenach derived from Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Minor, Opus 95. Died July 28, 1750, Leipzig The charming Intermezzo is the one “non-Beethoven” Composed: 1722 movement in the quartet. In ABA form, it opens with a Approximate Duration: 6 minutes lovely violin melody over pizzicato accompaniment from the other voices; the center section (Allegro di molto) is For a general introduction to Emanuel Aloys Förster’s arrangement for string quartet of Book I of The Well-Tempered one of Mendelssohn’s fleet scherzos, and he combines the movement’s principal themes as he brings it to a graceful Clavier, please see the program note for the November 17 close. The sonata-form finale opens with a stormy recitative concert. The Prelude and Fugue in G Minor form a concise for first violin that was clearly inspired by the recitative that pair: their total length is just over three minutes. The elegant, prefaces the finale of Beethoven’s String Quartet in E-flat poised Prelude opens with a trill, and that murmuring sound Major, Opus 127. Not only does Mendelssohn evoke the will return throughout—the prelude in fact ends on a quiet memory of several Beethoven quartets in this finale, but at the trill. The vigorous fugue, in four voices, is built a short and hard-edged subject. Full of a slashing energy, it drives without very end he brings back quotations from this quartet’s earlier movements: the fugue subject from the second movement is the slightest relaxation straight to its firm conclusion. heard briefly, and the quartet ends with the heartfelt music that opened the first movement. String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 13 What are we to make of the many references to Beethoven’s late quartets in this quartet by the teenaged Born February 3, 1809, Hamburg Mendelssohn? Are they slavish imitation? The effort of a Died November 4, 1847, Leipzig young man to take on the manner of an older master? An act Composed: 1827 Approximate Duration: 30 minutes of homage? There may be no satisfactory answers to these questions, but Mendelssohn’s Quartet in A Minor—the work Mendelssohn turned 18 early in 1827, a year that was of an extremely talented young man still finding his way as a important for many reasons. Already the composer of two composer—is accomplished music in its own right: graceful, masterpieces—the Octet (1825) and the Overture to A skillfully made, and finally very pleasing. Midsummer Night’s Dream (1826)—Mendelssohn spent the summer on a walking tour of the Harz Mountains in central Germany and in the fall entered the University of Berlin, where he attended Hegel’s lectures. One other event from 1827 had a profound effect on the young composer: Beethoven died on March 26. Mendelssohn never met Beethoven—he had grown up in northern German cities, far from Vienna where Beethoven lived the final 35 years of his life. But the young composer regarded Beethoven as a god. In the fall of 1827, only months after Beethoven’s death, Mendelssohn wrote his String Quartet in A Minor. This quartet seems obsessed by the Beethoven quartets, both in theme-shape and musical gesture, and countless listeners have wondered about the significance of these many references. The Quartet in A Minor opens with a slow introduction. This Adagio, which evokes memories of Beethoven’s Quartet in A Minor, Opus 132, also quotes one of Mendelssohn’s own early love-songs, “Ist es wahr?” and that song’s principal three-note phrase figures importantly in the first Program notes by Eric Bromberger
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (arr. Förster)
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT IV - PROGRAM NOTES
Mode,” a clear reflection of the serious illness he had just come through and of his gratitude for his recovery. This is a variation movement, and Beethoven lays out a long, Born December 16, 1770, Bonn slow opening section, full of heartfelt music. But suddenly Died March 26, 1827, Vienna the music switches to D major and leaps ahead brightly; Composed: 1825 Approximate Duration: 45 minutes Beethoven marks this section “Feeling New Strength.” These two sections alternate through this movement (the Russian Prince Nikolas Galitzin commissioned three form is ABABA), and the opening section is so varied string quartets from Beethoven in the fall of 1822 and in on each reappearance that it seems to take on an entirely the process set in motion the final phase of the composer’s different character each time: each section is distinct, and creative life. Beethoven completed the first (Opus 127) in each is moving in its own way (Beethoven marks the third the winter of 1825 and began the Quartet in A Minor, but “With the greatest feeling”). This movement has seemed to in April 1825—while composing this music—Beethoven some listeners the greatest music Beethoven ever wrote, and became so ill with an intestinal disorder that his doctor put perhaps the problem of all who try to write about this music him on a strict diet and suggested a move to the country. Only is precisely that it cannot be described in words and should be gradually did the composer resume his strength, moving to experienced simply as music. the resort town of Baden where he completed the quartet that After such a movement, some relief is necessary, and July; it was first performed in September. Beethoven provides an energetic little march, much in the Each of the late quartets has a unique structure, and the manner of Haydn. But this suddenly breaks off, and the first structure of the Quartet in A Minor is one of the most striking violin soars into a recitative that leads directly into the last of all. Its five movements form an arch. At the center is a movement. There is a close kinship between this recitative stunning slow movement that lasts nearly half the length of and the recitative that launches the final movement of the the entire quartet. The powerful outer movements evolve Ninth Symphony, completed the year before. This connection out of classical forms (sonata-form and rondo), while the is strengthened when one learns that Beethoven had originally even-numbered movements, lighter in mood, also show some intended to use the finale of this quartet as the last movement relation to earlier forms (minuet and march). This is a massive of the Ninth Symphony when that symphony was still planned quartet—it lasts three-quarters of an hour—but the effect is of as an all-instrumental composition. The finale of the quartet, a a powerful and expressive unity. buoyant rondo, seems full of the same mood of transcendence The opening movement is in a kind of sonata form, but and triumph that marks the Ninth Symphony, and Beethoven this is the sonata form that Beethoven had evolved late in his rounds off this most remarkable quartet with a Presto coda career. Long gone is the clear structural progression of the that drives this music to the ringing, final A-major chords. Haydn-Mozart opening movement; instead Beethoven builds this movement around the contrast of two distinctly different themes. His marking for the movement—Assai sostenuto; Allegro—makes plain the contrast between themes at different tempos, and at the opening Beethoven alternates two principal themes: a slow cantus firmus opening and a steady march-like melody announced by the first violin. The second movement, in ABA form, conforms outwardly to the classical minuet and trio. The opening of this movement bears a strong resemblance to the opening of the second movement of Mozart’s Quartet in A Major, K.464: both make use of a rising unison answered by a dancing figure in the first violin. Beethoven treats this theme canonically, drawing a great deal from these limited means. The trio section brings a drone: the first violinist not only plays the theme high on the E-string but accompanies the melody with the open A. The third movement (Molto adagio) has a remarkable heading: in the score Beethoven titles it “Hymn of Thanksgiving to the Godhead from an Invalid in the Lydian
String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 132
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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PRELUDE 7 PM Lecture by Kristi Brown Montesano
“Must it be?” Creativity, Context, and Choice Creativity turns on choices made during the circumstances of the moment. The three works of Prism V all demonstrate striking, even unusual, choices: a study on fugue at a time when the form was becoming passé, a string quartet that plays ironically a “difficult decision” yet evokes painful resolutions of the past, and a young composer who takes a chance on a maverick teacher. La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
DANISH STRING QUARTET PRISM PROJECT V SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2019 · 8 PM THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
J.S. BACH Contrapunctus 14 (18): Fuga à 3 Soggetti from (1685-1750) The Art of The Fugue, BWV 1080 WEBERN String Quartet (1905) (1883-1945)
J.S. BACH Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit, BWV 668 I N T E R M I S S I O N
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in F Major, Opus 135 (1770-1827) Allegretto Vivace Assai lento, cantante e tranquillo Grave, ma non toppo tratto; Allegro Danish String Quartet Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Frederik Øland, violins; Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola; Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello
Exclusive Representation: Kirshbaum Associates Inc. 711 West End Avenue, suite 5KN New York, NY 10025 www.kirshbaumassociates.com The Danish String Quartet is currently exclusive with ECM Records and has previously recorded for DaCapo and Cavi-Music/BR Klassik.
44
LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
The Danish String Quartet last performed for La Jolla Music Society on Thursday, February 7-Saturday, February 9, 2019 as the first part of the quartet's three-year artist residency.
DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT V - PROGRAM NOTES
Program notes by Eric Bromberger
Contrapunctus 14 (18): Fuga à 3 Soggetti from The Art of The Fugue, BWV 1080
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (arr. Förster)
String Quartet (1905)
ANTON WEBERN
Born December 3, 1883, Vienna Died September 15, 1945, Mittersill, Austria Composed: 1905 Approximate Duration: 17 minutes
Webern entered the University of Vienna in the fall of 1902 to study musicology, but a much more powerful musical influence entered his life two years later when he began studying composition with Arnold Schoenberg. As part of his studies with Schoenberg, the young man wrote two works for About 1740 Bach began a lengthy work consisting of a string quartet in 1905: a Slow Movement and a String Quartet. series of fugues and canons based on one theme. His work These were student works, and Webern never published them on this project continued across th e decade, even during the (and he probably never heard either of them), but they do years of his increasing blindness, and in fact the project would suggest the impact Schoenberg was having on his student. remain unfinished—at the time of his death in July 1750, Schoenberg composed his Verklaerte Nacht (Transfigured Bach was working on a triple fugue that was left incomplete. Night) for string sextet in 1899, and it had been premiered Bach had prepared the first eleven fugues for publication, and in Vienna in 1902 to a sharply mixed reaction. In his String after his death all of the pieces based on this one theme were Quartet, Webern adopted some of the technique of Verklaerte gathered by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel and published in Nacht: the use of motifs that evolve continuously, a rich the fall of 1751 under the name The Art of the Fugue, a title string sonority, and an emotional intensity. Verklaerte Nacht the composer probably never heard or imagined. was program music, inspired by the poetry of Richard Contrapunctus XIV was the fugue left unfinished at the Dehmel, but Webern’s String Quartet is not. Though it has time of Bach’s death. By this time almost totally blind, he no program, it does have a specific inspiration. Webern felt composed by dictating to an amanuensis. This fugue was to a sort of mystical, spiritual identification with the mountains be the culmination of this project, but it does not make use and valleys of central Austria, and in the manuscript to the of the fundamental theme of The Art of the Fugue. Instead, String Quartet he copied a quotation from the German mystic it was to be a massive triple fugue: a lengthy working-out (and shoemaker) Jakob Böhme: “The sense of triumph that of the first subject, a second subject which is combined with prevailed within my spirit I cannot write nor tell; it can be the first as it is worked out, and a third section built in part compared with nothing but the birth of life in the midst of on a subject whose notes are based on the letters of Bach’s death—the resurrection of the dead. In this light did my mind last name (B-flat/A/C/B-natural). Just at the point at which immediately see through all things, and in all living creatures, he combined these subjects (measure 239), Bach—aging, even in weeds and grass, did recognize God, who He may be weak, and blind—gave up work on this fugue and dictated to and how He may be and what His will is.” Webern’s String an amanuensis the chorale prelude Vor deinen Thron tret ich Quartet does not offer an exact depiction of that quotation, hiermit. Various musicians, including Donald Francis Tovey but in its motion from a dark beginning to moments of and Ferruccio Busoni, have completed the fugue on their own, ecstasy, it may embody some of the spirit of Böhme’s words. and Contrapunctus XIV is sometimes performed in one of Certainly Webern’s markings in the score suggest the these “completed” versions. At the present concert the Danish depth of his feeling. The very beginning has the extremely String Quartet will break off abruptly at measure 239—where unusual marking Düster und schwer (“gloomy and heavy”): Bach gave up work on the Contrapunctus—and proceed all alone the muted first violin lays out the three-note pattern directly into the Webern String Quartet. At the conclusion of that will recur in a variety of forms across the seventeenthe Webern, they will proceed once again without pause into minute span of the String Quartet, which falls into different Bach’s chorale Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit. sections at different speeds. Webern builds this music on a number of contrapuntal techniques—fugal writing, canons, and so on—and at points it rises to the sort of ecstatic fullness suggested by the Böhme quotation before subsiding to the quiet close. Born March 21, 1685, Eisenach Died July 28, 1750, Leipzig Composed: 1742-46 Approximate Duration: 8 minutes
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DANISH STRING QUARTET: PRISM PROJECT V - PROGRAM NOTES
him—and the sketches for the new quartet—to the country home of Beethoven’s brother Johann in Gneixendorf, a village about thirty miles west of Vienna. There, as he nursed Karl Composed: 1750 back to health, Beethoven’s own health began to fail. He would Approximate Duration: 6 minutes get up and compose at dawn, spend his days walking through the fields, and then resume composing in the evening. In In 1750 J.S. Bach, blind and growing weaker by the day, Gneixendorf he completed the Quartet in F Major in October struggled to finish the Contrapunctus XIV that opened this and wrote a new finale to his earlier Quartet in B-flat Major, program. When he realized that he would not be able to finish Opus 130. These were his final works. When Beethoven that complex fugue, legend has it that he set it aside, dictated returned to Vienna in December, he went almost immediately to a contrapuntal version of the old chorale tune “Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit,” and died. This chorale has always been bed and died the following March. One would expect music composed under such turbulent regarded as the last music Bach wrote, and some have even circumstances to be anguished, but the Quartet in F Major is referred to it as “the deathbed chorale.” But that old legend is suspect. Rather than being newly-composed music, what Bach radiant music, full of sunlight—it is as if Beethoven achieved in this quartet the peace unavailable to him in life. The opening dictated was actually a reworking of an earlier chorale tune, “Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein,” which he had composed in movement, significantly marked Allegretto rather than the expected Allegro, is often cited as Haydnesque. It is in sonata Weimar in 1714. And in fact a version of “Vor deinen Thron” form and Beethoven builds it on brief thematic fragments rather survives in Bach’s own hand, which indicates that he had than long melodies. This is poised, relaxed music, and the final worked on it at a time when he could still see. What probably cadence is remarkable for its understatement. By contrast, the happened is that after Bach gave up work on Contrapunctus Vivace bristles with energy. Its outer sections rocket along on a XIV, he dictated his final contrapuntal working of the old sharply-syncopated main idea, while the vigorous trio sends the chorale tune to an amanuensis. And in that sense, this is indeed the last music that Bach wrote. Bach’s son Carl Philipp first violin sailing high above the other voices. The very ending Emanuel published this chorale prelude at the end of The Art of is impressive: the music grows quiet, comes to a moment of stasis, and then Beethoven wrenches it to a stop with a sudden, The Fugue. Bach knew that he was dying as he worked on “Vor deinen stinging surprise. Thron,” and it is worth remembering the text of the first stanza The slow movement is built on the first violin’s heartfelt opening melody. For the central episode Beethoven slows down of that chorale: even further (the marking is Più lento) and writes music of a Before your throne I now appear, prayer-like simplicity. This section, full of halting rhythms, O God, and humbly bid you spans only ten measures before the return of the opening turn not your gracious face material, now elaborately decorated. The final movement has away from me, poor sinner. occasioned the most comment. In the manuscript, Beethoven noted two three-note mottos at its beginning under the heading String Quartet in F Major, Opus 135 Der schwer gefasste Entschluss: “The Difficult Resolution.” The first, solemnly intoned by viola and cello, asks the Born December 16, 1770, Bonn question: “Muss es sein?” (“Must it be?”). The violins’ inverted Died March 26, 1827, Vienna Composed: 1826 answer, which comes at the Allegro, is set to the words “Es Approximate Duration: 25 minutes muss sein!” (“It must be!”). Coupled with the fact that this quartet is virtually Beethoven’s final composition, these mottos This quartet—Beethoven’s last complete composition— have given rise to a great deal of pretentious nonsense from comes from one of the blackest moments in his life. During the certain commentators, mainly to the effect that they must previous two years, he had written four string quartets, but even represent Beethoven’s last thoughts. The actual origins of this then Beethoven was not done with the possibilities of the string motto are a great deal less imposing, for they arose from a quartet. He began making sketches for the Quartet in F Major dispute over an unpaid bill, and as a private joke for friends during the summer of 1826. Beethoven wrote a humorous canon on the dispute, the theme At that point his world collapsed. His twenty-year-old of which he later adapted for this quartet movement. In any nephew Karl, who had become Beethoven’s ward after a bitter case, the mottos furnish the opening material for what turns court fight with the boy’s mother, attempted suicide on July 30. out to be a powerful but essentially cheerful movement—the The composer was shattered—friends reported that he suddenly second theme radiates a childlike simplicity. The coda gradually looked seventy years old. At the end of September, when the gives way to a cadence on the “Es muss sein!” motto. young man had recovered enough to travel, Beethoven took
Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit, BWV 668
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
EDUCATION AMBASSADOR-IN-RESIDENCE
PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS TRIBUTE TO SEGOVIA La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019 · 8 PM THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
ALBÉNIZ Sevilla from Suite espagnole, Opus 47 (1860-1909)
J.S. BACH Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D Minor for Unaccompanied (1685-1750) Violin, BWV 1004 SOR Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Opus 9 (1778-1839)
GIMÉNEZ Intermezzo from La boda de Luis Alonso (1854-1923)
I N T E R M I S S I O N
GRANADOS Valses poéticos (1867-1916)
RODRIGO Invocación y Danza (Homage to M. De Falla) (1901-1999)
ALBÉNIZ Asturias from Suite espagnole, Opus 47
TÁRREGA Gran Jota (1852-1909)
Pablo
Sáinz Villegas, guitar
Pablo Sáinz Villegas last performed for La Jolla Music Society in the Revelle Chamber Music Series on April 15, 2016 L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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Program notes by Eric Bromberger
Sevilla from Suite espagnole, Opus 47
ISAAC ALBÉNIZ
Born May 29, 1860, Camprodón, Lérida Died May 18, 1909, Campô-les-Bains Composed: 1886 Approximate Duration: 5 minutes
The life of Isaac Albéniz reads like something out of a demented storybook. A piano prodigy, he was thrust onto the stage at age four by zealously-ambitious parents who tried to get him into the Paris Conservatory at age seven. The boy made a number of attempts to run away from home and finally succeeded at age twelve, stowing away on a freighter bound for Central America. On his own, the boy then launched a concert tour throughout South America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States before returning to Spain the following year. Albéniz studied briefly with Liszt, took up a career as a touring virtuoso, and then gave that up to concentrate on composition. His life, however, was short: Albéniz died of Bright’s Disease a few days short of his 49th birthday. Albéniz found himself as a composer when he began to make use of Spanish material in his own music. He composed four of the eight movements that make up the Suite espagnole in 1886, then completed the others over the following several years. Each of the eight movements depicts or was inspired by a particular place in Spain (the final movement, a nocturne titled Cuba, is the one geographical exception). Though Albeniz published these eight movements as a set, individual movements have become famous on their own and are often played separately. It is a curious fact that many of Albeniz’s pieces for piano work particularly well on the guitar, and on this recital we hear two movements from the Suite espagnole in arrangements for guitar. Sevilla takes the form of a sevillana, a variant from Seville on the ancient seguidilla, a triple-time dance that had originated in Andalusia. Asturias, heard near the end of this recital, has the feel of a perpetual-motion. It is subtitled Leyenda (“legend”).
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D Minor for Unaccompanied Violin, BWV 1004
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Born March 21, 1685, Eisenach Died July 28, 1750, Leipzig Composed: 1720 Approximate Duration: 15 minutes
This Chaconne is of course THE Chaconne, one of the most famous and difficult pieces ever written for the violin. Bach composed it around 1720 as the final movement of his Partita No. 2 in D Minor for Unaccompanied Violin. The first four movements present the expected partita sequence— Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, and Gigue—but then Bach springs a surprise: the last movement is a chaconne longer that the first four movements combined. The Chaconne offers some of the most intense music Bach ever wrote, and it has worked its spell on musicians everywhere for the last twoand-a-half centuries. Beyond the countless recordings for violin, it is currently available in performances by guitar, cello, lute, and viola, as well as in piano transcriptions by Brahms, Busoni, and Raff. A chaconne is one of the most disciplined forms in music: it is built on a repeating ground bass in triple meter over which a melodic line is varied. A chaconne demands great skill from a performer under any circumstances, but it becomes unbelievably complex on the unaccompanied violin, which must simultaneously suggest the ground bass and project the melodic variations above it. Even with the curved bow of Bach’s day, some of this music borders on the unplayable, and it is more difficult still on the modern violin, with its more rounded bridge and concave bow. This makes Bach’s Chaconne sound like supremely cerebral music—and it is—but the wonder is that this music manages to be so expressive at the same time. The four-bar ground bass repeats 64 times during the quarter-hour span of the Chaconne, and over it Bach spins out gloriously varied music, all the while keeping these variations firmly anchored on the ground bass. At the center section, Bach moves into D major, and here the music relaxes a little, content to sing happily for awhile; after the calm nobility of this interlude, the quiet return to D minor sounds almost disconsolate. Bach drives the Chaconne to a great climax and a restatement of the ground bass at the close.
PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS: TRIBUTE TO SEGOVIA - PROGRAM NOTES
Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Opus 9
Valses poéticos
Born February 14, 1778, Barcelona Died July 10, 1839, Paris Composed: 1821 Approximate Duration: 9 minutes
Born July 27, 1867, Lerida Died March 24, 1916, English Channel Composed: 1894 Approximate Duration: 12 minutes
FERNANDO SOR
Sometimes called “the Beethoven of the guitar” because he established a bold new sense of that instrument’s possibilities, Fernando Sor trained and spent his early career in Spain, but left that country in 1813. He toured Europe, performing in Paris, London, Moscow, and Warsaw, and finally settled in Paris. Sor wrote in most musical forms (opera, symphony, concerto, ballet), but his reputation today rests on his music for guitar, and his Introduction and Variations on a Theme of Mozart remains his most famous work. The theme is from the finale of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, where Monostatos sings “So klinget so herrlich” with its famous glockenspiel accompaniment. Sor’s initial statement of the theme is itself already a variation, and there follows a brief set of variations—some brilliant, some quietly lyrical—as Sor explores the possibilities of both Mozart’s theme and the guitar, concluding with a particularly rousing and extroverted variation.
Intermezzo from La boda de Luis Alonso
JERÓNIMO GIMÉNEZ Born October 10, 1854, Seville Died February 19, 1923, Madrid Composed: 1897 Approximate Duration: 6 minutes
Spanish composer Jerónimo Giménez trained as a violinist while a boy and was conducting orchestras by the age of 17, but he wanted to be a composer, and—like so many young Spanish composers—he went to Paris for his training. There he studied with Ambroise Thomas, then returned to Spain and launched a successful career as a conductor (he led the first Spanish performance of Carmen). In the late 1870s, while he was still in his twenties, Giménez began to compose zarzuelas, a sort of musical entertainment that mixes singing with spoken dialogue. Between 1878 and 1920, only three years before his death, Giménez wrote over a hundred zarzuelas. One of his first real successes came in 1896 with El baile de Luis Alonso (“The Dance of Luis Alonso”—Alonso was a well-known dancingmaster from Cadiz). Giménez immediately capitalized on this success with his zarzuela La boda de Luis Alonso (“The Marriage of Luis Alonso”), premiered on January 27, 1897. This zarzuela, subtitled “A Night in Prison,” was a huge success and remains one of Giménez’s most famous works— it is the only one of his works available on a recording today, and the brief orchestral Intermezzo from that zarzuela is the most familiar of his compositions.
ENRIQUE GRANADOS
Raised in Barcelona, Enrique Granados studied in Paris, then returned to make a brilliant (if unfortunately brief) career in his native country. Granados was particularly famous for his piano music and for his piano playing: his few recordings, made in Barcelona in 1912, demonstrate that he was a pianist of rare technique and sensitivity. He established a piano school, Academia Granados, in Barcelona in 1901 and devoted much of his professional career to developing a specifically Spanish school of performance. Granados’ early death was tragic. World War I forced him to move the premiere of his opera Goyescas (itself based on a set of piano pieces) from Paris to the Metropolitan in New York. Following the opera’s resounding success there, President Wilson invited Granados to perform at the White House, which caused the composer to cancel his plans to return directly to Spain. Instead, he sailed for England on the liner Sussex, which was torpedoed by a German submarine. Granados, not quite 49 years old, and his wife both drowned. Granados composed his Valses poéticos for the piano in the 1890s. There is no particularly Spanish flavor here nor any use of folk music. Instead this is a set of charming miniature waltzes with title descriptions such as melodic, noble, sentimental, humorous, and so on. Granados begins with a Prelude (in 2/4 rather than the waltz meter 3/4), then presents seven waltzes, rounding off the set with a repeat of the first.
Invocación y Danza (Homage to M. De Falla)
JOAQUIN RODRIGO Born November 22, 1901, Sagunto Died July 6, 1999, Madrid Composed: 1961 Approximate Duration: 8 minutes
Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo, whose life spanned the twentieth century almost exactly, is remembered for his vast number of works for the guitar, and so it is surprising to learn that he did not play that instrument. His Concierto de Aranjuez, composed in 1940, remains the most popular concerto ever written for the guitar, and for the solo guitar he composed in a number of different forms: dances, evocations of specific composers, music written to celebrate specific regions of Spain and so on. Rodrigo wrote his Invocation and Dance: Homage to Manuel de Falla in 1961 for a competition sponsored by French Radio and Television. The complex title indicates Rodrigo’s intention in this music: he wished to evoke the L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS: TRIBUTE TO SEGOVIA - PROGRAM NOTES
spirit and music of Spanish composer Manuel de Falla—a composer Rodrigo greatly respected—and to use Falla’s music as the starting point for a composition of his own. The uncertain, slightly discordant, introduction quickly leads to an evocation of Falla’s own music, and we hear bits of Nights in the Gardens of Spain and El Amor Brujo wafting through the texture of Rodrigo’s own writing for guitar. This is not a set of variations on Falla’s music but instead a respectful evocation of that music, and eventually this leads to a spirited dance. The Invocation and Dance is extremely challenging for the guitarist, and it exists in several different versions— guitarists are free to perform the version of their choice.
Asturias from Suite espagnole, Opus 47
ISAAC ALBÉNIZ Composed: 1886 Approximate Duration: 6 minutes
See the program note for the opening work on this recital for information about Asturias.
Gran Jota
FRANCISCO TÁRREGA Born November 21, 1852, Villareal, Castellan Died December 15, 1909, Barcelona Composed: 1872 Approximate Duration: 10 minutes
Francisco Tárrega was known in his day as “the Sarasate of the guitar,” since he did for the guitar what his countryman Pablo de Sarasate did for the violin: he composed for his instrument, toured widely, and helped advance the cause of music for that instrument. Tárrega studied at the Madrid Conservatory (where his father, suspicious of the guitar, insisted that he also study piano), and then made concert tours throughout Europe. Tárrega wrote about sixty original works for the guitar and arranged the music of other many other composers for that instrument. One of his compositions, a tremolo study titled Recuerdos de la Alhambra, has become one of the most famous pieces ever written for the guitar. A jota was originally a dance from northern Spain that might be accompanied by song and castanets. Tárrega adapts that general from and turns his Gran Jota into a brilliant work for guitar. A long introduction marked Adagio maestoso leads to the jota itself. Here that dance takes many forms, and Tárrega demands a variety of techniques from his performer: harmonics, glissandos, quick grace-notes, and drum effects achieved by tapping on the wood of the instrument. The difficulty of the writing for guitar makes clear just how good a performer Tárrega must have been, and the Gran Jota is a perfect piece to bring a guitar recital to an exciting conclusion.
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
PETE MCBRIDE and KEVIN FEDARKO
BETWEEN RIVER AND RIM: HIKING THE GRAND CANYON La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2019 · 7 PM THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
PROGRAM Presentation Question & Answer Session NO INTERMISSION
ABOUT Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Grand Canyon’s designation as a national park. In an effort to share the Grand Canyon’s uncharted glory and shed light on the myriad threats it faces, writer Kevin Fedarko and photographer/filmmaker Pete McBride set off on an audacious and demanding adventure: to transect the length of the canyon on foot.
This presentation marks Pete McBride and Kevin Fedarko's La Jolla Music Society debuts. L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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VOCTAVE THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ProtoStar Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Stephen Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2019 · 7 PM THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
MEMBERS Kate Lott, Tiffany Coburn, Ashley Espinoza, Sarah Whittemore, Chrystal Johnson, E. J. Cardona, Tony de Rosa, Jamey Ray, Kurt Von Schmittou, J. C. Fullerton, Karl Hudson PROGRAM Works to be announced from stage. 20-MNUTE INTERMISSION
ABOUT Ring in the “spirit of the season” with Voctave, a remarkable 11-member a cappella ensemble. Group members have professional roots with Walt Disney World entertainment, but their range does not stop there. From gospel music to musical theater, contemporary to barbershop, pop music to choral specialists, Voctave voices have covered it all both in and out of the a cappella realm. With multiple #1 songs and albums on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify, Voctave has also ranked in the top 25 on Billboard Magazine’s charts. This a cappella holiday show for the entire family will make it clear why they have received more than 100 million views of their videos on Facebook and YouTube.
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This performance marks Voctave's La Jolla Music Society debut. LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
BIOGRAPHIES Brian Blade, drummer
Brian Blade, the multi-talented young veteran, is widely respected in the jazz world as drummer/composer/leader of Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band, with whom he has released three albums. He is also known as the drummer for many heroes of the music world, including Daniel Lanois, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Wayne Shorter, Seal, Bill Frisell and Emmylou Harris. During his childhood in Shreveport, Louisiana, Blade would hear Gospel music in his everyday life, as well as the music of Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, and the Staple Singers. Since 2000, Blade has been part of the Wayne Shorter Quartet with Danilo Perez and John Patitucci. His 2009 album, Mama Rosa, marked a new endeavor for Blade: a lovingly crafted, emotionally affecting song cycle that's deeply rooted in a rich vein of personal experience. The album shows Blade to be a soulful and expressive vocalist and a songwriter capable of rendering evocative stories that resonate with insight and empathy.
Rakesh Chaurasia, bansuri
Rakesh Chaurasia is the nephew and child prodigy of flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Infusing his personal style with the tradition of his renowned uncle, he has evolved an approach that maintains the purity of the flute, while also managing to capture the attention of young listeners. Despite his experimental work, Chaurasia has never deviated from his main goal of becoming a full-fledged classical musician. Most notably, Chaurasia was invited to conclude the twenty-four hour live BBC Radio broadcast celebrating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, reaching audiences worldwide. Chaurasia's most recent venture is his fusion band Rakesh and Friends (RAF), which creates music that appeals to the young without sacrificing the essence of classical music.
Chick Corea, keyboard
Chick Corea has attained iconic status in music. The keyboardist, composer, and bandleader is a DownBeat Hall of Famer and NEA Jazz Master, as well as the fourth-most nominated artist in GRAMMY® Awards history with 63 nods – and 22 wins, in addition to a number of Latin GRAMMY® Awards. From straight-ahead to avant-garde, bebop to jazz-rock fusion, children’s songs to chamber and symphonic works, Corea has touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his career since playing with the genre-shattering bands of Miles Davis in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Yet Corea has never been more productive than in the 21st century, whether playing acoustic piano or electric keyboards, leading multiple bands, performing solo, or collaborating with a who’s who of music. Underscoring this, he has been named Artist of the Year three times this decade in the DownBeat Readers Poll. Born in 1941 in Massachusetts, Corea remains a tireless creative spirit, continually reinventing himself through his art. As The New York Times has said, he is “a luminary, ebullient and eternally youthful.”
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BIOGRAPHIES
Danish String Quartet, Artist-in-Residence
Since its debut in 2002, the Danish String Quartet has demonstrated a special affinity for Scandinavian composers, from Carl Nielsen to Hans Abrahamsen, alongside music of Mozart and Beethoven. The Quartet’s musical interests also encompass Nordic folk music, the focus of its recent recording, Last Leaf, on the ECM Label. Embodying the quintessential elements of a fine chamber music ensemble, the GRAMMY® nominated Danish String Quartet has established a reputation for their exquisite clarity, sophisticated artistry, and a rare musical spontaneity. Violinists Frederik Øland and Rune Tonsgaard Sørenson and violist Asbjørn Nørgaard met as children at a music summer camp where they played both soccer and music together, eventually making the transition into a serious string trio while studying at Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Academy of Music. In 2008, the three Danes were joined by Norwegian cellist Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin. The Danish String Quartet received the Carl Nielsen Prize, the highest cultural honor in Denmark. With their “nimble charisma, stylish repertoire” and ability to alter tone on a dime (The Guardian), the Danish are in demand worldwide by concert and festival presenters alike.
Lila Downs, vocalist
The multi-GRAMMY® award winning Mexican-American singer Lila Downs is one of Mexico’s greatest singers and cultural ambassadors. Born in 1968 to a Native American Mixtec singer and a Scottish-American professor from Minnesota, Downs spent equal time growing up in the mountains of Oaxaca Mexico and in Minneapolis. She brings her unique interpretation of traditional Mexican and Mesoamerican music, deeply personal renditions of classic rancheras, as well as her own original songs to her performances. Downs has collaborated with artists as diverse as Wynton Marsalis, Yo Yo Ma, and Carlos Santana. She has recorded duets with Norah Jones, Caetano Veloso, Mercedes Sosa, and Enrique Bunbury just to name a few. Downs’ Dia De Muertos: Al Chile features ballet folklorico and mariachi. Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company is the premiere folk ballet company in Los Angeles. They are celebrating 15 years as a company under the artistic direction of founder, Jose Vences. Mariachi Femenil Flores Mexicanas has established itself as the leading all-female mariachi group in the Southwest. Since their 2001 inception in El Paso, their rich sound and inspiring musicianship is a strong yet elegant statement not typically seen in this traditionally male-dominated art form.
Farruquito, flamenco dancer
Farruquito, heir to the most renowned Gypsy flamenco dynasty, is the greatest flamenco dancer of this new century (New York Times). Farruquito made his first international stage appearance on Broadway in New York City at the age of four alongside his grandfather, “El Farruco,” and spent his formative years immersed in the legendary Farruco school. He has created and directed over 15 works since the age of eleven, and has not only been hailed by critics and audiences alike for his prodigious artistry, but also for his incredible personality, profound poetry, and captivating beauty. As the principal inheritor of the greatest Gypsy flamenco bloodline, Farruquito has made it his life’s mission to share the purest form of flamenco on stages all around the world, while further broadening his influence by collaborating with the most paramount film directors, conductors, and artists of our time.
Kevin Fedarko, speaker
Kevin Fedarko lives in Flagstaff, Arizona and has spent the past fifteen years writing about the Grand Canyon. In addition to his travel narratives in Outside magazine, where he worked as a senior editor, Fedarko’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, National Geographic, and other publications. His first book, The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon, won the National Outdoor Book Award, the Reading the West Award, and was a New York Times bestseller.
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BIOGRAPHIES
Béla Fleck, banjo
Béla Fleck is known as the world’s premier banjo player. Fleck has virtually reinvented the image and the sound of the banjo through a remarkable performing and recording career. The 15-time GRAMMY® Award-winner has been nominated in more categories than any other artist in GRAMMY® history, and remains a powerfully creative force globally in bluegrass, jazz, classical, pop, rock and world beat. In 2009, Fleck produced the award-winning documentary and recordings, Throw Down Your Heart, where he journeyed across Africa to research the origins of the banjo. These days, Fleck performs in an astonishing variety of contexts: his concertos, a duo with Chick Corea, with the Brooklyn Rider string quartet, banjo and mandolin duet with Chris Thile, and occasionally back to bluegrass with his old friends Sam Bush, Bryan Sutton, and others. He collaborates with African artists such as Oumou Sangare and Toumani Diabaté, in a jazz setting with The Marcus Roberts Trio, and with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, who continue to perform together 30 years after the band’s inception. Fleck recently accepted a commission to create his third concerto, which premiered 2018 in New Orleans.
Michael Gerdes, lecturer
Michael Gerdes is the Director of Orchestras at San Diego State University where he conducts the San Diego State Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Opera Orchestra. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. Selected by The San Diego Union Tribune as one of three "Faces to Watch" in Classical Music during his first year as Director of Orchestras, Gerdes is focused on creating a thriving orchestral community at San Diego State University.
Robert John Hughes, lecturer
Journalist, broadcaster, musician, author, record producer. During his ownership at San Diego FM station, 102.1 KPRi, Hughes interviewed hundreds of musical artists including Sting, Adele, Don Henley and Glenn Frey (Eagles), Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Paul Simon, and Peter Gabriel. As a record producer and member of the GRAMMY® Academy, Hughes created the five disk KPRi Live Tracks CD series that offered over 130 live performances recorded in his home studio and at KPRi studios and events.
Zakir Hussain, tabla
Zakir Hussain is appreciated as an international phenomenon and one of the greatest musicians of our time, both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistently brilliant and exciting performances have established him as a national treasure and as one of India’s reigning cultural ambassadors. Hussain's playing is marked by uncanny intuition and masterful improvisational dexterity, founded in formidable knowledge and study. Widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement, Hussain's contribution to world music been unique, with many historic collaborations, including Shakti, which he founded with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar, Sangam with Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland, and recordings and performances with artists as diverse as George Harrison, YoYo Ma, Van Morrison, Mark Morris, Herbie Hancock, and the Kodo drummers. In 1987, his first solo release, Making Music, was acclaimed as “one of the most inspired East-West fusion albums ever recorded.” Hussain received the distinct honor of co-composing the opening music for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. On January 18, 2017, he was presented with SFJazz’s Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of his “unparalleled contribution to the world of music.” L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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BIOGRAPHIES
Christian McBride, bass
Four-time GRAMMY® Award-winning jazz bassist Christian McBride can be likened to a force of nature, fusing the fire and fury of a virtuoso with the depth and grounding of a seasoned journeyman. McBride is powered by a relentless energy and a boundless love of swing. Raised in Philadelphia, a city steeped in soul, McBride moved to New York in 1989 to pursue classical studies at the Juilliard School. In 2000, McBride formed what would become his longest-running project, the Christian McBride Band. In 2009, McBride began focusing this same energy through a more traditional lens with the debut of his critically-acclaimed Inside Straight quintet, and again with the Christian McBride Big Band, whose 2012 release, The Good Feeling, won the GRAMMY® for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album. McBride has added the role of mentor to his career, tapping rising stars pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. for the Christian McBride Trio’s GRAMMY®-nominated album, Out Here.
Pete McBride, speaker
Native Coloradan Pete McBride has spent two decades studying the world with a camera. A self-taught photographer, filmmaker, writer, and public speaker, he has traveled on assignment to over 75 countries for the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian, Outside, Esquire, Google, The Nature Conservancy, and many more. After a decade documenting remote expeditions from Everest to Antarctica, McBride decided to focus his cameras closer to home on a subject closer to his heart—his backyard river, the Colorado. Four years and 1,500 river-miles later, McBride produced an acclaimed book, three award-winning documentaries, and co-hosted a PBS TV program. His latest project replaced rafting with walking—a lot of it. Over the course of a year, McBride hiked the entire length of Grand Canyon National Park—over 750 miles without a trail. After completing the journey, National Geographic named him and his hiking companion, writer Kevin Fedarko, “Adventurers of the Year.” McBride has since released a Rizzoli book on the project and a feature-length documentary, Into the Grand Canyon, for National Geographic Channel.
Edgar Meyer, bass
Five time GRAMMY® Award-winner Edgar Meyer has been hailed by The New Yorker as “...the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument.” In 2006, he released a self-titled solo recording on which he wrote and recorded all of the music, incorporating piano, guitar, mandolin, dobro, banjo, gamba, and double bass. In 2011, Mr. Meyer joined Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, and Stuart Duncan for The Goat Rodeo Sessions, which was awarded the 2012 GRAMMY® Award for Best Folk Album. Meyer began studying bass at the age of five under the instruction of his father and continued further to study with Stuart Sankey. In 2000 he became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize. Currently, he is Visiting Professor of Double Bass at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Kristi Brown Montesano, lecturer
Chair of the Music History Department at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, Kristi Brown Montesano is an enthusiastic “public musicologist.” She is an active lecturer for the LA Philharmonic, the Opera League of Los Angeles, the Salon de Musiques series, and Mason House Concerts. Her book, The Women of Mozart’s Operas, offers a detailed study of these fascinating roles; more recent scholarly interests include classical music in film, women in classical music, and opera for children.
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BIOGRAPHIES
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Although long regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Chopin, Ohlsson commands an enormous repertoire ranging over the entire piano literature and has come to be noted for his masterly performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire. Together with violinist Jorja Fleezanis and cellist Michael Grebanier, he is a founding member of the San Francisco-based FOG Trio. A native of White Plains, NY, Ohlsson began his piano studies at the age of eight, at the Westchester Conservatory of Music; at 13 he entered The Juilliard School, in New York City.
Nicolas Reveles, lecturer
Composer and pianist Nicolas Reveles earned his Master of Arts in choral conducting from the University of Redlands, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music. He has produced theater scores for the Old Globe Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, and others. As of 2010, he is also the host of UCSD-TV's OperaTalk! with Nick Reveles.
Pablo Sáinz Villegas, guitar & Education Ambassador
Praised as “The Soul of the Spanish Guitar,” Pablo Sáinz Villegas has become a worldwide sensation known as this generation’s great guitarist. Since his early debut with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, he has become the world’s reference for the symphonic guitar. His “virtuosic playing characterized by irresistible exuberance” (The New York Times) makes him one of the most acclaimed soloists by prestigious conductors, orchestras, and festivals. Billboard Magazine recently named Sáinz Villegas “the global ambassador of Spanish guitar” after his solo album, Americano, made its debut to the top 15 on their charts. A passionate promoter of the development of new repertoire for Spanish classical guitar, Sáinz Villegas has made numerous world premieres including Rounds, by five-time Academy Award-winner John Williams. Over the years, he accomplished collection of over 30 international awards, including the Segovia award which, he won at age 15, and the coveted Gold Medal at the Inaugural Parkening International Guitar Competition.
Voctave
A cappella sensation Voctave shot to prominence after garnering over 100 million online views of their videos in just two years. Formed in 2015 by producer and arranger Jamey Ray, the voices that bring their arrangements to life represent a wealth of diverse backgrounds and musical experiences. Hailing from Central Florida, the 11 members of Voctave have performed across the globe and appear on countless recordings. The group has performed with GRAMMY ®, Dove, and American Music Award recipients including Sandi Patty, Pentatonix's Kirstin Maldonado, Mark Lowry, David Phelps, and Jody McBrayer. With multiple number one songs and albums on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify, Voctave has also ranked in the top 25 on Billboard Magazine’s charts. Voctave’s five albums are digitally available on all platforms. PHOTO CREDITS: Cover: Danish String Quartet © Caroline Bittencourt; Pg.24: C. Corea, C. McBride, and B. Blade courtesy of artists; Pg.25: L. Downs © Marcela Taboada; Pg.26: B. Fleck, E. Meyer, and Z. Hussain courtesy of artists; Pg.27: Farruquito © Matthew Bledsoe; Pg.28: G. Ohlsson © Bartek Sadowski; Pg.32, 35, 38, 41, 44 & 54: Danish String Quartet © Caroline Bittencourt; Pg.47: P. Sainz Villegas © Ruben Martin; Pg.51: Grand Canyon © Pete McBride; Pg.52: Voctave courtesy of management; Pg.53: B. Blade courtesy of artist, R. Chaurasia courtesy of artist, C.Corea courtesy of artist; Pg.54: L. Downs © Marcela Taboada, and Farruquito courtesy of artist; Pg.55: K. Fedarko © Kurt Markus, B. Fleck courtesy of artist, and Z. Hussain courtesy of artist; Pg.56: C. McBride courtesy of artist, P. McBride © Ashley Mosher, and E. Meyer courtesy of artist; Pg.57: G. Ohlsson © Bartek Sadowski, P. Sainz Villegas © Lisa Mazzuco, and Voctave courtesy of management; Pg.59: L. Downs © Marcela Taboada, C. Sands courtesy of artist, H. Wang courtesy of artist, J. Bell © Phil Knott, Xin Ying in Martha Graham’s Chronicle © Hibbard Nash Photography; Back Cover: L. Downs © Marcela Taboada.
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L A JOLL A MUSIC SOCIETY’S COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER
For the past 20 years, La Jolla Music Society’s Community Music Center has given thousands of children their first experience in music-making. Over 100 students from roughly 40 different elementary, middle, and high schools take part each year in our bilingual after-school music program located in San Diego’s Logan Heights neighborhood. The Community Music Center provides free instruments and instruction to all our students with group lessons three days each week for piano, violin, woodwind, brass, voice, guitar, and percussion. We’ve also expanded our program this year and now offer a fourth day of instruction focused on ensemble performance practice.
To learn more about the Community Music Center and to support our Education and Community Programming, please contact: Allison Boles, Education and Community Programming Manager 858.459.3724, ext. 221 or ABoles@LJMS.org.
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THANK YOU! The wonderful array of musical activity that La Jolla Music Society offers would not be possible without support from its family of donors. Your contributions to La Jolla Music Society help bridge the gap between income from ticket sales and the total cost to present the finest musicians and the best chamber music repertoire in San Diego. Your generosity also supports our programs in the local schools and throughout the community.
On the following pages La Jolla Music Society pays tribute to you, the leading players who make it possible to share the magic of the performing arts with our community. L J M S. O R G ¡ 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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SEASON 2019-20 SPONSORS La Jolla Music Society’s 51st Season is supported by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, Banc of California, Vail Memorial Fund, Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, David C. Copley Foundation, D’Addario Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Bright Events Rentals, Snake Oil Cocktail Co, Ace Parking, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The Westgate Hotel, Brenda Baker and Steve Baum, The Beyster Family, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Joy Frieman, Brian and Silvija Devine, Gordon Brodfuehrer, Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman, Jeanette Stevens, Bebe and Marvin Zigman, and an anonymous donor.
SAN DIEGO
MEDIA PARTNERS
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ANNUAL SUPPORT La Jolla Music Society depends on contributed income for more than 50% of its annual budget. We are grateful to all of our contributors who share our enthusiams and passion for the arts. Every donor is a valued partner and they make it possible for one of San Diego’s premier music organization to present year-round. It is our privilege to recognize the following donors.
FOUNDER Brenda Baker & Stephen Baum
($250,000 and above)
The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture Conrad Prebys & Debra Turner Clara Wu Tsai & Joseph Tsai
ANGEL The Dow Divas
($100,000 - $249,999)
Joy Frieman Joan & Irwin Jacobs
Sheryl & Bob Scarano Debbie Turner
BENEFACTOR Raffaella & John Belanich ($50,000-$99,999)
GUARANTOR
($25,000-$49,999)
Susan & Bill Hoehn Gordon Brodfuehrer Steven & Sylvia Ré Silvija & Brian Devine Jeanette Stevens Stephen Gamp/Banc of California Haeyoung Kong Tang Lehn & Richard Goetz Bebe & Marvin Zigman Anonymous Mary Ann Beyster Katherine & Dane Chapin Ric & Barbara Charlton Linda Chester & Ken Rind Julie & Bert Cornelison Anne Daigle Martha & Ed Dennis Barbara Enberg Jennifer & Kurt Eve Monica Fimbres Debby & Wain Fishburn Jeff Glazer & Lisa Braun Glazer Kay & John Hesselink Sue & John Major
Arlene & Lou Navias Robin & Hank Nordhoff Marina & Rafael Pastor Peter & Peggy Preuss Don & Stacy Rosenberg Clifford Schireson & John Venekamp Marge & Neal Schmale Tina Simner Twin Dragon Foundation UC San Diego / Chancellor Pradeep Khosla Vail Memorial Fund Sue & Peter Wagener
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ANNUAL SUPPORT
SUSTAINER
AMBASSADOR
Anonymous (2) Ginny & Robert Black Wendy Brody Sharon L. Cohen Nina & Robert Doede Brian & Susan Douglass Sue & Chris Fan Brenda & Michael Goldbaum Angelina & Fredrick Kleinbub National Endowment for the Arts Clifford Schireson & John Venekamp Maureen & Thomas Shiftan Abby & Ray Weiss Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome Lisa Widmier Katrina Wu Dolly & Victor Woo Marvin & Bebe Zigman
Anonymous (3) John Amberg Judith Bachner & Dr. Eric L. Lasley Carolyn Bertussi Bjorn Bjerede & Jo Kiernan George and Laurie Brady Johan & Sevil Brahme Dr. James C. & Karen A. Brailean Benjamin Brand Stuart & Isabel Brown Lisa & David Casey Jian & Samson Chan Lori & Aaron Contorer Peter Cooper & Erik Matwijkow Elaine & Dave Darwin Sandra & Henny den Uijl J. Lynn Dougan and Amb. Diana Lady Dougan Eleanor Ellsworth Jeane Erley Jill Esterbrooks & James Kirkpatrick Robbins Farrell Family Foundation Elliot & Diane Feuerstein Richard & Beverley Fink Sara & Jay Flatley Pam & Hal Fuson Sarah & Michael Garrison Buzz & Peg Gitelson Jeff Glazer & Lisa Braun Glazer Michael Grossman & Margaret Stevens Grossman Rita & Mark Hannah Gail Hutcheson Debby & Hal Jacobs Theresa Jarvis & Ric Erdman Jan Ann Kahler William Karatz & Joan Smith Amy & William Koman Carol Lam & Mark Burnett Carol Lazier Arleen & Robert Lettas Donna Medrea Marilyn & Stephen Miles
($15,000 - $24,999)
SUPPORTER
($10,000 - $14,999)
Anonymous Tom & Stephanie Baker Joan Jordan Bernstein Jim Beyster Karen & Don Cohn County of San Diego / Community Enhancement Program Keith & Helen Kim Kathleen & Ken Lundgren Diane & Ron Mannix Jack McGrory & Una Davis Betty-Jo Petersen Leigh P. Ryan Noni & Drew Senyei Vivian Lim & Joseph Wong Anna & Edward Yeung
($5,000 - $9,999)
Hans & Ursula Moede Elaine & Doug Muchmore Jeanne & Rick Norling Pat & Hank Nickol Sharon & Jeff Pennington Taffin & Gene Ray Mrs. Robert Reiss Catherine & Jean Rivier Ivor Royston & Colette Carson Royston Pat Shank Susan Shirk & Samuel Popkin Gloria & Rod Stone Iris & Matthew Strauss Joyce & Ted Strauss Steve Strauss & Lise Wilson Elizabeth Taft Mary & Bill Urquhart Gianangelo & Mera Vergani Jodi & Rusty Wallis Margie & John H. Warner, Jr. Sheryl & Harvey White
AFICIONADO ($2,500 - $4,999)
Anonymous Rusti Bartell R. Nelson & Janice Byrne Lee Clark Dr. Marjorie Coburn Bradley Comp and Christine Ellis-Comp David Cooper and Joanne Hutchinson Stacie & Michael Devitt Mr. and Mrs. Michael Durkin Robert Dynes & Ann Parode Dynes Ruth and Ed Evans Socorro Fimbres Beverly Frederick & Alan Springer Elaine Galinson & Herbert Solomon Dawn Gilman Lee & Frank Goldberg Jennifer & Richard Greenfield Reena & Sam Horowitz Joan Hotchkis Jeanne Jones
WORLD-CLASS PERFORMANCES La Jolla Music Society cultivates and inspires the performing arts scene in San Diego through presenting world-class musicians, jazz ensembles, orchestras, and dance companies year round.
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ANNUAL SUPPORT Susan & David Kabakoff Lynda Kerr Sharon LeeMaster, CFRE Jeffrey & Sheila Lipinsky Sylvia & Jamie Liwerant Sarah Long Cindy & Jay Longbottom Mary Keough Lyman Gail & Ed Miller Alexandra Morton Sally & Howard Oxley Carolyn & Ed Parrish Marty & David Pendarvis Vicki & Art Perry William Purves & Don Schmidt Jessica & Eberhardt Rohm Sandra & Robert Rosenthal Doreen & Myron Schonbrun Drs. Gloria & Joseph Shurman Leland & Annemarie Sprinkle Ronald Wakefield Mary Walshok Bill & Lori Walton Faye Wilson Mary & Joseph Witztum
ASSOCIATE
($1,000 - $2,499)
Dede & Mike Alpert Christine Andrews Alvaro Ă vila Charles & Sharon Bates Adriana Cetto June Chocheles Drs. Anthony F. Chong & Annette Thu Nguyen Serge Falesitch Beverly Friemon Laura & Tom Gable Beverly Grant Bryna Haber Ann Hill Lulu Hsu Sandra Jordan Roger & Tamara Joseph Dwight Kellogg Jeanne Larson Theodora Lewis Grace H. Lin Papa Doug Manchester Bill Miller & Ida Houby Dr. Sandra Miner Norma Hildago Jill Porter John Renner Eva & Doug Richman Linda & Charlie Shalvoy Pam Shriver
Gerald & Susan Slavet Norma Jo Thomas Fernanda Vildosola Jo & Howard Weiner Sibyl & David Wescoe Fernanda Witworth
FRIEND
($500 - $999)
Anonymous (2) Barry & Emily Berkov LaVerne & Blaine Briggs Elizabeth Clarquist Carol & Jeff Chang Caroline DeMar Douglas Doucette Richard Forsyth Clare Friedman Sally Fuller Carrie Greenstein Catharina Hamilton Phil & Kathy Henry Paul & Barbara Hirshman Emmet & Holly Holden Nancy Hong Louise Kasch Helene K. Kruger Toni Langlinais Lewis Leicher Dr. Greg Lemke Lynda Fox Photography Jennifer Luce Sally & Luis Maizel Kenneth Martin Winona Mathews Ted McKinney Joel Mogy Jonathan Scheff & Kimberly Butterwick Ronald Simon Randall Smith Edward Stickgold & Steven Cande Susan Trompeter Yvonne Vaucher Suhaila White Olivia & Marty Winkler
ENTHUSIAST ($250 - $499)
Sibille Alexander Lynell Antrim Rita Bell Stefana Brintzenhoff Candace Carroll Luc Cayet & Anne Marie Pleska Robert & Jean Chan
Kathleen Charla Geoffrey Clow Hugh Coughlin Roccio & Mike Flynn Ferdinand Marcus Gasang Russel Ginns Dr. and Mrs. Jimmie Greenslate Richard Hsieh Ed & Linda Janon Julia & George L. Katz Gladys & Bert Kohn Las Damas de Fairbanks Katy McDonald Marion Mettler Dr. Chandra Mukerji Joani Nelson Aghdas Pezeshki Carol Plantamura Gustavo Romero Dr. Aron Rosenthal Paul Rotenberg Peter & Arlene Sacks Denise and Sydney Selati William Smith Bob Stefanko Eli & Lisa Strickland Terrence D. Underwood Monica & Richard Valdez George Wafa & Nancy Assaf Brian Wahlstrom Dr. & Mrs. Robert Wallace Brian Worthington Terry & Peter Yang Debra Youssefi Bart Ziegler Listing as of September 10, 2019
THE CONRAD Since its opening on April 5, 2019, The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center has become the new heart of cultural, arts education, and community event activity in La Jolla. The Conrad is the permanent home of La Jolla Music Society and hosts world-class performances presented by LJMS as well as other San Diego arts presenters. Additionally, The Conrad is available for a wide range of conferences, corporate meetings, weddings, fundraisers, and private events.
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ANNUAL SUPPORT
HONORARIA & MEMORIAL GIFTS In Memory of John R. Amberg: Linda Olson
In Honor of Inon Barnatan: Susan and Richard Ulevitch
In Honor of Joan Jordan Bernstein: Beverly Fremont
In Memory of Jendy Dennis: Chris Benavides Gordon Brodfuehrer Linda Chester and Kenneth Rind Eleanor Ellsworth Martha and Ed Dennis Sarah and Michael Garrison Ferdinand Marcus Gasang Sylvia and Steve Ré Liegh P. Ryan Marge and Neal Schmale Rewa Colette Soltan Susan and Richard Ulevitch Andrew Viterbi Peter and Sue Wagener Abby and Ray Weiss Dolly and Victor Woo Bebe and Marvin Zigman
In Memory of Aleva Henderson: Howie and Charlotte Zuckerman
In Memory of Kay Hesselink: Christopher Beach and Wesley Fata Chris Benavides Carter Brey
Silvija and Brian Devine Jennifer and Kurt Eve Aloysia Friedmann and Jon Kimura Parker Ferdinand Marcus Gasang Carolyn Greenslate Rowain and Joseph Kalichstein Eric Kim Vivian Lim and Joseph Wong Debby and Jimmy Lin Heiichiro Ohyama Richard O'Neill Cynthia Phelps Sylvia and Steve Ré Leigh P. Ryan Marge and Neal Schmale Sheryl Staples Jeanette Stevens Sue and Peter Wagener Dolly and Victor Woo
In Memory of Helene K. Kruger: Christopher Beach and Wesley Fata Chris Benavides Gordon Brodfuehrer Ruth Bush Marilyn Colby Silvija and Brian Devine Jennifer and Kurt Eve Ferdinand Marcus Gasang Ellen Greenebaum and Simeon Schwartz Barbara and David Groce Bryna Haber Patricia Manners Paul and Maggie Meyers Ann L. Mound J.L. Person
Betty-Jo Petersen Robert and Allison Price Sylvia and Steve Ré Marge and Neal Schmale Sue and Peter Wagener Pat Winter Dolly and Victor Woo Bebe and Marvin Zigman
In Memory of Jere Robins: Chris Benavides Arlene Bernstein Jian and Samson Chan Silvija and Brian Devine Jennifer and Kurt Eve Ferdinand Marcus Gasang Lei Guang Sam Popkin and Susan Shirk Sylvia and Steve Ré Marge and Neal Schmale Rewa Colette Soltan Sue and Peter Wagener Jackie Wang Abby and Ray Weiss Dolly and Victor Woo
In Honor of Leah Rosenthal: Susan and Richard Ulevitch
In Tribute to Sheryl Scarano: Nancy and Alan Spector
In Honor of Dolly Woo: Ronald Youn
ANNUAL SUPPORT To learn more about supporting La Jolla Music Society’s artistic and education programs or to make an amendment to your listing please contact Landon Akiyama, at 858.459.3724, ext. 216 or LAkiyama@LJMS.org. This list is current as of September 10, 2019. Amendments will be reflected in the next program book in January 2020.
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
MEDALLION SOCIETY CROWN JEWEL
TOPAZ
Brenda Baker and Steve Baum
Anonymous Joan Jordan Bernstein Mary Ann Beyster Virginia and Robert Black Dr. James C. and Karen A. Brailean Dave and Elaine Darwin Eleanor Ellsworth Barbara and Dick Enberg Jeane Erley Pam and Hal Fuson Buzz and Peg Gitelson Drs. Lisa Braun-Glazer and Jeff Glazer Margaret and Michael Grossman Theresa Jarvis Angelina and Fred Kleinbub Kathleen and Ken Lundgren Elaine and Doug Muchmore Hank and Patricia Nickol Rafael and Marina Pastor Don and Stacy Rosenberg Leigh P. Ryan Neal and Marge Schmale Jeanette Stevens Elizabeth Taft Gianangelo and Mera Vergani Joseph Wong and Vivian Lim Dolly and Victor Woo Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome Bebe and Marvin Zigman
DIAMOND Raffaella and John Belanich Joy Frieman Joan and Irwin Jacobs
RUBY Silvija and Brian Devine
EMERALD Arlene and Louis Navias
GARNET Julie and Bert Cornelison Peggy and Peter Preuss
SAPPHIRE Kay and John Hesselink Keith and Helen Kim
Listing as of September 10, 2019
The Medallion Society was established to provide long-term financial stability for La Jolla Music Society. We are honored to have this special group of friends who have made multi-year commitments of at least three years to La Jolla Music Society, ensuring that the artistic quality and vision we bring to the community continues to grow.
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DANCE SOCIETY GRAND JETÉ
PIROUETTE
DEMI POINTE
Jeanette Stevens Marvin and Bebe Zigman
Elaine Galinson and Herbert Solomon Larry Marcus Annie So
Beverly Fremont Saundra L. Jones
ARABESQUE
POINTE
Ellise and Michael Coit June and Dr. Bob Shillman Carolyn Bertussi
Teresa O. Campbell Katherine and Dane Chapin
PLIÉ Rebecca Kanter Joani Nelson Elizabeth Taft
Listing as of September 10, 2019
DANCE SERIES OUTREACH La Jolla Music Society hosts dance master classes and open rehearsals throughout the winter season. Participating companies have included Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, MOMIX, Joffrey Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group, New York City Ballet MOVES, and many more.
La Jolla Music Society is the largest present of major American and great international dance companies in San Diego. In order for LJMS to be able to fulfill San Diego’s clear desire for dance and ballet performances by the very best artists around the world, the Dance Society was created. We are grateful for each patron for their passion and support of our dance programs.
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
PLANNED GIVING LEGACY SOCIETY Anonymous (2) June L. Bengston* Joan Jordan Bernstein Bjorn Bjerede and Jo Kiernan Dr. James C. and Karen A. Brailean Gordon Brodfuehrer Barbara Buskin* Trevor Callan Geoff and Shem Clow Anne and Robert Conn George and Cari Damoose Elaine and Dave Darwin Teresa and Merle Fischlowitz Ted and Ingrid Friedmann Joy and Ed* Frieman Sally Fuller Maxwell H. and Muriel S. Gluck* Dr. Trude Hollander* Eric Lasley Theodora Lewis Joani Nelson Maria and Dr. Philippe Prokocimer Bill Purves Darren and Bree Reinig
Jay W. Richen Leigh P. Ryan Jack* and Joan Salb Johanna Schiavoni Pat Shank Drs. Joseph and Gloria Shurman Karen and Christopher Sickels Jeanette Stevens Elizabeth and Joseph* Taft Norma Jo Thomas Dr. Yvonne E. Vaucher Lucy and Ruprecht von Buttlar Ronald Wakefield John B. and Cathy Weil Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome and H. Barden Wellcome* Karl and Joan Zeisler Josephine Zolin
*In Memoriam Listing as of September 10, 2019
REMEMBERING LJMS IN YOUR WILL It is easy to make a bequest to La Jolla Music Society, and no amount is too small to make a difference. Here is a sample of language that can be incorporated into your will: “I hereby give ___% of my estate (or specific assets) to La Jolla Music Society, Tax ID 27-3147181, 7600 Fay Avenue, La Jolla, CA 92037, for its general purposes (or education and artistic programs).
The Legacy Society recognizes those generous individuals who have chosen to provide for La Jolla Music Society’s future. Members have remembered La Jolla Music Society in their estate plans in many ways — through their wills, retirement gifts, life income plans, and many other creative planned giving arrangements. We thank them for their vision and hope you will join this very special group of friends. If you have included LJMS in your estate plans, please let us know so we may recognize you. L J M S. O R G · 8 5 8 . 4 5 9 . 3 7 2 8
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CORPORATE PARTNERS BENEFACTOR
GUARANTOR
SUSTAINER
SUPPORTER
AMBASSADOR
SAN DIEGO
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
FOUNDATIONS Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation
David C. Copley F o u n d at i o n
Ayco Charitable Foundation: The AAM & JSS Charitable Fund The Vicki & Carl Zeiger Charitable Foundation Bettendorf, WE Foundation: Sally Fuller The Blachford-Cooper Foundation The Catalyst Foundation: The Hon. Diana Lady Dougan The Clark Family Trust Enberg Family Charitable Foundation The Epstein Family Foundation: Phyllis Epstein The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund: Drs. Edward & Martha Dennis Fund Sue & Chris Fan Don & Stacy Rosenberg Shillman Charitable Trust Richard and Beverly Fink Family Foundation Inspiration Fund at the San Diego Foundation: Frank & Victoria Hobbs The Jewish Community Foundation: Diane & Elliot Feuerstein Fund Galinson Family Fund Lawrence & Bryna Haber Fund Joan & Irwin Jacobs Fund Warren & Karen Kessler Fund Theodora F. Lewis Fund Liwerant Family Fund Jaime & Sylvia Liwerant Fund The Allison & Robert Price Family Foundation Fund John & Cathy Weil Fund The Stephen Warren Miles and Marilyn Miles Foundation The New York Community Trust: Barbara & William Karatz Fund
Rancho Santa Fe Foundation: The Fenley Family Fund The Susan & John Major Fund The Oliphant Fund The Pastor Family Fund The San Diego Foundation: The Beyster Family Foundation Fund The M.A. Beyster Fund II The Karen A. & James C. Brailean Fund The Valerie & Harry Cooper Fund The Hom Family Fund The Ivor & Colette Carson Royston Fund The Scarano Family Fund The Shiftan Family Fund Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving: Ted McKinney & Frank Palmerino Fund The Shillman Foundation Silicon Valley Community Foundation: The William R. & Wendyce H. Brody Fund Simner Foundation The Haeyoung Kong Tang Foundation The John M. and Sally B. Thornton Foundation Vail Memorial Fund Thomas and Nell Waltz Family Foundation The John H. Warner Jr. and Helga M. Warner Foundation Sheryl and Harvey White Foundation
SERVING OUR COMMUNITY La Jolla Music Society reaches over 11,000 students and community members annually. LJMS works with students from more than 60 schools and universities, providing concert tickets, performance demonstrations, and master classes. Thanks to the generous support of our patrons and donors, all of our outreach activities are free to the people we serve.
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PUBLIC SUPPORT La Jolla Music Society thanks all of our generous patrons and supporters– including government funding – who support our artistic, education and community engagement programs.
Support of our 51st Season is provided by:
Thank you to The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture for promoting, encouraging and increasing support for the region's artistic and cultural assets, integrating arts and culture into community life and showcasing San Diego as an international tourist destination.
Support from the County of San Diego’s Community Enhancement Program is vital to our SummerFest programs. Thank you for supporting programs that promote and generate tourism and economic development in San Diego.
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY · 2019-20 SEASON
2019-20
SEASON 51
For more than 50 years, La Jolla Music Society has helped nurture a love of music by keeping one vision in mind: To present diverse programs of great music performed by the best musicians in the world. Today, that vision has reached beyond the intimate beauty of the chamber music ensemble and into new and diverse offerings such as orchestras, jazz ensembles, dance companies, and robust education programs. This impressive growth has been carefully conducted by an active and highly committed volunteer board of directors and a dedicated staff. But most importantly, La Jolla Music Society’s progress has been sustained by the generosity of the community and ticket buyers. We hope you, too, will join the La Jolla Music Society family and help present unforgettable performances in the concert hall, the classroom, and community spaces. Your financial support will enable LJMS to build on a long history of artistic excellence and community engagement. Through your patronage, you are setting the tone for the future. Your participation is critical to the success of our 51st Season and for 50 more years to come.
JOIN OUR FAMILY LJMS.org/donate You can also speak to our Development Team at 858.459.3724, ext. 216 to make a gift.
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We are grateful to our generous Founding Donors whose leadership and gifts have built The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center and we applaud their vision to enrich the quality of life for everyone in our community.
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Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner The Conrad Prebys Foundation Brenda Baker and Steve Baum Joan and Irwin Jacobs Clara Wu and Joseph Tsai
Raffaella and John Belanich Rita and Richard Atkinson The Beyster Family Brian and Silvija Devine Joy Frieman
Peggy and Peter Preuss Noni and Drew Senyei Debbie Turner
The Abello Family Sumi Adachi Erica Arbelaez Alexander Willis Allen Kathleen Alligood and Timothy Sauer John Amberg Sue Andreasen Arleene Antin and Leonard Ozerkis Abrahame and Debbie Artenstein Nancy Assaf Thomas Bache and Ann Kerr Marnie Barnhorst Rusti Bartell Christopher Beach and Wesley Fata Maurine Beinbrink Emily and Barry Berkov Holly Berman Edgar and Julie Berner Joan Jordan Bernstein Bjorn Bjerede and Jo Kiernan Barbara Bloom Helen Bloomfield Joye Blount and Jessie Knight, Jr. Robert and Virginia Black Joyce and Robert Blumberg Susan B. Boe Bill Boggs and Marilyn Huff Karen and Jim Brailean Benjamin Brand Ronald I. Brendzel Carter Brey Gordon Brodfuehrer Wendy Brody Ellen Brown
Sedgwick Browne Fay Bullitt Janice and Nelson Byrne Peter Cacioppo Carol and Jim Carlisle Robert Caplan and Carol Randolph R. Park and Louise Carmon Lisa and David Casey Katherine and Dane Chapin Ric and Barbara Charlton Linda Chester and Kenneth Rind Bobbi Chifos Linda Christensen and Gonzalo Ballon-Landa Lee Clark Ashley Clark Jim and Patty Clark Ryan Clark Greg Clover and Kathleen Webber Charles and Monica Cochrane Sharon Cohen Karen and Don Cohn Peter Cooper in honor of Norman Blachford Valerie and Harry Cooper Julie and Bert Cornelison Hugh Coughlin Ruth Covell Elaine and Dave Darwin Una Davis Family Doug Dawson Mr. and Mrs. Richard Dean Ted DeDee and Pamela Hinchman Caroline DeMar Tallie and George Dennis Martha and Ed Dennis
Linda and Rick Dicker Brian and Susan Douglass The Dow Divas Sue H. Dramm Robert and Ann Parode Dynes Barbara and Dick Enberg Leighann Enos Jennifer and Kurt Eve John and Linda Falconer Eduardo Ludovico Feller Irene Tsang Feller Thompson and Jane Fetter Elliot and Diane Feuerstein Monica Fimbres Socorro Fimbres Teresa and Dr. Merle Fischlowitz Wain and Debbie Fishburn Elisabeth Eisner Forbes and Brian Forbes David Fox Jorgina Franzheim Barbara Freeman Brandon and Paula Freeman Paul and Claire Friedman Ronald Friedman Georges & Germaine Fusenot Charity Foundation Laura and Tom Gable Ira Gaines and Cheryl J. Hintzen-Gaines Elaine Galinson and Herbert Solomon Susan Galluccio Sarah and Michael Garrison Ferdinand Marcus Gasang Maxine and Marti Gellens Clyde Gillespie
LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY ¡ 2019-20 SEASON
THANK YOU! Dawn Gilman Peggy and Buzz Gitelson Lisa Braun Glazer and Jeff Glazer Tom Gleich in memory of Martin and Enid Gleich Lehn and Richard Goetz Brenda and Michael Goldbaum Lee and Frank Goldberg Grande Colonial Clyde Gonzales Lynn Gorguze and The Hon. Scott Peters Jennifer and Richard Greenfield Ronald and Deborah Greenspan Carol Lynne Grossman Margaret Stevens Grossman and Michael Grossman David Guss Teresa Haas Helga Halsey Judith Harris and Robert Singer George Hauer / George’s at the Cove Bo Hedfors Nancy Heitel Edvard and Barbara Hemmingsen Dr. Jeanne Herberger in loving memory of Gary Kierland Herberger Kay and John Hesselink Nellie High Louise and Robert Hill Paul and Barbara Hirshman Sue Hodges Susan and Bill Hoehn Alan Hofmann Mark Holmlund Vivian and Greg Hook Eliot Horowitz in honor of Carol Fink Davorin David Hrovat in loving memory of Dr. Vilibald Vrovat and Dr. Maria Hrovat Liz and Robert Jackson Linda and Edward Janon Theresa Jarvis Arthur Q. Johnson Foundation Sheila Johnson Wilbur Johnson Jeanne Jones and Don Breitenberg Patricia and Lewis Judd David and Susan Kabakoff
Michael and Nancy Kaehr Rowain and Joseph Kalichstein Allen Kalkstein and Linda Low-Kalkstein Linda Kanan Sofia Kassel Nan and Buzz Kaufman Dwight Kellogg Richard and Ruth Kelly Lynda Kerr Karen and Warren Kessler Katherine Killgore and Glen Bourgeois Eric Kim Helen and Keith Kim Jenelle Kim Shirley Kirschbaum Carrie Kirtz David Kitto and Aristides Gonzales Angelina and Fredrick Kleinbub Leslie and Nat Klein in memory of Audree Jane Kolar James Kralik and Yunli Lou Artun Kutchuk La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club La Jolla Sports Club La Valencia Hotel Carol Lam and Mark Burnett Bill and Sallie Larsen Las Patronas Jaime Laredo The LeCourt Family Sharon LeeMaster Teddie Lewis Vivian Lim and Joseph Wong Debby and Jimmy Lin Lawrence Lindberg and Marilyn Adler Lindberg Sheila and Jeffrey Lipinsky Ann and Gerald Lipschitz in honor of Selma Malk Norman and Mayumi Lizt Mathew and Barbara Loonin Terri Lundberg Kathleen and Ken Lundgren Mary Keough Lyman Sue and John Major Brian Malk in honor of Selma Malk Linda and Michael Mann Holly Fowler Martens and Robert Martens
Patsy and David Marino Betty and James Martin Michel Mathieu and Richard MacDonald Rosemarie Maywood Dennis A. McConnell and Kimberly A. Kassner Matt McCormick in memory of Joel McCormick Margaret McKeown and Peter Cowhey Dan McLeod Virginia Meyer Betsy Mitchell Hans and Ursula Moede Daphne Nan Muchnic Bridget Musante Esther Nahama Arlene and Lou Navias The Nelson Family Paula Noell Robin and Hank Nordhoff Janet and John Nunn Virginia Oliver John and Nancy O’Neal Richard O’Neill Neil Osborne Pacific Sotheby’s Real Estate Renee Levine Packer Catherine and Bob Palmer Rafael and Marina Pastor Pamela Peck in honor of the Peck Pugh Family Dan Pearl in memory of Julius Pearl Marty and David Pendarvis Rachel Perlmutter in memory of Marion and Lester Perlmutter Betty Jo Petersen Ursula Pfeffer Phyllis and Stephen Pfeiffer Cynthia Phelps William Pitts and Mary Sophos Gary Poon Ellen Potter and Ronald Evans William Propp and Anna Covici The ProtoStar Foundation Robert Bob and Joyce Quade The Klaus Radelow Family Evelyn and Ernest Rady Sylvia and Steven Ré Catherine and Jean Rivier
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! U O Y K N THA
Jeannie and Arthur Rivkin Jessica and Eberhard Rohm Stacy and Don Rosenberg Colette Carson Royston and Ivor Royston Noel Rufo David and Mary Ruyle Leigh P. Ryan Rita Ryu in memory of Sam Ryu Arlene and Peter Sacks Eric and Jane Sagerman Julie and Jay Sarno Eric Sasso Sheryl and Bob Scarano Adrienne and Richard Schere Jay and Torrie Schiller Clifford Schireson and John Venekamp Marge and Neal Schmale Marilies Schoepflin in honor of Axel Schoepflin Emily and Tim Scott Linda Scott Minna Shah Pat Shank Maureen and Thomas Shiftan Mao and Doctor Bob Shillman Gigi and Joseph Shurman Karen and Christopher Sickels
Rob Sidner Simon | Krichman Family Ethna Sinisi Rodney and Dolores Smith Rewa Colette Soltan Alan and Beverly Springer Leland and Annemarie Sprinkle Sheryl Staples Martin Stein Jeanette Stevens Gloria and Rod Stone Iris and Matthew Strauss Elizabeth Taft Michael Takamura Haeyoung Kong Tang William Tong Shannon Turner Susan and Richard Ulevitch N.B. Varlotta Yvonne Vaucher Jocelyn and Richard Vortmann Sue and Peter Wagener Richard H. Walker Andrew Morgan Walker Evelyn Bea Walker Graham Brooks Walker Paige Keegan Walker
Steph Walker Bill and Lori Walton Nell Waltz Margie Warner and John H. Warner, Jr. Viviane M. Warren Maureen and Dean Weber Cathy and John Weil Abby and Ray Weiss Linda and Steve Wendfeldt Doug and Jane Wheeler Sheryl and Harvey White Suhaila White Lisa Widmier Joan and Howard Wiener Faye Wilson Joseph and Mary Witztum Dolly and Victor Woo Katrina Wu Anna and Edward Yeung Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome and Bard Wellcome Howard and Christy Zatkin Barbara and Michael Zelnick Bebe and Marvin Zigman Anonymous Listing as of September 10, 2019
We have so much to celebrate today, but just think of where we might be 50 years from now? There are creative endeavors yet to be imagined: young musicians now in training who could defy our highest expectations; and scores of young students that could be introduced to the joy of music for the first time. An endowment makes that possible. Please join us in ensuring that The Conrad, a cultural and community treasure, remains a vital resource to our generation and all those to follow. Make a gift today by contacting: Ferdinand Gasang, Director of Development, at 858.459.3724, ext. 204 or FGasang@LJMS.org. You can also make a gift online at www.LJMS.org/donate
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LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY ¡ 2019-20 SEASON
#PARTY AT THE CONRAD
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Working together in harmony! Thanks for being our trusted partner, La Jolla Music Society.
We are proud to sponsor Summerfest as we work to create a healthy and vibrant community in the Village.
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Proud partner in support of The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center A one minute walk from THE CONRAD LUNCH | DINNER | HAPPY HOUR SATURDAY & SUNDAY BRUNCH
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THE CROWN JEWEL OF LA JOLLA La Valencia Hotel & Spa - a hospitality classic since 1926. With her signature pink exterior and iconic tower, the elegant “Pink Lady” remains a renowned landmark on La Jolla’s distinctive Prospect Street commanding the village bluffs with panoramic views of the Pacific coastline and beautiful La Jolla Cove.
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Recitals · Chamber Music · Amplified Concerts · Dance · Film · Theater Conferences · Lectures · Receptions · Fundraisers · Weddings and more...
THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL: A intimate 513 seat performance
space with superb acoustics ideally suited for chamber music and classical recitals. Its design incorporates state-of-the-art technology and adjustable acoustics, making it a world-class space for amplified concerts, film, dance, theater, lectures, and more.
THE JAI: A 2,000 square foot performance space with a contemporary
look. Because of its flexible lighting, audio, and video system capabilities, this space can be configured for many types of events.
THE ATKINSON ROOM: An ideal room for meetings or lectures with
audiovisual capabilities. The space can be rented in conjunction with The Baker-Baum Concert Hall and The JAI.
For more information please contact Events Manager, Anthony LeCourt: 858.459.3724 x217 or visit TheConrad.org
WE ARE CALIFORNIA’S
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LPT_LJMS_ARV_2018.indd 1
9/18/2018 2:20:21 PM
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
CHICK COREA TRILOGY with CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE & BRIAN BLADE
FARRUQUITO
PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS, guitar TRIBUTE TO SEGOVIA
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 · 8 PM Jazz Series Balboa Theatre
LILA DOWNS’ DÍA DE MUERTOS: AL CHILE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2019 · 7 PM Special Event Balboa Theatre
BÉLA FLECK, ZAKIR HUSSAIN, EDGAR MEYER with RAKESH CHAURASIA WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019 · 8 PM Jazz Series Balboa Theatre
LILA DOWNS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019 · 8 PM Special Event The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
GARRICK OHLSSON BRAHMS EXPLORATION PART II SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2019 · 8 PM Piano Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
DANISH STRING QUARTET PRISM PROJECT: FIVE CONCERT EXPLORATION
Revelle Chamber Music Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2019 · 8 PM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 · 3 PM FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2019 · 8 PM SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2019 · 3 PM & 8 PM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019 · 8 PM
Special Event The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
NAT GEO LIVE! BETWEEN RIVER AND RIM: HIKING THE GRAND CANYON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2019 · 7 PM New! Speaker Series The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
VOCTAVE THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON
DECEMBER 13, 2019 · 7 PM FRIDAY,
Special Holiday Event The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad
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