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for a full listing of this season’s events.
Department of Music and Theatre University at Albany presents:
A Tale of Two Cities Hilary Walther Cumming, violin Victoria von Arx, piano
Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 7:30pm
Recital Hall UAlbany Performing Arts Center
Program Sonata in e minor, Op 82 (1918)
Edward Elgar
Sonata in A Major (1886)
César Franck
I. Allegro II. Romance: Andante III. Allegro non troppo
I. Allegretto ben moderato II. Allegro III. Recitativo-Fantasia IV. Allegretto poco mosso
(1857-1934)
(1822-1890)
Program Notes Edward Elgar: Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op 82 Edward Elgar (1857-1934) was a contemporary of Debussy (1862-1918), Ravel (1875-1937) and Richard Strauss (18641949). He is best known as composer of the Pomp and Circumstance marches 1901-1930, the first of which is well known as the march played at graduations. He is also known for his Enigma Variations for orchestra, concertos for violin and cello, chamber music, songs, and choral works. Regarded as a typically English composer, he was self-taught in a musical world dominated by academics and Roman Catholics in a predominantly protestant country. Thus, he tended to view himself as an outsider. Born in the small town of Lower Broadheath about one hundred miles north of London, Elgar’s father was a violinist, organist, piano tuner, and proprietor of a shop selling musical instruments and sheet music. Elgar studied violin and piano with local teachers and later had some advanced violin studies in London. During the 1890s, he achieved moderate success with choral works composed
for the Midlands choral festivals, but real recognition came with the Enigma Variations, premiered in London in 1899. The Sonata for Violin and Piano was composed in AugustSeptember of 1918. When nearly finished with it, Elgar wrote to a family friend, Marie Joshua, dedicating the work to her. She died just a few days later, and as a tribute, Elgar quoted the dolcissimo melody from the middle movement just before coda of finale. Describing his sonata in a letter, Elgar wrote, “The first movement is bold and vigorous, then a fantastic, curious movement with a very expressive middle section . . . the last movement is very broad and soothing, like the last movement of the second symphony.” The first movement contains some sonata form features— a strong theme first played by the violin, and then taken by the piano, is followed by a lyrical theme, from which a third melody emerges— but the whole movement is organized in two parallel sections. In place of a development, a long tranquillo section engages the two instruments in a soft, melodic conversation. A fragment of the first theme appears quietly, becoming louder and more insistent, ultimately ushering in a recapitulation. The movement ends with an energetic coda based on the first theme. The second movement entitled Romance is a three-part form. Elgar’s wife noted that it seemed influenced by “wood magic” or the protective spirit of the woods near their country home. The outer sections are composed of melodic fragments traded back and forth between the instruments, like a conversation where both speakers finish each other’s sentences. The heartfelt middle section contains the melody Elgar associated with his departed friend.
The finale again contains some reminiscences of sonata form. A beginning section featuring two contrasting themes is followed by a development-like middle and then, a repeat of the beginning material. Near the end, the lyrical theme from the second movement reappears. A short coda ends with a flourish, giving the Sonata an emphatic conclusion. César Franck: Sonata in A for Violin and Piano César Franck (1822-1890) was born in Liège in southern Belgium. A gifted pianist and organist, he was accepted to the Paris Conservatoire 1837. In 1842, just as he was about to prepare for entering the Prix de Rome, Franck’s father withdrew him from the Conservatoire and sent him on a concert tour of Belgium. The tour was not successful and Franck broke with his father, left Belgium, married a French actress, and settled in Paris. There he focused on teaching piano and organ lessons and playing organ in Paris churches on the weekends. He held organ positions at the churches of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Saint-JeanSaint-François-au-Marais, and Sainte-Clotilde. His appointment as professor of organ at the Conservatoire in 1872 marked the peak of his career and a milestone for French music. With an intense focus on musical form and structure, his lessons were a virtual course in composition. His students, among them Vincent D’Indy, Ernest Chausson, Henri Duparc, and Louis Vierne, nicknamed him “le brave père Franck.” Franck, along with Camille Saint-Saëns, Roman Bussine, Gabriel Fauré and others, was a founding member of the Société nationale de musique which promoted French music in the aftermath of France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian war. The Sonata for Violin and Piano is one of Franck’s most popular works. It was composed as a wedding gift for the
virtuoso Belgian violinist, Eugène Ysaÿe, and he performed it at his own wedding celebration. Like many of Franck's other works, it employs “cyclic form,” a technique of creating unity across multiple movements by introducing themes from earlier movements into later ones. The violin's opening theme in the gentle first movement provides a thematic foundation for the whole work and functions more or less as a prelude. The following Allegro is more like a conventional first movement: its energetically rising start contrasts with a falling second subject that mirrors the work's opening figure. The third movement is a Recitative and Fantasy whose opening contains the theme of the first movement; the climax introduces both a new theme that will appear in the last movement and another that is a variant on the first movement theme. Much of the finale is a canon on a theme which is also related to the first movement. The piano begins, with the violin playing the same melody a whole measure behind, and later moving closer to just a half measure. The climactic finish has just a hint of wedding bells, a touching reference to Ysaÿe's wedding. ~ Victoria von Arx, March 2022
About the Performers Violinist Hilary Walther Cumming teaches at the University at Albany and performs as the violinist of the Capital Trio with American pianist Duncan Cumming and Turkish cellist Sölen Dikener. Before moving to New York, she served as concertmaster of the Cape Cod Sinfonietta and the Andover Chamber Orchestra; she has been heard as soloist with these ensembles as well as with the Reading Symphony Orchestra, Concord Orchestra, and
the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Principal influences for her style and discipline are Joseph Silverstein, Franco Gulli and Shmuel Ashkenasi on modern violin, Stanley Ritchie on Baroque violin, and Seamus Connolly on Irish traditional fiddle. These outstanding artists continue to guide her and inspire her every moment she spends with her violin. As a member of The Capital Trio, she champions the commissioning and recording new music, most recently including music by David Walther, Max Lifchitz, and William Mathews. As an orchestral musician, she has played in major halls on four continents; as a chamber musician she has recently toured Denmark, France and Switzerland with the Capital Trio. Her first love and passion remains the study and performance of chamber music. Pianist Victoria von Arx received a Bachelor of Music Education from Viterbo University (LaCrosse,WI), a Master of Music Performance from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. in musicology from the City University of New York. Her major teachers have included Frederick Marvin, Oxana Yablonskaya, Sascha Gorodnitzki, Germán Diez, and Menahem Pressler. A long-time resident of New York State and New York City, she served on the faculties of Syracuse University, the Metropolitan School for the Arts in Syracuse, the Third Street Music School Settlement in New York City and the Adamant Music School in Vermont. During a seven-year stint in Michigan, she served on the faculties of the Flint School of Performing Arts and the University of MichiganFlint. She served as Associate Professor of Music at the University at Albany until September, 2020. Her book, Piano Lessons with Claudio Arrau was published by Oxford University Press in 2014.
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER HOUSE POLICIES Latecomers will be seated at the discretion of the management and its staff. . The use of photographic or recording devices of any kind during this performance is strictly prohibited. . There is no food or drink allowed in the theatres, nor is smoking allowed in UAlbany buildings. . To avoid disrupting the performance, kindly disable any noise making electronic devices you may have with you. . Please take time to note the location of the fire exits nearest to you. In the event of an emergency, please proceed to the nearest exit in an orderly fashion and follow the directions of our staff.
Created and produced by the University Art Museum, NYS Writers Institute and UAlbany Performing Arts Center in collaboration with WAMC Public Radio, this popular series features leading figures from a variety of artistic disciplines in conversation about their creative inspirations, their craft and their careers. “Roundtable” host Joe Donahue conducts live on-stage interviews followed by a Q&A with the audience.
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