12.02.2023 GRD Schneider Program Notes

ABOUT THE ARTISTS Dr. Ovidiu Marinescu, cello Ovidiu Marinescu is internationally recognized as a cellist, composer, conductor, and educator. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Hall (New York), the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Holywell Room in Oxford, Oriental Art Center in Shanghai, and has appeared as soloist with the London Symphony, New York Chamber Symphony, the National Radio Orchestra of Romania, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Helena, Great Falls, Portsmouth, and Newark Symphonies, Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Philharmonic, Limeira Symphony in Brazil, Orquesta de Extremadura in Spain, Sinfonietta Vidin (Bulgaria) and most of the professional orchestras in his native Romania. Marinescu’s compositions have been performed in Romania, China, Brazil, Bulgaria, Russia, Guatemala, Montenegro, and across the United States. He has been composer-in-residence for the International Chamber Music Festival in Guatemala City and the International String Encounters in Limeira, Brazil.

Marinescu has more than 25 album releases for Parma Recordings and Cambria. His MOTO series, developed with Parma Recordings, has premiered works by nearly fifty composers in both recordings and performance at Carnegie Hall. Marinescu is cello professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania as well as founder and Artistic Director of the International Musicians Academy, an intensive program for aspiring artists. More information can be found at www.marinescu.com.

Nolan Prochnau, viola Nolan Prochnau is a violist in the West Chester area and a founding member of the Brandywine String Quartet. He is a current student at West Chester University, studying for his bachelor’s degree in music performance. Nolan has been the principal violist of the WCU Symphony and Chamber Orchestras and is the violist in the University’s undergraduate Rosedale String Quartet, which gives a recital every semester. In the summer of 2023, Nolan played solo works in churches in Vienna and Budapest alongside the choir of West Chester’s First Presbyterian Church.

Nolan receives chamber music instruction from the Dalí Quartet and studies with their violist, Adriana Linares.

Chanin Jung, violin Violinist Chanin Jung, originally from South Korea, is currently studying for a master’s degree at West Chester University. She was born into a musical family and started playing violin with her brother at age 11, then continued her studies at Kyungnam Arts High School in Korea on a full scholarship. In 2019, Chanin discovered a whole new appreciation for music when she spent a year in Hungary studying as an exchange student at the Franz Liszt Music Academy. She has held numerous positions with orchestras as both a concertmaster and member in the US and Korea. She has appeared as a chamber musician and orchestra musician at the Foosa Music Festival in California, the Trentino Music Festival in Italy, and the Dali String Quartet International Music Festival near Philadelphia. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Sungshin Women’s University in Korea as a violin performance major. Chanin currently studies with Professor Ari Isaacman-Beck, a Juilliard graduate and first violinist in the award-winning Dali String Quartet.

PROGRAM NOTES Cello Duo No. 1 in G Major, Claire Schneider (b. 1997) Claire Schneider wrote her premiere cello duet in 2023. Each movement is dedicated to and draws inspiration from a different composer. The first movement itself is a nod to J.S. Bach’s Six Cello Suites, with its baroque themes, motifs, and key changes. The second movement is inspired by West Chester native, Samuel Barber. The opening motif; a descending, four-note phrase, and fluid sense of pulse throughout give this movement a darker, more emotional quality, similar to Barber’s adagio second movement of his Cello Sonata. The third movement is a true jig, inspired by a modern, short composition from Lydia Jane Pugh. Pugh’s piece for solo cello contains many percussive elements and techniques, which Schneider attempted to mimic in the interplay between the two cellos. The final movement features a C Mixolydian section to contrast the beginning and ending G Major sections. The composer is grateful to Dr. Robert Maggio (West Chester University) for his guidance in writing, and to Glenn Fischbach (The Philadelphia Orchestra) and John Koen (The Philadelphia Orchestra) for their performances during the composing process.

Duet in E-flat Major, Op. WoO 32, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Ludwig van Beethoven’s Duet in E-flat Major, Op. WoO 32 was composed for viola and cello between the years of 1796 and 1797. The piece is in two slightly lopsided movements; a substantial Allegro full of interaction between the two instruments, and a much shorter Minuetto. In the bright and busy Allegro, viola and cello are treated as equals.

The Minuetto features a harmonic trick of veering from E-flat to a remote C-flat, a mysterious and comedic effect Beethoven may have learned from Haydn. The piece’s official title is; Mit zwei obligaten Augengläsen, or, For Two Obbligato Eyeglasses. Why the interesting title? It is believed that the original performers - Beethoven himself on the viola, and his good friend Baron Nikolaus Zmeskall on cello - needed to wear spectacles to see the music. Though Beethoven was often thought of as a very serious, tempestuous artist, he was also quite the comedian, especially in his early years. He wrote plenty of pieces which are, like this one, light and cheerful.

Serenade in C Major, Op. 10, Ernó Dohnányi (1877-1960) Serenade in C Major, Op. 10, for string trio, is an early 20th century five-movement suite written by one of Hungary’s most versatile composers, Ernó Dohnányi. The Serenade was a progressive work, and one in which Dohnányi believed he had achieved a personal, balanced musical language. Dohnányi develops themes in a contrapuntal way that brings Brahms to mind, with nods to his affinity for Mozart and Schubert. However, the chromaticism and tonality of this work make it firmly 20th century. The Serenade begins with a brisk march as the first movement. The second movement is a melancholy romance with Hungarian infused melodies. This is closely followed by a fuguelike scherzo as the third movement. In this movement, the descending chromatic main motif generates a chaotic amount of nervous energy. The fourth movement features a chorale-like main theme introduced by all instruments, followed by five variations. The fifth movement, a rondo, is full of running scales and frenetic yet fun energy, with themes from the introductory march used to supply the coda.