Benjamin Hoffman, violin, November 14, 2019

Robert Blocker, Dean

doctor of musical arts degree recital

Benjamin Hoffman, violin Thursday, November 14, 2019 | 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall Irene Kim, piano and harpsichord

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750

Sonata No. 2 in A major for violin and obbligato harpsichord, BWV 1015 I. [Dolce] II. Allegro assai III. Andante un poco IV. Presto

Anton Webern 1883–1945

Four Pieces for violin and piano, Op. 7 I. Sehr langsam II. Rasch III. Sehr langsam IV. Bewegt

Franz Schubert 1797–1828

Sonata No. 1 in D major for violin and piano, D. 384 I. Allegro molto II. Andante III. Allegro vivace

intermission

Robert Schumann 1810–1856

Sonata No. 2 in D minor for violin and piano, Op. 121 I. Ziemlich langsam – Lebhaft II. Sehr lebhaft III. Einfach, leise IV. Bewegt

This performance is in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

As a courtesy to others, please silence all devices. Photography and recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please do not leave the hall during musical selections. Thank you.

Artist Profile Benjamin Hoffman, violin Violinist Benjamin Hoffman has been heard across North America, Europe, and Asia performing with artists such as Ani Kavafian, David Shifrin, Peter Frankl, Wolfram Christ, Jorja Fleezanis, and Yura Lee, among others. Based in Los Angeles, Benjamin is a founding member of the Ubuntu String Quartet and a rotating concertmaster of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, regularly leading performances of large orchestral works such as Debussy’s La Mer and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 without conductor.

Mr. Hoffman has also appeared as concertmaster with the New Haven Symphony, the Szechuan Orchestra of China, Symphony Song in Seoul, Korea, and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. In a recent performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, he was praised for “virtuosity and deep feeling…impeccable intonation [and] a stirring, inspired performance.” Other recent appearances as a soloist have featured works ranging from the solo violin music of Bach to Brahms’s Double Concerto and contemporary premieres.

Program Notes

by Benjamin Hoffman Sonata No. 2 in A major Bach The second of six sonatas for violin and harpsichord, the A-major Sonata, BWV 1015, was written between 1717–1723 while Bach worked under the patronage of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen. Following the tradition of the Baroque sonata da chiesa, the work is in four movements.

The piece begins in a declamatory fashion, with the violin outlining the tonic and the right hand of the harpsichord echoing the violin in canon. The first movement has no tempo indication, but some sources include the marking “Dolce.” The music is proud and elegant, setting the stage for the Allegro to follow. Also in A major, the second movement is bright and light-footed.

It features both instruments in virtuosic passagework, with the keyboard playing fast-moving sixteenth notes in both hands and an arpeggiated section in the violin that drives to an exciting climax just before the reprise of the opening material.

In the F#-minor third movement, Bach writes a strict canon between the violin and the right hand of the harpsichord, while the left hand’s walking sixteenth notes provide the harmonic underpinning of the movement. The way in which the melody changes in affect and character when played by the violin above one harmony and when played by the piano above another is one of the most striking aspects of the piece, particularly in a movement as melancholy as this one in a major-key piece.

The final movement, returning to A major, is in binary form and features a great deal of imitative writing as well. Here, Bach is able to combine the emotional content of the first two movements, creating an atmosphere of elegance while imbuing the movement with an effortless virtuosity that makes it a joy to perform.

Four Pieces for violin and piano webern The Four Pieces of Webern stand in great contrast to the Bach Sonata in most respects, but the tempo scheme is similar: in both works the first and third parts are in a slower tempo, while the second and fourth are faster. Webern’s Op. 7 is an example of his pre-twelve-tone departure from tonality and draws the listener into a sound world that is at once highly restrained and extremely evocative.

Webern’s music is the epitome of conciseness. The first piece contains nine measures, the second twenty-four, the third fourteen, and the fourth fifteen. Within the brief span of the first piece, Webern is able to evoke a timeless, frozen landscape in which ominous and desolate textures prevail until the final chord. Perhaps because the music is hushed, never rising above a pianissimo, the music has a haunting, mysterious quality.

The second piece is set in an entirely different aesthetic, with constant tempo and meter changes and a frenetic, almost crazed quality. One can imagine Webern seeking to depict the intense inner emotions

Program Notes, cont. of an unstable individual, with impassioned outbursts giving way to cold, resigned indifference. The longest part of the work, the second piece contains a significant pause almost exactly halfway through, during which the piano sustains a low B in pianississimo.

The third piece is the slowest of the set, with dynamics to match. With a tempo marking of sixteenth note equals 60, the languid, almost static movement of the piece can be felt most intensely in the opening and closing measures. The violin’s sustained A in the first two measures lasts an eternity, and the piano’s closing utterances, after only two eighth rests, feel like they occur after several empty bars. Webern writes nothing above a pianississimo in this movement, and in addition to reiterating that dynamic marking a number of times, he writes the words “kaum hörbar” (barely audible) for both instruments on the last line of the piece.

The final piece serves as a finale to the set, combining elements of the timelessness of the first and third pieces with the agitation of the second. The final gesture in the violin, repeated twice, was originally written as a glissando on the harmonics of the G string and later revised as a written set of seven notes to be played at the bridge, “wie ein Hauch” (as a whisper).

Sonata No. 1 in D major schubert The D-major Sonata, D. 384, was written in 1816, the same year as the fourth and

fifth symphonies (and when Schubert was just 19). Published in a collection with two others, the Sonata No. 2 in A minor, D. 385, and Sonata No. 3 in G minor, D. 408, these works were disseminated with the diminutive title “sonatina” so that they might be marketable to a wider audience — namely amateur musicians.

In three movements, the piece’s opening theme bears a remarkable resemblance to Mozart’s tragic Sonata in E minor, K. 304.

Both pieces begin with homophonic writing between the two instruments, outlining the tonic triads of each piece’s home key.

Further, Schubert’s second statement of the theme — in the fifth measure of the piece — moves up a step to the second scale degree in perhaps the most direct allusion to the Mozart.

In stark contrast to the E-minor Mozart Sonata, however, Schubert’s D-major Sonata is profoundly optimistic. In all three movements, a cheerful, almost simple character shines through, beginning with the first movement’s beautiful, unassuming melody based on just three notes. Though the development takes that motive through some twists and turns, any storm clouds are quickly dispelled in order to return to a calm D major. Just before the final chords of the movement, a wonderful pianissimo marking makes the listener want to lean in closer to hear the melody one last time.

The second movement, in A-B-A form, begins with a theme that is, if possible, even simpler than that of the first movement.

The only truly contemplative and melancholy section of the piece occurs in the middle

of this movement. Here, the violin takes the lead, singing in A minor over a more flowing, slightly anxious piano that ultimately takes over to bring the music to a climactic dominant with a fermata. The piano then begins the A theme again, to bring the movement to a close.

The final movement of the piece has a more folk-like character, the lightness and compound duple meter strongly reminiscent of a dance. Combined with an abundance of grace notes and a recurring legato eighthnote accompaniment, the movement has a rustic feel that makes for a natural conclusion to this delightful work.

Sonata No. 2 in D minor Schumann Dedicated to Ferdinand David, the D-minor Sonata Op. 121 is radiant and full of energy, initially dark and stormy but ultimately triumphant. The four-note motif D-A-F-D, a reference to David’s name, is presented at the beginning of the slow introduction of the first movement and again at the Lebhaft, and can be heard as a rhythmic and harmonic cornerstone of the work.

The first movement is both powerful and introverted, with a lengthy development section exploring other moods but always returning to the breathless anxiety of the opening theme. One of the more curious features of this movement is a downward gesture played by both instruments that must be delayed by a sixteenth note to the accompanying figurations in the piano left hand. The gesture is made even more

poignant because it sounds as though it must catch up to the accompaniment each time it occurs.

The second movement, marked Sehr lebhaft, is in A-B-A-C-A form. While the A sections are in B minor, the two middle sections feature a dramatic shift in tone, the first in F# minor and the second vacillating between B minor and B major. The movement ends with the final reprise of the A theme transforming into a fanfare in the parallel major.

The third movement, a theme and variations, transports the listener to a much calmer, serene G major. The designation Einfach, leise describes the mood perfectly. Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski, the concertmaster in Düsseldorf and a close friend of Robert and Clara, remarked that the sonata was “profoundly serious, sombre. . . with the exception of the lovely slow movement.”

The music recalls its earlier seriousness however, when the second movement theme makes its way into the placid mood of the third movement. The two themes ultimately intertwine to bring the movement to a close.

The finale, marked Bewegt, brings the sonata back to D minor and the stormy, turbulent sound world of the beginning of the piece. The offbeat chords in the violin part are particularly reminiscent of similar passagework in the Lebhaft of the first movement. The retransition feels like a surprise and is heralded by three sudden chords in the violin, each individually marked forte. Toward the end, Schumann slips almost imperceptibly into the relative major and then the parallel major, allowing the sonata to end on a triumphant note.

Upcoming Events nov 15 Louis Hayes Quintet:

Serenade for Horace

Ellington Jazz Series Drummer Louis Hayes pays tribute to the music of hard-bop pioneer Horace Silver, whose band Hayes joined as a teenager in 1956.

7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall

Tickets start at $22, students $10 nov 21 Guitar Chamber Music

YSM Ensembles Students from faculty guitarist Benjamin Verdery’s studio.

1:00 p.m. | Center for British Art

free nov 21 Peter Oundjian,

principal conductor

Yale Philharmonia Nighttime is celebrated in a program featuring Debussy’s Nocturnes with the treble voices of the Yale Schola Cantorum, Weber’s Bassoon Concerto, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.

7:30 pm | Woolsey Hall Tickets start at $12, Yale faculty/ staff $8, students free* $3 surcharge at the door

Horszowski Trio Oneppo Chamber Music Series Dvořák’s “Dumky” Trio, Carter’s Epigrams, and Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor.

7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall

Tickets start at $28, students $13 dec 3

dec 4

Lunchtime Chamber Music 12:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall free

dec 4

Vista: Chamber Music YSM Ensembles Student ensembles perform and provide insight into the repertoire.

7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall free

dec 5

William Gardiner, composition DMA Recitals 7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall free

dec 9

Lunchtime Chamber Music 12:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall free

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