Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center artist member, Danbi Um makes her Linton debut. The acclaimed violinist will share the stage with two of Cincinnati’s world-class musicians performing this vibrant program.
Please note, this program has been revised from the original.
TO VIEW THIS PROGRAM ON YOUR FLAT SCREEN TELEVISION:
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app has been downloaded onto your Smart TV or on your “Not-So-Smart” TV with a streaming device such as a Fire or Roku TV Stick connected via an HDMI input to your home internet.
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TO VIEW THIS PROGRAM ON YOUR COMPUTER DEVICE (TABLET/SMARTPHONE):
Click on the photo below just prior to the program to link directly to the Linton Chamber Music YouTube channel and this livestream performance. If your computer device (or tablet/smartphone) are linked to your Smart TV, you should also be able to cast our performance to your television as well.
PROGRAM NOTES
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897 – 1957)
Much Ado About Nothing Suite, Op. 11
Best remembered today as one of the most influential film composers in Hollywood’s history, Erich Korngold began his career as a true child prodigy. He published his first composition at age 11, and today’s work, his Op. 11, at the ripe old age of 20. Originally composed as incidental music, and alter rearranged as a chamber suite, the work aptly demonstrates the composer’s gift for creating quick characterizations through imaginative tone color and lush harmonies that would later lead him to be one of Hollywood’s leading composers.
Musically, each movement captures the emotion of a specific scene or character from Shakespeare’s play. “The Maiden in the Bridal Chamber,” is a nostalgic tone painting. “Dogberry and Verges” is a grotesque and farcical funeral march. “Garden Scene” is an idyllic slow waltz. The finale is a lively “Masquerade” that affords the violinist a chance to demonstrate considerable virtuosity. These infectiously energetic melodic treatments helped make the suite a quick favorite with audiences, and has cemented its place as a preferred recital piece today.
Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)
Sonata No. 1 in A minor “Posthume”
This is the less known of Ravel’s two violin sonatas, and understandably so. Though written before G Major sonata, the sonata no. 1 was not published until 1975 – decades after the composer’s death. The sonata comprises only a single movement, though Ravel’s notes indicate he had plans for additional movements before abandoning the work early in his career. Nevertheless, the first sonata stands as a demonstration of the composer’s early style that would develop to define his career. Built upon a colorful palette and full of explorative melody, the first violin sonata is undeniably Ravel.
Musically, the sonata adheres to a traditional sonata form. A dreamy first theme gives way to a short piano solo that announces the broader second theme. The coda, after a condensed recapitulation, is particularly chromatic – showing early signs of the composer’s later stylistic tendencies. Throughout this work, Ravel leans heavily into French Impressionism through constant shifts in meter vague harmonies. Yet despite the composer’s gifts the indicators of a young artist are made clear through an abundance of melodic repetition. Although Ravel seemingly considered the work unready for publication, it is nevertheless a beguiling piece that indicates the early talents of an emerging master.
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)
Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano in E Major, Hob. XV, No. 28
Haydn’s three piano trios, Hob. XV: 27-29 were composed in 1797 and dedicated to Mrs. Therese Jansen-Bartolozzi. The trios seem designed to highlight Jansen-Bartolozzi’s renowned skill as a pianist, and today’s selection is noted for its especially wide expressive range and virtuosity.
The Trio opens with the three performers presenting the ascending pizzicato melody as a single plucked instrument. The piano repeats this initial presentation as an ornamental legato before all three instruments spring into a lively bridge. Haydn ends the opening movement with a return of the opening melody now presented in a rich, full texture.
The second movement is an E minor Allegretto reminiscent of a passacaglia. All three instruments introduce the creeping bass line in unison before the piano winds an ornamental melody over the top of it, eventually ending the movement with a cadenza. The lively, triple-time finale opens with a theme in short phrases, playfully presented in varying rhythms and lengths. The violin takes over in the minor-mode middle section before the return of the opening material is accompanied by changes in register, and the action is temporarily suspended by several diminished seventh chords before the music comes to a close.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847)
Trio for Violin, Cello, & Piano in D minor
Felix Mendelssohn is well-established as one of the most prolific composers of chamber music of all time. While his sonata’s do not enjoy regular performances, his songs without words are programmed frequently, and his two piano concertos are held up as two of the finest produced during the 19th century. Similarly, the two piano trios Mendelssohn composed in the final decade of his life are ranked among the greatest of the genre, and have been notably explored by composers ranging from Mozart to Shostakovich.
The trio opens with a passionate cello melody set against a syncopated figure in the piano. As the violin joins, the ensemble further develops elements of the opening tune. As the melodic material develops across the ensemble, the piano part remains virtuosic throughout, lending the opening movement a relatively progressive feeling for its time. By contrast, Mendelssohn’s melodic gifts are on full display in the slow second movement. Essentially a song without words for three instruments, the movement provides each instrument its moment to shine.
In the third movement, Mendelssohn presents a lithe, agile scherzo filled with color and good humor reminiscent of his Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The finale returns to the darker sound of the first movement, commencing with a driving, march-like rhythm. The movement gradually shifts toward the spirit of the second movement as Mendelssohn infuses this material with a good dose of lyricism, transforming it into a flowing melodic gesture. After a turbulent development and recapitulation, the coda dispels the gloom with a radiant return to major, ending the trio on a note of triumph.