Chamber Concert
Series

The “Schubertiade” was a concert invented during Franz Schubert’s lifetime by his friends, who would gather for long evenings to enjoy their favorite composer’s music. Join us for our season-closing Schubertiade exploring Schubert in three settings: his inimitable four-hand piano music, his virtuosic vein with a violin-and-piano showpiece, and his profound statements in the epic Trio in E-flat major, which took the genre to unparalleled levels of complexity and emotional intensity.

French composer Cécile Chaminade composed more than four hundred works in the shadows of her contemporaries Brahms and Saint-Saëns, yet her music was so popular that “Chaminade Clubs” sprang up in the United States during her lifetime. Debussy’s early trio, also overtly Romantic, is offered as a companion work, with both trios now increasingly heard in concert halls around the world. And to illustrate just how beloved piano trios can be, look no further than Dvořák’s musical farewell to his homeland.

This program highlights piano four-hands repertoire, a genre that was central to how audiences experienced music in the 18th and 19th centuries. Before recordings, large-scale works were often played at home in this form, making the piano a primary vehicle for sharing music. Composed in 1787, Mozart’s Sonata in C major, K. 521, is a defining work of the genre, notable for its scale, structural balance, and the dialogue it creates between the two players. Mendelssohn, who frequently performed four-hand repertoire with his sister Fanny, brings his characteristic lyricism and precision to the Andante and Variations and Andante and Allegro brillant. Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances draw on Czech folk traditions; they became an immediate success, widely played in homes and quickly circulated across Europe. The program concludes with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in a four-hand arrangement. Composed in 1924, the work blends elements of jazz with classical form, extending this tradition into a distinctly American sound.

Enthusiasts for string chamber music are among the most passionate listeners, undoubtedly seduced by the rich vocal timbres of the violin, viola and cello. This program was designed for their delight, with perspectives on the all-string cast from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Boccherini, the greatest virtuoso cellist of his day, could not resist showing off his spectacular technique, composing cello parts for himself that venture daringly into the pitch range of the violin. Alfred D’Ambrosio, not yet well known, has become beloved by a steadily growing circle of musicians who simply love to play his ultra-romantic works, among them, the incomparable violist Paul Neubauer, and violinist Danbi Um, a leading exponent of the great Romantic violin tradition. Rounding off an evening bathed in sonic richness is Dvorak’s folk-infused Sextet, one of the most exciting, touching, and brilliantly entertaining works in the entire chamber music repertoire.

It is not often that two of music’s greatest masterworks can be heard side by side, but it is indisputable that this program offers clarinet chamber music at its absolute pinnacle. Composed a century apart and similarly inspired by virtuoso clarinetists, the Clarinet Quintets of Mozart and Brahms are among the most popular works on the chamber music stage, yet, rarely do they appear on the same program. It will be obvious to listeners that both Mozart and Brahms were seduced by the clarinet’s pristine purity, and both created works that breathe the same tranquil, autumnal air.