Saturday, August 9
Chamber Music

Stephen Hartke

Ship of State

Completed in 1849, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem The Building of the Ship is an extended allegory about the founding of the United States. Many of its 400 lines are spent describing the labor of the apprentice shipbuilder tasked with completing his master’s vision for a grand vessel called Union, but the metaphor soon deepens. He writes of the planks that come from forests in Maine as well as Georgia; of how much the Union will differ from the older ship, the Great Harry; of how the vessel’s strength will be the result of the many hands from many generations involved in its construction.

In the final section, Longfellow literalizes the subtext when the shipmaster offers a blessing to the new ship: “It is not the sea that sinks and shelves, / But ourselves / That rock and rise / With endless and uneasy motion, / Now touching the very skies, / Now sinking into the depths of ocean.” Longfellow concludes by asserting that if our hearts are true and we face our fears, the ship will survive any gales and rocks and tempests. In his program notes to Ship of State, Stephen Hartke observes that “Longfellow’s original draft ended with fears of the ship being ‘wrecked upon some treacherous rock’ or ‘rotting in some noisome dock,’ but he thought better of it.” An ardent abolitionist, Longfellow was of course commenting on the crisis of slavery then wracking the country, but his underlying message of hope in darkness continues to resonate, having been invoked in times of crisis by such leaders as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill.

Hartke seeks to invoke both the nautical and the political side of Longfellow’s poem in Ship of State, noting the different ways the metaphor has been used over the millennia, including as a parable about the dangers of mob rule. He describes Ship of State as a “sea voyage” and a “violent roller coaster,” and the piece feels charged with the same oceanic perils the Union faced. Each section begins with a short, character-setting quote from the poem.

The first, “Hanging breathless,” is a vertiginous, lurching duo between trombone and solo piano. As the former strings out an insistent, stumbling fanfare, the latter plays cascading sixteenth-note octaves. “In spite of false lights on the shore” follows, featuring the tempo marking “edgy, potentially explosive,” though the music in it is more darkly mischievous than explosive. Everything seems to be tiptoeing to avoid upsetting the ominous force behind the false light. Next comes “The anchors of thy hope,” a solemn hymn that never quite feels fully hopeful, seemingly weighed down by something larger and more unspeakable. And the finale, “What Workmen wrought,” is full of interlocking lines, fugues, and twisting figures that sometimes feel ragged and shopworn. Throughout the work, Hartke’s ship seems to be navigating treacherous waters with nowhere to rest and uncertain work to be done. — © Dan Ruccia

Gabriel Fauré

Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, op. 15

Gabriel Fauré, born in the south of France, studied in Paris at the École Niedermeyer, where he received an unusually broad musical education in three respects: a thorough understanding of older music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras; familiarity with the German tradition, including Bach and Beethoven; and acquaintance with such dangerous moderns as Schumann, Liszt, and Wagner. This last element came courtesy of the young Saint-Saëns, who from 1861 on was professor of piano at the school. Fauré himself went on to become one of the most distinguished teachers of the turn of the century—his students included Ravel and Enesco as well as Nadia Boulanger, who would become the single most influential music teacher of the twentieth century.

Fauré composed the Piano Quartet in 1877 during a late stage of his frustrating courtship of Marianne, shy daughter of the famous singer/composer Pauline Viardot. After Fauré had courted her for five years, Marianne accepted his proposal in July 1877 only to break off the relationship four months later, saying she found him not so much lovable as intimidating. To what degree his feelings show in the Piano Quartet it is hard to tell; as always, Fauré keeps his emotions in careful reserve, though one might imagine that the melancholy yearning of the Adagio springs from personal experience.

The first movement is in sonata form, but is lyric rather than dramatic. Even the grand return to the opening dotted theme in the major mode has little theatricality to it. The second movement is a wonderfully light Scherzo with delightful rhythmic interplay between 2/4 and 6/8 time. Its middle section, with muted strings, is slightly more serious, but there the piano undercuts the solemnity. The third movement, Adagio, is one of Fauré’s greatest slow movements, playing to every one of his lyric strengths—serenely expressive but always nobly restrained.

The original finale displeased the composer. Three years after the Quartet’s premiere in 1880, he rewrote it entirely. In the final version, the memorable second theme, originally heard in E-flat, becomes the basis of a triumphant C-major coda. — © Steven Ledbetter

Robert Schumann

Piano Quartet in E-flat major, op. 47

Up until 1840, Schumann had composed entirely for the piano, and almost entirely in miniature. That changed in 1840: due to his overwhelming enthusiasm after finally gaining permission to marry his beloved Clara Wieck over the strenuous objection of her father, his creativity began to burst forth into new genres: 1840 was almost entirely devoted to songs, 1841 to symphonies, and 1842 to chamber music.

He had always found it something of a strain to think in the large-scale terms necessary for a symphony or a major work of chamber music, but with Clara’s encouragement he demonstrated his genius repeatedly in this period. His Piano Quintet, Opus 44, began a new musical tradition in European music as the first piano quintet ever composed. He followed the quintet with the Opus 47 Piano Quartet as a smaller, lyrical pendant, a gem in its own right, full of felicitous Schumann-esque touches. The removal of one violin from the components of the quartet gives the work an intimate sonority in spite of its extroverted outer movements.

The slow introduction to the first movement prefigures the main motive of the Allegro that follows. At the end of the exposition, Schumann brings back the slow introduction as if he were about to repeat the entire exposition, but at the next-to-last note it suddenly veers off into the development, which builds steadily to a furious fortissimo return to the tonic and the opening of the recapitulation.

The scherzo is a headlong rush of eighth-notes twice interrupted by more lyrical Trios; the second of these features one of Schumann’s favorite rhythmic tricks, a passage so syncopated that upbeats sound like downbeats.

The richly lyrical slow movement features a long-breathed melody offered to each of the strings in turn while the piano decorates and supports. The theme is followed by two variations, one in a chorale texture, the next a violin and viola duet. As the viola takes up the theme, the cellist must tune their bottom string down to produce a wonderfully deep pedal point in two octaves against the closing phrases of the rest of the ensemble.

The energetic finale begins with a fugato based on a familiar-sounding theme; it surely reveals Schumann’s familiarity with fugal finales in string quartets by Beethoven and Mozart, and it may involve a reference to the finale of the Jupiter Symphony as well. His interest in contrapuntal work is clearly evident in both of the E-flat chamber works with piano composed at this time, and actual fugues or fugatos are a central part of the finale in each case. — © Steven Ledbetter

Timothy Weiss, composer and conductor, has gained critical acclaim for his performances and adventurous programming throughout the U.S. and abroad. His repertoire in contemporary music is vast, including masterworks, recent compositions, and many premieres and commissions. He was the recipient of the Adventurous Programming Award from the League of American Orchestras. Recent engagements include the Arctic Philharmonic in Bodø, Norway; Orchestra 2001 in Philadelphia; Eastman Broadband Ensemble; BBC Scottish Symphony; Britten Sinfonia in London; International Contemporary Ensemble; and the Melbourne Symphony in Australia. In his three decades as music director of Oberlin’s Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME), Weiss has brought the group to a level of artistry and virtuosity in performance that rivals the finest new music groups. During his tenure with the CME, he has helped launch the International Contemporary Ensemble and Eighth Blackbird, as well as mentoring many other leading performers of contemporary music. Weiss is a professor of conducting and chair of the division of contemporary music at Oberlin. He holds degrees from the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, Belgium; Northwestern University; and the University of Michigan. The residency of Timothy Weiss is made possible by an endowment gift from Susan and Ford Schumann.

Pianist Xak Bjerken has appeared as soloist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Glinka Hall in St. Petersburg, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, and the Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Rome. He was for many years a member of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet, has held chamber music residencies at Tanglewood, the Avaloch Farm Music Institute, and the Spoleto Festival, and has taught and performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Kneisel Hall, Icicle Creek, and the Kfar Blum festival in Israel. Bjerken performs regularly with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and for over twenty years he has directed Ensemble X, the new music group founded by Steven Stucky. Xak has worked closely with composers Győrgy Kurtag, Sofia Gubaidulina, and George Benjamin, and recently recorded two albums of original compositions with the Bluegrass ensemble EZRA. He is professor of music at Cornell University, where he co-directs the international chamber music festival Mayfest with his wife, pianist Miri Yampolsky. He studied with Aube Tzerko at UCLA and received his master’s and doctoral degrees from the Peabody Conservatory as a student of and teaching assistant to Leon Fleisher.

Kathleen Winkler, violin, has earned critical plaudits since her solo debut at seventeen with the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has performed with the Detroit and Pittsburgh symphonies, the Danish Radio Orchestra, the Odense Byorkester, the Polish Slaska Philharmonic, and others. She has toured throughout North America and Europe, and won first prize in the first Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition, which led to debuts at Lincoln Center, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room, the Kennedy Center, and the Library of Congress. The United States Information Agency selected her as an Artistic Ambassador for the U.S. on concert tours to Southeastern and East Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, and Africa. An active chamber musician, Winkler has appeared at major music festivals throughout the country and for seven years with the Amabile Piano Quartet. A devoted mentor, Winkler is the recipient of Rice University’s Julia Mile Chance Award for excellence in teaching. Her students have received such awards as the Watson Fellowship, the Fulbright award, and the Pulitzer Prize in Music. She has served on the faculties of Oberlin Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University, and the University of Southern California. She is the current Dorothy Richard Starling chair of violin at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

Stephen Wyrczynski is a professor of viola at the Jacobs School of Music (JSoM) at Indiana University. He was a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra for eighteen years, having joined them in 1992. As a chamber musician he has performed with such artists as Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Pamela Frank, Edgar Meyer, Vladimir Feltsman, and Dawn Upshaw, playing in many of North America’s celebrated venues. Wyrczynski also performs regularly with his artist-faculty colleagues at JSoM and participates in faculty-student collaborations. One such partnership, which he co-founded with his colleague violinist Jorja Fleezanis, is an ongoing exploration of music from the Second Viennese School in which faculty and students together perform music by Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg. The inaugural concert took place in a gallery at the Indiana University Art Museum. There the audience was able to consider the relationship of the music to exhibited works by Wassily Kandinsky, Schoenberg’s personal friend. Works performed in this series include Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht; his First, Second, Third, and Fourth String Quartets; and the Opus 45 String Trio. Also performed were Alban Berg’s Opus 3 String Quartet and Lyric Suite, and Anton Webern’s Bagatelles.

Darrett Adkins, cellist, has appeared as a soloist with the Tokyo and Suwon philharmonics, Tochio Soloisten, National Symphony of Brazil, and the orchestras of New Hampshire, North Carolina, Greenwich, and Monadnock Music Festival. He made his New York concerto debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center and gave the American premiere of Donatoni’s Cello Concerto with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. An AMFS alumnus, Adkins made his Aspen debut in 2002 in Boulez’s Messagesquisse under James Conlon. He gave world premieres of concertos by Philip Cashian and Andrew Mead with the Oberlin Contemporary Ensemble, the world premiere of Jeffrey Mumford’s Concerto with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and the American premiere of Rolf Wallin’s concerto Ground at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. He gave the first New York performance of Berio’s Sequenza XIV and recorded it for Naxos. From 1997–2002, Adkins was a member of the Flux Quartet. In 2012 he joined the Lion’s Gate Trio. Adkins recorded Jay Greenberg’s Cello Quintet with the Juilliard Quartet, commissioned and recorded Philip Cashian’s Cello Concerto in 2014, and released his solo CD, Hypersuite 2, in 2013. Adkins joined Juilliard’s faculty in 2002 and the Oberlin Conservatory’s faculty in 2003.

Winner of the 1987 Naumburg International Piano Competition at Carnegie Hall, Anton Nel continues to tour internationally as recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. Highlights in the U.S. include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, and Detroit symphonies as well as coast-to-coast recitals. Overseas he has appeared at Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and major concert halls in China, Korea, and South Africa. He holds the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Austin, where he heads the division of keyboard studies. He also teaches annual masterclasses at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto and the Manhattan School of Music. During the summers he is on the artist-faculties of the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival and the Orford Music Academy in Quebec. Nel also frequently performs as a harpsichordist and fortepianist. His teachers have included Adolph Hallis at the University of the Witwatersrand and, at the University of Cincinnati, Bela Siki and Frank Weinstock. He first appeared at the Aspen Music Festival and School in 1988 and joined the faculty in 1997. More information at www.antonnel.com. 

James Dunham’s rich background includes having been violist of the Grammy-winning Cleveland Quartet and founding violist of the Naumburg award-winning Sequoia Quartet. He frequently collaborates with the American, Jupiter, Pacifica, and Takács quartets, and is violist of the Axelrod String Quartet, in residence at the Smithsonian Institution. Dunham is a frequent presence in master classes and competition juries throughout the U.S. and abroad, including the Fischoff and Osaka chamber music competitions. During the 2016–17 season he joined the New Zealand String Quartet for a three-week tour, appeared nationally with the Jupiter String Quartet, and performed and gave master classes at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig. Dunham is an impassioned advocate of new music; he has premiered and recorded many works written for him, most notably a premiere of Libby Larsen’s work and his recent recording of Judith Shatin’s Glyph for solo viola and piano quintet. The Cleveland Quartet’s recording of John Corigliano’s String Quartet, written for their final tour, won the 1996 Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance. Dunham is professor of viola at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he co-directs the Master of Music in String Quartet program.

Michael Mermagen, cello, made his solo debut at age sixteen with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra after receiving their Young Soloist Award. He holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and Juilliard with principal teachers Stephen Kates and Zara Nelsova. He has also performed in the Violoncello Society of New York Master Classes led by Yo-Yo Ma, Janos Starker, and Bernard Greenhouse. Mermagen has toured and given recitals, concerto performances, master classes, and chamber music performances around the world, most recently with the Aspen String Trio. As an artist-faculty member and alumnus of the AMFS, Mermagen has been principal cellist of the Aspen Chamber Symphony for over twenty-five seasons. He has recordings on Arabesque and Warner Brothers and has been heard live on WQXR Concerts Plus, WNYC Around New York, APM Performance Today, and A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. Mermagen is currently associate professor of cello at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. This appointment follows his twelve-year tenure as associate professor of cello at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He performs on a Nicolo Gagliano cello, Naples, 1774.