Wednesday August 20


A Recital by Robert McDuffie violin
John Neff, guitar
William Tonks, guitar
Mike Mills, bass guitar
Derek Wang, piano

Johannes Brahms

Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, op. 78

As with the symphony and the string quartet, Brahms waited until a surprisingly late date to compose a sonata for violin and piano. This may be yet another indication of his reluctance to move into areas already explored by the Classical masters, since great works for this configuration had already been written by Mozart and Beethoven. Brahms composed the Sonata in G major in 1878–79 immediately after completing the Violin Concerto. He spent this summer (as he had the preceding one, when he had written the Second Symphony) in Pörtschach. This area on Lake Wörth in Carinthia always inspired him musically. He might have continued spending his vacations there if it had not become too much of a tourist attraction to suit the reclusive composer. The works composed there betray a mood of restrained sweetness and occasional melancholy.

The Opus 78 Sonata is one of Brahms’s most lyrical works. The violin leads the duo in ravishing song almost throughout, while the piano plays an accompanimental—though not subordinate—role. The violin’s first three notes—D thrice repeated in a characteristic rhythm—will become a unifying motive in the Sonata. The opening theme is a gentle, melting melody that never attempts to be dramatic or forceful, maintaining instead its singing quality. After uttering the equally lyrical second theme—over a livelier but still graceful piano—the violin climbs to the stratosphere. What follows is the opening theme but with the forces reversed; the piano now has the melody and violin pizzicatos provide accompaniment. This is a gesture toward the old tradition of repeated exposition, but here it is the beginning of the widely-moving and songful development. Twice the violin gingerly attempts to begin the recapitulation with the threefold D, but the piano is not ready. Then unexpectedly we find ourselves in the second bar of the recapitulation, which continues normally thereafter.

The slow movement, in E flat, alternates a hymn-like melody with contrasting material filled with the dotted rhythm from the opening movement. The Finale makes explicit the music’s rather pensive character, at least for those listeners who recognize its origins. This melody first served Brahms in his Regenlied (Rain Song), Opus 59, the text of which may be summarized, “Come down, O rain, and awaken my childhood dream again; arouse my old songs again.” The melody begins with the same threefold D. Here, though, the theme is in G minor. After a contrasting section, the opening theme is repeated, suggesting that the movement is a rondo; but suddenly a quotation from the second movement’s hymn-like melody leads into an extensive developmental section, followed by another statement of the Regenlied theme. For the first time since the opening movement, the piece returns to G major, and the second movement’s calm and serene theme, intertwined with the dotted rhythmic motive, draws the Sonata to a quiet close.

— © Steven Ledbetter

Mike Mills

Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and Strings

The alt-Rock band R.E.M. was formed in 1980 by a group of friends who met while studying at the University of Georgia. Almost immediately they earned critical acclaim for their first single, Radio Free Europe, released in 1981. R.E.M. created music with one foot in 1960s Rock and the other in their own time—authentic music that spoke powerfully to their generation without using any flashy gimmicks. R.E.M. went on to become one of the most successful Rock bands of their time and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. After more than thirty years of record-breaking success, the group disbanded amicably in 2011.

Bassist Mike Mills, who had grown up in Macon, Georgia, played in high school bands with his best friend, drummer Bill Berry. These two players formed the nucleus of R.E.M., while guitarist Peter Buck and singer Michael Stipe rounded out the group. But Mills had another good friend in high school, also a musician, who never made it into the band—violinist Robert McDuffie. “My parents chose the church that we went to in Macon based on the music program,” Mills recalled. “Bobby [McDuffie’s] mother was the music director.” Mills and McDuffie performed in the hand bell ensemble and junior choir at church, and their families frequently socialized together.

After high school, Mills went to the University of Georgia and formed R.E.M., and McDuffie studied at The Juilliard School, spent his summers in Dorothy DeLay’s studio at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and established a prominent international career in the concert hall. He was nominated for a Grammy for his recording of violin concertos by Leonard Bernstein and William Schuman. While R.E.M. appeared repeatedly on the covers of Rolling Stone, Q, Pulse, and Spin, Robert McDuffie was featured on the front pages of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and performed on CBS Sunday Morning and NPR. Both friends were preeminent in their respective musical fields, and remained in close touch, but their professional paths were not likely to cross.

The winds of change started to blow, however, when McDuffie decided to reach out to living composers to broaden the violin repertoire, which still suffers from the lopsided representation of “dead white European males,” as McDuffie puts it. He commissioned Philip Glass to write his Second Violin Concerto, “The American Four Seasons,” in 2009. Spurred by the success of that collaboration, McDuffie then floated the idea of a “Rock” violin concerto to his old friend Mike Mills in 2014. “I consider Mike Mills one of the greatest living American composers,” says McDuffie. The new Concerto was premiered in Toronto in June 2016.

While Mills, who was R.E.M.’s principal songwriter, was well versed in the vocabulary of Rock music, the classical techniques required to compose for a violin and string orchestra in a somewhat traditional genre were new ground for Mills. Here Mills was assisted by composer David Mallamud, who has produced concert-hall works as well as “crossover” arrangements and compositions for the Classical/Rock ensemble Dogs of Desire. Though the work is “100 percent Mike’s,” explains McDuffie, the arranging of the string orchestra parts, and some additional music, was entrusted to Mallamud.

Mills understood almost immediately the feelings of intimidation and cultural discomfort that might arise when a hybrid work such as this is performed. Classical audiences “have some pretty exacting standards,” he explains, and are accustomed to an etiquette that stipulates silence during the performance. Rock fans, on the other hand, are comfortable with noise between songs, dialogue from the stage with the audience, and spontaneous applause at any time. And they can, in turn, feel intimidated by classical expectations. “I’m hoping to break that down,” says Mills.

At the heart of the Concerto is a four-piece Rock band, with McDuffie’s solo violin assuming the role of principal melodist (much as the lead guitar might do in a standard Rock group). The string ensemble augments the Rock riffs. Though it is cast in distinct movements like a traditional classical concerto, Mills’s Concerto allows for a smoother transition between movements, and the option of dialogue between performers and with the audience to connect the units into a greater whole. Alternating fast and slow sections, this work features propulsive Rock rhythms and virtuosic violin figures alongside some of the more intimate writing Mills did for R.E.M. (His tune Nightswimming, for example, makes an appearance in the Concerto.)

With this collaboration, says McDuffie, “We are in the trenches together. We admire each other and also each other’s worlds, and I think that’ll come through.” — © Luke Howard

This summer marks Robert McDuffie’s fiftieth consecutive appearance at the Aspen Music Festival. An Emmy award-winning violinist, McDuffie has performed as soloist with leading orchestras on five continents and shared the stage with artists including R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills and Rolling Stones pianist Chuck Leavell. Philip Glass dedicated his Second Violin Concerto, The American Four Seasons, to McDuffie, and Mike Mills composed the Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and Strings specifically for him. McDuffie received a 2023 Emmy award for A Night of Georgia Music, which features Mills, Leavell, a rock band, and the McDuffie Center for Strings ensemble, and is currently airing nationwide on PBS. Recent highlights include a U.S. tour with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra performing Brahms’s Violin Concerto that culminated in a critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall appearance. Upcoming projects include an October 2025 residency at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Sumida Triphony Hall with Joe Hisaishi performing The American Four Seasons. He will also perform Philip Glass’s First Violin Concerto in celebration of the composer’s ninetieth birthday at the Philharmonie de Paris (2026), Auditorium di Milano (2026), and Carnegie Hall (2027). McDuffie is the founder of the Rome Chamber Music Festival and the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University. He performs on the 1735 Guarneri del Gesù violin known as the “Ladenburg.” For more information, visit www.robertmcduffie.com.

Pianist Derek Wang is drawing increasing acclaim in the roles of soloist, collaborator, curator, and communicator. Derek first came to international attention with his performances of Liszt, receiving awards at the Twelfth International Liszt Competition in the Netherlands in 2022 (Second Prize) and at the inaugural New York Liszt Competition in 2021 (First Prize). A proponent of the music of our time, Derek held a three-summer fellowship position as pianist of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble at the Aspen Music Festival. His work across disciplines includes collaborations with leading choreographers at the Vail Dance Festival, with Academy Award-winning animator Hugh Welchman, and with poet-activist Emtithal Mahmoud for the opening session of the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival. This year he began a role as Creative Enterprise Fellow at The Juilliard School, where he curates a range of interdisciplinary programs and shares artistic direction of Juilliard Station, a new street-facing performance space. Derek holds degrees from Juilliard and from the Yale School of Music. His principal teachers have included Stephen Hough, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Matti Raekallio, and Boris Slutsky. He continues his studies at the Musikhochschule in Hannover, Germany, with Arie Vardi. Derek’s collaboration with violinist Robert McDuffie began in Aspen in 2019. For more information and the latest concert schedule, please visit www.derek-wang.com.

John Neff is a multi-instrumentalist (guitar, pedal steel, lap steel, dobro, vocals) known for his signature blend of Southern rock, alt-Country, and experimental soundscapes. Active since the early 1990s, Neff has toured and recorded extensively, contributing guitar and pedal steel to a wide range of artists, including Booker T. Jones, Drive-By Truckers, Japancakes, Bloodkin, Bettye LaVette, and Superchunk, just to name a few. His body of work also includes contributions to the Grammy award-winning Booker T. Jones album Potato Hole. During his time touring with the Drive-By Truckers, he appeared on television shows such as the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Later . . . with Jools Holland. He has worked with Mike Mills’s Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and Strings since 2015, as well as the associated A Night of Georgia Music featuring Chuck Leavell. A longtime fixture of the Athens scene, Neff brings both technical mastery and emotional depth to every project, whether it be in the recording studio, on local stages, or international tours.

William Tonks is a musician based in Athens, Georgia, with a long history of recording and touring. Playing guitar and dobro, singing and writing, Tonks has released twelve albums of original music with his bands Barbara Cue, The Workhorses of the Entertainment/Recreational Industry, MrJordanMrTonks, Redneck Greece Delux, and others. His latest release, A Supernova Rainbow of Fun (2022), offers country rock songs for kids of all ages. Born in New Jersey, he moved with his family to Savannah, Georgia, in 1972 and began seriously to pursue guitar then, primarily influenced by The Beatles, the Allman Brothers Band, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, taking classical guitar lessons, and squeezing in a Rock song at the end of every lesson. He studied English at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and moved to Athens, Georgia, in the fall of 1985, fully aware of the thriving music scene. Work at the Taco Stand and the State Botanical Garden of Georgia allowed him the freedom to tour, write, and record albums. He began playing with Mike Mills and Robert McDuffie to support Mills’s composition Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and Strings in 2016, and the project has grown and evolved since then.

Mike Mills was a member of R.E.M., a rock band based in Athens, Georgia. R.E.M. was one of the most influential rock bands of the past forty years, having won numerous awards and touring most corners of the world. Despite having occasional hit singles, such as Everybody Hurts, Losing My Religion, Man On The Moon, Leaving New York, and Nightswimming, R.E.M. steadfastly maintained its artistic edge, and along with it the band’s fan base and critical support. Specializing in bass guitar, piano/keyboards, vocals, and songwriting, Mills has also acted as the band’s co-producer. After thirty-one years and more than eighty million albums sold, the band retired in 2011.