Press Release: Die Forelle, November 1 & 2, 2010
For Immediate Release
For more information, contact David Grizzard, 405-524-5250
Brightmusic Society of Oklahoma – Concert 2 of the 2010-11 Season
“Die Forelle”
featuring Schubert’s “Trout Quintet,”
Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor and David Diamond’s Partita
Monday, November 1, 2010
7:30 pm (reception following)
Fee Theatre at Casady School
9500 N. Pennsylvania Ave. (at Britton Rd.)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
7:30 pm (reception following)
St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral
127 NW 7th Street (at Robinson)
Oklahoma City’s own Brightmusic Chamber Music Ensemble will present two performances of its second concert of the 2010-11 season, featuring works by the Romantic composers Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn, and the 20th Century American composer David Diamond.
The works on the program are Diamond’s Partita for oboe, bassoon and piano; Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, op. 49 for violin, cello and piano; and Schubert’s Piano Quintet in A Major, D.667 (“Die Forelle” or “The Trout” Quintet) for violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano.
Brightmusic musicians appearing are: Gregory Lee (violin), Royce McLarry (viola), Tomasz Zieba (cello), George Speed (double bass), Lisa Harvey-Reed (oboe), Carl Rath (bassoon); and Amy I-Lin Cheng (piano).
The performances will take place: (1) on Monday, November 1, 2010, at 7:30 pm at the Fee Theatre on the campus of Casady School, 9500 N. Pennsylvania Avenue in northwest Oklahoma City (use the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance) and (2) on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 at 7:30 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 127 NW 7th (at Robinson), in downtown Oklahoma City. Admission is free, although contributions are both needed and appreciated. A reception with the musicians will follow each performance.
“Die Forelle” is made possible by a generous grant from
Chesapeake Energy Corporation
Brightmusic Musicians Appearing:
Violin: Dr. Gregory Lee, concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and assistant professor of violin at the University of Oklahoma.
Viola: Royce McLarry, principal violist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and a music faculty member at Oklahoma Christian University.
Cello: Tomasz Zieba, associate principal cellist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and instructor of cello at Oklahoma City University.
Double Bass: George Speed, principal bassist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and assistant professor of bass at Oklahoma State University.
Oboe: Lisa Harvey-Reed, principal oboist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestras, and instructor of oboe at Oklahoma City University.
Bassoon: Carl Rath, principal bassoonist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and associate professor of bassoon at the University of Oklahoma.
Piano: Dr. Amy I-Lin Cheng is a concert pianist and a collaborative musician; she is the former head of the piano department at Oklahoma City University.
Musical Works To Be Performed:
David Diamond, Partita for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano: Diamond (1915-2005) is a 20th Century American composer best known for his 11 symphonies and other orchestral works. Early career influences included Roger Sessions, Nadia Boulanger, Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel, whose impact on Diamond’s melodic techniques can be seen throughout his works. He studied, lived and taught in the United States and Europe. Diamond’s academic positions included teaching at the University of Rome, the Manhattan School of Music and Julliard. In 1995 he received the National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government. Diamond composed Partita in 1935 at age 20, when he was studying in New York with Paul Boepple and Roger Sessions. About the March 29, 1936 premiere, Diamond wrote, “It was among the first of my chamber-music works heard in New York, and was highly praised by Aaron Copland and Roger Sessions in the pages of Modern Music.” Partita is written in three movements: Allegro vivo, Adagio espressivo and Allegro molto. “In [these] three tightly-organized movements,” Diamond said, “it can be considered in sonatina form.”
Felix Mendelssohn, Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, op. 49, for Violin, Cello and Piano: Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was a German Romantic musician of many talents. He sang; played the violin, piano and organ; conducted; and composed. He came from a wealthy German family and was educated privately. By age 12, he was an experienced composer. From 1833-35 he was the music director in Dusseldorf. In 1835 he became the music director in Leipzig where he conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. His compositional style was conservative by Romantic standards, employing classical forms and emphasizing balance, proportionality and craftsmanship. Mendelssohn composed his opus 49 piano trio in 1839. It was an instant success, and has remained one of Mendelssohn’s best and most popular chamber works ever since.
Movement I presents two major themes, each introduced by the cello. Movement II is reminiscent of the composer’s Songs Without Words. Movement III is what one critic called “one of Mendelssohn’s elfin scherzos, short but extremely demanding of all the players.” And Movement IV gives the work a “fiery” finale.
Franz Schubert, Piano Quintet in A Major, D.667 (“Die Forelle” or “The Trout” Quintet): Schubert (1797-1828) lived a “tragically short life” in Vienna.” Thus, Robert Dubal began his characterization of this unlikely fount of Romantic music. Schubert stood only 4’11” tall, was chubby, had poor eyesight and was painfully shy. His career as a schoolmaster lasted only four years. He contracted syphilis at age 26 and lived only five more years. When aristocratic patronage was dying, “this most noncommercial of the great masters was … fortunate enough to have a network of friends who realized that he was a genius.” Schubert idolized Beethoven, who read some of Schubert’s works and asked to meet the young Schubert. Schubert met his idol on Beethoven’s deathbed, and shortly thereafter served as one of the torchbearers at Beethoven’s funeral. Schubert once supposedly said, “I am in the world only for the purpose of composing,” and during the remaining 20 months of his own life, compose he did. The “Trout Quintet” dates from an earlier, and happier, period in Schubert’s life. It was written on commission from a cellist patron who heard Schubert’s work when he and a friend were on a walking tour in Upper Austria during the summer of 1819. The Quintet’s five movements burst with joy and vitality. Its nickname comes from its signature Movement IV, in which Schubert quotes his own 1817 song “Die Forelle” (The Trout), and then adds five variations on the song. This Quintet was Schubert’s earliest chamber music masterpiece, and has been one of his most lasting.
