Morgenstern Triothe william t. kemper international chamber music series

saturday, february 25 • 8 pm • 1900 building

From the Heart of Europe

SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Notturno in E-flat Major, D. 897, Op. 148

MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 66 Allegro energico e fuoco Andante espressivo Scherzo: Molto allegro quasi presto Finale: Allegro assai appassionato

— Intermission —

RAVEL (1874-1937) Piano Trio in A Minor Modéré Pantoum: Assez vif Passacaille: Très large Final: Animé

This concert is sponsored by the Sosland Foundation.

pianoviolincello

Catherine KlipfelStefan HempelEmanuel Wehse

Notturno in E-flat Major for piano trio, D. 897, Op. 148 Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)

So much attention is lavished on Schubert’s two piano trio masterpieces, the B-flat Major Trio D. 898 (published as Op. 99) and the E-flat Major work, D. 929 (Op. 100) that few chamber music lovers are even aware that he composed another movement for the piano trio at about the same time. The lovely Notturno in E-flat, D. 897 was probably originally intended to be the slow movement of the B-flat Major trio, but Schubert evidently discarded it in favor of the familiar Andante un poco mosso of that beloved piece. While the Notturno does not aspire to the sublime heights of the slow movemen, the B-flat Major Trio, it has its own shimmering beauty. The music historian Alfred Einstein notes a thematic kinship to the Andante molto in Schubert’s Duo-Fantasy for violin and piano, D. 934, of December 1827. The more striking resemblance, however, is to the slow movement of his magnificent String Quintet in C Major, D. 956. As biographer Brian Newbould has noted, the sustained melodies of the two string instruments, complemented by the piano’s emphasis in its outer ranges, foreshadows the texture of

the Quintet. The ternary form of the Nutturno is most notable for its bracing middle section. Schubert mitigates the muscularity of a march-like dotted rhythm with busy triplets that seem borrowed from the piano Impromptus. The static harmony of his gentle theme takes on new intensity when we hear it again, now embellished by piano filigree, and modulated to the astonishing key of E Major. The effect of moving from the original key of E-flat major with its three flats to E Major with four sharps evokes a wholly new world. The chromatic journey back to the home key of E-flat is vintage Schubert, and, equally astonishing, is the recurrence of the middle section, this time in C Major–with no sharps or flats!

Nocturne/Notturno

For most music lovers, the term Nocturne conjures up the works of the same name by Frédéric Chopin, whose 21 Nocturnes elevated a 19th-century salon miniature to the realm of great art. (Some critics believe that Chopin’s late Barcarolle, Op. 60 is the greatest nocturne ever written.) Although Chopin excelled in writing expressive, elegant nocturnes, he was not the first to do so. The piano nocturne was pioneered by the Irish composer John Field (1782-1837), a student of Muzio Clementi, who later settled in St. Petersburg. Between 1814 and 1835, Field wrote 18 examples that established the Nocturne as an important category of Romantic character pieces. Most of them feature a lyrical melody above a broken-chord accompaniment. As it happens, Nocturnes had an established history long before Field and Chopin borrowed it for piano music. In the 18th century, nocturne – or, more often, the Italian notturno – was an alternative term for a multi-movement instrumental work intended as entertainment music. Mozart used the term notturno interchangeably with divertimento, serenata, and cassation. The alternate terms nocturne and notturno arose because such works were generally intended for performance in the evening. The title Notturno is unique among Schubert’s work titles and was probably assigned by the publisher, Anton Diabelli & Company of Vienna, when the movement was published posthumously in 1845 as Opus 148. Listeners must decide for themselves whether it connects with the 18th-century tradition of evening entertainment music, or the Romantic genre of a lyrical character piece.

Franz Peter Schubert from Ernst Keil’s Die Gartenlaube, 1866

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Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op.66Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Mendelssohn has been subject to the vagaries of music fashion and political turmoil since the mid-19th century. Both popular and financially successful in his lifetime, he was hailed by Robert Schumann as the most important composer of chamber music since Beethoven and Schubert. Posterity has validated that judgment, and if some skeptics over the years have maligned certain of Mendelssohn’s piano, orchestral and vocal works, few would challenge his sovereignty in the realm of chamber music between Beethoven and Brahms. Mendelssohn composed two piano trios the D Minor, Op. 49, and the work we hear this evening. In light of the broad cultivation of the piano trio in the mid-nineteenth-century, it is surprising that he did not write more for this popular combination. Nevertheless, his legacy is stunning. Both Mendelssohn trios have firm holds in the repertoire, though the C Minor is less frequently performed of the two. Mendelssohn completed the second trio in April 1845, only two and a half years before he died. It was published one year later with a dedication to the violinist and composer Louis Spohr. Opus 66 is a fully mature work, balancing Mendelssohn’s classical stance with the passion of the Romantic era. His first movement is a marvel: “Mendelssohn never wrote a stronger sonata form movement,” John Horton has written. Biographer Philip Radcliffe agrees, calling its flexible opening phrase “more suitable for sonata form” than the main theme of the D Minor trio. The principal difference between Mendelssohn’s two piano trios lies in their conception: the D Minor Trio is more vocal-like in conception (reminiscent of his Songs without Words, the composer’s much-loved solo piano works), and the C Minor Trio, which is more instrumental. Both slow movements are in a tripartite (A-B-A) form. In both trios, Mendelssohn’s writing is idiomatic for the instrumentalists; he was, after all, a virtuoso pianist and a creditable string player. In the C Minor work, his writing is particularly impressive in the whirlwind Scherzo. Here, the elfin spirit of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is energized by perpetual motion and occasional, unexpected Schumannesque outbursts to yield one of his finest third movements. The finale is a complex rondo with three principal themes, the third of which receives particular emphasis. It is a chorale closely linked to (but not identical with) Martin Luther’s well-known Christmas hymn, “Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ” (Praise be to you, Jesus Christ.) Mendelssohn’s initial introduction of the chorale, through imposing piano chords, is interrupted by short phrases from the rondo’s first theme. Ultimately

the chorale dominates the movement’s conclusion. Mendelssohn endows all three players with an almost orchestral conception to their parts. Their combined efforts suffuse the conclusion with grandeur and majesty, suitably capping this noble and dramatic trio.

Piano Trio in A Minor Maurice Ravel (1874-1937)

Ravel was fascinated by the challenge of composing for piano and strings, instruments he believed to be inherently incompatible. For him, the challenge was to compose unified music for this combination of essentially unlike instruments. The trio he wrote is consistent throughout its four movements in grace, the family of melodic ideas, and brilliance of technique. Ravel’s secondary objective was to somehow incorporate the music of his native Basque country. Both goals were satisfied by this exquisite Trio. It is widely considered to be Ravel’s finest essay in chamber music, surpassing even his popular early String Quartet. The ideas for a Piano Trio had first occurred to Ravel as early as 1908; however, the work that concludes this program was not finished until 1914. Ravel had returned to it in 1913, but his labors were interrupted several times during the next year because of travel to performances of other compositions. When war erupted in August, 1914, Ravel was determined to enlist and defend his country. He hastened to complete the Trio, only to be informed that his small stature, his history of frail health, and his advanced age rendered him ineligible for military service. (At almost 40, he was considered too old.) It is ironic that so lovely and refined a musical work should grow out of such anxious and politically fraught circumstances. Ravel had abandoned an early piano concerto that was to have been based on Basque themes. Some evidence exists that themes from this proposed concerto found their way into the Trio. The composer described the opening theme of his first movement, a modified sonata form, as “Basque in color.” The graceful rhythmic pattern established in the opening measures permeates the movement, which is a modified sonata form. Pantoum, the unique title of the second movement, is derived from the Malayan verse form panttun, in which the second and fourth lines of one quatrain are repeated in the next quatrain as the first and third lines, a form favored by the poets Baudelaire and Verlaine. Possibly it reflects a characteristic French fascination with Far Eastern culture--and in this case, its rhythms--that may be traced to the International

Parisian Exposition of 1889. An exact musical parallel to the poetic technique is unlikely; however, Ravel certainly exchanged musical material ingeniously between the strings and the piano. Pantoum, fulfills the function of a scherzo movement, which, in this case, goes at a whirlwind pace and is extremely difficult to perform. In the Passacaille, Ravel pays tribute to a Baroque form, much as he would in his work for solo piano, Le tombeau de Couperin. The Passacaille is a brief slow movement whose spaciousness and hymn-like calm lend it a dignified air. The flashy conclusion soon dispels the quiet atmosphere. 5/4 and 7/4 time--both meters characteristic of Basque music--alternate in the Final; trills, rapid arpeggios, double-stops and other technical fireworks abound in the string parts. The piano part reclaims the high profile it established in the first movement to compete for center stage once again in the Final. The music is exciting and complex, driving to an exultant conclusion in A Major. A criticism sometimes leveled at this imaginative work is that its daunting difficulty for all three performers makes it almost impossible for the amateur ensemble to attempt. Though its virtuosic demands are exceptional, they are not solely for show. Ravel succeeded in composing a trio with considerable musical substance. He also endowed it with a philosophical, noble quality that emanates from the work throughout. The Piano Trio has rightfully earned its prominent place in the piano trio literature.

Program notes by Laurie Shulman © 2016

Morgenstern Trio“The group displayed a unanimity, polished technique and musi-cal imagination that I thought had vanished from the scene with

the demise of the Beaux Arts Trio.” (Washington Post)

“Bravissima! Wonderful playing from all 3 protagonists. A truly electric, compelling presence – vivid color, rubato, rhythmic in-

tensity. Truly a world class group.” (Musical America)

After only two years of working together, the Morgenstern Trio emerged on the German music scene by being awarded top prizes and awards and the prestigious Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio Award in 2010. For the twenty prize concerts, the Morgenstern Trio received superlative reviews and immediate re-invitations for fol-lowing seasons. This prize catapulted them onto the Ameri-can scene with performances at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, followed by concerts in Chicago, Detroit, Kalamazoo, Carmel, Louisville, Lexington, and Palm Beach. The Morgenstern Trio is named for the popular nineteenth century German poet Christian Morgenstern. The Trio won First Prize at the International Joseph Haydn Competition in Vienna, followed by two second prizes at the Fifth Melbourne International Chamber Mu-sic Competition and the prestigious ARD Competition in Munich, where it also received the audience prize. In the previous year it was awarded the competitive scholarship of the German Music Competition. The Morgenstern Trio was selected by the European Concert Hall Organization for its “Rising Star Series”, granting debut concerts on most of Europe’s major stages. The ensemble and was named ensemble in residence at their Alma Mater, the Folkwang Conservatory. The Germany’s national program for young musicians and the Best of NRW Concert Series has pro-vided the Morgenstern Trio with numerous concerts across Germany and live radio appearances. The debut LIVE CD released in 2008 featuring works by Beethoven and Brahms has captured the praise of presenters and critics alike. 2014 marked the inauguration of the Morgenstern Festival in Germany, offering eclectic programs with guest artists. Other festival appearances include the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades/France, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vor-pommern, the Heidelberger Fruehling, the WDR Musikfest and the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland.

The Morgenstern Trio is represented by Marianne Schmocker Artists International.

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