oneppo chamber music series David Shifrin, artistic director
Brentano String Quartet Mark Steinberg, violin • Serena Canin, violin Misha Amory, viola • Nina Lee, cello
Tuesday, September 24, 2019 | 7:30 pm Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
Robert Blocker, Dean
Program Wallace Stevens 1879–1955
“The Planet on the Table” Read by the author on November 6, 1954 at the 92nd St. Y Played with permission from the Unterberg Poetry Center at the 92nd St. Y
Martin Bresnick b. 1946
The Planet on the Table (2019) I. Mrs. Anderson’s Swedish Baby II. She Measured the Hour III. Scene 10 Becomes 11 IV. Someone Has Walked Across the Snow V. His Self and the Sun
Wallace Stevens
“Domination of Black” “A Postcard from the Volcano” Excerpts from “The Man with the Blue Guitar” “Not Ideas About the Thing but the Thing Itself ” Christian Wiman, reader
intermission
Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 I. Assai sostenuto. Allegro II. Allegro ma non tanto III. Molto adagio IV. Alla marcia, assai vivace V. Allegro appassionato Gabriel Calatrava, projections designer
As a courtesy to others, please silence all devices. Photography and recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please do not leave the hall during musical selections. Thank you.
Artist Profiles Brentano String Quartet
Christian Wiman, reader
Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has appeared throughout the world to popular and critical acclaim. Within a few years of its formation, the quartet garnered the first Cleveland Quartet Award and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In recent seasons the quartet has appeared in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia.
Christian Wiman is the author of numerous books, including He Held Radical Light: The Art of Faith, The Faith of Art and Hammer Is the Prayer: Selected Poems. For a decade he was editor of Poetry magazine, and since 2013 he has taught at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School.
Gabriel Calatrava, projections designer The Brentano String Quartet has performed many musical works that pre-date the string quartet as a medium, among them the madrigals of Gesualdo, fantasias of Purcell, and secular vocal works of Josquin. The quartet has also worked closely with some of the most important composers of our time, among them Elliott Carter, Charles Wuorinen, Chou Wen-chung, Steven Mackey, Bruce Adolphe, and György Kurtág, and has commissioned works from Wuorinen, Adolphe, Mackey, David Horne, and Gabriela Frank. The quartet has been privileged to collaborate with such artists as Jessye Norman, Joyce DiDonato, Richard Goode, Jonathan Biss, and Mitsuko Uchida. In fall 2014, the quartet became the quartetin-residence at the Yale School of Music, succeeding the Tokyo String Quartet in that position.
Gabriel Calatrava is both a Structural Engineer and an Architect by training and has worked extensively with his father, Santiago Calatrava, in a technical role as an architect and an engineer and also managing several projects for coordination, presentation and client liaison responsibilities. Gabriel is on the board of directors at the Municipal Arts Society where he is actively engaged in a conversation about ‘the city’ overseeing several urban design and planning initiatives. Extending his commitment to the multi-disciplinary nature of the architectural practice, Gabriel is a board member at Pioneer Works, a center for research and experimentation in contemporary culture.
Program Notes Notes on the Program Mark Steinberg People are story-tellers. We make of our thoughts, experiences, and feelings shapes, forms, and containers. We pretend, convince ourselves, that these made- up narratives are reality; sanity, in part, depends on this. But penetrating self- reflection often reveals a different truth. Observation of our minds at work reveal these stories as constructions, choices of how to construct sense. We can recognize here the desperate albeit noble power of creativity. And through creation we manufacture the trappings of humanity and a way of being in a world replete with strangeness and mysteries. Wallace Stevens, in his poem “The Planet on the Table”, speaks, through the character of Ariel from The Tempest, of creating poems that “bear some lineament or character... if only half perceived... of the planet of which they are a part.” Of course he speaks of himself, and of his own perception of our world. Martin Bresnick’s quartet is a “musical meditation” on this poem, on the transformational value of art, the power of the creative act. He finds inspiration in the idea that the impulse to model apprehending, feeling, understanding, or cognition has inherent value, even in the face of inescapable impermanence. These acts of creation, of assigning, revealing, or molding form to perception, are both a model of and a model for thought and sensing. As Wallace Stevens wends his way through a poem, very often he follows, in elongated time, the pathways of thought and discovery so
that the process itself becomes vivid and the reader can map his own mind onto that of the poet in the act of creating. The prototypical model for this kind of revelation in music is Beethoven, most especially in his final works. The Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, is a profound exemplar of this, a piece in which the astute listener can don the composer’s robe, feeling a partnership with Beethoven in piecing together the trajectory of the argument. Stevens and Beethoven both animate the textures of insight and discernment, both wrestle these into a representative structure of understanding. Philosophizing becomes active and animate, explorations of thought a labyrinthine path built as it goes, out of stones found along its way. Stevens writes: This is how the wind shifts: Like the thoughts of an old human. As wind blows through a landscape it both shapes and takes on the shape of what it encounters. These works evoke how thought does the same traversing the landscape of our experience. Stevens was, we know, deeply moved by Beethoven, writing “Beethoven is my meat.” The juxtaposition of lines drawn from Stevens with Beethoven’s quartet is an attempt to establish resonance between parallel sorts of concerns. The lines appear as if floating into awareness during and around the music. May Sarton wrote “poetry is for me the soul-making tool.” The works on this program model and order our minds and hearts. They help reveal the patterns of our consciousness. They illuminate the fragile yet potent beauty of our story-telling.
Program Notes, cont. The Planet on the Table martin bresnick Notes by the composer
String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 beethoven Mark Steinberg
Wallace Stevens’ poem “The Planet on the Table” begins: Ariel was glad he had written his poems, They were of a remembered time Or of something seen that he liked.
A poem by Dylan Thomas begins: Your pain shall be a music in your string And fill the mouths of heaven with your tongue.
In this string quartet, also entitled The Planet on the Table, my planet is made of the music and sounds of a remembered time or of something heard that I liked. The quartet has five movements, each headed by a quotation from one of Stevens’ poems* as a point of departure or pathway into those remembered sounds and music. Like Stevens, my self and the sun are one, and my music, like his poetry, although makings of my self, is also makings of the sun. Stevens wrote it was not important that his poetry survive, which is also true of my work. What matters is that my music, like his poetry, should bear some lineament or character, some affluence, if only half perceived in the poverty of its sounds, of the planet of which it was part. *Sources for the titles: I. “The Pleasures of Merely Circulating” II. “The Idea of Order at Key West” III. “Chaos in Motion and Not in Motion” IV. “Vacancy in the Park” V. “The Planet on the Table”
Art has the capacity to take on the burdens of existence and lend to them in reflection beauty and nobility which both console and edify. Ludwig van Beethoven was a man within whom the trials and triumphs of being resonated loudly. His ability to translate these into music was not something he took lightly; sensing the pressure of time in his final years he chose to renounce the felicities of life and devote his energies fully to composition. For Beethoven the act of composition was an act of giving, of doing for others, and the last years of his life saw the birth of a remarkable set of works which are indeed a gift. His late period works offer hope of transcendence through penetrating insight into the nature of suffering and difficulty. Inspired, perhaps, by the inherent intimacy and flexibility of the medium, Beethoven wrote five epic string quartets during these years. The quartet Op. 132 in A minor begins in shadows, tenuously searching, reaching towards the unknowable. The introductory material of the quartet encompasses the sense of the infinite within the merest of whispers filled with portent and possibility. The voices echo one another with a fournote motif which is to permeate the first movement, unstable and yearning. A brief torrent of whirling notes unleashed in the first violin gives way to a restless theme
which will be wrestled with throughout the movement. In all of Beethoven this is perhaps the movement which best embodies a sense of process. One gets the feeling of being inside the composer’s mind and imagination as he wends his way through the argument, including not only forward progression but distractions and digressions as well, all integrated into the evolving shape of the movement. Beethoven displays here what musicologist Maynard Soloman calls the “potential for coherence within the fragmentary.” In embracing disorder, the composer manages to create a compelling structure achieved through careful balancing of musical quanta. Coherence is earned through struggle with confusion, purification through tribulation. The second movement perhaps owes its inspiration to its counterpart in Mozart’s A major quartet, K 464, a piece of which Beethoven was fond. As in that earlier piece the movement opens with a unison figure gently poised between the graceful and the austere. A more tender melody is then intertwined with the opening material in a somewhat odd pas de deux. Irregular rhythms and slightly anxious expressive markings lend the dance a quirky, uncertain lilt. As if to assuage this unease the trio section could hardly be more open, simpler, or more innocent. Evoking bagpipes and childlike play, the flow of the music gets interrupted once briefly by an ominous and threatening pronouncement initiated by the viola and cello. It is a frightening moment, seemingly unprovoked, the darkness lurking behind our fragile states of happiness. It is quickly dispelled by the return of the bagpipes and then of the
main dancing section of the movement, but the sense of portent hovers in the air even at the movement’s close. Certainly one of the most expansive of Beethoven’s slow movements, the third movement is entitled “song of thanksgiving to God for recovery from an illness, in the lydian mode.” This is a profound and deeply personal utterance, rooted certainly in biographical fact, but perhaps in metaphysical metaphor as well. The ancient modes, with a slightly different color than the major and minor scales on which most music of this period is based, and thus exotic in sound, suggest piety and devotion. (Among Beethoven’s unrealized plans at the end of his life were a “pious song in a symphony in the ancient modes” and a “chorus in the ancient modes” as part of an oratorio.) Hymn-like sections alternate with sections marked “feeling new strength.” In this quicker, far more ornate music, there is the sense of a vibration of the soul as it aspires upward toward heaven, of illumination born of a struggle with darkness. At each return of the hymn-like music it becomes more sensitive, more vulnerable. At its third and final appearance Beethoven writes in the score above the material which weaves through the intoned hymn melody “with the most intimate feeling.” The movement builds to a climax of nearly unthinkable intensity, filled with love and recognition of the sublime. Its denouement leads to an almost complete stillness, with only the merest suggestion of a vibration within, a sense of peace. The last moments perhaps relate to something Beethoven had copied into one of his notebooks of this period, from an Indian religious text:
Program Notes, cont. “for God, time absolutely does not exist.” This movement must be counted among the greatest of Beethoven’s creations. Having reached toward the celestial, Beethoven reestablishes the terrestrial with an “alla marcia.” This march is one which continually dissolves into more delicate, playful music, as if unsure of exactly in which direction the march should head, not yet ready for a triumphant conclusion despite all that has preceded it. Uncertainty gains the upper hand with a quickening of the pulse ushering in a recitative in the first violin accompanied by quaking, trepidatious tremolos underneath. The most famous use of recitative to introduce a large-scale final movement is surely in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and in fact the sketches for the theme of the last movement of the Op. 132 quartet were originally intended for a purely instrumental finale of that work. Whereas in the choral finale Beethoven eventually wrote for the Ninth Symphony the recitative serves to cast aside doubt and obscurity in favor of light and joy, the route he chose to take in the Op. 132 quartet is wrought with further struggle. An anxious yearning characterizes this finale, with the composer indicating that the main theme should be passionately expressive. To an even greater degree than in the second movement where an inherently dance-like rhythmic meter is slightly distorted by unsettling surface elements, here the same meter is almost rent asunder by heaving, nervous figuration. No respite is to be had, even when more simply lyrical material attempts to assuage the unrest. About two thirds of the way through the movement the tempo
accelerates and the music reaches fever pitch, with the cello crying out in the register usually reserved for the violins, approaching a feeling of terror. This is the crisis that at long last brings resolution, although not in one fell swoop. The key of A major is entered into gently, with a sense of freedom attained, open and soaring. The quartet gathers strength toward a conclusion affirming victory of the spirit, only to be thwarted by brief hesitation and uncertainty. When this moment of uncertainty is reached for the second time, however, there is hesitation no longer and the quartet ends having triumphed over adversity. Perhaps this is the greatest gift that Beethoven has given us. He grapples with the vicissitudes of our inner and outer lives, in full acknowledgement of our native suffering, and through the transformative power of art leads us to recognition of beauty and faith in humanity.
Oneppo Chamber Music 2019–2020 Season oct 22
Akropolis Reed Quintet An ensemble whose performances have been described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “pure gold, shot through with tenderness and grace.”
nov 12
Polonsky-Shifrin-Wiley Trio Pianist Anna Polonsky, clarinetist David Shifrin, and cellist Peter Wiley perform Beethoven’s “Gassenhauer” Trio, Poulenc’s Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano, and Brahms’ Clarinet Trio in A minor.
dec 3
Horszowski Trio An ensemble The New Yorker says “seems destined for great things” performs Dvorák’s “Dumky” Trio, Carter’s Epigrams, and Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor.
jan 28
feb 18
Brentano String Quartet A performance of Bruce Adolphe’s Coiled and the work on which it’s based, Beethoven’s “Serioso” Quartet, along with music by Bach, Mendelssohn, and Shostakovich. Zukerman Trio Violinist Pinchas Zukerman, cellist Amanda Forsyth, and pianist Angela Cheng perform Beethoven’s “Kakadu” Variations; Arensky’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor; and Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 2 in C major.
mar Pamela Frank and Emanuel Ax 31 Two of the most admired instrumentalists on the international chamber music scene perform Mozart’s Sonatas in G major, K. 379, and B-flat major, K. 454, and Beethoven’s Sonata No. 10, Op. 96. may Competition Winners 5 Performances by the winners of the School’s annual Chamber Music Competition.
Samplers Save up to 15% off single-ticket prices when you purchase a Pick 3 or Pick 5 package. Samplers are available now.
Free Student Tickets For the Oneppo Chamber Music Series, Horowitz Piano Series, and Ellington Jazz Series, free student rush tickets will be offered at the box office for students with a valid ID. When available, tickets will be distributed starting thirty minutes before each concert. One ticket per ID, subject to availability.
Thank you for your support! Become a Yale School of Music patron and support our performance programs. Earn benefits ranging from preferred seating to invitations to special events. » music.yale.edu/patron-program
charles ives circle $600 & above Clifford Slayman paul hindemith circle $250–$599 Victor & Laura Altshul Victoria Keator DePalma Attys. Barbara & Ivan Katz Mr . & Mrs. Douglas Crowley Barbara & William Nordhaus Lisa Kugelman & Roy Wiseman Ray Fair & Sharon Oster Patty & Tom Pollard Josephine P. Shepard Lorraine D. Siggins Abby N. Wells horatio parker circle $125–$249 Anonymous Nina Adams & Moreson Kaplan David & Carolyn Belt Carolyn Gould Irene K. Miller Dr . Leonard E. Munstermann Kathryn & Peter Patrikis Dr. E. Anthony Petrelli Mary Jane & Steve Pincus Jules Prown Maryanne & Dean Rupp Joan A. Steitz David & Lisa Totman
List as of September 24, 2019
samuel simons sanford circle $50–$124 Susan S. Addiss Henry E. Auer Stephen August Irma & Bob Bachman Bill & Donna Batsford Richard & Nancy Beals Victor & Susan Bers Eric & Lou Ann Bohman Linda Burt Walter Cahn Judith Colton & Wayne Meeks Steven D. Fraade & Ellen D. Cohen Deborah Fried & Kalman Watsky Howard & Sylvia Garland Dr. Lauretta E. Grau Elizabeth Haas Robert & Noël Heimer In Memory of Jon T. Hirschoff Jay & Marjorie Hirshfield Alan & Joan Kliger Tom & Karen Kmetzo Judith & Karl-Otto Liebmann Ann Marlowe George & Irene Seligman Janet Selzer Cis & Jim Serling Marcia & Richard Witten Werner & Elizabeth Wolf Dr . & Mrs. B. Zuckerman gustave j. stoeckel circle $25–$49 Kathryn Feidelson Eduardo Groisman Paul Guida & Pat LaCamera Karen & Mel Selsky Barbara & Michael Susman Jonathan & Michele Waters
Upcoming Events sep 27 Ignacio Berroa Trio Ellington Jazz Series “The only Latin drummer in the world in the history of American music who intimately knows both worlds: his native Afro Cuban music as well as jazz.” — Dizzy Gillespie 7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $22, students $10 Robert Blocker, piano Horowitz Piano Series Bach’s Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, and works by Brahms, Mozart, Ravel, and faculty composer Christopher Theofanidis. 7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $15, students $7 oct 2
oct 3 Hannah Lash & Christopher Theofanidis, faculty composers New Music New Haven Lash’s Folksongs for piccolo, harp, and percussion, and two movements from Theofanidis’ Quintet for B-flat clarinet and string quartet. 7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall free
oct 22 Akropolis Reed Quintet Oneppo Chamber Music Series New works by Jeff Scott and Steven Snowden, as well as arrangements of Rameau and Gershwin. 7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $28, students $13 oct 25 Ludovic Morlot, guest conductor Yale Philharmonia Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition winner Jung Eun Kang. 7:30 p.m. | Woolsey Hall Tickets start at $12, Yale faculty/ staff $8, students free* $3 surcharge at the door Nov 1-2 Fall Scenes Yale Opera A variety of scenes from beloved comic and tragic operas. 7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $12, students $5
yale school of music box office Sprague Memorial Hall | 470 College Street New Haven, CT 06511 203 432–4158 | music-tickets@yale.edu | Mon–Fri 11 am–2 pm wshu 91.1 fm is the media sponsor of the Yale School of Music facebook.com/yalemusic
@yalemusic
YaleSchoolofMusicOfficial
If you do not intend to save your program, please recycle it in the baskets at the exit doors.