Week One:
Saturday, July 6th - White Recital Hall
Sunday, July 7th - St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Our first week opens with Joseph Haydn’s younger brother Michael Haydn and his Divertimento in C. Haydn was a master of the simple, direct, and sophisticated music of Vienna, and in this piece, he showcases the exquisite sound made by pairing an oboe and viola. Then, we bring you Giovanni Sollima (the so-called “Jimi Hendrix of the cello”) and his Short Stories, a work built of small musical ideas that are constantly surprising you with their uneven rhythms and exciting melodic flow. The earliest piece on our program is C.P.E. Bach’s Trio Sonata, Wq 145, a collaborative work written with his famous father that shows his changing tastes from his father’s stolid Baroque complexity to his own burgeoning Classical elegance. The first week ends with one of Sergei Prokofiev’s most experimental works, his Quintet, Op. 39. Originally written for a ballet, Prokofiev turned it into a barn-burner of a piece featuring a virtuosic double bass.
Saturday, July 6th - White Recital Hall
Sunday, July 7th - St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Our first week opens with Joseph Haydn’s younger brother Michael Haydn and his Divertimento in C. Haydn was a master of the simple, direct, and sophisticated music of Vienna, and in this piece, he showcases the exquisite sound made by pairing an oboe and viola. Then, we bring you Giovanni Sollima (the so-called “Jimi Hendrix of the cello”) and his Short Stories, a work built of small musical ideas that are constantly surprising you with their uneven rhythms and exciting melodic flow. The earliest piece on our program is C.P.E. Bach’s Trio Sonata, Wq 145, a collaborative work written with his famous father that shows his changing tastes from his father’s stolid Baroque complexity to his own burgeoning Classical elegance. The first week ends with one of Sergei Prokofiev’s most experimental works, his Quintet, Op. 39. Originally written for a ballet, Prokofiev turned it into a barn-burner of a piece featuring a virtuosic double bass.
Week Two:
Saturday, July 13th - White Recital Hall
Sunday, July 14th - St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Our second week begins with a work Virgil Thomson later called “one of the most satisfactory pieces for wind in the whole modern repertory.” Arthur Berger’s Quartet for Winds will remind you of Aaron Copland’s wide-open Americana brought down to a local level. We then turn to Lembit Beecher’s Stories from my Grandmother which turns the memories of surviving the Russian and German occupations of Estonia held by the composer’s grandmother into a meditation on memory and how we share our stories. We end the week with Johannes Brahms’s epochal Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60, a passionate work inspired by Goethe’s famous story of Werther, a Romantic artist who pines for a woman he can never have. But like all good stories, it has another layer, as it seems Brahms was also sharing his own unrequited love for Clara Schumann.
Saturday, July 13th - White Recital Hall
Sunday, July 14th - St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Our second week begins with a work Virgil Thomson later called “one of the most satisfactory pieces for wind in the whole modern repertory.” Arthur Berger’s Quartet for Winds will remind you of Aaron Copland’s wide-open Americana brought down to a local level. We then turn to Lembit Beecher’s Stories from my Grandmother which turns the memories of surviving the Russian and German occupations of Estonia held by the composer’s grandmother into a meditation on memory and how we share our stories. We end the week with Johannes Brahms’s epochal Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60, a passionate work inspired by Goethe’s famous story of Werther, a Romantic artist who pines for a woman he can never have. But like all good stories, it has another layer, as it seems Brahms was also sharing his own unrequited love for Clara Schumann.
Week Three:
Saturday, July 20th - White Recital Hall
Sunday, July 21st - St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Week three finds Summerfest presenting ever more intimate musical works. Lior Navok’s Six Short Stories for Woodwind Quintet features five friends coming together to tell stories, but Navok leaves the interpretation of those stories up to you. Frank Bridge’s Novelletten for String Quartet were his first works for that venerable ensemble, and he provided them with three tales that range from tranquil to martial to almost jazzy. Gernot Wolfgang might not be a name familiar to you, but his Three Short Stories continue the jazz sounds of Bridge’s quartet to tell musical tales that may lack a plot, but will conjure plenty of images in your mind. We end the week with Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D major, Op.70 No.1. Nicknamed the “Ghost Trio” and written for his confidant Countess Anna Maria von Erdödy, it features some of Beethoven’s most atmospheric music (including music planned for an operatic version of MacBeth) along with some of his most joyous.
Saturday, July 20th - White Recital Hall
Sunday, July 21st - St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Week three finds Summerfest presenting ever more intimate musical works. Lior Navok’s Six Short Stories for Woodwind Quintet features five friends coming together to tell stories, but Navok leaves the interpretation of those stories up to you. Frank Bridge’s Novelletten for String Quartet were his first works for that venerable ensemble, and he provided them with three tales that range from tranquil to martial to almost jazzy. Gernot Wolfgang might not be a name familiar to you, but his Three Short Stories continue the jazz sounds of Bridge’s quartet to tell musical tales that may lack a plot, but will conjure plenty of images in your mind. We end the week with Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D major, Op.70 No.1. Nicknamed the “Ghost Trio” and written for his confidant Countess Anna Maria von Erdödy, it features some of Beethoven’s most atmospheric music (including music planned for an operatic version of MacBeth) along with some of his most joyous.
Week Four:
Saturday, July 27th- White Recital Hall
Sunday, July 28th - St. Mary's Episcopal Church
We end Summerfest this year with Michael Haydn’s older brother Joseph and his String Quartet in D major, Op. 71, No. 2. Unlike most of his music, Haydn wrote this string quartet for skilled professionals to play before a large public audience in London. Instead of the small conversations we’re used to hearing in Haydn’s quartets, this one showcases broad slapstick to tell a story you’ll catch even in the back of the concert hall. Arnold Bax’s Elegaic Trio could not contrast more, with its impressionistic remembrance of friends Bax lost in the 1916 Irish rebellion. Thirty years later, Andre Jolivet composed Pastorales de Noel in a similar memorial vein, in this case remembering the world before the horrors of World War II and taking the audience back to a simpler, freer time. We end the summer with some of the most sensationalist music of the series, Bryce Dessner’s Murder Ballades. Before television and radio, grisly tales of true crime were shared through song. Dessner, most famous as the guitarist with the rock group The National, has crafted modern day versions of these tales, reminding us that music has the ability to share the entire scope of human experience.
Saturday, July 27th- White Recital Hall
Sunday, July 28th - St. Mary's Episcopal Church
We end Summerfest this year with Michael Haydn’s older brother Joseph and his String Quartet in D major, Op. 71, No. 2. Unlike most of his music, Haydn wrote this string quartet for skilled professionals to play before a large public audience in London. Instead of the small conversations we’re used to hearing in Haydn’s quartets, this one showcases broad slapstick to tell a story you’ll catch even in the back of the concert hall. Arnold Bax’s Elegaic Trio could not contrast more, with its impressionistic remembrance of friends Bax lost in the 1916 Irish rebellion. Thirty years later, Andre Jolivet composed Pastorales de Noel in a similar memorial vein, in this case remembering the world before the horrors of World War II and taking the audience back to a simpler, freer time. We end the summer with some of the most sensationalist music of the series, Bryce Dessner’s Murder Ballades. Before television and radio, grisly tales of true crime were shared through song. Dessner, most famous as the guitarist with the rock group The National, has crafted modern day versions of these tales, reminding us that music has the ability to share the entire scope of human experience.