ELM COURT

Erica Petrocelli, soprano Cicely Parnas, cello Louis Lohraseb, piano April 1, 2022 3:00pm EST Debussy Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire Fauré “Adieu” “Mai” “Le secret” “Après un rêve” “Notre amour” Beach “Chanson d'amour” Program notes by Carl Halvorson: After the success of Debussy”s song cycle "Ariettes oubliées", his next cycle of songs, the epic "Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire", was a failure, and he had to publish it by subscription. He married the complex, lavish, and dense works by the great French poet (from his collection Les fleurs du mal) to a new style of music that did not find immediate favor with the public. This style was, of course, Wagnerism, for Debussy had recently made his pilgrimage to Bayreuth. Thus, one hears extended and arching melodic lines, chromatic harmony, interrupted cadences, and complicated pianism. These are extremely demanding works, with a grand scale requiring lyrical sweep and a more symphonic bearing from both artists. Gabriel Fauré wrote over a hundred songs over the course of sixty years, and they are still today the heart and core of French song. Influenced by Chopin, Mozart, and especially Schumann, his patrician style evolved to a degree over his long career, and yet he basically remained true to his voice, as contemporaries such as Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky went off in other directions. These five songs are from the first of Fauré's three stylistic periods, and beautifully display, as explained by Carol Kimball, “...his great precision, overflow(ing) with subtle nuance and delicate detail. His approach is elegant and rational, and deals with sentiment rather than literal sensation - a uniquely French characteristic.” Amy Beach (she preferred Mrs. H. H. A. Beach) was America’s first great female composer of serious music. Living from the Civil War to WWII, she was a brilliant musical prodigy who later wrote an opera, a symphony, several choral works and oratorios, and numerous chamber and piano works. However, she is best known today for her approximately 150 songs. "Chanson d’amour", scored for voice, piano, and cello, is a thrilling depiction of love mixed with pathos, a salon aria that builds to a thunderous climax. ### The Frederick R. Koch Foundation proudly presents the return of the Live from Elm Court video concert series. The series, curated by conductor and pianist Louis Lohraseb, includes five episodes filmed at the Foundation’s Elm Court estate, featuring emerging classical artists giving intimate programs of chamber music and art songs. Website: http://frkfoundation.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frkfoundation.official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frkfoundation/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FRKFoundation Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/frkfoundation

Episode IV Liv Redpath, soprano Erica Petrocelli, soprano Narek Arutyunian, clarinet Chieh-Fan Yiu, viola Louis Lohraseb, piano March 31, 2022 3:00pm EST Mozart Trio in E-flat major, K.498 “Kegelstatt” Brahms Zwei Gesänge, Op. 91 Schubert Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D.965 Program notes by Carl Halvorson: Mozart did not give a nickname to the K.498 trio, but marginalia in his manuscripts reveal he wrote some contemporary works while playing skittles, and somehow in an 1862 catalogue of his works this trio was named “Kegelstatt” (“a place where skittles are played”). A spurious nickname, but it has stuck! It was written for a family of musicians who performed with Mozart - he even played viola for the premiere in their home. This is the first work ever written for this combination of instruments, as the clarinet was a new instrument at the time. It was so new, in fact, that the worried publisher advertised the work for piano, viola, and violin, with a note that a clarinet could be substituted for the latter. The first Andante movement reveals the beautiful sororities of the instruments in concert. Listen for the ornamental turns (grupetti) in the voices throughout. The Menuetto is a minuet, but not the light and easy type! Note the step-wise chromaticism is this movement, and the chromatic four-note phrase that repeats throughout the conversation. The rondo movement (a principle refrain with different themes) has the form AB AC AD A. One hears more chromaticism, and the work concludes with brilliant passages for all instruments. Brahms’s only example of vocal chamber music, the extended songs of Op. 91 were written for dear friends, a violist/mezzo husband and wife. The songs were intended by Brahms to help save their marriage, but sadly this was not the case: while Amalie Joachim did perform the songs, it was never with her husband, Joseph. The first piece is a gorgeous setting of an atmospheric nature poem by Friedrich Rückert, the second a Mary/Jesus lullaby using an originally Spanish poem with a German hymn tune that harkens back to the chant melody “Resonet in laudibus.” They are considered two of the composer’s greatest songs. Schubert’s last work, Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (“The Shepherd on the Rock”), was written for his friend, the operatic soprano Pauline Anna Milder-Hauptmann (Beethoven’s Leonora), who had asked for a showpiece that would allow her to express a wide range of feelings. It portrays the image of a shepherd who is longing for his lost love, one alone and yearning to travel in search of her. The first section is warm, as the lonely shepherd on the mountaintop listens to echoes in valleys below. The second section grows dark as he feels grief and loneliness. The last section heralds the coming of spring and his journey to his love. The themes of distant lovers, dramatic landscapes in Nature, night, forest, and wandering all herald the Romantic era. Musically, the clarinet is an equal partner to the voice. They both sing together in a frolicsome interchange that combines German folk song and mountain yodeling with Italian cantilena and elegance. It is a masterpiece of lieder and vocal chamber music. ### The Frederick R. Koch Foundation proudly presents the return of the Live from Elm Court video concert series. The series, curated by conductor and pianist Louis Lohraseb, includes five episodes filmed at the Foundation’s Elm Court estate, featuring emerging classical artists giving intimate programs of chamber music and art songs. Website: http://frkfoundation.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frkfoundation.official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frkfoundation/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FRKFoundation Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/frkfoundation

Liv Redpath, soprano Erica Petrocelli, soprano Louis Lohraseb, piano March 28, 2022 3:00pm EST Claude Debussy Ariettes oubliées, L. 60 “Jane” “La fille aux cheveux de lin” Romance d'Ariel “Romance” / “Silence ineffable” “Beau Soir” “Regret” Chanson espagnole (duet) Program notes by Carl Halvorson: While a student at the Conservatoire de Paris, Debussy met and fell in love with a somewhat older soprano, Marie-Blanche Vasnier, who possessed a strikingly high voice. She and her husband became mentors to the penniless musician, and she became his muse and mistress for seven years, during which time he dedicated twenty-seven songs to her. While some are among his most famous songs, a number were not published until somewhat recently, and indeed, "La fille aux cheveux de lin" was only published in the last decade. This performance of that song is sourced from the original manuscript in the Frederick C. Koch Collection at Yale’s Beinecke Library, and includes the elaborate second ending written in the composer’s hand, which we believe has never been performed in the modern era! The style of many of the charming Vasnier songs reflects the woman herself: display pieces for an occasionally coquettish performer who is comfortable with the coloratura soprano’s high tessitura. But these are not simple songs written for a dilettante. She must have been a serious musician, for they are often quite difficult. The Vasnier songbook dates from 1882-4, and include "Jane", "La fille aux cheveux de lin", "La romance d’Ariel", "Romance - Silence ineffable", "Regret", and the duet "Chanson espagnole", the poem of which Delibes had set as a solo song about twenty years earlier with a similar Spanish flavor. "Beau soir" was written between 1878 and 1880 in a post-Romantic, early Impressionistic style, and remains one of Debussy’s most beloved songs. The Ariettes oubliees were written several years after the Vasnier songs, and weren’t published together until 1903. They were dedicated to the great star Mary Garden, a very different artist and his first Mélisande. These are settings of sophisticated Verlaine poems, and his desire to approximate speech in the vocal line and reflect the text, while creating moods of decadence, languorous ecstasy, momentum, sumptuousness, and glorious pianistic colors and effects, all define the work as a masterpiece of the maturing Debussy. ### The Frederick R. Koch Foundation proudly presents the return of the Live from Elm Court video concert series. The series, curated by conductor and pianist Louis Lohraseb, includes five episodes filmed at the Foundation’s Elm Court estate, featuring emerging classical artists giving intimate programs of chamber music and art songs. Website: http://frkfoundation.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frkfoundation.official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frkfoundation/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FRKFoundation Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/frkfoundation

Madalyn Parnas, violin Cicely Parnas, cello Louis Lohraseb, piano March 30, 2022 3:00pm EST Mozart Piano Trio in E major, K. 542 Violin Sonata No.32, K. 454 The Frederick R. Koch Foundation proudly presents the return of the Live from Elm Court video concert series. The series, curated by conductor and pianist Louis Lohraseb, includes five episodes filmed at the Foundation’s Elm Court estate, featuring emerging classical artists giving intimate programs of chamber music and art songs. Website: http://frkfoundation.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frkfoundation.official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frkfoundation/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FRKFoundation Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/frkfoundation

Madalyn Parnas, violin Cicely Parnas, cello March 29, 2022 3:00pm EST Jocelyn Hagen Miniatures For Solo Cello Bach/C.Parnas Double Concerto for Violins Mark Summer Julie-O Saint-Saëns Danse Macabre Program notes by Carl Halvorson: Cicely Parson writes: “Jocelyn Hagen was one of the first composers I thought of when I decided to make the idea of a commission project a reality. Not only is she an incredible composer, singer, pianist, and artistic role model, she is also a dear friend. And when your friend writes a piece for you, it’s extra special! Working with Jocelyn on this was fun, challenging, mind-opening. I didn’t know if some of her ideas were possible on the cello, and I had to be creative to find ways to make them so. Who would have thought a cello could play three lines at once? Jocelyn did, and I am so grateful to her for bringing her voice and creativity to the cello. Each movement for me has a different personality and story to tell, ranging from fiery to charming, sensitive to surprising, and everything in between. I know this piece will quickly become a staple of the solo cello repertoire.” One of his most famous works, Bach’s beloved Double Concerto for Violins is scored for strings and basso continuo, but he also arranged it for two harpsichords, and it has been transcribed for piano. This arrangement for violin and cello brilliantly shows all the fugal imitation and counterpoint in great clarity, and the mesmerizing way the two individual voices intertwine. Written by one of the founders of the Turtle Island String Quartet, Julie-O has quickly become a favorite of cellists and audiences alike. It is difficult to play, yet must sound improvised. Saint Saëns’s "Danse macabre" began as an art song for voice and piano, based on an old French superstition about Death summoning the dead from their graves to dance while he plays his fiddle. This is reminiscent of the medieval Dance of Death (or Totentanz), an artistic allegory on the universality of death where all strata of society are forcibly danced to their graves, thus illustrating the vanities of earthly life and the temporality of our brief spans. Saint Saëns then expanded the mélodie into a tone poem, and there followed countless transcriptions of the work by others, including this chilling one for cello and violin that loses none of the atmosphere and intensity of larger versions. Of course, the voices are full of tritones, or intervals of diminished fifths, since they were known as ‘the devil in music.” ### The Frederick R. Koch Foundation proudly presents the return of the Live from Elm Court video concert series. The series, curated by conductor and pianist Louis Lohraseb, includes five episodes filmed at the Foundation’s Elm Court estate, featuring emerging classical artists giving intimate programs of chamber music and art songs. Website: http://frkfoundation.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frkfoundation.official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frkfoundation/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FRKFoundation Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/frkfoundation