Brahms, Bax, Puts – Boston Chamber Music Society

Johannes BRAHMS Scherzo in C minor from the F-A-E Sonata, WoO 2 (1853)
Alyssa Wang, violin; Max Levinson, piano

Arnold BAX Oboe Quintet, GP 258 (1922)
Peggy Pearson, oboe; Jennifer Frautschi, violin; Alyssa Wang, violin; Marcus Thompson, viola; Edward Arron, cello

Kevin PUTS And Legions Will Rise (2001)
Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet; Alyssa Wang, violin; Ayano Kataoka, marimba

Johannes BRAHMS Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op. 87 (1882)
Jennifer Frautschi, violin; Edward Arron, cello; Max Levinson, piano

Featured musicians

Brahms’s Scherzo in C minor is widely considered the gem of F-A-E Sonata, a collaboration between three composers dedicated to violinist Joseph Joachim. It opens with a fiery statement, and while moments of calm lyricism follow, they are continually interrupted by the emphatic opening material. The final iteration of the theme morphs into a surprisingly triumphant ending.

Written between the world wars, Bax’s Oboe Quintet is haunted by darkness and melancholy. The piece opens mysteriously with an improvisatory solo in the oboe before the ensemble launches into an energetic Allegro, featuring a broad palette of tone colors in the strings. The first two movements occupy the same soundscapes as the Irish songs Bax composed earlier, while the finale is an Irish jig.

Scored for violin, clarinet and marimba, And Legions Will Rise by Puts “is about the power in all of us to transcend during times of tragedy and personal crisis,” writes the composer. Upward flutters of notes in the marimba and soaring lines in the violin and clarinet evoke flying, while slower moments give space for contemplation.

Brahms’s Piano Trio No. 2 in C major is a highly compact work that nonetheless traverses numerous emotional spheres, from heroic and passionate to mournful and mysterious. The facility and ingenuity with which Brahms develops the work’s melodic and harmonic material demonstrates the hand of a master at the height of his creative powers.