Well, if you get bored, it serves you right…when I finished (performing the Beethoven Sonata in C-sharp minor) I noticed the ladies were weeping, the gentlemen hotly debated the importance of the work.
Felix Mendelssohn, pianist
Haydn Piano Trio No. 43 in C major Hob. XV:27 (1797)
Shostakovich Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 (1940)
Mozart Viola Quintet in C major, K. 515 (1787)
Welcome to the opening concert of BCMS Season 37 and to the 500th year since the passing of Leonardo da Vinci, who famously described the creation of music as ‘shaping the invisible.’ If you are having a new encounter with chamber music, in this program you will hear works by the founders of our constitution, whose ways of creating, forming and presenting music for the most intimate groupings of players lasted from their time until our own.
In his writings on drawing, painting, and sculpture Leonardo explained how visual objects and images are better seen in contrast with light, shadow, and line. In their musical works our masters of sound created meaning in what was heard in the context of notes themselves—creating contrast with intimate conversation between differing pairs of instrumental colors and range, character and key. These successes of our medium are measured in the emotional impact on audiences. You have to be there to get it. It’s not what you think; nor what you see; it’s how you feel.
To the extent that our program is introductory and foundational, it is also chronologically counter-intuitive. The outer two works by Haydn (1732–1809) and by Mozart (1756–1791) are in the same key of C major, but, as the dates show, were written ten years apart, with the younger composer writing the earlier work! As bookends to this concert, one need only reflect on the extent to which a talented young student can affect his mentor and master even into the latter’s old age.
Enclosed between these Viennese masterworks is possibly the most widely performed piano quintet from the twentieth century by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975). It is in the key of G minor—which has an architectonic relationship with the key of C at a time in history (1940) when most other composers had long given up writing in identifiable keys! That fact alone should be enough to alert us to his interest in shaping procedures of form, texture, harmony and rhythm that were employed by earlier masters. So, we shouldn’t be surprised by the introduction and fugue that evoke a Bach organ work, the fast Scherzo that evokes Beethoven’s wit, the Intermezzo with walking bass line that reminds of jazz years after its introduction to the continent.
Come and be moved by our artistry. The experience lies beyond words, and we would love to see you there!
Enjoy!
Marcus
