Spring has come (even to Northern Door County), and Midsummer (the longest day of the year) is ever so close. Even closer is the opening of Midsummer’s Music. The music starts with a grand flourish on Friday, June 12th at Birch Creek. This is an exciting gala event with fabulous food and beverages, stunningly beautiful performances of great music, and the chance to see friends and neighbors again.
But it also heralds a whole season of great music. 43 concerts in fact, running all the way to Labor Day. There are several threads running through the season. First and foremost is the fantastic musicianship – the brilliant playing that will be on display throughout. David Perry, violin, returns with his voluptuous playing and discerning leadership and our pianist, Jeannie Yu, will thrill us throughout the season, but nowhere more so than on Opening Night. But we also have great variety this year with a program featuring trumpeter, Ansel Norris, a splendid French program highlighting the talent of harpist Amanda Beranek, and a special USA 250th Celebration featuring Fiddler, George Meyer, the Griffon String Quartet, and flutist Heather Zinninger. And that is only the tip of the iceberg. Please check out our website or call us for a brochure so that you can make sure to highlight your favorites.
Another thread through a good part of the season is the music of Mozart. And this season, it is a particular category of Mozart’s chamber music that we are featuring – works that feature one solo instrument in combination with a small string ensemble. These are either quartets (like the Piano Quartet on our first program) or quintets (like the Clarinet Quintet on our second program). We are also doing the Flute Quartet on the George Meyer/Griffon program because it was written about the same time as the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Later on, we are doing Mozart’s Oboe Quartet featuring Lindsay Flowers. In each case these works involve three or four string players and a contrasting instrument.
This is a phenomenon that exploded in the late 18th century. We don’t have a real sense of how dramatic that was today because so many of these works were written by second-tier composers who are not so well known today, but their efforts were much appreciated in their day. What precipitated this flood of specialized creativity? One of the main causes was the rise of the middle class. This was a period, especially in Germany and Austria, of a developing middle class. People who had some amount of leisure time and a degree of disposable income looked for satisfying ways to enjoy life with their friends, neighbors, and relatives. In an era with no radio or TV or social media, a get together with friends in the evening to play some music was just the ticket.
These works were often issued in groups of three or six and would have a subtitle like, “Fur Kenner und Liebhaber” (for Connoisseurs and Enthusiasts). It also suggests that they were for the “Proficient” and the (rather accomplished) “Amateur.” This was a difficult balancing act. How could a composer make it within the range of the average player’s technique but challenging enough for the really accomplished, including professionals. This issue especially applied to the solo part (wind or piano). In the case of the Piano Quartet in G Minor on our first program, Mozart failed rather miserably in this regard. The publisher, Hoffmeister, had commissioned Mozart to write three such Quartets but after seeing the G Minor, he cancelled the remaining order because he could see that Mozart had written the piano part for himself and few others would even attempt playing it. When you hear Jeannie Yu tear into this work, you will realize what a phenomenal pianist Mozart was and Jeannie is now! However, the other instruments are thoroughly involved. This is what Mozart brought to these works. They are not just a work for solo instrument and the accompaniment of violin, viola, and cello. Mozart loved to have dialogue in his music. His experience writing opera spilled over into his orchestral works. Delightful musical conversations are the result throughout. When I was playing Principal Bassoon with the Chicago Philharmonic or the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, the prospect of a Mozart Piano concerto in the repertoire always caught my attention. Some of the most difficult orchestral bassoon parts can be found in Mozart, especially the piano concertos.
The Raff Piano Quartet on the second half of the program comes from the same tradition, but about 100 years later. By this time, the use of a wind instrument with a trio or quartet of strings had all but died out. (The Brahms Clarinet Quintet is a delicious exception). However, the Piano Quartet or Quintet still survived as such works by Schumann, Brahms, and Fauré, for example, attest. Raff wrote his First Piano Quartet in 1876 and it is among his last works.
So, who is Joachim Raff, you may ask. In his day (the mid nineteenth century) he was thought to be destined to be the next Beethoven. At the height of his career, he was highly regarded but with the turn of the 20th century, he suddenly fell out of favor and is only recently being re-assessed. Raff also suffered from circumstances somewhat beyond his control. He was quite poor most of his life. Consequently, he wrote a prodigious amount of music to pay the bills, but sometimes he turned it out too fast without suitable reflection or editing. To say it another way, his work can be uneven. He was capable of being top notch when he spent the time and effort, but he also misfired a little too often in his attempt to support his family.
With the Piano Quartet in G Major, we have one of his very best efforts. In 1862, when he was working on his Piano Quintet, he said about the effort, “it is more difficult than a symphony or a string quartet and I understand very well why even Beethoven steered clear of them.” However, the work shows he was up to the task and this Piano Quartet, from almost 15 years later, even more so. It is one of his very best works, and Jeannie Yu, David Perry, and company will leave you breathless. When Raff was a young man, Mendelssohn saw something remarkable in his talent and invited him to come to Leipzig to study with him. Before this could take place, Mendelssohn suddenly died. It is one of the many misfortunes that Raff had to deal with, but despite these, he managed to leave us with some very inspired music if one knows where to look. Along with Mendelssohn, he has that astounding and virtually unique ability to grab you by the collar at the beginning of a particular movement and hold you completely in his thrall until the very end.
This program begins with a request, the Nocturne for Piano, Violin, and Cello, by Schubert, which is simply one of the most beautiful works ever written. Our friend Ken Boyd asked that we play it, and I am only too happy to include it. It is not often done, but it should be. Be sure to have a hankie close at hand for this one.
Please join us for a Grand Opening Night Gala on Friday, June 12th at Birch Creek. We start with a toast, hear some fantastic music played at the peak of perfection, and then continue celebrating the beginning of our 36th (!) season with a splendiferous reception. If you can’t make that date, we will be very sad, but we would also welcome you at three other opportunities:
Saturday, June 13, 7:00 pm., St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
Tuesday, June 16, 7:00 pm., Hope Church, Sturgeon Bay
Wednesday, June 17, 7:00 pm., Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay
Jim Berkenstock
Artistic Director