UMS Concert Program, January 8, 1975: Guarneri String Quartet --

Concert: Eleventh
Complete Series: 3918
Power Center For The Performing Arts Ann Arbor, Michigan

The University Musical Society
of
The University of Michigan
Presents
Guarneri String Quartet
ARNOLD STEINHARDT, Violin MICHAEL TREE, Viola
JOHN DALLEY, Violin DAVID SOYER, Cello
with GARY GRAFFMAN, Pianist
Wednesday Evening, January 8, 1975, at 8:00
Power Center for the Performing Arts
Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Quartettsatz in C minor, No. 12, Posthumous Allegro assai
Quartet in Eflat major, Op. 127, No. 12
Maestoso: allegro Adagio, ma non troppo e molto cantabile;
andante con moto; adagio molto espressivo Scherzando vivace Finale: allegro con moto
Schubert Beethoven
INTERMISSION
Quintet for Piano and Strings in A major, Op. 81
Allegro ma non tanto Dumka: andante con moto Scherzo: molto vivace Allegro
Dvorak
Guarneri Quartet: RCA Victor Red Seal Records Mr. Graffman: Columbia and RCA Victor Records
Eleventh Concert Fourth Annual Choice Series, Power Center
Complete Programs 3918
PROGRAM NOTES Paul Affelder
Quartettsatz in C minor, No. 12 (1820).......Franz Schubert
Schubert is known to have composed nineteen string quartets of which four are incomplete and three are lost. The background of the "Unfinished" Quartet in C minor is somewhat obscure, but it is generally felt that the composer intended it to be the start of a complete work. Laid aside, it was never even performed until several decades after Schubert's death.
Although he was less than twentyfour years old when he wrote it, the composer had already abandoned the hardwon technique of his earlier studies and, abruptly breaking with the eighteenthcentury style of quartet writing (symbolically described as "a conversation between four witty people"), he took a big step forward toward selfexpression and selffulfillment.
In this single movement Schubert succeeds in describing the idea of death as an experience in musical terms. Commencing with a swelling tremolo or quaver in all four voices, he early establishes an air of mystery and uncertainty. Later this feeling of great inner tumult resolves in cadences of exquisite pianissimo, symbolizing spiritual release from earthly bonds. But before it ends, the mood turns again to one of tragic and bitter reflection.
Quartet No. 12 in Eflat major, Op. 127.....Ludwig van Beethoven
The last five string quartets of Beethoven--Op. 127, 130, 131, 132 and 135, together with the "Grosse Fuge," Op. 133, which originally constituted the finale of Op. 130--are generally regarded not only as the composer's supreme achievement in this or any other genre but also as the greatest masterpieces ever written for fourstringed instruments. Even today, with each new hearing, this music reveals new wonders, at the same time confounding its interpreters with fresh challenges.
The Quartet No. 12 in Eflat major, Op. 127, was probably begun as early as the spring of 1822 but was not completed until February 1825. By now, Beethoven, beset by illness, financial and family problems, was totally shut off from the outside world by his complete deafness. Yet he was able to communicate his deepest and most inti?mate thoughts and feelings to countless generations of music lovers through these last quartets, which were also his last compositions.
Written in four movements, the first begins with a brief but extremely sonorous introduction. Maestoso, which blossoms into a graceful, flowing Allegro that is twice interrupted by the return of the introductory Maestoso. The slow movement is a noble Adagio, comprising a longlined theme with five imaginative variations. The
third movement is a spirited Scherzando vivace, which ends abruptly, followed by the last movement marked simply Finale, bringing the composition to a close on a strongly affirmative note.
Quintet for Piano and Strings in A major, Op. 81 . . . . Antonin Dvorak
Dvorak's Piano Quintet in A major, one of the finest and most popular works of its kind in the entire literature, was composed between August 18 and October 3, 1887, at his summer home on the edge of a forest in the village of Vysoka. It received its initial performance at a concert of the Society of Artists in Prague on January 6, 1888.
"This work probably epitomizes more completely the genuine Dvorak style in most of its facets than any other work of his," writes John Clapham in his recent estimable biography of the composer. "Laughter and tears, sorrow and gaiety, are found side by side, as well as many moods that lie between these two extremes. All are presented with consummate mastery, they are decked in a wide range of instru?mental coloring, and through the whole sweeps the lifeblood of vital rhythm."
These contrasts of mood show up at once in the first movement, Allegro ma non tanto. What is so remarkable is that all these shifts and shadings are achieved with only one basic theme; for, with the exception of the rhythmic transitional passages, all of the thematic material is derived from the opening melody sung by the cello. The overall atmosphere is warm, and the movement ends in an exultant coda.
The second movement bears the title Dnmka and the tempo marking Andante con moto. The dumka is a type of Slavic folk song of a narrative character that is often in two sections, one pensive and melancholy, the other exuberant. Dvorak, who used the dumka as a musical form in a number of his works, treats it rather differently here. The basic schematic pattern of the movement is ABACABA. In this plan, A is the pensive, melancholy section; B is a brighter, more optimistic, slightly faster section with new material, and C is a lively, dancelike Vivace whose theme is a derivation and transformation of A. So once again, there is frequent change of mood.
Though the third movement is marked Scherzo (Furiant), Molto vivace, it is more like a fast waltz than a true furiant, which is a Czech dance full of syncopation and constantly shifting accents. The somewhat slowerpaced trio--or contrasting middle section--is marked Poco tranquillo and offers a reposeful new theme com?bined at times with part of the theme from the Scherzo section.
The Finale, Allegro, is full of bubbling high spirits from beginning to end. All of its themes are bright and vivacious, and the mood of gaiety is even sustained in the learned little fugato in the development section. The tempo slackens momentarily in the coda, but this is only a foil for the superspeed concluding pages.
Mstislav Rostropovich
worldrenowned Soviet cellist in recital
Sunday Afternoon, January 19, 1975, at 2:30 Hill Auditorium
Marcel Marceau, Pantomimist......Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
January 10, 11 & 12 Detroit Symphony Orchestra.......Saturday, January 11
Aldo Ceccato, conductor; Lorin Hollander, pianist
Bach. Piano Concerto in D minor; Strauss: Burleske in D minor; Dvorak: Symphony No. 8
Syntagma Musicum from Amsterdam.....Thursday, January 23
Tokyo String Quartet.........Sunday, February 2
Haydn: Quartet, Op. SO, No. 1; Bartok: Quartet No. 6; Debussy: Quartet in G minor American Symphony Orchestra.......Sunday, February 9
Morton Gould, conductor
Bernstein: "Candide" Overture; Strauss: "Macbeth"; Ives: Second Orchestral Set; Gould:
Declaration Suite; MussorgskyRavel: Pictures at an Exhibition
Prague Chamber Orchestra
(replacing Moscow Chamber Orchestra) .... Tuesday, February 11
Mozart: Symphony in D major, K. 504 ("Prague") ; Prokofielf: "Classical Symphony" in
D major; Dvorak: Czech Suite in D major, Op. 39 Goldovsky Grand Opera Theater.....Thursday, February 13
Donizetti: "The Interrupted Wedding Night"; Debussy: "The Prodigal Son" JeanPierre Rampal, Flutist, and
Robert VeyronLa Croix, Keyboard.....Tuesday, February 18
Harkness Ballet..........Thursday, February 20
Chhau, Masked Dance of Bengal.....Saturday, February 22
Moscow Balalaika Orchestra and Ludmila Zykina Monday, February 24
Paul Taylor Dance Company.......Wednesday, March 12
Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra.....Saturday, March IS
Alain Lombard, conductor; JeanBernard Pommier, pianist
Qawwali Music from Pakistan.......Sunday, March 16
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Pianist.......Wednesday, March 19
Ars Antiqua de Paris.........Saturday, March 29
Boston Symphony Orchestra........Saturday, April S
Seija Ozawa, conductor; and the Festival Chorus
Featuring Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloe"
Preservation Hall Jazz.........Wednesday, April 9
Spanish RTV Symphony Orchestra.......Friday, April 11
Enrique Garcia Ascensio, conductor; Narciso Yepes, guitarist
82ND ANN ARBOR MAY FESTIVAL
Four concerts--April 30, May 1, 2, and 3
The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, Conductor The University Choral Union, John Pritchard, Guest Conductor
Soloists
Rudolf Serkin, Pianist Donald Bell, Bass Grace Bumbry, Soprano
Series ticket orders now being accepted; brochure available with complete details.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan Phone 6653 717