UMS Concert Program, October 10, 1976: Guarneri String Quartet --

Complete Series: 4008
Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

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The University of Michigan
Presents
Guarneri String Quartet
ARNOLD STEINHARDT, Violin JOHN DALLEY, Violin
MICHAEL TREE, Viola DAVID SOYER, Cello
Sunday Afternoon, October 10, 1976, at 2:30 Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Quartet in Eflat major, Op. 127
MaestosoAllegro
Adagio, ma non troppo e molto cantabile Scherzando vivace Finale
Quartet in D major, Op. 18, No. 3
Allegro
Andante con moto Allegro Presto
Beethoven
Beethoven
INTERMISSION
Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 ....
Allegro
Molto adagio Allegretto Finale: presto
Beethoven
This concert is the first program of the complete Beethoven quartet cycle being perjormed by the Guarneri Quartet during this 197677 season.
RCA Red Seal Records
Added Concert
Complete Programs 4008
Ludwig van Beethoven
(Born December 16,1770, in Bonn; Died March 26,1827, in Vienna)
Quartet No. 12 in Eflat major, Op. 127
The last five string quartets of Beethoven--Opp. 127, 130, 131, 132, and 135, together with the Grosse Fugc, Op. 133, are generally regarded not only as the composer's supreme achievement in this or any other genre but as the greatest masterpieces ever written for four stringed instruments. Even today, with each new hearing, this music reveals new wonders, while simultaneously con?founding its interpreters with fresh challenges.
"A fundamental difference of outlook separates the last quartets from those that preceded them," wrote Joseph de Marliave. ". . . Impassioned they may be, these earlier quartets, but they are primarily objective, and the later works are stamped with a profound and undeniable subjectivity; the mind that formed them is now wholly independent of external things for its inspiration, de?tached from outside interests and careless of traditional form; the last quartets are essentially the direct expression of Beethoven's most intimate spirit, the channel of inspiration flowing from another sphere."
Quartet N'o. 12 was the first of three quartets that Beethoven composed and dedicated to Prince Nikolaus Galitzin, a wealthy amateur, who was cellist of the St. Petersburg Quartet. Although the Prince commissioned the works and agreed to pay fifty ducats for each, Beethoven received only a down payment on the first, and the balance was not paid until twentyfive years after his death.
The Quartet in Eflat major begins its first movement with a sonorous introduction, Maestoso, which leads into a flowing allegro, vigorous and interrupted twice by returning motives of the Maestoso. The slow movement--a noble Adagio--contains a longlined theme with five imaginative variations. The third movement is a spirited Scherzando vivace, with a dramatically agitated middle section. The Finale is probably the most serene of the four sections, and brings the work to a close on a strongly affirmative note.
Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 18, No. 3
In his first string quartets, Beethoven sums up the styles and accomplishments of his two great predecessors--Haydn and Mozart--and prepares for the great advances in technique and expression that he will make in his mature quartets. His Op. 18 is a set of six that he wrote between 1798 and 1800. They were published in 1801 with a dedication to the young composer's younger, noble friend, Prince Franz Joseph Lobkowitz, who spent a large part of his great fortune on music. Beethoven had already begun to surfer the progressive hearing loss that burdened him during his entire adult life, but he was just approaching the full command of the enormous creative powers that account for his special place in history.
This Quartet, published as the third in the set, was actually written first. It is a fine work, in which Beethoven makes no great stylistic advances but tries himself out in the medium that the great composers of a generation earlier had used and served so well. It is, in a way, the final summary, the climactic composition of the eighteenth century, full of hints of the music of the future.
The first movement, Allegro, is rich in charm and energy and in the freshness of its simple development. The second movement is a not very slow Andante con moto, long, poetically ex?pressive, and well developed. Beethoven did not place the traditional headings of "Minuet" over the opening of the third movement, Allegro, and "Trio" over the contrasting middle section, per?haps because he felt that the alterations he made in the opening materials when they return, though they seem to us now to be minor ones, were departures from the standard form. The Presto finale is a vigorous and witty movement in classic sonata form, brilliantly written for the instruments.
--Leonard Burkat
Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2
The three quartets that comprise Beethoven's Op. 59 were composed in 1806. They are dedi?cated to Count Andreas Krilovitch Rasoumovsky, at that time the Russian Ambassador to Vienna, who was a thorough musician and an excellent quartet player. These quartets, so radically advanced over the first set of six, Op. 18, exceeded all anticipated liberties, and aroused doubt among con?servative musicians of the period as to the normal course of Beethoven's development. Nevertheless, they made a strong impression on their first hearers, and have continued to hold a place of honor in the string quartet literature.
The Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2, begins with a rather dramatic, darkly colored Allegro. Next comes a contemplative slow movement, marked Molto adagio. The opening and closing sections of the third movement, Allegretto, are characterized by an uneven rhythmic restlessness. The trio-or contrasting middle section--will surprise those not already familiar with it, for here Beethoven, as a tribute to Count Rasoumovsky, quotes a popular Russian hymn, Glory to God in Heaven, which Moussorgsky was to use more than a half century later in the Coronation Scene of his opera Boris Godunov. The finale is a vigorous Presto, again marked by strong rhythmic accents.
--Paul Affelder
About the Artists
Arnold Steinhardt, Violinist, is a recipient of the Leventritt Award and winner of the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. He made his debut as a soloist at the age of fourteen with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Major American orchestras with which he has appeared as soloist include Philadelphia, New York, and Cleveland.
John Dalley, Violinist, son of University ProfessorEmeritus and Mrs. Orien Dalley of Ann Arbor, made his concert debut at the age of fourteen and toured widely throughout Europe, including Russia. Before joining the Guarneri Quartet, he was on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory and a member of the Oberlin String Quartet, as well as artistinresidence at the University of Illinois.
Michael Tree, Violist, is noted both as a violist and violinist. He made his debut at the age of twenty in Carnegie Hall, and his solo appearances have ranged from the orchestras of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Los Angeles, throughout South America to the Spoleto Festival in Italy.
David Soyer, Cellist, made his debut as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of seventeen and has since concertized extensively in the United States and Europe in the dual capacity of soloist and chamber music performer. He is a former member of the Bach Aria Group, The Guilet Quartet, and the New Music String Quartet. He has made numerous recordings. Mr. Soyer is related to Moses and Raphael Soyer whose paintings are in the great museums of the world.
Arnold Steinhardt plays a violin made by Joseph Guarneri about 1728; John Dalley's instrument was made by Nicholas Lupot in 1819. The viola of Michael Tree was made by Dominicus Busan about 178S and David Soyer's cello was made by Andrea Guarneri in 1669.
COMING EVENTS
Alicia de Larrocha, Pianist........Monday, October 18
Baroque Music Masters......(sold out) Wednesday, October 20
Martial Arts of Kabuki.........Thursday, October 21
Spanish National Folk Ballet.......Monday, October 25
Orchestre de ParisBarenboim......Wednesday, October 27
Julian Bream, Guitarist.........Sunday, October 31
Justino Diaz, Bass..........Monday, November 1
Guarneri String Quartet......(sold out) Friday, November 5
Guarneri String Quartet........Saturday, November 6
Chinese Acrobats..........Saturday, November 6
Ruth Laredo, Pianist..........Sunday, November 7
Victor Herbert's Naughty Marietta......Friday & Saturday,
November 12 & 13 London Philharmonic OrchestraHaitink . . . Sunday, November 14
Elly Ameling, Soprano.........Tuesday, November 16
Aeolian Chamber Players........Saturday, November 20
Handel's "Messiah"........Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
December 3, 4, 5 Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet.....Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
The Pittsburgh Ballet December 16, 17, 18
Verdi's La Traviata--Canadian Opera Company .... Sunday, January 9
JeanPierre Rampal, Flutist......(sold out) Friday, January 14
Prague Chamber Orchestra........Saturday, January IS
Michael Ponti, Pianist.........Tuesday, January 25
Royal Winnipeg Ballet.........Saturday & SundayJanuary 29 & 30
Danzas Venezuela.........Wednesday, February 2
Warsaw Quintet (piano and strings).....Thursday, February 3
Jorge Bolet, Pianist..........Saturday, February 5
Rajko--Gypsy Orchestra and Dancers.....Sunday, February 6
Leningrad Symphony OrchestraTemirkanov . . . Thursday, February 10
Guarneri String Quartet........Saturday, February 19
Guarneri String Quartet.....(sold out) Sunday, February 20
Alvin Ailey Dance Theater.....Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
February 21, 22, 23
JeanPierre Rampal, Flutist.....(sold out) Friday, February 25
Yamini Krishnamurti, South Indian Dancer .... Monday, February 28 Czech Philharmonic OrchestraNeumann .... Thursday, March 3
Janos Starker, Cellist..........Monday, March 14
Masked DanceDrama of Korea......Wednesday, March 16
Detroit Symphony OrchestraChoral UnionSoloists . . Sunday, March 20
Ceccato conducts Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" Frans Brueggen, Flute & Recorder . . . (sold out) Tuesday, March 22
Yugoslav National Folk Ballet.......Thursday, March 24
Osipov Balalaika Orchestra........Saturday, March 26
Third Annual Benefit Concert........Friday, April 15
Guarneri String Quartet.........Saturday & Sunday
April 16 & 17
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Phones: 6653717, 7642538