UMS Concert Program, March 14, 1991: An Die Musik --

Season: 112th
Concert: Thirty-first
Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
AN DIE MUSIK
Richard Rood, Violinist Richard Brice, Violist
Daniel Rothmuller, Cellist Gerard Reuter, Oboist
Constance Emmerich, Pianist Howard King, Guest Narrator
Thursday Evening, March 14, 1991, at 8:00 Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Aesop Suite ........................Jerzy Sapieyevski
The Wolf and the Kid The Miser
The Old Hound The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner
The Eagle and His Captor
An die Musik and Howard King
Trio for Oboe, Violin, and Viola...................Beethoven
Variations on "La ci darem la mano" (from Don Giovanni)
Quartet for Oboe and Strings in F major, K. 370.............Mozart
Allegro Adagio Rondo: allegro
INTERMISSION Trio for Oboe, Violin, and Cello in C major, "London"..........Haydn
Quartet for Piano and Strings in E-flat major, K. 493 ...........Mozart
Allegro
Larghetto
Allegretto
An die Musik is represented by Byers, Schwalbe & Associates, Inc., New York City.
An die Musik records for the Musical Heritage Society.
An die Musik is the recipient of grants from the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of New York,
the New York Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Copies of this title page are available in larger print; please contact an usher.
Thirty-first Concert of the 112th Season
Twenty-eighth Annual Chamber Arts Series
Program Notes
Aesop Suite for the Oboe, Violin, Viola, Cello, Piano, and Narrator Jerzy Sapieyevski (b. 1945)
Aesop Suite for An die Musik is Jerzy Sapieyevski's second composition to be inspired by the fables of Aesop, the sixth-century B.C. Greek slave. Sapieyevski's first Aesop Suite, for brass quin?tet and narrator, was commissioned by and subsequently recorded by the Annapolis Brass Quintet. The Aesop Suite heard this evening is the result of a separate commission from the members of An die Musik. In fulfilling this commission, Sapieyevski turned to his earlier Aesop Suite for source material.
The composer comments about the conception of the Aesop Suite and this adap?tation written especially for An die Musik:
"When approached to write a piece with narration, 1 found it a perplexing task -I had no idea which text to use. Although there were many texts that I like, most did not inspire any musical thought. Finally, the idea developed of setting some of Aesop's fables. I like 'magic' in music, but I also like music's influence on the human spirit, and these fables seemed an excellent means of conveying this influence.
"I was attracted to the idea of trans?forming this piece for An die Musik because of its tremendous coloristic potential -the combination of oboe, piano, and strings seemed an ideal palette to give full expression of the moods of Aesop's fables.
"The piece is centered on several mo-tivic ideas that are 'comments' on each fable. You might consider the piece as a dialogue between the narrator and the ensemble. My main intention, however, was to make the music penetrate the listener to the point where he begins to ask himself, 'Did Aesop know me personally' "
Narration for Aesop's Suites:
The Wolf and the Kid
Solo instrument: viola
A kid had no sooner strayed a little way from his flock than he found the wolf at his heels. He ran as fast as he could but at last, seeing that he would be caught, he turned and reasoned with the wolf.
"There's no denying that you will catch and eat me," said the kid, "but since my life must be so short, why should it not be merry Play me a tune before I die! I will dance, and it will whet your appetite."
The wolf saw no harm in the idea. He took his horn and played while the kid danced around him. The music was so loud and merry that the shepherds could not help but hear. They ran to see what could be the cause of such celebration and chased the wolf away.
As the wolf ran off, he turned and shouted to the kid, "It's no more than I deserve! After all, I am a butcher by trade. I had no business turning piper just to please a kid!"
The Old Hound
Solo instrument: cello
There was once a hound who had been faithful to his master all his life long and served him well. He had run down many a quarry in his time, but at last he grew old and lost his strength and speed. One day, when they were hunting, a wild boar ran out of the forest, and the master set his hound to the chase. The hound managed to catch the beast, but his teeth were weak and he could not maintain his hold, so the boar escaped. The master was furious and was about to punish the hound, but the hound stopped him, saying, "1 would serve you better than ever, if it were in my power, but my body is too weak to obey my will. You should honor me for what I have been, rather than punish me for what I am!"
The Eagle and His Captor
Solo instrument: violin
A man once caught an eagle, clipped his wings, and turned him loose among the fowls in his barnyard. The bird became so sad and scrawny that after awhile the man was delighted to sell him to a friend, who took him home and allowed his wings to grow. The eagle was so grateful that as soon as he could fly again, he caught a hare and brought it back to his benefactor.
A fox, observing this, laughed scorn?fully. "You're wasting your time!" he told the eagle. "You should have given the hare to the man who first caught you. If you make him your friend, with luck he won't catch you and clip your wings a second time!"
The Miser
Solo instrument: piano
A miser once sold all his possessions for gold, which he melted down into a single lump and buried secretly in the corner of a field. Unable to keep away from the spot, however, he went there every day to gloat over his treasure. These visits did not go unnoticed. One of his servants followed him at last and, taking care to keep out of sight, discovered his secret. That very night the servant crept back, dug up the gold, and" ran away with it.
When the miser saw that his hoard was gone, he tore his hair and screamed with rage. A neighbor heard the commotion and came to see what the trouble could be.
"Why, that's easily solved!" said the neighbor when he was told of the miser's loss. "Just bury a stone in the same hole and take a look at it each day. You'll be no worse off than before, for even when you had your gold it was of no earthly use to you!"
The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner
Solo instrument: oboe
A trumpeter marched boldly into battle at the head of all the troops, playing such warlike tunes that all who followed him were inspired with courage. He was soon captured by the enemy, however, and sentenced to death. "Why put me to death" he argued as he begged for mercy. "1 have killed no one! My only weapon is my trumpet, and you must admit it is a harmless one."
"For that reason you are more to blame than ever," his captors replied. "Instead of fighting yourself, you stir up your followers to do so!"
Jerzy Sapieyevski is regarded as one of the brightest figures on the interna?tional music scene. Born in Lodz, Po?land, in 1945, his musical studies began at the age of eight, and by the time he was twelve, his interests had turned specifically to conducting and composing. After graduating with honors from the State Advanced School of Music, he continued his musical education at the Conservatory of Music in Gdansk. Always interested in sci?ence and math, he seriously considered an engineering career; eighteen months of engi?neering school, however, convinced him to
return to music. While in Poland, he con?ducted his own experimental ensemble and performed extensively in concert halls, radio, and television.
By the time Sapieyevski left Poland in the mid-1960s, he was an accomplished per?former and composer. He settled in Washing?ton, D.C., where he earned a master's degree from Catholic University, teaching there part-time until becoming a full-time faculty member at American University in 1975. Drawn to the synthesizer, Sapieyevski was instrumental in establishing American University's Music Lab in 1986, strengthen?ing the school's multidisciplinary audio tech?nology program. Collaborating with musi?cians and scientists in exploring new sound technology, his latest work, Songs of the Rose, brings together synthesizers with a traditional string ensemble. Sapieyevski's compositions range from single-instrument to orchestral works and have been performed in Europe, the United States, and Japan.
Jerzy Sapieyevski was a Koussevitzky Fellow at Tanglewood, a BesanQon conduct?ing finalist, and in the Washington area, he has been artistic director of the Dumbarton Concert Series and composer-in-residence at Wolf Trap Farm Park.
]erzy Sapieyevski
Variations on "La ci darem la mano" for Oboe, Violin, and Viola Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Beethoven's Variations on "La ci darem la mano" (from Don Giovanni), written in 1796-97 (first performed in Vienna on De?cember 23, 1797), was originally scored by the composer for the unusual com?bination of two oboes and English horn. The work was offered to Peters in 1822 in an arrangement for two violins and viola, but it was not published until 1914 (Breitkopf and Hartel) and at that time appeared in both wind and string versions. (The wind version was first offered to Breitkopf in 1803).
Beethoven had a life-long penchant for arranging and transcribing and transforming his themes for numerous and widely various combinations. It was the custom during Mozart's and Beethoven's lifetimes to para?phrase popular numbers from contemporary operas for whatever combinations of instru?ments were readily available. Given all this and the fact that the oboe was the original soprano instrument in this work, we may imagine that Beethoven would have enjoyed hearing this work performed with oboe and strings.
Quartet for Oboe and Strings
in F major, K. 370
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Apart from his genius as a com?poser, Mozart was one of the great performers of his day, and, as his letters show, his reactions to performers and performances were intense and sharply fo?cused. It followed quite naturally that he was often motivated to write a work because of the special talents and singular character of an exceptional performer. This was certainly the case with the Oboe Quartet composed in Munich in 1781 for the oboist Friedrich Ramm, considered one of the great performers of his day.
The Quartet is a wonderfully con?structed little masterpiece that balances ele?ments of Mozart's mature string quartet writing with a concertante style particularly effective for an ensemble of wind instruments with strings. In the first movement, this combination of elements is clearly evident,
with Mozart having fun sometimes using the oboe and strings together as a quartet, then placing the oboe and strings in a more solo-ripieno relationship with the strings announc?ing some happy idea and retreating into the background while the oboe takes it away and develops it. The entire movement is Mozart setting forth his most elegant and charming nature, displaying from the beginning a warm, buoyant vitality.
The Adagio in its short duration proves to be a deeply moving emotional experience. After a haunting opening by the strings, Mozart used dramatic leaps in the oboe, darkly colored harmonies, and a throbbing repetitious accompaniment figure to create the setting of a tragic air.
The feeling of quiet sadness is delicately broken by a charming 68 Rondo allegro. In a startling middle section, the oboist crazily strikes out in 44 time, while the strings patiently continue their triple time pattern. In due course, the oboist returns to join in the more conventional doings of the move?ment, now overflowing with high spirits. Recalling an earlier rustic tune, the piece lightly and quietly bids us adieu.
Trio in C major, "London" for Oboe, Violin, and Cello Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Haydn's Trio in C Major was originally composed for two flutes and cello and is the first of a set of four called the "Lon?don Trios." Unlike Mozart, who was known to dislike the flute, Haydn appears to have had an affinity for the instru?ment. All his mature symphonic works fea?ture the flute prominently, and, in addition to the London Trios, Haydn wrote many chamber music works with flute, including the flute quartets and trios with cello and piano, and violin and cello.
The Trio in C major is a cheerful, airy work, full of charm. It was probably written in the spirit of a divertimento -a light, entertaining musical diversion, or perhaps as a piece that amateur musicians would get together and play -and purchase the music, too! With that in mind, and recognizing Haydn's penchant for transcribing many of his works (the slow movement of his piano trio in F-sharp appears as the slow movement
of his 102nd Symphony), one can imagine that Haydn might have been pleased to hear this work performed with oboe, violin, and cello.
Quartet in E-flat major, K. 493 for Piano and Strings Mozart
The piano quartet in E-flat was completed in 1786, about five weeks after the completion of The Marriage of Figaro. It was commissioned by Franz Anton Hoffmeister, a composer-publisher living in Vienna, and was a new genre of chamber music: chamber music with piano as a true member of the ensemble. Johann Schobert, a Silesian living in Paris, had been the first to use the piano in chamber music in this way, and he became the model for those composers who followed him, of whom Mo?zart was one.
Alfred Einstein refers to the E-flat Quartet as a masterpiece in its originality, its freshness of innovation, and its craftsman?ship. The intense emotional nature of the first piano quartet in G minor has become trans?formed into a work of brighter hues, though, in Einstein's words, "Iridescent with hints of darker shades." In the dreamy Larghetto, one finds an ultimate tenderness, and the final Rondo is vigorous and ingratiating.
About the Artists
The hallmark of An die Musik is its unusual combination of oboe, string trio, and piano. It is the only permanent ensemble with this unique instrumentation, a combination that allows subtleties of color and timbre, nuance and drama, encompassing four centuries of repertoire. The vast range and variety of chamber literature that An die Musik explores is unmatched by more con?ventionally comprised ensembles. The en?semble has also been the source of inspiration for original works.
Formed in 1976 by pianist Constance Emmerich and oboist Gerard Reuter, the ensemble draws its name from Schubert's song in praise of music. From a modest three-con?cert series in New York a little over a decade ago, An die Musik has attained a place in the foremost rank of world-class chamber ensem-
bles; today, these annual series of concerts in New York City are sold-out events.
Acclaimed in the United States and abroad for its ensemble playing and the su?perlative musicianship of each of the five artists, An die Musik has been featured on distinguished series across the country, in?cluding those of the Coleman Chamber Music Association, Chamber Arts Society of Duke University, Phoenix Chamber Music Society, Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music, and the Kennedy Center's Ensemble Recital Series (selected by the Voice of America for worldwide broadcast). They have also been featured at universities and colleges across the United States and western Canada, including a four-year residency at Southern Methodist University in Dallas that offered master classes, open rehearsals, and concerts.
An die Musik's festival appearances include the Lincoln Center Summer Festival, the Fall Festival at Round Top, Texas (di?rected by James Dick), and the White Moun?tain Center for the Arts (under the direction of Gerard Schwarz). On October 6, 1990, the group appeared at the Flanders Festival in Ghent, Belgium, where it gave the first performance in modern times of Mozart's "Gran Partita," arranged during Mozart's life?time by C.F.G. Schwencke as the "Grand Quintetto." This concert, given in the thir?teenth-century abbey Bijloke, accommodated 2,000 people and was videotaped and re?corded. On November 4, 1990, An die Musik was featured by "The Festival of Britain -Orange County 1990" in the premier cham?ber music concert at the Irvine Barclay The?ater in California. This event was made possible in part by grants and support from
Top: Richard Brice, Richard Rood Bottom: Daniel Rothmuller, Constance Emmerich, Gerard Reuter.
the British government and the Consulate General in Los Angeles, among others.
An die Musik has performed and re?corded in five European countries, and its radio broadcasts have been taped for re-broad?cast in Berlin, Frankfurt, Oslo, Hilversum, and Dublin. The ensemble's 1990 concert in the Edmonton Chamber Music Society Series was recorded and broadcast throughout Can?ada by the CBC.
An die Musik's recordings include an all-Mozart album that received a Special Merit acclaim from Stereo Review, a premier recording of Martinu's Quartet for Violin, Oboe, Cello, and Piano, an album of piano quartets by Schumann and Brahms, and one of Beethoven's piano quartets. The group is presently engaged in a long-term recording project with Musical Heritage Society, en?compassing the repertoire for piano quartet, oboe quartet, string trios, and other works for varying combinations. A second all-Mozart album (CD) and an all-Haydn album are scheduled. An die Musik's recordings are
featured on national radio in the United States, and a videotape of An die Musik in performance, by Allan Miller, has been shown on National Public Television throughout the country.
A major event of An die Musik's tenth anniversary season was a unique collaboration with four renowned contemporary painters, entitled "The Painter's Music, The Musician's Art." For this concert, Helen Frankenthaler, David Hockney, Robert Motherwell, and Kenneth Noland each chose music of particular inspiration in their lives, and their statements were included in the program notes. Four posters (the artists' visual counterpart of the music they had chosen) and photographs of the artists in their studios were exhibited during the performance. The concert was first performed in New York's Guggenheim Museum and then presented in museums across the country, as well as on subsequent concert tours of An die Musik.
This evening's concert marks An die Musik's Ann Arbor debut.
Violinist Richard Rood has toured the United States and Europe as soloist and chamber musician with numerous ensem?bles, including Orpheus and Steve Reich and Musicians. He often appears as guest artist with Da Capo, Speculum Musicae, and the New York Philomusica en?sembles, and is a frequent soloist and princi?pal player with Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, the New York Chamber Symphony, and Solisti New York, among others. A native of Cleveland, Mr. Rood earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Raphael Bronstein. He has also worked with Margaret Randell, Charles Castleman, and Zino Francescatti. As a com?petition winner in Switzerland, Mr. Rood appeared on Swiss National Television and Radio. His recent recordings of Bach and Vivaldi concertos for Essay Records have received critical acclaim.
Violist Richard Brice has toured throughout Germany, France, and Spain as soloist and princi?pal violist of the Munich Cham?ber Orchestra. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at The Juilliard School, studying with William Lincer and chamber music with members of The Juilliard Quartet. While attending the High School of Music and Art, he studied with Eugene Becker of the New York Phil?harmonic. Mr. Brice was previously principal violist of the Southwest German Philhar?monic and of the St. Gallen Konzertverein, associate principal violist of the Orquestra Sinfonica of Venezuela in Caracas, and violist of the Quartetto National de Venezuela.
Cellist Daniel Rothmuller has performed as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, and Andre Pre-vin. He also frequently performs chamber music in concert with Maestro Previn. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at Indiana University, studying cello with Fritz Magg and Janos Starker, and chamber music with Josef Gingold and William Primrose. He has served on the faculty of the California Institute of the Arts and was a participant in
Master Class with Piatigorsky. During mili?tary service, Mr. Rothmuller was a member of the White House String Quartet from 1966 to 1970. He is associate principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Oboist Gerard Reuter has toured the United States and Europe with numerous ensembles, in?cluding Orpheus and the Dor?ian Wind Quintet. He has performed at the Caramoor, Dartmouth, and Marlboro Festivals and currently participates in the Summer Festival at Round Top, Texas, where he coaches, conducts, and performs as soloist and chamber musician. Mr. Reuter studied at The Juilliard School with Lois Wann and at the Royal College of Music in London. He appears as concerto soloist with orchestras throughout the United States, in?cluding the Jupiter Symphony in New York.
Pianist Constance Emmerich began her musical studies with her father, continuing at The Juilliard School and graduating as a National Merit Scholar from Smith College, where she earned her master's degree in composition studies with Alvin Etler. She has been the winner of numerous national piano competi?tions that include the Young People's Con?certs of the New York Philharmonic, making her concerto debut with that orchestra and her recital debut in New York at Town Hall at the age of 15. Mrs. Emmerich has twice been artist-in-residence at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs and has toured extensively in major cities throughout the United States.
Narrator Howard King is a long?time Ann Arbor resident and an enthusiastic supporter of University Musical Society ac?tivities. In 1981, he estab?lished the consulting firm of Howard King Associates, Inc., following nine years as a management consultant and 13 years as a college administrator. A former U.S. Marine Corps jet fighter pilot, he maintains a com?mercial pilot's license and an active interest in general aviation. To area residents, espe?cially sports fans, Mr. King is best known as the "Voice of Michigan Stadium and Crisler Arena" in his job as public address announcer for University of Michigan football and bas?ketball games.