BRAHMS AND FRIENDS
Johannes Brahms is undebatedly a titan of the Romantic era. Unsurprisingly, those in his immediate orbit took great inspiration from him, and it’s evident throughout the works on this program. Brahms’s Trio in A minor, Op. 114 stands at its center, surrounding it with works by three composers who admired him deeply and whose musical language bears his unmistakable imprint. Robert Kahn was a student of Brahms and carried his teacher’s lyrical seriousness into a body of chamber music that has been unjustly neglected as time has passed. Paul Juon, sometimes called “the Russian Brahms,” absorbed the master’s harmonic richness and transformed it through his own distinctive blend of Slavic color and German craft. Max Bruch, a close contemporary, shared Brahms’s devotion to Classical form and warm Romantic expression. Like Brahms, Bruch wrote some of his most personal chamber music with the clarinet in mind. The choice of instrument was no accident: it was the great clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld who inspired Brahms late in his career to return to composition after a self-declared retirement, producing the Op. 114 Trio and three other chamber masterworks including the clarinet. The program closes with a newly commissioned arrangement of the achingly beautiful slow movement of Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto. The original orchestral work, as the title suggests, features the piano — but also an extended solo for cello, making it a logical choice for a chamber music arrangement that includes these instruments.
HappY hour with beethoven
Welcome to Happy Hour with Beethoven — no cocktails required, though we won’t judge if you’ve brought one! Tonight we raise a glass to one of music’s most irrepressible voices, with an evening drawn entirely from the chamber works of Ludwig van Beethoven. We begin with the intimate conversation of his early Duo for Clarinet and Cello, continue with the searching intensity of the late Cello Sonata, Op. 102, and round out the evening with the spirited and beloved Trio in Bb Major, Op. 11. This program spans the full arc of Beethoven’s creative life and invites you to explore the breadth and depth of his genius. Whether you’re a lifelong devotee or joining us for the first time, we hope this music leaves you feeling exactly the way a great happy hour should: warm, energized, and glad you came.
INSPIRED BY...
"Inspired By" was born out of our desire to commission new music for Piano, Cello, and Clarinet Trio that would be as musically rewarding and substantial as the current core repertoire for this instrumentation. The first commission for this project dates back to 2011 when we asked composer friend Jonathan Kolm to write a piece for us inspired by Johannes Brahms' famous clarinet trio. The result fit us beautifully as a group, and left us wanting to expand the project to fill an album which would feature two standard works and their companion 'inspired by' commissions. After much reflection, we agreed on the well-loved Beethoven Trio. From there we set about making our wish list of composers to approach for the second commission. At the top of that list was Elisenda Fabregas and we were thrilled when she agreed! We laid out our vision for ‘inspired by’ to be determined by each composer individually, whether it be thematic, motivic, rhythmic, or related to spirit or mood of the piece. We wanted to remain open-ended to allow for maximum collaborative efforts while staying within the framework of the theme. We believe the results strike the perfect balance, paying homage to titan composers of the past while simultaneously featuring each new composer’s artistic vision.
MÉNAGE A TRIOS
Despite the cheeky and slightly provocative title for this program, Ménage a Trios presents three outstanding works of French Romantic chamber music that have been largely pushed to the sidelines of history. Louise Farrenc’s music has recently come back into public recognition, and the world is richer for it; her Trio in Eb Major featured on this program is proof and point. Rita Strohl, once celebrated in Belle Epoque Paris, was completely unknown to us until very recently. Perhaps you will be as shocked as we were upon hearing her music, wondering how this charming and delightful work is only just now being rediscovered! While Gabriel Faure’s music is widely known, the Trio in D Minor is lesser known in this format for clarinet, cello and piano. Its publication for the more conventional violin, cello and piano version was a deliberate choice to ensure its survival (even though it was originally conceived for the aforementioned trio including the clarinet). We hope you enjoy listening to these intimate and elegant French works as much as we have enjoyed learning them.
MOZART, BEETHOVEN AND PÄRT
This program was born of a desire to perform and present two of the most beloved and famous chamber trios for clarinet. Mozart’s Trio in Eb major, K. 498 “Kegelstatt” was originally written for clarinet, viola, and piano, but will be presented here on cello instead of viola in an equally compelling setting. Beethoven’s Trio in Bb major, Op. 11 “Gassenhauer” is a charming and ebullient example of Beethoven’s early classical style, and the thread of inspiration that runs through this program begins here; Beethoven may well have been guided by by Mozart’s inclusion of clarinet in the Kegelstatt Trio in conceiving a chamber work lighter in character than his earlier Op. 1 piano trios. In his Mozart-Adagio, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt takes Mozart’s own notes and filters them through his signature tintinnabuli style, creating something that somehow sounds both familiar and new. In Für Alina, the solo piano work that first announced Pärt’s unique style to the world, the nod to Beethoven’s Für Elise is obvious. Despite these clear connections, Pärt’s compositions are spare — they translate as edited to the simplest expression of the intended message. The result of grouping these works together is a striking contrast in mood and style alongside a distinct recognition of inspiration and deep respect for what has come before.
RESPITE AND REFLECTION
This program was conceived during chaotic times. Although we all may not agree on the current state of politics, the economy, the environment, or other world affairs, we can all likely agree that the pace of modern life is like no other time in history. The limitless connectivity, the 24 hour news cycle, endless entertainment at our fingertips — what may have at one time appeared to be ideal, potentially now leaves us overwhelmed and exhausted. Music has the power to offer the perfect antidote to this situation, especially when experienced live; when we connect in a moment of shared space and time through live performance we have room to simply be and not just do. In an age where AI is standing in for human effort and interaction left and right, music and live performance continue to stand strong and irreplaceable by technology and other modern advancements.
Respite and Reflection is a series of selections designed to encourage exactly that. Some pieces like James MacMillan’s Kiss on Wood have overt religious or spiritual connections, and others like Jessie Montgomery’s Peace may inspire reflections on more universal concepts. Works like Paul Juon’s Miniatures are included for the musical setting they provide: chosen for mood, tempo, and beauty or simplicity of composition. While our aim is to create an environment for contemplation, we also hope that this program is a reminder that music has the powerful potential to heal and renew the weary soul within.
Respite and Reflection is a series of selections designed to encourage exactly that. Some pieces like James MacMillan’s Kiss on Wood have overt religious or spiritual connections, and others like Jessie Montgomery’s Peace may inspire reflections on more universal concepts. Works like Paul Juon’s Miniatures are included for the musical setting they provide: chosen for mood, tempo, and beauty or simplicity of composition. While our aim is to create an environment for contemplation, we also hope that this program is a reminder that music has the powerful potential to heal and renew the weary soul within.
(S)HEROES
(S)Heroes is our long overdue tribute to the many incredible contemporary and historically underrated female composers. The frontier of classical music composers is arguably one of the last to be significantly breached by women; most featured here have valiantly forged their way in the past few decades. Without a recent surge of interest in artistic voices lost to the trends of history, composers like Louise Farrenc and Margaret Bonds would perhaps be in danger of being forgotten forever. We hope that this program is not just a celebration of the contributions of these women, but also reminds us of the joy to be found in discovering gems of culture and beauty that have been overlooked. While the obvious thread here is celebrating female composers, we have also tried to incorporate composers from around the world, and a variety of styles to showcase the breadth and quality of what we have to choose from.
SNAPSHOTS:
SPAIN AND LATIN AMERICA
IonSound is thrilled to present, Snapshots: Spain and Latin America. There have been recent years that have been hard on those who love to travel. When imagining a new program, we dreamed of how we could bring a taste of world travel back home. With a fantastic commission by Spanish composer Elisenda Fabregas already in hand, we chose a program that would feature composers of Spanish and Latin American descent. As we began searching for repertoire, we quickly discovered that we would need to make some contributions of our own. We had been desiring to commission Venezuelan-born composer and conductor Carlos Izcaray for a piece, and this became the perfect opportunity to do so. In continuing to fill out the program, Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla immediately came to mind, but no arrangements appeared to exist for our instrumentation. We are excited to also premiere an arrangement of Oteno Porteno by Derek Snyder on this program. Sparkling melodies and invigorating dance rhythms from Spain, Cuba and Peru round out the program, revealing the subtle similarities within this music from these far thrown locales. We hope you enjoy this musical mini tour of these vibrant nations!
IONSOUND PLAYS JONATHAN KOLM
This concert celebrates a journey of music, friendship and collaboration that has been many years in the making. Elisa Kohanski and Jonathan Kolm have worked together on several projects spanning a decade and a half. Music brings us together and particularly so in the artistic process of composing and then bringing that new music to life.
We begin with The Living Molecule for cello and piano. This piece is in six movements, it explores the substance most necessary for life as we know it water by depicting the small scale and then the large scale manifestations of water in solid, gas and then liquid states.
Next we will hear three movements from a collection of six short pieces that I originally wrote for clarinet duo and have arranged for clarinet and cello. The first movement is an invention type piece that has the instruments mimicking each other throughout. The next movement we will hear is slow and atmospheric. The last one for tonight fuses complex rhythms with complex harmonies for tightly packed sound fabric.
Following the Duo, is the first, second and fourth movements of Peresenelie, for clarinet and piano. This was a commission to write a piece on the theme of immigration that also had a visual art component. The first two movements are Departure and Journey, depicting the early stages of attempting to move from one place to another, to leave one community and attempt to join another. The fourth movement is New Beginnings, finding and forging a new identity that combines threads from both old and new.
Tereo is a short lyrical piece originally for violin and piano that I have arranged for cello and piano.
Finally the concert includes with Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, a project that was an important step along this overall collaborative journey. It is in a Classical style of four movements: first in a type of sonata form, second slow tempo with lyrical melodies along with brooding harmonies, third is a kind of twisted scherzo and trio and the last movement a fiery finale that asks much of the players technically and musically to bring the piece to a close.
We begin with The Living Molecule for cello and piano. This piece is in six movements, it explores the substance most necessary for life as we know it water by depicting the small scale and then the large scale manifestations of water in solid, gas and then liquid states.
Next we will hear three movements from a collection of six short pieces that I originally wrote for clarinet duo and have arranged for clarinet and cello. The first movement is an invention type piece that has the instruments mimicking each other throughout. The next movement we will hear is slow and atmospheric. The last one for tonight fuses complex rhythms with complex harmonies for tightly packed sound fabric.
Following the Duo, is the first, second and fourth movements of Peresenelie, for clarinet and piano. This was a commission to write a piece on the theme of immigration that also had a visual art component. The first two movements are Departure and Journey, depicting the early stages of attempting to move from one place to another, to leave one community and attempt to join another. The fourth movement is New Beginnings, finding and forging a new identity that combines threads from both old and new.
Tereo is a short lyrical piece originally for violin and piano that I have arranged for cello and piano.
Finally the concert includes with Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, a project that was an important step along this overall collaborative journey. It is in a Classical style of four movements: first in a type of sonata form, second slow tempo with lyrical melodies along with brooding harmonies, third is a kind of twisted scherzo and trio and the last movement a fiery finale that asks much of the players technically and musically to bring the piece to a close.
