~Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de Bénévent (1754 – 1838).

This memorable statement - made soon after the 1789 French Revolution by aristocrat Talleyrand-Périgod, one of the most versatile and influential diplomats in European history - correlates perfectly with the subject of our programme, Glamour and Grace. It not only intimately characterizes the epoch, but also illuminates the society in which tonight’s music was created.

Certainly, in the middle of the 18^th century France was a shining model of the elegant, sensitive and expressive musical style that had as its raison-d’etre a most specific and worthy purpose: to convey pleasurable, joyful feelings and delicate sentiments to the audience. We must not claim for this music the depth of feeling that characterizes the best of German music, for it is rare to find in French music any latent tension or real drama. Nor should we expect to find in it the almost visceral passion of Italian music - - an aesthetic from which Boileau clearly distanced the French when he stated, albeit rather indelicately, "leave to Italy all this false brilliance and foolish glitter".

François Devienne (1759-1803) – is probably the most celebrated French composer of instrumental music of late 18^th century France. He was famed both as a bassoonist and as a flutist, performing for many years as a soloist on both instruments at the Concert Spirituel, where during the summer of 1778 he was most certainly heard and admired by Mozart. Most of Devienne’s compositions are for wind instruments, among them seven symphonies. concertantes, over 20 concertos, 25 quartets, 46 trios and many duos and sonatas. He was also a very successful composer of opera and created over a dozen of works that were staged in Paris over 200 times during his lifetime. His method for flute (1794) is an important source of information for performers on historical instruments.

The Six Trio Sonatas HWV 380-385, four of which make up the bulk of tonight’s programme, have had a meandering history. To date, they have survived in the form of only one known copy, by all evidence written down sometime in the early 1700’s. Now housed in the collection of the British Library, the copy consists a three-part score and an inscription in French, on the front page, which reads: " 6 Sonata [sic] Compose par Mr:[sic] Hendel [sic]" At the top of the page, in the handwriting of Carl Friedrich Weidemann, is the following description in English: "The first Compositions of M^r Handel made in 3 Parts, when a Schoolboy about Ten Years of Age, before he had any Instructions, and then playd [sic] on the Hautboye [sic] besides the Harpsicord [sic]."

According to the 1785 writings of English music historian Charles Burney (1726-1814), the written copy of the Sonatas was serendipitously discovered by Hugh Hume, Earl of Marchmont and Baron Polwarth (1708-1794) during his visit to Germany in the 1720’s. On return to England, Hume presented them as a gift to his friend and flute teacher Carl Friedrich Weidemann (??-1782), who was a player in Handel’s opera orchestra. Burney summarizes the chain of events in his historical account thus: "The late Mr. Weidemann was in posession of a set of Sonatas, in three parts, which Handel composed when he was only ten years old… and which Weidemann showed to Handel, who seemed to look at them with much pleasure and, laughing, said "I used to write like the Devil in those days, but chiefly for the hautbois, which was my favourite instrument."

For more than a century following Handel’s death in 1759, the Sonatas were presumed lost, until they were rediscovered in the music collection of Buckingham Palace by the pianist, conductor and Handel scholar Sir William George Cusins (1833-1893). Since then, they have provided grist for the mill of historians and scholars who have presented differing theories as to the their origins and composition dates.

Following publication of the Sonatas in the late 19^th century, by German music historian Karl Franz Friedrich Chrysander (1826- 1901), who hailed them in his Complete Handel Edition as the "the greatest curiosity among Handel’s youthful works", they were considered the composer’s earliest surviving compositions. During the twentieth century, however serious doubts about the composition dates of the sonatas, and even on their very authenticity, had arisen. Many scholars simply could not accept that they were composed by a ten-year-old, quibbling that these works "show a maturity that no child ever possessed."

Handel's authorship of this music might be debatable to some - but the "mature and masterful writing, the flawless proportions, and the refined treatment of sound" usually associated with his compositions, skilful counterpoint and typical melodic lines are unquestionably present in this elegant and well-crafted music, which is cast in the Italian sonata da chiesa pattern – slow, fast, slow, fast - following Corelli’s example from the 1680’s. It seems, however, that Handel wrote the Sonatas, not as a schoolboy in 1695, but as a university student in Halle or in Hamburg, where he arrived as an eighteen-year-old in 1703. And so it appears there must have some sort of confusion in Weidemann’s dating of these works. Studies of the paper and the copyist's North German handwriting support this interpretation clearly, with the paper in particular identified as having been manufactured at a Hanover mill in Northern Germany during the first few years of the eighteenth century.

The two solo Sonatas in this programme were composed later in Handel’s life and are works of greater maturity, variety and fluidity. They are included in this programme to demonstrate the succession and the evolution of Handel’s writing style. Altogether this music, little known to most listeners, is a rich and delightful display of Handel’s extraordinary precocity and his amazing musical gift.

November 1st, 2008 "Mozart in Paris" programme notes:

It is easy to think of Mozart with stars in our eyes, to frame him as an icon of musical genius, and to overlook the fact that he was also essentially human and that his life was sometimes not as glamorous and free of failure as we might imagine. Mozart’s visit to Paris in 1778 was one chapter of his life when human drama wholly revealed itself.

On March 23rd of 1778, Mozart and his mother, Maria Anna, arrived in Paris, which was at that time considered the musical capital of Europe. This was his third visit to Paris. The two previous times, he was a wildly successful child prodigy and his performances had made a phenomenal impression on Parisians. But this time, Wolfgang was a twenty-two year old man with a very difficult task before him, even for a musician of his stature: to quickly find stable employment in order to restore ruined family finances. The instructions from his father (who had intended to accompany his son, but had been denied permission to do so by the Archbishop of Salzburg) were short: "Get a job, or at least make some money."

At first, all seemed to go well for Wolfgang. He introduced himself to influential people, performed at their salons, received some commissions, and had pupils. He also scored quite a success with his "Paris" Symphony KV 297, which was performed at the Concert Spirituel in June. But despite his efforts to tailor his compositions to the general Parisian musical taste, Mozart had secured neither an appointment nor a commission for the grand opera. And no job offers were forthcoming.

Whether there was some fundamental flaw in Mozart’s way of dealing with influential people (on other trips it was his father, Leopold Mozart, a skilled administrator, who had taken matters in hand) or the unlucky timing of his visit (Paris was gripped by a bitter musical rivalry between Gluckists and Piccinnists, and had little time for the young man from Salzburg), the situation was becoming less and less promising.

Worse was to follow. Mozart’s mother fell ill in Paris and on July 3, 1778, she died. While it seemed to some that he had been providing little care to her while in Paris, Mozart’s shock was such that he was unable to write to his father and instead confided the truth to a close Salzburg friend, the Abbé Bullinger, asking him to prepare his father Leopold for the sad news.

Away from home, alone in Paris and jobless, Mozart became more and more discouraged. Unwisely, he would take on commissions without requesting payment. Not only would he not be paid for his compositions (as in the case of his ballet music) but, most times, his name would not even receive mention at the performances.

One of his Parisian sponsors, Baron Friedrich Melchior von Grimm, described Mozart thus: "He is too trusting, too inactive, too easy to catch, too little intent on the means that may lead to fortune. To make an impression here, one has to be artful, enterprising, daring. To make his fortune, I wish he had but half his talent and twice as much shrewdness, and then I should not worry about him."

With an increasing sense of being unappreciated, Mozart started to display a dangerous lack of patience. He wrote: "These French idiots still think I am 7 years old because they knew me at that age…I am treated like a child."

Finally, Baron Grimm advised Mozart to return home, and Mozart left Paris for Salzburg on the 26th of September 1778, very nervous at the prospect of seeing his father again after what had, by any standard, been a disastrous first foray into the world without him. Mozart never returned to Paris again.

So, Mozart may not have found his fortune in Paris. But during his six months there, he composed music of such amazing elegance, delicacy and stunning brilliance that for us it is difficult to understand why these works received such cold reception from the Parisian musical elite. Regardless, it is following his unsuccessful Parisian experience that Mozart’s distinct musical voice, the voice we associate with the masterpieces of his maturity, started to sound stronger.

One of Mozart’s first pieces composed in Paris in 1778, and somewhat of a curiosity. We do not know the occasion for which he wrote it, we do not know whether it was ever performed, and, alas, we do not know whether he was ever paid for it.

Composed by Mozart at an early point during his Paris months. The theme of the Variations is the Antoine-Laurent Baudron’s Romance “Je Suis Lindor”, from the incidental music to Beaumarchai’s comedy “Le Barbier de Séville.” When it was played for the first time, before the Duchesse de Chabot, Mozart intentionally broke off in the middle of a set of variations when the duchess persisted in playing cards with her friend instead of listening to him.

Composed in Paris during the summer of 1778 and published in late 1778, this is a full-scale piece cast in three movements. It is, in the words of Alfred Einstein, “a great concert sonata.” It is part of a series of sonatas dedicated to Maria Elisabeth, Electress of the Palatinate and popularly known as the “Palatine Sonatas.” .

This sonata is the first of only two Mozart’s piano sonatas that have been composed in a minor key. Created around the time of the death of his mother in July 1778, it has distinctly sombre and dramatic character, particularly in the last movement.

While in Paris, Mozart had attended the Concerts Spirituels. It was there that the French composer Devienne frequently, and with great success, played his compositions, which were brilliant reflections of the elegant tone of Paris at the time. It is ironic that today Devienne is often referred to as “the French Mozart".

Mozart’s “Les Petits Riens” (Little Nothings) was first performed June 11, 1778 at the conclusion of Niccolò Piccini’s opera “Le Finte Gemelle” (The Fake Twins).The ballet consists of three episodic scenes, which are almost detached from each other. The first is completely Anacreontic (a story of Cupid being captured and caged). The second scene is a game of blind man’s bluff. The third scene is a piquant story of Cupid’s mischievous trickery, in which two shepherdesses vie for the love of another shepherdess who is disguised as a man and who, in the end, undeceives them by baring her breasts.

Anacreontics (from the name of the Greek poet Anacreon), the title given to short lyrical pieces, of an easy kind, dealing with love and wine.

April 19th, 2008 "Les Six" programme notes:

These are the words of George Auric, one of "Le Groupe des Six", describing the formulation of his artistic vision in early 1920’s Paris. It is no surprise that such an immoderate opinion was expressed at that particular time and in that particular place. As Europe was emerging from the hardship and deprivation of the First World War, Paris once again becoming the centre of modernity, originality and artistry. In the Twenties, which the French call Les Années Folles (the crazy years), with its unprecedented personal freedom, when almost anything seamed to be permitted and life for that reason started to feel like one big, non-stop party, Paris was overflowing with new, creative ideas and attracting a wealth of diverse artists. And of course, in Paris, Montparnasse was the place to be.

Although there was common aesthetic ground that drew Les Six together, the personalities and goals of the members were quite varied. As they had announced from the very beginning, after several years they simply took their own individual paths. But the musical legacy of "Le Groupe des Six" continues to influence today’s culture. Tonight’s programme is an homage to the bright and lasting impression they have left in the history of French music. Amusez-vous bien!

Being a basset horn must feel a bit like having a degree from the University of Saskatchewan: people have a hard time getting past the funny-sounding name, with its rather predictable, though ironically partly apt, images of drooling, whining, smelly, low-to-the-ground canines (referring to the instrument, not the university or the province). So, with the basset hound references - which we’ve heard many times before! - now safely out of the way…

The basset horn was developed around 1770, as a lower pitched companion ("basset" = "little bass") to the clarinet, which itself was then a relative newcomer to the orchestra. The earliest basset horns were sickle shaped and had brass bells, like the contemporary cor anglais, hence the "horn" part of the name. From that time until the 1830’s was the heyday of wind instruments as concert soloists, until they were elbowed off the stage by the violin and the piano in the Romantic era, and the basset horn shared the spotlight, appearing in concerti and chamber works by at least a couple of dozen German, Austrian and Bohemian composers. With the exception of Mozart, Beethoven (who used the basset horn exactly once) and Mendelssohn (with his two spectacular Konzertstücke), however, most of these composers and their music soon vanished into obscurity, and after the 1830’s the instrument itself entered a period of hibernation which only ended at the turn of the 20th century, when Richard Strauss ensured the basset horn’s future by including it in his operas and major wind ensemble works.

It is often stated that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) loved the basset horn, and he certainly seems to have felt an affinity for its mellow character. Possibly more to the point, though, Mozart was associated through friendship and membership in Masonic lodges with a number of musicians who played the clarinet and basset horn: the Stadler brothers, Anton and Johann, and a pair of Bohemian players who attempted to make a living in Vienna for a while, Anton David and Vincenc Springer. Mozart was obligated to assist his indigent lodge brothers financially, and this was very likely one of his motivations for composing in the early to mid 1780’s a number of works for wind ensembles incorporating the clarinet and basset horn, the most ambitious of which was the Grand Partita, KV 361. At the end of his career, Mozart exploited the solemn, ceremonial side of the basset horn’s personality, at times with overtly Masonic associations, in Die Zauberflöte, the Requiem and the Mauerische Trauermusik.

The five Divertimenti for basset horn trio, two of which we are presenting here, date from somewhere during the 1780’s. Their designation with alternate catalogue numbers - KV 439b or KV Anh. 229 - demonstrates the uncertainty about their origin; the earliest surviving parts are for the later, more traditionally familiar arrangement for two clarinets and bassoon, though the range and other internal evidence makes it clear that they were almost certainly originally written for basset horns. Typically of Mozart’s wind music, the writing achieves sophistication through balance and elegant simplicity, showing off the instruments’ character and technical capabilities with perfect efficiency.

The six Notturni for three voices and three clarinets/basset horns are miniature gems which are far too seldom performed, largely because of the logistical difficulties involved in assembling the personnel to present them. Composed over a period of time between 1783 and 1788, they are simple and unpretentious, though the wind parts are more ambitious than in the Divertimenti, making greater technical demands on the instruments. Four of them - KV 436, 437, 438 and 549 - are settings of texts by poet, playwright and composer Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782), while the authors of the other two are unknown.

Arranging the tunes of popular operas as divertimenti for wind ensembles of various sizes was common practice in Mozart’s time, particularly in Vienna, where the Imperial Harmonie-Musik wind octet set the pattern for such groups as vehicles for popular musical entertainment. Mozart was well aware of the commercial viability of wind arrangements, and made some of them himself, as testified in a letter to his father regarding Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1782: "…my opera has to be arranged for wind band before Sunday of next week, otherwise someone else will beat me to it and profit from it instead of me". Of the two arrangements for basset horn trio that we are presenting here, one - of tunes from Le Nozze di Figaro - was made in period, possibly by Mozart (though the writing is very different from his original music for basset horn), while the other - of arias from Die Zauberflöte - is a modern transcription (and hence considerably more awkward to play, having been written with no regard for the challenges of period instruments!).

Mozart’s muse of the clarinet and frequent financial exploiter, Anton Stadler (1753-1812), was a minor composer in his own right, though his music was written as a showcase for himself and his colleagues. His 18 short Terzetti for basset horn trio provide a fascinating contrast with the contemporary music of Mozart; though the level of composing expertise is below Mozart’s, they show a wider range of stylistic influences, and frequently a charming quirkiness which makes up for any lapses in depth. As with Mozart, some Masonic allusions are present, most notably the three solemn chords in the middle of the Overture.

Over the first few decades of its life, the basset horn was made in a bewildering variety of shapes, aimed at bringing the finger holes within easy reach and making the long keywork for the bottom notes work reliably. The three instruments on which we are performing, all accurate copies of original specimens, represent three different types. Nicolai’s, based on the basset horns of the Viennese maker Friedrich Hammig Junior, is of the shape which would have been most familiar to Mozart in the 1780’s, while Colin’s is modelled on the instruments of Griessling & Schlott of Berlin, from shortly after 1800; both have brass bells and a "box" at the bottom end through which the bore travels three times, to make the overall length more compact, and an angle in the middle to bring the right hand closer to the body. Stephen’s is of a considerably different shape, with a straight body, no box, and a wooden, globular-shaped bell; the original, by Johann Georg Braun of Mannheim, is from a later date, around 1820, but it has associations with Mozart and Stadler since the shape is the same as the instrument depicted on the programme of a concert presented by Stadler in Riga in 1794.

Stadler's instrument 1794

Two lovely eyes have gained my heart, and if I do not ask for mercy from those beautiful eyes for them, yes, for them,

I shall die of love

I complain in silence at my harsh fate, but do not hope of me, dear one, that I do not love you. Cruel one!

How do I offend you if this breast retains the sad delight of sighing for you?

Behold the dread moment: Nice, my Nice, farewell! How shall I live, my love, so far from you?

Always suffering, there’s nothing left for me. And you – who knows if ever You will remember me?

Dear eyes, beautiful eyes dear light, beloved stars, grant tranquility to this heart.

If I sigh and die for you, my idol, my beautiful treasure, fortitude comes only from the god of love.

If you are far away, my love, the days seem endless to me. But days spent close to you,

my idol, pass in a moment.

In a thousand lovers one cannot find even two beautiful souls who are constant, though they all talk of fidelity.

And evil customs are so common, that the constancy of one who truly loves is now called naϊve.

Translation: Graham Dixon

January 19th, 2008 "Felix the Happy" programme notes:

In 1827 Mendelssohn was also greatly interested in the recently composed late string quartets of Beethoven at a time when the public considered them overly strange and inaccessible. This evening’s quartet is clearly inspired by these quartets, especially op. 132 (Beethoven’s only a minor quartet), in the use –again- of fugues as well as more adventurous harmonies and thematic unity. In today’s quartet, all the movements are united with references to the song "Ist es wahr". The poem "Ist es wahr" ("Is it true? Is it true that you are always waiting for me in the arbored walk") by Johann Heinrich Voss, had been set by Mendelssohn as his Op. 9, no 1.

November 17th, 2007 "Inspired by Venice" programme notes:

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, the most famous of all Venetian composers, was born on March 4, 1678 in Venice, on a day when an earthquake shook the Lagoon City. He was baptized immediately at his home by the midwife due to "danger of death". It is not known exactly how the life of the infant was in danger, but we do know that little Antonio survived against all odds. However, it seems that the dramatic circumstances of his birth had profound effects on his life, mostly in two areas – health and music.

Throughout his life, Vivaldi suffered from a medical problem, which he described as strettezza di petto (literally meaning tightness in the chest, perhaps some form of asthma). Having poor health and being one of many siblings (he had three sisters and two brothers, the latter two noted in police records for unseemly conduct and brawling), Vivaldi began studying to become a priest.

It was not long after his ordination, however, that he was given a dispensation from celebrating the Holy Mass. Apparently, his respiratory problems inhibited his speech and made him weak and dizzy. Nevertheless, his medical condition did not prevent him from learning to play the violin and compose, and he became by far the most exciting, original and famous of all Italian composers of his time. His playing and composition style was described by his contemporaries as furious and prodigious (conceivably the earthquake after-effect), and many people came to Venice just to hear Vivaldi play his violin.

As far as music goes, no city in Europe at the time could compete with Venice. By the time Vivaldi was born, Venice was not the trading centre it once was. To maintain her position and to preserve herself against the pressure from her more powerful neighbours (the Pope, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Austrians and Turks), the Republic of Venice began to focus intensely on the arts. Its splendour and incredible beauty was always a source of pride and confidence for Venetians, and the city did not restrain itself in spending money on self-glorification. The republic’s reputation for tolerance and great personal freedom made Venice a tourist favourite, with thousands flocking to La Serenessima (the name for The Republic Venice literally meaning "the most serene") to enjoy casinos, carnivals, concerts, operas, and art exhibits of every kind. The city was a hub of musical life, and the Venetian culture influenced all of European music.

It was due to this cultural focus that orphanages began to train their residents in music, which resulted in the first conservatories. Among these institutions, the Pio Ospedale della Pietà (Devout Hospital of Mercy) was the most famous. On December 1, 1703, Vivaldi became maestro di violino (master of violin) at la Pietà. Shortly after his appointment, the girls from the orphanage began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad. Vivaldi wrote most of his chamber music for them, including works that are performed tonight.

During his lifetime, Vivaldi enjoyed international fame but he died far away from his beloved Venice and, like many great composers of the past, in poverty. He passed away in Vienna in July 1741, and we do not know where exactly he was buried. His remains lie somewhere under the Austrian capital, probably only a few steps from Mozart’s.

After his death, Vivaldi’s music was completely forgotten. It was not until as recently as 1939 that it was presented again, to the attention of a delighted and astonished public. Afterwards, his works experienced the most spectacular comeback in the history of music and he became one of the most performed and recorded composers of all time (especially known for his "The Four Seasons").

Vivaldi's music, together with that of Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Corelli, has been incorporated into the theories of Alfred Tomatis on the effects of music on human behaviour. It has been used in music therapies to treat auditory processing problems, dyslexia, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, and autism. It is also claimed to have helped adults fight depression, develop better communication skills, learn foreign languages, and improve both creativity and on-the-job performance.

I hope it will help you too... (lol)

Louis Spohr (born Ludwig Spohr and usually better known by the French form of his name outside Germany) was a prolific German Romantic composer who wrote music in all genres. His symphonies (nine in total), sixteen violin concertos and several operas remained on the list of popular repertoire through the 19th century. Spohr's chamber music includes 36 string quartets, as well as four fascinating double quartets for two string quartets. A renowned violinist and a notable conductor, Spohr was the first to use the violin chin-rest. He also invented rehearsal letters (the large letters found on sheet music), which for instance, allow a conductor to ask the orchestra to play "from letter D.” The Fantasy and Variation Op. 81 by Louis Spohr was composed in 1814 and was dedicated to Johann Simon Hermstedt (1778-1846). Hermstedt was Spohr’s friend and one of the most celebrated German clarinet virtuoso players of the first half of the 19^th century. Spohr composed a number of works for him, including four clarinet concertos and a few chamber music compositions, which now have their permanent place in clarinetists’ repertoires. Hermstedt performed Op. 81 for the first time at a recital in Vienna on January 15^th, 1815.

Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 (nicknamed “Harp Quartet”) was composed during a critical event of 1809. Napoleon’s troops had attacked Vienna in May, bombarding and laying siege to the city, which they kept under violent occupation until October. In his letters, Beethoven tells how hard he found it to write under wartime circumstances. Desperate to protect his failing ears from the noise of the bombardment, he took refuge in his brother’s cellar and covered his head with pillows. This is probably why the composition combines calm serenity with thrillingly exultant passages which provoke intense emotional response. The broadly accepted subtitle Harp was not invented by Beethoven. It was added latter, bringing perhaps too much attention to the first movement’s pizzicato effects. The Harp Quartet was premiered at the Vienna home of Prince von Lobkowitz in the fall of 1809 and was published the following year.

Igor Stravinsky (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971), hailed by Time magazine as one of the most influential people of the century, was one of the 20^th century’s greatest and most innovative composers. His reputation as a musical revolutionary, in part due to the riotous reception of his groundbreaking ballet The Rite of Spring in 1913, is legendary. Interestingly, however, his career demonstrates a profound respect for musical tradition and suggests more evolution than revolution. In his unique compositional style, Stravinsky embraced the traditional forms and harmonies of Classical music while experimenting with them in a deep and complex way, introducing surprise dissonances, off-rhythms and unusual idioms, juggling like a skilled acrobat with all musical elements. It was a strikingly fresh compositional approach - - the 20^th-century person’s vision of musical heritage.

Petrouchka is the Russian folk tale of a puppet who, although made of straw and sawdust, has the capacity to love. He is to Russians what Pierrot is to the French, Punch is to the English, and Pinocchio is to Italians - a not-quite-real being whose tragedy is his very real passion, which makes him yearn for an unattainable human life. In this composition, Stravinsky brilliantly uses different elements of Russian folklore music, creating an atmosphere of what is informally known as a "street ballet". Completed in 1911 for orchestra and later arranged for piano by Stravinsky himself in 1921, Petrouchka has remained one of the most popular of twentieth-century compositions.

Russian Maiden’s Song (Chanson de Paracha) comes from the one-act comic opera Mavra, completed by Stravinsky in 1922 and based on the narrative poem "Little House in Kolomna" by Alexandra Pushkin. Originally composed as an aria for voice and piano, the Russian Maiden’s Song underwent a transformation in 1937 when Stravinsky, in collaboration with Samuel Dushkin, arranged the piece for violin and piano. In this music, we hear a more traditional treatment of Russian musical heritage. Stravinsky described that he wanted to create a piece of music in the vocal style of the so-called Russo-Italian opera which flourished in mid-19^th century Russia. Indeed, the music of Mavra stays within the tradition of Glinka and Dorogomisky, which is so well suited to the subject of Pushkin’s tale.

Dithyrambe comes from Stravinsky's Duo Concertant for violin and piano, completed in 1931 and consisting of five brief movements, some titles of which (Eglogue, Dithyrambe) are references to Greek poetry. The Dithyrambe, which translates as "an exalted or impassioned statement", is a passionate climax of the composition, where the striking of resonant bell-like chords are followed by the soft recurrence of the opening theme gradually dying away in a whisper. Scherzo for violin and Piano of 1932 from Divertimento is another example of Stravinaky’s transcription of his orchestral ballet score The Fairy Kiss (Le Baiser de la Fée). This ballet, based on a Hans Christian Andersen tale, with an ingenious reworking of Tchaikovsky’s music, was completed in 1928.

Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo is dedicated by Stravinsky to financier and amateur clarinetist Werner Reinhardt, who bankrolled the L’Histoire du Soldat production. "He paid for everybody and everything" recounted the composer. In appreciation of his generosity, Stravinsky gave Reinhardt the manuscript of L’Histoire du Soldat and also composed for him the Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo and the L’ Histoire du Soldat Concert Suite in trio arrangement. The First of the three pieces is a somber piece, with an almost monotonous kind of regularity. Stravinsky used the music of the Russian folksong "The Volga Boatmen" as the piece’s opening statement, or quotation, to such effect that the piece could perhaps have been well titled "Variations on the Volga Boatmen." The Second Piece contrasts perfectly with the first, employing all of the practical notes on the clarinet played very quickly in a style reminiscent of the famous Dance of the Firebird from the Ballet suite. The Third Piece is a very busy and regular composition, emphasizing the quality of a Russian Folk dance with its abrupt and humorous ending.

Suite No.2. In 1915, while living in the Swiss town of Marges, Stravinsky wrote a simple little Polka for piano with four hands for his friend Sergei Diaghilev, the renowned Russian ballet impresario, who enjoyed playing piano duets. Stravinsky recalls, "After playing the piece with Diaghilev, I told him that in composing it I had thought of him as a circus ringmaster in evening dress and top hat, cracking his whip and urging on the rider. He was discountenanced, not quite knowing whether he ought to be offended, but we had a good laugh over it together in the end." By chance the Italian pianist, composer, and conductor Alfredo Casella was present at this informal premiere of the Polka. He was so delighted with the music that he asked Stravinsky to write a piece like it for him. In response, Stravinsky promptly composed a March for Casella. Later, he added what he called "The Ice Cream Wagon Valse", written in homage to French composer Erik Satie. A few years later, Stravinsky arranged these little piano duets, with the addition of the Galop piece, into a suite for small orchestra.For tonight’s performance - - in continuation of Stravinsky’s tradition of creating multiple arrangements of his music, adapting it for whatever life circumstances - - the suite’s original score was arranged for trio by Nicolai Tarasov.
"Pour Pablo Picasso" for Clarinet Solo is a musical sketch of approximately 4 measures, which Stravinsky wrote on a restaurant bill for fun while he was with Pablo Picasso in a restaurant in Paris. This is probably the musical equivalent of Picasso’s famous sketch of the composer, and a landmark of two great men in collaboration.

Suite Italienne. In the spring of 1919, Sergei Diaghilev, the impresario who had collaborated with Stravinsky on such successes as The Rite of Spring, The Firebird, and Petrouchka, suggested to the composer that he write a ballet based on the music of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736). The resulting new ballet, Pulcinella, was an important turning point in Stravinsky's career, for it led him into the so-called "neo-classical" style which was to dominate his output for the next several decades. With costumes and scenery by Pablo Picasso, the first production of Pulcinella was a huge success. In 1922, Stravinsky extracted an orchestral suite from Pulcinella . Three years later, he transcribed five of its numbers for violin and piano as the Suite Italienne. In the ballet, Pulcinella, a traditional hero of Neapolitan commedia dell'arte, has captured the hearts of all the local young women. The young women’s fiancés become enraged and plot to kill Pulcinella, but he outwits them and substitutes a double, who feigns death and is then "revived'" by a disguised Pulcinella. When the young men return, Pulcinella arranges marriages for everyone, and himself weds Pimpinella to produce the requisite happy ending. Though the Suite Italienne is a sort of pocket version of the original ballet, it fully captures the wit, insouciance and joy that place this music among the best of Stravinsky’s works.

L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) was composed by Stravinsky in collaboration with the Swiss novelist C.F.Ramuz in 1917-18 while "down and out" in Switzerland. The Great War in Europe and the Revolution in Russia had cut Stravinsky off from his family estates and publishers royalties. Stravinsky, Ramuz and conductor Ernest Ansermet decided to form a "pocket theater" company which would produce pieces requiring just a few players and would be easily portable, enabling them to travel a circuit of Swiss villages. Thus was born L’Histoire du Soldat, which was "to be read, played and danced". L’ Histoire du Soldat is a variant of the Faust Legend – poor soldier sells his soul (represented by his violin) to the Devil for youth, wealth, and power. It is a common theme in folklore and although the devil may be a bit of a bungler, in the end you can't outwit him. Undoubtedly there were deeper social allegories within the story of a hapless soldier who trumps the devil once but loses in the end, for the work was created during the time of Bolshevik coups, military disgrace and economic collapse that left many Russians believing that - as in their folk tales - the devil was indeed wandering the world. The first performance of L’ Histoire du Soldat in 1919 was a success. However, opening night was also closing night. Due to the outbreak of the Spanish Influenza epidemic (which would kill almost 20 million people in Europe and 500 thousand in America), every public hall was closed by law. The work was not performed again until 1924. The trio arrangement is dedicated to clarinetist Werner Reinhardt.

by A.C.

November 11, 2006 "Romantic Soul" programme notes:

Quartettsatz (by Anthony Rapoport)
 Schubert’s Quartettsatz (Quartet Movement) is actually a fragment, the opening movement of an unfinished quartet. Like another fragmentary masterpiece, his Symphony No. 8 (the Unfinished), we do not know why the Quartettsatz was put aside. But perhaps the better question would be how Schubert managed to complete so many works in his 31 years, with so little encouragement.
 The happy result of Schubert’s discouragement, or distraction, is a unique, single-movement work of great beauty and drama, a joy to program and to perform.
 The Quartettsatz’ ability to stand alone is enhanced by its tightly organized structure. The work begins and ends with the same intense build-up of the four instruments. The contrasting sections focus on a soaring melody. The tension between the sections is the dramatic basis of the piece.
Schubert’s music can be understood as belonging to two style periods. The masterpieces among his earlier works, the Trout Quintet for example, are those that evoke delight: they are gorgeous, touching, often playful. The greatest works of the later period are the most intensely expressive, and dwell far more on sadness, tragedy, and ecstacy. The Quarttetsatz, from 1820, is the first of Schubert’s instrumental works to fit definitively in the second period.
I hesitate to layer verbal interpretations over instrumental music, but I can’t help saying that the Quartettsatz is deeply personal and intensely emotional. It is a defining moment at the dawn of Romantic music.

Piano Trio in E-flat Major, D. 929 (by Rona Goldensher)  

One of Schubert’s close friends, Eduard von Bauernfeld, a poet and dramatist, is quoted as saying, "Schubert had, so to speak, a double nature, the Viennese gaiety being interwoven and ennobled by a trait of deep melancholy. Inwardly a poet and outwardly a kind of hedonist"... (letter to Luib, 24th November 1857, quoted in the "Memoirs")  

This quote reminds me very much of the Piano Trio in E-flat major, D. 929 in the way in which it encompasses outer exuberance and inner tenderness in a way that is uniquely Schubertian. This trio was written during the last two years of Schubert’s life, around the same time as he composed Die Winterreise, Moments Musicaux, 3 piano sonatas, numerous songs, and the String Quintet in C major.  In 1827, Schubert acted as torchbearer at Beethoven’s funeral and during 1827-1828 he himself was struggling with serious illness.  Nonetheless, he was still determined to write down as much music as possible.   This trio (D. 929) was performed at the first and only public concert of his works during his lifetime. The concert was well-attended and successful but was completely eclipsed in the press by the arrival of Paganini in Vienna.

Right from the outset of the opening Allegro, a short, extroverted subject played in unison by all three instruments soon travels through a surprising modulation to the second theme, in the distant key of B minor, which is simultaneously playful and tenderly sad.  The hauntingly beautiful second movement, whose theme was inspired by Schubert’s encounter with a Swedish folk singer, fluctuates between minor and major keys, juxtaposing sadness with the possibility of transcendence.  The canonic Scherzo is more along the lines of traditional Viennese Scherzo and trio –it is interesting to note that Schubert is the only composer of the Viennese School who actually hails originally from Vienna.  The finale boasts what Schumann described as "heavenly length" (in  reference to the "Great" C major symphony). Schubert was simultaneously perfecting the short forms of songs and miniature piano pieces and also extending the scope and length of sonata form.  Often boisterous in mood, the scope of the movement accommodates a surprising return to the uncanny music and mood of the second movement. This is very welcome - who could ever get enough of that second movement? 

The "Trout" Quintet (by Laura Jones)

The Quintet is arguably amongst the top ten most beloved chamber works of all time. Written when Schubert was only 22, it bubbles with youthful energy, while still bearing the hallmarks of Schubertian style in its rich melodies and harmonic inventiveness. The piece was written at the request of Sylvester Paumgarten, a wealthy patron and amateur ‘cellist. One might suspect that it was to favour the ‘cellist that the bass was included in the instrumentation (thus freeing the ‘cello to play more melodic lines) but in fact, the quintet was composed to utilize the same forces as Hummel’s arrangement of his own Septet; it’s likely that Paumgarten and friends gathered to play both pieces at a musical soiree of sorts.

The nickname "Trout" refers to Schubert’s song, "Die Forelle," on which the fourth, variation movement of the quintet is based. The song itself paints an idyllic country scene, complete with bubbling brook, flashing silver scales, and a narrator, whose lovely day in the countryside is spoiled when an angler diabolically stirs up the stream, blinding and hooking the poor unsuspecting trout. The emotional arc of the song is strongly echoed in the variations, which starts out simply and sweetly and build in complexity, reaching a climax in a turbulent minor variation (the fish hooked?) followed by a mournful cello variation (the onlooker, mourning the betrayed one?) A coda of sorts reprises the song nearly exactly.

This fourth movement is a somewhat unusual interpolation for a composition of this era (a sort of "bonus with purchase," if you will.) The rest of the piece consists of a traditional grouping of movements: an opening movement in sonata form featuring a rocketing triplet motif, a lyrical slow movement that takes us on a winding harmonic journey, a boisterous scherzo, and a typically folksy finale.

The latter part of Schubert’s short life is very sad to contemplate; how lucky we are, then, to have this wonderful piece to reassure us that there was a moment when he could revel in the beauty of his melodies and the play of harmonies, and when the thing that

Fantasy Pieces, Op. 88 (1842) One of Schumann's extra-curricular activities as a not very enthusiastic 18-year-old law student at Leipzig University had been to form a piano quartet. The ensemble’s merry evenings of playing music often included large quantities of Bavarian beer and performances of works by Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert. Schumann also composed a Piano Quartet in C minor during this time, which still exists. For a long time, this youthful piano quartet remained an isolated experiment: not until 1842 did Schumann return to chamber music for piano and strings. In the summer of that year, after an intense study of the string quartets of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, Schumann composed a set of three quartets of his own. These were followed in the last three months of the year by the Piano Quintet Op 44, the Piano Quartet Op 47, and the preliminary version of a Piano Trio in A minor. The last of these works did not reach its definitive form until 1850, when it appeared under the title of Phantasiestücke Op 88 for violin, cello and piano. The collection of four pieces was clearly designed for domestic performance, and Schumann himself drew attention to its more "delicate" nature in comparison with his other chamber works for piano and strings. Kistner published it in 1850 and for tonight’s performance, Nicolai Tarasov has arranged the cello part for clarinet.

Schumann completed the Violin Sonata in A minor Op. 105 within the span of less than a week, between September 12^th and 16^th, 1851, during the most creative period of his life. He had then recently been appointed Director of the Municipal Choir and Orchestra in Düsseldorf. According to former conductor and composer Ferdinand Hiller, who invited Schumann to take over his position, "the Düsseldorfers are now very happy, and I think the present arrangement will work out for the best". However, it is known that Schumann told the newly appointed orchestra leader, violinist Joseph von Wasielewski, that he had composed his Violin Sonata in A minor at a time when he was "very angry with certain people". Whether or not that anger found its release in creative energy, the Sonata projects passion and dynamism that flows from the beginning to the end. From its opening bars with the rich and intense tone of the violin's bottom G-string and turbulent piano accompaniment to the finale's driving energy, all three movements of the Sonata reveal a nearly symphonic stream of creative power and expression. It was first performed and published in 1852.

Schumann’s generic title Phantasiestüke or Fantasiestüke (Fantasy Pieces) appears several times in the list of his chamber works. It is difficult to establish precise criteria for a work called by this name, except for the obvious association with the genre of fantasy. Interrelations between individual parts in these compositions defy accurate definition. Evidently it was important to Schumann that the title be a poetic affirmation of the inventive freedom that governs his music and would create a strong imaginative impulse. The Fantasiestüke Op.73 for clarinet or violin, or cello and piano are originally scored for Clarinet in A, instead of the more common B flat clarinet. Sounding a half-step lower, this instrument, with its darker and more mysterious tone, underlines the general fanciful character of the composition. It was written and published in 1849, during the period when Schumann had begun to experiment with various forms of duos for different instruments with piano, as though keen to encourage new areas of domestic music-making. It was first performed by clarinetist Johann Kotte and Schumann’s wife, pianist Clara Schumann.

2006 has been called "The Year of Mozart" to honour the great master’s 250 birthday. But 2006 also marks the 150^th anniversary of Schumann’s death. On July 29, 1856, two months exactly from today 150 years ago, Schumann died at the age of 46. The Slumber Song (Op. 124 no. 16) is performed this evening as an homage to Schumann, who, more than anyone, personified the Romantic spirit.

Drei Romanzen (Three Romances) Op.94 for oboe, clarinet or violin and piano are from what Schumann referred to as his "most fruitful year": 1849. It was a particularly productive year for Schumann as he was creating numerous works intended for performance at home and with amateurs’ ensembles. The delicate and soft character of the composition most likely influenced Schumann’s choice of title – a Romance, a Love Song, a sort of intimate dialogue. All three pieces are played at a similar pace, so that the cycle gives the impression of unfolding in a single span. Each phrase appears to grow out of the last, and the music is further bound together by the manner in which it so inextricably weaves together theme and accompaniment. However, the name and charming quality of the music didn’t prevent Schumann from experimenting with melodic elements and harmonic structures, making this music sound rich and resonant. Simrock published three Romances Op.94 in 1851. Schumann may have conceived the music for the more melancholy sound of the wind instrument, but it works very well on the violin too.

Schumann’s last years were overshadowed by declining health and finally by his mental breakdown in February 1854. He began to experience difficulties in his position in Düsseldorf. Both the orchestra and the chorus were finding Schumann’s personality to be a problem, and criticized his conducting style. During an October 1853 performance, several members of the chorus refused to sing under his direction. The cycle of four pieces for clarinet, viola & piano Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tale Narrations) Op.132 is the last instrumental work he composed during this period of his life. Just before it, on September 30, 1853, the Schumanns were visited by violinist Joachim, who brought with him his new friend, the twenty-year-old Brahms. Brahms made a huge impression on Robert Schumann, and the Märchenerzählungen Op.132 was probably inspired by young Brahms and Joachim, musicians in whom he recognized common aesthetic views and an enthusiasm for the ultimate artistic goal. The title suggests favorite stories of childhood, but Schumann never identified them, leaving all the details to our imagination.

March 18, 2006 "Passion & Inspiration" programme notes

Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet in B flat Major was published in 1801 as Opus18 No.6 and was written between 1798 and 1800 as a part of a set of six string quartets. For Beethoven, creating string quartets manifests an entry into new musical territory. Classical string quartets had been established and perfected by Haydn and Mozart, but Beethoven had never attempted one. He took up the challenge in late 1798 when Prince Lobkowitz, a native of Bohemia and a leading patron of the arts in Vienna, commissioned him to create a package of six string quartets.

The String Quartet in B flat Major consists of four movements and contains one of the most dramatic pages found in the entire set. While its form is clearly implanted in the classical tradition, the piece is strongly Romantic in expressive content, continually demonstrating new approaches to composition techniques. Many writers have commented that passages of this work show the real beginning of Romanticism in music. The most imaginative passage is the composite finale of the Quartet, where a slow, strange-sounding chromatic labyrinth entitled "La Malinconia" (melancholy) alternates with a swift, crystal-clear little dance evocative of Viennese ballrooms. Beethoven insisted that it be played, "with the greatest of delicacy," but for some, the daring shifts of harmony and texture in this movement represent "a musical account of manic depressive states" (Caldwell, A.E., Woman Physician, 1972). Whatever we may feel about the conclusion of the B flat Quartet, the whole is a work of genius.

Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864), one of the most famous and successful composers of 19th century opera was born on the Jewish date 6 Elul (September 5, 1791) in Vogelsdorf, Germany as Yaakov Liebmann Beer. He was first trained at the piano and became known as a child prodigy. Later he studied composition and counterpoint with the Abbe Vogler in Darmstadt. At the suggestion of Antonio Salieri, he made his way to Italy in order to develop the fine art of composing for the voice. It was there that he began to compose operas in the Italian style and started calling himself Giacomo Meyerbeer. The Clarinet Quintet was recently found in the papers of the great-granddaughter of Heinrich Joseph Baermann (1784-1847) the leading clarinet player of his time and Meyerbeer’s friend. The piece was believed to be among the "lost" Meyerbeer archives that did not survive the Third Reich. The manuscript bears an inscription in the hand of Carl Baermann, also a great clarinettist: "Meyerbeer composed this quintet in Vienna for my father, H. Baermann, on the occasion of his name-day, just as did Weber". It is apparent from Meyerbeer’s diary that he closely collaborated with Heinrich Baermann on the creation of the piece. The composer’s diary mentions a Clarinet Quintet for Heinrich Baermann several times in 1812 and adds, "Visit from Baermann, who gave me a few written-out phrases that he wanted to have turned into a clarinet quintet" (9 July 1812), and "Visit from Baermann. I collected material for his quintet in his presence" (10 July 1812). The piece stretches the limits of virtuosity and sounds very operatic. The Rondo which concludes the piece is of great interest, since it bears the imprint of Jewish folk music which influenced Meyerbeer in his early compositions.

In honour of the close collaboration of Meyerbeer and Baermann, the two movements of the Quintet are, for tonight’s performance, positioned before and after an Adagio composed by Heinrich Baermann. As a performer, Baermann personified the Romantic virtuoso. With his singing style and perfect musicality, he was given the nickname "Rubini der Klarinette", likening him to the revered tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini. Baermann’s Adagio has an interesting history—after his death in 1847, Baermann’s compositions disappeared from the concert-hall, so much that when the beautiful Adagio was re-discovered in manuscript in 1926, it was attributed to Richard Wagner. For fifty years, the Adagio was published and performed as "Wagner’s Adagio for Clarinet and Strings". It was recently re-attributed to its true author, and we have adopted it as a moment of repose between the two busy virtuoso movements of the Meyerbeer Quintet.

Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847) was born in Hamburg, the grandson of Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. He was a boy prodigy at the piano and experienced much success throughout his life. In 1847, by age 38, he was a man renowned as a performer, composer, conductor, commentator, and personality. In the spring of 1847 he was making trips all over Germany, acting as music director in both Berlin and Leipzig, composing and conducting a splashy world premiere of his new oratorio in England, as well as making several appearances at major festivals around Europe. The sudden death of Felix's beloved sister, Fanny, on May 14, 1847 shattered his world. To Felix, Fanny was not only a big sister, but a competing composer, muse, critic, fellow artist, and second mother all in one-stimulating him, challenging him in so many ways almost as if she were his spiritually-conjoined twin.

Paralyzed by grief, he was unable to attend her funeral, and retreated to Switzerland for weeks of isolation with his brother Paul. In idyllic Interlaken and Thun, the still-shaken Mendelssohn turned away from the grand oratorios, opera sketches and concerti of the past year and toward chamber music's smaller, more intimate expressions. He produced three vocal motets and this, the String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80, into which he poured his pain, his anger, his fear and his memories. The slow movement is especially nostalgic, quoting a song he wrote years earlier to console his sister on the death of a mutual friend.

He began work on other pieces at this time but would never find himself able to finish another. At September's end he found a visit to his sister's grave in Berlin so disturbing that he was unable to conduct, canceling his appearances at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Weak and shattered, in a few weeks' time, he was assailed by crippling strokes of increasing severity that would slowly incapacitate him, until overcome, he joined his sister in death on November 4, 1847.

For tonight’s performance, Nicolai Tarasov is using an original anonymous clarinet from the first half of the 19^th century, similarly to the instrument used by Heinrich Baermann. The instrument was graciously provided by Robin Howell of Toronto, from his collection.

February 18, 2006 "Ariettes Oubliées" programme notes

Welcome to this evening’s performance. This programme is for us a kind of musical Valentine for it contains some of our most favourite songs on the subject of love.

In 1792, at age twenty-one, Beethoven left his native Bonn to settle in Vienna. In the imperial capital, music was everywhere. Mozart had only recently died the year before, and the city had four of five orchestras and numerous theatres that vied for the attention of Viennese society. The best noble and bourgeois families of Vienna cherished chamber music especially. Performed in highly fashionable, intimate salons, chamber music held a very special appeal and many homes harboured their own music groups.

By 1793, Beethoven was invited to take up quarters in the home of Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, a close friend of Mozart, who was renowned for the chamber music performances he organized in his home. The Prince had three superb musicians in his service, violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh, violist Frank Weiss, and cellist Nikolaus Kraft. Steeped in this atmosphere, Beethoven was to make chamber music the most important part of his work during his first years in Vienna.

Prince Lichnowsky held regular private soirées at which Beethoven became a frequent star attraction. At one of these soirées, probably in late August or September 1795, Beethoven presented the three piano trios he had recently published as his Opus 1, with a dedication to the Prince.

Beethoven was determined to impress and challenge the Viennese musical elite with his first published opus. With their weighty, elaborate structures (four movements rather than the customary two or three) and urgency of musical dialectic, the Opus 1 trios were a full-frontal assault on the traditional notion of the piano trio. What had been an intimate domestic medium in Mozart’s and Haydn’s hands suddenly became a symphony for three instruments. In the first two trios, Beethoven’s subversiveness was still cloaked in the language of the classical comedy of manners.

But in the Piano Trio in C minor, Op 1 No 3, it erupted in an explosive work brimming with dark lyric beauty. Haydn, recently returned from London, was among Prince Lichnowsky’s guests at the first performance; and according to the reminiscences of Beethoven’s pupil Ferdinand Ries, the master was full of praise for Nos 1 and 2 but taken aback by the C minor, Beethoven’s favourite. Whatever Haydn’s misgivings, Beethoven’s earliest masterpiece in his most characteristic key gradually became one of his most popular chamber works. The music is profoundly Beethovenian, full of extreme contrasts and forceful rhetoric (the first page is covered with sforzando accents) alternating with intense pathos and longing lyricism.

Beethoven's Opus 9 consists of three trios which took Beethoven several years to write, overlapping with other music he finished both earlier and later. They were apparently written out by 1797, and in March 1798 Beethoven assigned the publishing rights to Johann Traeg of Vienna. By this time, Beethoven was losing his hearing. The first difficulties had appeared as early as 1794, and he had begun avoiding sitting down at the piano when he attended musical salons. By the end of the century, he tried to avoid society entirely. Meanwhile, ideas poured out of him in a rushing stream he could barely control. Violent dynamic and rhythmic oppositions seemed to stretch to the breaking point the very framework of the composition.

The string trios gave Beethoven an opportunity to free himself of the piano. The initial opening of Trio No 1 in G major is slow, descending to the G major chord, before leading to a little figure of sixteenth notes for the violin, which pass from instrument to instrument as in a discussion, before becoming adopted as the opening subject of the Allegro con brio. In the second movement, we find a magnificent song for all three instruments, very opera-like with the violin as soprano. The carefree Scherzo is in contrast to the previous movement, and artfully leads to a brilliant, virtusosic finale. The whole work is especially rich in surprises that may have shocked Viennese audiences. All three of the String Trios are particularly successful works which hint at the lyricism of Beethoven's late String Quartets.

The programme for the first performance of Beethoven's recently completed Opus 16 in Vienna on April 6, 1797 read, "a Quintet for the Fortepiano and Four Wind Instruments". Yet, when the work was first published in 1801, it appeared both as a quintet for piano and winds and as a quartet for piano and strings. Both versions had the same opus number and were nearly identical, given the different number and capabilities of the instruments. Having been inspired by Mozart's highly successful and delightful Quintet K.452, written more than a decade before, it is not surprising that Beethoven chose the quintet form. The string transcription, it is believed, was probably a way to make the music more available to a wider public, including the many amateur piano and string groups that were active in Vienna at that time.

The opening is a contrast between the pompous style of late seventeenth century French ouvertures and the simple, relaxed style of the Allegro portion. Beethoven underscores the lightness of the mood by playfully inserting a false recapitulation in the wrong key, before returning in the proper and expected way. The Andante cantabile is a long-phrased melody introduced by the piano before being taken over by the other instruments. The final Rondo has a very short piano cadenza that Beethoven extended to considerable length during one performance. The great composer did not hesitate to engage in masterful improvisation during his performances, but when he heard his pupil Carl Czerny make a few minor alterations in the Rondo part, he scolded his student for taking such liberties!

Born in Tiflis (now Tbilisi, Georgia), Aram Khachaturian was of the same generation as Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Like them, he spent much of his working life under the restrictions of Socialist Realism, but it seems that Khachaturian did not find it to be unduly limiting. Khachatourian’s Armenian roots may have given him something of a head start as a melodist. As noted by his contemporary Kabalevsky: "The especially attractive features of Khachatourian’s music are in its folk roots. The rhythmic diversity of Transcaucasian folk-dance, the inspired improvisations of folk musicians; such are the sources from which his creativity has sprung". The Clarinet Trio, written in 1932, is Khachatourian's only full-length chamber work. His approach to the Trio was wholly original, and so striking that Prokofiev himself recommended the work for performance overseas. The opening Andante is a lyrical duet between the clarinet and violin over piano accompaniment, with florid embellishments in the manner of Armenian folk improvisation. In the second movement, the brilliant precision with which the tone-colours are calculated and the rhythms inflected truly mark Khachatourian as a refined and highly accomplished composer. The final Moderato is a set of variations on an Uzbek tune. After an initial statement of the theme on clarinet, the three instruments weave increasingly varied rhythmic patterns around the melody, evoking the style of near-Eastern folk musicians. In its colour, energy, and youthful inventiveness, the Clarinet Trio represents Khachaturian at his highly entertaining best.

In 1943 Sergei Prokofiev was living in Perm in the Ural Mountains, one of several remote locations where the Soviet government was keeping him and other prominent artists out of harm's way while the Soviet army battled the Germans. He wrote a Sonata for Flute and Piano, a task he called "perhaps inappropriate at the moment, but pleasant." The Sonata was premiered that December in Moscow. A year later his close friend, the violinist David Oistrakh, suggested that he turn it into a Violin Sonata. Turning the flute part into a violin part involved remarkably little revision. Prokofiev said, "I wanted this sonata to have a classical, clear, transparent sonority." Some of the transparency has to do with tessitura or texture: since the violin part is higher than "normal," there will likely be more distance between it and the piano. But the clarity is also due to the songful simplicity of much of the Sonata, particularly in the gentle themes of the first and third movements. The Sonata has an elegance and sweetness that is reminiscent of French Impressionism.

Until very recently, the music of Galina Ustvolskaia had hardly been heard in Russia, let alone in the West. Born in St. Petersburg, she was a student of Shostakovich and gained the respect of her illustrious teacher, who would consult her on each of the works he composed during her tenure as his student and even incorporated a theme from her Trio for clarinet, violin and piano in his Suite on Verses of Michelangelo. Speaking of her Clarinet Trio of 1949, Ustvolskaia stated "all my music from this composition onward is ‘spiritual’ in nature". Astonishingly, this music dating back more than fifty years sounds ahead of its time, even today. The lilting piano sets its tone in a somber, almost elegiac tone, and is sweetened only slightly by a violin playing counterpoint to the clarinet. It is constructed of three strange movements - espressivo, dolce, energico - and one can hear Shostakovich's influence in the last. There is tenderness here, but contained within a somber, fluid harmonic architecture that echoes regret and loss. Ustvolskaia’s work is indeed spiritual, but also conditioned by her life in Soviet society. "Music such as hers", writes Suslin "could only develop in that place, at that time. In this century, St. Petersburg witnessed numerous horrors, of which the siege in the Second World War is only one".

Alfred Schnittke was born in Engels, in the former German Volga Republic of the Soviet Union. Alfred's father served in the Red Army and ended the war in Vienna. Living in Vienna as a youth had a considerable formative influence on Schnittke, particularly his immersion in the music of Mozart and Schubert. He spoke Russian with a German accent and German with a Viennese accent all his life. Schnittke wrote over sixty film scores between 1961 and 1984. His music is often despairing, with surprising witty touches, including musical quotes from well-known works. Suite in the Old Style, originated as a film score for "The Adventures of a Dentist", is what Schnittke called "polystylistic". The work includes old structural forms such as Ballet, Minuet, and Fugue. In this piece, Schnittke creates a kind of pastiche of Baroque music, building the Suite entirely from stark, jarring juxtapositions that create a feeling of perpetual dislocation and tension within an expansive structure.

Gregorij Korchmar was born in Baltiysk, Kaliningrad region. Winner of the All-Russia competition of pianists, Korchmar continues to actively give concerts as soloist and is currently the vice-president of the Union of Russian composers. "Visiting Carl Maria von Weber" is a peculiar composition, in which Korchmar imagines a visit with the great German Romantic composer of the nineteenth century, Weber. Based on the idea of a dialogue between two persons, presented by the clarinet (Weber's favorite instrument) and the violin (Korchmar's favorite instrument), this fantasized encounter literally starts with a "knock on the door". After the first phrases of salutation, the two characters continue a friendly conversation. Suddenly, the fantasy gets out of control, an argument starts and a quarrel ensues. Fortunately, it does not last long and the two composers are friends again. The rekindled camaraderie is celebrated with a banquet. Unluckily, things go wrong once again as the new friends have too much to drink and get drunk. But everything is resolved at the end. This brilliant composition is full of humor and fresh musical ideas and very intelligently combines two completely different musical languages - modern and old.