|
|
|
|
|
Debussy String Quartet with Clarinetist Igor Begelman
Sunday, March 7, 2004
3:00 p.m.
NAS Auditorium
Entrance at 2100 C Street, NW
Washington, DC
FREE! – No reservations or tickets required
|
|
|
|
|
Christophe Collette, violin
Anne Ménier, violin
Vincent Deprecq, viola
Yannick Callier, cello
with guest artist Igor Begelman, clarinet
|
Program
Guillame Lekeu (1870 - 1894)
"Méditation" in d minor for string quartet
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
String Quartet in A Major, K. 464
Allegro
Menuetto
Andante
Allegro non troppo
INTERMISSION
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Clarinet Quintet in b minor, Opus 115
Allegro
Adagio
Andantino; Presto non assai, ma consentimento
Con moto
Program Notes
Guillame Lekeu (1870 - 1894)
Molto adagio, sempre cantata doloroso, for string quartet (1887)
The Belgian composer Guillaume Lekeu is one of music history's tragic figures whose great musical promise was cut short by an all-too early death. He was born in the town of Verviers, Belgium in 1870. Shortly afterwards, his family moved to Poitiers, France, where he received the bulk of his early training and began composing. After graduation, he went on a short European tour, ending up in Bayreuth under the spell of Wagner's music. His determination to follow a musical career finally won over his parents who consented to support him during further studies in Paris. Here he became not just a student but a devoted follower of César Franck, although his musical personality was even then too strong to allow him merely to imitate the master. Franck's sudden death in 1890, only a year after Lekeu went to study with him, was a devastating blow to the young Belgian. He returned to composition, though, through the encouragement and kindness of both Vincent D'Indy and Eugene Ysaye, who was so impressed by what he heard of Lekeu's work that he commissioned the now famous Violin Sonata. Unfortunately Lekeu's last creative period was very short. He died of typhoid fever in January of 1894 a day after his twenty-fourth birthday, leaving a small body of works with exceptional promise. -- Anthony Pugh
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
String Quartet in A Major, K. 464
Allegro, Menuetto, Andante, Allegro non troppo
Mozart wrote the "Haydn" Quartets between 1782 and 1785, and he adopted the older composer's new way of writing for the four string instruments. These works, however, are not derivative in any way, but rather incorporate Haydn's innovations within a unique style that speaks of Mozart's personality. When Haydn heard the last three quartets of the set would be dedicated to him, he commented to Leopold Mozart: "Before God and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or in name. He has taste, and, what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition." The Quartet in A major, K. 464, was completed in January 1785, and it is the fifth of the six "Haydn" Quartets. – Darlene Berkovitz
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Clarinet Quintet in b minor, Opus 115
Allegro, Adagio, Andantino; Presto non assai, ma consentimento; Con moto
On its first appearance in 1891, Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet was immediately recognized as a remarkable achievement, and a century later it still has the power to claim the hearts and minds of players and audiences alike. The influence of the Meiningen clarinet virtuoso Richard Mühlfeld unleashed a new vein of creativity in Brahms, and the result, this work, is widely regarded as Brahms’ supreme achievement in the field of chamber music. – Colin Lawson
The Debussy Quartet and Igor Begelman are represented by Jonathan Wentworth Associates, Ltd., www.jwentworth.com
(Directions to the National Academy of Sciences Building)
For more information: 202.334.2436 or arts@nas.edu
|
