Door County Candle Company representatives will be on hand for the Homeland Sentiments concerts featuring music by Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko to talk about the company’s massive and ongoing fundraising success for people of Ukraine.
Midsummer’s Music, Wisconsin’s oldest summer chamber music series, ends its July concerts with a program entitled Homeland Sentiments featuring Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko, Polish composer Philipp Scharwenka, and Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. The program embodies elements expressing love and warm feelings for each composer’s Eastern European origins. Musicians for the three concerts are David Perry and Ann Palen, Violins, Allyson Fleck, Viola, James Waldo, Cello, and Jeannie Yu, Piano. Door County Candle Company representatives will be on hand for the concerts to talk about the company’s massive and ongoing fundraising success for people of Ukraine.
Mykola Lysenko was a pianist, conductor, ethnomusicologist, and composer who played a major role in establishing a national style of music in Ukraine, and he was instrumental in the creation of the Kyiv National Conservatory of Music. He studied and drew from Ukrainian folk music, promoting the use of the Ukrainian language, and separating himself from Russian culture. His compositions form what many consider the quintessential essence of Ukrainian music. The soulful beauty of the Adagio movement from his String Quartet in D Minor easily earned the premiere spot on this program.
Philipp Scharwenka’s Piano Trio in C-sharp Minor was written in 1897. Its moody first movement is more like a second movement. Followed by a Scherzo and Finale, it is almost as if Philipp decided to forgo a typical first movement and settle for a three-movement work. Shortly after this work appeared, profound and sudden changes in musical tastes occurred, particularly among the culturally elite. Legions of composers watched their careers and positions of respect dwindle nearly overnight, although Scharwenka has regained much deserved attention in recent years.
Antonín Dvořák is no stranger to Midsummer’s Music audiences. His Quintet in A Major, Op. 81, is considered to be one of his greatest and most popular compositions. The piece displays Dvořák’s national feelings – feelings based on his people, their character and cultural heritage – rather than political nationalism. The piece juxtaposes laughter and tears, sorry and gaiety, along with many moods between two extremes, all presented with complete mastery and a wide range of instrumental coloring.
The Homeland Sentiments program is performed three times: July 29 at 7:00pm at the Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor; July 30 at 7:00pm at Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay; and July 31 at 3:00pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay.
More exciting Midsummer’s Music concerts return starting August 21 with the Down Home & Heavenly program featuring music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Libby Larsen, and Ferdinand Reis, followed by the Quintet Elegance program with music by Dame Ethel Smyth and Franz Schubert, and the A Date with Destenay program with music by Louise Farrenc, Edouard Destenay, and César Franck. The second Salon Concert of 2022 will be an exclusive performance of Quintet Elegance at the Courtney/Reschka residence in Sister Bay on August 27, sponsored by Nicolet National Bank. The 2022 season concludes with a grand benefit gala at Björklunden in Baileys Harbor on the afternoon of Labor Day, September 5.
A complete 2022 summer brochure can be downloaded at www.midsummersmusic.com. Programs are subject to change.
Tickets are $35 for adults, $15 for students, and children 12 and under are free. Premium prices apply for salon/home concerts, dinner concerts and other special events. Flex-packs of six tickets for the price of five tickets are also available. Tickets can be ordered at www.midsummersmusic.com or by phone at 920-854-7088.
Midsummer’s Music was co-founded in 1990 by Jim and Jean Berkenstock, long-time Door County summer residents and principal orchestral players with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. What began as two concerts among friends has become one of the Midwest’s most anticipated chamber music series, bringing thousands of chamber music enthusiasts from around the globe to the magical Door County Peninsula.
For more information visit www.midsummersmusic.com.
High-resolution photos can be downloaded at https://midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
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For Calendar Listings:
Coffee Talks
Coffee Talk programs are free, informal presentations on music topics by ensemble members. staff, and friends.
Saturday, July 23, 11:00am, Margaret Lockwood Gallery, Sturgeon Bay: Flautist Heather Zinninger Yarmel – Taoism and Alexander Technique in Music: A beginner’s journey to finding greater freedom in music-making
Tuesday, August 23, 2:00pm, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay: Artistic Director Jim Berkenstock – Where Does Music Come From?
Lush & Thrilling Romantic Poetry
Quartettsatz in C Minor, D. 703 Franz Schubert
Divertimento in E Major, Op. 53 Friedrich Gernsheim
Grand Quintetto in B-flat Major, Op. 34 Carl Maria von Weber
Friday, July 22, 7:00 pm, First Baptist Church, Sister Bay
Saturday, July 23, 7:00 pm, Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Sunday, July 24, 5:00 pm, Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
Homeland Sentiments
Adagio from String Quartet in D Minor (1869) Mykola Lysenko
Trio in C-sharp Major, Op. 100 Philipp Scharwenka
Quintet in A Major, Op. 81 Antonín Dvořák
Friday, July 29, 7:00 pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Saturday, July 30, 7:00 pm, Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Sunday, July 31, 3:00 pm, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
Down Home & Heavenly
Divertimento No. 10 in F Major, K. 247 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Rodeo Reina de Cielo (Rodeo Queen of Heaven) Libby Larsen
Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 25 Ferdinand Ries
Sunday, August 21, 3:00 pm, Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Wednesday, August 24, 7:00 pm, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
Thursday, August 25, 7:00 pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Friday, August 26, 7:00 pm, Birch Creek: Juniper Hall, Egg Harbor
Quintet Elegance
Quintet in E Major, Op. 1 Dame Ethel Smyth
Quintet in D Major, D. 956 Franz Schubert
Saturday, August 27, 7:00 pm • Salon Concert, Courtney Residence, Sister Bay
Sunday, August 28, 5:00 pm, Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
Wednesday, August 31, 7:00 pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Friday, September 2, 7:00 pm, Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
A Date with Destenay (and Franck at 200)
Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 44 Louise Ferranc
Trio in E Minor, Op. 27 Edouard Destenay
Quintet in F Minor (1880) César Franck
Thursday, September 1, 7:00 pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Saturday, September 3, 3:00 pm, The Clearing Folk School, Ellison Bay
Sunday, September 4, 3:00 pm, Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Monday, September 5, 3:00 pm • Labor Day Gala, Björklunden, Baileys Harbor