ATTENTION: PIANO PROFUSION AHEAD
JEANNIE YU RETURNS
I am often asked about my method for choosing the music on our Midsummer’s Music programs. My answer is always the same. I start out with a legal sized pad and draw a line right down through the middle creating two columns. I head the left column with the word “Piano” and the right, “No Piano.” Some venues we play in have pianos, and some don’t, so that is a controlling factor right from the beginning.
I start listing works that I think we should consider for the coming season in the appropriate column. When each column is well populated, I start looking at how some of those works might work together on the same program. Is there some kind of chemistry they seem to engender when combined? That’s what I’m looking for, some kind of magic synergy, and I must say, it seems easier to find with a program involving piano. One reason is the different sound and texture that the piano offers. Previously, I have talked about our desire to provide variety in our programs, and the piano offers that in spades with its distinctive sound and capabilities … not to mention the potential power it possesses, especially in the right hands. And for our upcoming program, we once more have the right hands—those of Jeannie Yu, our pianist extraordinaire.
Her program, which opens on Friday, July 15, features three works for piano trio. The standard piano trio instrumentation involves violin, cello, and piano. This combination has a long-standing tradition going back at least to the Baroque period where it existed in what was called the trio sonata. However, the keyboard instrument in those days was the harpsichord, and it functioned more as an accompanying instrument. With the advent of the piano in the latter half of the 18th century, this began to change, slowly at first, because the new instrument in its infancy was much smaller and more delicate than our modern instruments. Haydn and then Mozart and others, soon discovered the fascinating possibilities, even on this early version of the piano. With the next generation of instruments in Beethoven’s hand, it was Katie-bar-the-door.
For our program, we are featuring one of the greatest works for piano trio ever written: Schubert’s Piano Trio in E-flat, Op. 100 (D.929). It is one of three Schubert works we are featuring this season to celebrate Schubert’s 225th birthday. This is a massive and monumental work written just a year before his untimely death. It is obvious that Schubert poured his heart and soul into this work. It is so full of invention and inspiration. The first movement, for instance, contains as many as six themes instead of the more normal two or three. Furthermore, after starting in the home key of E-flat, he eventually moves to the totally unrelated key of B minor—unheard of at the time. According to some scholars, there is strong evidence of Beethoven’s influence on this work, which would not be surprising since Beethoven died shortly before Schubert penned it.
The second movement is probably the most famous and will be recognizable to many because of the use of its main theme in several movies including Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon plus The Piano Teacher, The Hunger, Miss Julie, and The Killing Season (among others). Schubert based his theme on a Swedish folk song he had recently heard at some friends’ home. The movement’s funeral march character grows slowly in intensity, finally erupting in raw emotion before fading away into a quiet, haunting conclusion.
The Scherzo is playful, full of energy, and begins with a canon between the piano and the two string instruments. The Finale is either huge – or gigantic – depending on which version we do. I am leaving that decision up to the players and haven’t heard yet what they have decided. Schubert ultimately decided to cut some material out of the last movement, but some players put it back in. Some of that cut material involves the second movement theme combined in counterpoint with thematic material from this last movement. Ingenuity and unexpected turns abound in this wonderful work, and I can tell you, Jeannie, David, and James can’t wait to sink their musical teeth into it.
So, what to put on a program’s first half with such an extensive masterpiece? Nothing too long for sure, and not too heavy either. I recently became aware of a 19th century Swedish composer of interest, Laura Netzel. Not much of her music is available, but we are fortunate to have her little Serenade for Piano Trio, which she published, as she often did, under the name N. Lago to hide her gender. It is so charming and tantalizing and suggestive of what more we might uncover by her. It is one of four works by women composer on the schedule this year. This will be followed by Circulo by Joachim Turina. Turina grew up in Spain and went to Paris for additional study. His early compositions reflect the style of his French teachers, but he eventually tried to develop a more Spanish style especially when he returned to Spain. Circulo has three sections, “Dawn,” “Midday,” and “Dusk,” in which the closing measures of “Dusk” recall those of the opening of “Dawn” thereby completing the circle the title suggests. This is a fine example of Turina’s mature Spanish style.
One of the four performances of this program is our first Salon Concert of the season at the home of Dianne Trenchard, the same home where we played our very first concert 32 years ago. Order your tickets now, because some of these concerts will certainly sell out. Here is the schedule:
- Friday, July 15, 7:00 pm, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
- Saturday, July 16, 7:00 pm, Hope Church, Sturgeon Bay
- Sunday, July 17, 3:00 pm, Trenchard Residence, Sister Bay
- Thursday, July 21, 7:00 pm, Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Please call 920-854-7088 or visit www.midsummersmusic.com for tickets or information. We look forward to sharing this wonderful music with you.
Jim Berkenstock,
Artistic Director