OUT of OUR MINDS CHAMBER MUSIC
CONCERT 1 - LE GRAND TANGO
Saturday, September 16, 2023 @ 7:30 PM
Viterbo University Nola Starling Recital Hall
Magdalena Sas, cello
Michelle Lee Elliott, violin
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
PROGRAM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Sonata No. 1 in E Minor for cello and piano, Op. 38
Magdalena Sas, cello and Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Allegro non troppo
Allegretto quasi Menuetto
Allegro
Notes:
Sonata No.1 begins with an expansive sonata form first movement. The quiet and expressive first theme in the cello is supported by a simple chordal piano accompaniment. The forte second theme is built of an arpeggiated chord. This exposition section closes softly. Motives from both themes are explored in the development section. The recapitulation brings a return of the two principal themes in minor, and the coda concludes in major.
The Allegretto quasi Menuetto is in typical minuet form. A stately dance in the minor mode is followed by several variants. This section ends with pizzicatos in the cello. A contrasting trio possesses some qualities of music by Robert Schumann, Brahms's mentor. The minuet music returns exactly as before.
Brahms's finale is a fugue marked Allegro. The piano introduces the subject in the bass register. This is answered first in the cello and then in the treble register of the piano. Melodic similarities between this fugue subject and one composed by Bach in his Art of Fugue have been noticed by several scholars. This subject is developed by means of several fugal techniques, including inversion and stretto (close imitation of the fugue subject). - Antoine Lederlin
Amanda Maier-Röntgen (1853-1894)
Piano Trio in E-flat Major
Michelle Lee Elliott, violin; Magdalena Sas, cello; Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Allegro
Scherzo - Trio
Andante
Finale. Allegro con fuoco
Notes:
Amanda Maier was born into a musical home in Landskrona and discovered her musical talent early. Her first instruction in violin and piano was from her father. At the age of sixteen, Maier began studying at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where she studied violin, organ, piano, cello, composition and harmony. Maier performed violin concerts in both Sweden and abroad. She continued to study composition with the conservatory teachers Reinecke and Richter in Leipzig and violin from Engelbert Röntgen, concert master at Gewandhaus Orchestra in the same city. During this time she composed a violin sonata, a piano trio and a violin concerto for orchestra. Her violin concerto was premiered in 1875 with Maier as soloist and received good reviews.
In Leipzig she met the German-Dutch pianist and composer Julius Röntgen (1855–1932), her violin teacher's son. The couple married in 1880 in Landskrona and moved to Amsterdam. The marriage ended Amanda's public appearances, but she continued composing, and the couple arranged musical salons and music performances in Europe, with audience members including Nina and Edvard Grieg, Anton Rubinstein, Joseph Joachim, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. In the late 1870s Maier also met Ethel Smyth, who was studying in Leipzig. They became friends and continued corresponding until Maier's death.
In 1887 Röntgen-Maier became ill with tuberculosis. During her illness, the couple stayed in Nice and Davos. Her final major composition was the piano quartet in E minor on a trip to Norway in 1891. She died in 1894 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Le Grand Tango for Violoncello and Piano
Magdalena Sas, cello and Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Notes:
Le Grand Tango, Spanish El gran tango, single-movement piece for cello and piano by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla that expresses the spirit of nuevo tango (“new tango”), a melding of traditional tango rhythms and jazz-inspired syncopation. Written in 1982, Le Grand Tango was published in Paris—thus its French rather than Spanish title.
Piazzolla studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, who encouraged him to stick with the tango rather than focusing solely on classical composition. Taking her words to heart, he began to experiment with the standard Argentine tango, diverging from the expected Latin harmonies and producing an edgier sound than that found in classic tango. He composed Le Grand Tango for Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who did not play it until 1990 or record it until 1996.
Although structured in a single movement, the work has three broad sections. It opens with the indication “Tempo di tango,” in which strongly accented tango rhythms dominate. In the second section, performers are told to allow more motion, with a “libero e cantabile” (“free and singing”) spirit. It contains extensive dialogue between the cello and the piano. The final section, for which Piazzolla provided the tempo indication “giocoso” (“humorous”), presents a mood of electric energy and even humour. The music charges forward to its conclusion, giving the cellist many challenging double-stops (playing two notes at once) and glissandos (sliding rapidly through a musical scale). - Betsy Schwarm
CONCERT 1 - LE GRAND TANGO
Saturday, September 16, 2023 @ 7:30 PM
Viterbo University Nola Starling Recital Hall
Magdalena Sas, cello
Michelle Lee Elliott, violin
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
PROGRAM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Sonata No. 1 in E Minor for cello and piano, Op. 38
Magdalena Sas, cello and Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Allegro non troppo
Allegretto quasi Menuetto
Allegro
Notes:
Sonata No.1 begins with an expansive sonata form first movement. The quiet and expressive first theme in the cello is supported by a simple chordal piano accompaniment. The forte second theme is built of an arpeggiated chord. This exposition section closes softly. Motives from both themes are explored in the development section. The recapitulation brings a return of the two principal themes in minor, and the coda concludes in major.
The Allegretto quasi Menuetto is in typical minuet form. A stately dance in the minor mode is followed by several variants. This section ends with pizzicatos in the cello. A contrasting trio possesses some qualities of music by Robert Schumann, Brahms's mentor. The minuet music returns exactly as before.
Brahms's finale is a fugue marked Allegro. The piano introduces the subject in the bass register. This is answered first in the cello and then in the treble register of the piano. Melodic similarities between this fugue subject and one composed by Bach in his Art of Fugue have been noticed by several scholars. This subject is developed by means of several fugal techniques, including inversion and stretto (close imitation of the fugue subject). - Antoine Lederlin
Amanda Maier-Röntgen (1853-1894)
Piano Trio in E-flat Major
Michelle Lee Elliott, violin; Magdalena Sas, cello; Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Allegro
Scherzo - Trio
Andante
Finale. Allegro con fuoco
Notes:
Amanda Maier was born into a musical home in Landskrona and discovered her musical talent early. Her first instruction in violin and piano was from her father. At the age of sixteen, Maier began studying at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where she studied violin, organ, piano, cello, composition and harmony. Maier performed violin concerts in both Sweden and abroad. She continued to study composition with the conservatory teachers Reinecke and Richter in Leipzig and violin from Engelbert Röntgen, concert master at Gewandhaus Orchestra in the same city. During this time she composed a violin sonata, a piano trio and a violin concerto for orchestra. Her violin concerto was premiered in 1875 with Maier as soloist and received good reviews.
In Leipzig she met the German-Dutch pianist and composer Julius Röntgen (1855–1932), her violin teacher's son. The couple married in 1880 in Landskrona and moved to Amsterdam. The marriage ended Amanda's public appearances, but she continued composing, and the couple arranged musical salons and music performances in Europe, with audience members including Nina and Edvard Grieg, Anton Rubinstein, Joseph Joachim, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. In the late 1870s Maier also met Ethel Smyth, who was studying in Leipzig. They became friends and continued corresponding until Maier's death.
In 1887 Röntgen-Maier became ill with tuberculosis. During her illness, the couple stayed in Nice and Davos. Her final major composition was the piano quartet in E minor on a trip to Norway in 1891. She died in 1894 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Le Grand Tango for Violoncello and Piano
Magdalena Sas, cello and Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Notes:
Le Grand Tango, Spanish El gran tango, single-movement piece for cello and piano by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla that expresses the spirit of nuevo tango (“new tango”), a melding of traditional tango rhythms and jazz-inspired syncopation. Written in 1982, Le Grand Tango was published in Paris—thus its French rather than Spanish title.
Piazzolla studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, who encouraged him to stick with the tango rather than focusing solely on classical composition. Taking her words to heart, he began to experiment with the standard Argentine tango, diverging from the expected Latin harmonies and producing an edgier sound than that found in classic tango. He composed Le Grand Tango for Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who did not play it until 1990 or record it until 1996.
Although structured in a single movement, the work has three broad sections. It opens with the indication “Tempo di tango,” in which strongly accented tango rhythms dominate. In the second section, performers are told to allow more motion, with a “libero e cantabile” (“free and singing”) spirit. It contains extensive dialogue between the cello and the piano. The final section, for which Piazzolla provided the tempo indication “giocoso” (“humorous”), presents a mood of electric energy and even humour. The music charges forward to its conclusion, giving the cellist many challenging double-stops (playing two notes at once) and glissandos (sliding rapidly through a musical scale). - Betsy Schwarm
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
MAGDALENA SAS, CELLO
Prize winner of international competitions, Magda performs across Europe, Asia and the Americas, and appeared in renowned concert halls such as Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, BOZAR in Brussels, Witold Lutoslawski Studio in Warsaw, NCPA in Mumbai. She is a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship and Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Fellowship, and a graduate of music conservatories in Poland, Belgium, and Austria. In 2011-12 she was a member of the acclaimed European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) in Vienna, she is also a recent graduate of the prestigious Global Leaders Program, an Ivy League curated Executive Education program for impact-focused Art Entrepreneurs.
Magda presented masterclasses and workshops across the globe in collaboration with MusAid Organization, El Sistema, Global Leaders Program, International Cello Institute, Mehli Mehta Music Foundation and Antigua & Barbuda Youth Symphony Orchestras, to mention a few. Currently, she is an Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, MN. Magdalena is the founder and director of the Third Coast Chamber Collective, a group focused on promoting the transformative power of chamber music through educational, collaborative and commissioning outreach projects.
MICHELLE LEE ELLIOTT, VIOLIN
Attending the University of Illinois – Champaign-Urbana, Michelle was inspired by professors Danwen Jiang, Sherban Lupu and Suren Bagratuni to play more chamber music. She would continue her chamber studies at Yale University with renowned musicians Claude Frank, William Purvis, Boris Berman, Syoko Aki and the Tokyo String Quartet. As a founding member of the Vinca Quartet, Michelle studied with the Takacs String Quartet at the University of Colorado – Boulder.
Michelle’s “violin voice” was soaring. “For so long, music was the love of my life,” continues Michelle. But her focus shifted as she married her seventh-grade carpool mate and had two children. When the family moved to La Crosse for her husband to complete a residency program, Michelle decided to stay home with their two small children. But she missed the violin, so Michelle began practicing at a YMCA room while her children were at the facility. One day, she met Busya Lugovier and it was the beginning of a lasting friendship, and then, a musical collaboration with violist Busya, cellist Derek Clark and Michelle to form the Druzhba Ensemble. Now as assistant concertmaster with the La Crosse , Michelle plays regularly with the local orchestra and other groups, along with giving private lessons.
MARY ELLEN HAUPERT, PIANO
Mary Ellen is currently a tenured Professor of Music at Viterbo University, and holds a B.A. in music education with emphases in piano/flute performance from the College of St. Scholastica, and M.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Piano Performance Practice from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She also holds certificates from the Diocesan School of Biblical Studies and St. Mary’s University (Pastoral Ministries). In addition to teaching, Mary Ellen was Director of Music and Liturgy at Roncalli Newman Parish from 1998-2023.
Her performing interests are almost exclusively in the realm of chamber music. In the four-hand world, her collaborations with Timothy Schorr have included appearances at Washington University in St. Louis, The University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, Winona State University, the Edinburgh Society of Musicians, and Wisconsin Public Radio’s Live from the Chazen. Haupert was artistic director and founder of the One-of-a-Kind Chamber Music Series (2008-2018) and the Bonfire Summer Chamber Music Series (2018-2022); she currently directs and performs on Viterbo University’s Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series (2018-present).
MAGDALENA SAS, CELLO
Prize winner of international competitions, Magda performs across Europe, Asia and the Americas, and appeared in renowned concert halls such as Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, BOZAR in Brussels, Witold Lutoslawski Studio in Warsaw, NCPA in Mumbai. She is a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship and Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Fellowship, and a graduate of music conservatories in Poland, Belgium, and Austria. In 2011-12 she was a member of the acclaimed European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) in Vienna, she is also a recent graduate of the prestigious Global Leaders Program, an Ivy League curated Executive Education program for impact-focused Art Entrepreneurs.
Magda presented masterclasses and workshops across the globe in collaboration with MusAid Organization, El Sistema, Global Leaders Program, International Cello Institute, Mehli Mehta Music Foundation and Antigua & Barbuda Youth Symphony Orchestras, to mention a few. Currently, she is an Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, MN. Magdalena is the founder and director of the Third Coast Chamber Collective, a group focused on promoting the transformative power of chamber music through educational, collaborative and commissioning outreach projects.
MICHELLE LEE ELLIOTT, VIOLIN
Attending the University of Illinois – Champaign-Urbana, Michelle was inspired by professors Danwen Jiang, Sherban Lupu and Suren Bagratuni to play more chamber music. She would continue her chamber studies at Yale University with renowned musicians Claude Frank, William Purvis, Boris Berman, Syoko Aki and the Tokyo String Quartet. As a founding member of the Vinca Quartet, Michelle studied with the Takacs String Quartet at the University of Colorado – Boulder.
Michelle’s “violin voice” was soaring. “For so long, music was the love of my life,” continues Michelle. But her focus shifted as she married her seventh-grade carpool mate and had two children. When the family moved to La Crosse for her husband to complete a residency program, Michelle decided to stay home with their two small children. But she missed the violin, so Michelle began practicing at a YMCA room while her children were at the facility. One day, she met Busya Lugovier and it was the beginning of a lasting friendship, and then, a musical collaboration with violist Busya, cellist Derek Clark and Michelle to form the Druzhba Ensemble. Now as assistant concertmaster with the La Crosse , Michelle plays regularly with the local orchestra and other groups, along with giving private lessons.
MARY ELLEN HAUPERT, PIANO
Mary Ellen is currently a tenured Professor of Music at Viterbo University, and holds a B.A. in music education with emphases in piano/flute performance from the College of St. Scholastica, and M.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Piano Performance Practice from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She also holds certificates from the Diocesan School of Biblical Studies and St. Mary’s University (Pastoral Ministries). In addition to teaching, Mary Ellen was Director of Music and Liturgy at Roncalli Newman Parish from 1998-2023.
Her performing interests are almost exclusively in the realm of chamber music. In the four-hand world, her collaborations with Timothy Schorr have included appearances at Washington University in St. Louis, The University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, Winona State University, the Edinburgh Society of Musicians, and Wisconsin Public Radio’s Live from the Chazen. Haupert was artistic director and founder of the One-of-a-Kind Chamber Music Series (2008-2018) and the Bonfire Summer Chamber Music Series (2018-2022); she currently directs and performs on Viterbo University’s Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series (2018-present).