Concerts 4 & 5 – “To My Dear Friend, Haydn”
Saturday, January 25, 2025 @ 7:30 PM
Sunday, January 26, 2025 @ 3:00 PM
Saturday, January 25, 2025 @ 7:30 PM
Sunday, January 26, 2025 @ 3:00 PM
THE MOZART CYCLE:
Six String Quartets Dedicated to Franz Joseph Haydn by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Artaria String Quartet
RAY SHOWS, VIOLIN | NANCY OLIVEROS, VIOLIN | ANNALEE WOLF, VIOLA | REBECCA MERBLUM, CELLO
Saturday, Jan. 25. 2025 at 7:30pm
PROGRAM
Mozart Quartets:
String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, ("Spring"), K. 387, Op. 10, No. 1
String Quartet No. 15 in D Minor, K. 421/417b, Op. 10, No. 2
String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat Major, K. 428/421b, Op. 10, No. 4
Sunday, Jan. 26. 2025 at 3:00pm
PROGRAM
Mozart Quartets:
String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat Major, ("Hunt"), K. 458, Op. 10, No. 3
String Quartet No. 18 in A Major, K. 464, Op. 10, No. 5
String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, ("Dissonance"), K. 465, Op. 10, No. 6
Nola Starling Recital Hall at Viterbo University Fine Arts Center
929 Jackson Street | La Crosse, 54601
ONLINE GIFT (https://www.artariaquartet.com/live-concerts)
You can also make your donation at the concerts or via QR code:
Six String Quartets Dedicated to Franz Joseph Haydn by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Artaria String Quartet
RAY SHOWS, VIOLIN | NANCY OLIVEROS, VIOLIN | ANNALEE WOLF, VIOLA | REBECCA MERBLUM, CELLO
Saturday, Jan. 25. 2025 at 7:30pm
PROGRAM
Mozart Quartets:
String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, ("Spring"), K. 387, Op. 10, No. 1
String Quartet No. 15 in D Minor, K. 421/417b, Op. 10, No. 2
String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat Major, K. 428/421b, Op. 10, No. 4
Sunday, Jan. 26. 2025 at 3:00pm
PROGRAM
Mozart Quartets:
String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat Major, ("Hunt"), K. 458, Op. 10, No. 3
String Quartet No. 18 in A Major, K. 464, Op. 10, No. 5
String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, ("Dissonance"), K. 465, Op. 10, No. 6
Nola Starling Recital Hall at Viterbo University Fine Arts Center
929 Jackson Street | La Crosse, 54601
ONLINE GIFT (https://www.artariaquartet.com/live-concerts)
You can also make your donation at the concerts or via QR code:
|
PROGRAM NOTES
In 1781 Joseph Haydn published his six “Russian” Quartets, Op. 33, which revolutionized the medium, previously largely a matter of first violin plus accompaniment. The democratic involvement of all four instruments in thematic give-and-take and the liberation of thematic elaboration from confinement in the “development” section of a movement was a radical breakthrough, and one quite congenial to Mozart, newly arrived in Vienna after his own personal liberation from Salzburg.
Mozart began work on six quartets of his own, which he completed in January 1785. He dedicated the set to Haydn, writing: “Behold here, famous man and dearest friend, my six children. They are, to be sure, the fruit of long and arduous work, yet some friends have encouraged me to assume that I shall see this work rewarded to some extent at least, and this flatters me into believing that these children shall one day offer me some comfort. You yourself, dearest friend, have shown me your approval of them during your last sojourn in this capital.”
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The first of this set, K. 387 in G Major was written in 1782. Mozart was just 26 years old. The opening movement introduces us to Mozart’s inherent lyricism. Although living within the parameters of the form, Mozart infuses a sense of improvisation and flexibility throughout. The second movement, Minuet, offers a glimpse into Mozart’s understanding of Haydn. Both playful and innovative, he displaces one’s sense of the beat throughout the movement - undoubtedly with a wink to Haydn. The slow movement feels like a very personal window inside of Mozart. Treating the first violin as a singer, the proceeding aria explores each register with depth and poignancy while surrounding this voice with rich counterpoint and chromaticism. The finale takes us all by surprise - a fugue! Four point counterpoint surrounds a simple and plaintive five note subject with syncopation and almost a sense of teasing. The second subject is treated similarly and we experience all of the celebration of this flurry of activity. And as one might predict, the movement ends unpredictably with a conclusion devoid of grandeur and yet so full of life.
In Mozart’s D minor Quartet, K. 421 we travel within an operatic landscape from moment one. Historic analysis suggested the first movement was an aria unto itself - with the text living in the first violin line and reflected in the voicing beneath. This is all a larger point of reflection about the classic period. Although the forms of movements and their intentions became somewhat codified in later years, during the era itself this style was inexorably linked to opera. Within this context Mozart established a world of contrast, dramatic tension, narrative, and relationships - between its characters and within each.
The first three movements of K. 421 begin with the vocal gestures of a leading character - a sigh, an interruption, and a declamation. And although the fourth movement is set as a theme and variations, it carries the threads of the dance and the sigh throughout. In the end we travel with these characters on a layered journey from the opening to its close.
As the aria begins at the outset of the first movement we are deeply aware of the inner voices. Their repetition offers a consistent foil to the sighing gesture and speaks to the inevitability of time. The second movement is enchanting and inward and this dramatic change of scene offers reflection and renewal. The Minuet lives in a certain defiance - the repetitions and sighs of the previous movements face one another throughout. The conflict remains unresolved, but with his brilliant sense of wit, Mozart turns to whimsy in the Trio. The final movement brings the work together. A theme and variations we travel vocally with our characters, ultimately arriving in major. This sense of returning home ties the journey together with joy and resonance. And beyond that circular expression, Mozart takes us all the way back to the opening measures of the work with the final statement. Having lived the entire journey, we are left to reflect and rejoice.
The most concise, most secret, no doubt, and most abstract of the six Quartets dedicated to Haydn, K. 428 in E Flat offers meditation and gushing optimism intimately mingled while revealing Mozart’s mercurial temperament. The E-flat Quartet was the third in this series of quartets that Mozart dedicated to his great friend and colleague, a series that took Mozart over two years to write. That these quartets cost Mozart an enormous effort is revealed not only by their analysis but also by the famous dedicatory letter to Haydn, where they are described as the fruit of long and painful labour. Mozart presents them as his children and entrusts them with touching affection to the sponsorship of his elder.
The friendship between these two great composers has been a source of wonder and admiration to music lovers ever since, especially when you think of the bitter animosities and partisan coteries that have surrounded later composers. Haydn recognised Mozart’s universal superiority early on and he made no secret of it: Friends have flattered me that I have genius, but he surpassed me. When offered an opera commission in Prague, he replied: that would be a too daring thing to do, in that hardly anyone can risk being compared to the great Mozart. This generosity of spirit was reciprocated by the younger composer, who freely admitted that these quartets could not have been written without the groundbreaking work of his mentor.
The opening Allegro begins mysteriously with a sinuous theme played in unison, its character of drifting reverie open to a myraid of possibilities. After a brief crescendo, the veil is lifted and the theme makes its appearance, harmonised with the harsh but invigorating dissonances of the human condition. Triplets and dotted rhythms give the second theme the character of a march and its varied rhythms make up the subject matter of the development section. This is a strange and complex movement and, like the extraordinary slow movement, it seems to belong to a later era with its probing explorations of musical boundaries.
The Andante is famous for its echoes of Tristan und Isolde long before Wagner was even born. The atmosphere is at once hazy and nocturnal with the warm tones of the strings restricted to the medium-low register. No clear theme stands out from the deliberately flowing, imprecise rhythms. The music uncoils in soothing spirals, blurring the formal outlines that only appear as sonata form on paper. This is Tristan’s kingdom of the night bathed in mystery and subtle changing harmonies. Here is music centred almost exclusively on preoccupations of colour, one of the boldest, most prophetic conceptions of Mozart’s art.
The Menuetto is a startling contrast to the previous movements with its sharp, decisive attack and clear-cut rhythms. However, the harmonic lighting reaffirms itself again and gains in colour to the point of introducing joyful, rustic musette pedals. The Trio revisits the strange world of the Andante with a long, undulating melody, which journeys unpredictably through a series of unexpected keys accompanied again by long pedals. The Finale is a lively rondo, though even this seemingly conventional conclusion retains something of the otherworldly character of the previous movements. Through episodes that are in turn gay or more serious, it hurries towards its witty conclusion, preceded by rests and suspensions – a favourite trick of the dedicatee. This light and joyful creation is brought to a resounding conclusion by four vigorous chords.
West Cork Music
The fourth in this set of six, K. 458, is nicknamed “The Hunt.” This name was not chosen by Mozart but placed on the work in reference to the hunt-like horn call of its opening theme. This theme provides material for the entirety of the movement to follow - capturing a sense of joy from moment one to its conclusion. The subsequent Minuet is more serious in nature, but envelops a trio of ‘delectably dancing charm’. This is followed by a movement like no other. It carries an intensity that many argue was looking toward the Romantic era. It is worth noting that its Adagio marking was not seen in any other movement in the set of six quartets. The Rondo Finale lives within the context of folk charm. This character was likely written to offer his audience much needed familiarity to end the work.
The A major Quartet is the fifth in Mozart’s set of six quartets dedicated to his great friend Joseph Haydn. It was written at the time of Mozart’s greatest triumphs, when his name was on every lip due to the spectacular success of his subscription concerts. And as time would unfold, Beethoven’s A major Quartet in his Opus 18 set is clearly composed as a homage to Mozart’s A major.
Mozart’s opening movement is built on the briefest of material, more questions and answers than fully formed themes. The first subject, for instance, consists of a query put by the first violin and a vigorous unison reply; the second subject is even less substantial, three rising notes and a graceful run of triplets. The exposition closes with a restatement of the opening before we are launched into the complex development based entirely on the questioning figure and its answer. The recapitulation is straightforward and the movement ends uneventfully.
The Minuet is based on another terse phrase, almost as if asking what is the question for this answer. The questioning figure gets tossed hither and thither in many different voices, some harsh, some gentle. The Trio is more euphonic though the desire to embellish and decorate soon takes over.
The D major Andante is a theme with six variations and a coda. The theme is quiet and reflective, the kind of beauty that succeeds by understatement in abrupt contrast to the florid embellishments of the first variation. The second one takes a completely new path, establishing a secondary theme to be explored in the drum-beat sixth variation. The third variation plunges into an aura of mystery led by Mozart’s viola before we are dragged even further afield into dramatic and gloomy D minor. The fifth variation retains the air of uncertainty before all is made clear with the extraordinary drum taps of the sixth, which continue right into the coda where each instrument gets to hold the drumsticks, though the cello gets the most fun.
The surprises are not over yet for this is the movement that Beethoven relished. It is ostensibly in sonata form though you would be forgiven if you thought it was an endless imitative hot pursuit of the opening ideas, until the sudden intrusion in the middle of the development of a lofty chorale in D major, which also returns in the recapitulation. The coda picks up on Haydn’s practice of joke endings to give a witty and enigmatic close.
Francis Humphrys
The sixth of these “Haydn” Quartets, No. 19 in C, K. 465 nicknamed “Dissonance,” begins with an Adagio introduction like no other. Its sense of chromaticism both looks back to the motets of Gesualdo and forward to the coloristic worlds of Schoenberg. It is even speculated that Haydn’s oratorio The Creation reflected the influence of this opening as he chose to to portray chaos in C Major. Following this introduction the movement releases all of this tension within a jubilant Allegro full of conversation amongst the instruments. of its chromatic Adagio introduction, which finally explodes into a dramatically driven Allegro in bright C major. The middle movements serve as points of contrast. The elegant Andante cantabile moves with the lyricism of a Mozart aria while the Minuet dances with cascading chromaticism and unison gestures grounded in a rustic character. As the minor trio unfolds, Mozart brings in his operatic nature with rising and falling intervals in the first violin while displacing the walking bass line with off beats. The Finale is an absolute homage to Haydn. It is monothemtic in nature, captures a wit and humor throughout, and marries a rustic nature with an alchemy that doesn’t feel of this world.
In 1781 Joseph Haydn published his six “Russian” Quartets, Op. 33, which revolutionized the medium, previously largely a matter of first violin plus accompaniment. The democratic involvement of all four instruments in thematic give-and-take and the liberation of thematic elaboration from confinement in the “development” section of a movement was a radical breakthrough, and one quite congenial to Mozart, newly arrived in Vienna after his own personal liberation from Salzburg.
Mozart began work on six quartets of his own, which he completed in January 1785. He dedicated the set to Haydn, writing: “Behold here, famous man and dearest friend, my six children. They are, to be sure, the fruit of long and arduous work, yet some friends have encouraged me to assume that I shall see this work rewarded to some extent at least, and this flatters me into believing that these children shall one day offer me some comfort. You yourself, dearest friend, have shown me your approval of them during your last sojourn in this capital.”
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The first of this set, K. 387 in G Major was written in 1782. Mozart was just 26 years old. The opening movement introduces us to Mozart’s inherent lyricism. Although living within the parameters of the form, Mozart infuses a sense of improvisation and flexibility throughout. The second movement, Minuet, offers a glimpse into Mozart’s understanding of Haydn. Both playful and innovative, he displaces one’s sense of the beat throughout the movement - undoubtedly with a wink to Haydn. The slow movement feels like a very personal window inside of Mozart. Treating the first violin as a singer, the proceeding aria explores each register with depth and poignancy while surrounding this voice with rich counterpoint and chromaticism. The finale takes us all by surprise - a fugue! Four point counterpoint surrounds a simple and plaintive five note subject with syncopation and almost a sense of teasing. The second subject is treated similarly and we experience all of the celebration of this flurry of activity. And as one might predict, the movement ends unpredictably with a conclusion devoid of grandeur and yet so full of life.
In Mozart’s D minor Quartet, K. 421 we travel within an operatic landscape from moment one. Historic analysis suggested the first movement was an aria unto itself - with the text living in the first violin line and reflected in the voicing beneath. This is all a larger point of reflection about the classic period. Although the forms of movements and their intentions became somewhat codified in later years, during the era itself this style was inexorably linked to opera. Within this context Mozart established a world of contrast, dramatic tension, narrative, and relationships - between its characters and within each.
The first three movements of K. 421 begin with the vocal gestures of a leading character - a sigh, an interruption, and a declamation. And although the fourth movement is set as a theme and variations, it carries the threads of the dance and the sigh throughout. In the end we travel with these characters on a layered journey from the opening to its close.
As the aria begins at the outset of the first movement we are deeply aware of the inner voices. Their repetition offers a consistent foil to the sighing gesture and speaks to the inevitability of time. The second movement is enchanting and inward and this dramatic change of scene offers reflection and renewal. The Minuet lives in a certain defiance - the repetitions and sighs of the previous movements face one another throughout. The conflict remains unresolved, but with his brilliant sense of wit, Mozart turns to whimsy in the Trio. The final movement brings the work together. A theme and variations we travel vocally with our characters, ultimately arriving in major. This sense of returning home ties the journey together with joy and resonance. And beyond that circular expression, Mozart takes us all the way back to the opening measures of the work with the final statement. Having lived the entire journey, we are left to reflect and rejoice.
The most concise, most secret, no doubt, and most abstract of the six Quartets dedicated to Haydn, K. 428 in E Flat offers meditation and gushing optimism intimately mingled while revealing Mozart’s mercurial temperament. The E-flat Quartet was the third in this series of quartets that Mozart dedicated to his great friend and colleague, a series that took Mozart over two years to write. That these quartets cost Mozart an enormous effort is revealed not only by their analysis but also by the famous dedicatory letter to Haydn, where they are described as the fruit of long and painful labour. Mozart presents them as his children and entrusts them with touching affection to the sponsorship of his elder.
The friendship between these two great composers has been a source of wonder and admiration to music lovers ever since, especially when you think of the bitter animosities and partisan coteries that have surrounded later composers. Haydn recognised Mozart’s universal superiority early on and he made no secret of it: Friends have flattered me that I have genius, but he surpassed me. When offered an opera commission in Prague, he replied: that would be a too daring thing to do, in that hardly anyone can risk being compared to the great Mozart. This generosity of spirit was reciprocated by the younger composer, who freely admitted that these quartets could not have been written without the groundbreaking work of his mentor.
The opening Allegro begins mysteriously with a sinuous theme played in unison, its character of drifting reverie open to a myraid of possibilities. After a brief crescendo, the veil is lifted and the theme makes its appearance, harmonised with the harsh but invigorating dissonances of the human condition. Triplets and dotted rhythms give the second theme the character of a march and its varied rhythms make up the subject matter of the development section. This is a strange and complex movement and, like the extraordinary slow movement, it seems to belong to a later era with its probing explorations of musical boundaries.
The Andante is famous for its echoes of Tristan und Isolde long before Wagner was even born. The atmosphere is at once hazy and nocturnal with the warm tones of the strings restricted to the medium-low register. No clear theme stands out from the deliberately flowing, imprecise rhythms. The music uncoils in soothing spirals, blurring the formal outlines that only appear as sonata form on paper. This is Tristan’s kingdom of the night bathed in mystery and subtle changing harmonies. Here is music centred almost exclusively on preoccupations of colour, one of the boldest, most prophetic conceptions of Mozart’s art.
The Menuetto is a startling contrast to the previous movements with its sharp, decisive attack and clear-cut rhythms. However, the harmonic lighting reaffirms itself again and gains in colour to the point of introducing joyful, rustic musette pedals. The Trio revisits the strange world of the Andante with a long, undulating melody, which journeys unpredictably through a series of unexpected keys accompanied again by long pedals. The Finale is a lively rondo, though even this seemingly conventional conclusion retains something of the otherworldly character of the previous movements. Through episodes that are in turn gay or more serious, it hurries towards its witty conclusion, preceded by rests and suspensions – a favourite trick of the dedicatee. This light and joyful creation is brought to a resounding conclusion by four vigorous chords.
West Cork Music
The fourth in this set of six, K. 458, is nicknamed “The Hunt.” This name was not chosen by Mozart but placed on the work in reference to the hunt-like horn call of its opening theme. This theme provides material for the entirety of the movement to follow - capturing a sense of joy from moment one to its conclusion. The subsequent Minuet is more serious in nature, but envelops a trio of ‘delectably dancing charm’. This is followed by a movement like no other. It carries an intensity that many argue was looking toward the Romantic era. It is worth noting that its Adagio marking was not seen in any other movement in the set of six quartets. The Rondo Finale lives within the context of folk charm. This character was likely written to offer his audience much needed familiarity to end the work.
The A major Quartet is the fifth in Mozart’s set of six quartets dedicated to his great friend Joseph Haydn. It was written at the time of Mozart’s greatest triumphs, when his name was on every lip due to the spectacular success of his subscription concerts. And as time would unfold, Beethoven’s A major Quartet in his Opus 18 set is clearly composed as a homage to Mozart’s A major.
Mozart’s opening movement is built on the briefest of material, more questions and answers than fully formed themes. The first subject, for instance, consists of a query put by the first violin and a vigorous unison reply; the second subject is even less substantial, three rising notes and a graceful run of triplets. The exposition closes with a restatement of the opening before we are launched into the complex development based entirely on the questioning figure and its answer. The recapitulation is straightforward and the movement ends uneventfully.
The Minuet is based on another terse phrase, almost as if asking what is the question for this answer. The questioning figure gets tossed hither and thither in many different voices, some harsh, some gentle. The Trio is more euphonic though the desire to embellish and decorate soon takes over.
The D major Andante is a theme with six variations and a coda. The theme is quiet and reflective, the kind of beauty that succeeds by understatement in abrupt contrast to the florid embellishments of the first variation. The second one takes a completely new path, establishing a secondary theme to be explored in the drum-beat sixth variation. The third variation plunges into an aura of mystery led by Mozart’s viola before we are dragged even further afield into dramatic and gloomy D minor. The fifth variation retains the air of uncertainty before all is made clear with the extraordinary drum taps of the sixth, which continue right into the coda where each instrument gets to hold the drumsticks, though the cello gets the most fun.
The surprises are not over yet for this is the movement that Beethoven relished. It is ostensibly in sonata form though you would be forgiven if you thought it was an endless imitative hot pursuit of the opening ideas, until the sudden intrusion in the middle of the development of a lofty chorale in D major, which also returns in the recapitulation. The coda picks up on Haydn’s practice of joke endings to give a witty and enigmatic close.
Francis Humphrys
The sixth of these “Haydn” Quartets, No. 19 in C, K. 465 nicknamed “Dissonance,” begins with an Adagio introduction like no other. Its sense of chromaticism both looks back to the motets of Gesualdo and forward to the coloristic worlds of Schoenberg. It is even speculated that Haydn’s oratorio The Creation reflected the influence of this opening as he chose to to portray chaos in C Major. Following this introduction the movement releases all of this tension within a jubilant Allegro full of conversation amongst the instruments. of its chromatic Adagio introduction, which finally explodes into a dramatically driven Allegro in bright C major. The middle movements serve as points of contrast. The elegant Andante cantabile moves with the lyricism of a Mozart aria while the Minuet dances with cascading chromaticism and unison gestures grounded in a rustic character. As the minor trio unfolds, Mozart brings in his operatic nature with rising and falling intervals in the first violin while displacing the walking bass line with off beats. The Finale is an absolute homage to Haydn. It is monothemtic in nature, captures a wit and humor throughout, and marries a rustic nature with an alchemy that doesn’t feel of this world.
ABOUT ARTARIA STRING QUARTET
A warm, rich sound is the hallmark of the Artaria String Quartet, now in its 39th year and lauded by Rob Hubbard of the St. Paul Pioneer Press -- “Artaria Quartet is likely to give eloquent voice to whatever work it tackles.” Artaria has served as MPR Artists-in-Residence and was featured on Twin Cities Public Television as part of the MN-Original Television series. Recipient of a highly coveted McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians, Artaria is firmly rooted in the great traditions of chamber music and were mentored by members of the Budapest, Kolisch, LaSalle, and Juilliard Quartets. Artaria is a staunch advocate of contemporary composers, premiering a wide range of new and commissioned works, supporting students and composers of diversity, and contributing toward the healing of past wounds allowing all to thrive.
A warm, rich sound is the hallmark of the Artaria String Quartet, now in its 39th year and lauded by Rob Hubbard of the St. Paul Pioneer Press -- “Artaria Quartet is likely to give eloquent voice to whatever work it tackles.” Artaria has served as MPR Artists-in-Residence and was featured on Twin Cities Public Television as part of the MN-Original Television series. Recipient of a highly coveted McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians, Artaria is firmly rooted in the great traditions of chamber music and were mentored by members of the Budapest, Kolisch, LaSalle, and Juilliard Quartets. Artaria is a staunch advocate of contemporary composers, premiering a wide range of new and commissioned works, supporting students and composers of diversity, and contributing toward the healing of past wounds allowing all to thrive.
