“Our Four Arts 2022 festival, “Around Dvořák”, centers on the music of one of history’s most beloved composers. It’s exciting to discover that the famed creator of the New World Symphony was also the composer of a great number of definitive, masterful chamber works that constitute a significant portion of our standard repertoire today. In looking and listening “around” this impressive Czech composer, we’ll encounter those who influenced, inspired, and impacted Dvořák’s creativity, surrounded by an assemblage of his most heartfelt Romantic works, both classics and novelties. Hear an individual concert or participate in a week-long residency program with a package ticket.” – David Finckel and Wu Han, Beyer Artists-in-Residence
This musical banquet pairs our featured composer, Antonín Dvořák, with his early and most important champion, Johannes Brahms. It was Brahms who introduced Dvořák to the publisher Simrock, who would become a key to his success. Beginning with Slavonic and Hungarian Dances of folklike vigor for four-hand piano, the program features sets of songs by both composers as well as two instrumental masterpieces by Dvořák: his unique and charming Terzetto for two violins and viola, composed for his friends, and his exuberant second Piano Quartet, written at the behest of Simrock, which features irresistible melodies for the cello.
Program
JENNIFER JOHNSON CANO, mezzo-soprano
WU HAN, piano
WU QIAN, piano
CHAD HOOPES, violin
DANBI UM, violin
PAUL NEUBAUER, viola
DAVID FINCKEL, cello
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Selected Slavonic Dances for Piano, Four Hands (1878, 1886)
Op. 46, No. 1: Presto in C major
Op. 72, No. 2: Allegretto grazioso in E minor
Op. 72, No. 1: Molto vivace in B major
Wu Qian, Wu Han
JOHANNES Brahms (1833-1897)
Selected Hungarian Dances for Piano, Four Hands (1868, 1880)
Allegro molto (G minor)
Allegro non assai (D minor)
Wu Qian, Wu Han
Dvořák
Terzetto in C major for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 74 (1887)
Introduzione: Allegro ma non troppo—
Larghetto
Scherzo: Vivace
Tema con variazioni: Poco adagio—Molto allegro
Hoopes, Um, Neubauer
Dvořák
Cigánské melodie for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano, B. 104, Op. 55 (1880)
My Song of Love
Ah! How Sweetly My Triangle Rings
And the Woods are Silent
Songs My Mother Taught Me
The Strings are Tuned
Wide Sleeves and Wide Trousers
Offer a Hawk a Cage
JOHNSON CANO, Wu Han
–INTERMISSION–
BRAHMS
Zwei Gesänge for Voice, Viola, and Piano, Op. 91 (1884)
Gestillte Sehnsucht (Rückert)
Geistliches Wiegenlied (Lope de Vega)
JOHNSON CANO, NEUBAUER, Wu QIAN
Dvořák
Quartet in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 87 (1889)
Allegro con fuoco
Lento
Allegro moderato, grazioso
Finale: Allegro ma non troppo
Wu Qian, Um, Neubauer, Finckel