20-21 Program

The three movements of Duo No. 2 in D Major were written over a period
of four days in 1958. The players are co-equal protagonists in music that is
intricate, lyrical, energetic, and filled with life, belying the fact that the composer
was a dying man. The outer movements are restless and exciting; changes in
mood, harmony, rhythm, and articulation occur at a dizzying rate, ratcheting
up the intensity. In the central Adagio, Martinů revisits the expressive lyricism
of his homeland. The first two movements end with a reprise of their opening;
the third movement concludes with a dashing coda.
Three Visions for Piano Solo
William Grant Still, an accomplished composer and trail blazer, was born
in Mississippi to musical and scholarly parents of African-American, Native
American, Spanish, Irish, and Scotch descent. After attending Wilberforce
University, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the New England Conservatory
of Music, Still became the first African-American to conduct a major U.S.
symphony orchestra (Los Angeles Philharmonic, 1936) and have an opera
produced by a major U.S. company (City Opera of New York, 1949). He wrote
over 150 compositions in multiple genres, including opera, ballet, symphony,
and chamber music.
Three Visions is a piano suite he wrote for his wife, who premiered it
in Los Angeles in 1936. The “visions” are three strongly contrasted moods.
“Dark Horsemen” is one of horror, with horse’s hooves beating and shrieks of
anguish. “Summerland” portrays the promised beauty of the afterlife, “Radiant
Pinnacle” is a vision of aspiration that is ever-climbing. Its continuous rhythmic
flow and final deceptive cadence create the impression that there is more to
come and the last word has not been said.
Piano Trio No. 2 in c minor, Opus 66
Felix Mendelssohn is arguably the most precocious and prodigiously
gifted of all composers. Robert Schumann referred to him as “The Mozart
of the nineteenth century.” He was a superbly gifted composer, pianist,
conductor, educator, and music historian.
Piano Trio in c minor, Opus 66 was composed, premiered, and published
in 1845. Mendelssohn played piano for the first performances. Movement one,
marked “energetic and with fire,” surges with both. The anxious and wavelike
opening theme contrasts with a bold and forthright second theme.
The lyrical, straight-forward Andante espressivo serves as a soothing
balm. The piano begins alone with a gently rocking melody, after which
strings and piano take turns singing to each other. In ternary form, the soothing
atmosphere is pervasive; the middle section seems like an extension of the
opening rather than a digression into new territory. The darting Scherzo is an
elfin delight—non-stop motion lightly flits through the air. The pleasure is all
for the audience; for the performers, not so much: Mendelssohn described it
as “a trifle nasty to play.”
The “appassionato” finale provides the heft needed to balance the first
movement’s “fuoco” (fire). It is in a rondo-like form with three repeating
ideas. The apprehensive principal theme defines c-minor and begins with
a memorable leaping gesture. Theme two is more dignified and sweeping.
Mendelssohn pays homage to Bach by using the chorale melody from
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