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CHAMBER CONCERT 29 Sept 2015 Tue, 6.30 p.m. PROGRAMME PORUMBESCU Balada 10 mins DIMITRESCU Dans Ţărănesc, Op.15 3 mins MOZART Divertimento in E flat Major 45 mins CIPRIAN PORUMBESCU (1853-1883) Balada (1880) If you’ve never heard of Ciprian Porumbescu, don’t despair. Neither of the world’s largest music encyclopedias (Grove in English, MGG in German) includes an entry for him. He was born under a different name (Gołęmbiowski), and even his country of origin remains elusive. At the time of his birth, the town of Șipotele Sucevei was in the Duchy of Bukovina, which belonged to the Austrian Empire; the region is now split between Romania and Ukraine. (Today this town is Shepit, in Ukraine.) Porumbescu’s place of death is less confusing: the city of Stupca in Romania. Romanian was his language, and he is regarded as a Romanian composer. Porumbescu died four months before his thirtieth birthday, depriving his country of its first internationally recognized composer. (Enesco was CONSTANTIN DIMITRESCU (1847-1928) Dans Tărănesc, Op.15 (date unknown) Constantin Dimitrescu was one of the earliest composers to emerge from Romania. He was also a renowned cellist, and served in the principal chair with both the Bucharest Philharmonic and the National Theatre Orchestra. In addition, he conducted both orchestras and taught at the Bucharest Conservatory. Following initial studies in Bucharest, he furthered his education in Vienna and Paris. In the latter city he studied with the famous cello virtuoso Auguste Franchomme. Dimitrescu particularly enjoyed Two short, charming, salon pieces by late nineteenthcentury composers of Romanian descent serve as appetizers to the main work on this programme, Mozart’s six-movement, 45-minute Divertimento for string trio, one of his chamber music masterpieces. born only two years before Porumbescu died.) In his short life, Porumbescu studied in Vienna (with Bruckner) and wrote a substantial catalogue of mostly vocal, choral and stage music in his native language, as well as works for patriotic purposes – not a repertory likely to be performed anywhere but in Romania. Porumbescu’s reputation within Romania, however, remains high. Several conservatories bear his name, and the city where he died has been renamed in his honour. If you know any music by Porumbescu, it is probably his Balada (Ballade), a ten-minute work of heartbreaking beauty originally written for violin and orchestra in 1880, but which transfers easily to many other combinations. MPO CHAMBER PLAYERS Laurentiu Gherman cello Tan Keng Hong harp playing chamber music (he founded the first string quartet in Bucharest) and writing for this medium. His compositions include seven string quartets, but his best-known piece is probably the little Dans Tărănesc (Rustic Dance or Peasants’ Dance), originally for cello and piano but arranged for just about any instrumental configuration, including full orchestra, string orchestra, cello orchestra, clarinet quartet, and various solo combinations, played anywhere from a languid andante to a fiery presto. MPO CHAMBER PLAYERS Laurentiu Gherman cello Tan Keng Hong harp WOLFGANG AMADÈ MOZART (1756-1791) Divertimento in E-flat major, K.563 I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Menuetto: Allegro - Trio IV. Andante V. Menuetto: Allegretto - Trio I - Trio II VI. Allegro The Background To many concertgoers, it comes as something of a surprise to learn that the string trio (violin, viola, cello) is a medium used relatively rarely in chamber music. Aside from Mozart, famous composers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who wrote works of this genre include Haydn (but only as arrangements of some of his piano sonatas ), and Beethoven (the Serenade Op. 8 and the three Trios Op. 9). All the best known trios are for other instrumental combinations, mostly piano trio (piano, violin, cello). Reasons for this paucity have been put forth and argued, but no clear explanation emerges. One possibility is that, contrary to expectation, writing for three string instruments is not easier, but rather more difficult than writing for four. Assuming that all parts are given equal importance, the extra violin in the string quartet allows the composer to achieve a more balanced texture and to avoid the problem of a sustained, monochromatic sonority. The quartet also seems to give the composer greater flexibility in matters of form. Part of the problem may also stem from the classic chicken-and-egg phenomenon: lack of a significant repertory channeled musicians into other ensemble formations, further reducing composers’ incentive to write for this combination. When Mozart wrote the Divertimento K. 563 in September of 1788, he had not written a work with this title for eleven years. In choosing to score it for violin, viola and cello, it was probably the first time anyone had composed a piece of chamber music in the high classical style for this combination of instruments. Its genial nature and selfassurance totally belie Mozart’s miserable life at this time, when financial pressures were at their height, his wife was ailing, and both the Viennese court and public had suddenly shifted their musical attention elsewhere from Mozart. It was during this period that Mozart began writing that pathetic series of letters of appeal for funds to the Viennese merchant Michael Puchberg. The Divertimento was written for Puchberg, probably as the only way Mozart could foresee of repaying his loyal friend and fellow music lover. The first performance was probably given at Puchberg’s home with Mozart playing the viola part. Among other special qualities of this masterpiece, it is worth noting that the viola part is no mere filler between the bass of the cello and the soprano of the violin. It is the full equal of its partners, resulting in one of the most gratifying works in the chamber repertory for violists to play. Although a work entitled “divertimento” in Mozart’s day usually implied music written in a light-hearted vein more for background entertainment than for earnest listening, this Divertimento definitely transcends the genre in its expressive depth and seriousness of purpose, particularly in the Adagio and Andante movements. The Music A sonata-form Allegro launches the Divertimento. The Adagio is another sonataform movement employing some of the previous movement’s motivic elements. Then comes the first of two minuets, cast in traditional form with a contrasting Trio. The Andante constitutes the emotional heart of the work, consisting of a theme and four variations, or rather, double variations, as each half of the theme is varied in alternation. Of particular interest is the way Mozart at times combines violin and viola into a single melodic line. So far afield does he take the theme by the final variation (viola playing long tones as a skeletal outline of the theme against florid accompaniment above and below from violin and cello) that he sees fit to present part of the theme in its original form as a coda. The second minuet (this one with two contrasting Trios) breathes the air of the hunt as much as it does of the ballroom. The concluding sonata-rondo employs for its main subject a folklike tune as beguiling as any Mozart ever wrote. MPO CHAMBER PLAYERS Marcel Andriesii violin, Ayako Oya viola, Laurentiu Gherman cello ABOUT THE WRITER Formerly a horn player in the Montreal Symphony, Robert Markow now writes programme notes for that orchestra and for many other musical organizations in North America and Asia. He taught at Montreal’s McGill University for many years, has led music tours abroad, and writes for many leading classical music journals, including American Record Guide, Fanfare, Opera, Opera News, The Strad and Symphony. He travels regularly to Europe, Asia and Australia in search of musical stimulation. PRINCIPAL DONOR All details of concerts, artist and repertoire are correct at the time of printing. 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