The Waikanae Music Society Inc

PROGRAMME

NEW ZEALAND STRING QUARTET

     Helene Pohi   -   1^stViolin
  Douglas Beilman   -   2^nd Violin
  Gillian Ansell - Viola
Rolf Gjelsten   -   Cello

SUNDAY 20 May AT 2.30PM,
WAIKANAE MEMORIAL HALL

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
(1685 - 1750)

THE ART OF FUGUE (Die Kunst der Fuge)

Contrapuncti 1, 3, 4, 5 & 9

Bach's Art of Fugue has long been considered the ultimate example of contrapuntal composition from its greatest master. The work , which in its 1751 edition included four simple fugues, three counter-fugues, four double and triple fugues, two mirror fugues, four canons, a 4-part fugue for two keyboards and an unfinished 4-voice triple or quadruple fugue, uses a deceptively simple subject.

Contrapunctus 1 - The subject is stated simply by the alto voice and answered by the soprano.
Contrapunctus 3 - Transformation in this fugue is made by melodic inversion (turning the subject upside-down).
Contrapunctus 4 - The subject is reversed, as is its answer.
Contrapunctus 5 - This is a stretto fugue where the appearances of the subject overlap. There are 22 statements of the subject, half being the right way up and half upside-down.
Contrapunctus 9 - This is a double fugue which opens with a new subject which is then combined with the main theme.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN
(1809-1847)

STRING QUARTET No 2 in A MINOR, OPUS 13
("lst es Wahr")

Adagio: Allegro vivace

Adagio non lento

Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto

Presto - Adagio non lento
Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Berlin family, whose home was a gathering place for artists and intellectuals. He was an astonishingly gifted child, not only in music, with perfect pitch and an outstanding memory, but he could also paint well, write poetry, speak several languages, and was a fine athlete.

Shortly after writing his Octet, one of music's finest chamber works, at the age of 16, Mendelssohn went on holiday, fell in love and set to music the poem "lst es Wahr?" (Is it true?) written by his friend Johann Gustav Droyson. This impassioned theme is the basis of the first movement of this quartet. The Adagio begins in A Major before switching to A minor for the passionate Allegro vivace. The dissonant contrapuntal development section is full of energy and builds to a climactic ending. The slow movement is ardent and has a fugato section. Respite comes with the tuneful intermezzo and its gently dancing tune. In the finale the first violin plays an agitated recitative over tremolo accompaniment, many motifs tumble out and the "lst es Wahr?" theme returns, bringing the music full circle.

INTERVAL

ROBERT SCHUMANN
(1810-1856)
STRING QUARTET in F MAJOR, Opus 41 No 2

Allegro vivace

Andante, quasi variazioni

Scherzo: presto

Allegro molto vivace

In 1842, two years after marrying Clara, Robert Schumann devoted almost the entire year to writing of chamber music. Before embarking on his three string quartets, Opus 41, he studied the quartets of Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn with characteristic single-mindedness. Once he had begun composition the work went quickly; all three were completed in five weeks. They were dedicated to Felix Mendelssohn and received their première performances on Clara's twenty-third birthday in September 1842.

The Quartet in F begins with a turbulent first movement that Schumann gave a particularly fast metronome mark, giving an almost breathless quality to the flowing singing themes. The second movement is a set of variations which venture far afield in character and tempo, as if seeking to express the greatest possible depth of human experience and emotion. The Scherzo is an ebullient, virtuosic movement with a jolly Trio. The Finale manages to top the Scherzo's ebullience, with a barn-dance-like first theme. The development and coda feature faster sections and the tempo of the coda increase further, ending the movement in a frenzy of breathtaking brilliance.

Programme notes abridged from those provided by Roger Lloyd, Joy Aberdein and Helen Pohi

NEW ZEALAND STRING QUARTET
Acclaimed for its powerful communication, dramatic energy, and beauty of sound, the New Zealand String Quartet has distinguished itself internationally for its imaginative and unique programming, including cycles of composer's music from Mozart to Berg, and the championing of works from New Zealand and the Pacific Rim. They have won praise for their versatility in performing with jazz artists and indigenous musicians as well as for their fresh approach to the great classics of the quartet repertoire.

In their busy recent season the group has made acclaimed debuts in London at Wigmore Hall (to which they were quickly re-invited), and in New York at the prestigous Frick Collection. They have recently given an extensive tour of Korea, two North American tours, a first tour of Mexico including four concerts at the Cervantino International Festival and some forty concerts in New Zealand alone.

The New Zealand String Quartet has been featured on North America's popular public radio programme "St Paul Sunday", and has recorded for Deutsche Welle, CBC in Canada, and Australia's ABC, as well as regularly appearing on Radio New Zealand's fine music network Concert FM. Their extensive discography includes works from the standard quartet repertoire by composers such as Bartók, Ravel, Debussy, Beethoven, Dvorák, Berg and Wolf, as well as the première recording of the remarkable Zoltan Székely quartet, and numerous works by acclaimed New Zealand composers. They recently began a 3-year project for the Naxos label, which will release their complete Mendelssohn quartets.

Dedicated teachers as well as performers, the group has been Quartet-in-Residence at Victoria University of Wellington, now the New Zealand School of Music, since 1991. In North America they have been artist/teachers-in-residence at the Banff Centre, Quartet Fest West, and Quartet Programme at Bucknell in Pennsylvania.

NEXT CONCERT

READ GAINSFORD PIANO

Music by Scarlatti, Messiaen, Schubert (Wanderer Fantasy)
and the complete Chopin Preludes

2.30PM SUNDAY 10 JUNE WAIKANAE MEMORIAL HALL

The Waikanae Music Society gratefully acknowledges
the support of the Lion Foundation,
The NZ Community Trust and the Waikanae Community Board.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685 - 1750) THE ART OF FUGUE (Die Kunst der Fuge) Contrapuncti 1, 3, 4, 5 & 9	Bach's Art of Fugue has long been considered the ultimate example of contrapuntal composition from its greatest master. The work , which in its 1751 edition included four simple fugues, three counter-fugues, four double and triple fugues, two mirror fugues, four canons, a 4-part fugue for two keyboards and an unfinished 4-voice triple or quadruple fugue, uses a deceptively simple subject. *Contrapunctus 1* - The subject is stated simply by the alto voice and answered by the soprano. *Contrapunctus 3* - Transformation in this fugue is made by melodic inversion (turning the subject upside-down). *Contrapunctus 4* - The subject is reversed, as is its answer. *Contrapunctus 5* - This is a stretto fugue where the appearances of the subject overlap. There are 22 statements of the subject, half being the right way up and half upside-down. *Contrapunctus 9* - This is a double fugue which opens with a new subject which is then combined with the main theme.
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) STRING QUARTET No 2 in A MINOR, OPUS 13 ("lst es Wahr") Adagio: Allegro vivace Adagio non lento Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto Presto - Adagio non lento	Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Berlin family, whose home was a gathering place for artists and intellectuals. He was an astonishingly gifted child, not only in music, with perfect pitch and an outstanding memory, but he could also paint well, write poetry, speak several languages, and was a fine athlete. Shortly after writing his Octet, one of music's finest chamber works, at the age of 16, Mendelssohn went on holiday, fell in love and set to music the poem "lst es Wahr?" (Is it true?) written by his friend Johann Gustav Droyson. This impassioned theme is the basis of the first movement of this quartet. The Adagio begins in A Major before switching to A minor for the passionate Allegro vivace. The dissonant contrapuntal development section is full of energy and builds to a climactic ending. The slow movement is ardent and has a fugato section. Respite comes with the tuneful intermezzo and its gently dancing tune. In the finale the first violin plays an agitated recitative over tremolo accompaniment, many motifs tumble out and the "lst es Wahr?" theme returns, bringing the music full circle.
	INTERVAL
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856) STRING QUARTET in F MAJOR, Opus 41 No 2 Allegro vivace Andante, quasi variazioni Scherzo: presto Allegro molto vivace	In 1842, two years after marrying Clara, Robert Schumann devoted almost the entire year to writing of chamber music. Before embarking on his three string quartets, Opus 41, he studied the quartets of Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn with characteristic single-mindedness. Once he had begun composition the work went quickly; all three were completed in five weeks. They were dedicated to Felix Mendelssohn and received their première performances on Clara's twenty-third birthday in September 1842. The Quartet in F begins with a turbulent first movement that Schumann gave a particularly fast metronome mark, giving an almost breathless quality to the flowing singing themes. The second movement is a set of variations which venture far afield in character and tempo, as if seeking to express the greatest possible depth of human experience and emotion. The Scherzo is an ebullient, virtuosic movement with a jolly Trio. The Finale manages to top the Scherzo's ebullience, with a barn-dance-like first theme. The development and coda feature faster sections and the tempo of the coda increase further, ending the movement in a frenzy of breathtaking brilliance.