Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival 2025
This year’s Festival is generously sponsored by
The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation
Norman and Ellen Plummer
Chesapeake Music is grateful for their support.
All program selections are subject to change.
Reflection and Celebration
Program Notes for June 6, 2025
Luigi Boccherini
Quintet in D Minor, Op. 13, No. 4; G. 280 (arr. Peggy Pearson)
The Italian-born composer Luigi Boccherini was also a virtuoso cellist, and in his six Opus 13 string quintets, composed in 1772, he brought the cello to greater prominence by pioneering a new musical genre: the string quintet that featured not one, but two cellos in addition to two violins and a viola. Indeed, Boccherini composed more than 100 such cello quintets, most likely so that he could play the cello along with the resident members of a string quartet at the Spanish royal court, where her was employed as a composer in the service of the Infante Don Luis de Borbón. However, the arrangement in tonight’s performance employs the oboe in place of a violin.
The D minor quintet is somewhat unusual among Boccherini’s quintets for being in a minor key. The quintet opens with a lovely, if florid cello melody that flows effortlessly against a simpler melody here given to the oboe. The second movement Andante is serenade-like with the oboe taking the principal melodic line, although all five instruments contribute to a rich development. The movement concludes with a brief but beautiful oboe “coloratura aria.” The third movement is a lively and upbeat extended fugue with fine part-writing for all instruments. Even though written in a minor key, the quintet exudes an elegance and warmth characteristic of Boccherini’s compositional style.
Robert Schumann
Märchenerzählungen (“Fairy Tales”): Four Pieces for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, Op. 132
Composed in only three days in October 1853, Schumann’s late trio, Märchenerzählungen (“Fairy Tales”), features the unusual combination of B-flat clarinet, viola, and piano. Schumann stated that the work was “picturesque and fanciful” and “highly romantic” but otherwise gave no indication which fairy tales were the subjects of the piece. The work likely was inspired in part by Mozart’s famous Kegelstatt Trio (KV 498), scored for the same forces, as well as Schumann’s first meeting in 1853 with the youthful Johannes Brahms, who had been introduced to Schumann by the composer Albert Dietrich, to whom the work is dedicated. Sadly, only months later, Schumann would be admitted to a mental institution, from which he would not leave until his death two-and-a-half years later.
The first movement alternates a barcarolle-like rhythm with sections of romantic, dreamlike music involving a lively exchange among the three instruments. A march, rustic and uncouth in character, dominates the second movement, although this is mitigated by a middle lyrical passage. The third movement, marked “calm tempo, with delicate expression” features the clarinet and viola against the piano’s background of undulating chords in what can only be described as a love duet. The powerful fourth movement again offers a tender middle-section duet and ends with a reprisal, this time heroic, of the principal theme from the first movement.
Amy Beach
Dreaming for Violoncello & Piano, Op. 15, No. 3
In 1892, the American pianist and Romantic composer Amy Beach wrote Four Sketches for solo piano. In 1937, Beach arranged the third sketch, the song-like Dreaming, for cello and piano, giving the striking melody to the cello with piano accompaniment. In this arrangement, which is performed tonight, Beach transposed the work to a lower key to suit the lower range of the cello. Beach was an impassioned reader of French poetry, and in the Dreaming score, she included a quotation from a Victor Hugo poem: “Tu me parles du fond d’un rêve” (“You speak to me from the depths of a dream”). Beach was greatly inspired by the music of Liszt and Chopin, and Dreaming is reminiscent of Lisztian nocturnes (specifically his Liebesträume).
The intensely lyrical Dreaming has long, beautiful melodic lines and lush harmonies. The piece begins with a soft rocking figure rising from the depths of the piano. This develops into a repetition of triplet eighths notes that continue throughout the piece. These repeated triplets create an atmosphere of reverie or, perhaps, conjure a dreamscape where a lover speaks to his beloved. The beautiful melody given to the cello “sings” above the triplets. As this intimate yet powerful melody unfolds, the developmental pacing becomes increasingly dramatic, eventually building to an ecstatic moment before finally quietly subsiding.
Johannes Brahms
Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87
Scored for piano, violin, and cello, Johannes Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87 was composed between 1880 and 1882, a period when he also was working on his second piano concerto and his third symphony.
The sonata-form Allegro first movement is notable for employing Brahms’ compositional hallmark: a “2 against 3 polyrhythm” where two notes (here by the piano) are played in the same duration as three notes (by the violin and cello), creating an interlocking rhythmic pattern that adds complexity to the music. The movement’s richly-developed, and often contrapuntal melodies are played by the strings in unison with and without the piano’s contrasting lines. Indeed, throughout the Opus 87 Trio the violin and cello often form a unit while the piano either accompanies, contradicts, or goes its own way. The second Andante movement introduces a somewhat forlorn Hungarian gypsy-style theme in the minor followed by five variations, where variations 1, 3, and 5 are based on the theme’s melody and variations 2 and 4 are developed from the theme’s piano accompaniment (in effect, a second theme). The Scherzo third movement is rhythmically complex with a contrasting lyrical Trio middle section. The “playful” Allegro giocoso fourth movement has four contrasting themes that make regular reappearances and a long coda that builds in intensity through to the end.
Program Notes for June 7, 2025
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5
Beethoven composed his A major string quartet in 1799 and modeled it directly on Mozart’s 1785 string quartet in the same key (K. 464). Because Mozart had dedicated his K. 464 quartet to Beethoven’s teacher, Haydn, Beethoven was, in effect, paying double homage with his quartet to the great string quartet composers of Vienna. This notwithstanding, the A major quartet clearly demonstrates the growing development of the 29-year-old Beethoven’s distinct musical personality and voice.
The bright and energetic first movement Allegro boldly explores strong dynamic contrasts and a change from a first theme in a major key to a second theme in a minor. The second movement Menuetto is lighter and more delicate in texture and thus is a truer homage to Mozart as compared to the first movement. However, the dramatic folkdance-like Trio section is signature Beethoven as is the use of unexpected silences in the musical lines. Another nod to Mozart, the third movement is a set of six variations on a somewhat somber theme. It begins modestly but builds to an explosion of sound before ending quietly. The fourth movement Finale is, again, Mozart-like, although it includes signature Beethoven counterpoint. The movement concludes elegantly in a gracious manner. In all, the A major quartet is an interesting contrasting study of Mozartian Classical elegance and nascent Beethovian Romanticism.
Cécile Chaminade
Étude de concert, Op. 35, No. 2 “Automne”
Pièce humoristique, Op. 87, No. 4 “Autrefois”
Cécile Chaminade was a highly successful female pianist and composer. As a pianist, she toured both Europe and America, making her American debut in 1908 to such immense popularity that “Chaminade Clubs” were formed to perform and enjoy her compositions. In 1886, Chaminade composed a collection of six concert études for solo piano, each of which she dedicated to a friend. The second, “Automne” in D-flat major, was dedicated to Hélène Kryzanowska, a Polish-French pianist and composer. “Autrefois,” loosely translated as “Former Times” and the second Chaminade piece performed tonight by Smit, is from her six Pièces humoristiques, composed in 1897.
Chaminade’s music has great charm, tunefulness, and accessibility. She composed “Automne” during one of her October visits to the Périgord region in France, and the music poetically reflects the autumnal beauty of that province. Typical of Chaminade’s style, there is a delicate balance between the legato melody in the right hand and the accompaniment in the left. The lyrical and somewhat melancholy opening melody contrasts dramatically with a lively and intense middle section, and the two themes – lyrical and passionate – play off one another before ethereal arpeggio passages bring the étude to a close. Gracenote triplets embellish the charming, if somewhat somber opening melody of the brief “Autrefois” before the music plunges into a fast-paced, “Baroque”-inspired middle section.
Antonín Dvořák
Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 87; B. 162
Dvořák composed his second of two piano quartets in the summer of 1889. As is true of all his music, this quartet amply demonstrates Dvořák’s gift for lyricism, romantic sweep, and exquisite tone and texture in his integration of the instruments’ voices.
The first movement opens with four notes played in unison that will reappear throughout, often changing in character from dark to light or from tragic to heroic. This motif finally is whispered in soft tremolo, first by the upper strings and then the cello as the movement comes to a close. The principal theme is brisk and upbeat but is countered by a mood-altering second theme. The beautiful slow movement (Lento) is the longest of the four movements and is song-like in nature with five interconnected themes of differing emotional weight: some tender, some explosive, and some sparkly. These themes are repeated again in the same order with new embellishments. The third movement Scherzo begins with a gentle folk waltz (the Viennese ländler) while the middle section Trio has urgent driving energy. The Allegro Finale is vivacious and again offers a lively folk dance – this time gypsy in nature. The movement also consists of contrasts, having an exuberant, highly rhythmical opening theme and a softer, more lyrical second theme. The movement concludes in high spirits with a nearly orchestral sonic power.
Program Notes for June 8, 2025
Franz Joseph Haydn
Quartet in F Major, Op. 74, No. 2; Hob. III: 73 “Apponyi” (arr. Peggy Pearson)
In 1793, the London-based Haydn completed a set of six string quartets for Count Anton Apponyi, a music-loving friend. All of them possess impressive virtuosic writing and a seemingly orchestral sonority more appropriate to the new public concert spaces in London than to a private salon. However, these quartets also have extremely elegant and lyrical moments. In tonight’s arrangement by Peggy Pearson, the oboe is employed in place of a violin.
The F major quartet has an exuberant, fanfare-like opening played by all four instruments in octaves. The related principal theme is then introduced, which eventually ends in an eruption of trills. A second theme, in reality a counterpoint to the first, is extensively developed. The Andante second movement is a set of variations on a graceful theme. In the first, the opening melodic line is introduced before being passed on to the cello. In the succeeding variation, there is a very fine extended solo. In the lighthearted Menuetto – Trio third movement, the Trio begins with a lovely melody, and the two high-voiced instruments engage in a quasi-duet. The Presto Finale has considerable melodic invention and harmonic contrast, including, in part, a folk-like melody. Notably, Haydn wrote a dazzling, lengthy coda where the high instrument’s voice seemingly takes flight, playing rapid arpeggios as if this were an accompanied cadenza.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581
Mozart composed his sublime A major clarinet quintet in 1789, a particularly unhappy year in Mozart’s life. But although parts of the quintet reflect his state of despair, the majority is radiant as if Mozart wanted to smile despite his troubles.
The first movement has beautifully moving lines with especially virtuosic writing passed among the strings. The second movement’s first theme is a clarinet melody played over muted strings. A second group of themes involves arpeggiated melodies given to the first violin. The clarinet picks this up, and eventually the movement becomes something of a violin-clarinet duet. Unusually, the third movement Menuetto – Trio has two Trios. In the minuet, the musical themes are distributed evenly among the five instruments. However, in the first Trio, the strings play alone, whereas the second Trio is a clarinet solo played over the strings. The fourth movement is a Theme and Variations where the theme is followed by five variations. The clarinet opens the first of the variations playing in counterpoint against the strings. The second alternates phrases with and without the clarinet. The third, in a minor key, features a “sobbing” viola melody. The florid fourth variation’s melody alternates between clarinet and first violin before switching gears into the last variation, a lyrical Adagio. The movement ends with a peppy restatement of the theme.
Felix Mendelssohn
Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49
Mendelssohn’s first piano trio was written in 1839 and has become one of his most popular chamber works. In this work, the piano takes on an unusually active role, but all three parts are highly virtuosic. When Robert Schumann reviewed the piece, he declared the work to be “the master trio of our time” and Mendelssohn to be “the brightest musician, who most clearly understands the contradictions of the age and is the first to reconcile them.”
The “very agitated” Allegro first movement begins with a lyrical cello main theme with the piano providing a syncopated accompaniment. Eventually, the violin joins in. The secondary theme is again given to the cello with an exciting jump from a minor to a major key. The violin and cello eventually play in unison against the piano executing triplets. The piano opens both themes in the “very tranquil” Andante second movement. The violin repeats the themes with counterpoint from cello and piano. The short, lighthearted third movement Scherzo has a main theme briskly introduced by the piano before it eventually retreats to become the accompaniment. The “very passionate” Finale has a highly virtuosic piano part with sweeping chordal runs (arpeggios). There are lyrical moments that provide a refreshing contrast, and this D minor Trio shifts to an uplifting D major shortly before the conclusion.
Program Notes for June 12, 2025
Felix Mendelssohn
String Quintet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 18
Mendelssohn’s composed his first string quintet in 1826 at the age of 17, although he would revise it in 1832 when he discarded an original Minuet and Trio movement and substituted a richly melodic and haunting slow movement Intermezzo in memory of his teacher and friend, the violinist Eduard Rietz. The work is scored for two violins, two violas, and a cello.
The quintet opens with a masterful, minuet-like first theme which becomes the basis for an ensuing cello and viola contrapuntal section as well as for the much-delayed second subject. This radiant movement ends quietly with the equivalent of a musical sigh. The second movement “in memoriam” features the violins and is emotional yet understated in its expression of personal grief. The Scherzo third movement (unusually without a contrasting Trio section) is seemingly as ephemeral and transient as a fairy dance, a tonal texture that is typical of many of Mendelssohn’s scherzos. The principal theme is introduced canonically – first by the second viola, then by the first, followed by the second violin, the cello, and the first violin. The Finale opens with a driving rhythm that will dominate the movement. A second theme counterbalances the first, and along the way Mendelssohn incorporates five-part counterpoint and two fugal passages. A self-propelling rhythmic fluidity carries the movement to its brilliant conclusion.
Louise Farrenc
Trio in E Minor for Flute, Cello and Piano, Op. 45
Jeanne-Louise Farrenc was one of the most accomplished and celebrated female piano virtuosos and composers of her era. Quite exceptionally, in 1842 she was given a permanent position at the Paris Conservatory as Professor of Piano, the only woman to work for the Conservatory in the 19th century. She held the position for thirty years. Her Trio in E Minor for Flute, Cello, and Piano was a late work composed in 1861-62 and was written for an ensemble combination with few precedents then or since.
The Allegro first movement begins with a short fanfare of assertive chords before the flute and cello launch the dramatic first theme in unison. The movement’s sweepingly lyrical second theme becomes more contrapuntal. The lovely and song-like Andante second movement begins with a flute solo over spare piano accompaniment and has a brief, but turbulent, march-like middle section. The energetic third-movement Scherzo alternates fast-paced, virtuosic passages, especially for the flute and piano, with quieter respites. The Trio section, in particular, is stunning with a lyrical melody given to the cello that becomes an extended cello-flute duet. The fast-driving Presto Finale has vigorous solo passages that contrast with a second theme that is somewhat more plaintive. Overall, however, the movement remains bright in tone and texture with an animated coda, all signature elements of Farrenc’s late compositional style.
Bedřich Smetana
String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor “From My Life”
The Czech composer Smetana’s highly autobiographical string quartet “From My Life” was composed in 1876. Smetana suffered from syphilis and by 1874, at the age of 50, had become completely deaf. Moreover, he also suffered from tinnitus, and the high-pitched E note in the last movement was intended to mimic the ringing he heard in his ears. Of this, Smetana wrote: “I allowed myself this little game because it was so catastrophic for me.”
Smetana also explained the unconventional program of the quartet: The Allegro first movement characterizes his youthful artistic interests but foregrounds a premonition of the tragedy he would face in the future. The second movement is a proudly nationalistic Czech polka that recaptures his youthful love of dance. In the slower middle section, he offers his impressions of the straightlaced aristocratic circles in which he lived. The ardent third movement, introduced by the cello, “brings to mind the bliss of first love for the girl who later became faithful wife.” Although the last movement begins as an energetic and joyful dance, the sudden appearance of the high-pitched E note evokes Smetana’s loss of hearing and the deterioration of his health. The viola is prominently featured in the quartet, having a solo at the very beginning of the first movement and often creating a sense of foreboding throughout the piece.
Program Notes for June 13, 2025
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, K. 493
Mozart composed his second piano quartet in 1786 just as he was completing his unparalleled series of twelve piano concertos written between 1884 and 1886. And like the concertos, the E-flat major quartet has only three movements. Marketed for either the harpsichord or the relatively new fortepiano, it was clearly the latter that Mozart had in mind due to the dynamic range of “loud” and “soft” that that instrument afforded.
Although the quartet begins with all four instruments in unison, soon the piano separates from the “trio” of strings, and the work becomes somewhat concerto-like, albeit without a solo cadenza. Nevertheless, Mozart maintains a balance between the keyboard and the strings, giving to the latter solos, duets, and contrapuntal passages isolated from the piano. Throughout the quartet the tone is bright and genial with the piano typically cool and sparkling and the strings warm, playing with vibrato. The Allegro first movement opens in striking fashion with a brusque dialogue between the strings and piano that introduces and extensively develops a principal theme. The second movement Larghetto begins with a tender, song-like melody in the piano, but the strings are not left out and are given the second theme which they play against the piano’s accompaniment. In the Finale rondo, however, the piano reasserts its dominance and is given some distinctly concerto-like passages.
Jörg Widmann
String Quartet No. 8 “Study on Beethoven III”
In 2008, conductor Mariss Jansons asked Jörg Widmann for a concert overture that could be performed together with Beethoven’s 6th and 7th symphonies. That commissioned work, Con brio, led to Widmann’s continued fascination and extensive analysis of Beethoven’s compositions. Tonight’s work is the third in a series of five string quartet “Studies on Beethoven” begun in 2019. They are more tonal in compositional style than his earlier works. Widmann has stated: “Spending a long time studying music has profoundly changed my attitude. Beethoven…is an inexhaustible reservoir. His music has visionary power. It has not collected patina or lost any of its impertinence.”
String Quartet No. 8 has three movements, although a fast tempo prevails throughout the entire work. The first movement is brief and alternates between passages of unison playing and cascades of chords. The second movement is a set of variations on the theme of Beethoven’s “Alla danza tedesca” (the fourth movement of his Opus 130 string quartet). Widmann directly quotes Beethoven’s first eight bars and then follows with variations that involve changes in meter, tempo, and even transposition from major to minor keys. The quartet concludes with a fast-paced, playful Rondo, the most extended section of the work. For Widmann, Beethoven’s Opus 130 string quartet is “the pinnacle of all quartets.” That work will follow after the intermission.
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 and 133
The Opus 130 string quartet is unusual in that it has six movements, and tonight’s performance includes the work’s original final movement, the Grosse Fuge. Performed as originally written, this late quartet is a profoundly personal and transcendent masterwork, rich in emotional content, humor, and beauty.
The opening movement begins with a slow, solemn Adagio that alternates with a fast-paced, playful Allegro before the music closes with a ringing fortissimo. The energetic second movement is uncharacteristically brief, a rushing Presto, contrasting more circumspect outer sections with a wild and rustic middle Trio. The third movement exhibits gentle humor (the evocation of a mechanical clock) before ending quickly with a sudden rush of energy. A manic German dance follows, a seeming parody of unsophisticated peasant music. The operatic Cavatina is simple but haunting. Its expressive, but quiet “aria” in the first violin shockingly changes to a “recitative” passage of unsettling anguish marked beklemmt (oppressed, stifled). This is the movement that fascinated Jörg Widmann and resulted in his eighth string quartet, heard earlier on this program. The Grosse Fuge movement, a double fugue on an immense scale, passes two complex subjects among all the instruments, combining edgy dissonances with complex rhythms. The Opus 130 string quartet, concluding with the Grosse Fuge, is a testament to Beethoven’s genius for musical development and emotional and intellectual invention.
Program Notes for June 14, 2025
Mélanie Hélène “Mel” Bonis
Sonata in C-sharp Minor for Flute and Piano, Op. 64
Mel Bonis was a prolific French composer in the early modern period. The shortened form of her name, under which she published, was a gender-unspecific attempt to counter sexist bias against female composers. In much of her chamber music, the flute is a dominant force, as in this large-scale sonata, composed in 1904. Both piano and flute parts are virtuosic and densely written, often having such a close interchange of voices that the two instruments appear as one.
This close interchange is especially evident in the first movement Andantino. The two instruments link and exchange motives with the piano providing a rolling rhythm while the flute sings passionately above, first with melancholy and then romantically. The brief second movement Scherzo is considerably more playful and almost dance-like. The lyrical and highly emotional third movement is, perhaps, the highlight of the sonata. Again, the flute part expresses both melancholy and passionate ecstasy, moving from a slow Adagio to a faster, jazz-like Allegro tempo and back to the Adagio. To some, this development suggests a journey from dark to light or despair to hope. The Finale begins with an exotic sounding melody in the flute, followed by a series of digressions, and concludes with a return of the opening. Notably, the movement reprises themes introduced in earlier movements, thus unifying the sonata as a whole.
Arnold Schoenberg
Verklärte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”), Op. 4
Verklärte Nacht is Schoenberg’s early tonal string sextet in one movement, composed in 1899. The work was inspired both by a poem by Richard Dehmel of the same name and by Schoenberg’s nascent love for his future wife, whom he had recently met. The poem describes two lovers walking through a forest on a moonlit night. She sadly reveals that she is pregnant with another man’s child, and he considers this, expresses regret, but ultimately accepts her confession, forgiving her. At the poem’s end, their lives have become transformed (“transfigured”) by the night. Essentially a tone poem for chamber forces, the work has five distinct sections that correspond to the five stanzas of the poem.
In Verklärte Nacht, Schoenberg has created themes that can be identified with the woman, the man, and the narrative action of the poem. The work opens poignantly with a repeated falling phrase heard first in the lower strings and then mimicked by the higher strings, introducing the two lovers. The initial gentle tempo is interrupted by a restless, almost dissonant shift as the woman confesses her condition. The work builds to an extended, passionate viola solo suggesting sadness and regret. However, calm returns with a tranquil passage played by the full ensemble, and the lovers are reconciled and their life together is transfigured by the night.
Gabriel Fauré
Piano Quartet No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 45
The Festival closes with Fauré’s energetic and beautiful second piano quartet written in 1885-86. Typical of Fauré’s use of the cyclic principle, the four movements are interconnected by the varied repetition of the principal motifs introduced at the beginning of the first movement. Of special note is the gentle, undulating opening piano passage in the third movement, which according to Fauré, is “a vague reverie” inspired by memories of the evening bells of the village of Cadirac near his childhood home.
The surging first movement Allegro has two contrasting themes. The first, introduced by the strings in unison, is full of motion, in large part due to the relentless piano accompaniment. The second theme, introduced by the viola and cello, is much more serene and poetic. The short, fast-paced Scherzo has a syncopated piano theme, although the two themes from the first movement also reappear. The piano’s perpetual motion carries the movement on to its conclusion. The “bell” motif opens the transcendent third movement Adagio, as noted, followed by a viola solo. The two instruments become a duo and create a mood of repose and poetic beauty. The Finale Allegro startles by being full of passion and violence with relentless forward drive. The concluding brighter coda reprises thematic elements from the entire quartet, including the first movement’s principal theme heard in the last bars.
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