Barber and Wagner

WWCMF presents a program of stunning variety for our third Festival Series performance of the June 2019 season. The cast includes piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn, trumpet and trombone. These amazing artists perform with such outstanding ensembles as the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (NY), Cleveland Orchestra (OH), Boston Modern Orchestra Project (MA) and the Seattle Symphony during the year. In June, we have them all to ourselves in Walla Walla.

With all these virtuoso musicians, there’s something for everyone. The Webern Concerto for Nine Instruments will challenge your sense of sonic order, Barber’s Summer Music for woodwind quintet will breeze through the Power House Theater like the summer wind and Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll will evoke an ancient forest replete with woodland critters. Spanning influences from serial music to American post-tonal harmony to jazz to unabashed romanticism, this program has it all. Join us for a concert sure to change your perception of what chamber music can be.

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Summer Music, Op. 31 (1955) For Woodwind Quintet

Anton Webern (1883-1945)

Concerto For Nine Instruments, Op. 24 (1934)

I. Etwas lebhaft

II. Sehr langsam

III. Sehr rasch

Dobrinka Tabakova (b. 1980)

Suite In Jazz Style (2009) For Piano And Viola

I.

II.

III.

INTERMISSION

Pierre Gabaye (1930-2000)

Récréation (1958) For Trumpet, Trombone, Horn And Piano

I. Allegretto

II. Largo

III. Presto

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Siegfried Idyll (1869)

Artists: Sarah Brady, flute; Rodger Burnett, horn; Timothy Christie, viola; Billy Ray Hunter, trumpet; Martin King, horn; Norbert Lewandowski, cello; Christina McGann, violin; Angelique Poteat, clarinet; Paul Rafanelli, bassoon; Maria Sampen, violin; Kevin Schempf, clarinet; Stephen Schermer, double bass; Weston Sprott, trombone; Anna Stoytcheva, piano; and Dan Williams, oboe.

Inversion Without the Freezing Fog: In the Pacific Northwest, we have our own definition for the term inversion. It has frosty meteorological implications. On Festival Series I, however, the implications are aesthetic. Anton Webern, known as a leading figure of the Second Viennese School of composition, penned some of the most innovative scores of the 20th century. His works are known for their brevity, but also the microscopic detail, density and care with which he deploys a language devoid of tonality or traditional structure. Webern’s reputation for thorny modern works is so firmly established that his lush, romantic Langsamer Satz (Slow Movement) for string quartet from 1905, will come as a complete surprise. Speaking of string quartets, Festival Series I will see the world premiere of Yotam Haber’s quartet Society of the Free and Easy. Instead of the traditional 2 violins, viola and cello, the ensemble is inverted: two cellos, viola and violin. Finally, the Piano Trio of Maurice Ravel, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, is an imitate work for three players that deploys each voice in ways that can only be described as symphonic in scope. Opening night of the 2014 Festival Series will be a night to remember.

Yotam Haber (b. 1976)

World Premiere: Society of the Free and Easy, for violin, viola and two cellos

Anton Webern (1883-1945)

Langsamer Satz in E Flat (1905) for string quartet

Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)

Terzetto in C for two violins and viola

I. Indtroduzione. Allegro ma non troppo

II. Larghetto

III. Scherzo. Vivace — Trio. Poco meno mosso

IV. Tema con variazioni. Poco Adagio — Molto Allegro — Moderato (quasi Recit.) — Moderato e risoluto — Molto Allegro

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Piano Trio in A minor (1914)

I. Modéré

II. Pantoum. Assez vite

III. Passacaille. Très large

IV. Final. Animé

Artists: Jennifer Caine, Timothy Christie, Oksana Ezhokina, Yotam Haber, Norbert Lewandowski, Christina McGann, Stephen Miahky, Maria Sampen, Sally Singer Tuttle, and Volta Piano Trio.

The Tasting Music Series helps you go deeper into four great chamber music masterpieces. This series highlights the union of composer and performer. Tonight’s performance is made possible by the generosity of Rick and Cecile Ervin.

Tonight we return to Canoe Ridge Vineyards and the historical Trolley House. The music, Langsamer Satz (slow movement) for string quartet by Anton Webern, is a lyrical and heartfelt testament of love. Anton Webern, along with his teacher Arnold Schönberg and colleague Alban Berg, is closely associated with a movement in music known as the Second Viennese School. The Second Viennese School marks the dissolution of tonality and a new compositional and harmonic approach known as Twelve-Tone Technique. To many, this new style of composition was an affront. To others it became a gateway to a world of endless harmonic possibilities. Tonight we will be content to revel in the beauty of one of Webern’s only tonal works. The revolution of modernism can wait on this night.

Anton Webern (1883-1945)

Langsamer Satz in E Flat (1905) for string quartet

Artists: Timothy Christie, Norbert Lewandowski, Stephen Miahky, and Maria Sampen.