Night Music

Night Music. Brings to mind Bob Seger and his evident work regarding “night moves.” However, we at WWCMF are taking a different tack. Night means all sorts of things. For example, there are animals that only come out at night. Turns out, these animals make different sounds than those that inhabit daylight. Béla Bartók was a composer who was famously fascinated by night sounds. His Third String Quartet stands as a great example of music conceived with a nocturnal soundscape in mind.

But Bartók is modern, you say. Yes, ’tis true. However, the night occupied classicists, modernists and romantics alike. That’s why we are placing a little bit of each on this program. I don’t need to say anything about Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, do I? And what about poor Schubert? He worked on his “night moves,” too. Enter the Notturno in E Flat, D. 897, which stands as a late masterpiece by Schubert, as late as we can consider age 31 to be.

So, join us for a little bit of night music. We’ll throw in a little bit of Nachtmusik for free.

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Notturno In E Flat, D. 897 (1827)

I. Adagio

Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

String Quartet No. 3 (1927)

I. Prima parte: Moderato

II. Seconda parte: Allegro

III. Recapitulazione della prima parte: Moderato

IV. Coda: Allegro molto

INTERMISSION

Joaquín Turina (1882-1949)

Circulo, Op. 91 (1936) For Piano Trio

I. Amanecer

II. Mediodia

III. Crepúsculo

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Serenade In G, K. 525 (1787) Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

I. Allegro

II. Romanze: Andante

III. Menuetto: Allegretto

IV. Rondo: Allegro

Artists: Norbert Lewandowski, cello; Christina McGann, violin; Jingwen Tu, piano; and the Girsky String Quartet: Natasha Bazhanov, violin; Timothy Christie, viola; Artur Girsky, violin; and Rowena Hammill, cello.

Bartók String Quartet No. 3 (1927)

The stern visage of Béla Bartók graces the 2019 WWCMF poster. Now, one of his greatest works will bring the stirring imagery of the poster to life, the String Quartet No. 3 (1927).

Bartók was fond of using a compositional technique known as “night music.” Through episodes of “night music,” Bartók becomes free from harmonic constraints and can instead delve into a soundworld more evocative of sounds found in nature. Perhaps most poignantly, his Third Piano Concerto contains an episode of “night music” nestled between passages of the most ardent tenderness. In the Third Quartet, the episodes are somewhat more eerie and unsettling.

However, fear not! There is plenty of folk music to go around, and this quartet is virtuosic beyond measure. It is sure to thrill. And what better setting than the oaken tasting room of Rasa Vineyards?

I. Prima parte: Moderato

II. Seconda parte: Allegro

III. Recapitulazione della prima parte: Moderato

IV. Coda: Allegro molto

Artists: Girsky String Quartet: Natasha Bazhanov, violin; Timothy Christie, viola; Artur Girsky, violin; and Rowena Hammill, cello.

Works by Bartók, Schumann and more…

Completing the 2019 Winter Fest experience is the Festival Series performance at the Gesa Power House Theatre. Schumann’s masterpiece of melody and invention, the Piano Quartet in E flat, Op. 47, anchors the program. Also on tap is music for two violins by Hungarian master and WWCMF 2019 Poster Composer, Béla Bartók.

Though darkness envelops the Walla Walla Valley by late afternoon in January, but the music of Bartók, Schumann and more will flood the theater with warmth and light. This concert is not to be missed!

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

String Trio in G minor (1894), unfinished

I. Lento

Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

Selections from 44 Duos for 2 Violins, Sz. 98 (1931)

1. Teasing Song

2. Maypole Dance

5. Slovakian Song No. 1

6. Hungarian Song No. 1

7. Walachian Song

12. Hay Song

13. Wedding Song

14. Pillow Dance

15. Soldier’s Song

19. A Fairy Tale

20. A Rhythm Song

21. New Year’s Song No. 1

22. Dance of the Fly

24. Comic Song

26. Teasing Song

27. Limping Dance

28. Sadness

29. New Year’s Song No. 2

30. New Year’s Song No. 3

32. Dancing Song

33. Song of the Harvest

35. Ruthenian Dance

36. The Bag Pipe, and Variation

37. Prelude and Canon

40. Walachian Dance

42. Arabian Dance

44. Ardeliana

38. Rumanian “Whirling” Dance

INTERMISSION

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Piano Quartet in E flat, Op. 47

I. Sostenuto assai - Allegro ma non troppo

II. Scherzo: Molto vivace - Trio I - Trio II

III. Andante cantabile

IV. Finale: Vivace

Artists: Timothy Christie, viola/violin; Conor Hanick, piano; Norbert Lewandowski, cello; and Maria Sampen, violin.

Tonight’s performance has been made possible by the generosity of Tom and Margo Scribner.

Festival Founder and Artistic Director, Timothy Christie, usually hosts and moderates the Portrait of an Artist Series, asking probing questions of the Festival’s roster of artists and revealing aspects of musicians’ lives that do not typically make it into the artist biographies in your program book. For the kick-off event of the 2015 Season, Tim becomes the subject of the portrait.

This provokes many a question: Who will host? Will it be courteous, or will it turn into a flat out roast? In all likelihood, there will be a roast-like tenor to the proceedings, but as you might guess, there is only one way to find out. Garrison Creek Cellars lends the acoustics of a Renaissance chapel and bucolic perfection to the proceedings.

ANNOUNCED FROM THE STAGE

Scotland the Brave, traditional — with Charlotte Christie

Duo in G Major for violin and viola, III: Rondo, Mozart — with Maria Sampen

Trio Sonata in D Major, Op. 3 No. 2, Corelli — with Stephen Miahky and Meta Weiss

Trio Sonata in C Major, Op. 4 No. 1, Corelli — with Stephen Miahky and Meta Weiss

Roumanian Folk Dances, Bartok — with Christina McGann, Maria Sampen and Norbert Lewandowski

Chaconne from the d minor Partita, Bach

TIM’S "DESERT ISLAND" MUSIC SELECTIONS

Mahler Symphony No. 2, “The Resurrection”
Respighi "Church Windows”
Mozart Serenade in B Flat for winds, K. 361, “Gran Partita”

Artists: Timothy Christie, viola; Norbert Lewandowski, cello; Christina McGann, violin; Stephen Miahky, violin; Maria Sampen, violin; and Meta Weiss, cello.

Schiff: Divertimento from Gimpel the Fool

Bartok: Contrasts

Brahms: Viola Quintet in G Major Op. 111