HARDWICK – The Craftsbury Chamber Players began their summer season, amazingly their sixtieth, on July 16, in the Hardwick Town House, with a varied program of works by Haydn, Skye and Schumann, nicely bridging music from the late Eighteenth Century (1787) to the mid Nineteenth Century (1851) to the present (2017).
The “Quartet No. 37 in C Major, Op. 50, No. 2,” (Hob 111/45) of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) is right in the middle of the 68-string quartets he produced in his prolific composing career (not to mention his over 100 symphonies). It begins with a Vivace in a moderate progression with stately scoring but accelerates into a more energetic conversation among the instruments. The second movement, Adagio cantabile, may indicate some of the influence the younger Mozart might have had on Haydn’s music, for it is more vocal (cantabile equals singing) than strictly instrumental in its melodies. The Menuetto, Allegro-Trio juxtaposes two different rhythms and tempos in its well crafted themes, while the Finale, Vivace assai, has an enthusiastic drive with the tunes shared among all the strings. Katherine Winterstein and Mary Rowell on violins, Kenji Bunch on viola and Francis Rowell on cello gave a very integrated performance of this piece, combining precision with feeling.
Derrick Skye (b. 1982) is an American composer whose work, “American Mirror,” consists of two parts, scored for the usual quartet grouping of strings. In it he draws from many sources reflecting the diversity of willing (and unwilling) immigrants to this country from West Africa and Northern Africa as well as Eastern Europe, mixed with underlying Appalachian folk tunes (from Great Britain) in the first half. The second half had north and south Indian musical traditions, inviting the audience to become one with the flow by humming in the initial section and clapping in the following one. The themes are on the dissonant side, with hints of lyricism and varied textures such as knocking sounds on the wood of the cello and also jabbing bow strokes on the violins contrasted with smooth cello passages. Part two had a stronger Indian ambiance in the repetition of melodies with subtle permutations and the harmonic blending of the notes within a continuo. The violin was actually introduced into South Indian (Carnatic) music by the Portuguese explorers in the Sixteenth Century. Katherine Winerstein and Annie Rabbat on violins, Kenji Bunch on viola and Francis Rowell on cello gave a sympathetic interpretation of this work with its novel audience participation.
After the intermission the second half of the program was devoted to the “Sonata No. 1 in a minor, Op. 105,” for violin and piano by Robert Schumann (1810-1856). Written in 1851, it embodies much of the tensions and dramatic changes of mood of the music of the Romantic era. The first movement, marked in inexplicable German as Mitliedenschaftlichen Auschuck, starts with an elegant melody well balanced and rich in harmonies, with a dynamic dialogue between the violin and piano, in music that really breathes with life and has deep feeling in some of the passages. The second section, an Allegretto, plays with two beautiful themes in a well constructed sequence, while the concluding Lebhaft part has a bold beginning in a fast tempo with a lively evolution through brighter and darker resonances, which Mary Rowell on violin and Monica Ohuchi on piano performed passionately as two highly coordinated musicians. The appreciative audience rewarded them with a spontaneous standing ovation.
The next concert by the Craftsbury Chamber Players in Hardwick (a day earlier in Burlington) will be on July 23 with a Suite by Bach, a Partita by Conte and a quartet by Brahms. For more information, go online at [email protected].
David K. Rodgers
David K. Rodgers is a writer, mason and card carrying dilettante, who dabbles and babbles in art. He has lived in East Craftsbury for the past 40 years.
