HARDWICK – The fourth concert of the Craftsbury Chamber Players season at the Hardwick Town House had an interesting combination of string and vocal pieces, ranging from Danish folk music going back many centuries to a Mozart String Quartet, lieder by Brahms from the end of the Nineteenth Century and contemporary songs just composed this year by a members of the group.
The four Danish folk songs arranged by the Danish String Quartet in 2013 had three sections in the first part, which formed a bridal trilogy characteristic of music performed at traditional weddings in two islands off the coast of Denmark, all scored for the usual ensemble of violins, a viola and a cello. They started off with the first violinist in the higher registers of the instrument with a slow tempo, proceeding to paralleling by the two violins juxtaposed to the cello line at a faster pace. The pleasant melodies then culminated in more agitated rhythms, perhaps suggesting that marriage inevitably has its difficult times. The second section was entitled “The Topped Hen/The Peat Dance,” having more energetic rhythms and faster bowing with a festive mood. Joyce Hamman and Mary Rowell were on violins, Stephanie Taylor on viola and David Russel on cello, giving a well integrated performance to this piece.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) wrote any number of lieder and choral numbers showing his mastery of the human voice, such as his utterly delightful “Leibeslieder Waltzes” and his formidable “German Requiem.” His two songs, “Op. 91 for Alto, Viola and Piano” were a combination of two pieces written 20 years apart (1863-64 and 1884) with a very personal agenda to help two fellow musicians, an unusual source of inspiration for him, based on the verses of two poets. The singer was Katherine Growdon, whose voice was very pure, with expressive phrasing, well coordinated with the rich color of the viola played by Katherine Winterstein and the skillful performance of Inessa Zaretsky on the piano, all in excellent balance. The first poem spoke to the assuaged longing of desire and the second, a “Sacred Cradle Song,” was a curious lullaby appealing to the wind not to awaken a sleeping baby, who seemed to be the Christ child.
“The Three Songs of Inessa Zaretsky” (b. 1964) for the same trio group was composed just months ago and featured three poems by Iain Main. “Beveled Glass” had intriguing images and strong lyricism; “Communication” repeated the sentiment of wanting to be with another, the music complimenting the words, holding the vocal line like the setting of a jewel. “In Candle Light,” a couple in bed was imagined, tenderly regarding each other before falling asleep, which Growdon gave a sensitive interpretation to, never overwhelmed by the scoring of the viola and piano.
The “Quintet in C Major, K.515” for two violins, two violas and cello by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was written in 1787, and would ordinarily have been a quartet except for the doubling of the viola, an instrument that overlaps the ranges of the violin and cello and thus gains strength in volume by this addition, playing a more prominent role here. Immediately in the opening Allegro we feel immersed in the positive energy of Mozart’s fertile musical imagination, which always has a certain cosmic light that approaches a perfection that is seldom found in any other art. The complex interplay of the instruments show him ever exploring the possibilities of his beautiful melodies, bringing them back each time with constant variations almost like improvisations. The Menuetto Allegretto continued this optimistic mood and momentum, juggling two themes with the different instruments often completing the phrase begun by another in a playful manner. The Andante had a slower tempo with a duet between the violin and viola, while the final Molto Allegro engaged everyone in contrapunctal arabesques. With Mary Rowell and Joyce Hammann on violins, Stephanie Taylor and Katherine Winterstein on violas and David Russel on cello, the players gave a very professional ensemble effect that earned them a standing ovation from the appreciative audience.
The next performance of the Craftsbury Chamber Players will take place on August 7 (August 6 in Burlington) and will have a program of works by Rebecca Clarke, George Templeton Strong, Anton Arensky and Clara Schumann. A pre-concert talk about the pieces will occur at 6:48 p.m. For more information, call (802) 986-0616 or go online at ccpvt.org.
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.
