The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Oakwood Chamber Players continues its 30th anniversary retrospective with a concert highlighting harp music this coming Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following press release from his friends at the Oakwood Chamber Players (below), a group known for both its fine playing and its explorations of neglected repertoire.

As the Oakwood Chamber Players continue to celebrate its 30th anniversary season, the ensemble is pleased to present Replay! on this coming Saturday night, March 14, and Sunday afternoon, March 15. The concerts will feature guest harpist Linda Warren (below).

The concerts are Saturday, March 14, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 15, at 1:30 p.m. Both concerts will be held at the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on Madison far west side.

Tickets are available at the door, and are $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors and $5 for students. Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com for more information.

This is the fourth of five concerts in the Oakwood Chamber Players celebratory 30th anniversary season series titled “Reprise! Looking Back Over 30 Years.” Remaining concerts include Reissue! on May 23 and May 24.

The works to be performed this weekend include:

Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp by Claude Debussy (1862-1918). It was last performed by the Oakwood Chamber Players in 1991. This Sonata was written in 1915, and was one of Debussy’s last works before his death in 1918. (You can hear the lovely Pastorale movement from the Debussy sonata, as played by flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal and harpist Lily Laskine, in a YouTube video at the bottom.) 

Debussy (below) initially planned this as a piece for flute, oboe and harp. He subsequently decided that the viola’s timbre would be a better combination for the flute than the oboe’s. He changed the instrumentation to flute, viola and harp, creating a more characteristic mellifluous sound that audiences associate with Debussy’s compositions.

“Esquisse,” a pastoral sketch for flute, horn and harp written by renowned horn player and esteemed teacher at the Paris Conservatory, Georges Barboteu (below, 1924-2006).

The elegance and charm of Ottorino Respighi (below, 1879-1936) will be highlighted in three movements of the “Ancient Airs and Dances.” The composer’s fascination with 16-18th century Italian music resulted in compelling representation of the era in Balletto detto “Il Conte Orland,” Villanelle and Gagliarda that will be performed by a combination of winds and strings.

Schlummerlied, Op. 76 (Slumber Song) for clarinet, horn, harp by Robert Volkmann (1815-1883). Volkmann (below) was a contemporary of Wagner whose inspirations were Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Schumann.

Quartet No. 6, Op. 19, in F major for bassoon, violin, viola, cello by Karl Stamitz (1745-1801). His fine compositional skills are demonstrated in the interplay between the bassoon and strings and show why he continues to be the most performed composer associated with an era of high performance standards of the “Mannheim School.”

The Oakwood Chamber Players is a group of Madison-area professional musicians who have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for 30 years. Members have been active with the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and other groups.

The Oakwood Chamber Players is a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation.