The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: This Friday night, Nov. 22, the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet begins its 14-month complete cycle of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets. Here are programs and information about the six concerts
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
As you might have already heard, 2020 is a Beethoven Year. Musicians are already marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827, below).
One of the big local events – unfolding over the next 14 months — is that the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s acclaimed Pro Arte Quartet will perform a complete, six-concert cycle of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets, which are considered to be a monumental milestone in chamber music and in the development of the genre.
They encompass the styles of Beethoven’s early, middle and late periods, and often served as an experimental laboratory for musical ideas he used on other works. Each of the Pro Arte’s programs wisely features works from different periods, which makes comparisons and differences easier to understand. (You can hear Beethoven biographer Jan Stafford discuss the late quartets in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more about Beethoven’s string quartets, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:String_quartets_by_Ludwig_van_Beethoven
A Beethoven cycle is also what originally brought the Pro Arte Quartet from Belgium — where it was founded by students at the Royal Conservatory in 1912 — to Madison, where they performed it at the Wisconsin Union Theater in 1940. In fact, they were in the process of performing the cycle when they heard that their homeland of Belgium has been invaded by Hitler and the Nazis, and they could not go home.
Stranded here by World War II, they were offered a chance to be artists-in-residence at the UW-Madison. They accepted — and the quartet has remained here since, becoming the longest performing quartet in music history.
For more about the history of the Pro Arte (below, in 1928), go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/pro-arte-quartet/
Current members of the Pro Arte Quartet (below from left, in a photo by Rick Langer) are: David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violins; Sally Chisholm, viola; and Parry Karp, cello.
PROGRAM I: Friday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall
String Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2 (1798-1800)
String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 “Serioso” (1810)
String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 (1825-6)
PROGRAM II: Friday, Feb. 28, 8 p.m., Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall
String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1 (1798-1800)
String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 74 “Harp” (1809)
String Quartet in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131 (1826)
PROGRAM III: Thursday, April 16 (NOT April 23, as was mistakenly listed in a press release), 7:30 p.m., Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall
String Quartet in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3 (1798-1800)
String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2 (1806)
String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127 (1825)
PROGRAM IV: Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, 8 p.m., Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall
String Quartet in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5 (1798-1800)
String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4 (1798-1800)
String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132 (1825)
PROGRAM V: Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, 8 p.m., Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall
String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6 (1798-1800)
String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135 (1826)
String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3 (1806)
PROGRAM VI: Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021, 8 p.m., Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall
String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1 (1806)
String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 with the Great Fugue Finale, Op. 133 (1825)
Tags: #AdolfHitler, #Artists-in-Residence, #BeethovenYear, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrusselsBelgium, #ChamberMusic, #CollinsRecitalHall, #ConcertHall, #DavidPerry, #EarlyQuartet, #EarlyStyle, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #JanSwafford, #LateQuartet, #LateStyle, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddleQuartet, #MiddleStyle, #MusicSchool, #NaziGermany, #ParryKarp, #ProArteQuartet, #RoyalConservatory, #SallyChisholm, #SchoolofMusic, #StringQuartet, #SuzanneBeia, #TheEar, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #Wikipediaentry, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WorldWarII, anniversary, audience, Beethoven Year, Belgium, big, birth, blog, Brussels, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, chance, Collins Recital Hall, comparison, complete, concert hall, conservatory, current, cycle, David Perry, development, difference, discuss, early, early style, event, Facebook, fact, forward, genre, Germany, harp, History, Hitler, Home, homeland, idea, invasion, Jan Swafford, Laboratory, late, late style, like, link, local, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, middle, middle style, milestone, moumental, music history, music school, Musician, Nazi, opus, Opus number, Parry Karp, performer, post, posting, Pro Arte Quartet, Quartet, royal, Royal Conservatory in Brussels, Sally Chisholm, School of Music, share, stranded, String quartet, Student, Suzanne Beia, tag, The Ear, understand, University of Wisconsin–Madison, use, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, Wikipedia, Wild War II, Wisconsin Union Theater, wise
Classical music: Music from Schubert’s last year of life is the focus of this year’s UW-Madison’s Schubertiade this Sunday afternoon when a world-famous Schubert scholar will share her insights
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
NEWS UPDATE: The UW-Madison is offering FREE ADMISSION to Sunday afternoon’s Schubertiade, discussed below, to furloughed federal workers, who just have to show their federal identification to an usher.
By Jacob Stockinger
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s sixth annual Schubertiade – a re-creation of the historical and informal celebration of his music that Franz Schubert (1797-1828) used to hold with friends – will take place this Sunday afternoon, Jan. 27, at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
The focus this year is the music composed in the last year of Schubert’s life, before his death at 31.
A schedule of events and information about tickets are below.
This Schubertiade will feature a world-famous Schubert scholar. Susan Youens, recently retired from the University of Notre Dame, has one of the most impressive musicology resumes in the world, and will share her insights about the late style of Franz Schubert (below) in her pre-concert lecture.
Youens has won four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as fellowships from the National Humanities Center, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. She has published eight books, hundreds of articles, essays and chapters, and lectured all over the world.
“Dr. Youens (below) will explore the rich relationship of Schubert’s music to the poems he chose to set and the emergence of new directions in Schubert’s style,” says co-organizer William Lutes. “The influence of Beethoven had loomed large throughout Schubert’s music, and in the year following Beethoven’s death, the 31-year-old composer wrote works of homage to this great master, as he saw his own music becoming more widely recognized, published and performed.”
Highlights of the Schubertiade will be a complete performance of Schubert’s 14 final songs, published after his death as Schwanengesang, or “Swan Songs” — among the composer’s richest and most forward-looking works. (You can hear the famous “Serenade” from “Swan Songs” sung by Angela Gheorghiu in the YouTube video at the bottom,)
Also on the program are the humorous and risqué Refrain-Lieder; the slow movement of the great Piano Trio in E-flat major; the enchanting Rondo in A major for piano four-hands; and the beautiful song Auf den Strom for voice, horn and piano, composed for a concert commemorating the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death, and filled with subtly haunting references to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.”
In addition to pianists and singers Martha Fischer and William Lutes (below), guest performers will include voice faculty members Mimmi Fulmer, Julia Rottmayer and Paul Rowe, voice students Sarah Brailey, Wesley Dunnagan, and Benjamin Hopkins, graduate hornist Joanna Schulz, and guest singer Cheryl Bensman-Rowe.
Also participating is the Perlman Trio (Mercedes Cullen, violin; Micah Cheng, cello; and Kangwoo Jin, piano).
The School of Music also thanks donors Ann Boyer and Kato Perlman for their longtime support of the Schubertiades, the Perlman Trio and other musicians and events.
2019 SCHUBERTIADE SCHEDULE
Pre-concert lecture: 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 27, Morphy Hall. (Free.)
Concert: 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 27, Mills Hall. (Ticketed.)
Post-concert reception, included with ticket purchase: Sunday, Jan. 27, at the nearby University Club, 5:30 p.m.
TICKETS: $17 for adults, $7 for all age students/children; free to music majors, faculty and staff. To avoid long lines, we suggest arriving 30 minutes early or buying tickets ahead of time, either in person or online. Please see the link below.
Purchase options (online, by telephone and in person) here: https://www.music.wisc.edu/about-us/tickets/
To buy tickets directly online, click here.
Tags: #AngelaGheorghiu, #BenjaminHopkins, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #EroicaSymphony, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FederalGovernment, #FederalWorkers, #FranzSchubert, #FreeAdmission, #FurloughedWorker, #GovernmentShutdown, #GuggenheimFoundation, #HornMusic, #InstituteforAdvancedStudy, #JoannaSchultz, #JoannaSchulz, #JuliaRottmayer, #KatoPerlman, #LateStyle, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarthaFischer, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MimmiFulmer, #MusicalStyle, #Musicfaculty, #NationalEndowmentfortheHumanities, #NewsUpdate, #PaulRowe, #PerlmanTrio, #PianoTrio, #PrincetonUniversity, #SarahBrailey, #SeniorCitizen, #SlowMovement, #SusanYouens, #SwanSongs, #UniversityClub, #UniversityofNotreDame, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWSchubertiade, #WesleyDunnagan, #WilliamLutes, #World-famous, #YouTubevideo, Angela Gheorghiu, anniversary, article, Arts, beautiful, Beethoven, Benjamin Hopkins, Bill Lutes, blog, Book, celebration, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, chapter, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, children, Classical music, composer, Concert, death, Eroica Symphony, essay, events, Facebook, faculty, faculty member, federal, federal government, forward, four-hands, Franz Schubert, free admission, friend, furlough, government, government shutdown, guest, Guggenheim Foundation, haunting, History, homage, Horn, humorous, influence, informal, Institute for Advanced Study, Jacob Stockinger, Joanna Schultz, Joanna Schulz, Julia Rottmayer, Kato Perlman, late style, lecture, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Martha Fischer, Master, Mead Witter School of Music, Mimmi Fulmer, Music, musicology, National Endowment for the Humanities, NEH, news, Paul Rowe, performer, Perlman Trio, Pianist, Piano, Piano Trio, post, posting, Princeton University, publish, re-creation, reception, risqué, rondo, Sarah Brailey, scholar, Schubertiade, Schwanengesang, senior citizen, Serenade, share, singer, Singing, Slow movement, song, staff\, Student, style, Susan Youens, Swan Songs, tag, ticket, United States, University Club, University of Notre Dame, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, UW-Madison, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Wesley Dunnagan, William Lutes, Wisconsin, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 