Monday, June 10, 7:30pm In Mozart’s Time
Christ and Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church
120 West 69th Street (east of Broadway)
Danbi Um violin
Eunae Koh violin
Dov Scheindlin viola
Meagan Turner viola
Coleman Itzkoff cello
Ji Weon Ryu flute
Vadim Lando clarinet
Karl Kramer horn
HAYDN Divertimento in G Major Op. 5 No. 2 • 1768
~ the flute quartet’s finesse and charm mask its spurious authors
Stephen Fisher in Haydn and the Flute explains, “Lacking authentic pieces by Haydn, publishers manufactured chamber works to sell under his name. Two sets of six quartets for flute, violin, viola, and violoncello are still in circulation. The so-called Op. 5 includes spurious arrangements of the two sextets just mentioned [HII:1 and 11] along with four pieces that have nothing to do with Haydn (Hob. II:D9–11 and G4).”
Franz Xaver RICHTER String Quartet in C Major Op. 5 No. 1 • 1757
~ of historical importance for its early development of melodic interest in the lower strings— the viola and cello are given several solo episodes, resulting in a structural balance of the 4 parts, which was remarkably advanced for its time, presaging the Classical period
A German of Moravian-Bohemian descent, Richter was one of the foremost composers of the Mannheim school, which introduced musical innovations that led to a change of musical style throughout Europe, and ultimately influenced Haydn and Mozart.
Antonio ROSETTI Quintet in F Major • circa 1789
~ a tuneful, sophisticated piece for the unusual combination of clarinet, horn, violin, viola, and cello
Born in Bohemia, Rosetti studied with Jesuits in Prague and began his career as a double bass player in the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein under Prince Louis Kraft Ernst, a fanatical (albeit parsimonious) music lover. While there, he not only began composing a wide range of instrumental music for the court, but also memorized the instrumental music of Haydn (his model), Stamitz, and Mozart. Eventually he was appointed kapellmeister for the Hofkapelle and developed the court orchestra into one of the best ensembles in Europe within a very short time. A trip to Paris in 1781‑82 greatly enhanced his reputation as one of the leading composers in Europe by providing opportunities for publishing his music, performing it, obtaining commissions, and networking, while exposing him to a wider range of styles, which he soon incorporated into his own work. The New Grove Dictionary states, that “Rosetti’s highly idiomatic writing for the horn contributed much to the development of a melodic style for the instrument.... [His] contemporaries ranked him with Haydn and Mozart.”
A podcast by Sterling Murray (author of The Career of an Eighteenth-Century Kapellmeister: The Life of Antonio Rosetti) may be heard here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/sterling-murray-the-career-of-an-eighteenth-century-kapellmeister-the-life-and-music-of-antonio-rosetti-u-rochester-press-2014/
MOZART String Quintet in G minor K. 516 • 1787
~ among the greatest of string quintets in a key which he reserved for works of dramatic intensity and deep personal statement