Violin 1 - Holly Huelskamp, Sam Moraes

Violin 2 - Hannah Frey, Graham Woodland

Viola - Amy Greenhalgh, Victoria Voumard

Cello - Ranya Iqbal, Tara Santiago

Ottorino Respighi

 (1879-1936)

Ancient Airs and Dances from Suite No. 3 (1931)

Italiana

Arie di corte

Siciliana

Passacaglia

Ottorino Respighi had two sides to his musical personality. The first embraced the modern world: developing his unique voice, finding technicolor sounds. The second was pulled backwards in time: poring over music from bygone eras. These two sides were not necessarily at odds. When Respighi transcribed and arranged dozens of 16th- to 18th-century works, he made them speak his own language, repainting intimate textures with vivid modern colors. In his thirties, Respighi was drawn to collections of 16th- and 17th-century lute works. The lute, in its heyday, was prized for a quiet, delicate sound. Hearing a lute performance was like eavesdropping on a private conversation.

Respighi made three suites for string orchestra from these lute works, calling them Ancient Airs and Dances. The third suite bends towards darkness, melancholy: 1. Italiana. A lute galliard (a lively dance with complicated steps) is clothed in string mist, slow-dancing in mid-air. 2. Arie di corte. Six passionate courtly songs for lute and voice become a varied suite: violas sing to the accompaniment of strummed cello; cellos play bagpipe drones; strings glow with hymning radiance. 3. Siciliana. A swaying lute spagnoletta (a well-known folksong form) takes the motion of a river, calm at first, full of turbulence later. 4. Passacaglia. The strums and plucks of Baroque composer Ludovico Roncalli’s guitar work is transformed into extravagant string textures. Respighi seems to tip his hat to J.S. Bach.

Program notes by Tim Munro

Danish String Quartet

(2002- )

AE Romeser "Last Leaf" (2017)

"Æ Rømeser" is an 18th-century dance from the village of Sønderho, situated at the southern end of Fanø, one of the many Danish islands that hug the country's west coast. The Danish String Quartet's arrangement is smart, evocative and touching. After a somber introduction, the first violin teases out a bittersweet theme, which gets infused with loads of personality. The piece sounds like a melancholy song without words, backed by a droning squeezebox, and a toe-tapping dance tune all at the same time. A beautiful viola solo, midway through, adds to the wistful vibe before the main theme comes back around and the music builds to a joyous climax. A solo fiddle returns to whisper the melody as a mist of plucked strings evaporates.

Ribers No. 8 "Sterrands Rand" (2014)

This is a lively little melody from Riberbogen, a collection of tunes written down in Svendborg by Bertel Riber in 1768. Bertel Riber named the tune Sterrands Rand, but most Danes know it as Ribers nr. 8 (as it is the eighth tune in Riberbogen). This tune is fairly well known on the British Isles and can be found in many folk collections, the earliest published in Edinburgh in 1757. It goes by the name The Stuart’s Rant (or Stuart’s Reel). In the second half of the 18th century English dances were in fashion in Denmark; perhaps some sailor brought the tune to Svendborg and Bertel Riber snapped it up to meet the demand, slightly mishearing the title?

Program notes by the Danish String Quartet

Philip Glass

 (1937- )

String Quartet No. 2 "Company" (1983)

I.

II.

III.

IV.

Company is the name of a short novel by Samuel Beckett which was adapted for the stage and performed as a monologue by Frederick Neuman. Mr Neuman had asked and received Beckett's permission to use an original musical score which I was commissioned to compose.

I liked the idea of using the medium of the String Quartet that would allow for both an introspective and passionate quality well suited to the text. Beckett picked four places in the work which he referred to as the "intercices as it were". Not surprisingly these four short movements have turned out to be a thematically cohesive work which now, as my String Quartet No.2, has taken on a life of its own.

Program notes by Philip Glass

In his early seventies, Samuel Beckett composed an enigmatic, hauntingly beautiful prose text, “Company,” in which an old man lying on his back alone in the dark is spoken to by a ghostly, unrelenting voice he can neither verify nor name. At times speaking in the third person, the voice describes the figure’s tormented confinement in the present; at other moments, using second person, he narrates striking scenes from the old man’s boyhood and adolescence (a past very much like Beckett’s own). Also acknowledged is a first person voice that remains significantly absent – the pronoun which the old man desperately wishes to use, but can’t. 

Program notes by Lawrence Graver

Adolphus Hailstork

 (1941- )

Divertimento for Violin and Viola (1999)

Brioso

Lento e espressivo

Brioso

Hailstork's Divertimento for Violin and Viola was a wedding gift for the husband/wife duo of Eva Cappelletti-Chao (violin) and Phillipe Chao (viola). Friends and colleagues in the Virginia Symphony Orchestra commissioned the work in the 1999, and its second movement was played at their ceremony. The work was published in 2004, and the duo gave its public premiere that same year. 

The composer explained to Eva and Phillipe that each of the three movements represents a progressive stage in a relationship - information not included in the printed score. The opening Brioso, Hailstork said, represents "Discovery" - flirting, dating, an getting to know each other. The tender Lento e espressivo is an aria for the violin, accompanied by a steady eighth-note accompaniment in the viola. This is the excerpt that was played at their wedding and depicts "Bliss."

Hailstork must have had his tongue placed firmly in his cheek when setting down the third movement. Motives are passed back-and-forth, conversation-like; energetic unison passages give way to dissonant exchanges; meters shift unexpectedly; loud outbursts become suddenly quiet; and five bards from the end, the two voices sing happily in unison, them conclude with a harmonious B-flat major chord. All this, the composer said, portrays "Reality."

Program notes by J. Mark Baker

Caroline Shaw

 (1982- )

Valencia for String Quartet (2012)

There is something exquisite about the construction of an ordinary orange. (Grocery stores around the country often offer the common "Valencia" as the standard option.) Hundreds of brilliantly colored, impossibly delicate vesicles of juice, ready to explode. It is a thing of nature so simple, yet so complex and extraordinary. In 2012, I performed at the MoMA with the musician and performance artist, Glasser — a song which she described as being about the simple beauty of fruit. Later that summer I wrote Valencia, for a concert I was playing with some good friends in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. I decided to channel Glasser's brave and intuitive approach to melody and texture, such that Valencia became an untethered embrace of the architecture of the common Valencia orange, through billowing harmonics and somewhat viscous chords and melodies. It is also a kind of celebration of awareness of the natural, unadorned food that is still available to us. 

Program notes by Caroline Shaw

Bela Bartók

(1881-1945)

Transylvanian Dances (1931)

I. Dudások – Bagpipers

II. Medvetánc – Bear Dance

III. Finale

Béla Bartók (born Bartók Béla Viktor János) is one of the most important composers of the earlier half of the 20th century. His works can be divided roughly into four periods, each with unique colors. The first period is reminiscent of Strauss and Wagner, in a late romantic idiom. The second period utilizes folk music and modern harmonies reminiscent of Schoenberg and Debussy. The third is characterized by mathematical elements and conquest for unique harmony. The last period is characterized by the simplification of textures. His best-known works include the second violin concerto, six string quartets, second piano concerto, concerto for orchestra, and music for strings, percussion, and celesta. 

Bartók originally wrote his Sonatina, Sz. 55 for piano in 1915, based on folk tunes that the Hungarian composer collected from the neighboring country, Romania. Consisting of three movements I. Dudások (Bagpipes) Allegretto, Medvetánc (Bear Dance) Moderato, and Finale, Allegro vivace, the piece actually includes five different folk tunes, with two included in the first and third movements, and only one included in the middle movement. Bartók arranged the piece for full orchestra 16 years later, in 1931, making only minor changes, removing the movement titles, and titling the new work Transylvanian Dances, Sz. 96.

Program notes by Alfred.com and Signore S.

Formed by members of the St. Louis community, Holly, Amy, and Ranya bring together musical experiences from around the world. The STL Chamber Soloists perform music without a conductor, and work collectively and democratically. This often lends itself to dynamic and innovative interpretations of music old and new.

The STL Chamber Soloists' founding members have individual and unique musical experiences that have taken them across the world, from the USA to South America, Europe, and Asia. The depth of understanding gained by living and working in a different culture, and in a different language is evident in the performances of the STL Chamber Soloists. Their Beethoven has sampled ale in Bonn. Their Piazzolla has danced in the streets of Buenos Aires. And their Walton has climbed the rolling hills of England.

But most important to the STL Chamber Soloists is the sense of community and inclusivity. The STL Chamber Soloists employ excellent local musicians, and compensate them at a rate equal to their decades of training. As a result, performances are polished and entertaining.