Program 

 Program is subject to change

 Program Notes 

MOZART:                             String Quartet in A, K. 464 (1785)

Mozart and Haydn were well acquainted, and each was fully cognizant of the other’s genius – not always the case among great contemporaries in music history. Haydn told Leopold Mozart that his son Wolfgang was the greatest living composer known to him. Mozart, for his part, upon hearing Haydn’s opus 33 string quartets, penned six great quartets of his own which were an explicit homage to the older composer, his so-called “Haydn Quartets”; they are considered to be his first mature works in that genre.

The Quartet in A major, K. 464, is the fifth of these, written in the winter of 1785. It was later to command the admiration of the young Beethoven, and to influence directly his own A major Quartet, opus 18 no. 5. Mozart’s quartet is a paradigm of High Classical style, combining as it does a perfect command of form, a sophisticated sense of counterpoint, and an effortlessly gallant demeanor.

The first movement is sunny, engaging, and fluidly paced. Each idea is presented in a simple manner at first, and then revisited at once in a more complex form, with voices overlapping one another contrapuntally. In the central development section, surprising modulations and changes of texture offer a darker contrast to the movement’s essentially radiant character; here the music seems to have more difficulty progressing, halting completely on two occasions and having to feel its way gradually back to familiar ground.

The Minuet is simple and clever at the same time. Its main idea is in two connected parts – a unison statement, and a dancing reply – which are then combined and intertwined all throughout the main section, in every imaginable permutation. The result is a diverting variety of ideas and textures, achieved with great economy of means. A Trio section, in a different key, provides a smoother-textured, less learned contrast.

The slow movement, a theme and variations, begins sotto voce with a tender melody in the first violin, simply accompanied; the theme is largely confined to a low register, which lends it an intimate, whispered quality. Although the shape and texture of this theme are quite simple, the harmonization is not – replete with chromatic motion, it presents a starting point of great richness. Six extraordinary variations and a coda follow. Each instrument of the quartet is featured in its own variation, and interspersed between these there are two others, one a shadowy, dramatic minor variation, one a luminous return to major which emphasizes rhythmic simplicity and imitation. Perhaps the most notable variation is the cello variation, where an almost drumlike bassline supports gently moving upper lines.

The finale lies poised between two worlds, having on the one hand the familiar Mozartean playfulness, on the other a more introverted, gentle sighing character. Marked Allegro non troppo, this ambivalent movement features a falling chromatic figure, followed immediately by a flirtatious reply; amazingly, these two snippets are the sum total of thematic material for the entire movement, a full-length sonata-allegro form. Because they are used in such a variety of ways, in sequences, stretti, over pedal points, combined and recombined, inverted, and so forth, the music is fresh and surprising throughout. Somewhere before the return of the opening material, an extra motif is picked up, a bouncing 8th-note idea, which happily accompanies the original material when it reappears. A hushed, teasing pianissimo brings the movement to a close.

Note by Misha Amory

BEETHOVEN:                     String Quartet in A, Op. 18 No. 5 (1798-1800)                       
The Op. 18 No. 5 quartet is the most Mozartian of the Op. 18 set, in form, structure and texture, but not in manner – Beethoven’s musical language is already so unique and distinctive as not to be mistaken for Mozart or Haydn.  One is reminded of the fact that Beethoven greatly admired Mozart’s Quartet in A, K. 464, and copied by hand the score for his own study.

The First movement is notable for the economy of its part-writing and the often high tessitura (high register) of the first violin part.  The dancing first subject is only 14 bars long, to be replaces by the second subject, initially in octaves and in a minor key.  Like Mozart in the K. 464 Quartet, Beethoven places his Minuet second, for the only time in Op. 18 set – and an exceptionally tender and intimate minuet it is.  The brief Trio has a melodious richness foreshadowing the quartets of Beethoven’s later years.  As with Mozart again, the slow Third movement is in variation form (five variations) followed by a substantial coda.  The Finale is in sonata-form structure and is the closest to Mozart yet with the busy activity of the first subject offset by the tranquility and breadth of second – but all done in unmistakable Beethovenian language.

It is most gratifying to hear the Mozart K. 464 and Beethoven Op. 18 No. 5 back-to-back, to hear the similarities, the influences and yet different languages and approaches.  Thank you, Brentano!

Note by Michael Lebovitch

BEETHOVEN:                                 String Quartet in E flat, Op. 127 (1825)    

With the Op. 127 Quartet, Beethoven is leaving behind his “middle” period quartets, a stage known for its heroic style, exemplified by the “Eroica” Symphony and quartets Op. 59 (Razumovsky), Op. 76 (Harp) and Op. 95 (Serioso).  In the “late” period, Beethoven abandons the concept of an “individual” and embraces the wholeness of an “idea”, and in fact he willfully breaks and manipulates classical form to accommodate that purpose.  Beethoven pursued his interest in Hinduism and its philosophy during this period of his life (as was fashionable in Vienna of that time) and this concept of wholeness and completeness had great influence on forming his musical ideas.

And so, from the very start, in the First movement, the traditional sonata-form structure is modified by the reappearance throughout the movement of solemn introductory Maestoso chords.  Also, the thematic development is not restricted to traditional exposition and recapitulation sections of the movement – for it is virtually continuous and much more concerned with the lyrical first subject.

The Adagio Second movement is one of Beethoven’s most sublime and contemplative slow movements.  It takes the form of theme and six variations.  The theme itself is a long, expansive melody shared between the violin and cello.  The movement ends with a coda featuring semiquaver runs.  The Third movement marked Scherzando vivace is angular and accentuated starting by the cello and immediately inverted by the viola.  The middle, Trio section is fast and light-footed.  The Finale starts with a unison introduction before the first violin introduces the first subject, a rocking arpeggio pattern.  The second subject is march-like, with striking and powerful discords.  The quartet ends with a remarkable coda, in which the main theme, instead of speeding up, is stretched and expanded to bring out its lyrical quality.

On the surface, Beethoven’s Op. 127 could be one of the most “normal” of his late quartets: it is cast in typical four movements, comfortably arranged in traditional tempos and tonalities, with beautiful, “hummable” melodies.  And yet, he re-thought the approach and execution of string quartet classical structure in fundamental ways.  This, no doubt, was the main contributor to upsetting and confusing his contemporaries and early listeners.  To today’s audience, this quartet remains fresh and thought-provoking, with continuous new discoveries along the way.

Note by Michael Lebovitch

 About the Artists 

Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has appeared throughout the world to popular and critical acclaim. “Passionate, uninhibited and spellbinding,” raves the London Independent; the New York Times extols its “luxuriously warm sound [and] yearning lyricism”; the Philadelphia Inquirer praises its “seemingly infallible instincts for finding the center of gravity in every phrase and musical gesture”; and the Times (London) opines, “the Brentanos are a magnificent string quartet…This was wonderful, selfless music-making.” Within a few years of its formation, the Quartet garnered the first Cleveland Quartet Award and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award; and in 1996 the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center invited them to be the inaugural members of Chamber Music Society Two, a program which was to become a coveted distinction for chamber groups and individuals. The Quartet had its first European tour in 1997, and was honored in the U.K. with the Royal Philharmonic Award for Most Outstanding Debut. That debut recital was at London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Quartet has continued its warm relationship with Wigmore, appearing there regularly and serving as the hall’s Quartet-in-residence in the 2000-01 season.

In recent seasons the Quartet has traveled widely, appearing all over the United States and Canada, in Europe, Japan and Australia. It has performed in the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York; the Library of Congress in Washington; the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; the Konzerthaus in Vienna; Suntory Hall in Tokyo; and the Sydney Opera House. The Quartet has participated in summer festivals such as Aspen, the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, the Edinburgh Festival, the Kuhmo Festival in Finland, the Taos School of Music and the Caramoor Festival.

In addition to performing the entire two-century range of the standard quartet repertoire, the Brentano Quartet has a strong interest in both very old and very new music. It has performed many musical works pre-dating the string quartet as a medium, among them Madrigals of Gesualdo, Fantasias of Purcell, and secular vocal works of Josquin. Also, the quartet has worked closely with some of the most important composers of our time, among them Elliott Carter, Charles Wuorinen, Chou Wen-chung, Steven Mackey, Bruce Adolphe, and György Kurtág. The Quartet has commissioned works from Wuorinen, Adolphe, Mackey, David Horne and Gabriela Frank. The Quartet celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2002 by commissioning ten composers to write companion pieces for selections from Bach’s Art of Fugue, the result of which was an electrifying and wide-ranging single concert program. The Quartet has also worked with the celebrated poet Mark Strand, commissioning poetry from him to accompany works of Haydn and Webern.

The Quartet has been privileged to collaborate with such artists as soprano Jessye Norman, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, pianist Richard Goode, and pianist Mitsuko Uchida. In 2015-2016, they will collaborate with pianist Jonathan Biss on a project centered around late works of great composers.

The Quartet has recorded the Opus 71 Quartets of Haydn, and has also recorded a Mozart disc for Aeon Records, consisting of the K. 464 Quartet and the K. 593 Quintet, with violist Hsin-Yun Huang. In 2010-2012, the Quartet recorded all of Beethoven’s late quartets, which were also released on Aeon. In the area of newer music, the Quartet has released a disc of the music of Steven Mackey on Albany Records, and has also recorded the music of Bruce Adolphe, Chou Wen-chung and Charles Wuorinen. Upcoming releases include a recording of Schubert’s Cello Quintet, recorded at Amherst with Michael Kannen.

In 1998, cellist Nina Lee joined the Quartet, succeeding founding member Michael Kannen. The following season the Quartet became the first Ensemble-In-Residence at Princeton University, where they taught and performed for fifteen years.

In the fall of 2014, the Quartet became the Resident String Quartet at the Yale School of Music, succeeding the Tokyo Quartet in that position. At Yale, they perform in concert each semester, and work closely with the students in chamber music contexts.

The Quartet is named for Antonie Brentano, whom many scholars consider to be Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved”, the intended recipient of his famous love confession.