Chamber Music Series presents diverse program

WAYNE BLOOMINGDALE, FOR THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Friday, April 5, 2002

Under the direction of pianist Judith Cohen, the Governor's Chamber Music Series has become a staple of musical culture in Olympia. Now co-sponsored by Harlequin Productions, the Saturday concert will be at the State Theater in downtown Olympia.

Among the featured artists for the evening will be Cohen, composer and pianist Jackson Berkey, guitarist David Burgess, violinists John Pilskog and Marjorie Kransberg-Talvi, and Craig Weaver, violincello.

The Rainier String Quartet also will appear. The ensemble is composed of Ron Patterson, violin, Ella Gray, violin, Roxanne Patterson, viola, and Walter, violincello.

The choice of literature is diverse. The program will begin with Mozart's String Quartet in E flat, K. 428, played by the Rainier String Quartet. This quartet was part of six quartets composed between 1782 and 1785. All were dedicated to the Austrian composer Haydn, and they opened a new world for Mozart. Nothing he had written before had revealed such freedom of structure and style, such unorthodox technique, or such high flights of inspiration. Completed in 1783 in four movements, the E flat quartet begins with serenity and quiet beauty and concludes with an outburst of energy and Mozartian good humor.

Italian-American composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) appears next on the program. His Fantasy for guitar and piano, Opus 145, will be performed by Burgess and Cohen. The work is only one element of the composer's compositions, which include symphony, opera, songs, concerti, and Sacred Services. Casternuovo-Tedesco fled Europe in 1939 and made his debut in New York the same year, playing his piano concerto with the New York Philharmonic. After settling in Beverly Hills and writing for films, he dedicated his final years to teaching.

Guitarist David Burgess will then present a collection of solo pieces for classical guitar by Brazilian composers.

The evening will conclude with the Quintet for Piano and Strings, Opus 34, by Johannes Brahms, featuring the Rainier String Quartet and pianist Cohen. Brahms (1833-1897) wrote the work in 1864. Although it came comparatively early in his career, it is one of his supreme achievements in chamber music. He began it as a string quartet with two cellos, then rewrote it as a sonata for two pianos. His great friend Clara Schumann convinced him that it needed strings, so Brahms revamped it into the existing piano quintet.

The first movement is Herculean in nature, with no less than five themes in its 300 measures. This is followed by the striking contrast of an eloquently simple, slow movement. The three themes of the Scherzo reflect the power of the first movement. The finale is the longest and most complex of the four movements. The music remains consistently optimistic, moving to a monumental climax.

Wayne Bloomingdale, a free-lance writer and music critic, is on the music faculties of Saint Martin's College and Pacific Lutheran University. He is music director at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Olympia.

Governor's Chamber Music Series

- When: 8 p.m. April 6.

- Where: State Theater, 204 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia.

- Tickets: $18-$20.

- For more information: Call 360-786-0151.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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