Dear Friends,
HAPPY SPRING! I hope you like our new publicity photo, taken just after our final rehearsal for the concert we recorded last Saturday. To say that we ache to be under the same roof sharing our music with you is, well, a vast understatement, but we are still so happy to be able to connect with you this way. For our final program,"Quintessentials," we offer you two ravishing quintets by composers whose lives were cut tragically short, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at age 35, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, at 37.
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It is widely believed that the string quintets of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) are among his most breathtaking masterpieces. They are often called viola quintets because they include two violas, distinguishing them from the cello quintets of Boccherini and Schubert, in which the cello is doubled. For this performance, I have taken the first violin part, which lends itself effortlessly to the flute.
Mistral offers up the Quintet in G minor, K. 516, written during the period of the final illness of Mozart's father, who died shortly after. The music is predominantly dark and tragic, though it is streaked with upbeat and sunny moments as well. The adagio, played with muted strings, prompted Tchaikovsky to write:
“No one else has ever known how to interpret so
beautifully and exquisitely in music the feeling of
resignation and inconsolable sorrow."
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Left to right: Todd Palmer, clarinet; Stephanie Fong, viola; Julie Scolnik, flute; Julianne Lee, violin & viola; Sasha Scolnik-Brower, cello; Sarita Kwok, violin
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Beloved Mistral clarinetist Todd Palmer returns to perform the endlessly lyrical Clarinet Quintet in F# minor of Samuel Coleridge Taylor (1875–1912). At the beginning of the 20th century, Coleridge-Taylor was one of the brightest stars in classical music. While his father was from Sierra Leone, Coleridge-Taylor grew up in England with his mother where he attended the Royal College of Music as one of the first Black students. He was fascinated by Native American and African American histories. Tragically, Coleridge - Taylor died at the age of 37, but he left behind an astonishing number of wonderful works. The clarinet quintet was written when he was only 20 years old. His composition teacher had declared to his students that, after Brahms’ work for the same ensemble, no one could write an original clarinet quintet - Coleridge-Taylor decidedly proved him wrong with this gorgeously original, rhythmically complex chamber work.
In a programmed encore, the musicians will offer the sublime slow movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, a timeless work that will bring our 24th season to a close, and bid you farewell for the summer.
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A few photos from our recording session
(by Seungoh Ryu)
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Even though the link will remain active for several weeks after the premiere, it is infinitely more fun when people tune in at the same time all over the world, as if sharing a live performance together. If you subscribe to our Youtube channel, you will be notified when a new video goes live. We miss our personal connection with you so we hope you'll tune in and leave a comment in real time! It would be wonderful to hear from you! (And we will remind me in two weeks!)
Hope to see you soon!
Julie
Julie Scolnik
Artistic Director
SUNDAY, MAY 2, 10 AM
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One more thing! WCRB radio (99.5) is broadcasting our September concert (Brahms Horn Trio, Beethoven Serenade, and George Walker Lyric Quartet) ALSO on Sunday night, May 2, at 7 PM, if you want to tune in with your radio, Alexa, or online. Link & info are HERE.
If you missed any of our last four virtual concerts, they are all still available free of charge on our Youtube channel, either as the whole complete concert, or as individual pieces that we uploaded separately. Here are a few selected pieces, one from each concert, and each photo is a link that you can click on easily.
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