Christina Hart
cello
collaborating with:
Ināra Zandmane, piano
William Kelley, piano
Graduate Recital
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
7:30 pm
Organ Hall, Music Building
Program
Capriccio (1948) Lukas Foss
(1922-2009)
Suite D-moll, BWV 1008 (approx. 1717-1723) Johann Sebastian Bach
Prélude (1685-1750)
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Menuet I & II
Gigue
Brief Pause
Sonate für klavier und violoncello, Op. 38 (1865) Johannes Brahms
Allegro ma non troppo (1883-1897)
Allegretto quasi Menuetto
Allegro
Adagio and Allegro Op. 70 (1849) Robert Schumann
(1810-1856)
“Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.”
Psalm 63:7-8
Christina Hart is a student of Dr. Alexander Ezerman
________
In partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the
Master of Music in Performance
Program Notes
Lukas Foss (1922 Berlin- 2009 New York) Capriccio for cello and piano
If you are not familiar with Lukas Foss, he is certainly a twentieth century
composer of eclectic Americana-styled works worthy of recognition. He attended the
prestigious Curtis Institute, studying both piano performance and composition,
composition under Paul Hindemith by the age of 17, was a Fulbright Grant recipient
and at the time was the youngest composer to receive the Guggenheim Fellowship—a
“midcareer” grant intended for “men and women who have already demonstrated
exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the
arts.”1
Foss completed the Capriccio for cello and piano in 1948 and many of the
gestures, rhythmic drive, chromatic harmonic shifts and cello-piano interplay imitate
that of his former teacher’s, Paul Hindemith, Capriccio Op. 8 No. 1. The Capriccio is
considered part of Foss’s first of three compositional periods where he wrote in a
“predominantly neo-classical and eclectic” style. I would consider the eclecticism
shown more in his written indications in the score such as “with humor” and the
sound ‘affects’ over actual note-soundings the cello is required to produce. This piece
fully embodies what is a capriccio. Practicing and performing this piece requires
delicate attention to coordination between the large shifts, and the rapid acro and
pizzicato alternations and clustered string-crossing double-stops. Opening in the key
of C major, the reoccurring theme is blaringly Americana and the trade-off between
cello and piano gives the piece a playful, improvisatory feel. More than melodic, the
reoccurring rhythmic materials drive the piece. Lukas flies through the keys of E
minor, and E and B major. Then cello reaches like a waltz section of twelve bars in 3/4
time, with cello in a constant duplet cross-rhythm. Lots of excitement and fancy finger
work follows, included in the con moto section with natural harmonics over piano’s
running eighth notes. Through all of the rhythmic and harmonic acrobatics, Foss
always returns to the pillar of C major. A gentle poco meno mosso emerges, just before
the recapitulation, suggesting both the keys of C major and minor. The opening theme
reestablishes the key of C major, and coils down ending in a gently rolled pizzicato
chord by cello with support by piano in a perfect authentic C major cadence. This
piece should exude high-energy, have articulate precision, organized fluidity in
execution, with a little bit of humor.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Suite D-moll, BWV 1008
Before the twentieth century and cello idol Pablo Casals’ influence, the
performance of Bach’s solo cello suites in a recital setting was unfathomable. When
first published in 1824 in Paris as Sonates ou Études, they were mostly considered
etude work — and rightfully so. Any cellist can attest to the challenges Bach provides
in each of his six suites, not only technically, but musically and in turn, the process of
memorization. There are only two facsimiles available: one written by a former
student of Bach and the other by his second wife, Anna Magdalena. Between the two
there are many discrepancies about the original bowings, phrasing and tempi.
The cello suites were most likely written between 1717 and 1723 while Bach was
employed at the court of Prince Leopold in present-day Köthen, Germany. Modeled
after the keyboard suites of his predecessor, J.C.F. Fischer, Bach’s second suite
contains a prelude and four of the traditional French courtly dances: allemande,
courante, sarabande and gigue. The D minor suite includes a Menuet I and Menuet II,
between the Sarabande and Gigue, as optional movements or, rural dances (i.e. dances
associated with the folk or non-royal culture of the time) that were later incorporated
into French courtly music. Within all of the movements, finding multiple voices in the
1 “About the Foundation,” John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Last
modified 2014, accessed February 18th, 2014. http://www.gf.org/about-the-foundation/
the-fellowship/.
cello line is key to having a greater understanding of phrasing and timing. The Prelude
is dramatic and serious with moments of gentle apologies, all the while developing
over the opening minor triad gesture. I like to play the Allemande a bit faster in
contrast to the more lyrical prelude. I feel two beats in each bar, as opposed to four
beats per bar as it is written, due to the harmonic motion in the bass line. Aside from
the Gigue, the Courante is one of the more brisk movements of the suites and I try to
phrase it by the bar, or across twobars during extended sequences. Bach’s use of
voicing in the double-stop chords in the Sarabande are my favorite aspect of this
movement. The voicing of these chords and the movement in the individual voices
foster a deep sorrow. In both Menuets each bar can be felt in one beat. Menuet I is
particularly tricky in fingering and tuning the double-stops and rolled chords. Menuet
II is a light and enjoyable contrast in D major to Menuet I. The Gigue has a character of
attitude, confidence, yet still playful. Each of the two halves begins with the opening
rhythmic gesture quarter note, half note, spirals through the circle of fifths, and has a
concluding statement. Much of Bach’s writing is done in sequences as he travels from
one key to the next. You will hear his melodic and chordal ideas modulated
successively to different pitch levels or keys.
Johannes Brahms (1833 Hamburg- 1897 Vienna) Sonata fur klavier und cello,
E-moll op. 38
The E minor cello sonata was the first chamber piece Brahms wrote for solo
instrument with piano “accompaniment.” Johannes began work on the sonata in 1862
and did not complete it until 1865. Not until 1865 did he finalize the Allegretto quasi
Menuetto and add the Allegro piano and cello fugal third movement. Brahms’ use of
harmonic chromaticism to shift keys, and cross rhythms coupled with one or half-beat
syncopation between piano and cello, lends to its seamless and flowing quality.
Marked as Allegro ma non troppo, the first movement pulls from the subjects of
Bach’s Die Kunst Der Fugue Contrapunctus III and IV, but more closely the opening
minor arpeggio of Contrapunctus III. The first movement has two themes, the
opening theme in E minor and the secondary in C major. The first movement
essentially follows sonata form using the keys of E minor, B minor and B major,
except for its ending in the key of E major, again, pulling from the form of the fugue.
The fugue between piano and cello in the third movement can be attributed to the
final movement fugue between cello and piano in the opus 102 Beethoven sonata.
However, here Brahms ends the fugue in E minor as a proper close to the work.
Between the fugal sections Brahms fits a lyrical G major second theme filled with the
triplet and cross rhythms he liberally used in the previous movements. Although
considered a ‘fugal’ movement, Brahms retains the sonata form. Not even the
menuetto and trio provide a light or joyous interlude, with the menuetto in A minor
and the trio in F-sharp minor. As the menuetto is music that would have
accompanied the French courtly dance of the seventeenth century, the use of
ornamentation in the cello line plays on compositional traditions of that period. The
transitions between the menuetto and trio sections are nearly transparent, one of the
most admirable qualities of his countrapuntal genius. Although quirky in its three
part construction, this sonata a lugubrious, rhythmically and harmonically flowing
work with glimpses of Brahms’ gorgeous, heartbreaking melodies and harmonies.
Robert Schumann (1810 Zwickau, Germany - 1856 Endenich, Germany) Adagio and
Allegro, op. 73
All of Schumann’s cello works were written in the last decade of his life over a
two year period, with im Volkston in 1849 and the cello concerto in 1850. Although
written for horn, Schumann published parts for both cello and violin. Adagio and
Allegro was written over a course of four days in 1849. The title denotes the two main
sections and slower adagio, followed by the allegro, or faster section. Each section is
filled with moments reflecting contrary characters—one more introverted and
reserved the other more extroverted and overtly passionate. The adagio marked as
Langsam, mit innigem Ausdruck, or, slow with intimate expression, pulls gently
through in half-steps, originally composed to exploit the valve horn’s precise
capabilities in half-step motion. From the adagio, the wild and passionate side takes
control into the allegro marked Rasch und feurig, rapidly and fierily. This section is
particularly demanding on both cello and horn, and requires considerable time
choosing fingerings for the quick arpeggios and rising and falling line of the opening
theme. To me this is in a classical rondo form with the A section, or opening melodic
material, followed by a gentler B section, then a C section in a new key of B major,
then ending in the A section material. Marked Etwas ruhiger or, a little quieter, the C
section is a noticeable sonorous change and allows for development of melodic
materials heard in the adagio. As Brahms so often borrowed from Schumann’s
chromatic modulations, here Schumann transitions harmonically Im ersten tempo by
half-steps in the piano and cello, back into the A section material and key of A-flat
major. A trademark of Schumann, marking the coda Schneller, or faster, a boisterous
push to the finish, the fiery spirit brings the allegro to a rest, much like in his
Fantasiestücke, with a spirited arpeggio in both piano and cello.
