Focus on Piano
Literature
Two Great Romantics:
Mendelssohn and Schumann
Joseph Di Piazza, piano
Paul Stewart, piano
Vincent van Gelder, piano
Ināra Zandmane, piano
Fabián López, violin
Thursday, June 3, 2010
8:00 pm
Recital Hall, School of Music
Music of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
and Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
“Suleika,” Op. 34, No. 4 (1837/1840) Mendelssohn/Liszt
Song without Words, Op. 19b, No. 1 (1830) Mendelssohn
Song without Words, Op. 67, No. 2 (1845) Mendelssohn
“Neue Liebe,” (“New Love”), Op. 19a, No. 4 (1833/1840) Mendelssohn/Liszt
“Widmung,” (“Dedication”), Op. 25, No. 1 (1840/1846) Schumann/Liszt
Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13 (1834-37) Schumann
Theme
Five Supplemental Variations
Joseph Di Piazza, piano
Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834-35) Schumann
Chopin
Fantasy Pieces, Op. 12 (1837) Schumann
Des Abends (Of an Evening)
Aufschwung (Soaring)
Warum? (Why?)
Grillen (Whims)
Paul Stewart, piano
Intermission
Caprice in E minor, Op. 16, No. 2 (“Scherzo”) (1829) Mendelssohn
Song without Words, Op. 62, No. 5 (“Venetian Gondola Song”) (1841)
Song without Words, Op. 67, No. 4 (“Spinning Song”) (1845)
Song without Words, Op. 19b, No. 6 (“Venetian Gondola Song”) (1830)
Scherzo from “A Midsummer Nightʼs Dream” (1843/1933) Mendelssohn/Rachmaninoff
Vincent van Gelder, piano
Sonata in D minor, Op. 121 (1851) Schumann
Ziemlich langsam; Lebhaft
Sehr lebhaft
Leise, einfach; Etwas bewegter; Tempo wie vorher
Bewegt
Fabián López, violin
Ināra Zandmane, piano
Program Notes
Opening tonightʼs program are four Mendelssohn songs, two with words and two without words.
Franz Liszt transcribed six Mendelssohn songs, far less than those of Felixʼs contemporaries
such as Schubert (28) and Schumann (12). The text of Mendelssohnʼs Suleika is from Goetheʼs
Poems of West and East (1814-19), a 12 volume collection of lyrical poems, and one of his late,
great cycles of poetry. Suleika is one of several poems included in this cycle that were actually
written by Goetheʼs lover, Marianne von Willemer. The poem depicts Suleika anxiously awaiting
word from her lover during separation. She pleads with the West Wind to relay to him while
concealing her agony that he is the love of her life. The song is a mournful romance in E minor
that ends in E major--a symbol of the joyful feelings his presence will bring her. Liszt faithfully
repeats Mendelssohnʼs melody while beautifully embellishing the left hand accompaniment. The
E major ending lends itself to a fitting elision into the very first of the Songs Without Words, Op.
19b, which is a model for many that followed.
The F-sharp minor Songs Without Words is an example of Mendelssohnʼs creativity. A haunting
melody is imaginatively accompanied by pizzicato-like staccatos. F-sharp minor segues into the
major mode of that key and another song, Neue Liebe (New Love) transcribed by Liszt. The text,
from a poem by Heine, is painted by galloping rhythms and heraldic horns.
In the moonlit forest I watched the elves a-riding,
I heard their horns sound, I heard their bells ring.
Their white horses, with golden antlers, flew on,
Like white swans travelling through the air.
The Queen nodded at me and smiled, smiled as she
rode overhead; Was it because of my new love?
Or does it mean death? (a typical poetic twist at the end!)
Schumannʼs Widmung (Dedication), also transcribed by Liszt, is a love song full of adoration and
devotion. The text is by Friedrich Ruckert, whose poetry many composers chose to set to music.
Widmung is perhaps the most popular.
Schumannʼs Symphonic Etudes, a set of variations, is based on a theme by Baron von Fricken.
He was the father of Ernestine, the young piano student of Friedrich Wieck, whom Schumann
was smitten by. The virtuoso work was originally titled 12 Davidsbündler Etudes, naming it for
his imaginary anti-Philistine organization. After Schumannʼs death there was a posthumous
Complete Works of Schumann published. One of the editors, Johannes Brahms, presented five of
the previously unpublished Etudes. The five supplemental etudes are worthy of performance.
Whether all of them should be interspersed with the original twelve is up for debate.
The fifth variation is another example of a beautiful, nostalgic postlude, such as the ones found in
Kinderszenen, the Arabeske, and the song cycle Dichterliebe.
Joe Di Piazza
“Chopin” from Schumannʼs Opus 9
At age 21, Robert Schumann announced Chopinʼs arrival on the musical scene with the famous
phrase, “Hats off, gentlemen, a genius.” The year was 1831 and the words were written in the
Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. Schumannʼs insightful essay introduced a relatively unknown
composer to the musical world. The assessment was based on Chopinʼs Opus 2, a set of
Variations on Mozartʼs “La ci darem la mano” from the opera Don Giovanni.
The composition “Chopin”, an exquisite, miniature nocturne, is from Robert Schumannʼs twenty-one
piece romantic masterwork, Carnaval, Opus 9, 1834-35. Carnaval was the glorification of the
Masked Ball. Schumann united the unreal, Arlequin and Pierrot with real acquaintances Clara,
Ernestine, Paganini and Chopin. As we celebrate the 200th birthday of both Robert Schumann
and Frédéric Chopin, this lovely musical moment is offered as a tribute to both composers.
Fantasiestücke (Fantasy Pieces) Opus 12
The contrasting character pieces of Opus 12 were composed in the spring of 1837. Schumann
repeatedly stated that the programmatic titles were given to the compositions only after their
completion. In these works, although not specifically referenced, we hear the duality of
Schumannʼs personality. Eusebius is recognized in Des Abends and Warum, representing
Schumann, the gentle dreamer. Florestan is present in Aufschwung and Grillen, depicting the
passionate, impetuous side of Schumannʼs musical personality.
Des Abends (The Evening)
Schumann captures the stillness and tranquility of the evening hour by writing with simplicity
and subtlety. In this quiet, tonal picture of dusk the meter is 2/8 but the ambiguity of mood is
projected as 3/8 and 6/16 to the listener. The exquisite harmonic changes and the syncopation
of the inner melodic lines make this one of Schumannʼs loveliest pieces.
Aufschwung (Soaring)
With a melodic idea that leaps four octaves using only octave Cʼs, Schumann takes the listener
to the height of his passion. The music swirls and undulates with impetuous, determined
energy. The structure alternates between brash and virtuosic passages, as at the opening,
and a more plaintive, searching melody.
Cross rhythms create a feeling of restless agitation.
Warum? (Why?)
Warum is a short, rather straightforward character piece built on a single phrase.
This melodic phrase achieves the sense of questioning by consistently ending up in the air.
The gentle questioning ends with an inconclusive ending. As with all difficult questions,
satisfying answers are elusive and unsettled.
Grillen (Whims)
Grillen portrays a whimsical, quirky and capricious waltz. Light-hearted humor is achieved with
rhythmic syncopation and unexpected melodic shapes. The waltz is briefly interrupted by a
serious, chorale-like interlude before the return to the opening.
Paul Stewart
The light, quicksilver “fairy music” that the teenaged Mendelssohn invented for his overture to
Shakespeareʼs A Midsummer Nightʼs Dream in 1826 became a signature style to which he
returned often, for example in the E minor Caprice, which also shares its key with the overture.
The famous “spinning song” applies this same manner to the depiction of a whirling wheel.
Another favorite style of Mendelssohnʼs, the Venetian gondola song, offers a more soothing
experience. Its rocking triplet motion evokes the lapping of gentle waves, as the gondoliers
glide across the water singing sweetly in thirds. The boat piece, or barcarolle, continued to
fascinate composers well into the twentieth century.
At the height of his maturity, Mendelssohn returned to the subject of Shakespeareʼs comedy to
compose further incidental music for the play, including the famous Wedding March and the
present Scherzo, which Rachmaninoff transcribed for the piano with a wizardry equal to
Mendelssohnʼs own.
Andrew Willis
Schumann: Violin Sonata in D minor, Op.121
It was the fall of 1851. Robert Schumann had just started his second season in charge of the
Düsseldorf orchestra and chorus. The first season seemed to be promising, with dinners hosted
in his honor and concerts approved by audience and critics. Unfortunately, the second year
dampened everyoneʼs expectations. Schumann was irritated by the poor preparation and
attendance of both chorus and orchestra musicians and had fierce disagreements with the
administration of Allgemeiner Musikverein regarding the choice of repertoire and soloists. The
administration did not change its point of view and questioned Schumannʼs conducting abilities in
return. The conflict would eventually lead to his resignation in 1853. Somewhat disappointed in
the official duties, Schumann enjoyed composing as much as ever and did it with undiminished
inspiration – the Second Violin Sonata was completed within a few days, 28 October – 2
November 1851, and dedicated to Ferdinand David, the violinist who first performed and advised
Mendelssohn on his Violin Concerto. The work was titled Zweite grosse Sonate für Violine und
Pianoforte, putting the “violin” before the “piano” that was rather unconventional.
Known by most pianists as the master of a miniature cycle, Schumann did not shy away from
large form works, and this sonata is a proof that he could manage big structures as well. The
four-movement piece is united by using recurring themes and overriding passionate energy.
Schumannʼs use of thematic development presents itself at the very beginning of the work – the
slow, chordal introduction and the sweeping main subject are in reality the same theme exploring
the differences between the vertical harmonic presentation and the horizontal melodic line.
Frequent harmony shifts and abundance of syncopations create an uneasy impression, and there
is a section in the development when for number of measures violin and piano are trading lines
that are consistently off-beat.
The second movement is in a rondo form. The driven, energetic refrain is offset by two eerie,
poignant episodes, a late style version of Florestan and Eusebius. The last refrain unexpectedly
starts in C Major before shifting down to the original B minor key and getting progressively softer.
There is a new material in coda that is the main theme of the third movement. What were full,
triumphant chords at the end of the second movement, is violin pizzicato melody echoed by
sparse piano texture in the beginning of third. The effect is so different that it takes couple (or
more!) measures to realize that it is indeed the same material. The main theme from the second
movement comes back several times in the third movement as well, each time interrupted by a
gentle slow melody and gradually losing its intensity until it is just a whisper at the end of the
movement. Relentless motion in both violin and piano parts in fourth movement concludes this
grand and profound work.
Ināra Zandmane
Performer Biographies
Joseph Di Piazza earned the BM from De Paul University, and the MM and DMA degrees from
the University of Wisconsin, where he also received a prestigious NDEA Fellowship. He has
performed throughout the United States and Europe as recitalist, chamber player, and soloist with
symphony orchestras and has participated in festivals at Interlochen, Eastern Music Festival,
Chicago Spring Arts Festival, the University of Illinois, Methodist College, Woodstock Guild
Series, and the Beethoven Festival in New York. In addition to numerous University Guest Artist
Series, Di Piazza has performed on series at the Chicago Art Institute, Orchestra Hall, Cincinnati
Art Museum, and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Performing and Cultural Arts. He was
also invited to give a recital on the Horowitz Steinway, which was touring the United States.
Paul Stewart is currently Chair of the Keyboard Division at UNCG. He earned the BM and the
BMEd degrees from Indiana University, the MM degree from the University of Illinois, and the DM
degree from Florida State University. His teachers have included Walter Bricht, Ray Dudley,
Howard Karp, and Leonard Mastrogiacomo. Stewart has served as NCMTA State President and
Local State Convention Chairman. At the National Level of MTNA, he has served as Southern
Division President, American Music Program Chair, and National Convention Chair. He is
currently a member of the MTNA Board of Directors and National MTNA President. As a winner of
the Bryan Competition, Stewart was the featured piano soloist with the North Carolina Symphony
on four occasions. In June 2000, he premiered “Jupiter's Moons,” a multi-movement work for solo
piano by Judith Lang Zaimont. He is an active solo performer and has given numerous regional
and national concerts and piano pedagogy sessions featuring American Ragtime music.
Vincent van Gelder, piano, studied at the Latvian Academy of Music, in Riga and earned the BM
and MM degrees at the Conservatory of Hogeschool Enschede, Netherlands. He also holds the
MM from Southern Illinois University and the DMA from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
He has performed in the Netherlands, Germany, Latvia, and throughout the US and is the winner
of several competitions, including the 1999 St. Louis Artist Presentation Society Auditions and the
2007 Artist International competition in New York, through which he presented his Carnegie Hall
debut in May 2008. In Greensboro he founded the Moore Music Recital Series. Mr. van Gelder's
recordings are available on the VINAR label.
Fabián López is a native of Málaga, Spain. Upon graduation from the Conservatorio Superior de
Música de Málaga at age 18, he received a scholarship from the Hispanic-American Joint
Commitee/Fullbright Commission to continue his studies in the U.S. His principal teachers have
been: Nicolae Duca, Jaroslav Copak, Laura Klugherz, Kevork Mardirossian, and Camilla Wicks.
Fabián is a full of life performer playing recitals, chamber music, and appearing as soloist with
orchestras such as the Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla, Orquesta Ciudad de Córdoba,
Chamber Orchestra of Andalucía, Orquesta Filarmónia de Málaga, Orquesta Ciudad de
Almeria, “Manuel de Falla” Chamber Orchestra, etc. In the pedagogical terrain he is an active and
dedicated teacher, maintaining a studio of talented and committed students. He has given
courses and master classes for the Youth Orchestra of Andalucía (O.J.A.), Conservatorio
Superior de Granada, Cartagena Conservatory, UNC Chapel Hill, Louisiana State University, Ball
State University, Puerto Rico Music Conservatory, Hebert Springs Chamber Music Festival,
International Violin Symposium in UNC Chapel Hill, the Chamber Strings Summer Music
Workshop in Pennsylvania, etc and has been a jury member at the I International Violin
Competition“Violines por la Paz”, Auditions for Violin Professors in Spanish National
Conservatories, ASTA, MTNA, etc. Fabián taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music “Manuel de
Falla” of Cádiz, Spain (1999-2004) and was a member of the “Manuel de Falla” String Quartet
(2000-2003). He started teaching at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2007. In
North Carolina he has appeared as guest concertmaster with the Ashville and Greensboro
Symphony Orchestras.
During his studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Fabián had the opportunity of
playing a concert with the Guarnerius del Gesu that belonged to J. Heifetz. He is the lucky owner
of a violin made by Ioan Guillami, 1756, which is called “little strad” among good friends. He is a
graduate from Baylor University (M.M.), studying with Bruce Berg, and The University of Michigan
(D.M.A.), studying with Andrew Jennings. Fabianʼs love for etudes and infinite curiosity of the
trades from the great masters of the past and present, leads him to be the author of a violin etude
anthology “Master the Violin Etudes” made possible by a New Faculty Grant from UNCG.
Born in the capital of Latvia, Riga, Ināra Zandmane started to play piano at the age of six. Ms.
Zandmane holds BM and MM from Latvian Academy of Music, MM in piano performance from
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and DMA in piano performance from the University of
Missouri at Kansas City. She has been the staff accompanist at the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro since 2003, performing up to fifty recitals per year. Ms. Zandmane is frequently
invited to serve as an official accompanist at national competitions and conferences, among them
the North American Saxophone Alliance conference and the MTNA National competition since
2004. Ms. Zandmane has been presented in solo recitals in St. Paul, Kansas City, Cleveland, St.
Louis, and New York, as well as in many Republics of former Soviet Union. In April 2000, she was
invited to perform at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. Ināra Zandmane has appeared as a
soloist with the Latvian National Orchestra, Liepaja Symphony, Latvian Academy of Music
Student Orchestra, SIU Symphony, and UMKC Conservatory Symphony and Chamber
orchestras. She has performed with various chamber ensembles at the International Chamber
Music Festivals in Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Helsinki (Finland), and Norrtelje (Sweden). Ms.
Zandmane has collaborated with such musicians as Martin Storey, Paul Coletti, Branford
Marsalis, Michel Debost, Kelly Burke, Steven Stusek, and Susan Fancher. For a few last years,
Ināra Zandmane has worked together with Latvian composer Peteris Vasks. She has given
Latvian premieres of his two latest piano pieces, Landscapes of the Burnt-out Earth and The
Spring Music, and recorded the first of them on the Conifer Classics label. Solo recordings
include the piano works by Maurice Ravel, recorded together with her husband, Vincent van
Gelder, and the complete Sonatas for piano by Alexander Scriabin. She also can be heard on
various chamber music CDs.
