CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Leipzig String Quartet

Weill Recital Hall
Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 7:30 PM

Leipzig String Quartet
·· Stefan Arzberger, Violin
·· Tilman Büning, Violin
·· Ivo Bauer, Viola
·· Matthias Moosdorf, Cello

HAYDN String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 76, No. 4, "Sunrise"
JANÁČEK String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"
MENDELSSOHN String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80

Encore:
HAYDN Poco adagio from String Quartet in C Major, Op. 76, No. 3, "Emperor"

Program is approximately 1 hour, 45 minutes, including one intermission

Program Notes:

JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809)
String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 76, No. 4, "Sunrise"

About the Composer

Joseph Haydn spent his career in the employ of the Esterházy family, which was prominent in the Hungarian aristocracy. In 1761 he donned the blue-and-gold uniform of the court and assumed responsibility for musical activities at the palace. Early on, he wrote instrumental works almost exclusively to be performed for (and even by) the Esterházy courtiers; later, in the 1770s, his principal task was directing opera productions. When the prince died in 1790, and the musical establishment was dissolved, Haydn was free to pursue an international career. When impresario Johann Peter Salomon arranged for him to visit London in 1791, Haydn had never been outside the vicinity of Vienna. He spent two successful seasons abroad, and two years later, Haydn was again in England for a second happy visit. Perhaps he contemplated resettling there, but in 1795, he returned to Vienna, where he remained until his death in 1809.


About the Work

Haydn's string quartets were not composed for Prince Esterházy, and none was even commissioned until the 1790s, after the composer had been all but released from service. Haydn thus composed string quartets not for his employer but for himself—and for profit, earned not in concert but through publication. Unlike symphonies, concertos, and large-scale vocal works, string quartets were not performed at public concerts in Vienna during Haydn's lifetime; instead, the genre was intended for private performance.


A Closer Listen

The first movement of the String Quartet Op. 76, No. 4, opens with a long-breathed ascent, heard twice, that gives the quartet its moniker. The second theme, carried by the cello, reverses the trajectory of the first and descends while moving toward a minor key. The Adagio begins with simple, homophonic chords; all of the instruments play together, as if singing a chorale. As the movement progresses, more florid figures decorate the basic melody. The minuet and trio are suitably sprightly; the minuet proceeds in A-B-A form, with the violin taking the lead in the "A" section, and the accompanying instruments playing pizzicato in "B". The trio then begins with the viola and cello holding long notes while the two violins play in octaves above, lending the passage a decidedly rustic tone.

The Finale is in rondo-variation form, which means a recurring refrain appears in various forms throughout. The refrain repeats twice at the opening, and a contrasting episode follows. The music then takes a turn toward the minor before the refrain returns in the major with new embellishments in the violin. After a series of chords, with all instruments together, the violin initiates a descending passage, picked up by the second violin, viola, and cello. The pace quickens, and the movement rushes headlong to its fortissimo, chordal conclusion.



LEOS JANÁČEK (1854–1928)
String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"

About the Composer

While vacationing in a Moravian spa town in 1917, Czech composer Leos Janáček met and fell in love with the 25-year-old Kamila Stösslová. She was less than half his age—he was 63—and unlettered. Both were already married. But no matter; the two became devoted correspondents. Their nearly 700 letters document a moving (and chaste) love affair along with the history of Janáček's late music with Kamila as his muse. She inspired the heroines in his operas Kát'a Kabanová and The Makropulos Affair, both of which use the viola d'amore, an unusual instrument the composer associated with his beloved.


About the Work

Instead of the viola d'amore, the instrument linked to Kamila, Janáček gives the standard viola special prominence in this quartet. He described the work to Kamila as a musical depiction of their relationship. "In this work I will always be only with you! … I shall love doing it! You know, don't you, that I know no other world than you!" Thus, the quartet bears the subtitle "Intimate Letters." Whereas other pieces were composed "only in hot ash," he described this quartet as having been "written in fire."


A Closer Listen

At the very opening, the viola plays an intense, nearly inaudible solo, playing on the bridge of the instrument (sul ponticello). Group and solo alternate, loud and soft, until a new melody takes flight. The composer described the second movement Adagio as an account of his dream of Kamila's giving birth to their son. A gently rocking theme that rises, falls, and returns to center dominates; it is passed among the instruments, heard as solos, duets, and in unison, and accompanied by trills. Eventually a new, dance-like theme appears in the first violin, book-ended by quick, quiet descending figures. The movement ends with the opening, rocking theme fortissimo, accompanied by the falling flourishes. The third movement piles on brief melodic ideas, but the finale begins with a memorable melody in the first violin. The many changes in tempo and mood seem to reflect the composer's fiery inspiration.



FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)
String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80

About the Composer

Felix and his older sister Fanny were musical prodigies who flourished under the best teachers in Berlin. Fanny was encouraged to practice music only as a decorous hobby, while her brother was allowed to pursue it as a profession. By 1819, the 10-year-old Felix had not only distinguished himself as a gifted pianist, organist, and violinist, but was also composing; his precocity invites comparison to Mozart. But Mendelssohn lived a much more sheltered life (musically speaking) than Mozart, the cosmopolitan virtuoso. Or at least he did until 1829–1832, when Mendelssohn traveled to London, Glasgow, Leipzig, Weimar (where he met Goethe), Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Rome (befriending Hector Berlioz, an "agreeable man," Mendelssohn wrote to his mother, who "yet composes so very badly"), Naples, and Paris, with other cities thrown in along the way.


About the Work

Although Mendelssohn's music is generally lauded—and sometimes dismissed—for its polished surface and easy elegance, the late String Quartet in F Minor reveals a more agitated and passionate idiom wholly typical of 19th-century Romantic style. The work features stark and dramatic contrasts, a high degree of dissonance, and surprising interruptions. This new character is often considered a reaction to Fanny's death in May 1847. Felix drafted this quartet while on holiday in Switzerland during the late summer.


A Closer Listen

Three of the four movements are cast in the dark key of F minor; the exception is the major-key Adagio. The opening of the first movement Allegro is electric. The musicians play tremolos (rapidly repeating notes), which quiet momentarily
before a flood of triplets leads to the more lyrical, lamenting second theme. The tremolos return to mark the start of the development in this three-part, sonata-allegro form. The second movement is marked by a sense of unease, provoked by the syncopated, off-kilter accompaniment in the second violin, viola, and cello. Piercing sforzando accents lead to a fortissimo outburst that fades away briefly but soon returns; such emotionally wrenching contrasts characterize the quartet as a whole. The triplets from the first movement return at the close of the finale.

—Elizabeth Bergman

© 2010 The Carnegie Hall Corporation

Leipzig String Quartet
·· Stefan Arzberger, Violin
·· Tilman Büning, Violin
·· Ivo Bauer, Viola
·· Matthias Moosdorf, Cello
Leipzig String Quartet

Stefan Arzberger, Violin
Tilman Büning, Violin
Ivo Bauer, Viola
Matthias Moosdorf, Cello

Since its founding two decades ago, the Leipzig String Quartet has garnered the attention of international critics and audiences with its distinctive dark timbre and meticulously sculpted interpretations of a widely varied repertoire. Formed originally by the string principals of the renowned Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the quartet continues to uphold the principles of sound and integrity ascribed to that great orchestra.

Today, the quartet performs widely throughout Europe at major halls and festivals. Since 1991, it has had its own Pro Quatuor series at the Gewandhaus, where it has offered a multi-year cycle of the major quartets of the First and Second Viennese Schools in addition to premieres and performances of new works by Alfred Schnittke and Wolfgang Rihm.

In addition, the Leipzig String Quartet tours annually throughout North America. Recent appearances include performances at Lincoln Center, the Frick Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wolf Trap, the Library of Congress, and chamber music series in Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Los Angeles, Ottawa, and Toronto.

Having released more than 60 recordings of repertoire from Mozart to Cage, the quartet has received numerous recognitions. The quartet has won prizes from the German Record Reviewers and both the Deutsche Phono-Akademie's ECHO award and the Diapason d'Or award. As a member of the Leipzig Ensemble Avantgard, the quartet remains at the forefront of contemporary music and is able to satisfy its desire to continually perform new music and interact regularly with composers.

The quartet enjoys collaborating with other artists to enrich and expand its already large repertoire. The ensemble has performed and recorded with Alfred Brendel, Marc-André Hamelin, Joseph Kalichstein, Christian Zacharias, Menahem Pressler, and acclaimed klezmer clarinetist Giora Feidman, among others.