Saturday, October 13, 2007

Cypress String Quartet

Cecily Ward, First Violin • Tom Stone, Second Violin
Ethan Filner, Viola • Jennifer Kloetzel, Cello

Two Sketches for String Quartet Based on Indian Themes
Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920)
Lento e mesto
Allegro giocoso

String Quartet Op. 11
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Molto allegro e appassionato
Molto adagio
Molto allegro (come prima) - Presto

Intermission

String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 “American”
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Allegro ma non troppo
Lento
Molto vivace
Vivace ma non troppo

Notes on the Program
by Jennifer Kloetzel

Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920)
Two Sketches for String Quartet Based on Indian Themes [1919]

Charles Tomlinson Griffes was born in Elmira, New York, in 1884. Like other American musicians of his era, Griffes went to Europe to further his musical studies. A talented pianist, he enrolled in 1903 at the Conservatory in Berlin, and it was there that he studied composition with Englebert Humperdinck. Humperdinck, a famed German Romantic composer, turned the pupil’s primary interests from piano to composition. While studying in Germany, Griffes at first was fascinated with Wagner, Strauss and Brahms, and then developed a special interest in Debussy and Ravel, as well as music from the Orient. Returning to the United States in 1907, Griffes accepted a position as a music teacher at the Hackley School for Boys at Tarrytown, New York, which he hoped would be temporary, but which lasted until his death 12 years later in 1920.

Two Sketches for String Quartet Based on Indian Themes was premiered by the Flonzaley Quartet in April 1919 for the Modern Music Society of New York. The work was not published until 1922, after Griffes’ death, edited by Adolfo Betti, the first violinist of the Flonzaley. It was at the premiere performance that critics began to hail Griffes as the new voice of American music. The Musical Leader, April 10, 1919 wrote that Griffes was the “…manifestation of a school of American composition with the courage of its convictions, sincere and of high ideals”. The first sketch, titled “Lento e mesto” is based on a “Farewell Song of the Chippewa Indians”. It is not known how Griffes would have heard the music of the tribes of Wisconsin and Minnesota, or how he would have known music of such a private ceremony, but it was memorable enough for him to create this hauntingly beautiful movement. At one point in the piece, he instructs the lower instruments to make their pizzicato notes sound “like Indian drums”. The second movement, “Allegro giocoso” is his impression of a Native American dance.

Charles Griffes died in 1920, at the age of 35. In 1919, he was becoming established as one the most gifted American composers of his generation. He had commissions from prominent artists of the day, and his music was enthusiastically greeted by musicians and audiences alike, but these successes were cut short by his struggle with lung and heart problems, exacerbated by overwork. Charles Griffes is considered one of the first truly distinctive voices in American music.

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
String Quartet, Op. 11 [1936]

Samuel Barber began composing his String Quartet, Op. 11 in 1936, while on a Pulitzer Traveling Scholarship in the Italian Alps. In September, he wrote to the cellist of the Curtis String Quartet, Orlando Cole: “I have just finished the slow movement of my quartet today—it is a knockout! Now for a Finale.” Barber couldn’t have been more right about the second movement, titled “Molto Adagio”. It was instantly adored and two years later, at the request of the legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini, Barber rewrote the work for string orchestra, known as “Adagio for Strings”. The premiere of this version was broadcast from New York on November 5, 1938 to millions of listeners across America, and since has become one of the most performed and recognizable works of contemporary American music. Barber was the first American composer to have a composition performed by Toscanini, and this coup launched his international career.

But finishing the rest of the String Quartet to Barber’s satisfaction proved difficult. The Quartet was to be premiered by the Curtis String Quartet on a European tour in the fall of 1936, and Barber struggled to complete the piece in time. Instead the premiere was given by the Pro Arte Quartet in Rome on December 14, 1936. Barber remained unhappy with the pace of the piece and chose to completely rewrite the finale and revise the taut and energetic first movement. He worked tirelessly on these revisions and finished the piece as we know it today in early 1943, for the Budapest Quartet to perform at the Library of Congress. The final version of the last movement is built on music from the last 50 bars of the first movement, creating a cyclical “A-B-A” form.

Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 “American” [1893]

Antonin Dvorak wrote his twelfth String Quartet in June of 1893, while he and his family were on vacation in the Czech community of Spillville, Iowa. Born in a small village in Bohemia, Dvorak achieved prominence as a composer through the support of Johannes Brahms. Brahms convinced his publisher Simrock to publish a few of Dvorak’s works – and he became a success overnight. He composed music of a truly ‘nationalist’ character – infusing his compositions with folk melodies and rhythms.

The composer was at the height of his fame, with all of Europe waiting anxiously for his next work, when he was invited to the United States for one of his two stints as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. The first work he wrote in Spillville was the “New World” Symphony where he used elements from Native American and African-American melodies. In the case of the “American” Quartet, Dvorak said that the title meant that he was sending “impressions and greetings from the New World”, and not that the music was American.

The F Major Quartet, Op. 96 was composed quickly; Dvorak sketched the entire piece in three days and completed it in fifteen days. At the end of the manuscript, he wrote: “Thank God! I am content: it has gone very quickly.” Dvorak had not written any chamber music in three years. The “American” Quartet was premiered in Boston by the Kneisel Quartet in 1894. Instantly popular, the work reflects Dvorak’s contentment and pleasure of his holiday among his countrymen in a place so far away from home.

Between 1862 and 1895, Dvorak wrote a total of fifteen quartets. Critics and performers alike loved them, commenting on their “remarkable freshness and lively rhythms”, as well as the innocence and transparency of the music.

About the Artists

The Cypress String Quartet has brought audiences to their feet for over a decade with virtuoso performances at major concert venues around the world, including the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Detroit, Columbus and Honolulu Chamber Music Societies, Stanford Lively Arts, Krannert Center, Ravinia Festival, and many more. Widely celebrated for their passionate dedication to the genre and for the exuberance and power of their performances, Quartet members Cecily Ward and Tom Stone, violins; Ethan Filner, viola; and Jennifer Kloetzel, cello, combine technical precision with imaginative programming to create truly unforgettable concert experiences. “While turning even the most difficult phrases with virtuosic aplomb, it was the group’s tonal warmth, musical breadth and ESP-like phrasing that carried the day. Regardless of style or period, the Quartet successfully found and transmitted each composition’s emotional core.” —Topeka Capital-Journal

Singled out by Chamber Music Magazine as “a Generation X ensemble to watch,” the Cypress is reaching out in new ways to ignite interest in chamber music. In January 2007, the Quartet fused tradition with technology in its critically acclaimed world premiere of Inspired by America, a spirited multimedia collaboration with best-selling author Jacob Needleman and Emmy Award-winning film maker Michael Schwarz. Supported by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Inspired by America blends live music, original film and spoken word in an evocative, thought-provoking portrait of the American spirit. Inspired by America debuted at the Lied Center of Kansas and the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois and will be available for national touring through 2012. “Inspired by America works – another indication that multimedia projects such as this can genuinely revitalize chamber music presentations.” —Los Angeles Times

Since its inception in 1996, the Cypress String Quartet has built a respected body of new music, commissioning and premiering over 25 works from many of America’s leading composers. To commemorate Felix Mendelssohn’s 200th birthday in 2009, the Cypress and the Library of Congress have co-commissioned a new quartet from brilliant young American composer Kevin Puts (www.kevinputs.com). Paired with Mendelssohn and Beethoven quartets, Mr. Puts’ new work will premiere in February 2009 in Washington DC as part of the “Mendelssohn on the Mall” project in conjunction with the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian Museum. Other recent Cypress commissions have come from 2005 Grawemeyer Award winning composer George Tsontakis, and Grammy nominees Benjamin Lees and Jennifer Higdon. Four original Cypress commissions are listed on Chamber Music America’s list of “101 Great American Ensemble Works.”

As Quartet-in-Residence at San José State University, the Cypress String Quartet’s strengths in performance and education combine to serve the University and the greater San Francisco Bay Area community. Named “Exemplary Arts Educators” by the California Arts Council, the Quartet’s groundbreaking Call & Response program has impacted thousands of students in dozens of Bay Area schools. The Cypress has reached an estimated 100,000 students nationwide through educational activities including Native Americans in rural New Mexico and inner-city students in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago. In September 2004 the Cypress was selected by the faculty of the Juilliard School for the “McGraw-Hill Companies’ Robert Sherman Award for Music Education and Community Outreach” in recognition of their national leadership in music education.

The Cypress String Quartet resides in San Francisco, California.