Fremont, California, May 5, 2014 (McKenzieNewsService.com) – Ending its season with a bang, Music at the Mission presents its final concert of the season, Vienna. on Saturday, May 31st at 8:00 pm at the historic Old Mission San Jose Church in Fremont, CA, 43300 Mission Blvd.
Ending its season with a bang, Music at the Mission presents its final concert of the season, Vienna. on Saturday, May 31st at 8:00 pm at the historic Old Mission San Jose Church in Fremont, CA, 43300 Mission Blvd.
Celebrating the staggering influences and far reaching musical traditions of which Austria’s iconic city Vienna has been witness to, Music at the Mission will feature Bay Area chamber musicians, violinist, Karen Shinozaki; violist, Chad Kaltinger; cellist, Michael Graham; and pianist, Aileen Chanco in a tour de force program of works by Brahms, Mozart and Schoenberg.
Starting with the 18th century through the 20th century, this program aims to draw the audience into the irresistible charm of Europe’s musical capital. The Mozart Quartet in G Minor is a piece that is contrapuntally complex, with imitative writing shared between all the instruments. The second movement is a noble song that would not be out of place in one of Mozart’s more serious operas and the third movement, in the parallel key of G Major, is Haydnesque in its rhythmic humor and conversational exchanges between instruments. Today, the Piano Quartet in G minor is considered one of Mozart’s great masterpieces and the first major work composed for the piano quartet.
Brahms wrote his first Piano Quartet No. 1, op. 25 in g minor just prior to moving to Vienna, which was a work he used as his “calling card” upon entering into the musical life of the Austrian imperial capital. Steeped in his combination of traditional form and Romantic harmony, the work finishes with a Hungarian inspired Gypsy Rondo. As pointed out by the great Arnold Schoenberg, “Brahms was a great classicist bound by tradition but was no in fact a progressive composer, particularly in his use of harmony”.
The final piece of the program will be the Phantasie for Violin and Piano Accompaniment, op. 47 which was Arnold Schoenberg’s last chamber music piece. Born in Vienna, Schoenberg was the mastermind behind atonal music and the inventor of the 12-tone row method of composition. Acknowledging the possible fear of the general public to listen to atonality, the inventor describes his method as such: “Composing with twelve tones is not nearly as forbidding and exclusive a method as is popularly believed. It is primarily a method demanding logical order and organization of which comprehensibility should be the main result.” (My Evolution, 1949). Wi
th that in mind, the short Phantasie op. 47 can best be described as a piece beautifully expressive and passionate in its use of 12-tone composition. Being a great admirer of Brahms, Schoenberg also arranged the Brahms Piano Quartet in G Minor no. 1, op. 25 for orchestra.
Performing artists Karen Shinozaki Sor, Chad Kaltinger, Michael Graham and Aileen Chanco are members of the Music at the Mission’s cadre of leading chamber musicians and appear regularly with ensembles throughout the Bay Area.
Violinist Karen Shinozaki Sor is a member of the New Century Chamber Ensemble. Violist Chad Kaltinger is a member of Quartet San Francisco. Cellist Michael Graham appears regularly with the Oakland Symphony and New Century Chamber Orchestra. Aileen Chanco has appeared as a concert pianist throughout the United States and internationally and is Music at the Mission’s founding director.
There will be an informative Pre-Concert Talk given by Music at the Mission’s 2014 composer-in-residence, Mark Fish as well as a post-concert “Meet the artists” reception with wine and light hors d’oeuvres at Mission Coffee.
Tickets for May 31 are priced at $30.00 General admission and $25.00 Student/Senior discount at the door. Tickets purchased online are $28.00 for General admission and $23.00 for Students and Seniors. They may be purchased online at http://www.musicatmsj.org or http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/459430. More information is available at 510 402-1724.
Bill Everett
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