Wednesday April 14, 2010

Charley anticipates the Intermezzo Chamber Players concert Friday.
Franz Schubert: String Trio in B flat major, D.471
Intermezzo Chamber Players (Stacy Lesartre, violin; Kelly Shanafelt, viola; Dianne Betkowski, cello)
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 6/16/09 by Martin Skavish
Also, Colorado Music Festival Chamber Players (John Fadial, Lisa Vaupel, violins; Courtney Sedgwick Filner, viola; Matthew Lavin, cello)
Wolfgang Mozart: String Quartet No. 17 in B flat major, K.458 (Hunt) (Recorded 7/25/06)
And, Charley talks with Resonance Women's Chorus conductor Sue Coffee about their upcoming concerts.
Gwyneth Walker: The Tree of Peace
Resonance Women's Chorus/ Sue Coffee
Resonance 108 Track 6 6:15
Moreover, Charley anticipates the Colorado Chamber Players recital Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Center for Musical Arts.
Ofer Ben-Amots: Cantillations
Colorado Chamber Players (Daniel Silver, clarinet; Barbara Hamilton-Primus, viola)
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 11/12/08 by Martin Skavish


Program Note by Charley Samson, copyright 2010.

Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791): String Quartet No. 17 in B flat major, K.458 (Hunt)
I. Allegro vivace assai
II. Moderato
III. Adagio
IV. Allegro assai

K.458 was finished on November 9, 1784. It was nicknamed the "Hunt" quartet because of the fanfare-like harmonies and lilting rhythms of its opening movement, and also to distinguish it from another B lat major quartet (K.589). It is the fourth of the six quartets dedicated to Haydn.

In February, 1785, Leopold Mozart came to Vienna to visit his son and sent back this report to his daughter in Salzburg: "On Saturday evening Herr Joseph Haydn (and two Barons) came to see us and the new quartets were performed, or rather, the three new ones which Wolfgang has added to the other three which we have already The new ones are somewhat easier, but at the same time excellent compositions. Haydn said to me: 'Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name. He has taste and, what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition'."

The "three new" quartets performed that evening were K.458, K.464 and K.465. On September 1, 1785, Mozart sent the manuscripts of these three quartets, along with those of K.387, K.421 and K.428 to Haydn, with a a dedication that also appeared in their publication the next month as Opus 10, complete with Mozart’s flowery dedication “to my dear friend Haydn,” in which he describes them as “the fruit of long and laborious endeavor.”