Works for chamber orchestra and clarinet quintet performed by A Far Cry and Musicians from Marlboro with clarinetist Anthony McGill.

• Mozart: Serenata Notturna, K. 239
• Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581

Like most composers of his day, Mozart relied on commissions—works written “to order” for patrons and performers. We begin with one of Mozart’s many nocturnes, a sprightly, cheerful style of piece usually commissioned for a special occasion. Written to be played during a party, the nocturne was in a way the “Muzak” of its day, but Mozart turned the form into one of his signatures. It begins with a delightful march, during which the musicians would have likely processed into the room while playing from memory. Second on the program is a piece composed for the virtuoso clarinetist Anton Stadler, a player in the court orchestra in Vienna and a longtime friend of Mozart’s. Stadler often played an instrument called the basset clarinet, which had an expanded low range, and Mozart’s quintet was written with this instrument in mind. The piece has been reworked a bit for the modern clarinet, though some modern musicians have also recorded the piece on instruments created to resemble Stadler’s.

Works for chamber orchestra and clarinet quintet performed by A Far Cry and Musicians from Marlboro with clarinetist Anthony McGill.

- Mozart: Serenata Notturna, K. 239
- Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581

Like most composers of his day, Mozart relied on commissions—works written “to order” for patrons and performers. We begin with one of Mozart’s many nocturnes, a sprightly, cheerful style of piece usually commissioned for a special occasion. Written to be played during a party, the nocturne was in a way the “Muzak” of its day, but Mozart turned the form into one of his signatures. It begins with a delightful march, during which the musicians would have likely processed into the room while playing from memory. Second on the program is a piece composed for the virtuoso clarinetist Anton Stadler, a player in the court orchestra in Vienna and a longtime friend of Mozart’s. Stadler often played an instrument called the basset clarinet, which had an expanded low range, and Mozart’s quintet was written with this instrument in mind. The piece has been reworked a bit for the modern clarinet, though some modern musicians have also recorded the piece on instruments created to resemble Stadler’s.

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.

Works for piano trio performed by the Claremont Trio.

• Debussy: Piano Trio in G
• Fauré: Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120

Written in 1880, when Debussy was just 18 years old, the Trio in G is undoubtedly the work of a young artist, and it is heavily influenced by the Romanticism that pervaded French chamber music of the day. Of interest to Debussy devotees is the fact that this trio didn’t get its first modern hearing until the 1980s, when various manuscript fragments and parts were assembled into a whole. Also active at the same time, Gabriel Fauré was a major influence on the course of music history. As a composer, his music has at times been given short shrift by history, categorized as relatively conservative. But in 1924, when Fauré wrote the Piano Trio in D minor, he was 78 years old and had seen an incredible span of classical music history. This trio, one of his last works, is undoubtedly his voice, but it exhibits a great deal of musical growth from the style of the earliest days of Fauré’s lifetime.

Works for piano trio performed by the Claremont Trio.

- Debussy: Piano Trio in G
- Faure: Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120

Written in 1880, when Debussy was just 18 years old, the Trio in G is undoubtedly the work of a young artist, and it is heavily influenced by the Romanticism that pervaded French chamber music of the day. Of interest to Debussy devotees is the fact that this trio didn’t get its first modern hearing until the 1980s, when various manuscript fragments and parts were assembled into a whole. Also active at the same time, Gabriel Faure was a major influence on the course of music history. As a composer, his music has at times been given short shrift by history, categorized as relatively conservative. But in 1924, when Faure wrote the Piano Trio in D minor, he was 78 years old and had seen an incredible span of classical music history. This trio, one of his last works, is undoubtedly his voice, but it exhibits a great deal of musical growth from the style of the earliest days of Faure’s lifetime.

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.

Works for violin and piano duo, and solo piano, performed by violinist Corey Cerovsek and pianist Paavali Jumppanen.

• Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 96
• Beethoven: Sonata in C minor, Op. 111

Revered as he is, it’s easy to think of Beethoven as somehow staid and a bit predictable. It’s easy to forget just how surprising his music can be. Written when Beethoven was struggling to find love and was just about to begin writing his heavier late works, this sonata is surprisingly serene, with singing, lyrical melody more or less throughout, interrupted only briefly by a more spirited third-movement Scherzo and a fleet little coda to bring it to a close. Then, we’ll hear Beethoven’s last piano sonata. The first movement is in C minor, the same key Beethoven used for the famously stormy Fifth, and it has that same moody, tempestuous feel. Suddenly, though, in the second movement, we find ourselves in C major, with the introduction of an incredible, beautifully simple chorale-like theme. From here, Beethoven proceeds through a set of variations, leading the listener ever deeper into the piece.

Works for violin and piano duo, and solo piano, performed by violinist Corey Cerovsek and pianist Paavali Jumppanen.

- Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 96
- Beethoven: Sonata in C minor, Op. 111

Revered as he is, it’s easy to think of Beethoven as somehow staid and a bit predictable. It’s easy to forget just how surprising his music can be. Written when Beethoven was struggling to find love and was just about to begin writing his heavier late works, this sonata is surprisingly serene, with singing, lyrical melody more or less throughout, interrupted only briefly by a more spirited third-movement Scherzo and a fleet little coda to bring it to a close. Then, we’ll hear Beethoven’s last piano sonata. The first movement is in C minor, the same key Beethoven used for the famously stormy Fifth, and it has that same moody, tempestuous feel. Suddenly, though, in the second movement, we find ourselves in C major, with the introduction of an incredible, beautifully simple chorale-like theme. From here, Beethoven proceeds through a set of variations, leading the listener ever deeper into the piece.

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.

Works for solo piano performed by pianist Seymour Lipkin, and for orchestra performed by the Gardner Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Douglas Boyd.

• Schubert: Sonata in C minor, D. 958
• Schubert: Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D. 417 ("Tragic")

Today’s podcast takes us on a journey through Franz Schubert’s life. The smaller forces of a chamber ensemble seem a fitting vehicle for this early orchestral work, the second piece on the podcast, which shows more connection to Haydn and Mozart than Schubert’s contemporary, Beethoven. Schubert was still a teenager at the time and, though the composer’s talent is quite evident, the piece hews closely to the traditional classical structure. Written about two months before his death, Schubert’s final piano sonatas offer a tantalizing glimpse of where the composer’s music was headed, had he lived through his 30’s. By turns stark, witty, serene, and driving, the 19th sonata still uses the traditional four-movement form while covering a wide-ranging emotional and harmonic terrain.

Works for solo piano performed by pianist Seymour Lipkin, and for orchestra performed by the Gardner Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Douglas Boyd.

- Schubert: Sonata in C minor, D. 958
- Schubert: Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D. 417 (Tragic)

Today’s podast takes us on a journey through Franz Schubert’s life. The smaller forces of a chamber ensemble seem a fitting vehicle for this early orchestral work, the second piece on the podcast, which shows more connection to Haydn and Mozart than Schubert’s contemporary, Beethoven. Schubert was still a teenager at the time and, though the composer’s talent is quite evident, the piece hews closely to the traditional classical structure. Written about two months before his death, Schubert’s final piano sonatas offer a tantalizing glimpse of where the composer’s music was headed, had he lived through his 30’s. By turns stark, witty, serene, and driving, the 19th sonata still uses the traditional four-movement form while covering a wide-ranging emotional and harmonic terrain.

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.

Works for flute and piano and piano trio performed by flutist Dora Seres, pianist Emese Mali, and the Claremont Trio.

• Bartók: Three Folksongs from County Csik
• Dvorák: Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65

Today we hear two pieces by Eastern European composers heavily influenced by folk music. Many have pointed to the third piano trio as a significant turning point in Dvorák’s style, a moment when his music began to take on the formal heft and cosmopolitan European style of his mentor, Brahms, stepping away from his more folk-inspired earlier works. Before the trio, we’ll hear a brief set by Bartók, another work at the crossroads between folk and art music. One of Bartók’s first experiences with folk music came when he overheard a Transylvanian-born maid singing at a Hungarian resort where he was staying, and decided to write down what he heard. Three years later he traveled to Transylvania to study and transcribe songs there, including the three in this cycle.

Works for flute and piano and piano trio performed by flutist Dora Seres, pianist Emese Mali, and the Claremont Trio.

-Bartok: Three Folksongs from County Csik
-Dvorak: Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65

Today we hear two pieces by Eastern European composers heavily influenced by folk music. Many have pointed to the third piano trio as a significant turning point in Dvorak’s style, a moment when his music began to take on the formal heft and cosmopolitan European style of his mentor, Brahms, stepping away from his more folk-inspired earlier works. Before the trio, we’ll hear a brief set by Bartok, another work at the crossroads between folk and art music. One of Bartok’s first experiences with folk music came when he overheard a Transylvanian-born maid singing at a Hungarian resort where he was staying, and decided to write down what he heard. Three years later he traveled to Transylvania to study and transcribe songs there, including the three in this cycle.

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.