Beethoven's Pastoral and Montgomery at MAG
Thank you for your amazing support and encouragement of our first virtual concert that aired in October. We were so moved with your response and know you will also love this concert coming to you during Thanksgiving week. We know many of you (ourselves included) will not be able to be with family and friends as you normally would, so we wanted to broadcast this concert during this week to offer some solace during this time. Maybe you can even share the joy of watching the concert with far away loved ones as the performance is free for all to view.
Know someone who is new to SCMR? Simply have them visit www.chambermusicrochester.org where they will be able to sign up for a free “ticket” to view this concert. It will be available to view from Friday evening (after Thanksgiving) through Monday after the holiday.
You are all in our thoughts and we look forward to the time when we can gather together again to enjoy concerts in person. This year we are thankful to be discovering creative ways to share the transformative power of live chamber music with all of you, our loyal patrons, donors and friends.
The Memorial Art Gallery has graciously opened their doors to us, and we are delighted to have recorded this concert in the Vanden Brul Pavilion. This iconic and reverberant space brought back many happy memories of past SCMR seasons at MAG combined with the pleasure of enjoying the phenomenal art collection on display.
Beethoven’s Symphony No.6 ‘Pastoral’ is a favorite of musicians and music lovers throughout the world. This timeless masterpiece enjoyed instant success when Beethoven composed it, largely driven by the popularity of the version you are about to hear. Arranged by one of Beethoven’s contemporaries (Michael Gotthard Fischer) for string sextet and published around the same time as the full symphony, this version called for far smaller numbers of performers and therefore allowed the work to be heard far and wide. Beethoven’s nature walks in the Viennese countryside would have looked very similar to the idyllic beauty found in our own Finger Lakes region. Hopefully you can draw from your own memories of time spent outdoors in Western New York while you enjoy this performance.
Jessie Montgomery is emerging as one of the foremost composers of her generation. Of her string quartet Strum, which she composed for the Catalyst string quartet (for which she is the second violinist), Montgomery says “Within Strum I utilized texture motives, layers of rhythmic or harmonic ostinato that string together to form a bed of sound for melodies to weave in and out. The strumming pizzicato serves as a texture motive and the driving rhythmic underpinning of the piece.” This work utilizes the spirit of dance and American folk idioms, starting with a nostalgic atmosphere and ending with an ecstatic celebration.
Please enjoy this concert and share it with friends near and far!
Warmly,
Erik and Juliana
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We dedicate this concert to the memory of Robert Marx. He and his wife, Francie have been supporters of SCMR for many years. Robert’s work is found here in the Memorial Art Gallery, and in other major museums and galleries across the world.