We're embarking on a journey of "moments musicaux," or musical moments. These are treasurable gems of pieces, sometimes written originally for piano trio, and other times adapted or arranged for piano trio. Each has something truly special and heartwarming, or soul-stirring to it, drawing us as performers into a world we'd love to embrace with you.
This Saturday we'll be previewing two of those pieces. The first is by Dmitri Shostakovich. But not the Shostakovich that some of you might have heard in our rendition of his second piano trio. This Shostakovich is warm, and soulful, and full of beauty and a wealth of emotions ranging from hope to sorrow. It's originally written for 2 violins and piano, but we have simply had one part played by the cello, usually an octave below what was written. It's gorgeous.
The second muscial moment we'll be performing is by a living composer from Estonia named Arvo Pärt. It's called Spiegel im Spiegel which can be "translated (from the German) as, "mirror in the mirror" as well as "mirrors in the mirror", referring to the infinity of images produced by parallel plane mirrors: the tonic triads are endlessly repeated with small variations as if reflected back and forth. The English word for this phenomenon is "enfilade." The piece is in the tintinnabular style of composition, wherein a melodic voice, operating over diatonic scales, and tintinnabular voice, operating within a triad on the tonic, accompany each other. It is about ten minutes long, and the perfect minimalist, meditative piece.
We hope you enjoy them!
We're getting ready for the first performance of our interpretation of Beethoven's 7th trio, nicknamed the "Archduke." If you already love this trio, Cheers! If you have no idea what we're talking about ... hold on to your seats - it's epic!
This trio is perfect. It's immensely gratifying, serious, silly, and provocative while being both symphonic and delicate. Not unlike a classic Radiohead album (OK Computer comes to mind...as the great author Haruki Murakami who frequently quotes both Beethoven and Radiohead in the same paragraph might muse...). It's about 35 minutes long, and has 4 movements. The first movement is regal, and grand to begin with, and develops into something cunning and coy, before finishishing with a flourish. The second movement is a mix of a kind of giddy march with a really serious, strange trio section in the middle - full of chromatics and weird polonaise rhythms. The third movement is the soul of the piece - horribly profound, hauntingly beautiful and inspirationally provocative. It is at once dark and somber and bright and hopeful. Uplifting, spiritual and deep. The final movement is an all out celebration. A huge jolly party that ends with a bang.
Sound like fun? Well, it is. So, be sure to come hear it live - March 23rd at the SF Conservatory, or March 31st in Berkeley at the Trinity Chapel!
San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Recital Hall - perfect for chamber music!
We were honored to perform a recital of Schubert and Shostakovich sponsored the Harvard Club of SF at the SFCM's gorgeous Recital Hall - the perfect setting for chamber music! The house was filled with holiday spirit and the audience was warm and generously receptive. It was the perfect way to end 2011 - on a high note and with lots of new sights for 2012.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Gabriel introducing Shostakovich - the man and his second piano trio. A surprise hit for many in the audience - most of whom had never heard of either the composer or the piece!
Our good friend and host, Lance Myers welcomed nearly 30 guests into his beautiful loft home in Corona Heights. We were delighted to discuss and perform Schubert and Shostakovich for our friends - old and new. As one audience member stated, "I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday night in the city." We couldn't agree more!
Check out the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music's short video highlighting some of the many great ensembles we got to perform alongside this year! Yes, that's us in the opening trailer - and what an amazing audience we had!!!
We hope you enjoy this Thanksgiving with your family, friends, pets, neighbors, and yourselves surrounded with warmth, love and music!
We are greatful for our hosts and supporters, including Dr. Gary Rust, who graciously hosted us in his elegant home right here in San Francisco last week. And many many thanks to our audience for listening and sharing this experience with us!
See you in December at our Holiday Salon or the Harvard Club's Annual Party!
Thanks to an overwhelmingly receptive and supportive audience, Chamber Music Day at the deYoung was an incredibly inspiring experience!
We hope to present more Schubert to you in the very near future. Please visit often and let us know how we can make listening a better experience for you.
Ever wonder what is so darn interesting about the music you hear? Or how to listen to something that you've never heard of before? We do! So, to address that, we are trying something new - periodically, we will be posting something onto our new page, titled "LEARN." Here, you can read about how we approach and think about the music we are working on, and see some highlights as to how to listen to the music. There is no "definitive" interpretation to any of this, it's all up for grabs, and what we post represents only our humblest opinions.
We'd love your feedback on these posts - so please get back to us!
Chamber Music Day 2011
Free and fun for everyone - adults, children, childish adults, adult children ... multiple ensembles performing multiple genres of chamber music in various venues at the deYoung. The day goes from 10-5:30.
BELLA will be performing at 3:30 in the Koret Auditorium.
See you there!
