CONCERT PROGRAM VI

Farewell

Johannes Brahms’s death in 1897 signaled the end of a musical era, one born of the Viennese Classical tradition of Haydn and Mozart, nurtured by Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Schumann, and ultimately embodied by the uncompromising quality and ravishing expressivity of Brahms’s finest music. At the end of his life, Brahms grew poignantly aware of his music and his era fading into history as the cultural landscape gave way to ever more radical new ideas. In the soulful timbres of the viola, clarinet, and his closest friend, the piano, Brahms found a voice for the bittersweet farewell of his final works.

(Note: Acclaimed pianist Gilbert Kalish will replace Menahem Pressler for Concert Program VI on August 12 and 13 as Mr. Pressler has canceled his festival appearance due to a family emergency.)

Program
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)

String Quintet no. 2 in G Major, op. 111 (1890)
Ani Kavafian, Philip Setzer, violins; Paul Neubauer, Yura Lee, violas; Paul Watkins, cello

Sonata no. 2 in E-flat Major for Viola and Piano, op. 120, no. 2 (1894)
Gilbert Kalish, piano; Paul Neubauer, viola

Intermezzo in e minor, op. 116, no. 5
Capriccio in d minor, op. 116, no. 1
Intermezzo in b minor, op. 119, no. 1
Gilbert Kalish, piano

Clarinet Quintet in b minor, op. 115 (1891)
David Shifrin, clarinet; Philip Setzer, Ani Kavafian, violins; Yura Lee, viola; Paul Watkins, cello

Download Program Notes»

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12

8:00 p.m., Stent Family Hall
Tickets: $72 adult; $35 student

Prelude Performance*
6:00 p.m., Martin Family Hall
Free Admission

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13

8:00 p.m., The Center for Performing Arts at Menlo-Atherton
Tickets: $65/$55 adult; $30/$20 student

Prelude Performance*
6:00 p.m., The Center for Performing Arts at Menlo-Atherton
Free Admission

Artists

David Shifrin, clarinet
Gilbert Kalish, piano
Ani Kavafian, violin
Philip Setzer, violin
Yura Lee, viola
Paul Neubauer, viola
Paul Watkins, cello

*Prelude Performances feature young artists from the Chamber Music Institute. Learn more.»

Image: Photo of Brahms courtesy of Eugene Drucker in memory of Ernest Drucker.