Anna Polonsky + Peter Wiley:
Exquisite Pairings

Join two of Chamber Music Northwest’s most beloved musicians, the brilliant pianist Anna Polonsky and legendary cellist Peter Wiley, for an intimate evening at the glorious Old Church Concert Hall. These two charismatic virtuosos return to Portland, together, to bring their artistry, warmth, and insight to eloquently interpreted masterworks by Beethoven, Brahms, and Felix Mendelssohn.

“These performers exceeded all expectations as a dynamic duo. The selected repertoire of Beethoven, Schumann, Barber, Mendelssohn, and Franck showed their heartfelt passion, dedication, and commitment to making music that was rich in tone, technical mastery, and true artistry.”

— Chamber Music Society of Utica

The Old Church
Thursday, 11/9 • 7:30 pm PT

Program

Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.

BEETHOVEN Twelve Variations for Cello and Piano in G Major on “See the conqu’ring hero comes”

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Twelve Variations for Cello and Piano in G Major on “See the conqu’ring hero comes” from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus, WoO 45

On a typical list of composers who influenced Ludwig van Beethoven, names like Mozart, Haydn, and Bach would probably take the top spots. But according to Beethoven himself, the top answer should be George Frideric Handel, whom Beethoven once described as “the greatest, the ablest composer that ever lived.”

Early in his career, Beethoven demonstrated his admiration for Handel by using the Baroque composer’s music as the basis for his Twelve Variations for Cello and Piano on “See the conqu’ring hero comes” (1796). Beethoven composed these variations (along with his Opus 5 cello sonatas) while visiting the court of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II, an avid cellist. As a gesture of thanks, the king presented Beethoven with a snuffbox filled with gold coins.

Handel’s melody became famous in his 1746 oratorio Judas Maccabaeus, which tells the Old Testament story of the Maccabean Revolt (also commemorated by the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah). Sung by the chorus at a moment of victory, the music is regal, stately, and celebratory. Today, many may also recognize it as the tune of the popular Easter hymn “Thine Be the Glory.”

Musically, Beethoven takes a light, restrained, and elegant approach in the variations, each of which explores a simple melodic or rhythmic concept. Of the twelve, Variation VIII best expresses the young composer’s emerging penchant for bombast, while the final variation offers a delightful taste of the “fun” side that Beethoven is often thought to lack.

©—Ethan Allred

BRAHMS Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38

One thing that Johannes Brahms excelled at (besides composing) was work-life balance. During his frequent countryside vacations, he followed an ideal-sounding routine: wake at dawn, make coffee, go for a long walk, work for four hours or so, then lunch, more coffee, another walk, and finally dinner with friends.

Brahms began his Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor in 1862 during one such vacation near Ebernburg Castle in Western Germany and completed it three years later during another vacation, this time in Baden-Baden. He dedicated the sonata to renowned voice teacher (and amateur cellist) Josef Gänsbacher. According to one story, when Brahms first played the new sonata with him, Gänsbacher complained that he couldn’t hear himself playing. Brahms drily responded, “Lucky for you,” and continued playing even louder.

The hefty first movement, Allegro non troppo, provides nearly half of the sonata’s duration. A bleak, wintry cello melody sets a contemplative tone, although plenty of moments of expressivity and yearning poke through later on. The middle Minuet and Trio movement, on the other hand, contains more than a hint of Mozart, infused with the rich color of Brahms’s own harmonic palette.

For the finale, Brahms travels back even further in time to the era of Bach. The opening melody, a direct quote from Bach’s Art of Fugue, comes back in one way or another throughout the movement. Brahms concludes the sonata with its most dramatic writing by far, as ascending melodies rage higher and higher into an emphatic final cadence.

©—Ethan Allred

MENDELSSOHN Cello Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano in D Major, Op. 58 (1843)

For Felix Mendelssohn, 1842 was a year of difficult transitions. Two years earlier, he had been recruited by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV to help build Berlin into a major musical center, but funding woes had stalled all efforts. Then, matters became much worse when Mendelssohn’s mother suddenly passed away of a stroke. Mendelssohn was just finishing his Cello Sonata No. 2 in D Major and had planned to play it for her over the holidays with his brother Paul on the cello. The 33-year-old composer instead wrote to Paul that they were “children no longer.”

Despite these difficult circumstances, the sonata begins optimistically with an Allegro assai vivace filled with bright, heroic melodic ideas. The middle movement, Allegretto scherzando, creates a more archaic mood with staccato piano lines and plucked cello melodies, before the cello soars in a lyrical central section.

The true gem of this sonata, however, is the heartfelt Adagio. The piano opens with a gentle chorale, or a simple hymn tune with harmonies below it. The cello then offers its own passionate, speechlike melody similar to an operatic recitative. Following an emotive dialogue between these two ideas, in the Adagio’s final measures, Mendelssohn incorporates a descending melody that has been used by composers throughout the years to evoke a sense of sorrow, perhaps most famously in “Dido’s Lament” from Henry Purcell’s 1689 opera, Dido and Aeneas. How can we not hear Mendelssohn’s own grief over the loss of his mother in this tender moment? Still, Mendelssohn generously ends the sonata on a lighter note with a thrilling final rondo.

©—Ethan Allred

MENDELSSOHN Lied ohne Worte (Song Without Words), Op. 109

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) Lied ohne Worte (Song Without Words), Op. 109

Felix Mendelssohn was the pioneer of a uniquely 19th century genre of music: the Song without Words. Using only music (that is, without any lyrics), he hoped to capture the emotional journey contained within a vocal song. When asked whether his songs were meant to portray a particular story, he responded, “if I happen to have certain words in mind…I would never want to tell them to anyone, because the same words never mean the same things to others. Only the song can say the same thing, can arouse the same feelings in one person as in another.”

Mendelssohn composed 48 Songs without Words for solo piano, but only one that featured any other instrument: the Lied ohne Worte (Song without Words), Op. 109, for cello and piano. In this song, the cellist plays the role of the vocalist, while the pianist sets the scene with its folksy, guitar-like chords. An element of stormy drama emerges in the song’s central section, marked Agitato. Then, Mendelssohn juxtaposes echoes of both the heightened middle section and the introductory calm, before settling on a serene final arpeggio.

The existence of this lone, multi-instrumental Song without Words poses a question: what beautiful songs for other instruments might Mendelssohn have created if he had the chance? Sadly, he passed away only two years after the song’s composition (at age 38), so that question will remain forever unanswered.

—© Ethan Allred

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