Nathan Hughes is Principal Oboe of the Metropolitan Opera and Julie Albers is Principal Cello for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. They are in town performing in concerts for ChamberFest Cleveland, which can be heard on WCLV. During the intermission of Thursday's live broadcast of "Music for a Summer Evening," Nathan and Julie spoke with Angela Mitchell.
Music for a Summer Evening
The diverse works on this program evoke the journey of an entire day from morning to nightfall. Haydn’s illustrative “Sunrise” quartet opens with a vivid musical depiction of daybreak in what has been called “one of the most thrilling moments” in the composer’s entire chamber repertoire. Next, Britten explores temporal cyclicality in his early Phantasy Quartet, while Berg’s transcription of Johann Strauss Jr.’s “Wine, Women, and Song” waltz calls upon the playful sound of the harmonium to celebrate the pleasures of decadent living. Finally, Crumb’s Music for a Summer Evening showcases the composer at his imaginative best, creating a kaleidoscopic range of soundscapes that invoke images of a balmy night.
Franz Josef Haydn, String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 76, No. 4, “Sunrise”
Benjamin Britten, Phantasy Quartet, Op. 2, for Oboe, and String Quartet,
Johann Strauss Jr., “Wine, Women, and Song,” op. 333, arranged by Alban Berg for Harmonium, Piano, and Strings
George Crumb, Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III) for Amplified Pianos and Percussion