Program

Clara Schumann: Three Romances for Violin and Piano Op.22 
I. Andante molto
II. Allegretto: Mit zartem Vortrage 
III. Leidenschaftlich schnell 
​
Jean-Marie Leclair: Sonata Op.3, No.5 for Two Violins 

Rachmaninoff: Oriental Dance, Op.2, No.2 

Beethoven Piano Trio Op.1, No.1 in Eb Major 
I. Allegro 
II. Adagio cantabile 
III. Scherzo. Allegro assai - Trio 
IV. Finale. Presto 
​

Date: January 30, 2024.
​Time: 7:30pm
Location: Steinway Piano Gallery - St. Louis
Address: 12033 Dorsett Road, Maryland Heights, MO 63043
Admission: Free

Concert Artists

Weilu Zhang / Violin

Davin Rubicz / Cello

Siyu Zhang  / Violin

 Huiyun Liang / Piano 

Clara Schumann: Three Romances for Violin and Piano Op.22
Clara Schumann (1819-1896) was born in Leipzig Germany to musical parents. Her mother was a successful soprano and pianist, and her father was a renowned piano teacher. It was Clara’s father that took her under his wing and became her piano teacher. Her father could be overbearing and controlling. Clara was required to practice many hours a day to the point that her education of non-musical subjects was often neglected. However, Clara was immensely talented, and by age nine she made her piano recital debut at Gewandhaus in Leipzig.

Clara was a remarkable woman. She married Robert Schumann at age 21 (whom she had met when she was nine and he was 18). Together they had eight children. In the midst of marriage and motherhood, Clara's success as a pianist blossomed. She had a full schedule of performances for which she traveled all over Europe. She played countless recitals and concertos with major orchestras of the time, and often collaborated with Robert Schumann, Joseph Joachim (with whom she performed over 238 concerts), and Johannes Brahms. There has been much speculation about the nature of the relationship between Clara Schumann and Brahms. He was a close friend of both Robert and Clara and continued to provide emotional support and collaborate with Clara long after Robert’s death. His letters to Clara suggest they shared something between love and friendship.

Clara was hired as a piano professor to the new Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie in 1876, as the only woman on the faculty. She was highly influential in contributing to the development of modern piano technique and would remain a teacher at the conservatory until 1892. Clara died of a stroke in March of 1896, at the age of 76.

During her lifetime, Clara wasn’t as well known for her compositions as she was for her piano performing, but despite periods in which life’s responsibilities kept her from composing, she completed a large library of works. Clara wrote Three Romances for Violin and Piano in 1853. She dedicated the work to Joseph Joachim and they performed the work together many times.


Jean-Marie Leclair: Sonata Op.3, No.5 for Two Violins
Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) was born in Lyon, France. A contemporary of Bach (1685-1750), comparisons have often been made between the two Baroque composers. Leclair maintained his own personal composition style, and was influential in establishing eighteenth century French Baroque music. Leclair was also a dancer and a violinist. The development of the violin as a solo and chamber instrument was slower in France than it had been in Italy. Leclair’s books of violin sonatas helped establish the practice of virtuosic solo violin playing in France and many consider Leclair to be the founder of the French school of violin playing. Leclair’s Sonata For Two Violins Op. 3, No. 5 was published in 1730, the same year Leclair married for the second time. His new wife was an engraver, and prepared all of Leclair’s works for print.

Leclair’s life ended in scandal. In October of 1764, he was murdered at his home in Paris. Although the murder was never solved, both his ex-wife and nephew were suspects.


Rachmaninoff: Oriental Dance, Op.2, No.2
Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in the Russian Empire in 1873. He was highly regarded as a virtuoso piano soloist during his lifetime, but his career in composition had ups and downs. The premiere of his Symphony No. 1 wasn’t well received and its failure sent him into a long depression. However he also had great successes such as with his Piano Concerto No. 2 which was the first work he completed as he recovered from his depression. Rachmaninoff is considered one of the most important composers of Russian Romanticism, alongside his predecessors Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Rachmaninoff immigrated to the United States after the Russian Revolution in November of 1918. He died in Beverly Hills, California in 1943 at age 69.

Rachmaninoff’s Oriental Dance is from a collection of two works titled Two Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 2. The two works were composed between 1891 - 1892, while Rachmaninoff was in his final years at Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Rachmaninoff also composed his Piano Concerto No.1, his Youth Symphony, and his symphonic poem Prince Rostislav in 1891 and his Trio élégiaque in 1892.


Beethoven Piano Trio Op.1, No.1 in Eb Major
Ludwig van Beethoven hardly needs an introduction as he is arguably the most famous composer of all time. Whether one realizes or not, there is rarely someone who hasn’t heard the famous theme of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Beethoven’s music has been performed countless times by musicians around the world for more than two centuries! Most recently his music has been used in numerous movie soundtracks and can also be heard referenced in pop music.

Beethoven was born in 1770, in Bonn, Germany. His first music teacher was his father, who was apparently brutal on the young Beethoven. Eventually, Beethoven began lessons with composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe, and in 1783, published his first work, a set of keyboard variations. Although Beethoven’s Piano Trios 1-3 bear the title of Op. 1, they came many years after his keyboard variations. The trios were not published until 1795. At the time, Beethoven had been living in Vienna and had been studying composition with Joseph Haydn. The piano trios were a result of his patronage by Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky, a chamberlain at the Imperial Austrian Court.

It is also interesting to note that during this time Beethoven still had the use of his hearing. It wasn’t until 1802 that he began struggling with early symptoms of deafness.