Program

Jacques Ibert: Deux Interludes for Flute, Violin and Piano
I.Andante espressivo
II. Allegro vivo

Nino Rota: Trio for Flute, Violin and Piano 
I. Allegro ma non troppo
II. Andante sostenuto
III.Allegro vivace con spirito

Brahms Piano Quartet no.1 in G minor Op.25
I. Allegro
II. Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo – Trio: Animato
III. Andante con moto
IV. Rondo alla Zingarese: Presto

Date: February 11, 2024
​Time: 3 pm
Location: Central Presbyterian Church
Address: 7700 Davis Dr, Clayton, MO 63105
Admission: Free

Concert Artists

Jacques Ibert: Deux Interludes for Flute, Violin and Piano​
French composer Jacques Ibert was born in Paris in 1890 and lived until the age of 72. Ibert studied violin and piano from a young age and began composition studies at the Paris Conservatory in 1910. After serving as a naval officer in World War 1, Ibert resumed his musical studies and won the Prix de Rome, Paris Conservatory’s top prize. Ibert’s composition career blossomed. He wrote pieces in a variety of genres including operas, ballets, piano, film scores, orchestral and choral works, and chamber music. His career was interrupted again during World War 2 when the French government banned Ibert’s music. He temporarily relocated to Switzerland. After the war he was invited back by General de Gaulle and was promoted to director of the Paris Opera.
Ibert disliked having his works defined by any one musical style, although elements of Impressionism and Classicism had the most obvious influence on his compositional choices.

Deux Interludes was composed in 1946 when Ibert was in his mid-50’s. He used parts of the incidental music he had composed for Suzanne Lilar’s play Le Burlador. The first interlude is French in style with it’s elegant lyricism and impressionistic style. The second interlude is evocative of an Andalusian dance and is very Spanish in its character.


Nino Rota: Trio for Flute, Violin and Piano
Nino Rota (1911-1979) was an Italian composer. He was primarily a film score composer, but also played piano, conducted, and was a professor and director at the Liceo Musicale in Bari, Italy. He won an Academy Award in 1974 for his score of The Godfather Part 2. Rota wrote more than 150 film scores during his life, and also managed to compose a large library of classical works including operas, ballets, and orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Between 1930 and 1932, Rota moved to the United States on the recommendation of Arturo Toscanini! He attended the Curtis Institute of Music and studied conducting with Fritz Reiner and composition with Rosario Scaiero.

Rota loved the flute and wrote five chamber works for the instrument. Rota composed the Trio for Flute, Violin, and Piano in September of 1958. The piece shows off Rota’s unique ability to compose for any instrumentation and genre. Elements of 20th century modernity are apparent throughout the work, but so are elements of classicism and romanticism. The music is quite dramatic, representing Rota’s talent of enhancing imagery (either on the screen or in one’s imagination) with music.

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Brahms Piano Quartet no.1 in G minor Op.25
Johannes Brahms who lived from 1833 until 1897 is one of the most famous composers to come out of the Romantic period. Encouraged by his father who was a musician himself, Brahms started lessons on piano, violin, and cello all before the age of ten. Surprisingly, his father wasn’t as supportive when it came to young Brahms’ efforts as a composer. He encouraged his son to seek a career as a performer instead! Perhaps his father’s influence kept Brahms from taking credit for his early compositions. Although Brahms was composing and publishing works as a teenager he wrote under the pseudonym G.W. Marks.

Brahms was introduced to Robert Schumann in 1853. Schumann recognized Brahms’ musical talent and was integral in the development of Brahms’ career as a composer. It was due to Schumann’s high praise that Brahms finally published his earliest works using his real name. In 1856, Robert Schumann died in a mental sanatorium. Brahms stationed himself in Düsseldorf, so he could help and support Clara Schumann after the death of her husband. Brahms’ composition output slowed in the later part of the 1850’s, but during this time he finished his first piano concerto, two orchestral serenades, and his first two piano quartets. Brahms completed his first quartet in 1861, and Clara Schumann played the piano part for its premiere.