Program
Ernő Dohnányi: Serenade for String Trio, op. 10
Anton Arensky: Quartet for violin, viola and two cellos
Anton Arensky: Quartet for violin, viola and two cellos
|
Date: September 14, 2024
Time: 7:30pm Location: Trinity Church Kirkwood Address: 1110 S Glenwood Ln, St. Louis, MO 63122 Admission: Free |
Concert Artists
Asako Kuboki, Violin
Xi Zhang, Viola
|
Alvin McCall, Cello
Andrew Francois, Viola
|
Yin Xiong, Cello
Henry Myers, Cello
|
Nicolae Bica, Violin
|
Ernő Dohnányi: Serenade for String Trio, op. 10
Ernő Dohnányi (1877-1960) was born in Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary, which is now Bratislava, Slovakia. He was born into a noble family and was given music lessons by his father, an amateur cellist. In 1894, Dohnányi moved to Budapest and enrolled in the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music to study piano and composition. Three years later he took his final exams, passed with high marks, and graduated before the age of 20.
Dohnányi began touring Europe as a concert pianist in 1897, quickly rising to international fame. In 1898, he made his American debut playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the St. Louis Symphony. Although Dohnányi’s politics during the 1930’s and 40’s are still a source of controversy, it is notable that throughout his career, Dohnányi fought against policies he disagreed with in order to stand up for his fellow musicians. In the 1930’s, he was Director of the Budapest Academy of Music for the second time during his career. He chose to resign from his position instead of accepting the anti-Jewish regulations. As director of the Budapest Philharmonic he managed to keep all Jewish members of the orchestra until after the German invasion of Hungary in March of 1944, at which time he disbanded the ensemble.
After WWII, Dohnányi immigrated to the United States. In 1949, he became a professor at Florida State University where he taught for ten years. He and his wife, Ilona, became American citizens in 1955. In 1960, ten days after his final performance in New York City, Dohnányi died of pneumonia. He is buried in Tallahassee, Florida.
Dohnányi’s Serenade in C major Op. 10 was written in 1902, and premiered in Vienna in 1904. The Serenade follows tradition by starting off with a march which highlights Hungarian folk music. The influences of Beethoven’s string trios can be seen in Dohnányi’s use of structure, and Brahms was an obvious inspiration for the way that Dohnányi composed his thematic content. However, the trio was considered quite modern for its time, and remains one of Dohnányi’s most important works.
Anton Arensky: Quartet for violin, viola, and two cellos
Anton Arensky (1861-1905) was born in Novgorod, Russia. His parents imparted their love of music on the young Arensky, and by age nine he was composing vocal songs and piano pieces. In 1979, Arensky’s family moved to Saint Petersburg where he was able to study composition with the famous Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Arensky was often criticized for lacking his own composition style and leaning too much on the influence of Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky.
Although he had a successful career as a musician, first as a professor at Moscow Conservatory and later as director of the Imperial Choir in Saint Petersburg, Arensky’s music was largely overlooked. However, he compiled quite a large library of works during his lifetime including three operas, a ballet, several orchestral works, chamber works, piano pieces, and choral and vocal works. Many of these compositions have been revived and performed in modern times.
Arensky died of tuberculosis at the age of 44. Arensky wrote his String Quartet No.2 in 1894. He dedicated the work to Tchaikovsky who had died the previous year. The work was unusual for its
instrumentation and three-movement structure, but is perhaps his most important and certainly most well known composition.
Ernő Dohnányi (1877-1960) was born in Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary, which is now Bratislava, Slovakia. He was born into a noble family and was given music lessons by his father, an amateur cellist. In 1894, Dohnányi moved to Budapest and enrolled in the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music to study piano and composition. Three years later he took his final exams, passed with high marks, and graduated before the age of 20.
Dohnányi began touring Europe as a concert pianist in 1897, quickly rising to international fame. In 1898, he made his American debut playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the St. Louis Symphony. Although Dohnányi’s politics during the 1930’s and 40’s are still a source of controversy, it is notable that throughout his career, Dohnányi fought against policies he disagreed with in order to stand up for his fellow musicians. In the 1930’s, he was Director of the Budapest Academy of Music for the second time during his career. He chose to resign from his position instead of accepting the anti-Jewish regulations. As director of the Budapest Philharmonic he managed to keep all Jewish members of the orchestra until after the German invasion of Hungary in March of 1944, at which time he disbanded the ensemble.
After WWII, Dohnányi immigrated to the United States. In 1949, he became a professor at Florida State University where he taught for ten years. He and his wife, Ilona, became American citizens in 1955. In 1960, ten days after his final performance in New York City, Dohnányi died of pneumonia. He is buried in Tallahassee, Florida.
Dohnányi’s Serenade in C major Op. 10 was written in 1902, and premiered in Vienna in 1904. The Serenade follows tradition by starting off with a march which highlights Hungarian folk music. The influences of Beethoven’s string trios can be seen in Dohnányi’s use of structure, and Brahms was an obvious inspiration for the way that Dohnányi composed his thematic content. However, the trio was considered quite modern for its time, and remains one of Dohnányi’s most important works.
Anton Arensky: Quartet for violin, viola, and two cellos
Anton Arensky (1861-1905) was born in Novgorod, Russia. His parents imparted their love of music on the young Arensky, and by age nine he was composing vocal songs and piano pieces. In 1979, Arensky’s family moved to Saint Petersburg where he was able to study composition with the famous Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Arensky was often criticized for lacking his own composition style and leaning too much on the influence of Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky.
Although he had a successful career as a musician, first as a professor at Moscow Conservatory and later as director of the Imperial Choir in Saint Petersburg, Arensky’s music was largely overlooked. However, he compiled quite a large library of works during his lifetime including three operas, a ballet, several orchestral works, chamber works, piano pieces, and choral and vocal works. Many of these compositions have been revived and performed in modern times.
Arensky died of tuberculosis at the age of 44. Arensky wrote his String Quartet No.2 in 1894. He dedicated the work to Tchaikovsky who had died the previous year. The work was unusual for its
instrumentation and three-movement structure, but is perhaps his most important and certainly most well known composition.
Learn About Anton Arensky
|