Program Notes

Haydn, String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 20, No. Haydn’s Opus 20 quartets were nicknamed the “Sun,” after an illustration of a rising sun that adorned the cover of the first printed edition. Whether intended or not, the symbolism fits, signifying the rise of a new...

Kevin Puts, Two Mountain Scenes (2007)  Visitors to 2023 edition of the Colorado Music Festival may recall The Elements, a suite inspired by the natural world and featuring five leading American composers as contributors. Among them was Kevin Puts,...

Johann Strauss, Overture to Die Fledermaus Vienna was still reeling from the "Black Friday" stock market crash of 1873 when Johann Strauss II introduced what would become his most famous operetta, Die Fledermaus (The Bat) at the Theatre an der Wien on April 5,...

Mozart, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525  For all its popularity, there is no real origin story for Mozart’s Serenade No. 13 in G Major, better known as “A Little Night Music.” Why he wrote it remains a mystery, and a possible fifth movement — a minuet and trio —...

J.S. Bach, Keyboard Concerto in A major BWV 1055  As the municipal director of music in Leipzig, J.S. Bach had two chief responsibilities: overseeing music in the city’s churches and directing the Collegium Musicum, an ensemble of professional and university...

Haydn, String Quartet in C major Op. 20 No. 2 With his six Opus 20 Quartets of 1772, Haydn was determined to lift the burgeoning string quartet form to new heights of sophistication and ingenuity. He was employed by Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy, head of one of the...

Florence Price, Adoration Since the discovery of a major cache of her works in 2009, Florence Price (1887-1953) has been the subject of a significant revival and reappraisal in concert halls around the globe. Though much interest has centered on her three surviving...

Vivian Fung, Prayer The Edmonton-born, Juilliard-trained composer Vivian Fung has often followed her musical curiosity to far corners of the globe, whether traveling to Indonesia to study and absorb Balinese gamelan sounds or to southwest China to explore folk songs...

Carl Nielsen, Wind Quintet, Op.43 By turns vivid, languorous and lighthearted, Carl Nielsen's Wind Quintet is a treasured example of the composer’s offbeat genius. Inspiration for the piece came one evening in 1921 when the Danish composer placed a call to Christian...

Arnold Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”), Op. 4 If ever there was to be theme music for turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna, Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht would surely fit the bill. The darkly romantic string sextet, later...

John Adams, Short Ride in a Fast Machine  Decades before John Adams was, to quote the New York Times, “our reigning master of orchestral writing,” he was emerging from the trenches of minimalism, exploring a more playful and Technicolor version of the...

Ernst von DohnányiSextet in C Major Sometimes dubbed the “Hungarian Brahms,” Ernst von Dohnányi (1877-1960) dominated the Hungarian musical landscape between World War I and II. He served as chief conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic, music director of Hungarian...

Mikhail Glinka  Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla  Soon after Mikhail Glinka began work on his second opera, Ruslan and Ludmilla, a complication emerged: His librettist was killed in a duel. And it wasn’t just any librettist, but the great Russian author...

Anna Clyne Masquerade  When the BBC Proms asked the British composer Anna Clyne to write a concert opener for the festival in 2013, she found inspiration in a fabled slice of London history: the 18th century concerts held in the city’s pleasure gardens....

The Elements Suite for Violin and Orchestra Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) Jessie Montgomery (b. 1981) Kevin Puts (b. 1972) I'm so excited to have the opportunity to premiere my new commissions project, The Elements. The idea for this unique endeavor was born during the...

The Elements Suite for Violin and Orchestra Kevin Puts (b. 1972) Jake Heggie (b. 1961) Edgar Meyer (b. 1960) I'm so excited to have the opportunity to premiere my new commissions project, The Elements. The idea for this unique endeavor was born during the early...

String Trio in C Minor, Op. 9, No. 3 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) When Beethoven embarked on his first chamber works, he initially avoided the string quartet, a form that Haydn and Mozart had effectively monopolized in 1790s Vienna. Instead, he offered the Opus 9...

Cantus Arcticus, Op. 61 (1974) Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016) Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016), often regarded as the most significant Finnish composer since Jean Sibelius, charted a long and shape-shifting compositional career. He was always a free spirit, drawn...

The Rhapsody of Steve Jobs (2021) Mason Bates (b. 1977) In the six years since Santa Fe Opera presented the world premiere of Mason Bates’s debut opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (2017), the piece has steadily gained a foothold in the modern repertory. A debut...

Phantasy Quartet for Oboe and Strings, Op. 2 Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) Years before he cemented his place in history with operas about troubled outsiders (Peter Grimes, Billy Budd) and a War Requiem steeped in pacifist ideals, Benjamin Britten was a prolific...