Sundays with the St. Lawrence
Owen Dalby, violin
Christopher Costanza, cello
Lesley Robertson, viola
Praised as “dazzling” (The New York Times), “expert and versatile” (The New Yorker), and “a fearless and inquisitive violinist” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Owen Dalby leads a rich musical life as a soloist, chamber musician, new and early music expert, orchestral concertmaster, and educator. As a member of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Owen is Artist-in-Residence at Stanford University. With the SLSQ, recent projects have included tours of all the major chamber series in North America and Europe, as well as solo debuts with the LA Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the NHK Philharmonic (Tokyo). After a recent performance, the Boston Musical Intelligencer remarked that "the player who left a deep impression was extroverted violinist Dalby, who played brilliantly and chops-wise, seemed to have all but left the other players in the dust."
Much in-demand as a soloist and collaborator for the first decade of his career in NYC, Owen was a 2010 graduate of Ensemble Connect, a joint fellowship program of Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School. He is now regularly invited to perform at festivals all over the world including both Spoleto Festivals (USA and Italy), Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Valley of the Moon Festival, Vid Djupid Festival, Yellow Barn, Music in the Vineyards, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and many others. In addition to maintaining a violin studio and co-directing the chamber music program at Stanford, he has been guest faculty at the Yale Summer School of Music, the Britten-Pears Young Artists Program (UK), Eastman School of Music, Princeton University, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Owen received early violin and chamber music training with Anne Crowden at the Crowden School, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University. With his wife, violist Meena Bhasin, Owen is co-Artistic and Executive Director of Noe Music, a concert series in San Francisco, where they make their home with their children Leila and Knight.
Owen performs on the “Fetzer” Stradivarius made in Cremona in 1694, and a Sam Zygmuntowicz violin from 2015 that belonged to his friend and colleague Geoff Nuttall.
For well over three decades, cellist Christopher Costanza has enjoyed an exciting and varied career as soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. A winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the recipient of a Solo Recitalists Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Mr. Costanza has performed to enthusiastic critical acclaim throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada, South America, Australia, New Zealand, China, and South Korea. In 2003 Mr. Costanza joined the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Ensemble in Residence at Stanford University. A strong proponent of contemporary music, he has worked extensively with a great many of the leading composers of our day, including John Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, Olivier Messiaen, Gunther Schuller, and Pierre Boulez. Mr. Costanza's discography includes chamber music and solo recordings on the EMI/Angel, Nonesuch, Naxos, and Albany labels, and his recordings of the Six Suites for Solo Cello by J.S. Bach can be found on his website, costanzacello.com.
Mr. Costanza received a Bachelor of Music and an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he studied cello with Bernard Greenhouse, Laurence Lesser, and David Wells, and chamber music with Eugene Lehner, Louis Krasner, and Leonard Shure. When not immersed in the world of music, Christopher enjoys a variety of interests and passions, among them, running, hiking, cooking, and passenger rail-related pursuits.
Lesley Robertson is proud to be celebrating 25 years as Artist in Residence at Stanford University. A founding member of the celebrated St. Lawrence String Quartet (1989-2024), she has performed on stages across the globe, from Amsterdam to Sydney, Beijing to Helsinki, New York, and Toronto. She has recorded widely, collaborated with a broad array of extraordinary artists, and served on distinguished juries including the Banff, Melbourne, Geneva and Wigmore Hall string quartet competitions. Along with her St. Lawrence colleagues, she directs Stanford’s chamber music program. She also teaches viola, coaches chamber music, and spearheads the St. Lawrence’s Emerging String Quartet Program and the annual Chamber Music Seminar. An early Suzuki child, Lesley discovered the viola, her instrumental soul mate, as a young teenager and never looked back.
Program
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Quartet in F Major for Oboe (Saxophone) and Strings, K. 370 (1781)
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Rondeau: Allegro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on Fugues by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Three Preludes and Fugues for String Trio, K. 404a (1782)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Phantasy Quartet for Oboe (Saxophone) and Strings, Op. 2 (1932)
Intermission
Steven Banks (b.1993)
“Always With Us” for Saxophone and String Quartet (World Premiere)
I. Invocation
II. Quinten
III. Meditation
IV. Finale
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Born in Salzburg, Austria, January 27, 1756; died in Vienna, December 5, 1791
Oboe (Saxophone) Quartet in F, K. 370 (1781) (arr.)
Mozart first met German oboist Friedrich Ramm in 1777, singling out his ‘delightfully pure tone’ in a letter to his father, Leopold Mozart. Four years later Mozart met Ramm again while rehearsing his opera Idomeneo for its première at the Bavarian court in Munich in late January 1781. The Oboe Quartet that he wrote for Ramm earlier that month, once Idomeneo was in production, is now recognized as one of the gems of the chamber music repertoire. Scored for oboe (today, saxophone), with violin, viola and cello, this sparkling, extroverted piece judiciously balances the needs of chamber music with those of a miniature concerto. In other words, the musical material is shared between all four instruments, without the wind soloist hogging quite everything. The singular bright texture of the piece results from the unusually high range that Mozart demanded from the oboe. Previously he had made a high D the highest oboe note – in the 1779 operatic scene Popoli di Tessaglia that Mozart wrote for soprano and Ramm’s oboe, for example. Now, he exploits two more, even higher notes. Few, if any, other players of the day could play up to a high F and Mozart never again made these demands in his music. So, it’s a safe bet that Ramm would have had exclusive use of the Oboe Quartet for several years. The slow movement is a particularly expressive aria of heavenly length, written in D minor, a key that Mozart tended to set aside for solemn music. The high-spirited Rondo finale includes some startling rhythmic interplay near the middle and calls for virtuoso playing throughout.
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Born in Eisenach, Germany, March 21, 1685; died in Leipzig, Germany, July 28, 1750
Three Preludes and Fugues for string trio, K. 404a (1782)
In the Spring of 1782, Mozart began to attend Sunday morning musical gatherings organized in Vienna by Baron Gottfried van Swieten. As he became a regular visitor to these typically Viennese gatherings where – untypically – all but forgotten music of Bach and Handel was examined and performed, his interest increased. "I go to his house every Sunday at 12 o'clock," Mozart wrote to his father, "and nothing is played there but Bach and Handel. I am making a collection of Bach's fugues, those of Sebastian as well as those of Emanuel and Friedemann [two of Bach’s sons]."
At the same time, Mozart's enthusiasm for the fugue was encouraged by his new bride, Constanza. Mozart wrote to his sister: "Baron van Swieten gave me works by Handel and Bach to take home. When Constanza heard the fugues, she was completely enraptured . . . She would listen to nothing but fugues, and for that matter, none but those of Handel and Bach. Whenever she heard me improvising fugues, she would ask whether I had written any of them down. When I answered 'no' she would accuse me bitterly of not wanting to compose the things that are the most beautiful and artful in music. And she would not stop begging until I wrote a fugue."
Mozart wrote many fugues in 1782, most of them remaining unfinished. They represent a process of transcription, imitation, assimilation and, ultimately, absorption into the intricate counterpoint of his late works. Five Fugues from Bach's ‘48’ arranged for string quartet (K. 405) survive, together with other transcription of fugues and accompanying ‘introductions,’ mostly anonymous. The three Adagios (Preludes) and Fugues to be played this afternoon derive from these extant sources. Although some commentators have doubted that the Adagios and Fugue transcriptions were made by Mozart, it seems more than likely that these works were, nevertheless, performed at van Swieten's Sunday concerts.
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Born in Lowestoft, England, November 22, 1913; died in Aldeburgh, England, December 4, 1976
Phantasy Quartet for oboe (saxophone), violin, viola and cello, Op. 2 (1932) (arr.)
For two centuries after the death of Henry Purcell, England lacked a major composer. Dubbed “the land without music,” a renaissance began after the 19th century turned into the 20th. An incentive came when British executive and amateur violinist, Walter Willson Cobbett, began to sponsor a series of chamber music competitions. His idea was to forge a link with England’s past by encouraging a new generation of English composers to take inspiration from the rich heritage of consort music from Tudor and Jacobean times. The one-movement fantasy form (or ‘Phantasy’ in its Old English spelling) was central to the Cobbett competitions. Its single, arch-like structure of about 12 minutes was seen as a viable alternative to the prevailing four-movement structure of much late romantic chamber music, and many imaginative, often youthful works resulted.
The 18-year-old Benjamin Britten followed the tradition of his teacher Frank Bridge, Herbert Howells, John Ireland, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and others with his prize-winning Phantasy for string quintet, in July 1932. By the end of October that same year, Britten used a similar idea of marrying the 16th century fantasy with the cyclic form of the 19th in a Phantasy Quartet for oboe, violin, viola and cello. This compact, confidently written, inventively scored work was inspired by the playing of oboist Leon Goossens, who gave the première in a BBC broadcast in August 1933, and the public première in London a little later. Some measure of the wide public and professional respect and admiration for the expertise of its 19-year-old composer came with the Phantasy’s nomination for performance in Florence, Italy the following year at the meeting of the International Society of Contemporary Music (ISCM).
As the work opens, a shadowy march rhythm on cello and purposeful drumming on viola contrast with the more rhapsodic entry of the oboe/saxophone. As the strings increase the intensity and take the lead (Allegro giusto) a compressed sonata structure evolves, with taut thematic cross references. Britten’s skill in string writing reflects his highly productive apprenticeship in composition and, from an early age, family music-making as a viola player. A central reflective section for the strings (Molto più lento) suggests a passing nod towards the composer’s English background, though not at the expense of the work’s thematic development. This continues through an increasingly intense episode, with the oboe/saxophone reaching ever higher over ominous repeated figures from the strings, drawn from the work’s opening. A climactic passage (Più agitato) then resolves into a revisiting of the march rhythm and a resolution into the hushed mystery of the opening. Published as his Op. 2, this carefully crafted work was to be Britten’s final essay in the phantasy form.
— Program notes copyright © 2024 Keith Horner. Comments welcomed: khnotes@sympatico.ca
STEVEN BANKS
Always With Us for Saxophone and String Quartet (World Premiere)
"Often, when struggling against obstacles of every sort which oppose my labors: often, when the powers of mind and body weakened, and it was difficult to continue the course I had entered on; — a secret voice whispered to me: 'there are so few happy and contented peoples here below; grief and sorrow are always their lot; perhaps your labors will once be a source from which the care-worn, or the man burdened with affairs, can derive a few moments of rest and refreshment.' This was indeed a powerful motive to press onwards, and this is why I now look back with devoted so many long years of uninterrupted effort and exertion."
-Franz Joseph Haydn
In the very brief period of time that I knew him, Geoff Nuttall reinvigorated my love of music and exposed me to new dimensions of its ability to unite, thrill, challenge, and inspire. There have only been a handful of people, concepts, and experiences which have made such a fundamental shift to my outlook on my role as a musician in society. The process of composing Reflections and Exaltations gave me the opportunity to honor Geoff in my own way and meditate on these various illuminative learnings.
Invocation, the first movement, depicts a fantastical, inward journey that I went on as I looked for guidance as to how I could best honor the life of someone so uniquely special and important to me. The work starts with a prayer or invitation for an ancestor to join me on the way. The ancestor in this case is my maternal grandfather, who always served as a “north star” and role model for the person I aspire to be. Once his spirit appears, the journey has three major destinations, each with its own lesson to teach. The three destinations are akin to the musical “altars” of Johannes Brahms, Maurice Ravel, and Alexander Scriabin. These are three composers who I often feel the presence of when I compose. After visiting these destinations, there is a dialogue with my travel partner in which we attempt to make sense of what we have seen along the way. After some over-efforting and fretful rumination, we come to the understanding that there is no one right message to glean, and that I have to find my own unique path using the wisdom that I have been exposed to. My grandfather eventually fades back into his resting place, leaving me with both the terror and comfort of this reality.
The second movement, Quinten, is a celebration of individuality. During the Spoleto USA Festival of 2022, I remember Geoff excitedly showing me a musical idea in the first movement of Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet, Op. 76, No. 2, which is commonly referred to as the Quinten quartet. This motive includes four dramatic swells, repeated one after the other in a very short period of time. We connected over just how strange and ahead-of-its-time this particular motive was. Haydn is well-known to have said “I was cut off from the world. There was no one to confuse or torment me, and I was forced to become original.” This idea also connects deeply with advice that has stuck with me from two of my other greatest mentors, pianist André Watts, and jazz musician and teacher David Baker. André once told me “you don’t have to search for your musical voice; you have to find the courage to let it out.” David used to always say “that’s nice, but put your own thing on it” to inspire me to be more unique and imaginative. Geoff Nuttall certainly had the courage to let out his individual musical voice as a performer and music director, and it connected with people in an infectious way. I tried to let my musical mind lead me wherever it naturally wanted to go in this movement without censoring or over-thinking.
My intention in writing the Meditation movement was to give the audience and performers a chance to reflect on the ultimate reality of the universe - interconnectedness. Geoff was so skilled at bringing people together through music, and I wanted to provide a moment for people to close their eyes and experience the power and magic of a collective moment of awareness in the concert hall. To do this, the string quartet invites the audience to focus on their breath by creating sounds of inhalation and exhalation, and compositional techniques inspired by medieval chant and the music of Arvo Pärt hopefully bring forth a moment of timelessness.
It is no secret that Geoff’s favorite composer was Franz Joseph Haydn. In writing the Finale movement, I was listening to Haydn non-stop. Geoff spent much of his life as an evangelist for Haydn’s music, so I wanted to take in as much as I could in his honor. As Geoff was so full of life and love, I wanted to create a moment of joyous celebration that would perhaps leave us all with a smile. Towards the end of the movement, there is a final reflective moment, full of plagal cadences (also known as the “Amen” cadence) and a hopeful lyricism that represents us watching Geoff’s soul finally ascend to the heavens.
Reflections and Exaltations was commissioned by the St. Lawrence Quartet and Persis Drell & James Welch in memory of Geoff Nuttall.