Concert of Hope
September 18 & 19, 2020
Brett Deubner, viola
Internationally acclaimed artist Brett Deubner joins us for this special concert of hope, healing and reconnection through music.
If you would like watch the concert from home, you can purchase a ticket to the live stream of the concert here.
For more information on our guest artist, click here.
For season ticket holders who do not want to attend in person, live streaming will be made available, courtesy of AARP of North Dakota.
If you would like watch the concert from home, you can purchase a ticket to the live stream of the concert here.
Program
Suite for Strings (In Olden Style from Holberg's Time), Op. 40..Edward Grieg (1843-1907)
I. Prelude (Allegro vivace)
The River Cam................Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)
Dr. Brett Deubner, viola
Sinfonia No. 3, F. XI, no. 40....................Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1743)
Allegro molto - Andante - Allegro non troppo
St. Melangell's Voyage Across the Sea.............Max Wolpert (b. 1993)
I. Mor Iwerddon, 538 A.D.
II. Prayer
III. Now as for the Rabbits...
Dr. Brett Deubner, viola
INTERMISSION
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola, K. 364...........Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Andante
III. Presto
Dr. Everaldo Martinez, violin and Dr. Brett Deubner, viola
Program Notes
The Holberg Suite was composed by Edward Grieg to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of playwright Ludvig Holberg, who shared with Grieg the birthplace of Bergen. Originally composed for piano, Grieg transcribed the work for orchestra, shortly after its successful premiere in December 1884. The lilting, hopeful style of the Prelude make it an audience favorite.
The River Cam is a work for cello and strings by the composer Eric Whitacre composed for the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber's sixtieth birthday which he premiered on 14 April 2011 at the Royal Festival Hall in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra. It is being performed by Dr. Deubner on viola with permission from the composer.
Vivaldi's Sinfonia in G is called "The Choir of the Muses" because it was performed as the serenata to a cantata by the same title of Gennaro D/Alessandro, for an elaborate concert on March 21, 1740 in honor of Prince Frederick Christian.
St. Melangell's Voyage Across the Sea: Commissioned by Marcy and Mark Sudock for the Musique Sur La Mer Orchestra, Marcy Sudock, conductor, Brett Deubner, soloist. St. Melangell was an Irish princess who fled her homeland to escape an unwanted arranged marriage. Sailing across the Irish Sea, she settled in Powys, in central Wales. For 15 years she lived as a hermit until it happened that Brochwel, the prince of Powys, went hunting hares in the forest where she dwelt. The hare took refuge under Melangell's cloak and the dogs refused to go near. When the huntsman attempted to blow his horn to urge the hounds onward, the sound faltered and the horn stuck to his lips. The prince, seeing that she was surely a holy woman, granted Melangell those lands to build an abbey. Her church of Pennant Melangell stands in Wales to this day, and she is recognized as the patron saint of hares, rabbits, and small woodland animals.
Sinfonia Concertante was composed by Mozart in 1779 during a time when he was experimenting with a fusion of the symphony and the concerto. He was on what amounted to a job search, resulting in a tour of Europe that included Paris and Manheim. For many, this piece represents the grandest of Mozart's violin concertos, surpassing the five official ones. At the same time, the viola is no wall flower in this piece. Mozart's choice of instrument for the second soloist perhaps hints at his own love of playing viola in string quartet ensembles. An interesting characteristic of the Sinfonia Concertante is the remarkable partnership and equality shared by both soloists and the searingly beautiful sound blend they create. Mozart's original score even inscribes the viola part in D major, thus requiring the violist to tune the strings up a half-step. The intention is to give the usually more-reserved viola a certain resonance to offset the violin's usual vivid sonority.