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X-WR-CALNAME:Groupmuses near 
X-WR-NAME:Groupmuses near 
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260814T100831Z
UID:4489895c-654a-46e8-92c6-8f498ed41350
DTSTART:20210521T233000Z
DTEND:20210522T020000Z
DESCRIPTION:Hosted by \nMusicians: Michael Maronich and Nicholas Pappone\n\
 nJoin me as I make my Groupmuse debut\, collaborating with my friend and c
 olleague\, Nicholas Pappone\, on an unusual program of forgotten\, but won
 derful sonatas for violin and piano.  They take you on a varied journey\, 
 from the hyper-romanticism of a young Frank Bridge\, William Bolcom's love
  of American jazz\, to the fairy-tale Norwegian folk songs that surrounded
  Edvard Grieg.  Nicholas and I met moving into the dorms at Manhattan Scho
 ol of Music\, the first day of our freshman year.  Many years later\, I wa
 s even Nicholas's best man at his wedding!\n\n--Notes on the program--\n\n
 Frank Bridge was the teacher of the famous English composer\, Benjamin Bri
 tten\, who highly respected him and championed his music.  Bridge has a ce
 rtain knack for string chamber music writing\, as he made much of his earl
 y career as a string quartet violist and freelance orchestra musician.  Hi
 s first Violin Sonata is very rarely played (possibly because he left it i
 ncomplete) making this performance a unique treat!  It clearly shows influ
 ences from the late romanticism of Strauss and a way of writing for violin
  and piano very similar to Strauss's famous Violin Sonata\, yet always wit
 h his own distinctly British touch.  It is a shame he didn't complete the 
 piece\, as it has a real intimate and genuine emotionality that is very un
 ique to Bridge.  \n\nAmerican composer William Bolcom and his violinist fr
 iend\, Sergiu Luca\, both enjoyed the music of the famous jazz violinist J
 oe Venuti.  So shortly after Venuti's death\, they collaborated on this so
 nata.  Through the piece\, you can trace an amusing story line of the pian
 o gradually trying to convince the violin to stop insisting on spikey mode
 rnist music and relent to the joys of jazz.  By the last movement\, the pi
 ano is quite successful!\n\nGrieg's second Violin Sonata\, Op. 13 is not o
 ften played because it is overshadowed by his much more popular third Viol
 in Sonata\, Op. 45.  He wrote it in a very joyous three week period shortl
 y after returning to Norway from the conservatory in Leipzig and getting m
 arried.  Of his three violin sonatas it is known as the really "Norwegian"
  one!  We can see Grieg's unique compositional voice begin to emerge here.
   The sonata opens with this dramatic and improvisatory lament in which yo
 u can hear the powerful geography of Norway through the lyrical voice of a
  folk singer.  (Or maybe it is the voice of his new wife\, Nina\, who was 
 a famous lyric soprano?) These improvisatory gestures are omnipresent thro
 ugh the rest of the piece\, but by the third movement the gloom soon lifts
  to reveal the unbridled joy of a spring folk dance.  Grieg's teacher at t
 he time called the piece "too Norwegian."  Grieg apparently responded by p
 romising his next piece would be even more Norwegian! 
LOCATION:New York
SUMMARY:Forgotten Gems of the Violin Sonata Repertoire: Michael Maronich\, 
 piano and Nicholas Pappone\, violin
URL:https://www.groupmuse.com/events/11570-forgotten-gems-of-the-violin-son
 ata-repertoire-michael-maronich-piano-and-nicholas-pappone-violin
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