The annual chamber music concert is a cornerstone of every Brevard Philharmonic season. Past year’s concertgoers have delighted in the unique intimacy this accessible musical experience provides for both audience and musicians. This years’ concert, Chamber Strings, held at Brevard-Davidson River Presbyterian Church, promises to be an especially colorful program with selections by Grainger, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Price and Wirén.
The afternoon’s exhilarating opener is by Felix Mendelssohn. The prodigy wrote thirteen string symphonies between 1821 and 1823. His String Symphony No. 2, written when he was only 12 years old, comprises three movements: a shadowy, dark movement in a minor key, sandwiched in by fun, sprightly, first and third movements.
Originally composed for the piano, Sibelius arranged Impromptu Opus 5 for string orchestra. Written in 1893, the man who became Finland’s most beloved composer was perhaps mourning the loss of his lifelong dream of being a solo violinist. Beginning with a somewhat mournful tone, the piece works its way through all six movements until ending with the melody of the violins and violas soaring above in beautiful legato phrases.
Florence Price had no illusions about the success rate of composers like herself. She was a woman, and she was black. Although those two handicaps were obstacles to her success while she was alive, the re-discovery of her works in 2009, in a slightly more enlightened time, shed new light and appreciation upon her brilliance and vast body of work. Her Five Folk Songs in Counterpoint (1950), the third piece of the afternoon, features three recognizable American melodies in a succession of sophisticated contrapuntal guises. They are Oh My Darlin’ Clementine, Drink to Me with Thine own Eyes, and Shortnin’ Bread.
Molly on the Shore is a lively Irish reel composed by the Australian-born, internationally celebrated musical megastar of his time, Percy Grainger. The piece is an energetic crowd-pleaser that Grainger wrote for his mother in 1907.
Swedish composer Dag Wirén's artistic goals were to “entertain and please.” His Serenade Opus 11, which follows next, opens with instant charm and maintains that charm and engagement throughout the piece's four movements. Its simple beauty is perfect for the smaller chamber music setting.
The afternoon's final piece was written by Edvard Grieg in 1884 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Dano-Norwegian humanist playwright Ludvig Holberg. The Holberg Suite, Op. 40, subtitled “Suite in Olden Style,” is in five movements based on 18th-century dance forms. The piece has a sentimental, affectionate feel, an ideal background for the unveiling of a Holberg monument.
