Concert 3: Locus of Movement - Chicago

Picosa’s February CONCERT IS ALL ABOUT CAPTURING MOVEMENT - musically, symbolically, and historically.  The program opens with the dance-inspired _Divertimento opus 100, no. 1,_ by Franz Josef Haydn.  Three miniature works by Augusta Read Thomas _D(i)agon(als) _for solo clarinet, _Euterpe’s Caprice_ for solo flute, and _Capricci_ for flute and clarinet capture MOVEMENT AND MOTION IN THEIR MERCURIAL AND SPINNING MUSICAL LINES. Sprinkled throughout the program are three contrasting works representing the motion through life itself, from childhood to the twilight years.  Marc Mellits’ _Mara’s Lullaby_ for flute, cello, and piano captures a melody the composer sang to his infant daughter at bedtime, and Asha Srinivasan’s _Dviraag_ for flute and cello references the Carnatic singing of the composer’s youth.  Claude Debussy’s _Violin Sonata_ was written late in the composers’ life, and seems particularly appropriate as we observe Debussy’s Centenary Celebration, honoring the 100th anniversary of his passing in 2018.  Finally, Picosa is thrilled to present Arnold Schoenberg’s romantic yet revolutionary_ Kammersymphonie No. 1_, transcribed by Anton Webern.  The music of “the Second Viennese School”, which included composers Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils Anton Webern and Alban Berg, created a seismic shift in the western tradition of classical music, moving away from diatonicism and towards heterodox terrain in tonality and form.  Works including Schoenberg’s _Kammersymphonie_ ultimately paved the way between the romantic music of composers like Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler and the new modernist language and expression of contemporary music. PROGRAM FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN | _Divertimento op. 100, No. 1_ (flute/violin/cello) _   I. Adagio cantabile __   II. Allegro __   III. Allegro moderato _MARC MELLITS | _Mara’s Lullaby__ _(flute/cello/piano) AUGUSTA READ THOMAS | _D(i)agon(als)_ (clarinet) AUGUSTA READ THOMAS | _Euterpe’s Caprice _(flute) AUGUSTA READ THOMAS | _Capricci _(flute/clarinet) CLAUDE DEBUSSY | _Violin Sonata in g minor  _(violin/piano) _   I. Allegro vivo __   II. Intermede. Fantasque et leger __  III. Finale. Tres anime_ _pause_ ASHA SRINIVASAN | _Dviraag_ (flute/cello) ARNOLD SCHOENBERG ARR. WEBERN | _Kammersymphonie_, op. 9 (flute/clarinet/violin/cello/piano)  Picosa Artists Jennie Oh Brown | flute Andrea R. DiOrio | clarinet Elizabeth Brausa Brathwaite | violin Kuang-Hao Huang | piano Jonathon Kirk | Composer-in-Residence Guest Artist Kurt Fowler | cello