American Soundscapes
September 16, 2026
This concert gives a sampling of loosely interwoven North American and European chamber music. What follows is a brief description of each work and/or its composer.
Pianist and composer Timo Andres has a wide-ranging career, which has most recently taken the form of collaboration with jazz pianist Aaron Diehl. Of ‘An Open Book’, he writes simply:
Adam Tendler once commented to me that he is “an open book.” I agreed, and immediately wrote down this thought in case I ever wrote a piece for him.
--
The divertimenti of W.A. Mozart are some of his most casual works. There is an ease and brightness about them which flows like water. They are early works, written around 1772.
--
Christopher Cerrone is renowned nationally and internationally as a composer, having won a Grammy and written major works for performance across the world. Of his Violin Sonata, he writes:
I have a distinct memory of a composition lesson I had in college (probably c. 2005) where I told my composition teacher, “I swear I will never write a piece for violin and piano.”
Yet here it is.
--
John Harbison has long been one of the pillars of the American composition scene, having won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for his Cantata, “The Flight into Egypt.” His studious, jazz-inflected compositions have been a regular feature at this Festival.
--
Peter Lieberson was a composer of international renown, and a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. He taught at Harvard University from 1984 to 1988. The second movement comes from a recollection of Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes.
--
Franz Schubert’s Death and the Maiden is one of the more famous of all string quartets. It takes its name from the song woven into these variations. The text of this song (which contains most of the music used in this movement, altered for variation form) is as follows:
Das Mädchen:
Vorüber! Ach, vorüber!
Geh, wilder Knochenmann!
Ich bin noch jung! Geh, Lieber,
Und rühre mich nicht an.
Und rühre mich nicht an.
The Maiden:
Pass me by! Oh, pass me by!
Go, fierce man of bones!
I am still young! Go, dear,
And do not touch me.
And do not touch me.
Der Tod:
Gib deine Hand, du schön und zart Gebild!
Bin Freund, und komme nicht, zu strafen.
Sei gutes Muts! Ich bin nicht wild,
Sollst sanft in meinen Armen schlafen!
Death:
Give me your hand, you beautiful and tender form!
I am a friend, and come not to punish.
Be of good cheer! I am not fierce,
Softly shall you sleep in my arms!
--
The music of Schubert is often buoyed by a simple motion in the left hand; Ann Southam takes this interwoven element and gives it a life all its own. She was born in Manitoba and lived in Toronto for most of her life, where she championed new music and especially music by women. By the time of her death in 2010, she had left a legacy not only of composition but of service and philanthropy in Canada and beyond.
–Tim Summers
Pianist and composer Timo Andres has a wide-ranging career, which has most recently taken the form of collaboration with jazz pianist Aaron Diehl. Of ‘An Open Book’, he writes simply:
Adam Tendler once commented to me that he is “an open book.” I agreed, and immediately wrote down this thought in case I ever wrote a piece for him.
--
The divertimenti of W.A. Mozart are some of his most casual works. There is an ease and brightness about them which flows like water. They are early works, written around 1772.
--
Christopher Cerrone is renowned nationally and internationally as a composer, having won a Grammy and written major works for performance across the world. Of his Violin Sonata, he writes:
I have a distinct memory of a composition lesson I had in college (probably c. 2005) where I told my composition teacher, “I swear I will never write a piece for violin and piano.”
Yet here it is.
--
John Harbison has long been one of the pillars of the American composition scene, having won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for his Cantata, “The Flight into Egypt.” His studious, jazz-inflected compositions have been a regular feature at this Festival.
--
Peter Lieberson was a composer of international renown, and a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. He taught at Harvard University from 1984 to 1988. The second movement comes from a recollection of Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes.
--
Franz Schubert’s Death and the Maiden is one of the more famous of all string quartets. It takes its name from the song woven into these variations. The text of this song (which contains most of the music used in this movement, altered for variation form) is as follows:
Das Mädchen:
Vorüber! Ach, vorüber!
Geh, wilder Knochenmann!
Ich bin noch jung! Geh, Lieber,
Und rühre mich nicht an.
Und rühre mich nicht an.
The Maiden:
Pass me by! Oh, pass me by!
Go, fierce man of bones!
I am still young! Go, dear,
And do not touch me.
And do not touch me.
Der Tod:
Gib deine Hand, du schön und zart Gebild!
Bin Freund, und komme nicht, zu strafen.
Sei gutes Muts! Ich bin nicht wild,
Sollst sanft in meinen Armen schlafen!
Death:
Give me your hand, you beautiful and tender form!
I am a friend, and come not to punish.
Be of good cheer! I am not fierce,
Softly shall you sleep in my arms!
--
The music of Schubert is often buoyed by a simple motion in the left hand; Ann Southam takes this interwoven element and gives it a life all its own. She was born in Manitoba and lived in Toronto for most of her life, where she championed new music and especially music by women. By the time of her death in 2010, she had left a legacy not only of composition but of service and philanthropy in Canada and beyond.
–Tim Summers