You’ll be enchanted by this gracious evening of sophisticated French music for violin and piano with Artistic Director Jonathan Crow and longtime friend of TSM, Philip Chiu.

Jonathan Crow, violin
Philip Chiu, piano

Louise Farrenc: Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 39

Jules Massenet: “Méditation” from Thaïs

Darius Milhaud: “Brasileira” from Scaramouche (arr. Jascha Heifetz)

Claude Debussy: “Beau Soir”, L.6 (arr, Jascha Heifetz)

George Gershwin: Excerpts from An American in Paris (arr. Jascha Heifetz)

Gabriel Fauré: Sonata No. 1 in A Major, Op. 13 

This concert is generously supported by Jack Whiteside.

Programme notes 

Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) 

Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 39 

Allegro grazioso 

Scherzo, Allegro 

Adagio 

Finale (Allegro) 

Born in Paris in 1804, Louise Farrenc was active throughout her life as a composer, concert pianist, and music educator. A virtuosic pianist from an early age, Farrenc also began composition lessons at the age of 15 under the tutelage of Anton Reicha, who was a composition professor at the Paris Conservatory. These lessons were likely private, as women were not permitted to study or audit classes in composition at the Paris Conservatoire until 1879. By balancing composition with her career as a concert pianist in an age when it was considered “unfeminine” and largely inappropriate for women to compose music, Farrenc broke numerous barriers. She mostly composed in the few genres it was considered acceptable for women to compose in – specifically, music for the piano and some forms of chamber music – but she did branch out into composing for larger ensembles, especially in the 1840s, when she composed three symphonies. In 1842, Farrenc’s fame and reputation as a concert pianist was so great that the Paris Conservatory hired her as a piano professor, a position she held for almost thirty years. In spite of being a renowned and influential educator, Farrenc was paid less than her male counterparts for the first decade of her teaching career; she successfully negotiated equal pay in 1852, an especially remarkable achievement when one considers that income inequity between men and women persists to this day. In addition to her busy career as a composer, educator, and pianist, Farrenc also worked together with her husband, Astride Farrenc, to create Éditions Farrenc. While the couple was not responsible for the day-to-day oversight of the company, it was France’s leading music publishing company for over forty years. Composed in 1850, Op. 59 is one of Farrenc’s two violin sonatas. 

Copyright © 2022 Rena Roussin 

Jules Massenet (1842-1912) 

“Méditation” from Thaïs 

Some composers have the misfortune to have their entire oeuvre reduced to a single, timeless gem. (Of course, one hit is better than none.) Such was Massenet’s fate, his glowing and heart-wrenching “Méditation” from his opera Thaïs, performed in innumerable transcriptions.  

Copyright © 2019 Robert Rival 

Robert Rival is a composer, music writer & teacher. robertrival.com 

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): “Brasileira” from Scaramouche (arr. Heifetz)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): “Beau Soir”, L. 6 (arr. Heifetz)

George Gershwin (1898-1937): Excerpts from An American in Paris (arr. Heifetz)

”Keep it short,” Jascha Heifetz once told an interviewer. “’Born in Russia, first lessons at 3, debut in Russia at 7, debut in America in 1917.’ That’s all there is to say, really.” However, his public would have other opinions. A Russian-born child prodigy to musical parents, he performed with the Berlin Philharmonic by the time he was only 13 years old and was already receiving critical acclaim across Europe before moving to the States and debuting at Carnegie Hall in 1917. Over the course of his life, he would tour the world several times over, record countless enduring pieces, and influence the playing of many violinists with his distinctive sound: fast vibrato, emotionally charged portamento, and a brilliant sound. He appeared in several films and used his notoriety as an advocate: championing early environmental campaigns and campaigning for instituting the 9-1-1 emergency line in the US. 

With his worldwide performing career, Jascha Heifetz arranged many of his encores from well-loved works recognizable to his audiences. By taking these popular favorites, he opened himself to criticism from those who preferred to hear the master playing more “serious” works. Gramaphone Magazine reluctantly acquiesced: “one factor that elevates these transcriptions from sounding routine is the quite remarkable quality of writing in the accompaniments… the arrangements are so well put together that one entirely tolerates the more trivial music, especially since no item exceeds four and a half minutes.” These transcriptions remind the audience that sometimes, a popular melody is popular for a reason; they make for exciting encores and endure as published collections for violinists. Not confining himself to the classical genre, Jascha Heifetz even composed a few pop songs under the pseudonym Jim Hoyl – most famously, ”When You Make Love to Me” performed by Bing Crosby.  

The three transcriptions featured in this performance reflect the playful nature of the recital. “Brasileira” is Heifetz’ transcription of the third movement from Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche published in a variety of forms, including an orchestral suite for saxophone as incidental music for Molière’s Le Méedin Volant, for clarinet and orchestra (performed by the great Benny Goodman), and as a piano duet. Milhaud, as a member of Les Six, shared a compositional philosophy in opposition to the German Romantics and French Impressionist schools. “Brasileira” is influenced by Milhaud’s visit to Brazil in 1917, and includes allusions to the rhythms of the Samba, and presents a buzzing, metropolitan quality, arranged brilliantly in this charged encore. 

In stark contrast to “Brasileira”, “Beau Soir” is a rich and sweeping art song published by Claude Debussy in 1891. It sets the poem of Paul Bourget: 

Translation by Richard Stokes 

Like the wheat fields and the sea that are so evocatively described, there are undulating triplets in the piano, in contrast to the duple metre of the melody. Expressive, yet tranquil, this song didn’t catch the attention of Heifetz alone; there also exists a well-known transcription for cello and piano by renowned cellist, Julian Lloyd Webber, brother of Andrew Lloyd Webber.  

Rounding off the selection of Heifetz transcriptions are excerpts from Gershwin’s An American in Paris, the quintessential American symphonic poem. Jascha Heifetz and George Gershwin often played together and were good friends. Heifetz was enthusiastic about Gershwin’s music, including excerpts from Porgy & Bess and several piano preludes. Painting the metropolitan hubbub of the city, these excerpts from An American in Paris reflect a series of episodes from a tourists’ perspective on the exciting streets of 19th century Paris—an audience favorite since its original premiere in 1928.  Interestingly, it’s not known whether Heifetz ever got the opportunity to perform these transcriptions before his death in December 1987. 

Copyright © 2022 TSM Staff 

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) 

Sonata No. 1 in A Major, Op. 13 

Allegro moderato 

Andante 

Scherzo: Allegro vivo 

Finale: Allegro quasi presto 

While Fauré is now remembered as one of France’s most influential composers, he struggled for much of his lifetime to receive proper recognition and remuneration for his compositional work, and until the final decades of his life was more well-known as an organist and educator. Fauré began training to be a church organist and choirmaster when he was nine years old, initially at the École Niedermeyer, which was a famed school offering instruction in church music. It is likely that Fauré began his first forays into composition at a young age at the school, likely with the influence of his teacher – and lifelong mentor and friend – Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), who taught at the École Niedermeyer for five years before rising to prominence as a composer. However, Fauré’s early compositions are largely lost, and his busy career as a church organist, choirmaster, and organ teacher likely left minimal composition time. While several earlier published works exist, the Sonata No. 1 in A major was arguably Fauré’s “breakthrough” piece. Composed between 1875-76, and published and premiered in 1877, the sonata was the first of Fauré’s works to be widely performed. Saint-Saëns publicly praised his friend’s sonata, writing in the Journal de musique that Op. 13 “has everything that will seduce the gourmet: novel forms, exquisite modulations, uncommon tone colours, the use of the most unexpected rhythms. And hovering above all this is a magic which envelops the work.” The sonata’s ‘magic’ has been enduring, and it remains one of Fauré’s most well-known and popular chamber pieces. 

Copyright © 2022 Rena Roussin