August 1, 2025

interviewer, who asked him if it were true. Kreisler

PRE-CONCERT RECITAL howled with laughter. He said it was the funniest
thing he had ever heard. But, he said, it was not true.
Fritz Kreisler’s 150th Birthday Celebration First of all, he and Rachmaninoff always took over the
Born: 1875 Metropolitan Opera for their charity performances.
Died: 1962 And, second of all, ‘I never lost my place in the
Kreutzer,’ Kreisler said, drawing himself up.”
Fritz Kreisler may have been the most natural
musician who ever lived. Following boyhood studies
at the Vienna and Paris Conservatories, he had CONCERT
no musical instruction after age 12. And after an
American tour at age 15, he put the violin aside for Piano Trio No. 2 in B minor, Op. 76
six years, spending that time in medical school and
the army before picking up the violin again and JOAQUÍN TURINA
resuming his career. Music just seemed to flow Born: 1882
out of him: he could pull out a sonata he had not Died: 1949
Composed: 1933
played in years, glance at it, and walk on stage to
play it from memory. Audiences loved Kreisler, his I. Lento — Allegro molto moderato
gorgeous sound, and his impeccable technique, and
II. Molto vivace
Kreisler loved to play for them: in one year alone, he
gave 260 concerts (his good friend Rachmaninoff
III. Lento — Andante mosso — Allegretto
grumbled that Kreisler gave so many concerts that
he never needed to practice). Trained at first in Seville and Madrid, Turina moved
to Paris in 1905 at the age of 23, to study with
Kreisler composed several different kinds of music. Vincent d’Indy at the Schola Cantorum. Like so
There were “serious” compositions, like his String many young Spanish composers of his generation,
Quartet. There were the short, charming pieces for Turina loved Paris, its richness, and the training it
violin and piano; though sneered at as “salon music” offered. He remained there for nine years, returning
by snobs of another age, they are some of the most to Spain just as World War I began. Many young
enchanting and melodic pieces ever written. There Spanish composers of this era devoted themselves
are the series of quasi-baroque pieces purportedly to Spanish subjects and to creating a specifically
by Pugnani, Porpora, Martini, and others that Spanish music. Turina was very much part of this
Kreisler claimed to have discovered in a monastery nationalist movement, as compositions such as
in southern France. For years he played these to Sinfonia sevillana, La oración del torero, and Sanlucar
rhapsodic acclaim before admitting in 1935 that he de Barrameda make clear. But among his generation
had written them himself–to the howls of critics who of Spanish composers, it was Turina who remained
felt that they had been duped. most strongly attracted to the classical forms
developed by German composers: sonatas, trios,
In his book The Virtuosi, Harold C. Schoenberg tells and quartets.
a story that captures Kreisler’s spirit perfectly. Once
at a benefit concert when he was performing the In Madrid, Turina conducted and composed, and
Kreutzer Sonata with Rachmaninoff, Kreisler became in 1930 he was named Professor of Composition
lost and desperately tried to find his way back. at the Madrid Conservatory. His Piano Trio No. 2
in B minor, Opus 76 dates from 1931, shortly after
“For God’s sake, Sergei, where am I?” he whispered. his appointment to the faculty of the Madrid
Conservatory. Though Turina uses no actual
“In Carnegie Hall,” Rachmaninoff whispered back. folktunes in this music, it nevertheless has a
particularly “Spanish” atmosphere: the Trio is full
Schoenberg concludes: “When Kreisler was a of the rhythms and melodic shapes characteristic
very old man he was told this story by a young of Spanish music. The first movement opens with
Program Notes
a quiet–and very brief–Lento introduction before In 1894, at age 36, she returned to composition
the Allegro molto moderato surges to life with the and quickly achieved success. After hearing one
exciting main theme. Turina writes a playful second of Bonis’ piano quartets, Saint-Saëns remarked:
subject for the violin, and this dynamic opening “I never thought a woman could write something
section gives way to a reflective central episode such as this. She knows all the clever tricks of the
introduced by the cello; the opening material returns composer’s trade.” Faced with such attitudes,
to drive the movement to the piano’s powerful Bonis adopted a shortened version of her first
concluding chord. The Molto vivace, set in the 5/8 name (Mel), feeling that its gender neutrality
meter characteristic of some Spanish folk music, is would let her music be judged more fairly. She
in ABA form. The piano has the musical interest at
composed over 300 works, including chamber
the beginning while double-stroked muted strings
music, songs and other vocal music, works for
race along quietly as accompaniment; at the center
piano, and a handful of orchestral compositions.
of this movement, the strings have a lyric duet
before the opening material returns. The finale is
The period of World War I was difficult for her (one
episodic in structure: it is essentially a series of of her sons was a POW, though he returned safely
dances, and along the way there are many changes after the war), and she contracted debilitating
of speed and mood. The most lively and colorful of arthritis. During the 1920’s music headed in
the movements, it provides a fitting conclusion to entirely new directions, and Bonis’ music, rooted
the Trio. in the romantic idiom of the nineteenth century,
fell out of fashion. When she died in 1937 at age 79,
she had been almost entirely forgotten.
Andante religioso, Op. 78
Composed: 1909–10
In the years 1909-10, Bonis wrote three brief
Allegretto ma non troppo, Op. 84 pieces for violin and piano, dedicating them to
Composed: 1909–10
friends and colleagues in Paris. These pieces
MEL BONIS were conceived as individual works, but in 2018
Born: 1858 the French publisher Henry Lemoine brought
Died: 1937 them out under the title Trois pièces pour violon
et piano; this recital offers the first two of those
Melanie Bonis showed extraordinary musical pieces. Both are gentle, and both are beautifully
promise as a girl–she taught herself to play the written for the two instruments. The first is titled
piano–but her parents discouraged any thought Andante religioso. While “religioso” does not have
of a career in music. Fortunately, she was able a particular musical meaning, it often refers to
to play for César Franck, who arranged for her dignified and heartfelt music, and that is the case
admission to the Paris Conservatory. At the here. The music is marked Sostenuto (“sustained”),
Conservatory, where she was a fellow student and the graceful melody heard at the beginning
of Debussy, she studied piano (with Franck) rises to a restrained climax, then falls away to
and composition. She had great success at the a quiet conclusion. The Allegretto non troppo
Conservatory, where she was awarded prizes in is more animated, with the violin’s melodic line
both harmony and piano, but her parents forced unfolding above a steady rush of sixteenths from
her into an arranged marriage with a successful the piano; much of the writing here is set high in
businessman 22 years her senior. This brought the violin’s range. The subdued second theme-
her a very comfortable lifestyle, but it also threw group maintains some of the opening atmosphere
up hurdles: her husband did not like music, and before a brief return of that opening material and
he already had five sons. Bonis, who had three another quiet close.
children with him, was forced to give up any
thought of a musical career, and she devoted the
next twenty years to her domestic responsibilities.

SEATTLECHAMBERMUSIC.ORG| |593
SEATTLECHAMBERMUSIC.ORG
Thème varié, Op. 15 might be described as “organic” variations: rather
than numbering the variations and developing each
CHARLOTTE SOHY separately, Sohy lets her theme evolve continuously
Born: 1887 across the music’s nine-minute span. Some of these
Died: 1955 episodes are fast, some are slow; Sohy changes
Composed: 1921
meters frequently and takes her music through
remote keys along the way. The writing for violin
Born into a wealthy and cultivated family that is graceful and lyric, though this does not prevent
encouraged her musical interests, Charlotte Marie its turning brilliant–at one point the violin soars up
Louise Durey made the most of her opportunities. to a high E, almost at the end of the instrument’s
She studied piano and composition as a child fingerboard. These spirits eventually wind down, and
and then entered the Schola Cantorum in Paris, Thème varié, which had begun in D minor, concludes
where she studied organ with Louis Vierne and very quietly in D Major.
composition with Vincent d’Indy; she later studied
counterpoint with Albert Roussel. She thrived in
this rich atmosphere: among her friends were Mel String Quintet in C Major, D. 956
Bonis and Nadia Boulanger. In 1909 she married the FRANZ SCHUBERT
French composer Marcel Labey, with whom she had Born: 1797
seven children. Their home in Paris became a center Died: 1828
for artistic gatherings, and the couple was part of Composed: 1828
the thriving musical life in Paris before and after
World War I. I. Allegro ma non troppo
II. Adagio
With all these demands, her time to compose was III. Scherzo. Presto — Trio. Andante sostenuto
limited: her list of published works runs to only IV. Allegretto
35 opus numbers. Among these are a symphony
inspired by World War I, the lyric drama L‘esclave Universally acknowledged as one of the finest
couronné (for which she wrote the libretto), songs, creations in all chamber music, Schubert’s String
works for keyboard, and chamber music, including Quintet in C Major dates from the miraculous final
four string quartets; she also wrote the libretto for year of that composer’s brief life, 1828. That year saw
her husband’s lyric drama Bérengère. Though she the revision of the “Great” Symphony in C Major and
was well-positioned in Parisian musical life, she the composition of the three final piano sonatas,
was quite aware of the difficulties facing women the songs of the Schwanengesang collection, this
composers: as a composer she adopted the name quintet, and the song “Der Hirt auf Dem Felsen,”
Sohy from her maternal grandfather and signed completed in the weeks just prior to Schubert’s
some of her works as Charles Sohy or Ch. Sohy; death on November 19. The date of the Quintet is
she also published under completely invented difficult to pin down, but it was probably composed
masculine names (and she published some music at the end of the summer: on October 2 Schubert
under her own name, too). Sohy wrote in the wrote to one of his publishers that he had “finally
polished post-Romantic style fashionable at the turned out a Quintet for 2 violins, 1 viola, and 2
turn of the century, a style that quickly went out of violoncellos.”
vogue after World War I. Though she lived until 1955,
Sohy’s music was seldom performed over the final Some have been quick to hear premonitions of
decades of her life and is being rediscovered only death in this quintet, as if this music–Schubert’s last
now. instrumental work–must represent a summing-up
of his life. But it is dangerous to read intimations
Sohy composed her Thème varié in 1921, scoring of mortality into music written shortly before any
it originally for violin and piano. She also prepared composer’s death, and there is little basis for such
a version for violin and orchestra, though it is the a conclusion here–although he was ill during the
original version that is heard at this concert. This summer, Schubert did not know that he was fatally
“varied theme,” set in D minor and marked Lent ill. Rather than being death-haunted, the Quintet
(“Slow”), is sung by the violin at the very beginning. in C Major is music of great richness, music that
That theme then goes through a series of what suffuses a golden glow. Some of this is due to its
Program Notes
unusual sonority: the additional cello brings weight Many have heard Hungarian folk music in the opening
to the instrumental texture and allows one cello to of the Allegretto, with its evocation of wild Romani
become a full partner in the thematic material, a fiddling. The second theme is one of those graceful
freedom Schubert fully exploits. Of unusual length little tunes that only Schubert could write; both
(over 50 minutes long), the Quintet also shows the themes figure throughout the movement, until finally
incredible harmonic freedom of Schubert’s final another cello duet leads to a fiery coda ingeniously
years–someone once commented that this music employing both main themes.
seems to change keys every two bars.
The Quintet in C Major is one of the glories of the
The opening Allegro ma non troppo is built on three chamber music repertory and one of Schubert’s
theme groups: the quiet violin theme heard at the finest works. Yet he never heard a performance of it.
very beginning, an extended duet for the two cellos, The Quintet may have been rehearsed at a gathering
and a little march figure for all five instruments. The of Schubert’s friends in October–the evidence is
cello duet is unbelievably beautiful, so beautiful that unclear–and Schubert died a few weeks later. The
many musicians (certainly many cellists!) have said music then slipped from memory: it lay in manuscript
that they would like nothing on their tombstone for years and was not officially premiered until 1850,
except the music for this passage. But it is the march twenty-two years after Schubert’s death.
tune that dominates the development section; the
recapitulation is a fairly literal repeat of the opening
section, and a brief coda brings the movement to its Program notes by Eric Bromberger
close.

Longest of the four movements, the Adagio is in ABA

form. The opening is remarkable. The three middle
voices–second violin, viola, and first cello–sing a
gentle melody that stretches easily over 28 bars;
the second cello accompanies them with pizzicato
notes, while high above the first violin decorates the
melody with quiet interjections of its own. The middle
section, in F minor, feels agitated and dark. A trill
leads back to the opening material, but now the two
outer voices accompany the melody with runs and
swirls that have suddenly grown complex.

The third movement is a scherzo-and-trio, marked

Presto. The bounding scherzo, with its hunting horn
calls, is fairly straightforward, but the trio is quite
unusual, in some surprising ways the emotional
center of the entire Quintet. One normally expects
a trio section to be gentle in mood, sometimes even
a thematic extension of the scherzo. But this trio,
marked Andante sostenuto and in the unexpected
key of D-flat Major, is spare, grave, haunting. Schubert
sets it in 4/4 instead of the expected 3/4, and its lean
lines and harmonic surprises give it a grieving quality
quite different from the scherzo–and from the rest
of the Quintet. The lament concludes, and the music
plunges back into sunlight as the scherzo resumes.

SEATTLECHAMBERMUSIC.ORG| |593
SEATTLECHAMBERMUSIC.ORG