presents
sally pinkas piano
Funded in part by the Forrest L. Fraser 1956 Fund.
Spaulding Auditorium’s Hamburg Steinway concert grand piano was purchased with generous gifts from
Members of the Hopkins Center and Members of the Hood Museum of Art; the class of 1942, in memory of
Allan Dingwall ’42; and anonymous donors.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015 • 7 pm
Spaulding Auditorium • Dartmouth College
program
Fantasy in C minor, D 2 E (1811)
Largo–Andantino−Allegro−Largo
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Rondo in G Major, Op. 51 No. 2 (c.1798)
Andante cantabile e grazioso−Allegretto−Tempo I
Sonata No. 2 in B minor, Op. 61 (1943)
Allegretto
Largo
Moderato (con moto)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
• INTERMISSION •
SincopaXiones (2012)
World Premiere
Wanderer Fantasy in C Major, Op. 15, D 760 (1822)
Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo−Adagio−Presto−Allegro
Dan Román (b. 1974)
Franz Schubert
program notes
Fantasy in C minor, D 2 E (1811)
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
The untitled manuscript of one of Schubert’s
earliest works, now known as the Fantasy in C
minor, D 2E, was discovered by pianist Jörg
Demus in a private collection in Sweden in the
late 1960s. It was recently reissued by Bärenreiter along with the Grazer Fantasy of 1818
(another 1960’s find) and the Wanderer Fantasy
of 1822, which concludes tonight’s program.
In this little gem the 14-year-old pays homage to
a beloved work by Mozart, another Fantasy in
C minor, K. 475 (1785). Schubert “borrows”
Mozart’s opening idea for his Largo, bringing it
back at the end to conclude in a funereal mood.
He also quotes Mozart’s Andantino theme, on
which he builds the work’s central section, a
simple variation set. Already preoccupied with
the challenge of creating musical coherence in
the absence of text, his use of variation
technique is clever indeed. One wonders
whether Schubert would have sanctioned the
publication of a student work (Brahms would
surely have destroyed it). Nevertheless, this
modest Fantasy is worthy of its association with
Mozart’s, as both call for sincere and thoughtful
sentiment.
Rondo in G Major, Op. 51 No. 2 (c.1798)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
In spite of its high opus number, Beethoven’s
Rondo in G Major, Op. 51 No. 2 dates from the
composer’s early years in Vienna. Belonging in
a small but distinct category of stand-alone
“klavierstücke,” the work was dedicated to the
program notes CONTINUED
Countess Henriette, sister of Beethoven’s
patron Prince Karl Lichnowsky, and was
probably premiered in the family salon. An
earlier Rondo in C Major, Op. 51 No. 1 (c. 1796)
was grouped together with this work, even
though the two were written and published
separately.
In this substantial Rondo, a recurring refrain
alternates with new ideas. The central episode,
an Allegretto in an unexpected E major, is
another simple variation set (might Schubert
have been familiar with this work?). Towards the
end Beethoven repeats an idea, originally
presented on the dominant D major, in the
home key of G major, thus creating a rondosonata. The contrapuntal writing and precise
performance instructions Beethoven provides
are noteworthy, as is the Rondo’s unusual
tenderness.
Sonata No. 2, Op. 61 (1943)
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Shostakovich’s Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 61, was
written in Samara, where he had been evacuated
during the Siege of Leningrad. He had recently
learned of the death of his teacher Leonid
Nikolaev, to whose memory he dedicated this
work. In Samara he had been writing his
poignant War Symphonies—the 8th was to be
completed later in 1943. Not since the Preludes
Op. 33 (1934) has he written for solo piano; his
first Piano Sonata Op. 12 (1926) was among the
most modern of his early works. In contrast, the
profoundly personal Sonata No. 2 is neoclassical
in style, showing Shostakovich’s thorough
knowledge of the traditional piano repertoire.
The composer himself premiered the work upon
his return to Moscow.
The first movement, in B minor, explores the
contrast between a simple narrative with fluid
accompaniment, and a strident March (perhaps
referencing raucous student days in Leningrad).
In the most climactic moment the two ideas are
brilliantly merged in a grotesque fashion. From
the start Shostakovich juxtaposes triple and
duple meter, major and minor modes, and voices
in a canonic interchange, creating a complex
texture. This is the most extroverted movement
of the Sonata.
The Largo touches one to the core in its
hallucinatory waltz-like flow. Shostakovich’s
quasi-expressionist writing seems a departure
from the earlier acerbic writing, although the
music is still tonal (in A flat). After a middle
section in pianisissimo, the opening melody returns, now with a canonic shadow.
Back in B minor, the final movement is an extended set of variations on a long single-line melody.
The variations’ myriad moods oscillate between
the playful (though still sad) and the somber, and
include a surreal canon between lines a major
seventh apart. Towards the end, two slower,
majestic variations usher in a simple ending,
reminiscent of the very beginning of the Sonata.
SincopaXiones (2012)
Dan Román (b. 1974)
Dan Román writes about SincopaXiones:
The idea of writing SincopaXiones was inspired
by Frederic Rzewski’s monumental variations
United, The People Will Never Be Defeated!,
but while I did not intent to achieve the same
level of length, magnitude and scope, I still
wanted to provide the performer and the listener
with a musical journey of sorts, as the theme
is presented, transformed, transmuted and
transfigured (and perhaps even disfigured) in the
process, eventually taking it back home and
restoring it toward a final recapitulation.
program notes CONTINUED
This set of 42 variations uses as a theme one
of the many possible variants of the typical
“montuno” accompaniment used by Afro
Caribbean pianists in genres such as salsa,
mambo, guaracha, the Cuban rumba, son and
songo and so on.
The structure can be seen as divided into seven
sections, each providing a set of variations in
continuous form—that is, seamlessly moving
from one into another. The structural sections
are then separated by pauses in between,
except for the two outer sections which serve
as bookends to the piece and are directly
connected to the other two contiguous sections.
About the composer: This Puerto Rican
composer has developed a compositional style
integrating elements of the folkloric music from
the Caribbean with the mechanics of minimalism
and the aesthetics of postmodern art. Román
was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1974. He
completed his bachelor’s degree in classical
guitar performance at the Conservatory of
Music of Puerto Rico, and went on to receive his
master’s and doctoral degrees in composition
from the Hartt School of the University of
Hartford, where his primary teachers were
James Sellars, Robert Carl and Stephen Gryc.
Román has received the First Prize of the
1999 Composition Competition of the Ateneo
Puertorriqueño, the Ignacio de Loyola Honor
Scholarship, The Roberto Ferdman Scholarship
awarded by Pro Arte Musical, the Edward
Diemente Scholarship from The Hartt School
and the Conservatory Medal awarded by the
Puerto Rico Conservatory. His music has been
performed in Puerto Rico, Europe, South
America, Canada and throughout the United
States, including performances at the 34th
International Viola Congress, the Guitar Founda-
tion of America Convention, CCSN’s 4th Annual
International New Music Festival, the Simsbury
Chamber Music Festival, and as part of the
Hartford Commissions Concerts at Merkin Hall
of the Kaufman Music Center in New York.
Currently, Román teaches composition, music
technology and music theory at Trinity College
(Hartford, CT), while remaining continuously
involved in new compositional projects.
Fantasy in C Major Op. 15, D 760
Franz Schubert
Schubert’s celebrated Fantasy in C Major, D 760
was published in 1823 as Fantaisie pour le
Pianoforte, composé et dediée à Monsieur
Emm. Noble de Liebenberg de Zsittin. The title
“Wanderer,” taken from Schubert’s well-known
song by that name (which he quotes in the
second movement) was applied to it only later
by Liszt.
Schubert’s biographer Newbould describes the
work as “one of the principal culminations of
a lifetime spent in creating valid personal
realizations of the fantasy ideal,” and goes on to
say that it “cannot be viewed as that alone, since
it was colored by external factors which
affect it alone among the fantasies. First, it was
finished two months after the B minor symphony
was left unfinished, at a time of personal
upheaval, when…Schubert possibly had some
premonition of the onset of his disease. Second,
it was written for an ex-pupil of Hummel’s, who
must have been a keyboard virtuoso.”
Schubert’s emotional circumstances may indeed
be reflected in the stark contrast between
the ebullient fast movements and the heavyhearted Adagio. Compositionally however, the
work is tightly ordered: the four-part plan of the
Wanderer follows a traditional Sonata structure,
and all four movements are generated from
program notes CONTINUED
the same rhythmic motive. Further, each section
unfolds using ideas just heard, resulting in a
remarkably organic flow.
The variations of the Adagio merit special
mention. In contrast with the very simple variations encountered earlier in Schubert’s student
work, the Wanderer’s variations are remarkable
for their ingenious pianistic texture. The by-now
consummate song composer paints each
melodic iteration in different colors and draws
magical sounds from the instrument.
In his final year Schubert wrote two other
important fantasies, in F Minor for Piano Fourhands, and in C Major for Violin and Piano.
Nevertheless, both pianistically and structurally,
it was the Wanderer Fantasy which left a lasting
effect on subsequent 19th century music.
Sally Pinkas
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Following her London debut at Wigmore Hall,
Israeli-born pianist Sally Pinkas has been heard
as recitalist and chamber musician throughout
the US, Europe, Asia, Russia and Nigeria.
Described by Gramophone Magazine as "an
artist who melds lucid textures with subtle
expressive detailing, minus hints of bombast or
mannerism,” she has appeared with the Boston
Pops, Aspen Philharmonia, Jupiter Symphony
and the Bulgarian Chamber Orchestra. Her
summer credits include festivals at Marlboro,
Tanglewood, Aspen, Monadnock, Apple Hill and
Rockport, as well as Kfar Blum in Israel, Officina
Scotese in Italy and Masters de Pontlevoy in
France.
Praised for her radiant tone and driving energy,
Pinkas commands a wide range of repertoire.
With Evan Hirsch (The Hirsch-Pinkas Piano Duo)
she has toured extensively, and has premiered
and recorded works by George Rochberg, Daniel
Pinkham, Peter Child, Kui Dong and Thomas
Oboe Lee. With flutist Fenwick Smith she has
recorded a 3-CD set featuring the music of
Philippe Gaubert for the Naxos label. Other
recent collaborations include the Villiers Quartet
in London and the Apple Hill Quartet in New
Hampshire. She is a member of the Boston-based
Trio Tremonti, and of Ensemble Schumann, an
Oboe-Viola-Piano Trio.
Pinkas' solo discography includes works by
Schumann, Debussy, Christian Wolff and George
Rochberg for the MSR, Naxos, Mode and
Centaur labels. Following her critically acclaimed
release of Fauré's Nocturnes on Musica Omnia,
she has recorded Fauré’s Barcarolles and Dolly
Suite, as well as his Piano Quartets (both
for MSR). The Wall Street Journal praised her
“exquisite performance” in her “superlatively
well-played” recording of Harold Shapero’s
Piano Music, recently released on the UK label
Toccata Classics.
Pinkas holds performance degrees from Indiana
University and the New England Conservatory
of Music, and a Ph.D. in composition from
Brandeis University. Her principal teachers
were Russell Sherman, George Sebok, Luise
Vosgerchian and Genia Bar-Niv (piano), Sergiu
Natra (composition) and Robert Koff (chamber
music). Pianist-in-residence at the Hopkins
Center at Dartmouth College, she is Professor of
Music at Dartmouth's Music Department.
DARTMOUTH DANCE ENSEMBLE
JOHN HEGINBOTHAM & REBECCA STENN guest directors
fri & sat may 22 & 23 8 pm • THE MOORE THEATER
The ensemble welcomes back guest director Brooklyn-based choreographer,
teacher and performer John Heginbotham, a Mark Morris Dance Group
stalwart who now leads his own acclaimed company (“a true theater artist’s
instinct for commanding his audience”—The New York Times). The concert
includes works Heginbotham has created for this ensemble as well as works by
fall 2014 guest director and former MOMIX dancer Rebecca Stenn (Rebecca
Stenn Company).
PiNk MARTiNi
tue jul 14 8 pm • SpAulDING AuDITORIuM
A Hop favorite, this “little orchestra” combines retro glamour with a
sophisticated songbook of classical, jazz, world music and timeless pop
in multiple languages. Their cocktail of meticulous musicianship and
sparkling showmanship, served with a twist of humor, have won them
audiences spanning nations and generations. This concert features
vocalist China Forbes, a “pitch-perfect chanteuse who…tempers
heartbreak with savoir-faire” (The New York Times).
Tickets go on sale May 27.
For tickets or more info call the Box Office at 603.646.2422 or visit hop.dartmouth.edu. Sign up for
weekly HopMail bulletins online or become a fan of “Hopkins Center, Dartmouth” on Facebook
Hopkins Center Management Staff
Jeffrey H. James ‘75a Howard Gilman Director
Marga Rahmann ’78, P’12 Associate Director/General Manager Joseph Clifford Director of Audience Engagement
Jay Cary ’68, T’71 Business and Administrative Officer Bill Pence Director of Hopkins Center Film
Margaret Lawrence Director of Programming Joshua Price Kol ‘93 Director of Student Performance Programs
HOPKINS CENTER BOARD OF OVERSEERS
Austin M. Beutner ’82
Kenneth L. Burns H’93
Barbara J. Couch
Allan H. Glick ’60, T’61, P’88
Barry Grove ’73
Caroline Diamond Harrison ’86, P’16
Kelly Fowler Hunter ’83, T’88, P’13, P’15
Richard P. Kiphart ’63
Please turn off your cell
phone inside the theater.
R
Robert H. Manegold ’75, P’02, P’06
Michael A. Marriott ’84, P’18
Nini Meyer
Hans C. Morris ’80, P’11, P’14 Chair of the Board
Robert S. Weil ’40, P’73 Honorary
Frederick B. Whittemore ’53, T’54, P’88, P’90, H’03
Jennifer A. Williams ’85
Diana L. Taylor ’77 Trustee Representative
Assistive Listening Devices
available in the lobby.
D A RT M O UTH
RECYCLES
If you do not wish to keep your playbill,
please discard it in the recycling bin
provided in the lobby. Thank you.