Madeline Island Chamber Music is pleased to present Brooklyn Rider in concert on Madeline Island. Brooklyn Rider offers eclectic repertoire in gripping performances that continue to attract legions of fans and draw rave reviews from classical, world, and rock critics alike. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette raves, “They are four classical musicians performing with the energy of young rock stars jamming on their guitars, a Beethoven-goes-indie foray into making classical music accessible but also celebrating why it was good in the first place.”
JOHNNY GANDELSMAN, Violin; COLIN JACOBSEN, Violin
NICHOLAS CORDS, Viola; MICHAEL NICOLAS, Cello
Exclusive Management:
Opus 3 Artists
470 Park Avenue South – 9th floor North
New York, NY 10016
opus3artists.com
PROGRAM
Dabke On Martense Street
Kinan Azmeh
borderlands…
Matana Roberts
Quartet in A minor, Op.132
Ludwig van Beethoven
Assai sostenuto – Allegro
Allegro ma non tanto
Molto adagio
Alla marcia, assai vivace
Allegro appassionato
Program Notes
Kinan Azmeh: Dabke on Martense Street
This piece belongs to a series of compositions I have been working on in which I try to articulate my connection to spaces. Some of these pieces attempt at documenting personal experience in a given location, some are inspired by the look and the sound of a city, and some (like this piece) are inspired by fictional characters at imaginary, a sort of gathering that I hope will take place sometime in the near future.
Martense Street is a quiet street in Brooklyn where my home-base is. During the months of March and April 2020, the covid-19 pandemic has diminished my physical surrounding to just this one street and little beyond that. The shrinking of the real world outside brought a pleasant surprise: an expansion in my imaginary world which had to grow exponentially to compensate.
This piece is inspired by an imaginary Dabke dance (circular dance common in my other home: Syria) on Martense Street, a fictional party of strangers and neighbors who are willing to hold hands again and dance. Thank you Brooklyn Rider for your friendship, dedication and trust.
Kinan Azmeh, Brooklyn, May 29 2020 (Commissioned with generous support from Isabelle, Emily, Jeremy, Barbara, and David Thomas)
Mantana Roberts: borderlands…
borderlands… is built around historical data about the US-Mexico border crisis and the problems that have ensued with the more recent archaic American immigration policies. I decided to focus on a type healing that is about healing cultural rifts, healing ideas of difference, healing through remembering history, healing by highlighting the protection of rights that should be afforded to every human, regardless of where they may come from. This used to be in the spirit of what it means to be American (to me). What is going on right now is not American. It’s a sham and a shame. We can do better….
Matana Roberts (Commissioned for Brooklyn Rider by The Visiting Quartet Residency Program at Arizona State University, 2018.)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132
And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand; so Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. – (I Samuel 16.23)
The power of music to heal body, mind and spirit was a belief held from the ancient Greeks up through the ages. The topic is just as relevant today, where the synergy between music and healing is being passionately explored in the field of modern brain science (with some astounding findings). Whether the music itself is directly restorative or if it serves as a powerful and guiding metaphor has been long debated, but nevertheless, Beethoven’s inherent belief in music’s healing power is well illustrated by a visit he paid in 1804 to his former student, pianist Dorothea von Ertmann, following the death of her three-year-old son. Offering music, he prefaced an hour-long improvisation with the sparsely chosen words: “We will now speak to each other in tones.” Beethoven’s intimate friend Antonie Brentano also recalled that “…he visited me often, almost daily, and then he plays spontaneously because he has an urgent need to alleviate suffering, and he feels he is able to do so with his heavenly sounds…” The Quartet in A minor, Opus 132 is the second in a series of five quartets written at the request the Russian Prince Galitzin. These so-called late quartets represent an exquisite culmination of Beethoven’s output as a composer. Evidence of the deaf composer’s own suffering and search for higher meaning is found scattered throughout his notebooks during his final years, and Opus 132 powerfully embodies the musical essence of late Beethoven; an autobiographical world that wrestles with questions surrounding life, death, and spirituality.
A harbinger of music to come, an almost obsessive drive towards overarching motivic and thematic unity permeates this quartet. A pair of semitones separated by an expressive leap is introduced in the opening bars of the first movement, these tones (in a great multitude of pitch values, inversions, and durations) serving as fodder for all that follows across the five-movement structure. Even with the sweetness of the memorable second theme, the opening movement is generally characterized by a brooding and highly combustible tendency. In contrast, Beethoven often relied on pastoral settings across his output to explore a sense of repose and spiritual renewal, here reflected in the amiable second movement. Flowing over a gentle topography, the material is still informed here by the general motif, though with stormy tendencies much subdued. Notable is the hurdy-gurdy trio section on an A drone, filling the listener with the restorative powers of the fresh air.
In the early spring of 1825, Beethoven found himself in the throes of an infected bowel—far more serious an affliction in the day—pausing his ability to continue work on the quartet. This episode is reflected in the sublime center of this five-movement quartet, the Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesesen an die Gottheit, in der lidischen Tonart (Song of Thanksgiving from a Convalescent to the Deity, in the Lydian Mode). Beethoven at this time in his life often looked back in the musical tradition for inspiration and as a way to imagine the future. Borrowing from the ancient church modes with his use of the Lydian scale (F major with a raised 4th scale degree), Beethoven’s choice was most certainly not random; sixteenth century Italian theorist Gioseffe Zarlino observed that “the Lydian mode is a remedy for fatigue of the soul, and similarly for that of the body.” Three serene and prayerful Lydian chorale prelude episodes, each occurrence increasingly intermingling the pure tones of the half note chorale with embellished prelude material, gradually create a sense of heavenly ascension across the movement. Modulating with the simple hinge of a C-sharp, two D major sections (Neue Kraft fühlend) break these reveries with joyous expressions of new strength and convalescence. My beloved chamber music coach while in school, Felix Galimir (then approaching 90) vividly demonstrated this by stepping from his chair one leg at a time and standing tall. In his case, he was not much taller standing than seated, but the point was nevertheless well received! But the Heiliger Dankgesang is not only a celebration of feeling new physical strength, but it is essentially an expression on the renewal of the soul. For Beethoven, the return of his physical health likely ran of secondary importance to a return of his creative powers. Touchingly written in the margin of a sketch for this movement is a note surely not meant for his doctor: “Thank you for giving me back the strength to enjoy life.”
Beethoven seems to scorn those of us moved to tears by the sublime conclusion of the third movement with the interjection a raucous march, bringing us back to earth with bold force. This very brief movement leads into a heroic violin recitativo recalling the choral finale of his ninth symphony (Op 125), catapulting us into the highly turbulent world of the finale. Searching in various guises for resolution amidst strains found across all of the preceding movements, the virtuosic writing shows Beethoven very much writing for the future; how foreign the interlocking rhythms and gnarly contrapuntal figurations must have felt at the time (they still do)! And at the end of this monumental musical journey, one which invites the listener to confront and transcend his/her own fragilities, the music is drawn to conclusion with an effervescent coda, almost Mozart-like in its exuberance. Here is Beethoven once again playing with our emotions; it’s either a joyful summation of our human ability to rise above life’s challenges or a rebuke for taking ourselves too seriously. Or perhaps both?
Notes by Nicholas Cords
Contributors to Madeline Island Chamber Music
2021 Quartet Sponsorship
The Julius Quartet’s Emerging Artists Quartet-in-Residence experience is supported by Robert and Carolyn Nelson.
The Emerging Artists Quartet-in-Residence is a new program of Madeline Island Chamber Music and provides a comprehensive package of performances, teaching opportunities, and mentorship during five weeks on-site at Madeline Island Chamber Music, and one week in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Madeline Island Chamber Music is very grateful to Bob and Carolyn for supporting the inaugural year of this program and this opportunity for the Julius Quartet.
Designated Multi-Year Scholarships and Fellowships
Art and Gail Edwards Fellowship
Established in 2015 by former Madeline Island Chamber Music Board member Jan Edwards and her sister Gail Danae Kasbi, the Art and Gail Edwards Fellowship provides Fellowship funding in memory of their parents who were longtime supporters of Madeline Island Chamber Music.
Edith Wells Bristol Scholarship Fund
The Edith Wells Bristol Scholarship was established to honor Edie Bristol, a longtime Board member and supporter of Madeline Island Chamber Music. Income from this restricted fund is used to provide scholarship aid to one or more deserving students.
Pace Woods Fellowship
Established in 2013 by the Pace Woods Foundation, whose mission is “to improve the lives and futures of individuals.” It was given in memory of Pace Woods and provides Fellowship funding for 2020-2022.
Pries/Hutchinson Scholarship Fund
Created by Constance Pries and her late husband James in memory of Frederick O. Hutchinson, their good friend and Madeline Island Chamber Music’s Board Chair in 1989, this fully-endowed scholarship fund provides full tuition, room, and board annually.
Private Foundation Fellowship
This anonymous foundation began funding an annual fellowship in 2014 while simultaneously contributing additional funds to fully endow it by 2024.
2021 Fellowships
Biebl Family Fellowship
Funded by Madeline Island Chamber Music Advisory Committee member Kathleen Biebl and her husband Anthony.
Jonathan Swartz Fellowship
Funded by MacPhail Center for Music Board member Linda Mack and her husband Warren in honor of Madeline Island Chamber Music’s artistic director Jonathan Swartz.
Vicki and Chip Emery Fellowship
Funded by MacPhail Center for Music Board member Chip Emery and his wife Vicki.
Thomas George Fellowship
Funded by the donors and supporters of MacPhail in honor of Madeline Island Chamber Music’s first executive director who established the program in 1985.
Bob and Carolyn Nelson Fellowship
Funded by former Madeline Island Chamber Music Board member Bob Nelson and his wife Carolyn.
Virginia K. Townley Fellowship
Funded by former Madeline Island Chamber Music Board member Thomas T. Rogers in memory of his mother, Virginia K. Townley.
Madeline Island Chamber Music provides more than half of our students with financial aid ranging from modest scholarship assistance to full Fellowships covering their entire program experience. We are grateful to our donors for their commitment to these Fellowships and scholarships.
Individual and Institutional Contributors
Madeline Island Chamber Music gratefully acknowledges the following individuals and institutions that made gifts to us, dating from prior to the cancelled 2020 season through June 1, 2021.
$20,000 and Above
Art and Gail Edwards Donor Advised Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation
Anthony W. and Kathleen M. Biebl
Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation
Chip and Vicki Emery
Warren and Linda Mack
Bob and Carolyn Nelson
Sonja and Lowell Noteboom
Pace Woods Foundation
Private Foundation
Constance Pries
Thomas T. Rogers
Katherine and Douglas Skor
$10,000 to $19,999
Mark William Banks Trust
Estate of Edith W. Bristol
The Clinton Family Fund
Bob Davidson
Peter Havens
Ann and Terry Huntrods
Nancy Platt Jones and William Jones
MAHADH Fund of HRK Foundation
Caroline P. Marshall
CPM Legacy Fund of St. Paul Foundation
Tom Murtha and Stefanie Lenway
Mary J. Streitz
Virginia and Ed Stringer
$5,000-$9,999
The Dorsey & Whitney Foundation
Edward and Dawn Michael
Bethany and Christopher Owen
Robin Petty
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
$2,000-$4,999
Susan and Paul Arneson
Gretchen and Mark W.* Banks
Fran Bly and Charles Hample
Ann and Bruce Christensen
Betty Jayne Dahlberg
Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation
The Fredrikson & Byron Foundation
Leland and Bev Gehrke
Philip and Amy Goldman
Alex Haecker
Mary Louise and Patrick Irvine
John S. Winston Family Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation
Douglas R. Johnson
John Kaul and Gloria Gunville
Drs. Sidney and Lynne Levitsky
RBC Wealth Management
Elizabeth and James Ramsland
Mary Hulings Rice*
Peter and Sara Richter
Emily Skor and Sean Cairncross
Janet and Harvey Sternat
Marilyn and William Van Sant
Frederick and Eleanor Winston
$1,000-$1,999
Arts Midwest
Judith and Merrill Blau
Demaris Brinton and Theron O’Connor
Richard Chandler and Heidi Pankoke
Susan T. Chandler and Bruce McLellan
Maureen T. Curran
Dellwood Foundation Inc.
Jay Erstling and Pixie Martin
George and Judith Haecker
Marcia and Burke Henry
George and Pinny Kuckel
Leslie Livingston and David Miller
Kathleen McCartin and Andre Lewis
Polly G. O’Brien
Fred and Gloria Sewell
Gary Sherman
Brian and Nancy Siska
$500-$999
Anonymous
Tracy Bennett and Robert Bristol
Greg Bernstein
Keith and Barbara Clayton
Dorothy M. Dalquist
Missy and Dave Donkers
Energizer Holdings, Inc.
Kenneth Goldsmith
Carol and Edward Hancock
Dorothy Horns and James Richardson
Betsy Knode and James E. Newton
Magellan Cares Foundation
Lauren P. March
Paul Markwardt and Richard Allendorf
Sheila Merzer
Gregory J. O’Leary
Tracy Peterson
Barbara Pittman
Theresa and Theodore Priem
Connie and Lew Remele
Susan Saxl and Robert Kramer
Richard and Judith Schmidt
Charlie Stringer and Kristin Hahn Stringer
Paul A. Sturgul
Jonathan Swartz
Mark and Deb Swedberg
Annelise Swigert
Mr. and Mrs. James Wiltz
$250-$499
Lois Albrecht
Robert Alexander and Becky Stemper
Don Baur and Phebe Jensch
Ann P. Buran
James Burmeister
Kyle and Shelley Carpenter
Cindy and Michael Dalzell
Kari and Peter Davidson
Jane Emison
Rose Fahien
Donald H. Gray, Jr.
Ellen Jones and Bob McKlveen
Min-Jeong Koh
Joann and Don Leavenworth
Lucas Capital Management
Steven and Cynthia Mueller
Audrey and Rusty Nelson
Barbara and James Nendze
Dana and Kathy Noteboom
Robert and Jane Post
Katherine and Richard Rosenthal
Kathleen Russell
Pat and Judy Sebranek
Harvey and Nancy Smith
Marjorie J. Smith
1. Michael Streitz
Jean Thomson
Robin Trinko-Russell and Gary Russell
Peter Tropman and Virginia Graves
Tyson Family Charitable Fund of the American Endowment Foundation
Donna Woods and Dr. Jon Hinrichs
$100-$249
Paul Babcock
Judith and Terence Ball
Lucy Banta
David Bjork and Jeff Bengtson
Hans and Christina Bjornson
Susan and Sandy Boyd
Judith and Arnold Brier
Susan and Tom Brust
Laura Nash Campbell and Eric Johnson
Anne Carter
Cecil and Penny Chally
Sheila Coyle
Alice Dickinson
Mrs. Douglas Dillard
Michael and Marilyn Dunlap
Martha W. Edgar
Victoria Erhart
Susanne K. Gens
Debbie Giachini
Janice and Fritz Grutzner
Bob and Janet Hanafin
Susan Jane Hedman
Andra and Patricia Herriott
Nell Hillsley and Van Lawrence
Mary Abbe Hintz
Alan and Judith Hoffman
Drusilla Cagnoni and Alexander Jacobs
Larry Kaufmann
Catherine and Dennis Kilbane
Richard Killmer
Susan and Edward Korleski
Ms. Judy Lin
Margaret Longlet
Brook W. Martin
Richard and Mickey Martin
Meredith and Brian McCormick Jr.
Peter and Cheryl McMullen
Sheila Mitchell
Caroline and Greg Moore
David and Audrey Nelson
Ardelle Norgaard
Mary D. O’Brien
Gil Overson
Peter and Joni Petschauer
Kathleen and Gene Ramsay
Phyllis and Gary Reiman
Judeth Reinke
Sarah Renner
Russ and Karen Rubin
Barbara and Bob Scott
Pitnarry Shin and Kyu-Young Kim
Marc D. Smith
Carolyn P. Sneed
Cynthia Turecamo
Mary B. Virre
Maxine Wallin
Robert Webb
Zoe V. A. Wells
Philip H. Willkie
James Wittenberg and Pam Weiner
Evelyn S. Wright
Wilson Yates
$1-$99
Carole J. Anderson
Linda Schaars Barnes
Angela and Ralph Breeden
Peggy and Joseph Carver
Karen Ruedi Crowell and Mike Crowell
Yvonne Foster
Jeff Goldenberg
Katie Heilman
Miriam Hof
Joel and Linda Jackson
Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth N. Krutsch
Josh LaGrave
Josh Lavik
Howard Ledin
Gay J. Lindquist
Kathleen Lytle and Allen Hoglund
Dennis and Barbara McCann
Rebecca E. McDowell
Mr. and Mrs. Greg Miller
Sarah and Nile Norton
Allen and Gail Ofstehage
Dawn Olver
Peter M. Rogers
Abigail and Charlie Singleton
Ann and Willy Stern
Stanley Wai and Gayle Jorgens
Jessica S. Walker
Marty Vadis
Gingie Ward
Kelly Webb
Peggy and Richard Williams
Gifts in Honor Of
Edie Bristol
Leslie Livingston and David Miller
David J. Buran
Ann P. Buran
Thomas M. George
Mary Streitz
Marcia & Burke Henry
Phyllis and Gary Reiman
Ann Huntrods
Kathleen and Gene Ramsay
Linda Mack
Jay Erstling and Pixie Martin
Wilson Yates
Warren Mack
Wilson Yates
Thomas Murtha
Gregory J. O’Leary
Sonja and Lowell Noteboom
The Clinton Family Fund
Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Pittman
Barbara Pittman
Mary Hamel Scallen
Mary D. O’Brien
Dr. Irving Shapiro
Mary J. Streitz
Abbott Sherwin
Kathleen and Gene Ramsay
Isaac Sherwin
Kathleen and Gene Ramsay
Gifts in Memory Of
Mark W. Banks
Gay J. Lindquist
Katherine and Douglas Skor
Edie Bristol
Lucy Banta
Tracy Bennett and Robert Bristol
Angela and Ralph Breeden
Laura Nash Campbell and Eric Johnson
Anne Carter
Peggy and Joseph Carver
Mrs. Douglas Dillard
Yvonne Foster
Debbie Giachini
Larry Kaufmann
George and Pinny Kuckel
Leslie Livingston and David Miller
Lucas Capital Management
Lauren P. March
Brook W. Martin
Meredith and Brian McCormick Jr.
Peter and Cheryl McMullen
Mr. and Mrs. Greg Miller
Caroline and Greg Moore
Dawn Olver
Peter and Joni Petschauer
Robert and Jane Post
Judeth Reinke
Katherine and Douglas Skor
Cynthia Turecamo
Tyson Family Charitable Fund of the American Endowment Foundation
Mary B. Virre
Kelly Webb
Robert Webb
Peggy and Richard Williams
Michal Bristol
Leslie Livingston and David Miller
Marilyn Davidson
Kari and Peter Davidson
Howard Ledin
Marion C. Gray
Donald H. Gray, Jr.
William Griffith Harbison
Carol and Edward Hancock
Barbara Peet
Sarah Renner
James Pries
Dr. and Mrs. Arnold Brier
Barbara and James Nendze
Dr. Irving Shapiro
Jeff Goldenberg
Warren and Linda Mack
Janet Shapiro
Mary J. Streitz
*Deceased
Please excuse any errors or omissions that may have occurred during Madeline Island Chamber Music’s transition to MacPhail. If we have inadvertently omitted your name or listed it incorrectly, please accept our apology and contact Erika Malpass at malpass.erika@macphail.org.
In-Kind Contributions
Dorsey & Whitney LLP / Mary Streitz, Esq. – Professional fees and meeting facilities
Family of Alice Cadotte – Lodging
Claire Givens Violins – Instrument loans
Lathrop GPM / Greg A. Larson, Esq. – Professional fees
Madeline Island Ferry Line – Transportation
Sylvan Design – Fountain maintenance
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP – Meeting facilities
Mark and Ewa Weir – Lodging
