Program IV: Grand Finale
Saturday, August 19, 2023 | 7:30 PM
Hannaford Hall, USM | Portland
This poetically lyrical program, infused with unforced virtuosity and memorable melodies, is the perfect way to spend a summer evening. The witty sophistication of Germaine Tailleferre, the only woman in the early 20th century group of French composers known as Les Six, sets up a fascinating contrast with a passionately dramatic quintet rooted in Armenian folk music. PCMF’s 30th summer season concludes with Schubert’s sunny Octet, with its bountiful array of strings and winds, hummable tunes, and genial Viennese charm.
Germaine Tailleferre Image for Piano Four-Hands (1918)
Diane Walsh and Andrew Armstrong, piano
Arno Babadjanian Piano Trio in F-sharp Minor (1952)
I. Largo - Allegro espressivo
II. Andante
III. Allegro vivace
Kristin Lee, violin; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello; Andrew Armstrong, piano
~Pause~
Franz Schubert Octet in F major, D. 803 (1824)
I. Adagio – Allegro – Più allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegro vivace – Trio – Allegro vivace
IV. Andante – variations. Un poco più mosso – Più lento
V. Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio – Menuetto – Coda
VI. Andante molto – Allegro – Andante molto – Allegro molto
Anthony Marwood and Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, violins; Melissa Reardon, viola; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello; Anthony Manzo, bass; Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet; Gina Cuffari, bassoon; Zohar Schondorf, horn
Concert run time is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, including a brief pause. The concert will be live streamed for free on our YouTube channel, with te archived stream available to view for 24 hours.
Meet The Artists
Andrew Armstrong
piano
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Gina Cuffari
bassoon
Alexander Fiterstein
clarinet
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Kristin Lee
violin
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Anthony Manzo
bass
Anthony Marwood
violin
Raman Ramakrishnan
cello
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Melissa Reardon
violin
Zohar Schondorf
horn
Diane Walsh
piano
Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu
violin
Meet The Composers
Arno Babadjanian
1921-1983
Eleanor Alberga is a highly-regarded British composer with commissions from the BBC Proms and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. With a substantial output ranging from solo instrumental works to full-scale symphonic works and operas, her music is performed all over the world.
Born 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica, Alberga decided at the age of five to be a concert pianist, and five years later was composing works for the piano. She was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021 for services to British Music.
Shortly after Alberga's mother died, the composer had a commission to write a short work for string quartet, and decided to dedicate it to her mother. The piece, Remember, is based on a Jamaican folk song called "Come Back Liza."
Franz Schubert
1797-1828
Franz Schubert was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, he left behind a vast catalog, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of piano and chamber music.
By the time he graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, Barber had developed into a fine baritone and was in some demand as a recitalist. It was the composer himself who made the first recording of his setting of English Victorian poet Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" for voice and string quartet.
Germaine Tailleferre
1892-1983
Germaine Tailleferre was a prolific French composer of symphonic, chamber, film, and radio music who is most commonly remembered as the sole female member of composer group Les Six, but her association with that group was relatively brief in the broader context of her career. Displaying early brilliance as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, Tailleferre won all the major prizes in her disciplines—Premier Prix in Harmony, Counterpoint, and Accompaniment—but never had the opportunity to compete for the Premier Prix in composition due to the suspension of the competition during the First World War.