Program IV:
Virtuosity

Saturday, August 17, 2024 | 7:30 PM

Following a heartfelt violin sonata by Schumann (who adored Bach), the East Coast Chamber Orchestra’s extraordinary ensemble offers a contemporary work inspired by Bach's stunning Chaconne, “one epic movement ... that would define string playing forever after.” Finally, with a rollicking set of variations on a Baroque dance theme, you’ll see why the New York Times declared, "ECCO delivers performances that are nothing short of electrifying."

Robert Schumann Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 121 (1851)

I. Ziemlich langsam - lebhaft

II. Sehr lebhaft

III. Leise, einfach

IV. Bewegt

Anthony Marwood, violin; Shai Wosner, piano

David Ludwig Virtuosity: Five Micro-Concertos for String Orchestra (2013)

East Coast Chamber Orchestra

Francesco Geminiani (arr. Michi Wiancko) “La Follia” Variations (1729/2010)

East Coast Chamber Orchestra

* Programs and artists subject to change

Concert run time is approximately 90 minutes including a brief intermission. The concert will be live-streamed for free on our YouTube channel. The archived stream will be available to view for 24 hours.

Click here for

program notes

Meet The Artists

Nathan Farrington
bass

J Freivogel
violin

Rachel Henderson Freivogel
cello

Nick Kendall
violin

Kristin Lee
violin

Li-Mei Liang
violin

Anthony Marwood
violin

Tai Murray
violin

Kenneth Olsen
cello

Susie Park
violin

Raman Ramakrishnan
cello

Melissa Reardon
viola

Dov Scheindlin
viola

Jessica Thompson
viola

Shai Wosner
piano

Meet The Composers

Francesco Geminiani
1687-1762

Francesco Geminiani was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist. Born in Lucca, he studied the violin under Arcangelo Corelli. Geminiani soon established his reputation as a brilliant performer in England, publishing his Op. 1 Sonatas for Violin and Continuo, which were widely acclaimed and famous for their technical difficulty. His other popular works include his Concerti Grossi, of which his Op. 2 and Op. 3 sets became extremely popular in England, holding a place in the repertory well into the next century. His theoretical writings, particularly The Art of Playing on the Violin, had considerable influence, and remains an important reference on the performance of late Baroque music.

Geminiani wrote several sets of Concerti Grossi modeled on Corelli's violin sonatas. In 1729 he crafted "La Follia," an arrangement of Corelli's Sonata, Op. 5, No. 12, which itself was inspired the folia, a Portuguese dance dating back to the 15th century. Geminiani's arrangement not only pays homage to his teacher, but also takes the solo violin work one step further by filling out the counterpoint and harmony for a larger ensemble.

David Ludwig
b. 1974

David Ludwig is an American composer, teacher, and Dean of Music at The Juilliard School. He holds positions and residencies with nearly two dozen orchestras and music festivals in the US and abroad. His choral work, The New Colossus, was performed at the 2013 presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.

In the words of the composer, Virtuosity is "a piece is built on the format of the Baroque Concertino, with parts for a core group of soloists surrounded by a larger ensemble. The first micro concerto is for two violins (like the Baroque trio), and follows with solo viola, cello, and contrabass, with some movements sliding into each other without pause. The final movement is a concerto for the whole orchestra, including a double fugue for the ensemble and then soloists in the middle of it (the fugue as a form is about a kind of compositional virtuosity that has challenged composers for hundreds of years)."

Robert Schumann
1810-1856

Robert Schumann was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist, but when a hand injury ended this dream, he focused his musical energies on composing instead.

Dedicated to the violinist Ferdinand David, Schumann's Violin Sonata No. 2 received its first public performance from Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim on October 29, 1853 in Düsseldorf, in a concert that marked the beginning of a long term musical collaboration. The first movement begins with a stately sequence of chords, the contour of which is then used for the first subject proper. The vigorously driving second movement is of the scherzo genre, and appears to have influenced the young Johannes Brahms, particularly in the C minor scherzo he wrote for the F-A-E Sonata. Near the end of this movement, the chorale melody "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" is quoted triumphantly. The relatively serene G major third movement is a set of variations, and the finale returns to the key and mood of the beginning, with a long and dramatic trajectory toward an exuberant conclusion.

Michi Wiancko
b. 1976

Michi Wiancko is a composer, arranger and violinist whose work has been performed by ensembles, bands and orchestras around the world. She has collaborated with artists from across a wide musical spectrum and performed with some of the great musical artists of our time, including Rhiannon Giddens, Missy Mazzoli, Steve Reich, Silkroad, Yo-Yo Ma, Wye Oak, and Laurie Anderson. She also directs the summer music festival, artists’ retreat, and community organization, Antenna Cloud Farm.

Wiancko has written several compositions for the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, many of which fall into the genre of what she calls her “reimagining” works. These are arrangements of works from the past that she draws inspiration and source materials from, but ultimately fashions into something fresh and new. Wiancko's breathtaking arrangement of one of Bach's most recognizable solo violin movements was commissioned by the East Coast Chamber Orchestra in 2019.