Brandeis University's Spring Concert Analysis
The Brandeis University’s spring concert series started this past weekend, with the special presence of Daniel Stepner (violin) and Janice Weber (piano). They debuted this year’s concert series on January 31s at the Slosberg Music Center, a show that compelled virtually everyone to attend, even intern president, Lisa Lynch, attended.
The show’s program began with a composition by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), two sonatas for violin and piano from 1876, which was a breakthrough work, back then, for the 30-year-old composer. Before the composition was printed, Fauré was known chiefly as a composer of songs and short piano works, and they were mostly listened in salons and other private settings. In fact, during his time, chamber music and serious …show more content…
The content remained fresh, it highlighted its individualism. According to Camille Saint-Saëns, Fauré’s previous instructor, published a review on the Sonata:
“In this sonata you can find everything to tempt a gourmet: new forms, excellent modulations, unusual tone colors, and the use of unexpected rhythms… and a magic floats above everything, encompassing the whole work, causing the crowd of usual listeners to accept the unimagined audacity as something quite normal. With this work Monsieur Fauré take his place among the masters.”
The second piece that was played during the show is titled, For Violin Alone by John Harbison. The language in this Harbison’s work alternates between modal and chromatic, usually overlapping harmonic spheres. The opening Ground is a set of variations on a Blue-like progression. The most outstanding part is the Duet because it engages two voices in strict counterpoint, and the Epilogue quietly and smoothly ties motives …show more content…
Since 1987, his main work has been a first violinist of the Lydian String Quartet, in residence at Brandeis, where he is a Professor of the Practice. For approximately twenty years, he was Concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra under Christopher Hogwood and Grant Llewellyn, and for thirty years Artistic Advisor to the Concert Series at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Stepner has recorded extensively on modern and period instruments, including music from Monterverdi through Harbison, four string quartets. His recording also includes the recordings of the Sonatas and Partitas of J.S. Bach, the Five Violin Sonatas of Charles Ives, chamber music of Yehudi Wyner, and the Late Quartets of Beethoven, with the
The show’s program began with a composition by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), two sonatas for violin and piano from 1876, which was a breakthrough work, back then, for the 30-year-old composer. Before the composition was printed, Fauré was known chiefly as a composer of songs and short piano works, and they were mostly listened in salons and other private settings. In fact, during his time, chamber music and serious …show more content…
The content remained fresh, it highlighted its individualism. According to Camille Saint-Saëns, Fauré’s previous instructor, published a review on the Sonata:
“In this sonata you can find everything to tempt a gourmet: new forms, excellent modulations, unusual tone colors, and the use of unexpected rhythms… and a magic floats above everything, encompassing the whole work, causing the crowd of usual listeners to accept the unimagined audacity as something quite normal. With this work Monsieur Fauré take his place among the masters.”
The second piece that was played during the show is titled, For Violin Alone by John Harbison. The language in this Harbison’s work alternates between modal and chromatic, usually overlapping harmonic spheres. The opening Ground is a set of variations on a Blue-like progression. The most outstanding part is the Duet because it engages two voices in strict counterpoint, and the Epilogue quietly and smoothly ties motives …show more content…
Since 1987, his main work has been a first violinist of the Lydian String Quartet, in residence at Brandeis, where he is a Professor of the Practice. For approximately twenty years, he was Concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra under Christopher Hogwood and Grant Llewellyn, and for thirty years Artistic Advisor to the Concert Series at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Stepner has recorded extensively on modern and period instruments, including music from Monterverdi through Harbison, four string quartets. His recording also includes the recordings of the Sonatas and Partitas of J.S. Bach, the Five Violin Sonatas of Charles Ives, chamber music of Yehudi Wyner, and the Late Quartets of Beethoven, with the