February 25, 2011
Friday-8:00pm | University of North Carolina School of Music Recital Hall
Maurice Ravel
Sonata for Violin and Piano
Allegretto
Blues (Moderato)
Perpetuum Mobile (Allegro)
Dmitry Sitkovetsky violin
Ignat Solzhenitsyn, piano
Maurice Ravel
Introduction and Allegro for Harp,
Flute, Clarinet, and String Quartet
Hannah Blalock, harp
John Fadial, violin
Ramilya Siegel, violin
Diane Phoenix-Neal, viola
Beth Vanderborgh, cello,
Debra Pivetta, flute
Kelly Burke, clarinet
Maurice Ravel
Piano Trio
Modéré
Pantoum (Assez vif)
Dmitry Sitkovetsky, violin
Ignat Solzhenitsyn, piano
Brooks Whitehouse, cello
Sponsor
Program
Sonata for Violin and Piano (1923-27)
Ravel wrote two sonatas for Violin and Piano. The first was an early work (from 1897), and the second, being performed tonight, is one of his last compositions. The outer movements follow established classical forms, while the middle movement emulates the style of a 1920’s blues performer. This second movement also features bitonality – the technique of presenting two musical keys at the same time.
Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet, and String Quartet (1905)
To highlight the technical abilities of their new pedal harp, the musical instrument manufacturer Erard commissioned Ravel to compose a work which featured their new harp as a solo instrument. The result was the Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet, and String Quartet. Ravel procrastinated in his work, eventually finished it in “a week of frantic work and three frantic nights” while on a yachting trip, and then left the score aboard the boat when he disembarked! Despite the work’s inauspicious beginning, the Introduction and Allegro is one of chamber music’s most delightful pieces.
Piano Trio (1914)
Although Ravel had wanted to write a trio since 1908, it was not until early 1914 that he started it, and then had to finish it quickly so that he could enlist in the French Army in the opening days of World War I. He wrote to a friend, “Yes, I am working on the Trio with the sureness and lucidity of a madman”. Ravel had strong Basque roots, and composed the work in French Basque community. As a result, he used a Basque dance, a zortziko, as the inspiration of the first movement.
After Hours with Dima!
Immediately following the Chamber concerts, join us at the Green Valley Grill Bar with Dmitry Sitkovetsky and the Chamber Concert Musicians.
Complimentary appetizers provided by the Green Valley Grill.
Sponsored by the O. Henry Hotel | 622 Green Valley Road
