Philomusica Warms the Season with ‘Winter Masters’

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Photo: philomusicaquartet.com

Philomusica Quartet

Philomusica Quartet

The Philomusica Quartet, resident at Wisconsin Lutheran College, offers a program entitled “Winter Masters” in the campus’ acoustically wonderful Swan Hall. It’s one way to warm the spirits. The Philomusica Quartet was formed in 2008 by violinists Jeanyi Kim and Alexander Mandl, violist Nathan Hackett and cellist Adrien Zitoun as an outlet for sharing and expressing their love of chamber music.

Kim, Hackett and Zitoun are members of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Mandl is the concertmaster for several regional symphony orchestras besides being a member of the music faculty at UW-Parkside, Wisconsin Lutheran College and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Hackett and Zitoun also teach at Wisconsin Lutheran College. They’ll be joined by guest violinist Jinwoo Lee and guest pianist Melinda Lee Masur.

This is truly an international concert: Kim is from Toronto and her husband, Mandl, from Brazil where he was both a violinist and conductor. Hackett is a native of Wisconsin while Zitoun is from France. Lee is from Korea and Masur is Chinese American.

Begin with Bruckner

The program opens with Anton Bruckner’s “String Quartet in C minor.” It was discovered by the Koeckert Quartet in 1950 in Bruckner’s Kitzler-Studienbuch kept while he studied with Otto Kitzler. The trio of the Scherzo is in Ländler form, a popular folk dance of the 18th century.

“Having lived in Milwaukee since the early ‘80s I have enjoyed the heavy German influence in everything from architecture to music, and of course beer,” Hackett says. “The first landler I heard was in the Sound of Music (Captain Von Trapp and Maria on the terrace), what a great scene! This one kind of reminds me of that. The charming Scherzo/Trio aside, I am most excited to play the Bruckner C minor quartet because it is not only the earliest piece of his I’ve played, but the only piece of his chamber music I’ve come across. Certainly he is most noted for his gargantuan symphonies, but it’s interesting how we can hear the germ of some of those great works in this lovely, youthful string quartet.” 

Next on the program is Guillaume Lekeu’s “Molto adagio, sempre cantante doloroso” for String Quartet. Lekeu was born near Verviers, Belgium in 1870 and studied with César Franck and Vincent d’Indy.

“I am very happy to revisit the Molto Adagio that Lekeu wrote in his young age,” Zitoun says. “It is a dark and very intense work. His piece refers to gospel of St. Matthew 26-38: ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.’” You can really feel and hear the pain in the cello line right from the opening which is also in a 5/4 meter that adds to the tension. It’s a wonderful one movement work.

“Although this program will be performed by musicians from various ‘corners’ of the world, the program focuses on unique quartet compositions,” Mandl says “Who would have expected that massive symphonist Anton Bruckner would have written a young string quartet evocative of the early Classical and Romantic periods? Or that a relatively unknown Belgian composer would compose music of such solemn depth and tonal creativity that it may border on the modern? Those are wonderful surprises in the repertoire.”

Concludes with Chausson

The program, after intermission, concludes with Ernest Chausson’s “Concerto in D major for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21.” The piece was premiered in Brussels in 1892 and though of same period as the other compositions on this program has a more modern sound at times soaring and Brahms-like in texture.

The work was dedicated to the virtuoso violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. Jinwoo Lee who joins the Philomusica Quartet for this performance, is the new concert master of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and an award-winning soloist. This performance marks his chamber music debut in Milwaukee.

 The Chausson was written during what can be classified as the middle period of the relatively short life of the composer and dedicated to the great Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, for whom he also wrote Poème, his most performed work,” Lee says. “The instrumentation, which is highly unusual even by today’s standard, represents elements of a miniature concerto (solo violin with strings) and simultaneously chamber music in the form of violin and piano duo and piano quintet, yet the four-movement structure invokes a symphony rather than a typical concerto in three movements. Chausson creates magnificent musical waves that circulate through the instruments in the opening movement, followed by a fluid and passionate Siciliano. The ominous Grave develops into a turbulent storm that slowly fades and a lively last movement which concludes the work. I very much look forward to performing this amazing work with pianist Melinda Lee Masur and the members of the Philomusica Quartet.”

Masur also commented on the Chausson Concerto, calling it “a mammoth piece of music which feels a bit like climbing Mount Everest! There is hardly a moment where the music isn’t physically intricate, demanding, or animated, even when the piano plays an accompanying role or the character is one of repose (like in the beautiful Siciliano movement). Chausson wrote it in a kind of concerto grosso form, where the violin and piano are the concertino solo instruments and the quartet acts as ripieno orchestral instruments.

“Through it all though, it feels like chamber music—like a dynamic conversation among friends—and is how I typically approach any form of music I’m playing, from voicing in solo piano works to concertos with an orchestra,” she continues. “This piece is so gripping, expansive, and devastating (chromaticism everywhere!) and yet in the end, so rhapsodic in its hope and joy. I am looking forward to mountaineering this piece with these friends, and the summit is so worth the trek!”

“I’m really looking forward to performing these three works, which are all new to me,” Kim says. “Each of them was composed in the late 1800s but each has a distinct soundscape and style. The Bruckner demonstrates the most classical sound with its spare texture, but still hints at moments of Brucknerian symphonic grandeur. The little known Molto Adagio by Belgian composer Guillaume Lekeu is a compositionally tight, work of deeply felt inner grief. Perhaps he had on some level a premonition of his life ending prematurely, as he died at age 24. Finally, the unique Chausson Concerto for violin piano and string quartet offers an experience for the listener and performer alike that doesn’t really fit into one category: it’s a grand concerto, with soloists and the quartet acting as the orchestra, but it’s also tightly woven chamber music with intimate moments akin to a sonata and sextet.”

7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12 at Wisconsin Lutheran College Swan Hall, 8815 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, call (414) 443-8802 or visit wlc.edu/box-office.