Ravinia 2021 - Issue 4

PAVILION 7:30 PM SUNDAY, SEPT. 19, 2021 MAX WEINBERG’S JUKEBOX † † Ravinia debut MAX WEINBERG’S JUKEBOX Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Max Wein- berg—most widely known for his 45-year association with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band and as the bandleader of the shining Max Weinberg Seven for 17 years on NBC’s Late Night and Tonight Show broad- casts with Conan O’Brien—brings his pow- er, dynamism, versatility, and chops to all of his various musical aggregations, from a hard bop jazz quintet to the needle-drop Max Weinberg’s Jukebox combo. Inspired by an encore set at Evanston’s Space in April 2017, Weinberg has led some 250 shows since then with an all-request format: audiences pick the songs the band plays—from Beatles to Bruce and Stones to Steppenwolf—from an infinitely scrolling list of 200+ songs the seasoned rockers can call up from the mo- ment of Weinberg’s downbeat on his drum kit upstage. PAVILION 7:30 PM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 LINCOLN TRIO DESIRÉE RUHSTRAT, violin DAVID CUNLIFFE, cello MARTA AZNAVOORIAN, piano CLARKE Piano Trio Moderato ma appassionato Andante molto semplice Allegro vigoroso BACON Piano Trio No. 2 * Lento—In deliberate march time In an easy walk Gravely expressive Allegro Commodo Vivace, ma non presto SHAWN E. OKPEBHOLO city beautiful + aqua prairie burnham There will be no intermission in this program. + World premiere * First performance at Ravinia Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of Program Sponsor Megan P. and John L. Anderson . REBECCA CLARKE (1886–1979) Piano Trio English violist and composer Rebecca Clarke studied violin at the Royal Academy of Music from 1903 until 1905. Clarke’s studies ended when her harmony instructor Percy Miles proposed marriage and her father demand- ed her withdrawal from the RAM. Two years later, she enrolled in the Royal College of Mu- sic to study composition with the venerable Charles Villiers Stanford, who, as conductor of the orchestra, suggested she switch instru- ments from violin to viola. Clarke’s first vio- la teacher was one of the instrument’s fore- most modern proponents, Lionel Tertis. She crossed paths with her future husband, the Scottish pianist and composer James Friskin, while at the RCM. They married when Clarke was 58 years old. Following another argument with her father, Clarke left the Royal College of Music in 1910 and embarked on a career as concert violist. She performed extensively over the next two decades as the first female member of the Queen’s Hall Orchestra, a performer in an all-female string quartet and piano quartet (the English Ensemble), and as a soloist and chamber musician on tours of the United States, the Territory of Hawaii, and British colonies around the globe. In 1916, Clarke moved to Pittsfield, MA. She remained in the US until her death in New York City on October 13, 1979. A founding member of the Pro Musica Quartet, Clarke maintained an active performing and compositional career well into her 90s. Clarke’s compositional career skyrocketed when her Viola Sonata tied for first place in the 1919 Berkshire Chamber Music Com- petition, established by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. The other composition was Ernest Bloch’s Viola Suite, which Coolidge selected as the winner. In a radio interview on the oc- casion of her 90th birthday, Clarke recalled the skepticism surrounding the Viola Sonata: “The rumor went around, I hear, that I hadn’t written the stuff myself, that somebody had done it for me. And I even got one or two little bits of press clippings saying that it was impossible, that I couldn’t have written it myself. And the funniest of all was that I had a clipping once which said that I didn’t exist, there wasn’t any such person as Rebecca Clarke, that it was a pseudonym… for Ernest Bloch!” Coolidge later commissioned the Rhapsody for Cello and Piano (1923) from Clarke, the only commission this “patron saint of American chamber music” ever made to a female composer. Between these accomplishments, Clarke earned further acclaim for her Piano Trio, which was runner-up in the 1921 Berkshire Chamber Music Competition. The Elschuco Trio (Elias Breeskin, violin; Willem Willeke, cello; and Aurelio Giorni, piano) premiered this composition at a private gathering in New York City on February 12, 1920. Clarke launches the Piano Trio with a dramatic repeated-note figure in the piano, which serves as a unifying thematic element in all three movements. In nearly every phrase, she reveals a deep understanding of each in- strument’s capacity and character, as well as the seemingly infinite texture and timbres they collectively provide. The Andante mol- to semplice opens with a gentle variation of the repeated-note motto in the violin. Strings intertwine and join in parallel motion as a counterpoint to the piano part. The piano Rebecca Clarke (1925) RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 59