Ravinia 2024 Issue 5

theme in B-flat major (a third above G major) to allow a counter-modulation from E-flat (a third below G major) in the recapitulation. GIDEON KLEIN (1919–1945) String Trio Gideon Klein emerged from humble rural be- ginnings to become a rising star of modern Czech music. The large Klein family lived a modest, traditional existence in the Moravian town of Přerov, supported by his father’s income as a cattle dealer. Fortunately, his parents recog- nized 6-year-old Gideon’s exceptional musical ability and arranged piano lessons with Karel Mařík. As his talents grew, the Kleins sought a more advanced teacher in Prague for their son. At age 11, Gideon began lessons once a month with Růžena Kurzová, the wife of renowned pia- no pedagogue Vilém Kurz. Klein moved to Prague permanently in 1931 under the supervision of his older sister Eliška Kleinova and enrolled in the Jirásek grammar school in the fall. He entered the Prague Con- servatory in 1938 as Kurz’s piano student and completed the piano master class in one year. A remarkably inquisitive mind led Klein to pursue musicology courses at Charles University in the fall of 1939 and to attend Alois Hába’s lectures on quarter-tone music at the Prague Conservatory. The Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia quickly ended Klein’s promising career. The Germans closed all Czech universities on November 17, 1939. With the imposition of racial laws, they forced Jewish students (including Klein) out of the conservatory in the spring of 1940. Klein re- ceived an invitation to study at the Royal Acade- my of Music in London beginning in September 1940, but by then travel outside his homeland became impossible. Performances by Jewish musicians in the Czech lands were outlawed. Klein risked his own safety by performing in public under the pseudonym “Karel Vránek” and by offering secret recitals in private homes. Gideon Klein Along with thousands of Prague’s Jews, Klein was summoned to the Trade Fair Palace on December 1, 1941. Three days later, the Nazis transported him to the concentration camp at Terezín. Klein devoted himself to the better- ment of the ghetto’s artistic and educational life, developing programs for children, presenting piano and chamber music recitals, conducting large-scale performances (including Verdi’s Re- quiem), and composing new music. His compositional output at Terezín—two mad- rigals for mixed choir (1942 and 1943), the male chorus První hřich (Original Sin, 1942), Fantasy and Fugue for string quartet (1942–43), a piano sonata (1943), and the String Trio (1944)—re- flected a musician of impressive quality and cre- ativity. For years, scholars knew little of Klein’s earlier compositions and judged his “sudden” creative flourishing as one of Terezín’s hidden triumphs. The 1990 rediscovery of a suitcase containing Klein’s pre-Terezín compositions, which he had entrusted to a friend, significantly altered that perspective. Those manuscripts re- vealed his early mastery of compositional forms and openness to diverse style influences. Klein wrote the String Trio—his last compo- sition—in the autumn of 1944. Its three move- ments are dated September 5, September 21, and October 7. Elements of traditional Moravian folk music appear in modern garb throughout this score. The Allegro captures the exhilaration and vigor of Moravian fiddling. Klein next offers a set of variations on the Moravian folksong “Ta kněždubská veža” (The Kněžduby Tower), which he very likely heard growing up in Přerov. His modern stylization of folk music resumes in the Molto vivace , an exuberant recollection of a Moravia tragically changed forever. Fearful of his own future and that of his music, Klein arranged for another prisoner—his girl- friend Irma Semtzka—to smuggle the String Trio and other musical manuscripts out of Terezín and to deliver them to Klein’s sister Eliš- ka, should she survive Auschwitz. Nine days after completing the String Trio (October 16), Gideon Klein was transported to the Auschwitz concen- tration camp then immediately to its subcamp at Fürstengrube. He died on January 27, 1945, as the Red Army advanced on Fürstengrube, either murdered by SS guards during the evacuation or on the march westward. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) Divertimento in E-flat major, K. 563 Mozart finished his magnificent final symphon- ic trilogy comprising No. 39 in E-flat major, No. 40 in G minor, and No. 41 in C major (“Ju- piter”) in the summer of 1788. Growing finan- cial desperation compelled the composer to of- fer a series of hurriedly organized subscription concerts. Whatever income these events generated—surviving documentation sheds no light on the matter—did little to avert Mozart’s monetary concerns. His surviving correspon- dence details a constant search for cash, wheth- er through temporary loans, advances on publi- cations, or searches for patrons outside Vienna, an idea first broached in a June 17 letter to Mi- chael Puchberg: “I have hopes of finding more patrons abroad than here .” A banker and merchant, Puchberg provided Mozart inestimable assistance during this trying period, graciously enduring his brother Freema- son’s continual requests for money and serving the role of confidante. Mozart composed the Divertimento in E-flat major, K. 563, as a mu- sical expression of gratitude to Puchberg. His only completed work for string trio (he aban- doned an earlier trio for two violins and cello after two movements), the Divertimento com- bines the brilliant sense of breadth and balance demonstrated in the recent symphonies with the rich textures and intimate interplay of his late chamber compositions. Mozart completed this six-movement score on September 27, 1788. Divertimentos provided light entertainment in late-18th-century Austria, a social function differing from more cultivated chamber forms such as the sonata and string quartet. Mozart applied his keen knowledge of string technique (as a youth, he occasionally performed as violin soloist and, later in life, played viola in chamber ensembles) in this work for violin, viola, and cel- lo by exploring novel and constantly changing ensemble textures. Character contrast between the serious opening unison string passage and the rapid answering scale passages suggests that he had not entirely left the string quartet behind, a viewpoint confirmed by the sublime Adagio and theme-and-variation Andante . Mozart re- turns his listeners to the amiable world of the divertimento in two minuets, the standard num- ber for the form. –Program notes © 2024 Todd E. Sullivan Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Joseph Lange (1782–83) RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 71