Schumann, Tower, Dvořák

Robert Schumann
Märchenerzählungen, for Oboe, Viola and Piano, Op. 132 (1853)

Joan Tower
Viola Quintet, “Purple Rain” (BCMS commission / World premiere)

Antonín Dvořák
Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81 (1887)

Featured Musicians:

Peggy Pearson, oboe
Jennifer Frautschi & Yura Lee, violin
Dimitri Murrath & Marcus Thompson, viola
Raman Ramakrishnan, cello
Max Levinson, piano

Two contrasting elements, the march and the fairy tale, engage in Robert Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen. The piano, viola, and oboe bring to life four dynamic movements that shift between rhythmic marching and dream-like, whimsical figures.

Written for viola quintet, “Purple Rain” by Grammy-winning composer Joan Tower is this year’s BCMS commission. This fifteen-minute quintet will sit alongside Tower’s four other works for viola, all of whose titles include the word “purple.”

Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quintet in A major brims with exuberance, perhaps reflecting how happy the composer was while writing the piece at his tranquil vacation home. The concluding Scherzo (Furiant) assumes the character of a Slavic folk dance that ends with a joyous cascade of sixteenth notes