Stravinsky, Strauss, Schumann

Stravinky’s L’Histoire du soldat, originally a theatrical work for seven musicians, actors and narrator, tells the story of a soldier who offers his violin to the devil in exchange for wealth. The work was adapted by the composer into a five-movement suite for violin, clarinet and piano. The music includes numerous references to popular genres such as ragtime, waltz and tango.

Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen for String Septet is an aching lament, written at the end of World War II and mourning the destruction of German culture and cultural institutions. Brief melodic themes move around the ensemble, gradually developing into thick swells of contrapuntal sound. Strauss closes this profound work by quoting the funeral march from Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony.

One of the most beloved works of the genre, Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat opens with an ebullient tutti that gives way to a lyrical theme in the piano, followed by a joyful, loving dialogue between cello and viola. The contrasting second movement, a solemn minor-key march, bestows its main theme on the strings, while the final two movements demand technical, high-energy playing from each ensemble member.

Featured musicians: Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet; Jennifer Frautschi and Alyssa Wang, violins; Yura Lee, violin/viola; Marcus Thompson, viola; Clancy Newman and Raman Ramakrishnan, cellos; Thomas Van Dyck, double bass; Max Levinson, piano