ACMF: Easterly Winds – Sounds from the Balkans & Beyond
$30 (subscription packages available)
Zoltán Kodály — Serenade for two violins and viola, Op. 12
Antonín Dvořák — Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81, B. 155 (arr. David Jolley for wind quintet & piano)
While the giants of Western Europe often loom large in the musical canon, this concert takes a closer look at their worthy counterparts on the other side of the continent.
Antonín Dvořák's music is far from unknown, but an arrangement of his Piano Quintet No. 2, Op. 81 for winds and piano offers a new perspective on his rustic, Czech-meets-American sound that grows even more colorful with expanded instrumentation. Zoltán Kodály stands out as one of Béla Bartók’s star disciples, with his angular rhythms and plaintive melodies teeming with influences of folk music from his native Hungary. The Serenade for two violins and viola, Op. 12, both intimate and more than the sums of its parts, transporting the listener to a Magyar village with its haunting timbres and raucous energy. Grażyna Bacewicz made a name for herself in her native Poland as one of the first women composers to reach national acclaim. Her wind quintet acts a bridge between the western and eastern halves of the continent, having won acclaim in Paris after its premiere in 1932 and demonstrating her unique ability to write in the French style while incorporating folk melodies from her homeland.