The 2022 Winter Festival comes to a close with the string trio BLUE…RED…GREEN by Carman Moore, a brief gem by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, and the 3rd Sonata for Violin and Piano by George Enescu.

WWCMF continues with its intention to honor composers of color, and in our small way, make up for lost time during which our industry showed this beautiful repertoire neglect. Carman Moore is a prolific composer, conductor, and educator, having served on the faculties of Carnegie-Mellon and Yale Universities. His works have been performed by major orchestras the world over. BLUE…RED…GREEN was composed in 2007.

The festival concludes with the reprise performance of the Enescu Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano. The work will reveal even more of its many mysteries in this second hearing.

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004)

MOVEMENT FOR STRING TRIO (2004)

l. ♪= 60

Carman Moore (b. 1936)

BLUE…RED…GREEN (2009) 
FOR STRING TRIO

l. Blue

ll. Red

lll. Green

George Enescu (1881-1955)

SONATA NO. 3 IN A MINOR DANS LE CARACTÈRE POPULAIRE ROUMAIN, OP. 25 (1926) FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO

I. Moderato malinconico

II. Andante sostenuto e misterioso

II. Allegro con brio, ma non troppo mosso

Artists: Timothy Christie, viola; Artur Girsky, violin; Rowena Hammill, cello; David Korevaar, piano; and Maria Sampen, violin.

George Enescu’s Third Sonata for Violin and Piano carries a subtitle that seems innocent enough— “dans le caractère populaire roumain.” Roughly translated, it means “in Roumanian folk character.” Maybe you’ve heard Bartòk’s Roumanian Folk Dances and think to yourself, “Oh, I know what that style sounds like.” Not so.

To hear (or perform) this work is to enter a phantasmagoria of mood and color. The piano surges like the hammered cimbalom, a dulcimer-like instrument of the Romani tradition, while the violin whoops, laments, and dances in turn. It is a sonata unlike any other. Pianist David Korevaar and violinist Maria Sampen bring this astonishing and beautiful work to life.

George Enescu (1881-1955)

SONATA NO. 3 IN A MINOR DANS LE CARACTÈRE POPULAIRE ROUMAIN, OP. 25 (1926) FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO

I. Moderato malinconico

II. Andante sostenuto e misterioso

II. Allegro con brio, ma non troppo mosso

Artists: David Korevaar, piano; and Maria Sampen, violin.

In the year 1741, @jsbach tweeted:

“Excited to begin production on 32 Short Films About @GlennGould!”

#GoldbergVariations #NotAboutInsomnia #AllAboutThatBass

Scholars may disagree whether the tweet attributed to Bach is authentic or not, but all agree that publication of the Goldberg Variations, BWV. 988, in 1741, set in motion a narrative that continues up to and beyond our present time. Today, the mere mention of Goldberg Variations elicits reverential nods of assent.

The work is 32 movements in total, the first and last taking the form of a 32-bar aria. The variations are not on the aria’s melody, rather its bass line. Numbers play an important role throughout. The variations are in groupings of three consisting of two free variations followed by a canonic variation voiced in musical spacings of ever-widening intervals. The first canon begins at the unison (just like Row, Row, Row Your Boat) and is followed by canons at the second through ninth degrees. Instead of a 10th canon, Bach chooses a form called “quodlibet,” a glorious jumble of overlaid musical quotations and references. Heady stuff. At last, the aria returns, and we are all changed, performers and audience alike.

Tonight, we present Bach’s masterpiece in an arrangement for string trio (violin; viola; cello) by violinist Dimitri Sitkovetski. And that is a new and worthy topic unto itself…

Johan Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

GOLDBERG VARIATIONS, BWV 988 (1741)

Arr. Dmitry Sitkovetsky (b. 1954)

for string trio

Aria

Variatio I.

Variatio II.

Variatio III. Canone all’Unisono

Variatio IV.

Variatio V.

Variatio VI. Canone alla Seconda

Variatio VII. al tempo di Giga

Variatio VIII.

Variatio IX. Canone alla Terza

Variatio X. Fughetta

Variatio XI.

Variatio XII. Canone alla Quarta in moto contrario

Variatio XIII.

Variatio XIV.

Variatio XV. Canone alla Quinta: Andante

Variatio XVI. Ouverture

Variatio XVII.

Variatio XVIII. Canone alla Sesta

Variatio XIX.

Variatio XX.

Variatio XXI. Canone alla Settima

Variatio XXII alla breve

Variatio XXIII.

Variatio XXIV. Canone all'Ottava

Variatio XXV. Adagio

Variatio XXVI.

Variatio XXVII. Canone alla Nona

Variatio XXVIII.

Variatio XXIX.

Variatio XXX. Quodlibet

Aria da Capo

Artists: Timothy Christie, viola; Artur Girsky, violin; and Rowena Hammill, cello.

You never know where you might spot pianist David Korevaar. Pop your head into Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center, and you might catch him. Take a hike or a trail run near Boulder, Colorado, and he might go whizzing by. Sweep through the dial on your car stereo, and you might catch him on Performance Today or St. Paul Sunday.

A pianist of extraordinary creativity and refinement, David joins WWCMF for the second time. His first? That was back in January 2021 on the festival’s Virtual Concert Hall series. So it is a joy to welcome David to Walla Walla in person and delight in his magnificent artistry. On January 13, 2022, you now know exactly where to spot him, the beautiful gallery at Foundry Vineyards in Walla Walla.

Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944) 

SONATA IN C MINOR, OP. 21

I. Allegro appassionato

Florence Price (1887-1953) 

SONATA IN E MINOR (1932)

II. Andante

Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941)

IGNIS FATUUS

MYSTERIOUS FIRES (1976)

H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932)

ETUDE IN G

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

ETUDES, OP. 25, #1-5

Artists: Timothy Christie, moderator; and David Korevaar, piano.