- Reinecke: Flute Sonata in E Major, Op. 167, “Undine
- Beethoven: Piano Sonata in D Major, Op. 28, “Pastoral”

Both of the sonatas on today’s podcast have descriptive titles but opinions vary as to the significance of these titles. It’s unknown whether or not Reinecke meant his flute sonata to be explicitly programmatic, but it’s interesting to know the namesake. The tale of Undine is similar to “The Little Mermaid,” but a bit more sinister. After longing for a life beyond her underwater kingdom, Undine marries her prince, but when she disappears and he marries another woman, she returns to kill him—with a kiss. Beethoven’s publisher, Cranz, supplied the nickname for his sonata opus 28, presumably to make the work more memorable and attractive to potential customers. One cannot help but look for reasons for his choice, though. The lilting downward scale and bass pedal in the first movement’s opening seem vaguely rustic, and the final movement has a bit of a barn dance quality.

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.

- Nielsen: Wind Quintet in A Major, Op. 43
- Beethoven: Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 16

Where the string quartet provides a sort of infinite palate with minimal resources—just three instruments, differing chiefly in register—the woodwind quintet offers a much more varied cast of characters: the chipper flute, the dour bassoon, the plaintive oboe, the regal horn, and the smooth clarinet. Carl Nielsen was very familiar with the personalities of not just the instruments in his woodwind quintet, but also the players behind them; the group he originally wrote the piece for was made up of friends. Written in 1922, Nielsen’s work strikes a conversational tone, balancing duets and solos from each of the instruments with more cohesive ensemble sections. Beethoven gained inspiration from a quintet, too—in his case, not an ensemble but a composition by Mozart. Mozart’s 1784 Quintet for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn & bassoon in E flat major came some13 years before Beethoven’s, but the young Beethoven’s work is a clear tribute; his piece shares with the Mozart its instrumentation, structure, and even key.

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.

-Debussy: Premiere Rhapsodie
-Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10

Compared to classical era composers like Haydn and Mozart, Debussy’s chamber music output was rather small: not counting solo piano or vocal works, he wrote only about a dozen chamber music pieces. His string quartet is nonetheless considered among his top compositions, and one of the important impressionist era chamber pieces. The music is classic Debussy in its search for unique colors and sonorities. Before the quartet, we’ll hear one of Debussy’s shorter chamber works. The rhapsodie is the more substantial of two works he composed for clarinet in 1910, written for the conservatory as a tool for evaluating their clarinet students. The previous year, Debussy had apparently been taken with the quality of the woodwind players.

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.

- Beethoven: String Trio in G Major, Op. 9, No. 1
- Ives: Piano Trio

Today we focus on significant trios, from the old and new worlds. A relatively early trio, Beethoven’s String Trio in G Major, may have been an experiment with some of the ideas he would later bring to the symphonic realm. Beethoven plays with form in the movements, surprising listeners with stop-and-start repeats in the scherzo and vividly contrasting themes in the final movement. Charles Ives’ Piano Trio, completed in 1911, went unperformed for years, finally unearthed in 1948 by a music faculty trio in Ohio. In typical Ives fashion, snippets of a number of folk and popular songs interject, particularly in the scherzo. Listen for, among others, "My Old Kentucky Home," "Sailor's Hornpipe," "and "Long, Long Ago

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.

- Haydn: Folk Songs for Voice with Violin, Cello and Piano
- Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 6

It’s easy to forget that chamber music is so called because it was written for performance in one’s own chamber, not the concert hall. The advent of recording and the internet has made it possible for you to listen to this live performance in your car, on the treadmill, or in your living room. In Haydn’s day, though, all music was live. Gathering a few friends to play together in your home was one of the most common ways to experience music. First we’ll hear three folk songs arranged by Haydn for a chamber ensemble of violin, cello, piano, and voice, the sort of instrumentation one could easily imagine gathering together among friends. Then, we’ll hear Haydn’s String Quartet in E-flat Major. Written later in Haydn’s career, these quartets were likely composed for one of the violinists in Haydn’s court orchestra, but they were also intended for public performance in London. Thus they draw on the genre’s history as at-home entertainment but also anticipate chamber music’s future as a concert form.

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.