LCCE November Program Reflects on Past

Guitarist Michael Goldberg on the poster for the concert being discussed (photograph by Vivian Sachs, courtesy of LCCE)

The title of the second program to be presented in the 2020–2021 season of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE) is Please Elaborate. The selections will highlight the works of two composers, Benjamin Britten and Eleanor Alberga (whose name will hopefully be familiar to those that listened to last week’s live-streamed performance by the Telegraph Quartet). Each of these composers will be represented by two pieces.

Both of the Britten selections are reflections on songs by John Dowland; and the Dowland “source texts” will precede the two Britten performances. The program will begin with Dowland’s “Come Heavy Sleep,” which Britten repurposed for his solo guitar composition “Nocturnal.” The program will conclude with Britten’s “Lachrymae,” scored for viola and piano and based on Dowland’s “If my complaints could passions move.”

The first Alberga selection is “Oh Chaconne!” She composed this piece for solo piano to serve as a prelude to a performance of Ferruccio Busoni’s  flamboyant transcription of the Chaconne movement from Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 1004 solo violin partita in D minor. Her other selection will be “No-Man’s-Land Lullaby,” scored for violin and piano. This is a reflection of the fourth song in Johannes Brahms Opus 49 collection, titled simply “Wiegenlied” (lullaby). The “Brahms version” will precede Alberga’s “response,” sung by soprano Nikki Einfeld accompanied at the piano by Eric Zivian.

This performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, November 9. Those wishing to attend the live-streamed performance will just have to click the RSVP button on the event page for this program. Note that there is also a DONATE button. A contribution of $25 will be appreciated, but those attending the concert will be free to make whatever donation is within their abilities.