As previously announced, yesterday afternoon’s Chamber Music concert presented by San Francisco Symphony (SFS) musicians introduced an impressive diversity of not only instruments but also composers. Indeed, for many, the only familiar composer name on the program was on the final selection, the first (Opus 57, Number 1) string quartet in C minor by Johannes Brahms. Those of my generation would have also recognized the first composer on the program, Morton Gould; but recently my encounters with one of the major American composers during the second half of the twentieth century have been few and far between. The remaining two composers, Heinrich von Herzogenberg and Oskar Böhme, were probably unfamiliar to just about everyone, possibly on stage as well as in the audience.
This diversity of composers was complemented by a diversity of instrumentation. Again, the only familiar collection of instrumentalists was the quartet playing the Brahms selection: violinists Florin Parvulescu and Dan Carlson, violist Gina Cooper, and cellist Rainer Eudeikis. The Gould selection, entitled “Benny’s Gig,” was a duo for clarinet (Jerome Simas, channeling memories of Benny Goodman) and bass (Stephen Tramontozzi). The Herzogenberg selection was his Opus 61 trio for oboe (James Button), horn (Mark Almond), and piano (Elizabeth Schumann), while Böhme was represented by his Opus 30 brass sextet in E-flat minor.
It is worth beginning with this relatively unknown offering because of the nature of its instrumentation. The sextet was led by Aaron Schuman playing cornet while facing two trumpet players (Robert Giambruno and Michail Thompson). The remaining players were Daniel Hawkins on horn, Timothy Higgins on trombone, and Jeffrey Anderson on tuba.
Unlike the director of my high school marching band, Böhme clearly appreciated the subtle differences that distinguish the cornet from the trumpet. The former has a spectrum that is richer in the upper harmonics than the corresponding spectrum for trumpet, which is why the cornet could distinguish itself above the two trumpets that complemented it. The composer also knew how to explore engaging sonorities from the three lower-register instruments, making his sextet the high point of the entire program.
Those that know Herzogenberg’s name at all probably know him as a friend of Brahms. He was about a decade younger than Brahms and seemed to strive at pleasing his elder. Thus, his Opus 61, composed in 1889, was probably motivated by a sense of “hero worship” based on Brahms’ Opus 40 trio for violin, horn, and piano in E-flat major. Indeed, the second (Presto) movement of Herzogenberg’s trio almost emerges as a reflection of the concluding Allegro con brio movement of the Brahms trio. Nevertheless, that is the only explicit nod to Brahms; and it is clear that Herzogenberg found his own voice for the other three movements.
As already suggested, Gould composed “Benny’s Gig” for Goodman. More specifically, Goodman requested that he compose something prior to his six-week tour of the Soviet Union in 1962. This provided him with an opportunity to present a somewhat more serious side than that of his popular dance tunes. The suite consisted on seven movements, and Gould added one more to the set in 1979.
Yesterday afternoon Simas and Tramontozzi played the “complete” version, which turned out to be a generously wide spectrum of dispositions. Tramontozzi alternated between bowing and jazzy plucking, thus complementing the diversity of “melody lines” that had been composed for Goodman. This got the whole afternoon off to an upbeat start, preparing listeners for further adventurous instrumentations.
The only real disappointment of the afternoon came at the conclusion. To be fair, however, the string quartet was never in Brahms’ comfort zone. As a result, only the last of his three quartets, Opus 67 in B-flat major, reflected a confident sense of what he wanted to say and how he would say it. The two Opus 51 quartets, on the other hand, tend to receive far less attention; and the spirit of Brahms may well be thankful for that decision made by most quartet players.
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