A Century of American Music
| 1. | Introduction | 00:00:31 |
| 2. | Crawford Seeger: String Quartet 1931 | 00:14:06 |
| 3. | Smith: Vignettes: Covered Wagon Woman (from the Daily Journal of Margaret Ann Alsip Frink, 1850) for Mezzo-Soprano, Piano, Violin, and Cello | 00:43:52 |
This program pairs the work of a pioneering American composer with music inspired by a literal American pioneer. Ruth Crawford Seeger wrote her innovative string quartet in 1931, and it was soon recognized as a milestone piece in the history of American modernism. It is full of dense expression, particularly in the glorious third movement, in which she turns the ensemble into a throbbing, glowing organism that is thrilling to behold. The Parker Quartet brings fire and verve to this exciting and groundbreaking work. We then hear music of Alan Louis Smith, sung by his long-time collaborator and friend Stephanie Blythe. “Covered Wagon Woman,” from Smith’s series of musical vignettes, creates a sublime musical landscape out of the diary of Margaret Ann Alsip Frink. In 1850, she recorded her daily life as she and her husband travelled to California during the Gold Rush. In this setting of her words for mezzo-soprano and piano trio, Smith creates an intimate and expressive chamber music portrait out of this important document from American history.
PROGRAM
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Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953) |
String Quartet 1931 Jupiter String Quartet (Nelson Lee, Meg Freivogel, violin; Liz Freivogel, viola; Daniel McDonough, cello) |
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Alan Louis Smith (1955–2023) |
Vignettes: Covered Wagon Woman (from the Daily Journal of Margaret Ann Alsip Frink, 1850) for Mezzo-Soprano, Piano, Violin, and Cello (2006) Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano; Warren Jones, piano; Ani Kavafian, violin; Priscilla Lee, cello |
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Ani Kavafian
Violinist Ani Kavafian enjoys a prolific career as a soloist, chamber musician, and professor. She has performed with many of America’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. In the 2019-20 season, she continued her longtime association as an artist of the Chamber Music Society with appearances in New York and on tour. Last summer she participated in several music festivals, including the Heifetz International Institute and the Sarasota Chamber Music, Bridgehampton, Meadowmount, Norfolk, and Angel Fire festivals. She and her sister, violinist and violist Ida Kavafian, have performed with the symphonies of Detroit, Colorado, Tucson, San Antonio, and Cincinnati, and have recorded the music of Mozart and Sarasate on the Nonesuch label. She is a Full Professor at Yale University and has appeared at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall numerous times with colleagues and students from Yale. She has received an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions award and has appeared at the White House on three occasions. Her recordings can be heard on the Nonesuch, RCA, Columbia, Arabesque, and Delos labels. Born in Istanbul of Armenian heritage, Kavafian studied violin in the US with Ara Zerounian and Mischa Mischakoff. She received her master’s degree from The Juilliard School under Ivan Galamian. She plays the 1736 Muir McKenzie Stradivarius violin.