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Between the end of this concert andthe beginning of the next,

you can hear fine symphonic and chamber music on

KCME 88.7 FMAll Classical

Member Supported Independent Public Radio

1921 North Weber StreetColorado Springs, CO 80907

(719) 578–5263

Browse and listen at www.kcme.org

Manitou Springs 90.9 FMCripple Creek/Victor 89.5 FMCañon City/Florence 91.1 FM

Salida 89.5 FM

Chamber Orchestraof the Springs

2008 - 2009Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Season

Thomas Wilson, Music Director

For the Love of Music

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Special Appreciation for...Blueprints, Inc. for printing services

Sylvia Hutson for her efforts with graphic design and layoutFirst Christian Church for the use of their wonderful sanctuary

Broadmoor Community Church for the use of their beautiful facilitiesGraner Music for distribution of sheet music

KCME-FM 88.7, A Voice for the Arts, for concert publicityTom Kratz for the use of the podium

Ruth Hjelmstad for professional assistance with accountingFirst Lutheran Church for use of their rehearsal space

The members of the Chamber Orchestra play “for the love of music”, and for you, our audience. Our music is brought to you by the support of generous individuals, foundations and corporations who share the vision of the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs being a vital part of the artistic life of our community. We are very grateful for their contributions; they are appropriately identified and acknowledged on page 18.

Thank You!

Should you wish to join our group of generous benefactors, your contribution will be very much appreciated and duly acknowledged in the programs for the remainder of the concert season. Please make checks payable to Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, and mail to P.O. Box 7911, Colorado Springs, CO 80933–7911.

The Chamber Orchestra of the Springs welcomes corporate sponsorships for its programs and activities. Please contact Coral Cutts-Montgomery at 719-339-6988, for information on sponsorships and benefits.

Name: Contribution:

Street: City: State: Zip:

Phone (day): (evening):

Email:

The Chamber Orchestra of the Springs would like to add your e-mail address to its database so that we may send you announcements of upcoming events, special news etc. The Chamber Orchestra of the Springs database is for internal use only; its lists are not sold or given to any other organizations.

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Chamber Orchestra of the Springs Supporters

The following members of our 2008-2009 Season audience are as passionate about the activities of theChamber Orchestra of the Springs as are its players and Board of Directors. We offer them our heartfelt gratitude.

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Season Sponsor $10,000 -$24,999The Bee Vradenburg Foundation

Concert Sponsor$2,500-$4999 Colorado Springs Symphonic GuildNasit Ari and Libby Rittenberg

Conductor’s Circle$1,000-$2,499 Sam and Mary Alice HallHerman Tiemens

Benefactor$500-$999 Broadmoor Community ChurchMichael and Susan GracePam MarshThe Progressive Insurance FoundationThe 10 N. Tejon Fund of the Pikes Peak Region

Supporter$250-$499 Walt and Esther HarderDr. and Mrs. Robert E. CarltonTerence and Elizabeth LillyBob and Lisa Rennick

Friend$0-249 Ray and Airene AvischiousAnn AxelrodLarry and Eve Barrett

William S. BeckerCharlease BoboMartha H. BoothWalter and Harriet BrooksAnn BroshDale E. BrunsonDuncan and Judith BurdickKathleen Fox Collins – In Honor of David BallJudy and Chris CunninghamPaul and Janet DavidsonPhyllis DeHartJill DemetryDonald and Robin DickensonMary J. ElberElisabeth J. FleenorEd GallagherElinor J. GarriquesI. Von Der GathenLiz and Chuck GeissDimitr S. GotseffMs. Rose Elnor HammanIngrid HartRichard and Sandra HiltMr. and Mrs. Dunning Idle IVDonald and Gwendolyn JenkinsGaylia JonesFrank and Elfiede Jopp Marilyn KastelDaniel and Dorothy KautzmanHarriet Kidd Mina C. KiddCherry and Jack KinneyDr. and Mrs. Laurence T. KircherHelene KnappSharon LaMotheJohn F. LeFevre

Bonnie and Dave LinderPatricia LiptonBarbara LoganRichard and Jean McChesneyMary McKinleyDion F. MercierGeorge MerketCharles and Jane MerrittLynne MillerHelen MurrayAnn J. NelsonMary Jean NelsonJay Norman Janet NormanArthur and Bärbel O’ConnorLoanda OelrichPatricia PlankBetty Jane RickelCol. J.L. Rynning Janice SchoberLori SchwartzHerb and Rhea SiegelJohn F. SlatteryMargaret SmithMarilouise SullivanL.W. TatumRobert H. TaylorFrederica A. ThrashCarol TownsleyWilliam TunstillWilliam and Joyce UnderwoodMary WeigerDon and Marylin WerschkyPhyllis V. WhiteHarry and Louise WilsonJulienne Wilkinson

Chamber Orchestra Of The SpringsP.O. Box 7911

Colorado Springs, CO 80933–7911(719) 633–3649

www.chamberorchestraofthesprings.org

The Chamber Orchestra of the Springs provides a unique opportunity for people in the Pikes Peak region to hear and appreciate the wealth of orchestral music for small orchestras. Through discovery, detailed rehearsal and exceptional performances, the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs presents great classical repertoire, uncovers forgotten gems of the past, and brings new music to our community.

Board Of Trustees

We wish to express our sincere appreciation to the following organizations:

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Print Media Sponsor Printing Services

President: Charlease BoboVice President: Lynn Hurst

Secretary: Anita MareshJay Norman: Treasurer

Nasit AriBill Flitter

Michael GraceJohn LeFevre

Bettina SwiggerLinda WeiseDavid Ball

4 17

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February 15European Contrasts

Saint-Saens • Grieg • Bartok •Mendelssohn

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All Concerts at 3:00 p.m. at Wasson High School, 2115 Afton Way

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David RutherfordConductor

guest artists

The Colorado College

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of both The Colorado College and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Additionally, he is the founder of his own music publishing company, Sound Ideas Publications, which specializes in solo and ensemble selections for brass instruments. Mr. Zuercher has been married to pianist Kelly McSweeney Zuercher since 1981. The Zuerchers have two children and take pleasure in residing at the base of Pikes Peak in the “America the Beautiful” city.

Technical Sergeant Alejandro Vieira, bassoon, hails from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Alex has performed in many countries and festivals, including France’s Evian Festival, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Ireland, the 1998 World Exposition in Lisbon, Portugal, the Sarasota Music Festival in Sarasota, Florida, the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, and the National Orchestral Institute in College Park, Maryland. He is Bassoon Instructor at Colorado College, and has been featured as a guest artist in the Colorado College Summer Music Festival. Alex has also performed numerous recitals in Colorado Springs for the USAF Academy

Band’s Chamber Recital Series, the Faculty Recital Series at Colorado College, and the Thursday Night Recital Series at the Colorado Springs School. He was a finalist in the 2002 International Double Reed Society’s Gillet-Fox bassoon competition where he received the award of Honorable Mention. Alex has performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Northern Kentucky Symphony, and he is currently the second bassoonist and contrabassoonist in the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra. His teachers include William Winstead, Linda Harwell, Phillip Kolker, Denis Michel, Manuel Zegler, and David Fedderly. Alex joined The United States Air Force Academy Band in 1998 and currently performs with the Concert Band, Marching Band, and Academy Winds.

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guest artistsKelly McSweeney Zuercher, principal pianist of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, is a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mrs. Zuercher began to play the piano by ear at the age of three, then, at age five, began piano lessons with her first teacher, Philelle McBrayer. She studied with Dr. Clarence Burg as a preparatory student at Oklahoma City University, and she remained his student through her graduation from that university with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance. She received the Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Louisville, Kentucky. Mrs. Zuercher made her solo debut at age twelve with the Oklahoma City Symphony as winner of a concerto competition, and was a recipient of the Bloch Young Artist Award. She spent a year abroad as recipient of a Rotary International Graduate Fellowship, and studied with Jules Gentil. At the close

of her year in France she was awarded the prestigious Diplôme Supérieur d’Exécution, from the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, by unanimous vote of an international jury, an honor seldom obtained after only one year’s study. She has appeared throughout the United States as a soloist and chamber musician, including several apperances as soloist with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, including Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Piano Concerto in F, and Piano Concerto No. 1 by Shostakovich. She also presents concerts with her husband, David, who is principal trumpeter of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Mrs. Zuercher has served on the piano faculties of Metropolitan State College in Denver, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and currently maintains a private piano studio.

David Alan Zuercher, principal trumpeter of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, is a native of Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Zuercher began musical instruction at the age of eight with emphasis in piano, flute and percussion. At age eleven, inspired by recordings of solo trumpet with orchestra, Mr. Zuercher’s instrumental priority switched to trumpet. The decision to make orchestral trumpet performance a career led him to study with Leon Rapier at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. Since then, other private teachers have included William Vacchiano (New York Philharmonic), Samuel Krauss (Philadelphia Orchestra) and Arnold Jacobs (Chicago Symphony Orchestra). While on the staff of the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan, Mr. Zuercher was invited to Taiwan as principal trumpeter of the Taipei Philharmonic but, after graduating from the University of Louisville with a Bachelor’s Degree in orchestral performance in 1978, he chose to accept the invitation to perform with

the symphony orchestra in Colorado Springs. Mr. Zuercher’s solo, chamber and orchestral work have established him as an exceptional performer. He has performed in numerous clinic–recitals, as soloist with symphony orchestras and as a member of the King’s Brass, along with virtuoso trumpeter Robert Nagel.

In addition to maintaining his private music studio, Mr. Zuercher has served on the trumpet faculties

Thomas WilsonMusic Director

Thomas Wilson is currently Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, Associate Conductor of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Cover Conductor for the New York-based pops show Symphonic Night at the Oscars, serves on the music faculties at Colorado College and the Colorado Springs Conservatory, and maintains an active guest conducting schedule. Mr. Wilson previously conducted for the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony program and founded the Young Concert Artists of Colorado Springs.

Thomas began studying piano at the age of four. Later studies included trumpet, percussion, string bass and voice, before concentrating his efforts on trumpet, conducting and composition. Thomas graduated summa cum laude from the University of Northern Colorado, receiving the School of Music’s highest honor—the Departmental Scholar Award.

A primary focus of Mr. Wilson’s conducting career has been collaborations between performing arts organizations, which he sees as essential to artistic growth and a unified arts community. Thomas has led the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs in collaborative performances with the Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale, Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble, Young Concert Artists, Colorado Springs Youth Symphony, Pikes Peak Ringers, The United States Army Field Band, Ballet Society of Colorado Springs, Peak Ballet Theatre, Fusion Pointe Dance Company, Ormao Dance Company, and the Colorado Springs Conservatory, just to name a few. Thomas frequently conducts new works by local composers, including the world premier of Mark Arnest’s Pike’s Dream, about the life and times of Zebulon Pike. Thomas’ recent recording projects include the world premier recording of Kevin McChesney’s Ring of Fire and a live, 2-CD release of the Flying W Wranglers with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic.

Winner of international recognition as a trumpeter, Mr. Wilson has extensive experience performing and recording with orchestras, ensembles, and artists. He is one of only three trumpeters ever selected as a finalist for both the International Trumpet Guild Orchestral and Solo Performance Competitions in the same year. As a composer and arranger, Thomas has dozens of published titles and is currently arranging new artist features and a Big Band jazz program for the Philharmonic.

Mr. Wilson has been called “someone to watch” and “a very exciting conductor” by Michael Tilson Thomas, one of the foremost conductors of our time.

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Chamber Orchestra Of The SpringsThomas Wilson, Music Director

Ancient Airs, Timeless GraceNovember 8, 2008, 7:00 PM, Broadmoor Community Church

November 9, 2008, 3:00 PM, First Christian Church

William Boyce Symphony No. 7 in F Major(1711-1779) I. Allegro II. Vivace ma non troppo III. Allegro

Henry Purcell Sonata in D Major for Trumpet and Strings(1659-1695) I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Allegro David Zuercher, trumpet

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-Flat Major, K595(1756-1791) I. Allegro II. Larghetto III. Rondo: Allegro Kelly Zuercher, piano

INTERMISSION

Georg Philipp Telemann Concerto Grosso in D Major, TWV54:D3(1681-1767) I. Intrada – Grave II. Allegro III. Largo IV. Vivace Oboes: Nancy Brown, Carla Scott Trumpets: David Zuercher, Thomas Wilson, William Flitter

Antonio Vivaldi Bassoon Concerto in B-flat Major, “La Notte”(1678-1741) I. Il Fantasmi (The Ghosts): Largo; Presto; Presto; Adagio II. Il Sonno (“The Sleep”): Largo III. Sorge L’Aurora (“Sunrise”): Allegro Alejandro Vieira, Bassoon

Program continues on page 7

•Large Format Digital Scanning and Printing•Large Format Color Scanning and Printing

•Specification Manual Printing • Fully DigitalColor Copies • Digital Archiving

634-4894319 S. Nevada

Colorado Springs, CO 80903

The Chamber Orchestra of the SpringsAcknowledges With Great Thanks

Music Donations Made For This Concert:

Mozart Piano Concerto #27Lon and Deb Weltzer

in memory of Doris Luckey Nelson

Respighi Ancient Airs and Dances Suite #1Charlease Bobo

in celebration of the birthday ofviolin teacher Debora Falco

Purcell Sonata in D for Trumpet and Strings and

Telemann Concerto Grosso in D Major John Carter and Virginia Snow

14 7

Berlin to study violin and composition with Max Bruch. Respighi spent the years from 1903 to 1925 primarily in Italy, first as a performer, then as professor of composition, and finally as head of the Saint Cecilia Academy in Rome. He left the Academy in 1925 to devote himself to composition and touring, making four trips to the United States during the next seven years. He died of a heart attack at the age of fifty-six. Respighi had an abiding interest in the music of the late Renaissance and Baroque eras, and he edited many works by such venerable composers as Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Tartini and Vitali for publication. Speaking against serialism and mechanical/mathematical music that was being played in some concert halls and chased away audiences, Respighi was one of ten composers who issued a document espousing the hallowed philosophy of music as communication: “We are against art which cannot and does not have any human content and desires to be merely a mechanical demonstration and a cerebral puzzle. A logical chain binds the past and the future—the romanticism of yesterday will again be the romanticism of tomorrow.” Given most current trends in composition, they were obviously correct. Among the most charming of Respighi’s works based on old models are

Program Notes, continued

Thanks for listening! Now we’d like to hear from you! Contact us at chamorch@gmail.com with your questions and comments.

We’re all ears!

the three sets of Ancient Airs and Dances (1917, 1924, 1932), arrangements of Italian and French lute and keyboard pieces of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and early eighteenth centuries. Respighi kept the old melodies and harmonies intact while enriching their texture and providing them with brilliant orchestral color. The First Suite of Ancient Airs and Dances opens with a Balletto detto “Il Conte Orlando” (“Count Orlando’s Dance”) issued in Venice in 1599 as part of a large collection of lute pieces by Simone Molinaro (ca. 1565-ca. 1613). The following Gagliarda is the work of Vincenzo Galilei (1520-1591), the Florentine composer and theorist and father of Galileo Galilei. Respighi placed in the center of the movement an anonymous Italiana built above a bagpipe-like drone. The lovely third movement, a sort of serenade with plucked accompaniment undoubtedly meant to resemble a lute, is a Villanella, a vocal form that originated in Naples during the mid-sixteenth century as a reaction to the refinement and pretensions of the sophisticated madrigal. Two pieces of unknown origin, a quick Passo mezzo and a flowing Mascherada, a type of villanella used for masquerades, alternate to bring the work to a joyous close.

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First Violin*Azaduhi Vieira,

ConcertmasterJulie SwantyErika DevinsTerri Moon

Kay WehoferSara Miller

Melanie Richards

Second Violin*Debora FalcoAnita Maresh

Meagan JacksonLydia CampbellKelly JeppesenCharlease BoboCindy Robinson

Viola*Diana Zombola**Keith Russell

Rebecca HarrisonMatthew CantyDeborah Weltzer

Cello*Nancy Nylander

**Annemarie DawsonRamona McConkie

Tori Bardin

String Bass * Cathy

Camp-Davidson

Flute*Phyllis WhiteCheryl Stauffer

Oboe* Nancy Brown

Carla Scott

Bassoon* Shirley Plumer

John Lawson

Thomas WilsonConductor

The Players of the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs

* Principal** Asst. Principal

Tympani Scott Bruce

Trumpet* Bill Flitter

Dan Bell

French Horn*Elwood White

Christina Schwartz-Soper

Harp Megan Prahl

English HornJoyce Hanagan

HarpsichordSara McDaniel

Ottorino Respighi Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite III(1879-1936) I. Simone Molinaro: Balletto ditto “Il Conte Orlando” II. Vincenzo Galilei: Gagliarda III. Anonymous: Villanella IV. Anonymous: Passo mezzo e Mascherada

Program, Continued

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UPCOMING CONCERTSJanuary 17 & 18, 2009:

Chamber Orchestra & Conservatory: Together!Copland• Copland • Menotti

February 28 & March 1, 2009: Local Flair, International Fare

Arnest• Saint-Saëns • Haydn• Clementi

April 25 & 26, 2009: Season Finale

Mendelssohn • Beethoven • Fauré

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first movement, Vivaldi uses a stately and unassuming introduction to establish a “nighttime” feel, but moves quickly into a wildly technical display for the bassoon describing “Il Fantasmi” or ghosts. A short adagio segues to a quiet largo “Il Sonno” or sleep. The final movement depicts a sunrise (Sorge L’Aurora) ending the mysterious night with more brilliant wizardry by the soloist.

Here is an elegant way of writing, in the sense of the rhetoric of another day; a beautiful harmonizing; a splendid method of orchestration; and with these a desire to be agreeable, well-

Program Notes, continued

mannered, and respectable at all costs. —Gatti. As the descendent of a family of professional musicians, Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) inherited a rich talent as part of his birthright. His earliest music lessons were with his father, but he progressed so rapidly that he began his professional training in violin, piano and composition at the age of just thirteen. As a young man, Respighi was torn between ambitions to become a concert violinist or a composer. He got a job as a violist with the orchestra of the St. Petersburg Opera, and took advantage of his time in Russia to study with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, whose brilliant orchestral technique was a lasting influence. He then moved to

Continued on page 14

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there until his death, when he was succeeded by his godson, C.P.E. Bach. Telemann’s Concerto Grosso in D Major, TWV54:D3, features two oboes and three trumpets as the solo instruments. The trumpet parts were written for the valveless predecessor of the modern trumpet, called a “natural trumpet,” which was a notoriously difficult and physically demanding instrument to play. Even the modern piccolo trumpets have little impact on the extreme demands of range and tessitura often employed by Baroque composers. Employing a grand “intrada” to begin the piece and a short slow section to transition to the body of the work, the rest of the concerto is a typical Italian fast-slow-fast form. Here, however, it is the counterpoint, the innovative scoring, and the virtuosic technical displays by all of the soloists that make the piece special, both in the context of Telemann’s output and in the entire Baroque repertoire.

The compositions chosen for the festival confronted us with a Vivaldi who can be compared without hesitation to J.S. Bach. Every day it is more evident that the influence exerted by Vivaldi on the Cantor was considerable and perhaps even decisive in his molding. –Alfredo Casella, writing of the Vivaldi Festival in Siena, 1939. Long famous throughout Europe as a composer and violinist, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) lost his public during the last decade of his life. He spent his final days in penury and, like Mozart after him, was buried in a pauper’s grave, his scores seemingly

Program Notes, continued

doomed to obscurity. In fact, more than 200 years passed before musicians made the first sustained attempt at reviving the composer’s works, in the late 1940s, and even at that time, musicologists would have scoffed at the suggestion that Vivaldi could ever again attain best-seller status. Yet, in the mid-1960s, Vivaldi’s music had, with storybook rapidity, regained the kind of widespread admiration and adoration it had last known in the1720s. The vast size of Vivaldi’s concerto output, (some 500 surviving works), was a consequence of the composer’s 35 years of employment at Venice’s Pio Ospedale della Pietà, where new music was constantly needed for the weekly Sunday public concerts presented by the students. The Pietà originated as a shelter and school for female orphans, but soon proved of such educational excellence (particularly in music) that the wealthy citizens began sending their daughters there. Clearly, the Pietà girls were superlatively trained musicians, or so Vivaldi’s concertos indicate. Vivaldi apparently considered such student works of less importance to his career than his operas, forty-six of which survive though there may have been many more. He repeatedly took leaves of absence from the Pietà to supervise productions of his stage works in various Italian cities. Vivaldi’s Bassoon Concerto in B-flat Major, op. 45, no. 8, “La Notte” has strong similarities to his Four Seasons violin concerti. Both foreshadow the tone poems of the Romantic through ingenious musical descriptions of stories and ideas. In the u

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Program Notes

Ancient Airs, Timeless Grace William Boyce (1711-1779) was born in London, the son of John Boyce, a cabinet maker. As a boy, he sang in the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral. When his voice broke, he decided to study organ technique with Maurice Greene, the cathedral organist. His first professional appointment was as organist at Earl of Oxford’s Chapel in Cavendish Square and after two years he became organist at St. Michael’s Cornhill. Already writing for the Vauxhall Gardens, he was appointed composer to the Chapel Royal in 1736. During the 1740s and 1750s, Boyce was at the height of his career composing for stage and court. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Cambridge University in 1749, and even enjoyed widespread commercial success with the publication of his Trio Sonatas in 1747 and new composing responsibilities for the Drury Lane theatre. Despite increasing deafness, Boyce was appointed Master of the King’s Musick in 1755. His annual compositions of a New Year ode and Birthday ode for King George III were more or less his entire output for the rest of his life. He devoted his last years to the completion of a collection of the greatest compositions of English church composers. Boyce’s Eight Symphonies are remarkable, short works in a style foreshadowing the overture. Symphonies 1-5 are in the Italian style, and 6-8 are French overtures. (The Italian style is a simple fast-slow-fast form, and the French is generally a slow opening followed by a number of dance movements.) Symphony No. 7 in F Major is unique

in that there are no slow movements and a fairly large wind section for orchestras of the period.

What no one will fail to find in Purcell at his best is a spring of life, a vitality that glows with the effort of the whole man. To listen is to share an experience, to catch some of his glancing fire and to have a part in his aching regret.—J. A. Westrup By any measure, Henry Purcell (1659-1695) was England’s finest Baroque composer, and would have established a unique English Baroque style if he hadn’t died at the age of 36. Purcell’s father and uncle were both professional musicians at the court of Charles II, and his brother Daniel was an organist and a composer. These family connections gave Purcell access to some of the finest musicians and pedagogues of the day. Purcell became a court composer in 1677 secured a position as organist at Westminster Abbey in 1697. Most of his life was spent in various positions in and around Westminster, including Whitehall palace and the Chapel Royal at St. James. He is remembered primarily for two of his finest operas—Dido and Aeneas and The Fairy Queen. Purcell’s Sonata in D Major for Trumpet and Strings is believed by many scholars to be the overture to the lost ode The Light of the World. It is structured in the fast-slow-fast Italian style and is a fine example of Purcell’s gift of melody and phrasing.

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Program Notes, continuedI declare to you before God, and as an honest man, that your son is the greatest composer I know, either personally or by name. –Joseph Haydn, to Leopold Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) showed such a prodigious talent for music in his early childhood that his father, also a composer, dropped all other ambitions and devoted himself to educating the boy and exhibiting his accomplishments. Between ages six and fifteen, Mozart was on tour over half the time. By 1762, he was a virtuoso on the clavier—an early keyboard instrument and predecessor of the piano—and soon became a good organist and violinist as well. He produced his first minuets at the age of six, and his first symphony just before his ninth birthday, his first oratorio at eleven, and his first opera at twelve. His final output would total more than 600 compositions. Much has already been said and studied in the popular media about Mozart’s roguish lifestyle and apprehension of conformity. It was this aspect of his personality that never won him the support of royalty or the church, which, at that time, was critical to any composer’s survival. As such, Mozart died young, ill, poor, and relatively unappreciated … only to become the mostly widely acknowledged orchestral composer in history. Mozart completed his Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major, K595 on January 5, 1791, about one year before his death, and the piece was premiered on March 4 of the same year. It followed two years of extreme financial hardship that threatened his marriage. Gone are the idyllic grace and subtle humor of

Mozart’s happier days. Instead, we hear a wisp of introspection or perhaps even resignation. As the least virtuosic of all Mozart’s concertos, K595 requires a depth and invention from its soloist beyond all of his concertos.

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was considered the greatest German composer of the first half of the 18th century … until the more objective lens of history was given a few centuries to consider J.S. Bach’s music. Nonetheless, Telemann was incredibly prolific, writing among other things about 40 operas, 46 Passions, and five complete cycles of cantatas. At its best, the music of Telemann has a right melodiousness foreshadowing that of Haydn and Mozart. Born at Magdeburg to an affluent middle-class family, Telemann went against family tradition, choosing to study music over service in the clergy. Pressed by his father to study law instead, Telemann went to the University of Leipzig in 1701, but once his musical abilities were discovered, it was impossible for him to do anything else. He founded the Collegium Musicum, a society that gave public concerts which Bach later directed, and became a widely respected organist. Telemann left Leipzig in 1705 for positions in Sorau and Eisenach, but settled for nine years (1712-1721) into a position as Music Director of the city of Frankfurt. He moved to Hamburg in 1722 to become cantor and take charge of the music at the five principal churches in the city, and remained

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