May 9, 2021

Temple Emanuel 385 Ward Street Newton, Massachusetts www.templeemanuel.com

SPONSORED BY THE SAUL B. AND NAOMI R. COHEN FOUNDATION

JOSEPH BOULOGNE, CHEVALIER DE SAINT-GEORGES

CLAUDE DEBUSSY

THE ARABELLA STRING QUARTET

Performs String Quartets by

2

PROGRAM

Quartet No. 1 from Six Quartetto concertans 'Au Gout du Jour' Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Allegro Assai Gratioso

Quartet No. 2 from Six Quartetto concertans 'Au Gout du Jour' Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Adagio Aria Andantino

Quartet No. 3 from Six Quartetto concertans 'Au Gout du Jour' Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Allegro Rondeau – moderato

String Quartet in g minor Claude Debussy Animé et très décidé Assez vif et bien rythmé Andantino, doucement expressif Très modéré – En animant peu à peu – Très mouvementé et avec passion

3

ABOUT THE ARABELLA STRING QUARTET

At their début concert in Boston in 2012, the Arabella Quartet received a glowing review from The Boston Musical Intelligencer: “The group played like they had been together for years…with freedom, drive, and risk-taking that were quite astonishing in a début performance… the luftpausen were taken with complete unanimity, the senza vibrato moments showed perfect tuning, and the sections with vibrato were actually synchronized...” The Arabella Quartet, an ensemble of four like-minded musicians, comprises Julie Eskar, violin, Sarita Kwok, violin, Ettore Causa, viola and Alex Lecarme, cello. They represent Denmark, Australia, Italy and France; Their mélange of musical training and backgrounds imbues their performances with distinctive freshness, inventiveness and musical depth. In addition to performing as the Arabella Quartet, its members enjoy varied individual careers and bring to their quartet life a mature musicality and sense of equality.

Julie Eskar is first concertmaster of the Danish National Chamber Orchestra, which was awarded the 2020 International Classical Music Awards Best Recording for their recordings of the complete Beethoven Symphonies. Eskar is also a founding member of the acclaimed Eskar Trio. Sarita Kwok holds the Adams Endowed Chair in music, and is professor of music and Chair of the Department of Music at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. She is on the faculty of the summer program Credo Music at Oberlin, and the International board of directors of the international children's charity, Music Camp International. Eskar and Kwok rotate in their roles as first and second violinists in the quartet. Ettore Causa is the viola professor at Yale’s School of Music. Together with Boris Berman and Clive Greensmith, he recently released a recording of Brahms clarinet sonatas, arranged for viola. Alex Lecarme is a tenured member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which won 2 Grammy awards in 2019 for their recordings of the Shostakovich Symphonies 4 & 11. He is also a founding member of the Boston Cello Quartet. The Arabella Quartet's debut CD, titled In the Moment was released by Naxos Records in May, 2017. An innovative program that explores time, place and mood through a series of short pieces, the disc was named Album of the Week by ClassicFM who declared it, "an album well worth dipping into, exceptionally well played."

4

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS FEATURED TODAY Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) was one of the most intriguing men of the late eighteenth century. He was the son of a noble French plantation owner and an African slave of Senegalese origin. Saint-Georges became a champion fencer, boxer, horseman, trained in the social graces of the time, as well as concert violinist and composer. Saint-Georges played an important role in the musical life of pre-revolutionary France. As a composer he was one of the earliest pioneers of the symphonie concertante (a concerto with multiple soloists). He also wrote numerous violin concerti, some of the earliest known keyboard-violin sonatas, and was among the very first composers in France to write string quartets. Today, Saint-Georges’ music is scarcely played and even in France, he barely receives a mention in the music history books. Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was admitted at the age of ten to France's leading music college, the Conservatoire de Paris. His music was a reaction against Wagner and the German musical tradition. Throughout his career he wrote mélodies based on a wide variety of poetry, including his own. He was greatly influenced by the Symbolist poetic movement of the later 19th century. In his final years, he focused on chamber music, completing three of six planned sonatas for different combinations of instruments. He died at the age of 55 after a composing career of little more than 30 years.

THE SAUL B. AND NAOMI R. COHEN FOUNDATION Founded in 1997, the Foundation supports and promotes the fine and performing arts. It awards grants to promising young artists and especially gifted performing musicians to enable them to further their artistic pursuits. The Foundation also assists in the development of the musical careers of classical artists with assistance in arranging performance engagements, counseling in career strategy, guidance in the selection of live and recorded performances, and help in day to day living matters.

SAVE THE DATE!

The ARABELLA STRING QUARTET returns virtually on MAY 23, 2021 3PM - LIVESTREAM

to perform works of Saint-Georges and Ravel