Saint Paul Sunday, November 2004 broadcast listings

Soul Garden
A constellation of six musical stars from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center visits Saint Paul Sunday this week to light up seldom-heard sextets by Mozart and Dvořák--music that mines a richness and expressive power unavailable to smaller ensembles. We'll also hear Derek Bermel's "Soul Garden," a work the young composer based on his own experience in the African-American gospel tradition, and which he wrote for violist Paul Neubauer, who takes its lead role this Sunday. Joining him are violinists Ida Kavafian and Joseph Silverstein, violist Toby Appel, and cellists Fred Sherry and Ronald Thomas.

Antonín Dvořák: Sextet for 2 violas and 2 cellos in A major, Op. 48
—II. Dumka. Poco allegretto
—III. Furiant. Presto
—IV. Finale. Tema con variazioni
Derek Bermel: Soul Garden for viola and string quintet (excerpt)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Quintet in E-flat major, K 614
—I. Allegro di molto
—V. Allegro

Nerve Endings
This week celebrated pianist Garrick Ohlsson plays music which, in his words, "electrifies all the nerve endings." He begins on the mountaintop — the first movement of the last sonata Beethoven ever composed, the famed Opus 111— only to leave earth entirely with several études and poèmes of Alexander Scriabin. Even today, Scriabin's strangely beautiful music, so far ahead of its own time, can elude some listeners. Garrick Ohlsson's profound connection with the composer reveals the genius behind his works while preserving their delicious mystery.

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 32 in c minor, Op. 111
—I. Maestoso; Allegro con brio ed appassionato

Alexander Scriabin: Étude Op. 2, No. 1
Alexander Scriabin: Étude Op. 8, Nos. 4 and 12
Alexander Scriabin: Étude Op. 42, No. 5
Alexander Scriabin: Poèmes Op. 69, Nos. 1 and 2
Alexander Scriabin: Sonata Op. 530, No. 5

For information about Garrick Ohlsson recordings visit Public Radio Musicsource

"Hi...and thanks for today's wonderful, happy, breathtaking show with Scriabin and Garrick Ohlsson. It just gets better! I am so happy to learn about composers like Scriabin...who before (for me) was just a name and a couple of pieces I liked on a piano CD. Now I guess I'll have to get some more CDs!"
— Sister Ruth Gehres, Owensboro, Kentucky

"Dear Bill...Your program some time ago with Garrick Ohlsson and Scriabin was probably the best Saint Paul Sunday I have ever heard (and I have listened to almost all of them for the last 10 years). Such music making (especially the Sonata No. 5, and my favorite - the Etude Op. 2 No. 1 in c-sharp minor), and such great interaction between Garrick and you!" —Reidar Bjorhovde (email, Tuscon, AZ)


	OPUS ONE

Ardent Youth, Mystical Age
The four acclaimed soloists of OPUS ONE first came together as an ensemble out of their admiration for one another's music making. This week on Saint Paul Sunday they join forces for one of the greatest chamber works ever written: Johannes Brahms's transcendent third piano quartet in c minor, a work begun by a heart-stricken twenty-two-year old and revised for publication decades later by a far more seasoned and serene spirit. The foursome opens it program with a charming Mozart allegro and a nimble homage to Mozart by Aaron Jay Kernis.

Aaron Jay Kernis: “Mozart en Route” or “A Little Traveling Music” (1991)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Quartet in g minor for piano and strings, K 478
—I. Allegro
Johannes Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 3 in c minor for piano and strings, Op. 60
—I. Allegro non troppo
—III. Andante

From Our Listeners
"I used to listen to "St Paul Sunday Morning" back in the '80s in Iowa, but then lost track of it and all public radio when I moved to Prague in 1995. Recently I gained access to the internet and just now have listened to the Opus One program. It's so wonderful to find you again, to know that the program is still available in its original format, and that you're still the host, with your wonderful Bill McLaughlin-ness.
Thanks for still being there."
—Mary, Prague, Czech Republic

Then and Now
Now just past 30, Kronos Quartet remains as true as ever to its searching spirit. Its bold dedication to new work continues to exhilarate the repertoire, and its intrepid craft enlivens music of both contemporary and ancient sources. This week on Saint Paul Sunday, Kronos balances old and new, offering arrangements of medieval chant, traditional Irish folksong, and ancient Greek scales as well as several works by living composers.

Hildegard von Bingen, arr. Marianne Pfau: O Virtus Sapientie
Harry Partch, arr. Ben Johnston: Two Studies on Ancient Greek Scales
—I. Olympos’ Pentatonic
—II. Archytas’ Enharmonic
Jack Body: Long-Ge
Sigur Rós, arr. Stephen Prutsman: Flugufrelsarinn (The Fly Freer)
Traditional, arr. Tony MacMahon and Stephen Prutsman: An Buachaillín Bán (The Fair-Haired Boys)
Tanburi Cemil Bey, arr. Stephen Prutsman: Evic Taksim
Blind Willie Johnson, arr. Stephen Prutsman: Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground
Alfred Schnittke, arr. Kronos Quartet: Collected Songs Where Every Verse is Filled with Grief (from Concerto for Mixed Voices)

Audio from previous shows is archived in the program catalog. Go to the catalog to listen to previous shows.