But Still, Schubert Rota Lot of Music!

Our jam-packed January will end this coming Wednesday with a Q Series program at The Square Room on Market Square at noon. The Principal Woodwind Quintet will be performing Nino Rota's Piccola Offerta Musicale and William Grant Still's Miniatures for woodwind quintet. The Principal String Quartet will close with Franz Schubert's Op. 29 quartet in A Major.

You may not of heard of Nino Rota, but I guarantee you have heard his music. He scored more than 150 films from the '30s to the '70s, including The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, and most of Fellini's films. In light of our recent spate of performances of John Williams movie scores, this performance of Piccola Offerta is a way of acknowledging in a timely way that Williams isn't the only Ferrari in the garage. Fellini himself gushed with praise for Rota's skill, saying:

The most precious collaborator I have ever had, I say it straightaway and don't even have to hesitate, was Nino Rota — between us, immediately, a complete, total, harmony... He had a geometric imagination, a musical approach worthy of celestial spheres. He thus had no need to see images from my movies.

William Grant Still's music has enjoyed an uptick in popularity in recent years, with the KSO playing several of his works in recent seasons, including The American Scene, Afro-American Symphony, and Can'tcha Line 'em. The jazzy, bluesy tinge of his music has been a welcome addition to the rather limited output of George Gershwin in that style. Like Rota, he has had a hand in the film music industry, arranging music for films such as Pennies from Heaven and Lost Horizon.

Back in 1797, January 31 was known as “Mrs. Schubert's due date.” So it seems appropriate that we celebrate the birthday of the “King of Song” by performing one of his most beloved string quartets, the Rosamunde. This is a work that is unfairly in the shadow of his Death and the Maiden quartet, perhaps only because it is not as rowdy as DATM. The “Rosamunde” title stems from the theme of the second movement Andante, which is borrowed from his incidental music to Helmina von Chézy's play. I'm going to blurt this right now, a string quartet can not make a more beautiful statement than with this work in general, and this movement in particular. The rhythm of the melody is clearly inspired by the second movement of Beethoven's 7th symphony, with its elegant procession of gently unfolding harmonies. The first three movements are in A minor, but there is very little of the angst associated with a minor key. Just in case, though, Schubert wrote the romp of a finale in A major. The fact that I have not performed this work until now is proof that good things happen in old age!

Hope to see you at this well-balanced program!