Serenata to play Strauss, Brahms
The romantics will reign when Serenata of Santa Fe performs at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe on Feb. 25. David Felberg (violin), Dana Winograd (cello), Scott Temple (horn) and Nathan Salazar (piano) will play a program of works by Strauss, Webern, Brahms and contemporary American composer Kenji Bunch.
The concert will open with Andante for horn & piano (1888) by Richard Strauss.
“He wrote it for his parents’ anniversary,” Serenata artistic director Pamela Epple said of the composer, more known for tone poems and operas. “It was intended for a nevercompleted horn sonata. It shows his inventiveness.”
Austrian composer Anton Webern penned his Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, op. 7 in 1910, before he turned to 12-tone music.
“He was a great admirer of (Arnold) Schoenberg,” Epple said, “but this was before that conversion. They’re strong pieces, but they’re very ephemeral. They’re kind of the last sighs of romanticism. They’re just gorgeous and beautiful in their smallness.”
The musicians also will play Bunch’s Common Tones for Violin, Horn & Piano (2000).
“He draws from a large range of traditional American genres and styles,” Epple said, “like bluegrass or folk or jazz or rock. But he draws on his classical training, so it appeals to everyone.”
The concert will end with the Brahms Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, op. 101.
“It grabs the listener’s attention from the very beginning,” Epple said. “The Brahms is the epitome of the Romantic tradition.”