Concert and Viola Sonata Premier Sunday, Nov. 10th

Join us on Sunday for a concert in a beautiful village. 

Mountain Top Music teachers Chris Nourse, violin and viola, and Ellen Schwindt, piano, perform Sonatas by Mozart, Cage, Finzi and Schwindt at the Tamworth Congregational Church on Sunday, November 10^th, 2013 at 4:00 PM. The program ranges over four centuries. The oldest piece on the program is a violin sonata (K. 454) by Mozart. It is an unusual sonata, full of operatic moments and mischievous themes. Two pieces on the program come from the first and second halves of the 20^th century. Gerald Finzi wrote five bagatelles--trifles--in England in the first half of the 20^th century. These pieces are romantic rambles through a lush harmonic landscape. This is perfect music to play in the bucolic landscape of Tamworth village, bounded by pastures and forests on every side. John Cage, working later in the century and in the cacophony of New York City, could still imagine complete peace—as is made obvious by his melodies for violin and piano. Cage uses a very simple palette of sounds to create spare and beautiful dances using delicate percussion from the piano and an ethereal grace from the violin. The last piece on the program is a premiere of a work Schwindt has been writing for the past year. Showing influences by composers like Gerald Finzi and Bohuslav Martinu, the sonata for viola and piano is neo-romantic in style and incorporates changing meters, and rich harmonies.  

Lately, I've been busy practicing for an upcoming concert called     Tangos and Trios

I'm excited about it because it's where I'll get to play my recent trio for flute, saxophone, and piano for the benefit of the community music school that is so close to my heart--Mountain Top Music Center. I get to work with two of my favorite colleagues--Mike Sakash and Julia Hendrickson. We have been having so much fun rehearsing together.

The program has two trios on it--my trio and one for the same instrumentation (there aren't so many of those works in existence) by Russell Peterson. His trio is quite jazzy, but still in the classical genre. It is a trance-inducing affair in some regards and has made us really work to get a good ensemble sound.

We've also put some fun pieces for duos. (Here's a math question for you: how many different combinations of one or two can you get from just three players). It seems like we're trying to answer that question with our  program.

In addition to the two trios, we've included these pieces:

Aria for Saxophone and Piano by Jacques Ibert
Morceau de Concourse for Flute and Piano by Gabriel Faure
Tango for solo piano by Bohuslav Martinu
La Perra Marysol by John Carbon
The Beginning is the End for piano solo by Ellen Schwindt
Contemplating Dawn in Winter for piano, saxophone, and flute by Ellen Schwindt

 The concert is a benefit for Mountain Top Music Center and it is to take place on Sunday, February 17th at 4:00 PM. Admission is $35 and reservations can be made by calling 603-447-4737.