Program Notes: Bach Cello Suite No. 2 Prelude, Schumann Fantasiestucke, and Summer Julie-O

I thought I would post the program notes from my senior recital, in the hopes that someone might be able to use them for reference purposes. Enjoy!

Robert Schumann- Fantasiestücke, Op. 73

Robert Schumann was born on June 8, 1810 in Zwickau, Germany. He did not begin his studies in music at an early age, but instead studied law at the University of Leipzig. It was not until he was 20 years old that he began to study music with the noted piano teacher, Friedrich Wieck. Schumann eventually married Wieck's daughter, Clara, who was a piano prodigy. He was not adept at the piano due to a weakness in one of his hands, so it was Clara that performed many of his piano works. Schumann was also the founder and editor of his own musical magazine called Neue Zeitsfchrift für Musik, which is still in existence today as a leading journal of contemporary issues in music. His love for literature is apparent in his music, as many of Schumann's compositions bring characters or scenery from his favorite books and poems to life.

Written in 1849, it is believed that Fantasiestücke, Op. 73 was written by Schumann as an “amateur” piece, as he hoped to gain more fame and more money by writing chamber pieces that were playable by multiple instrumentalists. Fantasiestücke, Op. 73 has parts that make it playable by the cello, clarinet, and also the violin.

Johann Sebastian Bach- Cello Suite No. 2: Prelude

Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the greatest composers of all time, was born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany. He was a baroque composer who was not well-known in his time as a composer, but for playing the organ. He wrote over 1,000 works that spanned the entirety of musical genres, except for opera. His father was a town musician and gave Bach his early music lessons. After the death of both of his parents, he was adopted by his older brother Cristoph, a church organist who taught him most of his organ skills.

The Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello is at the top of every cellist’s repertoire list. This set of suites was composed sometime between 1717 and 1723, but the exact date is unknown. At this time in his life, Bach was a Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen. Leopold was an amateur musician who played several instruments, so the fact that Bach wrote much chamber music during this time period is not out of the ordinary. Each of the six suites contains six smaller sections, each section named after a popular style of baroque dance, aside from the beginning prelude. Before the 1900’s, this magnificent work was rarely ever played. It took world-renowned cellist, Pablo Casals, to bring the suites into the public eye. He stumbled upon the music at a thrift shop, and then decided to study the suites, being the first person to record all six suites in 1925. Soon after this recording was released, the Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello rose to fame and are arguably the greatest works for solo cello ever written. The Cello Suite No. 2 is one of only two suites written in a minor key, the other being the fifth suite. The Prelude contains technical devices, as well as a vast array of emotional depth. It starts with a recurring theme right at the beginning, leads into a cadenza-esque section, and ends with powerful chords.

Mark Summer- Julie-O

Mark Summer is originally from Reseda, California and is one of the founding members of the Turtle Island String Quartet, a contemporary string quartet that is pioneering the performance and composition of new, modern music for the normally classical quartet of two violins, viola, and cello. After graduation from the Cleveland Institute of Music and winning a spot in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Summer realized that he was longing for something new and exciting. He began to gig around, exploring alternative ways of creating music, as well as playing in his own group The West-End String Band. He visited San Francisco where he and David Balakrishnan, violinist, founded the Turtle Island String Quartet. Summer is well-known for incorporating extended techniques into his cello playing, like virtuosic jazz solos and percussion techniques normally reserved for other instruments.