Season 32 • Summer Concert Series
Aug 30 • Mozart Clarinet Quintet
3:00pm • First Unitarian Universalist Church
This concert is generously supported by William & Marilyn Moll, Anne & Bruce Johnson, and the Texas Commission on the Arts
String Quartet in B Minor, Op. 11
Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
I. Molto allegro e appassionato
II. Molto adagio
III. Molto allegro
String Quartet No. 2 in D Major
Alexander Borodin (1833–1887)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Scherzo. Allegro
III. Notturno. Andante
IV. Finale. Andant
Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581
W.A. Mozart (1756–1791)
I. Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. Menuetto with trio
IV. Allegretto con variazioni
Performers
Ilya Shterenberg, Clarinet
Eric Gratz, Violin
Avi Nagin, Violin
Colin Brookes, Viola
Julian Schwarz, Cello
Program Notes
String Quartet in B Minor, Op. 11 (1936)
Samuel Barber
American composer Samuel Barber is best known for his gift of long, wandering and expressive melodic lines. His works span orchestral, chamber, vocal, and operatic genres, and he emerged in the mid-twentieth century as one of the leading American composers of his generation. Written in 1936 while Barber was still in his twenties, the String Quartet in B Minor is among his earliest major chamber works and already shows the distinctive lyricism that would define much of his output. The quartet is in three movements, with the central movement, Adagio, later becoming Barber’s most widely recognized orchestral arrangement.
The opening movement is built on a tightly organized sonata structure, presenting a dark, searching primary theme that is contrasted with similarly flowing secondary ideas. The Adagio unfolds in a sustained, arching melodic line that gradually intensifies through subtle harmonic shifts. The final movement is more unsettled and rhythmically driven, revisiting earlier material before bringing the work to an intense close.
String Quartet No. 2 in D Major (1882)
Alexander Borodin
Alexander Borodin was a Russian composer, chemist, and member of the group of nationalist composers known as “The Mighty Handful.” His music often blends Western European forms with a distinctly Russian melodic style, marked by warmth, lyricism, and folk-like character. Borodin composed his String Quartet No. 2 in 1881 as a personal tribute to his wife, Ekaterina Protopova, during a period when he was spending time with her in Heidelberg. The work reflects a more intimate and lyrical side of his writing, in contrast to some of his larger orchestral and operatic works.
The Quartet is in four movements and is best known for its third movement, the Notturno. The opening movement presents flowing themes in a classical sonata framework, with a gentle, singing character throughout. The Scherzo follows with light, dance-like rhythms and rapid interplay between the instruments. The Notturno is the emotional center of the work, featuring a long, expressive melody shared between cello and violin over a delicate accompaniment. The Finale returns to a brighter, more energetic character, bringing the quartet to a graceful conclusion.
Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (1789)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed the Clarinet Quintet in 1789 in Vienna for clarinetist Anton Stadler, a longtime colleague and virtuoso performer on the basset clarinet. Stadler’s extended instrument, capable of reaching lower pitches than the standard clarinet of the time, influenced Mozart’s writing in this and other late works for the instrument, including the Clarinet Concerto in A Major. The Quintet is scored for clarinet and string quartet and represents one of the earliest significant chamber works to feature the clarinet in an integrated solo role.
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Written in four movements, the work’s first movement follows sonata principles, with thematic ideas distributed between clarinet and strings rather than assigned to a single lead voice. The second movement, marked Larghetto, presents an extended lyrical line for clarinet over a transparent accompaniment. The third movement is a minuet with two contrasting trios, one of which gives the clarinet a more prominent melodic presence. The final movement is a theme-and-variations, in which the clarinet alternates between leading the texture and blending into the ensemble fabric. The work reflects Mozart’s late Viennese chamber style.