 
|
|
Join Us For Our 2025-2026 Season! |
|
|
Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players “This was music-making of a very high order” Fred Kirshnit, The New York Sun |
||||||||
|
||||||||
View Our Printable Calendar and Ticket Order Form (pdf) Take a look at our guest artists for this season. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Join us for our next concerts...
Monday, April 20 ♦ 2 PM & 7:30 PM Tickets: $25, $17 ~ Reservations advised Hyunah Yu soprano Chelsea Wang piano Joshua Brown violin Julia Schilz violin Natalie Loughran viola Sara Scanlon cello Vadim Lando clarinet Robert FUCHS 2 Phantasiestücke Op. 74 Fuchs taught Mahler harmony and composition at the Vienna Conservatory, and is credited with influencing Mahler’s early musical development. Although his music was not widely known (he did little to promote it), Fuchs had many admirers, including Brahms, who loved and respected him. Brahms, who rarely praised anyone, said, “Fuchs is a splendid musician, everything is so fine and so skillful, so charmingly invented, that one is always pleased.” The noted conductors Arthur Nikisch, Felix Weingartner, and Hans Richter championed his works when they had the opportunity; and many considered his chamber music his finest work. Fuchs (1847–1927) was born in Frauental in southern Austria, the youngest of 13 children. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory with Felix Otto Dessoff and Joseph Hellmesberger. By 1875, he himself was teaching at the Conservatory, eventually rising to the rank of Professor of Composition. He was one of the most famous and revered teachers of his time, retaining his position until 1912. Among his pupils were Mahler, Sibelius, Hugo Wolf, George Enescu, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Erich Korngold, Franz Schmidt, Erkki Melartin, and Rubin Goldmark. He died in Vienna at the age of 80. Peter CORNELIUS Lieder Op. 1 Cornelius thought of himself as a “Poet-Musician.” Refined by nuanced melodies and harmonies, the lovely songs possess a personal quality. The colorful piano accompaniments further enhance the emotionally resonant music. Cornelius (1824–1874) was the son of actors in Mainz. His father trained him as an actor and also arranged for him to have music lessons. He made attempts at composing, mostly chamber music, as early as 1837; by 1840 he was playing the violin in the Mainz theater orchestra. He acted as well in his youth in Mainz and Wiesbaden. From 1844 to 1846 Cornelius studied with Siegfried Dehn in Berlin, and from 1853 to 1858 he lived in Weimar and mingled in the circle of Franz Liszt. He translated articles by Liszt and Hector Berlioz for the Neue Zeitschrift für Musikand became an advocate of the New German School. Berlioz held him in high regard both as a musician and as a skillful translator of the librettos of his own works. In 1857 he began composing the comic opera Der Barbier von Bagdad to his own libretto, based on The Thousand and One Nights. The premiere in 1858, conducted by Liszt at the Hoftheater in Weimar, was a fiasco because Liszt was embroiled in a bitter feud with the manager of the theater over the future direction of the house. Liszt resigned and Cornelius left Weimar. From 1859 to 1864 Cornelius lived in Vienna, where he became a friend of Richard Wagner. In 1865 he accompanied Wagner, whom he greatly admired, to Munich and was a reader to King Ludwig II of Bavaria and a professor at the Royal School of Music. Cornelius also was a gifted lyric poet, setting to music many of his own poems as well as poems of other writers. Der Barbier von Bagdad, reorchestrated by Felix Mottl,was successfully revived in 1884, 10 years after Cornelius died. Mahler conducted it in Prague in 1888. Hans ROTT String Quartet in C minor Rott (1858–1884) and Mahler were close friends and roomed together briefly at the Vienna Conservatory, where he was excused from paying tuition as he was destitute after his father’s death. He studied organ with Bruckner, starting in 1874, and graduated with honors from Bruckner’s organ class in 1877. For some years up to 1878 he was organist at the Piarist church in Vienna. Bruckner said that Rott (his favorite pupil) played Bach very well, and improvised wonderfully (a high compliment coming from Bruckner who was renowned for his improvisational skills). Rott was also influenced by the works of Wagner, and attended the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876. In 1878, his senior year, Rott submitted the first movement of his Symphony in E Major to a composition contest. The jury derided the work; Bruckner was incensed, predicting,“you will hear great things yet from this young man.” After completing the Symphony in 1880, Rott showed the work to both Brahms and Hans Richter in an attempt to get it performed, but was rebuffed. Brahms did not like Bruckner exerting his influence on the Conservatory students, and even told Rott that he had no talent and should give up music. Within a month Rott’s mind snapped while on a train, and he became insane. Debilitated by mental illness, he died at age 25 of tuberculosis. Mahler and Bruckner attended his funeral at the Central Cemetery in Vienna. His importance as a composer lies in his influence on his close friend Mahler. In particular, his Symphony in E anticipates those of Mahler in its thematic material and compositional techniques. Mahler praised Rott, calling him “a musician of genius...who died unrecognized and in want on the very threshold of his career.... What music has lost in him cannot be estimated. Such is the height to which his genius soars…. To be sure, what he wanted is not quite what he achieved. … But I know where he aims. Indeed, he is so near to my inmost self that he and I seem to me like two fruits from the same tree which the same soil has produced and the same air nourished. He could have meant infinitely much to me and perhaps the two of us would have well-nigh exhausted the content of new time which was breaking out for music.” For more on Rott, see https://mahlerfoundation.org/mahler/contemporaries/hans-rott/ Gustav MAHLER Das Himmlische Leben “The Heavenly Light” The beautiful song is the zenith of the “Wunderhorn” (4th) Symphony. Mahler called it the “tapering spire of the edifice.” The text—adapted from an old Bavarian folk song, “Der himmel hängt voll Geigen” (“Heaven is hung with violins”)—depicts heavenly pleasures, peace, a feast of delicious and plentiful food being prepared for all the saints, dancing, and singing. Mahler’s instruction to the soprano was “With childlike, cheerful expression; entirely without parody!” The song came from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youths Magic Horn)—a 3-volume collection of German folk poems, songs, and aphorisms compiled by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano. Published between 1805 and 1808, the collection had a profound influence on Mahler, providing him with a rich source of poetic texts for his early symphonies and song cycles. Wilhelm KIENZL Piano Trio in F minor Op. 13 The attractive Trio was written at age 23 just after he graduated with a doctorate degree. In the view of Edition Silvertrust, the exuberance, punctuated by episodes of longing, recalls the music of Schumann. “The opening movement, Allegro moderato, begins with a highly romantic, lyrical melody first introduced by the cello. A very Schumannesque energetic Scherzo follows. The lovely contrasting trio is fresh and flowing. A quiet, reflective and calm but very lyrical, singing Adagio is placed third. The unmistakable ghost of Schumann hovers over the closing Allegro vivace.” Kienzl and Mahler were neither friends nor colleagues, but they knew each other. Documents and letters provide evidence of the interaction between them. When Kienzl was dismissed in 1891 as director of the Hamburg Opera, halfway through his debut season because of poor reviews, Mahler was his replacement. Kienzel and Mahler corresponded in 1897, and during a visit to Budapest in 1889 he was introduced to Mahler. Kienzel also he met Mahler at the Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth in Vienna in 1904. In 1905 Mahler attended a performance of Kienzl’s opera Don Quixote in Graz. However, he left the theater in the middle of the performance, which deeply offended Kienzl. Kienzl (1857–1941) was born in the picturesque Austrian town of Waizenkirchen. When he was 3 his family moved to the Styrian capital of Graz, where he began lessons on the piano and violin. At age 15 he entered Graz University and added composition to his studies and discussed the works of Schumann and Wagner. He then continued his education at Prague University in 1874. There, his teacher Josef Krejči took him to Bayreuth to attend the first performance of Wagner’s Ring. It made a lasting impression on Kienzl. The next year he studied at Leipzig University, then briefly with Liszt in Weimar, and completed his dissertation and formal education in Vienna in 1879. “In the same year he went again to Bayreuth where he spent a considerable time as a member of the close circle around Wagner. His disagreements with some of the group on musical matters soon terminated his stay, but he remained an admirer of Wagner and his music. He attended nearly every Bayreuth Festival during his lifetime as well as lecturing and writing on Wagner [New Grove Dictionary].” Kienzl’s career developed in the opera sphere. Several of his operas became famous and were widely performed, such as Der Evangelimann. He was one of the first composers outside of Italy to make use of the verismo style, with its greater realism and naturalism.“With Humperdinck, Kienzl was responsible for the revival of Romanticism in opera, continuing the tradition of Weber, Lortzing and early Wagner. Returning to the naive elements of folk opera, he was able to develop them with music often strongly influenced by Wagner.” He was also considered, along with Hugo Wolf, one of the finest composers of Lieder since Schubert. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Monday, April 27 ♦ 2 PM & 7:30 PM Tickets: $25, $17 ~ Reservations advised Charles Neidich clarinet Vadim Lando clarinet Erik Ralske horn Roni Gal-Ed oboe Kemp Jernigan oboe Pascal Archer basset horn Anju Aoto basset horn & clarinet Cade Araza horn Sylvia Beach horn Sophie Choy horn Gina Cuffari bassoon Joshua Butcher bassoon Gabriel Polinsky double bass Keyi Wang piano Josef TRIEBENSEE Concertino in Eb Major The scoring is for piano (originally cembalo) and harmonie—an 8-piece wind band comprising pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons Triebensee (1772–1846) studied composition with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and oboe with his father, a distinguished oboist. In 1791 he played as the second oboist in the premiere of Die Zauberflote under Mozart’s direction. He led a Harmonie (wind band) for Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and other princes before succeeding Weber as director of the Prague Opera in 1816, holding that post until he retired in 1836. While prolific as a composer, Triebensee’s sole claim to fame today rests on his arrangement of Don Giovanni for wind ensemble. His compositions include 12 operas in German and Czech. MOZART Serenade No. 10 in Bb Major “Gran Partita” K. 361 The largest work of the Classical period for solo instruments, the Serenade made a powerful impression on Mozart’s contemporaries. For one, the critic and writer Johann Friedrich Schink confided in his memoirs, Litterarische Fragmente, “I heard music for wind instruments today…by Herr Mozart…oh, what an effect it made—glorious and grand, excellent and sublime. It consisted of thirteen instruments…and at each instrument sat a master.” His remarks were written after hearing a performance of the Serenade at a benefit concert at the Burgtheater on 23 March 1784, organized for his friend, the clarinetist Anton Stadler. The instruments comprised 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 basset-horns, 4 horns, 2 bassoons, and a double bass. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Jupiter 2025 - 2026 Season Tickets: $25, $17 ~ Reservation advised Please visit our Media Page to hear Audio Recordings from the Jens Nygaard and Jupiter Symphony Archive Concert Venue:
Office Address:
Like our Facebook page to see photos, videos, Jupiter in the News ConcertoNet
Strad Magazine ConcertoNet
|
As promised, here are the videos of John Field’s Divertissement No. 1 and Sir Hamilton Harty’s Piano Quintet. Fortuitously, our Jupiter musicians had the good sense to record the rehearsal in an impromptu decision, literally minutes before pressing the record button. Pianist Mackenzie Melemed (replacing Roman Rabinovich at the last minute) learned the music in 2 days! Bravo to him. Both works are Irish rarities that were scheduled for the March 16 performances which had to be canceled because of the coronavirus epidemic. Even though the entire program could not be recorded because of technical issues, we are pleased to be able to share with you the 2 musical gems. Enjoy. John FIELD Divertissement No. 1 H. 13 We thank the University of Illinois (Champaign) for a copy of the Divertissement music. Mackenzie Melemed piano
Sir Hamilton HARTY Piano Quintet in F Major Op. 12 Andrew Clements of the Guardian proclaimed the beautiful Quintet “a real discovery: a big, bold statement full of striking melodic ideas and intriguing harmonic shifts, which adds Brahms and Dvořák into Harty’s stylistic mix, together with Tchaikovsky in some passages.” There’s folk music charm as well, reminiscent of Percy Grainger—notably in the Scherzo (Vivace) with its folksy quirks and nonchalance, and the winding, pentatonic melody in the Lento. Our gratitude to the Queen’s University Library in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for a copy of the autograph manuscript of the music. Much thanks, too, to Connor Brown for speedily creating a printed score and parts from Harty’s manuscript. Mackenzie Melemed piano I Allegro 0:00 | |||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Jupiter featured on Our Net News American program opener on March 18, with grateful thanks to Michael Shaffer of OurNetNews.com for recording the matinee concert, and making available the Horatio Parker Suite video for our viewing pleasure. Horatio Parker Suite in A Major, Op. 35, composed in 1893 Stephen Beus piano
More video from this performance can be viewed on our media page |
Jupiter on YouTube NEW YORK CANVAS : The Art of Michael McNamara is a video portrait of the artist who has painted iconic images of New York City for more than a decade, capturing the changing urban landscape of his adopted city. Our Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players provide the music from Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G Minor, underscoring the inspiration the artist has drawn from Jens Nygaard and the musicians. Michael was also our Jupiter volunteer from 2002 to 2010. Here is a video of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players performance of the Rondo alla Zingarese movement:
The producer-director, Martin Spinelli, also made the EMMY Award-winning “Life On Jupiter: The Story of Jens Nygaard, Musician.” For more information, visit our media
page | |||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
“Some great musicians get a statue when they pass away. Some get their name imprinted on the roof of a well-known concert hall. But the late conductor Jens Nygaard has a living tribute: an entire ensemble of musicians and a concert series to go along with it... It is one of the city’s cultural jewels... In the end, if Mr. Nygaard was known for anything, it was unmitigated verve. That’s what the audience regularly returned for, and that’s what they got Monday afternoon. To have a grassroots community of musicians continue to celebrate Mr. Nygaard with indomitable performances like these week after week, even without the power of world-famous guest soloists, is proper tribute. And with more large orchestras and ensembles needing more corporate sponsorship year after year, I, for one, hope the Jupiter’s individual subscriber-base remains strong. New York’s musical life needs the spirit of Jens Nygaard, and Mei Ying should be proud she’s keeping it alive.” Read the complete article on our reviews page. |
||||||||
Please send any correspondence to |
||||||||
office address: |
||||||||
MeiYing Manager All
performances, except where otherwise noted, are held at: Copyright © 1999-2026 Jupiter Symphony. All rights reserved. |
||||||||
