TOUCH-part 1
About This Recording
Every album we record has a theme. For this one, we wanted to center it around Schubert. The first word that came to mind for both of us was the word “touch”. Playing any composer requires a specific touch, but somehow it is even more acute in the playing of Schubert. Schubert’s instrumental music draws from his lieder in more ways than just direct quotation, even the most abstract sections require imagination in each note. With this idea in mind, we went about thinking of what the word touch meant for the composers that we are drawn to; and which composers could best represent the multiple layers of meaning behind the word. What we ended up with was the first part of a two album journey. While this album is the more traditionally romantic one, we divided the programs up based on several of our own criteria based around the idea of “touch”.
The composers and works we curated for this album presents an intimate musical conversation between four musical giants that share human sentiments. Their varied expressions, styles, time and space in which they lived inspired us to find our own touches to take our listeners closer to those sentiments. It presents an intimate musical conversation between two of the 19th century's most compelling artistic partnerships: the creative collaboration between Clara and Robert Schumann, and their profound admiration for Schubert. Though Schubert died tragically young in 1828, his influence resonated deeply with the next generation of Romantic composers, particularly the Schumanns, who championed his works and shared his gift for finding the extraordinary within intimate musical forms. Fast forward more than a hundred years, and “Blues” by David Baker still relies on many of the forms and functions that were so popular in the early Romantic period, although the subject matter (blues/gospel music) are from a wildly different place and aesthetic.
These works represent not just the heart of Romantic chamber music, but also the continuing evolution of the violin-piano partnership across different eras and styles that spoke to us. We hope that our curated program of Schubert's heartbreaking lyricism through the Schumanns' intimate expressiveness to Baker's cross-cultural synthesis, these autobiographical compositions can deliver the emotional expression, technical brilliance, and the magical chemistry that emerges when two musicians truly listen to one another.
PROGRAM NOTES
Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Op. 22, was composed in 1853, just a few years before Robert Schumann’s final days. Though the year 1854 was a tumultuous one for the Schumanns, the year 1853 had some lightness. This is the year they met with Johannes Brahms who provided a “tower of strength” for Clara and Schumann in the coming years. These three Romances reveal Clara's distinctive musical personality—at once tender and strong, technically sophisticated yet emotionally direct. They demonstrate her deep understanding of both instruments and her ability to create music that is both accessible and profound. These were one of the last pieces that she ever wrote. After Robert Schumann’s death, Clara composed almost nothing more herself.
Robert Schumann's Fantasiestücke, Op. 73, originally written for clarinet and piano equally effective in their violin version, embodies the composer's gift for capturing fleeting moods and emotions. The reason we included this work in particular is because it is played by so many different instruments. Listening to cello, viola, french horn, clarinet, all play this piece fed our own ideas on what type of touch we could do for this particular performance of it. These three character pieces—tender, lively, and passionate by turns—showcase Schumann's ability to find entire worlds within compact musical forms.
The centerpiece of our program, Schubert's Fantasie in C major, stands as one of the composer's final masterworks. Written in 1827, just a year before his death, this cyclical work with seven sections (divided into 4 tracks in this album for the purpose of flow and benefit of the listeners) transforms a simple melody from his song "Sei mir gegrüßt" into a sweeping emotional journey that showcases both the violin's lyrical capabilities and the equal partnership between violin and piano that defines great chamber music.
David Baker's "Blues" brings this program into the 20th century with a work that bridges classical and jazz traditions. We both interacted with David Baker as graduate students at Indiana University, Bloomington. His improvisation class opened a new world of sound and ideas for us. Baker, a renowned jazz musician, composer, and educator, created music that speaks fluently in jazz and classical. He credited his own ability to compose so fluently for strings in large part to his relationship with the legendary cellist, Janos Starker. His "Blues" for violin and piano captures the essential spirit of the blues idiom while maintaining the structural sophistication expected in classical chamber music. The piece demonstrates how American musical traditions can be woven into the fabric of concert music, creating something that honors both worlds while remaining authentically itself.
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