Hebrew Melodies and Jewish Composers E411 Viola Studio Recital * Recital Hall Suite Hebraique Sunday, April 9, 2017 * 5 pm Movement 1: Rapsodie Ernest Bloch ( 1880-1959) Marisa Ferreira, freshman Movement 2: Processional Jacob Anderson, freshman Movement 3: Affirmation Brianna Estrella, freshman Zhou Jiang, piano Sonata for Viola and Piano Movement 1: Adagio-Allegro Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Katie Holste, sophomore Movement 2: Scherzo Courtney Ferry, freshman Jan Thompson, piano Meditation Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) Jessica Kunst, freshman Zhou Jiang, piano Hebrew Melodies, Op. 9, No. 1 & 2 Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) Sarah Evins, graduate (MM) student Jan Thompson, piano Max: Bruch Kol Nidrei (1838-1920) Chloe Calvino, freshman Zhou Jiang, piano AS1J. Herberger Institute FOR DESIGN AND THE ARTS ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY School of Music PROGRAM NOTES - written by Sarah Knight Suite Hebraique (1951), Ernest Bloch Bloch's Suite Hebraique was composed in 1951 as a tribute to the members of the Chicago Covent Club, thanking them for the week long 70th birthday celebration and tribute festival held in Chicago honoring him the year prior. The work is divided into 3 movements titled Rapsodie, Affirmation and Processional and written in a similar style to his Baal Shem Suite. Sonata for Viola and Piano MWV Q14, Felix Mendelssohn Mendelssohn composed this piece when he was around the age of 15, a year or so before he completed his famous Octet in E flat Major, Op. 20. The autograph score is dated Feb 14, 1824, but wasn't published during the composer's lifetime and does not bear an opus number. It was discovered amongst the composer's manuscripts and first published in 1966. This sonata is in three movements, only two of which will be performed today. Though young when he composed this work, Mendelssohn's compositional mastery is clearly evidenced in the work's classical form and style. Meditation, Ernest Bloch Dedicated to violist Milton Preeves, Bloch's Meditation is the first of two pieces in a set entitled, Meditation and Processional. These were written shortly after the Suite Hebraique and published in 1954. The Meditation has a dark and somber quality. Hebraische Melodian, Op. 9, Joseph Joachim Written when he was approximately 24 years old, Hungarian composer and famed violinist Joseph Joachim dedicated his Hebraische Melodian (1854) to Johannes Brahms. As a former student of Mendelssohn, this work adheres to classical conventions while using Jewish folk idioms in a way that ideally captures the uniquely rich and dark qualities of the viola. Kol Nidrei, Op. 47, Max Bruch Published in 1881, German Romantic composer Max Bruch originally wrote Kol Nidrei for Solo Cello and Orchestra. Bruch dedicated this piece to cellist Robert Haussman, who later co-premiered Johannes Brahms's Double Concerto with violinist Joseph Joachim. It has been transcribed for viola. The title for the piece comes from the Kol Nidrei prayer that is recited during the evening service on Yorn Kippur. When the piece was first premiered, it was criticized for not adhering more closely to the melodic material of the prayer on which the piece is styled, but Bruch contested that the piece was only loosely based on this material and is a celebration of Jewish themes overall.