The first concert is called “250 Years – A Chamber Music Journey from 1776 to Modern America” and, according to the program notes, “trac[es] our nation’s journey from the chamber music world of 1776 to today’s diverse musical landscape.” Executive producer James Baumgartner talked with Natalie Zhu, the festival’s artistic director, about some of the highlights.
Discussed in this episode:
Concert 1: 250 Years – A Chamber Music Journey from 1776 to Modern America
When: Friday, July 24 from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Where: URI Fine Arts Center, Kingston, R.I.
Concert 2: The British Are Coming
When: Saturday, July 25 from 4 - 6 p.m.
Where: URI Fine Arts Center, Kingston, R.I.
Information about these concerts – and others in the series – is available at kingstonchambermusic.org.
Interview highlights:
On the music that Americans were listening to in 1776:
Natalie Zhu: Most of the music that Americans heard was basically folk music or military music. They also probably had a dynamic mix of music from different colonies. For example, English, Scottish, Irish tunes were frequently played. I believe there was a lot of African music, brought by enslaved Africans. There was a lot of different music going on in that period.
On whether anyone was performing Mozart or Boccherini in America back then:
Zhu: I doubt it. [laughs] But Boccherini and Mozart’s music was probably played a lot in Europe, especially in salons for elite, wealthy people. And actually during that time, I would say in Europe it was flowering. That’s the height of classical music.
On “Strum” by contemporary American composer, Jessie Montgomery:
Zhu: When you think about violin playing, if you track back to African roots, you will find banjo playing. And I think the writing here is almost imitating the banjo playing – a lot of plucking and a lot of complex rhythm. She really kind of went backwards to introduce the form, the structure, the sound to us where our classical music came from.
On Rebecca Clarke’s “Rhapsody for Cello and Piano”
Zhu: It’s rarely played. It’s hard to get the music. The cello sonata is kind of very dark. It has a lot of restraint or almost finding a kind of, like, mysterious and painful feeling of the music. I feel like female composers are really underminded, you know, for a long time, and there’s a lot of frustration in this piece, and that’s how I feel. I’m not a historian, but just by listening to the music and the writing is very complex and very internal. A lot of big chords and dark chords from the piano playing as well as cello.
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