Our 2024 Spring Chamber Music Series will explore some of the most beautiful repertoire in the intimate sanctuary of Greeley's First United Methodist Church.
We will begin with one of the best chamber ensembles of our region: the Colorado Piano Trio, with a program of fun music by Mozart, Kodály, and a performance of the glorious Piano Trio of Bedřich Smetana.
Sunday, January 28, 2024 | 2:00 PM | First United Methodist Church Greeley
PROGRAM
W.A. Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Piano Trio in C Major, K. 548 (1788)
Zoltán Kodály (1882 - 1967)
Duo for Violin & Cello, Op. 7 (1914)
Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884)
Piano Trio in G Minor, op. 15 (1855)
About the Artists:
The Colorado Piano Trio is an international ensemble based at the University of Northern Colorado. American violinist Jubal Fulks, Polish pianist Adam Żukiewicz, and Slovenian cellist Gal Faganel began their artistic collaboration in 2016. Since then, they have performed across Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, collecting enthusiastic reviews and invitations for future performances. Upcoming projects include the recording of a debut album, an east coast concert tour including a performance at Carnegie Hall, as well as performances in California. The trio is commissioning new music by Polish, Slovenian, and American composers. As enthusiastic teachers, members of the trio are involved in a variety of outreach, arts advocacy, and educational projects.
Jubal Fulks is an award-winning and critically acclaimed artist and teacher who performs music from every historical era through the works of today. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras across the United States and has been heard on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.” As a recitalist and chamber musician, he has appeared at numerous summer festivals and concert series in the United States and has toured extensively in Europe and Asia. Fulks is violinist of the Colorado Piano Trio, which has performed across the United States including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. Orchestral experience includes GRAMMY-nominated performances with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in the San Francisco Bay Area and, in New York City, at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Alice Tully Hall, in the Jazz at Lincoln Center series, and the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He is a leader of Sacramento-based baroque chamber orchestra Sinfonia Spirituosa, and performs regularly with Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. Dr. Fulks has taught at the University of Alabama, Luther College (Iowa), State University of New York-Stony Brook and Michigan Technological University, and he continues to conduct master classes at universities throughout the country. During the summer months he teaches and performs in Burlington, Vermont at Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and has been on the summer faculties at Kinhaven Music School, Montecito International Music Festival, and at Lutheran Summer Music Festival in Iowa. He is a leader of the Sacramento-based baroque chamber orchestra “Sinfonia Spirituosa,” and violinist of the Colorado Piano Trio, both of which groups maintain an active recording and national recital schedule. Dr. Fulks is currently Professor of Violin at the University of Northern Colorado, where he was named the 2022 College of Performing and Visual Arts Scholar of the Year. He lives in Greeley, Colorado with his wife, hornist Lauren Varley, and their children Patrick, Finnian, Oliver, and Flannery.
A native of Poland, Adam Piotr Żukiewicz has concertized across Europe, United States, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Hong Kong, and Macau, and his performances were broadcast in the USA, Canada, Italy, Slovenia, Germany, and Poland. Mr. Żukiewicz consistently receives critical acclaim, while his innovative programming - focused on exploring connections between the popular and the lesser known gems of the traditional and contemporary repertoire - continues to engage and inspire audiences around the world. As an active soloist and chamber musician, Adam Piotr Żukiewicz performs internationally in the USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Hong Kong, and Poland. Highlights of recent performances include recitals at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London (UK), Royal Łazienki Theatre in Warsaw, and Chicago Cultural Center (Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series), concerts with the Loveland Orchestra, Greeley Chamber Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Sinfonietta, Toronto Concert Orchestra, and Celebrity Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Żukiewicz has performed in some of the most important concert venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, Residenztheater in Munich, Goldensaal at the Musikverein in Vienna, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, KKL Luzern, and many others. He is also a frequent contributor to Colorado Public Radio, where his broadcast recordings can be heard on air and online in Colorado and beyond. Adam Żukiewicz holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Toronto and Masters of Music degree from Indiana University. He has also studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, UK, and was a music scholar at the United World College of the Adriatic in Duino, Italy. Mr. Żukiewicz is a founder and Artistic Director of the Intercollegiate Piano Competition of the West and Beethoven in the Rockies: Concert Series.
Gal Faganel is an award-winning cello performer and recording artist, and an acclaimed teacher. He has performed extensively as a soloist and a chamber musician throughout the United States and in Europe as well as in Asia. His performances and recordings have been praised in the press for “exceptionally sensitive interpretation,” his “powerful and beautiful tone,” and “brilliant virtuosity and youthful vigor.” He is a winner of numerous national and international competitions including the International Cello Competition “Antonio Janigro” in Croatia, the American String Teacher’s Association Competition, and the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition in the United States. Faganel has been researching, cataloging, performing, and recording music for cello by Slovenian composers. He has recorded for many labels and radio stations internationally. With a doctorate from the University of Southern California under the mentorship of Eleonore Schoenfeld, he was previously the principal cellist of the Phoenix Symphony. Since 2010, he taught at the University of Northern Colorado where he has greatly enjoyed mentoring cellists, coaching chamber music, and collaborating with colleagues in the Colorado Piano Trio. He appears as a guest at numerous institutions around the world and most recently began teaching at the University of Ljubljana Academy of Music. In addition to being a devoted cello pedagogue, Faganel loves coaching chamber music, frequently trains musicians in preparation for orchestral auditions, mentors developing musicians, and leads career development courses and workshops.
Learn more about the trio, artists, and their mission at coloradopianotrio.com
PROGRAM NOTES
by
Hanguang Wang
W.A. Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Piano Trio in C Major, K. 548 (1788)
When Mozart composed the Piano Trio in C Major at the age of 32, it marked his “later years” within the context of his brief life. However, in terms of musical artistic achievement, he was at the peak of an extraordinarily productive time. In the midst of a diligent yet challenging, brilliant yet tumultuous life, Mozart had so much to express during this period. This period witnessed the war between Austria and the Ottoman Empire had an enormous impact on aristocratic support for artists, compelling Mozart to relocate to more affordable accommodations. Vienna began to show indifference towards his musical works, and the ruling class imposed a long-term ban on his opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio," suppressing several of his dramatic works. Life thus plunged into crisis, entangled in a cycle of borrowing and repaying debts.
To make matters worse, his fourth child passed away at just six months, and his wife Constanze was ill, requiring expensive treatment. Despite these adversities, Mozart displayed remarkable resilience, composing a series of outstanding works during those challenging months. Among them are his celebrated piano sonata, K. 545, the final trio of symphonies (Nos. 39-41), and two piano trios (K. 542 and K. 548).
In the midst of adversity, he managed to maintain an optimistic and cheerful innocence, always filled with love and longing for life. Therefore, in this piano trio, as well as in his other piano trios, the characters he portrayed often exhibit duality—a side that is pure, kind, and elegant, and another that is melancholic, chilly, and sorrowful. These characters are multidimensional, intriguing and thought-provoking. Examining this particular work, both its melodies and tunes are remarkably elegant, even joyful, yet in reality, they subtly convey the poignant narrative of his own circumstances. In a very restrained and subtle manner, he articulates his emotions, showcasing the elegance of a composer who, even in the low points of life, preserves dignity and pride.
Zoltán Kodály (1882 - 1967)
Duo for Violin & Cello, Op. 7 (1914)
Zoltán Kodály is a shining name in the history of 20th-century Hungarian modern music. He is a renowned composer, ethnomusicologist, musical educator, and a music critic for newspapers and journals. He played a crucial role in the revitalization of Hungarian musical culture, dedicated to exploring Hungarian folk music traditions. Kodály collaborated with his close friend, the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, in extensive research on Hungarian folk songs. They attempted to blend “peasant music” with “modern music,” seeking new ways of musical expression and style when romanticism was nearing its end. Both composers made significant contributions to the development of modern folk music rooted in authentic folk materials but incorporating classical traditional principles and aesthetics.
After 1925, Kodály began to pay attention to the field of music education for young people, and it became a significant focus of his later years. Through his efforts, music lessons became an integral part of school curriculum. Simultaneously, he actively promoted choral singing and initiated textbook reforms. The influence of his “Kodály Method” extends far beyond Hungary's borders and has been adopted by many other countries, including the United States. He believes “Music is an indispensable part of universal human knowledge.”
Kodály's musical works primarily focus on vocal and stage music, but he also left behind a substantial body of chamber music, including the remarkable Violin and Cello Duo, Op. 7. The Duo was composed at the start of World War I in 1914 and follows the typical three-movement structure of fast-slow-fast. Musically, the composer does not overly emphasize the “modern” implications due to its contemporary background. Instead, the music perfectly embodies the fusion of Hungarian folk music materials and European traditional musical forms. The first movement is in sonata form, and the music is enveloped in alternating moods of outbursts and extinguishments, reminiscent of the natural rhythm akin to the “peak and valley” sensations experienced in the stunning Swiss Alps, where Kodály and his wife vacationed in the summer of 1914. With the outbreak of World War I, they had to leave Switzerland, and it was during their departure that Kodály conceived the idea of the duet.
The opening of the second movement features a melancholic monologue from the cello, embodying a profound sense of despair. According to Kodály’s biographer, László Eösze, this may mirror the composer’s sense of the imminent outbreak of the war. The third movement begins with a long, rhapsodic solo violin that seems to be a continuation of the second movement. With the cello joining in afterward, the two circled each other before erupting into a riot of sound, increasing in tempo until the music break into a series of dynamically accented dances. Despite the lively turns, the lingering sadness persists, and the incorporation of beautiful folk tunes contributes to a mood that proves challenging to dispel for the composer.
Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884)
Piano Trio in G Minor, op. 15 (1855)
Smetana is hailed as the father of Czech music in his homeland. His opera “The Bartered Bride” and the symphonic cycle “Má vlast” (My Fatherland) are notable works that depict the history, legends, and landscape of his native Bohemia. The inclusion of the renowned symphonic poem “Vltava” has contributed to making his name widely recognized worldwide.
Smetana’s Piano Trio in G Minor marks a significant early success in his career. However, a closer look reveals its inspiration from tragic events in the composer’s life. Between 1854 and 1855, he suffered consecutive losses, including the deaths of his two beloved daughters. The piece he dedicated “In memory of our eldest child Bedřiška, whose rare musical talent gave us such delight; too early snatched from us by death at the age of 4 1/2 years.” His soul was wounded beyond repair, and in the harsh torture of tragedy, he immersed himself in composition, giving birth to the Piano Trio. Especially considering that Smetana was a devoted fan of Liszt and greatly admired Liszt’s musical ideas, he infused strong narrative elements into his compositions. In this trio, he utilized melodies to express his deep longing for his deceased daughter. In certain passages of the violin, one can easily hear his wife’s sobbing, or feel Smetana’s own enduring torment in the cello. Meanwhile, the piano bursts forth with intense emotions amid despair.
All three movements are in the key of G minor, and even with the emergence of major keys in between, the somber mood remains unchanged. The first movement is intense and lyrical, beginning with the painful cries from the violin played on the G string. The tender second theme gracefully rises from the cello; Smetana referred to this as one of his daughter’s favorite melodies. The interplay of darkness and light, or death and daughter, pervades not only in this movement but throughout all three movements. In the second movement, the main theme is derived from the first movement, a polka, seems to suggest the playful little girl, Bedřiška. The thrilling and rapid opening of the Finale evokes the shadow of Schubert’s famous “Erlkönig,” where a father and his son ride on horseback, desperately fleeing from the pursuit of death. Between these frantic sections, there are interspersed soft lyrical interludes reminiscent of those found in the first movement. However, everything will come to an end, and with the emergence of the funeral march, this perpetual race comes to a halt.