November – Vanguards

November 16th, 2025 • 3:00pm
Hotel Leo

MAX BRUCH
Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, Op. 83 (1910) ~14 min.

Erika Block, Clarinet
Eric Kean, Viola
Kay Zavislak, Piano

Max Bruch is a composer rooted solidly in the 19th c. German romantic tradition who wrote several operas, many vocal, choral, and orchestral works. Although many of his works have not survived we do have a dozen pieces of chamber music at our musical disposal. We are excited to include Bruch, who became somewhat hidden in shadow of Brahms. This trio is one of only two that include winds. The other is a septet for clarinet bassoon, horn and strings which he wrote at the age of 11!

In the composer’s own words

“….while most of my works will be more and more neglected I will be remembered chiefly for having written my G minor violin concerto”

FRIDA KERN
Spanischer Tanz for Bassoon and Harp No. 1, Op. 24 (?1941) ~6 min.

Pat Nelson, Bassoon
Jill Whitman, Harp
As a way of introducing Frida Kern we have selected a most beautiful piece for bassoon and harp. Kern is an Austrian composer who it seems has almost been lost to history. Born in 1891 she attended the Vienna Academy of Music and upon graduation established a women’s orchestra with which she toured Europe and North Africa. Kern died in 1988 at the age of 97. Such a long life – there must be more works! We are on the lookout….

WILLIAM GRANT STILL
Ennanga (1956) ~15 Min.

Laura Camacho, Violin Lenelle Morse, Violin
Eric Kean, Viola Christine Lee, Cello
Jill Whitman, Harp Judy Widrig, piano

Still is among the great American composers. He studied at the Oberlin and the New England conservatories and was extremely skilled as a composer, instrumentalist and arranger. His body of work is impressive and includes choral works, operas (9 of them!), symphonies, ballets, art songs, chamber music, and solo works. Ennanga was a suggestion of Jill Whitman’s and we are delighted to share it with you this season.

In the words of Laura Carlo, classical music radio host at WCRB in Boston:

“I hear America in his [Still’s] works – our history, the lore, the good, the bad, the gains and the longing”

Laura’s Blog post- An appreciation of William Grant Still

AMY BEACH
Piano Quintet, Op. 67 (1907) ~27 min.

Laura Camacho, Violin
Lenelle Morse, Violin
Lisa Humphrey, Viola
Christine Lee, Cello Judy Widrig, Piano

Amy Beach was a powerful figure in the late 19th and early 20th c. American music scene. She was a contemporary of Dvorak, Brahms, and Saint Saens, and has the distinction of being the first American woman to compose a symphony and have it published. The ‘Gaelic’ symphony was premiered by the the Boston Symphony in 1896. Amy Beach was a child prodigy and grew to become an accomplished pianist having performed with the Boston Symphony at the age of 16. As with many women during her era, restrictions based on societal pressure after marriage limited her performing life and she focused on composition, in which she was essentially self taught. This piano quintet engulfs us in the passionate musical world of this important American composer.

In the composer’s own words:
“Though I had not deliberately chosen, the work [composing] had chosen me. I continued to play in concerts, but my home life kept me in the neighbourhood of Boston. My compositions gave me a larger field. From Boston, I could reach out to the world.”