Pianist YunJung Park will perform with the Spokane String Quartet at its next concert Sunday, Nov. 10, at The Fox Theater.
The concert, which features music by Haydn, Brahms and Schumann, begins at 3 p.m. Click here to buy tickets.
YunJung Park opens the concert with Haydn’s Sonata in C Major No. 48 for solo piano, composed towards the end of Haydn’s nearly 30 years of service to the Esterhazy family as Court Composer and Conductor. Under Prince Nikolaus’ patronage, Haydn received an income, commissions, and musical resources (such as the Court Orchestra and Choir) to nurture his creativity. Besides performing at Esterhazy country estates, Haydn visited Vienna with the Prince’s retinue, where he became Mozart’s friend based on mutual esteem and supportive explorations of music. The opening andante of Sonata No. 48 highlights a defining musical characteristic of Haydn, in which larger structures are built from transformations of a simple melodic idea.
The concert continues with Park and Mateusz Wolski performing Brahms’ Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 108. Brahms wrote this Sonata at the peak of his creative powers. He had achieved international recognition with his large-scale symphonies and concertos. Having successfully emerged from the long shadow of Beethoven’s legacy, Brahms decided to focus his last years composing songs, and chamber music. Opus 108 is Brahms’ third and final Sonata for Violin and Piano, elegantly balancing the lyrical nature of the violin with the powerful chordal harmony of the piano.
The concert concludes with Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet, Opus 47, the last work of a six-month creative outpouring that produced his finest chamber music. He prepared for this surge by studying Bach’s counterpoint (the art of combining many melodies simultaneously) with his beloved wife Clara. They also studied the string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Opus 47 represents an homage combining Schumann’s Romantic spirit with the techniques pioneered by these earlier masters.
All seats are general admission and are available at foxtheaterspokane.com or at the door. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and free for persons under 18 and students with ID.