Open House: Arts Quartet

On Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 3:00pm, the Arts Quartet will perform during Arts + Literature Laboratory's Open House Weekend. This ensemble features Mary Perkinson (baroque violin), Max Yount (harpsichord), Eric Miller (bass viola da gamba), and Monica Steger (traverso - baroque flute). The music on the program is by two of the great composers of the so-called Late Baroque period, that is, the first half of the eighteenth century--Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) and Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767). In the popular imagination this period has been dominated by awareness of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, both born in 1685; but the widely flourishing study of early music and its performance on period instruments has elevated other composers to comparable stature. One popular textbook for music history study sums up this period by offering biographies of Vivaldi, Rameau, Telemann, Bach and Handel.

Rameau, having produced significant keyboard music, and contributing brilliantly to music theory, became famous as an opera composer later in his career. In 1741 he published a fairly unique and path-breaking set of five trios titled "Pièces de clavecin en concerts" (pieces for harpsichord in ensemble), in which the elaborate harpsichord part is combined with violin and bass viola da gamba.

Telemann, music director in Hamburg, Germany, famous and celebrated, went to Paris in 1737, where he stayed for eight months. He took a set of six quartets with him and collaborated with the best musicians of the city in performing them, and, while there, composed six "nouveau" quartets. Altogether, these are known as his "Paris Quartets", scored for traverso (baroque flute), violin, viola da gamba, and accompanying continuo (by harpsichord, usually). All tempo instructions in the "Nouveau" set are in French. Using terminology of a later period, these pieces are often referred to as flute quartets, which means music in which flute is combined with three string instruments.

It is interesting to see the differences in personality of these two composers. Rameau was a rather sharp wit, somewhat like Voltaire in music, and a searching, argumentative theorist. Telemann was more ubane and business-like, equally devoted to education and betterment of the young and amateurs, as to the sophisticated.

THE PROGRAM

Quatriéme Concert (fourth trio) / Rameau

Loure, vive "La Pantomime"

Vivement "L'indiscrette"

"La Rameau"

2e Quatuor (or Paris Quartet no. 8) / Telemann

Prélude, Allegrement

Flateusement

Legerement

Un peu Vivement

Coulant

INTERMISSION

Deuxiéme Concert (second trio) / Rameau

Rondement, La Laborde

Air, gracieux, La Boucon

Rondement, LAgaçante

Premier Menuet, 2e Menuet

6e Quatuor (or Paris Quartet no. 12) / Telemann

Prélude, A discretion, tres vite, A discretion

Gay

Vite

Gracieusement

Distrait

Modéré

Mary Perkinson

An award-winning artist and educator, Dr. Perkinson began her violin studies at the age of 5 in the Philadelphia public schools. She performs with the Omaha Symphony and has toured internationally with the musical The King and I. She has been a visiting artist/lecturer in Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Indonesia, and at institutions in AL, CO, FL, HI, KS, NC, PA, SD, TX, WA, and WI. She graduated magna cum laude from Boston University; received a Performance Diploma from Boston Conservatory; and completed the MM, K-12 Certification, and DMA at UW-Madison. Dr. Perkinson is currently Coordinator of String Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Monica Steger

Monica Steger is a flutist, keyboardist, vocalist, director, composer, arranger, and educator who has performed in chamber ensembles specializing in Baroque repertoire since 1998. She has over twenty years of professional flute and piano performance as well as instruction on those instruments to her credit. Her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison covered the theoretical, historical, and performing aspects of music. Coursework in Madison led her to researching the secular cantatas of Christoph Graupner in Darmstadt, Germany on a Fulbright.

Eric Miller

Eric Miller is known for his expressive, polished, and versatile playing. He performs as a viola da gambist, cellist, and occasional trumpeter around the Midwest, currently performing with the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, and frequent solo recitals. Previous performance credits include the Arbor Vitae String Quartet, the Madison Choral Project, the Madison Chamber Choir, Madison Youth Choirs, and American Players Theater as well as countless chamber music projects, mostly centered around historical performance. As an improviser, he is known for his skill and sensitivity in collaboration with songwriters and as an explorer in experimental music, he has recorded several hours of lo-fi electronic music with his duo, Basidium. Trained in the Suzuki method, Eric has taught cello, trumpet, and viola da gamba lessons to students all ages and abilities in Madison, Wisconsin since 2009. He has served as director of the Viola da Gamba Society of America's Young Players' Weekend, has taught at... Read More

Max Yount

Max Yount, organist, harpsichordist and composer, is Emeritus Professor and former Chair of the Department of Music at Beloit College where he taught music history and theory of all levels; he still teaches organ, harpsichord and composition at the college. As past Dean of the American Guild of organists, Madison chapter, and past President of the Midwestern Historical Keyboard Society (MHKS), he has presented many recitals and papers at meetings of the latter and at the American Musicological Society, Midwest Chapter. He has made several concert tours of Germany as organist and harpsichordist. Yount is Director of Music and organist of First Congregational Church in Beloit, where he organizes a concert series, MUSICA MAXIMA, which presents international and local artists. He serves as the harpsichordist of the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble. With B. Mus. From Oberlin College and M. M., and D.M. A. from Eastman School of Music, he has studied organ with Fenner Douglass and David... Read More

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.

Our galleries are open Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday noon to 5pm, and other programs take place throughout the week. Please check the events calendar and education section for details.

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