By Signe Hammer
We loved the Jupiter String Quartet in 2018, so Pro Musica is delighted to welcome them back to St. Paul’s Church on Friday, January 27, and Sunday, January 29, both at 5pm.
Dubbed by «The New Yorker» as «an ensemble of eloquent intensity … one of the mainstays of the American chamber-music scene,» the quartet is tightly knit. Violinists Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel (Meg’s older sister), and cellist Daniel McDonough (Meg’s husband) have been playing together for 20 years. Their musical voice reflects that cohesion. Additionally, Meg and Liz’s brother J. is the founding first violinist of the Jasper Quartet, which played for us in 2020. The Jupiter Quartet performs around the globe in major venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Wigmore Hall. They have played at major music festivals like Aspen, the Banff Centre, and the Seoul Spring Festival. Winners of many international prizes and honors, they are also artists-in-residence and faculty at the University of Illinois.
On Friday, we will hear three quartets. Mozart’s «Quartet No. 23 in F Major,» his last, is the third «Prussian Quartet» commissioned by and dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II—a skilled cellist whose commission resulted in quartets with unusually prominent, challenging, and beautiful cello parts. Next up is Shostakovich’s «Quartet No. 3 in F Major,» said to be one of his favorites and written after his «Symphony No. 9,» which the Soviet government had censured. Undeterred, he composed six more symphonies—and 12 more string quartets.
After the intermission, we hear Mendelssohn’s «Quartet No. 6 in F minor,» his last completed piece, written after his sister Fanny’s unexpected death from a stroke. They had been very close. She was also a genius, his equal as a musician, composer, pianist, and conductor. He dedicated it to her memory and died six months after her.
On Sunday, January 29, at 5pm, we start with an earlier quartet by Haydn, the «Quartet in D Major,» one of his «Six Quartets, Opus 20,» that established the quartet as a musical form. The first half continues with Florence Price’s «Three Movements from Five Folksongs in Counterpoint.» Price was the first African-American woman composer performed by the Chicago Symphony. The folksongs include» My Darling Clementine,» «Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes,» and «Shortnin’ Bread.» Next, William Bolcom’s «Rags for Quartet» include «Graceful Ghost Rag,» in memory of his father, and «Incineratorag,» originally written for the piano.
First up in the second half is «Lyric,» the best-known section of George Walker’s «Quartet No. 1,» which won the Pulitzer Prize. The program ends with a second string quartet, Tchaikovsky’s «Quartet No. 1 in D Major,» whose slow movement is its best-known.
Tickets for the concerts at St. Paul’s are 200, 400, and 600 pesos donation each. They are on sale through our website and at the concert 45 minutes before performance time. Details of all Pro Musica programs and Patron Membership are on our website, www.promusicasma.org, or contact us at promusicasma@aol.com.
Pro Musica Concert Series
Jupiter String Quartet
Fri., Jan 27 & Sun., Jan 29, 5pm
St. Paul’s Church, calle Cardo
Tickets 300, 500 and 750 pesos
