Sitka Summer Music Festival Notes
By Susan Wingrove-Reed
OH, NO. The Sitka Music Festival is almost over. But – OH, YES there are two fabulous concerts left to indulge your heart. The musicians are SO inspired to play for this arts-loving town and are making every note count. For the artists, this has been the first time to do in-person collaborations for a live audience in months – empowering and emotional. This weekend is YOUR last chance to experience the world-class magic of the 50th anniversary SMF; get tickets NOW.
Friday, June 25 (at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.) opens with Kurt and Zuill playing a delicious arrangement of Bach’s beloved Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, B.W.V.1043, transcribed for violin and cello by Cicely Parnas; she has performed in Sitka and has also been part of the Cello Seminar. This is an absolutely breathtaking setting of a beloved masterpiece that would normally include an orchestra with the two string soloists; you will not miss the orchestra at all! I guarantee you will be transported as the two instruments trade melodies and weave a tapestry of intricate rhythms. Amy Beach (1867-1944) was the first “successful” female composer in America. A formidable pianist, her parents opposed a music career – so she taught herself how to write music, collecting every book she could find on theory, orchestration, and composition.
She recalled that even as a tiny child “no other life than that of a musician could ever have been possible for me.” In her day, it was said “she wrote like a man … with a wonderful gift for melody.” She overcame the soul-killing prejudices of her time when music by women was dismissed because it was modern and American and female. In her later years she mentored many young women composers. Her lush, melody-rich Piano Quintet premiered in 1908 to rave reviews as “truly modern,” “distinctly rhapsodic” and “an important contribution to chamber literature.” Rich with gorgeous writing for the strings and piano, this is a gem of the early 20th century. And I get to perform with the New World quartet – Alex, Natsuko, Stephanie and Ian! I am so grateful to “play with others” as we explore this beautiful, romantic music.
Saturday, June 26 (the finale of the 2021 SMF) will open with Yuliya performing Frederic Chopin’s grand, virtuosic Ballade No. 4 – inspired by 19th century ballads in literature and poetry. Legendary pianist Anton Rubenstein beautifully referred to Chopin as “the piano bard, the piano rhapsodist, the piano mind, the piano soul.” Chopin loved the piano, but he preferred teaching and writing music – occasionally playing in the salons of friends.
Close friend Ferdinand Hiller lovingly recalled, “His wonderful playing will remain impressed on my soul until I draw my last breath.” Then the musical tapestry will completely change with a string sextet by Richard Strauss. Capriccio (subtitled “A Conversation Piece for Music”) was Strauss’s final opera (1942) that is an extraordinary extended discussion by the characters on the relative importance of words and music in an opera.
The radiant, sensual, richly chromatic sextet is unique among opera overtures – the lovely chamber work opens the opera as a Countess sits in her drawing room and the musicians “entertain” her guests. A composer and a poet each watch her reactions – they are both in love with her, but she can’t decide between them! She is deeply moved by the music. She gazes into a mirror to ask herself which man (and art form) she loves most, then exits for dinner without answering the question – hinting that both have equal significance.
The musicians will conclude the 2021 SMF with a splendid, exuberant masterpiece by Antonin Dvorak, his Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major. When he was a young, struggling musician in Prague, there were times of “hard study, occasional composing, much revision, a great deal of thinking, and very little eating.” He became internationally famous after 1884, but he never forgot his peasant roots. He raised pigeons, watched trains, and walked for miles whenever he could. Historian Daniel Gregory Mason summarized, “Of all the great composers, he is perhaps least the scholar, most the sublimated troubadour enriching the world with an apotheosized tavern music. To him music is primarily sweet sound.” This is without question one of the three greatest quintets in the entire repertoire. It’s full of vivid harmonic colors, vital dance rhythms and the quick contrasts of mood of Bohemian folk music. The upbeat, sparkling finale, described by chamber historian Arthur Cohn as “a veritable chatterbox of joy” is the perfect icing on a spectacular 50th anniversary SMF cake!
It’s been such a joy to be back in Sitka for all the music and the wonderful people. I hope to see you at this weekend’s concerts – and here’s to being safely back together again in June, 2022! Thank you, Sitka, for supporting 50 years of unforgettable chamber music feasts.
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Susan Wingrove-Reed is a pianist and music educator from Anchorage. She writes program notes for the Sitka Summer Music Festival.
Volunteer Work
Party Saturday
The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society is holding a volunteer work party to rebuild a wall on the Japonski Island Boatshop, 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, June 26.
Volunteers of all skill levels are welcome and should take gloves and tools if they have them. Individuals can come for part or all of the time. Project leaders will provide training in historic preservation, coffee and snacks. Call 738-7448 or email sitkamaritime@gmail.com for information. The website is sitkamaritime.org.
Sitka Pride Trail,
Block Party Set
The public is invited to join the Sitka Pride events on Saturday, June 26.
Registration opens for the Sitka Pride Trail at 10 a.m. at the Crescent Harbor shelter, and the trail begins at 10:30 a.m. Participants can run, walk, roll and stroll on a 5k or 1-mile route before returning back to the shelter to finish their trail and celebrate.
The Pride Block Party will follow at the shelter. It will include refreshments, vendors and activities until 2 p.m.
The event is supported by Recover Alaska, the Sitka Health Summit and HOPE coalitions, Element Agency, and Sitka Pride community planning group.
