The timeless allure of Mozart evokes emotions from listeners of all ages and places. It’s therefore natural to follow his sublime Violin Sonata with the warm glow of Johannes Brahms’s…

A magical evocation of a Midwest farmland sunrise opens Dvořák’s “American” quintet, a work inspired by the plains of Spillville, Iowa, and the music of Native and African-Americans. This deeply…

Before his death in 1897, Johannes Brahms memorialized his cherished, fast-disappearing Old World in works of breathtaking tenderness and profundity. Moved by the serene purity of the clarinet, he created…

In a single decade, with works such as Program Beethoven Trio in B-flat major for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 11 (1797) Stravinsky L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale), Trio…

Some works of music are simply so great that they become something more than music. Bach’s “Goldberg Variations,” composed near the end of his life, consists of an aria and…

Arcangelo Corelli was not only history’s first truly “modern” violinist, but a musician’s musician whose compositions were performed throughout Europe during his lifetime. His “Christmas Concerto”— Program Corelli Concerto Grosso…

Arcangelo Corelli was not only history’s first truly “modern” violinist, but a musician’s musician whose compositions were performed throughout Europe during his lifetime. His “Christmas Concerto”— Program Corelli Concerto Grosso…

If Johann Sebastian Bach had only left the world his six Brandenburg Concertos, he would still reside in the pantheon of the great composers. With their stunning variety of novel…

If Johann Sebastian Bach had only left the world his six Brandenburg Concertos, he would still reside in the pantheon of the great composers. With their stunning variety of novel…

If Johann Sebastian Bach had only left the world his six Brandenburg Concertos, he would still reside in the pantheon of the great composers. With their stunning variety of novel…

Claude Debussy’s innovations made modern music possible. His only string quartet, the first truly Impressionist-style chamber music, opened a new era for the string quartet. Surrounding Debussy’s iconic work are…

French chamber music almost completely disappeared after the Baroque era, and it was Camille Saint-Saëns who forged the path for his countrymen in the mid-19th century. His beguiling, elegant, and…

The Hungarian György Ligeti was one of the 20th century’s greatest musical innovators. His effervescent Six Bagatelles for wind quintet connected the music of his great influence, Bartók, to the…

Robert Schumann, in one of music’s most astonishingly creative outbursts, composed six major chamber works between June and December, 1842. His Piano Quintet established the genre as no work had…

A feast for the eyes and ears, Bartók’s ingenious creation stands alone in the chamber music literature, an astonishing synthesis of percussion and keyboard. Also featured on the program are…

“I saw a mighty angel descend from heaven, clad in mist.” So begins Olivier Messiaen’s introduction to this work, composed and premiered in a prisoner of war camp, which transcends…

Composed to help launch a major career in Vienna, Beethoven’s three Op. 1 piano trios are true milestones in the chamber literature. That Beethoven chose the piano trio to show…

The piano quartet, consisting of piano, violin, viola, and cello, was basically invented by Mozart. His two immensely popular works in the genre paved the way for a far-reaching succession…

In terms of pure musicality, George Gershwin was America’s Schubert. He composed with a creativity and skill that immortalized his art, and hardly any of his works is more embedded…

Our milestone work by Shostakovich holds a rightful place in the line of great piano quintets going back to Schumann’s of 1842. Combining the rigor of Bach with the powerful…