Garmany Music Series Concert: Spring in the Heart

Program Selections

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Sonata for Piano and Violin No 5 in F Major, Op 24
• Florence Price (1887-1953): Adoration
• Florence Price (1887-1953): The Deserted Garden
• George Enescu (1881-1955): Sonata No 3 for Piano and Violin, Op 25

Is it cliche to play Beethoven's Spring Sonata in the spring? Unabashedly, unapologetically, yes! And we are loving it! We can't imagine a more refreshing, lovely, sincere piece for a celebration of spring, music, and the return to live concerts.

Heartfelt and poignant, Price's Adoration and The Deserted Garden feel more like vocal songs than violin pieces. Price's music can easily pull a tear from even a jaded listener! The two titles, "Adoration" and "The Deserted Garden," offer a clear window into the emotional worlds of these two pieces.

Enescu's Sonata is written "dans le caractère populaire roumain" - "in the Romanian folk style" - in which Enescu attempts to capture the Romanian folk violin style of playing and a piano that almost sounds like a cimbalom! Rarely performed due to its staggering difficulty, this sonata is truly unique - you'll hear pleading, flirting melodies on the violin, wildly fast and virtuosic bravura from both instruments, haunting harmonics, and such a variety of musical yearning and supplication you may be astonished that such sounds can come from just two instruments!