Vienna, City of My Dreams

Program Notes

Orion's first concert program of the season features Mozart's Clarinet Quartet in B-flat Major, after KV317d. Mozart's love for the violin and viola was second in his heart only to his beloved fortepiano. The expansion of string techniques and their innovative applications fascinated him. In 1779, Mozart composed the Violin Sonata K. 378 in Salzburg. Arranger Johann Anton Andre (1775-1842) eventually acquired the score and became one of the first true researchers of Mozart's music. Fully understanding the composer's love of the newly developing clarinet, Andre arranged this sonata into a quartet for clarinet, violin, viola and cello in 1799. In addition to the masterworks Mozart composed for clarinet-the Clarinet Quintet and the Clarinet Concerto-this arrangement offers another odyssey into the sonic spectrums of Mozart and the clarinet. 

Franz Schubert was not a "concerto" composer. As such, it is rare that his works feature a solo instrument in a concerto setting. Schubert's Adagio and Rondo Concertante for solo piano and strings soars with originality, grace and lyricism in the exchanges between piano and strings. Schubert composed this work for the pianist Heinrich Grob, whose sister was the object of his deep love. Also noteworthy is that this work precedes Schubert's next large venture for piano and strings, the famous "Trout" Quintet, composed only three years later-and an Orion favorite.

Arguably the greatest composer of the tone poem, Richard Strauss achieved recognition as a true bard of orchestral music, his detailed scores like vast canvases painted with the tones of life. Strauss' Piano Quartet in C minor is an early gem he composed at 20 years of age. The work delves into the mind and heart of a youthful composer whose later summits of orchestral majesty are echoed in this intimate work.