Bard Music Festival

Program Ten • Martinů’s Legacy

August 17

Program Ten
Add to Calendar2025-08-17 11:30 am2025-08-17 11:30 amEDTProgram Ten • Martinů’s LegacyOlin Hall,
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Although he established no stylistic school, we find Martinů’s methods reflected in the work of other composers. This program pairs two of his chamber works with those of his peers and successors.

Witold Lutosławski draws on the folk traditions of his Polish homeland in a number of early works, the last of which was the Dance Preludes, his “farewell to folklore.” Both the Russian-born Alexander Tcherepnin, Martinů’s friend in interwar Paris, and Jaroslav Ježek, another Czech exile in wartime New York, share his folk-inflected pianistic invention. The late Chinese-American composer Chou Wen-chung blends Eastern and Western traditions in works like the Suite for Harp and Woodwind Quintet, while avant-garde Czech musician Iva Bittová integrates popular idioms with East European sounds to create her “own personal folk music.” There are echoes of Martinů in the rhythmic drive and rich timbral variety of Joan Tower’s Petroushskates as well as in the bold eclecticism of American icon Frank Zappa, who enjoyed hero status during Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, receiving the title of “Special Ambassador to the West on Trade, Culture, and Tourism” from the new Czech leadership.

Photos L–R:  Joan Tower and Iva Bittová, courtesy of the composers.

Program

11 am • Preconcert talk: Richard Wilson
11:30 am
• Performance

Alexander Tcherepnin (1899–1977)
Ten Bagatelles, Op. 5 (1912–18)

Allegro marciale
Con vivacità
Vivo
Lento con tristezza
Dolce
Allegro con spirito
Prestissimo
Allegro
Allegretto
Presto
Andrey Gugnin, piano

Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959)
Four Songs on Czech Folk Poetry, H282 bis (1940)
Horses on a Fallow Field
My Little Lost Shoe
A Religious Song
An Invitation
Iva Bittová, vocals
Jenny Choo, piano

Iva Bittová (b. 1958)
Farewell, for voice and violin (2014)
Iva Bittová, vocals and violin

Chou Wen-chung (1923–2019)
Suite for Harp and Woodwind Quintet (1951)
Moderato tranquillo—Adagio molto espressivo—
Grazioso con moto—Lento quasi lament—
Poco allegro festive
Victoria Drake, harp
Alex Sopp, flute
Hsuan-Fong Chen, oboe
Alec Manasse, clarinet
Thomas English, bassoon
Zohar Schondorf, horn

Witold Lutosławski (1913–94)
Dance Preludes (1954)
Allegro molto
Andantino
Allegro giocoso
Andante
Allegro molto
Shari Hoffman, clarinet
Danny Driver, piano

Frank Zappa (1940–93)
Ruth is Sleeping, arr. for piano (1992)
Andrey Gugnin and Danny Driver, piano

Jaroslav Ježek (1906–42)
Etude, for piano solo (1933)
Andrey Gugnin, piano

Joan Tower (b. 1938)
Petroushskates (1980)
Andrey Gugnin and Danny Driver, piano
Alex Sopp, flute
Alec Manasse, clarinet
Austin Wulliman, violin
Tommy Mesa, cello
Danny Driver, piano

Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959)
Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Cello, and Piano, H315 (1947)
Moderato poco allegro
Adagio–Andante poco moderato–Poco Allegro
Hsuan-Fong Chen, oboe
Austin Wulliman, violin
Tommy Mesa, cello
Danny Driver, piano

Artists and Scholars

Iva Bittová

Iva Bittová

Vocals and Violin

Alex Sopp

Alex Sopp

Flute

Hsuan-Fong Chen

Hsuan-Fong Chen

Oboe

Thomas English

Thomas English

Bassoon

Shari Hoffman

Shari Hoffman

Clarinet

Alec Manasse

Alec Manasse

Clarinet

Zohar Schondorf

Zohar Schondorf

Horn

Jenny Choo

Jenny Choo

Piano

Danny Driver

Danny Driver

Piano

Andrey Gugnin

Andrey Gugnin

Piano

Victoria Drake

Victoria Drake

Harp

Austin Wulliman

Austin Wulliman

Violin

Thomas Mesa

Tommy Mesa

Cello

Richard Wilson

Richard Wilson

Scholar

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