April 2, 2009: Music from a "blissful year" in San Francisco

The American Voices program that the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center has prepared for their April 23 concert in San Francisco at Herbst Theatre, presented by San Francisco Performances, will have a special resonance for those who have studied the musical history of this city.  That resonance will come from a performance of Amy Beach's Opus 67 piano quintet in F sharp minor.  Last fall the Steve Silver Beach Blanket Babylon Music Center, on the fourth floor of the Main Library building of the San Francisco Public Library, hosted an exhibit entitled "Amy Beach:  Her Blissful Years in San Francisco."  Those "blissful years" included 1878, when she visited her aunt and cousin as a ten-year-old, and the period between 1915, when, as an established composer, she participated in the musical activities of the Panama Pacific Exposition (which commissioned the composition of her "Panama Hymn"), through 1916, when the San Francisco Chamber Music Society commissioned and premiered her Opus 80 theme and variations, set for flute and string quartet.  Here is a photograph of the ensemble that gave this premiere (courtesy of the Art, Music, Recreation Center of the San Francisco Public Library):

From right to left, the musicians in this photograph are violinist Louis Persinger (center), cellist Horace Britt, violist Nathan Firestone, violinist Louis Ford, and flautist Elias M. Hecht.

A year earlier, on October 28, 1915, this same organization (called the San Francisco Quintet Club at the time) gave a performance of the Opus 67 piano quintet with Beach at the keyboard.  Thanks again to the San Francisco Public Library, we have a perfectly legible photograph of the program notes for this quintet:

Having heard this quintet several times (and written about it enthusiastically on my blog), I can say that, while the language of these notes is more florid than what we now encounter in program books, it is basically accurate;  and I shall now direct my enthusiasm towards seizing the opportunity to hear again this composition, whose previous listenings had elicited personal memories of Gabriel Fauré and Edward Elgar.

Beyond this specific "San Francisco connection," I must admit that I find the prospect of an all-American concert fascinating.  For many the most familiar work is likely to be George Gershwin's "Lullaby for String Quartet."  I also remember when, about forty years ago, there was a rising interest in music from Colonial America;  and this genre will be represented by John Antes' Opus 3, a trio in D minor for two violins and cello.  Finally, Stephanie Blythe will join the Chamber Music Society for the Bay Area premiere of Alan Louis Smith's "Vignettes:  Covered Wagon Woman," based on the daily journals of pioneer Margaret Ann Alsip Frank.  Blythe will also give a free twenty-minute talk about the composition at 7 PM, prior to the concert itself at 8 PM.  This is all music that deserves to be celebrated.  We should be thankful for the ingenuity of the Chamber Music Society in arranging this program and for San Francisco Performances arranging this event.