Ravinia 2025 Issue 2

BENNETT GORDON HALL 1:30 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 2025 ISIDORE STRING QUARTET # ADRIAN STEELE and PHOENIX AVALON, violins DEVIN MOORE, viola JOSHUA McCLENDON, cello MOZART String Quartet in C major, K. 465 (“Dissonance”) Adagio—Allegro Andante cantabile Menuetto: Allegro Allegro Phoenix Avalon, first violin DUTILLEUX Ainsi la nuit (Thus the Night) ( performed without breaks between movements ) I. Nocturne Parenthèse 1 II. Miroir d’espace Parenthèse 2 III. Litanies Parenthèse 3 IV. Litanies 2 Parenthèse 4 V. Constellations VI. Nocturne 2 VII. Temps suspendu Adrian Steele, first violin –Intermission– RAVEL String Quartet in F major Allegro moderato: Très doux Assez vif: Très rythmé Tres lent Vif et agité Adrian Steele, first violin # Steans Institute alum WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) String Quartet in C major, K. 465 (“Dissonance”) In 1781, Mozart left his native Salzburg to live in Vienna, where he remained for the final decade of his life. Soon after his arrival, he became ac- quainted with Joseph Haydn, who, as Ka- pellmeister at the court of the prince of Ester- házy, spent part of his year in Vienna and the remaining months at the palatial country estate Esterháza. Haydn was perhaps the most influ- ential composer in all of Europe, and he had recently published a celebrated set of six string quartets, op. 33, that further increased his re- nown. The personal and musical contacts be- tween Haydn and Mozart appear to have been more frequent than previously believed: the Viennese firm of Artaria & Co. published works by both composers; the two maintained membership in the Freemasons (though Mo- zart was the more active participant); and Haydn and Mozart attended, and probably per- formed in, the evenings of informal chamber music at the home of the Barons Anton and Bartholomäus Tinti. During a gathering at the Tintis on February 12, 1785, Mozart presented three new quartets. The final works in a set of six (the first three had been presented earlier on January 15), these composi- tions made a deep impression on the listeners, particularly Haydn. Mozart’s father, Leopold, who was visiting Vienna, wrote of the event in a letter to his daughter: “Saturday evening Joseph Haydn and the 2 Barons Tindi [ sic ] were with us, the new quartets were performed, but only the three new ones which he has added to the other three we already have; they are perhaps a little easier, but excellently composed. H[err] Haydn said to me: ‘I tell you before God, and as an hon- est man, that your son is the greatest composer I know, either personally or by reputation: he has taste and moreover the greatest possible knowl- edge of the science of composing.’” An alleged portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Joseph Grassi (1785) RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 67