Chamber Music — Program Notes from Argyle Arts

Britten & Shostakovich

Both showed a natural attraction to the theater and narrative music. Both showed a fascination with reinventing neglected baroque and classical forms. Both spent a lifetime walking the tightrope between innovation and tradition.

And each managed to achieve the great contradiction of becoming the iconic symbol of their national musical establishment while somehow remaining a rebel and social outcast

Chamber MusicChris MyersNovember 10, 202220th Century Music, Britten, British Composers, Russian Composers, Shostakovich, String Quartet, Cello

Britten, Dowland, and Purcell

In John Dowland, Britten found a kindred spirit who shared his love for the beauty of the English language and a rare gift for illuminating poetry with music. And in Henry Purcell, he discovered both a shared affinity for the theater and a sense of musical structure and style ideally matched to his own.

Chamber MusicChris MyersFebruary 19, 2022Classical Music, 20th Century Music, English Composers, British Composers, Chamber Music, Britten, Mozart, String Quartet, Purcell, Dowland, Voice, Viola, Piano, String QuintetComment

Nordic Spirit

Written for a concert featuring Nielsen’s Violin Sonata No. 1, Eiríksdóttir’s Flute Reel, Saariaho’s Tocar, and Grieg’s String Quartet No. 1.

Chamber MusicChris MyersFebruary 12, 2020Scandinavian Composers, Danish Composers, Finnish Composers, Norwegian Composers, Icelandic Composers, Nielsen, Grieg, Saariaho, Eiriksdottir, Violin, Piano, Flute, String Quartet, Chamber Music

Mozart & Britten

From the beginning of Benjamin Britten’s career, it was apparent that there was a deep connection between the English composer and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Chamber MusicChris MyersOctober 16, 2019Classical Music, 20th Century Music, Britten, Mozart, String Quartet, English Composers, British Composers, Chamber Music

R/Evolution: A Millennium of Musical Mavericks

An exploration of music for string quartet spanning 10 centuries.

The Sound of the Czechs

Few societies are prouder of their music than the Czechs. This small population – there are only 10 million native speakers in the world – has had an outsized influence on the history of classical music.

Orchestral Music, Chamber MusicChris MyersSeptember 21, 2016Czech Composers, Dvorak, Smetana, Martinu

Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings

Toscanini summed up the work in three words: “semplice e bella.”

Simple and beautiful.

Orchestral Music, Chamber MusicChris MyersSeptember 13, 2012Barber, Adagio for Strings, Strings, 20th Century Music, Orchestral Music, Chamber Music, String Quartet, American Composers

Benjamin Britten: Canticle III: Still falls the Rain

An academic analysis of the work written to accompany a lecture-recital.

Chamber Music, Vocal MusicChris MyersJuly 10, 2012Britten, British Composers, English Composers, Sitwell, Voice, Piano, Horn, Chamber Music, Canticle, Still falls the Rain