Béla Bartók is a composer of contrasts. He is also the composer of Contrasts, a work for piano, clarinet and violin heard at such Festivals as this one waaaay back in 2009. (It is known that here at WWCMF we don’t like to repeat pieces all that frequently, so rich and varied is our repertoire. Maybe after 17 or 18 years it’s high time to revisit the piece!) Immediate digression aside, contrast defines Bartòk’s legacy. He was a collector and curator of ancient folk music passed down by generations through oral tradition and simultaneously an innovator who personified the spirit of experimentation associated with the 20th century avant-garde. A prodigy, Bartók gave his first public performance at the age of 11 and fittingly included his very first composition, a solo piano work titled “The Course of the Danube.”
The ‘course of the Danube’ serves as quite the metaphor for the early Piano Quintet in C. Composed in Germany in 1903 – 1904, premiered in Vienna, Austria and redolent of melodies and rhythms from Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, the Piano Quintet winds its way through Europe like the Danube itself in an ever-shifting swirl of Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss and something new, hints of folk modernism and a premonition of the Night Music style that would haunt Bartók’s mature compositions like Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste, Concerto for Orchestra and Third Piano Concerto, masterpieces all. Join us as we go to the source: C major, no sharps or flats, the white keys on the piano. At least, it ends that way. Along the way we’ll explore all the black keys, too, and even tune our string instruments down a half-step midstream to get that authentic Hungarian folk sound. In addition to great music, Hungary is also known for its variety of peppers and distinctive wines. Thus, we will feel right at home at Pepper Bridge Winery, a WWCMF favorite these many years.
6/12/26, 6 PM — Pepper Bridge Winery
WWCMF will add your name and the number of tickets you purchase to the concert guest list. We will NOT send physical tickets.
Doors open one hour before the performance.
Doors open one hour before the performance.
Béla Bartók (1881–1945)
Piano Quintet in C, Sz. 23 (1904)
I. Andante
II. Vivace (Scherzando)
III. Adagio –
IV. Poco a poco più vivace
Artists: Winston Choi, piano; Timothy Christie, viola; Norbert Lewandowski, cello; Philip Payton, violin; MingHuan Xu, violin