The Weimar Republic saw an outpouring of energy and activity in concerts and music composition. In 1921, in southwest Germany, the Donaueschingen Music Festival was established, the first European festival devoted to new works by contemporary composers. On July 26, 1925, during the festival’s fifth season, two works received their world premieres: Igor Stravinsky’s Piano Sonata and Alexander Tcherepnin’s Concerto da Camera for flute, violin, and chamber orchestra. Nearly a century later, both works will be performed on the same program, alongside piano compositions by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, his Greeting Cards honoring five musicians who had significant careers in Germany in the 1920s before they escaped the Nazis and started new careers in the United States.

PROGRAM

Piano Sonata
Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)

Greeting Cards
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968)

Concerto da Camera, Op. 33
Alexander Tcherepnin (1899–1977)

PERFORMERS

David Witten, piano
with
Christine Lamprea, cello
Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, flute
Quan Yuan, violin