Shawn Jaeger: we were happy were we (2021)
Robert Schumann: String Quartet No. 1
in A minor, Op. 41 No. 1
—THE AIZURI SONGBOOK—
Joanna Newsom: Bridges and Balloons (arr. Christina Courtin)
Franz Schubert: Der Lindenbaum from Winterreise, D. 911
(arr. Michi Wiancko)
Clara Schumann: Ich Stand in Dunkeln Träumen (arr. Karen Ouzounian)
Claude Debussy: Romance: Voici que le printemps (arr. Miho Saegusa)
Cécile Chaminade: Ronde d’amour, Ah! Si l’amour prenait
les racines (arr. Lembit Beecher)
American Traditional: Working on a Building (arr. George Meyer)
Anna Roberts-Gevalt: After Lester
Elizabeth Cotten: Freight Train (arr. Karen Ouzounian)
Eleanor Alberga: Remember
Ben Russell: Weather Vane
Songs are a powerful human instrument. A visceral emotion, a culture’s history, a political statement, an epic tale, can all be distilled into a single song. Our “Song Emerging” program is an unfolding of a series of song-inspired works and songs that are near and dear to the Aizuri Quartet’s heart and identity. The program opens with a bold, brand new work written for the Aizuris by the American composer Shawn Jaeger. A longtime friend of the quartet, Shawn’s piece titled we were happy were we draws from “We Were Happy When We Were Here,” a phrase commonly used to guide young musicians learning the intervals that comprise a major scale. The four players guide each other throughout the piece, following one another in canon and palindrome, creating the framework for a swirling, magical game. Shawn writes that the piece is in “a strict four-voice canon in inversion, and it uses just the first six notes of the major scale—whole-whole-half-whole-whole. Endlessly circling, trying 1,000 times to land together, to ‘get it right,’ this is ‘naive and sentimental’ music, a ‘harmony of spheres.’” The piece is also a paraphrase of Mahler’s Adagietto from his Symphony No. 5. Shawn masterfully reinvents Mahler’s song to reveal a feeling of innocence and joy that we can all relate to, while constantly, in Shawn’s words, “coming and going, rising and falling, undoing and re-doing, becoming….”
Paired with Shawn’s work on the first half of our program is Robert Schumann’s first string quartet, whose writing was inextricably linked to romantic lieder and vocal music. This particular string quartet features the lyricism that we so admire from Schumann’s works, but it also challenges the performers with intense athleticism and technical finger gymnastics. The leaps, tumbles, and lightning speed of the individual parts showcase Schumann’s love for Beethoven and Haydn’s music, particularly their approach to counterpoint. The playful spirit of Shawn’s work is present also in the Schumann, which feels like a youthful game of tag or a relay race—we’re constantly in motion, yet the music calls for vibrant energy and a facade of total ease and finesse. Oh, youth!
The second half of “Song Emerging” is a surprising collection of songs curated meticulously by the Aizuris. A combination of classical lieder, traditional tunes, and new arrangements commissioned specifically for this program, the Aizuri Songbook consists of songs that each hold personal meaning for the quartet. Joanna Newsom’s Bridges and Balloons is all about child-like awe, adventure, whimsy, and discovery, tapping into that side of us that is itching to let our imaginations run wild, to go on a journey without knowing what the future holds. Arranged by our friend, the acclaimed singer-songwriter and violinist Christina Courtin, it also introduces our fabulous cellist Karen Ouzounian to the world as a singer. Franz Schubert’s Lindenbaum, Clara Schumann’s Ich Stand in Dunkeln Träumen, Claude Debussy’s Romance: Voici que le printemps, and Cecile Chaminade’s Ronde d’amour are all lieder that evoke nostalgia, and they are perhaps an homage to each of the Aizuri Quartet members’ backgrounds as dedicated classical musicians who have grown up absorbing the music of the great composers of our past. Our very own Miho Saegusa and Karen Ouzounian, as well as dear friends and composers Michi Wiancko and Lembit Beecher, contributed to these wonderful arrangements and reimagined string quartet versions of the songs.
We continue our journey through the Aizuri Songbook with a foray into some American fiddling. The American traditional song Working on a Building was arranged by the phenomenal violinist, violist, and composer George Meyer, who frequently collaborates with artists such as Sam Bush, Mike Marshall, and his father Edgar Meyer. Legendary fiddler and songwriter Anna Roberts-Gevalt gifted the Aizuri Quartet with an original work After Lester, which draws from an Appalachian tune called “Yew Piney Mountain,” a tune that Anna learned from the late fiddler Lester McCumbers of Nicut, West Virginia. Born in North Carolina in 1893, the pioneering musician Elizabeth Cotten, under-recognized in her lifetime, wrote Freight Train at the mere age of 11 or 12, which puts into perspective what a brilliant and talented musician she was. It is also a song that Karen’s nephews have come to love dearly (check out the beautiful animation made by Lembit Beecher accompanying our rendition of Karen’s arrangement of the song). After playing Eleanor Alberga’s String Quartet No. 1 last season, we fell deeply in love with her musical language, and wanted to include this beautiful but heart-breaking song Remember, which she dedicated to her mother. The big finale of the Aizuri Songbook is ACME violinist Ben Russell’s Weather Vane, describing wind both as a downward pulling force but also a way to fly high above the mountains if you “move with the wind.” We hope this collection of songs curated by the Aizuri Quartet leaves you feeling windswept, soaring, and full of all the beauty that the musical world has to offer.
Notes by Ayane Kozasa