Wit and Passion

Program Notes

*The May 24th performance will feature a pre-concert lecture by Daniela Broderick titled "The young and the mature Jean Françaix: A comparison of his style in two chamber works 57 years apart.".

Jean Françaix (1912–97) was a highly prolific composer of more than 200 works, often stating that his primary aim in creating music was to give others pleasure. In his Trio for violin, viola and cello (1933), the first movement is irresistibly sunny, the second movement a scherzo of great dynamic drive, and the heartfelt third movement is undoubtedly the emotional core of the work. The piece concludes with a rondo finale comprising a main theme and contrasting episodes that are an inspired tribute to the great Classical Era works of the same genre.

Françaix’s Trio for clarinet, viola and piano opens with the mystical dialogue of the viola and clarinet. As the piano enters, this haunting texture expands in mesmerizing proportions. The ensuing second movement, vigorous and dance-like, explores the sonorities of the three instruments in kaleidoscopic enthusiasm. A lighthearted and lyrical third movement features the clarinet and viola in a charming duet of sweet expressions. The final two movements, a largo of poetic dimensions and a presto of equally humorous presence, round out this wonderfully expressive chamber work.

Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor premiered in Hamburg in 1861 with his close friend Clara Schumann at the piano. Brahms premiered the work in Vienna one year later, performing in one of his chamber works for the first time. Composed following the death of Robert Schumann, Brahms’ friend and great mentor, the first movement poignantly displays a scope of emotions ranging from sweet remembrances to tearful passions. The second movement, a scherzo in all but name, is an energetic perpetual motion with a slightly quicker—yet more tranquil—trio section. The ensuing andante con moto features a reference to the restless nature of the preceding movement, contrasted by highly lyrical musings. The exotic rondo finale, which Brahms labeled “in the Gypsy Style,” brings the work to an ominous conclusion. True to this inscription, the music resounds in folk-like brilliance.

Daniela Broderick, pianist, has performed throughout Brazil and the United States, including solo performances with the Rio de Janeiro Federal University Orchestra, JJC Brass Ensemble, and Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra; and recitals Saturdays with Brahms Series in Colorado, and Music at Moser at the University of St. Francis.

As a collaborative pianist, she has performed at the XV World Saxophone Congress in Bangkok, and guest pianist with the Orion Ensemble, and Lewis University Wind Quintet. She has received awards at the Montes Claros and Vitoria da Conquista Piano Competitions, and at the concerto competition of the Rio de Janeiro Federal University Orchestra.

Daniela has been awarded the degree of D.M.A. in Piano Performance by the University of Illinois under the supervision of William Heiles and renowned Beethoven scholar William Kinderman; and also holds degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado in Boulder and Rio de Janeiro Federal University in Brazil.

She was awarded a grant by the Niagara Foundation to travel to Turkey in the summer of 2012, where she researched the influences of Turkish Janissary music in the works of the composers from the Classical era. She is now a Professor of Music and the chair of the Fine Arts Department at Joliet Junior College.

Daniela recently completed her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and is a member of the Orion Ensemble’s board.

She lives in Chicago with her husband Paul and her Australian shepherd puppy Rio.