As Night Descends

The collection of works on this program evoke the magic of the night. After a brief flash of sunshine from Hugo Wolf’s charming Italian Serenade, journey into twilight and beyond. The journey begins with two sets of Nocturnes, musically defined as, “a short composition of a romantic nature, typically for piano.” The first set, Bloch’s Three Nocturnes depicts three different aspects of the night. The first is a tranquil night, full of stars and gentle breezes; the second a lyrical, romantic lullaby, and the third suggests, “the pent-up excitement of a night chase.” Frédéric Chopin is known as a great master of the Nocturne and his two here showcase his love of solo piano music and the Nocturne form. The final piece on the program, Chopin’s Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano is one of five of the composer’s works of chamber music (three of the five composed for this instrumentation). His cello works are likely inspired by his friendship with the French cello virtuoso, Auguste Franchomme, though this Romantic Sonata plagued Chopin, and he revised it numerous times stating, “…with my cello sonata I am now contented, now discontented.”