Lamento della ninfa (2024) | Lei Liang (b. 1972)

String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K. 465 | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756—1791)

I. Adagio — Allegro

II. Andante cantabile (F major)

III. Menuetto and Trio. Allegro

IV. Allegro

Reminiscences | Hanna Havrylets (1958-2022) 

Klap Ur Handz (from String Quartet #5 Rosa Parks) | Daniel Bernard Roumain (b. 1971)

This program explores how a backward glance might provide the strength, wisdom, and inspiration to propel us forward. We open with Lei Liang’s arrestingly beautiful Lamento della ninfa (“The Nymph’s Lament”), based on a work of Monteverdi from 1636; followed by Mozart’s joyful (and occasionally spicy) String Quartet No. 19 in C major, an homage to Joseph Haydn, his friend and mentor. The third work, Reminiscences by Ukrainian composer Hanna Havrylets (whom we lost during the early days of the full-scale invasion), looks back with wistful poise, while the final selection, Klap Ur Handz, finds both joy and resolve in the memory of Rosa Parks.  ~ Leo Eguchi