Atlantic Chamber Ensemble

Notes on the Program

Even the coldest, darkest days of Winter hold the promise of the Spring to come. 

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For the past year, the world has wrestled in the grip of pandemic--a devastating plague which has robbed us all of so much.  Yet even in dark times such as these, there lies the promise of change--of healing and restoration.  In this livestream concert, ACE explores the arc of emotion we've endured as a people this past year under the ever present shadow of disease and death. 

The program begins with the playful naivete of a Franz Haydn String Quartet and the peaceful contentment of Charles Koechlin's Pastorale, soon interrupted by the frightfully anxious machinations of Guillaume Connesson's Techno Parade.  Out of this alarming contrast flows the comforting richness of WIlliam Grant Still's "Mother and Child" movement from his Suite for Violin. Through these opening selections ACE traces the terrifying intrusion the Covid virus has made into our lives  over the last year. 

Following the Still is Wendell Rosa's Duo for Violin and Double Bass.  A talented young black composer and double bassist, Rosa writes of his Duo:

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"what gave life to [this] music was a philosophical thought about the ascension of a forgotten battle,

which happens inside of the character himself."

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The hypnotic and unrelenting intensity of the music truly captures this epic battle we've all been waging with this virus, both as individuals grappling with loss, loneliness, and fear, and as a society fumbling for answers and control.  Following the Duo is Jessie Montgomery's Strum for string quartet.  An uplifting and hopeful work, the piece explores textural motives (plucking/strumming sounds) as it gradually unfurls into a joyous dance. 

Francis Poulenc's Trio for oboe, bassoon, and piano is next.  Poulenc's music pits elements of melancholy and frivolity over the course of three short movements.  It is three good friends who've found a way to have fun and laugh even while remembering pain and sadness.

To end the program ACE has chosen Bohuslav Martinu's Nonet No. 2 for winds and strings.  Over the course of three movements, the Nonet aptly summarizes the journey and struggle of the past year.  Martinu completed the piece just before his own death in 1959, and it offers a remarkable insight into his own battle with cancer.  A bouncy first movement allegro gives way to an uncertain and deeply sad andante.  The dance-like joy of the finale gives us a sense of the acceptance, contentment, and hope we can find even amid the trials and tribulations of life.  Concluding the program with the Nonet seems particularly fitting given that ACE first performed it on our very first concert ten years ago.  Just as Martinu's Nonet brought us together as a group then to share our love of music, it does so again now.  Though distanced and masked, we find this music reaches easily across the divide to renew our hope and nourish our souls.  We hope it does the same for you!