DePauw School of Music to present Chamber Music Week

Monday, November 26, 2012

In a time where technology allows us to download music instantly from the Internet, it is hard to imagine that music once was composed solely for live performance, often as intimate evening entertainments in private homes.

Throughout the first semester, DePauw University singers and instrumentalists have been working intensely on their chamber music repertoire and are now ready to present their work in recital at the intimate Thompson Recital Hall of the Green Center for the Performing Arts at DPU.

Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. on the following evenings: Monday, Vocal Chamber Music; Tuesday, DePauw Flute Choir; and Wednesday, String Chamber Music.

The Monday program, directed by Valentin Lanzrein, faculty coach for the vocal chamber music class, will feature works for singers with instruments in a variety of languages and styles.

"Rossini's 'Serate Musicali' was written for Saturday soirées at the composer's residence in which Italian opera stars appeared and entertained the prominent guests," Lanzrein said. '"La regata Veneziana' is a vivid scene from a Venetian gondola race depicting two women cheering for their competing lovers.

"Schubert composed his famous 'Der Hirt auf dem Felsen' ('The Shepherd on the Rock') for soprano, clarinet and piano on request from an operatic singer for a showpiece that allowed her to express a wide range of feelings," Lanzrein added. "To accommodate this request, Schubert chose three poems by Wilhelm Müller. And Brahms' great affinity for folk song can be heard in the beautiful 'Zwei Gesänge' for contralto, viola and piano."

Chamber music requires the most intimate ensemble work of any musical genre, noted Lanzrein, who is also a professor of voice at the DePauw School of Music.

"To perform with other musicians in a small group without a conductor can be one of the most challenging and also most rewarding ways of music making," he said.

General admission tickets to the year-end chamber music recitals are $3. Tickets for children, all students and for seniors over 65 are free.

For additional information, visit www.de-pauw.edu/music/calendar/ or stop by the GCPA box office on the ground floor of the Green Center at 605 S. College Ave. Persons may also call 658-4817.

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