DAHA is engaged in an unprecedented multi-year project to present all of Antonín Dvořák’s chamber works. We offered our next chapter in this ongoing cycle, organized by violinist Laura Jean Goldberg and featuring the Sullivan String Quartet. The program drew from Dvořák’s prolific output of chamber works, infused with delightful Slavonic flavor and melodic invention as well as more introverted lyricism.

The program was performed by the seasoned musicians of the Sullivan Quartet – Laura Jean Goldberg, violin I, Anat Malkin, violin II, Liuh-Wen Ting, viola, Robert La Rue, violoncello, and guest artist Moshe Knoll, piano.

PROGRAM

Dvořák Piano Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Opus 23

I Allegro moderato
II Andantino (Theme and Variations)
III Finale, Allegretto scherzando

Dvořák, Two Waltzes from the Opus 54 (transcribed by the composer)

No. 1 Moderato
No. 4 Allegro Vivace

— intermission —

Dvořák String Quartet No. 8 in E Major, Opus 80, B 57

I Allegro
II Andante con moto
III Allegro scherzando
IV Finale: Allegro con brio

Program notes

Opening the program will be the lyrical Piano Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Opus 23. Pianist Moshe Knoll will join the members of the Sullivan Quartet as guest artist. The First Movement of the Piano Quartet displays Dvořák’s compositional skill and his extraordinary talent for inspiring listeners with delightful melodies in traditional Czech style. The Second movement is a Theme and Variations, inspired by the rich traditions of Slavonic folk music. In the Finale of the Quartet, Dvořák displays his musical innovation by fusing the traditional Scherzo (in triple meter) and Finale (usually in a fast duple meter) into one musical journey full of delightful surprises.

Second on the program will be Dvořák’s own transcription of two Waltzes from his Opus 54. Like his mentor, Brahms, Dvořák composed a cycle of waltzes that elevate the popular dance genre to the level of art music. The Czech master showed a rare level of skill in rendering these solo piano pieces as idiomatic compositions for the String Quartet.

The program concludes with Dvořák’s rarely played, but ravishingly beautiful String Quartet No. 8 in E Major, Opus 80. The Quartet dates from 1876, although it was not performed until 1890, by none other than the Joachim Quartet in Berlin. The composition, while referencing stylistic gestures used by Beethoven and Schubert, shows Dvořák’s characteristic richness of melodic invention. The rather introverted lyricism of the main themes may reflect the composer's grief and resignation following the loss of his second child.

The magnificent series of String Quartets by Antonín Dvořák established him, along with Brahms, as the highest exponents of the art of writing for the String Quartet in the second half of the 19th century. One of the reasons Dvořák was such an important person in music history was his ability to master the intricacies of the Austro-German classical tradition, and then use that style as raw material for the creation of a Czech National Art Music, an art that is both profoundly nationalistic and also of universal significance.

About

The SULLIVAN STRING QUARTET brings together Laura Jean Goldberg, violin I, Anat Malkin, violin II, Liuh-Wen Ting, viola, and Robert La Rue, cello. Each member of the ensemble has a wide ranging and impressive career in the chamber music scene. The Sullivan Quartet has performed recitals at Bohemian National Hall, Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, the Arion Chamber Music Series, Bargemusic in NYC, and at "Music at the Museum" in Bennington, VT. The quartet's inclusive multicultural approach gives a place of honor to repertoire by women composers, African American, Hispanic, and Asian composers, as well as the traditional string quartet repertoire. The Sullivan Quartet is named after trailblazing American architect Louis H. Sullivan, the founder of the "Chicago School" of architecture. Sullivan designed buildings with innovative steel frame construction that incorporated elements of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts style ornamentation.

Violinist LAURA JEAN GOLDBERG is active as performer, teacher, and presenter for musicians and artists both in the US and abroad. As a solo violinist, she performed with the BSO at Boston's Symphony Hall and played recitals in Boston, New York, and in India. A member of the chamber music faculty at The Juilliard School Pre-college division, she previously taught at Columbia University, Yale, and Teachers College. She has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Tanglewood, venues in India, Japan, London, Paris, and across the US. As founding member of the Cassatt Quartet, Goldberg earned top prizes at the Fischoff, Coleman, and Banff competitions and worked as assistant to the Juilliard and Tokyo Quartets. Goldberg is committed to celebrating the music of living composers including Julia Wolfe, Moshe Knoll, Eric Ewazen, Behzad Ranjbaran, and Gabriela Lena Frank, and she is a member of the Sullivan String Quartet, based in New York. Trained at The Juilliard School and the Charles Castleman Quartet Program, Goldberg is founder of ArtsAhimsa Music for Peace, presenting events that inspire and support inclusive communities, social justice, and the environment through the arts. Goldberg is director of the ArtsAhimsa Chamber Music Workshop for professional and amateur musicians that meets annually at Belvoir Terrace in Lenox, Ma. She teaches at Belvoir Terrace camp for girls and is a board member at DAHA.

A versatile artist, violinist and violist ANAT MALKIN has performed as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician around the world. She embarked on her first international tour at the age of 10, and made her Carnegie Hall debut under the baton of Alexander Schneider at age sixteen. Some of the orchestras with whom she has soloed internationally include the Camerata Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile), Drammen Byorkester (Norway), Israel Chamber Orchestra, New York String Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogotá (Colombia), Orquesta Sinfonica de Salta (Argentina) and the Westchester Philharmonic. Performance broadcasts, interviews and articles about her have appeared in Asian, European, North and South American programs and press. An avid chamber musician and frequent guest artist, Ms. Malkin is presently a member of the New York based Piazzolla Trio. She is also a founding member of the prizewinning Malkin Duo. A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Maastricht Conservatorium, cum laude, Ms. Malkin serves on the violin and viola faculties of the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division as well as several international summer music festivals.

A graduate of the Juilliard School with BA and MA degrees and currently a DMA candidate at Stony Brook University, violist LIUH-WEN TING enjoys a fulfilling career as both a performer and teacher. An avid chamber musician, Liuh-Wen was a member of the Meridian String Quartet and has collaborated with many notable artists and ensembles across diverse genres. A proponent of contemporary music, she made her solo debut at Merkin Hall in 2001 for the "Interpretation Series" with five commissioned compositions based on elements of the I Ching. Her performance of Morton Feldman's "Viola in My Life IV" with the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra was praised by Czech Music 2001 as “an extraordinary experience.” She has been featured in festivals such as the Prague Spring Music Festival, Ostrava Days, Warsaw Autumn Music Festival, and the Primavera en la Habana International Electro-Acoustic Music Festival in Cuba. She has premiered and recorded many chamber and solo works for labels including Naxos, Mode, Capstone, and Albany, among others. In New York, she performs regularly with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the American Composers Orchestra, and the SEM Ensemble. She was on the Solfege faculty of the Juilliard Prep Division for many years and currently serves as a viola faculty member at the Mannes School Prep Division, as well as at Vassar College.

ROBERT LA RUE, cello, was First Prize Winner of the National Society of Arts and Letters Cello Competition, whose jury chairman was Mstislav Rostropovich. Formerly the cellist of the New England String Quartet, Robert is a current member of the Sullivan String Quartet, the Alcott Trio, and the cello ensemble VC3. He plays regularly with the Phoenix Chamber Players at Manhattan’s Center for Jewish History, and has also been a guest of the Locrian Chamber Players and the Alaria Ensemble. He has performed as soloist with the Banff Festival Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra and orchestras in Seattle, Phoenix and Denver. He has served as visiting faculty at Yale University’s Summer Music School and has taught cello at Rutgers University. He has recorded for Arsis Audio and North Branch Records, and is currently completing a disc of works for solo cello by members of the American Composers Alliance. A graduate of Curtis, New England Conservatory, and Juilliard, he also attended Indiana University. His teachers included include David Soyer, Bernard Greenhouse, Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi.

Pianist-composer MOSHE S. KNOLL was born in Venezuela of Eastern European immigrant parents. Educated at The Juilliard School and the University of Arizona, Knoll has a direct personal link to Antonín Dvořák: his mentor Ozan Marsh was a composition student of Rubin Goldmark, who was in turn a student of Dvořák, himself. Knoll has had a successful career as a pianist, pedagogue, composer, and arranger. His Piano Sonata #1 was published in 1980 and has been performed multiple times. In 1987 he received the Artist of the Year Award from the Pianist's Foundation of America. Recent achievements include his setting of Psalm 133 for Soprano, Narrator, and String Orchestra which has had repeated performances. ArtsAhimsa presented a Retrospective Concert of Knoll's works in NYC and he composed the soundtrack for the documentary film "God Knows Where I am" produced by Jedd and Todd Wider. His Chamber Cantata "Simplicity," set to texts by Henry David Thoreau, was premiered at Symphony Space by the Ark Trio in 2017, and it is included in their debut CD album, "Ark Resounding," which is now available on Amazon. His Piano Trio "Twilight Serenade" was performed at The Juilliard School in 2022, and in 2023 his composition “A Ballet for the New World” premiered at Bohemian National Hall, both with the composer at the piano. More than 80 of his compositions are published on Sheet Music Plus. Dr. Knoll has been Composer-in-Residence at ArtsAhimsa since 2012. He is also a member of the DAHA Board.

This multi-year series is organized by DAHA music advisor and violinist Laura Jean Goldberg, with support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.