08/08/2026
2026 SUMMER FESTIVAL
Sunday, Aug. 9 @ 6:00 pm
First Presbyterian Church 136 Capitol Ave Hartford
Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet, op. 115
Maurice Ravel: String Quartet
Jonathan Kane, (composer‑in‑residence): “Convergence” for string quartet
Charter Oak String Quartet (Adrian Sylveen Myftaraj, Kane, Sears)
Jonathan Towney, clarinet
Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet (1891), composed for Richard Mühlfeld, is a late‑style masterpiece suffused with autumnal warmth. The clarinet blends seamlessly into the strings, its voice carrying lyrical melancholy in the opening movement. A tender Adagio follows, serene yet pierced by a passionate outburst. The Andantino offers grace and charm, leading into a playful scherzo. The Finale returns to darker hues, weaving earlier themes into variations that dissolve into quiet resignation—an intimate, profoundly moving farewell.
Ravel’s String Quartet in F major (1903), dedicated to Gabriel Fauré, dazzles with radiant lyricism and daring harmonic color. Its sparkling scherzo, with pizzicato rhythms and exotic inflections, reveals Ravel’s fascination with Spanish and Eastern sonorities. The slow movement glows with dreamlike beauty, while the finale bursts with rhythmic vitality.
Jonathan Kane’s Convergence explores transformation through mathematics and music, as dark and airy themes gradually merge. Written during his Eastman studies, it unites intellect and emotion in striking fashion.