BEN-HAIM  Berceuse Sfaradite; Songs without Words for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 45

Inspired by folk music, both of Paul Ben-Haim’s chamber works on this program were originally written for voice and later transcribed for solo instruments by the composer. These short but deeply felt and bittersweet songs reflect their origins in Ladino and Sephardic traditions, as well as the composer’s original creations.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN  Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49

By turns stormy and luminously lyrical, the D-Minor Trio is one of Mendelssohn’s most enduringly popular chamber works. Composed in 1839, it capped a typically productive period in the hyperactive composer’s life. Since turning his attention back to chamber music in 1837 after a hiatus of several years, he had composed no fewer than three string quartets, as well as sonatas for cello and violin.

SHOSTAKOVICH  Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57

In the summer of 1940, the Soviet Union was enjoying a brief respite from war, thanks to its short-lived pact with Nazi Germany. Although resolutely apolitical, Shostakovich couldn’t insulate himself from the paranoia and anxiety that affected every echelon of Soviet society in the wake of Stalin’s Great Terror. Like much of his music, the Piano Quintet veers from one stylistic and emotional extreme to another. In harmonizing these diverse and often discordant elements, the Russian composer created a highly personal musical language of extraordinary power and beauty.