Midsummer’s Music: Elegance, Elan, and Energy

For many of us classical music evokes images of symphonic orchestras in huge concert halls. However, composers write not only symphonies but also chamber pieces for small ensembles, traditionally played not in halls, but in homes and other relatively small spaces for limited audiences. Door County’s own Midsummer’s Music Festival follows in these small footsteps, groups of musicians offering intimate public performances not only in homes but also in churches, galleries, and schools.

While orchestral music delights audiences with the spectacle of the performance along with the depth and breadth of sound, chamber music – perhaps a woodwind octet, a string quartet, or a piano trio – offers a purity of sound with not only a clear view of each performer, but a clarity of sound for every part. The result is an intimacy in the musical experience, a personal connection with both the musicians and the music.

Coupled with that closeness is a freshness that results from performances in unfamiliar places. The musicians are professionals who easily adapt to new locations, even areas so confined, as one joked, that a violinist is in danger of unwittingly putting someone’s eye out with a bow! But the tension adds to the immediacy of the concert.

The “Elegance, Elan, and Energy” program was performed July 14 at the Woodwalk Gallery near Egg Harbor, featuring chamber music of German and Austrian composers. The rustic barn serves not only as an art gallery (as does the Edgewood Orchard Galleries barn) but as a concert hall (as does the Birch Creek barn).

Those accustomed to classical music in formal concert halls found that none of the elegance of performance was lost in this concert. The natural acoustics are live and provide a full sound. The gapped siding of the barn haymow cum recital hall allowed rays of the setting sun to gently backlight the performers, while the open side doors let a soft breeze from the summer evening fan the audience.

The first piece was Haydn’s Divertimento in C Major, nicknamed “The Birthday.” Artistic Director James Berkenstock told the audience that such compositions were originally intended as “diversions,” light entertainment for garden parties, after special dinners, or at important social functions, and usually included dance movements and themes with variations. The piece for flute, oboe, and four strings succeeded in diverting an appreciative audience with its easy to listen to music, often lively and bouncy.

Heinrich Hofmann, while today not a household name, produced a rather sizable output, Berkenstock noted. His 1884 Serenade in D Major for flute, string quartet, and bass, offered the emotional lushness of romance, at turns stately and sprightly, ending with a gypsy-like dance.

In some respects, Mendelssohn’s “Quintet in A Major” was the star of the show. The piece is labeled a viola quintet to note an anomaly, Berkenstock explained, as typically only one viola is scored in a string quartet. An audience’s appreciation for the fullness of sound is enhanced by the knowledge that the musical prodigy was only 17 when he wrote the quintet. A poignant note: Mendelssohn in his final version substituted a “nachfuf” for the second movement minuet, serving as a musical eulogy commemorating the recent death of his violin teacher.

The movements of the quintet progress from a feeling of restless yearning to a engaging lyricism, to a light rollicking resolution. The final bows of the musicians brought an appreciative audience to its feet; one patron sitting next to this concertgoer admitted that she attended this concert to reprise the performance she had enjoyed the previous evening at Bjorklunden.

Noteworthy among the performers were cellist Walter Preucil and his violinist wife Stephanie (continuing the tradition of the Preucil musical family to the third generation with their own children) and David Perry, first violinist with the Pro Arte Quartet.

Midsummer’s Music has been a Door County cultural fixture since 1991, with a reception for the audience to meet the musicians following each performance. While the June–July series of concerts has come to a close, chamber music fans may again enjoy their performance when the ensemble returns to the peninsula for the August–September Labor Day Concerts. For concert and ticket information call 920.854.7088 or visit http://www.MidsummersMusic.com.