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Marian Lewin Tribute Concert
23 August 2020 @ 4:00 pm - 30 August 2020 @ 11:30 pm
It was with great sadness that we recently received the news of the passing of Marian Lewin who was regarded as the doyenne of South African cellists.
Marian had a very successful career as orchestral cellist, chamber musician and soloist with amongst others, the SABC, the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic and PACT Symphony orchestras. She also taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, the Pro-Arte School in Pretoria and at the University of Cape Town. She was the cellist for the Alma Musica Piano Trio for 34 years and subsequently joined the Rosamunde and Schwietering String Quartets, I Grandi Violoncellisti and the Hermanay Flute Trio. She was for many years, South Africa’s most sought after cello chamber music partner. Marian’s love for her fellow human beings and her music was as genuine as it was generous. She was loved by all who were touched by her kindness and most beautiful playing. This concert is dedicated to her with love and gratitude.
Formed in 2006, the Amici String Quartet, comprised of four of South Africa’s most respected string players, is widely regarded as one of the country’s finest chamber music ensembles. Violinists Suzanne Martens and Philip Martens, violist Karin Gaertner, and cellist Peter Martens are prolific contributors to the Western Cape music scene, and need little introduction to Endler Hall concert goers. For this concert, the Amici String Quartet is joined by guest cellist Eddie McLean who will be playing the second cello part. Eddie is a former student of Marian Lewin, is currently co-principal cellist for the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, and is Peter Martens’ stand partner in the orchestra!
Franz Schubert’s (1797-1828) String Quintet in C major is regarded as one of the pinnacles of the chamber music repertoire. Much has been written about the sheer beauty of this work, particularly in the context of the composer’s incredible productivity and impending death. Benjamin Britten in his Aspen Award speech of 1964 said “It is arguable that the richest and most productive eighteen months in our music history … (is) the period in which Franz Schubert wrote his Winterreise, the C major Symphony, his last three piano sonatas, the C major String Quintet, as well as a dozen other glorious pieces. The very creation of these works in that space of time seems hardly credible; but the standard of inspiration, of magic, is miraculous and past all explanation.”
The String Quintet in C major is Schubert’s final chamber work, composed quickly over September and October 1828. It was completed two months before the composer’s death, but the work’s premiere and publishing would wait for more than twenty years. The work shares the same key as Mozart’s String Quintet K. 515 and Beethoven’s String Quintet Op. 29. While these works employ an additional viola to the standard string quartet, Schubert follows Boccherini’s lead by using two cellos.
Programme notes:
Franz Schubert
String Quintet in C major D. 956, Op. posth. 163
I. Allegro ma non troppo
II. Adagio
III. Scherzo. Presto – Trio. Andante sostenuto
IV. Allegretto
Franz Schubert’s (1797-1828) String Quintet in C major is regarded as one of the pinnacles of the chamber music repertoire. Much has been written on the sheer beauty of this work, particularly in the context of the composer’s incredible productivity and impending death. Benjamin Britten in his Aspen Award speech of 1964 said “It is arguable that the richest and most productive eighteen months in our music history … (is) the period in which Franz Schubert wrote his Winterreise, the C major Symphony, his last three piano sonatas, the C major String Quintet, as well as a dozen other glorious pieces. The very creation of these works in that space of time seems hardly credible; but the standard of inspiration, of magic, is miraculous and past all explanation.”
The String Quintet in C major is Schubert’s final chamber work. It was composed over September and October 1828 and completed two months before the composer’s death. The first performance did not take place until 1850 in Vienna and it was first published in 1853. The work shares the same key as Mozart’s String Quintet K. 515 and Beethoven’s String Quintet Op. 29. While these works employ an additional viola, Schubert follows Boccherini’s lead by using two cellos.
(Concert notes by David Forrest: https://mco.org.au/concert-notes-schubert-quintet/)
Artist bios:
Suzanne Martens studied violin at the University of Pretoria under Prof. Alan Solomon, where she obtained BMus and BMus Hons degrees. She furthered her studies in Holland under Jan Repko (Academie Minerva, Groningen) and in Austria under Lavard Skou-Larsen (Mozarteum, Salzburg),
where she was also a member of the Salzburger Musici Chamber Orchestra. She subsequently obtained an MMus degree in Chamber Music at Stellenbosch University. Suzanne was the winner of the ATKV Forté competition (Now Musiq) and the University of Natal 75th Anniversary prize. Suzanne held the position of associate concertmaster at the New Arts Philharmonic Orchestra Pretoria until June 2000 and is a founder member of the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. In 2001, she was appointed concertmaster at the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, a position she later resigned from to take up a lectureship at the Stellenbosch University. Suzanne has been appearing as guest leader of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra since 2005. She is an active chamber musician and is currently a member of the Amici String Quartet, the Quartet of Peace, and the Lyric Trio. She was a member of the Rosamunde Quartet (1995-2007) and the Schwietering Quartet (2001- 2005). She recently premièred the violin concertos of three South African composers, Allan Stephenson (2009), Thomas Ranja (2010) and David Earl (2011, double violin concerto with Farida Bacharova).
Philip Martens obtained his BMus Honours degree at UCT in 2002 under Jürgen Schwietering and Farida Bacharova. He has featured as a soloist with the Cape Town Baroque ensemble and Camerata Tinta Barocca. Philip was also privileged to attend master classes with Benjamin Schmid at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He has been a full-time member of the first violin section of The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CTPO) since 2002 having has co-led the orchestra on numerous occasions including during the 2016 Show Boat tour to Nuremberg, Germany. He has recently been appointed associate concertmaster of the CTPO and frequently appears as guest concertmaster as a result thereof. He is also the Artistic Director of his newly formed company, Martens Music. Philip’s hobbies include 4×4 off-road driving, auto mechanics and the design and installation of kitchens!
Karin Gaertner was principal violist with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. She studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and completed her performance diploma at the conservatoire “Claudio Monteverdi” in Bolzano. She was regularly engaged by the “Orchestra del teatro lirico di Cagliari” (Sardinia, Italy) and “Orchestra Haydn” (Bolzano, Italy).
Peter Martens holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Cape Town and a PhD from Stellenbosch University where he studied in his formative years with Dalena Roux before continuing his studyies with Heidi Litschauer at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 1993 Peter returned to South Africa and took up principal positions with the New Arts Philharmonic Pretoria and the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra before moving to Stellenbosch University where he is currently Director of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. He is a member of the Amici String Quartet, enjoys chamber music with amongst others, Leon Bosch (double bass), David Juritz (violin), Benjamin Schmid (violin) and Leslie Howard (piano), and has performed with the Brodsky String Quartet in London. He has participated at festivals in Russia, Holland, Salzburg, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Portugal and has performed in the U.K. and U.S.A. Many South African composers have written works for him, the most notable being that of the the Cello Concerto by Allan Stephenson, which he recorded for Meridian Records with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. Peter recorded the Bach Cello Suites and Beethoven Cello Sonatas for TwoPianists Records.
Eddie McLean began cello lessons at the of age 7 with Cheryl de Havilland. His teachers have included Magdalena Roux, Barbara Kennedy, Anmari van der Westhuizen and Marian Lewin. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. He has appeared twice with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1995 and 1998 Youth Music Festivals. He was a member of the Sontonga Quartet which toured the Netherlands, Germany, Slovenia, the United States and Australia and in 2007 he lead the cello section of the Britten-Pears Aldeburgh Festival Orchestra. He has given recitals with pianists Albie van Schalkwyk and Jose Dias and has recently played as a member of the Proteus Quartet. He studied in America and returned to South Africa in 2007 and the following year joined the CPO. In 2009 he studied in Salzburg as part of his master’s degree and rejoined the CPO in November that same year.