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Classical Concert

  • Olivia Rodham Memorial Library 1 Nelson Common Road Nelson, NH, 03457 United States (map)

The trio is made up of Prof. Robert Lehman, violin; Rebecca Hartka, cello; and Jose Lezcano on guitar.  The program is engaging, beautiful, and multicultural and includes works by Paganini; Piazzolla, and works by composers from the Caribbean and Turkey. Free and open to the public.

Music of Turkey, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, and Italy

Two Trio arrangements (arr. Lezcano)

Alfonsina y el Mar by Ariel Ramirez  10 min.

Adios Nonino by Astor Piazzolla 

 Cuban Sketches by Jose Lezcano 12 min. 

Tango Overture (8 min) by Jose Lezcano   8 min. 

Paganini Trio (Andante Largetto op. 66)   4 min. 

 Dicle ve Firat by KAYA Celil Refik  8 min

 Doce de Coco by Jacob de Bandolim* 5 min.  

La Bella Cubana by Jose White 4 min. 

Libertango by Piazzolla* 3 min 

*Duo arrangement (Jose & Rebecca). All other program selections are for trio

(Robert Lehmann, violin; Rebecca Hartka, cello; Jose Lezcano, guitar)

Total 54 min.

Music of Turkey, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, and Italy

This program weaves together a tapestry of musical genres and languages not typically

considered part of the Western canon. Included are musical works by composers from

Turkey, Cuba, Argentina, Italy, and Brazil. Composers include Piazzolla, Ramirez,

Paganini, and Turkish Celil Refik Kaya, in music that explores rhythms, meters, genres,

and textures typical of world music genres. Dr. Jose Lezcano contributes two of his

original compositions for the trio, with Cuban and Argentine rhythmic and melodic

inflections, and several arrangements. Comprising the faculty trio are Professor of

Music, Dr. Robert Lehman, violin; Dr. Jose Lezcano, Artist Lecturer in Guitar; and Dr.

Rebecca Hartka, Artist Lecturer in Cello.

Turkish guitarist-composer’s Celil Refik Kaya’s Dicel ye First is inspired by a tale of

two lovers (the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers) and freely references Turkish scales and

rhythmic modes, found in Turkish folk music and Sufi music. There are sections

suggesting improvisation and using typical ornaments found in Turkish Music.

The program features a number of Dr. Jose Lezcano’s compositions, and arrangements

for trio. Ramirez’s iconic zamba-song, “Alfonsina y el Mar,” is inspired by the tragic

death of Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni. Piazzolla’s tango, “Adios Nonino,” was

composed as a tribute to his late father and is among the tango-master’s best known

and beloved compositions. We also include Piazzolla’s popular “Libertango,” composed

as a response to his publisher’s request for more commercially accessible music.

Paganini’s lyrical Andante Larghetto op. 66 for violin, guitar, and cello provides a link to

the traditional European chamber music tradition and reminds us of the violin virtuoso’s

fascination with the guitar, an instrument that he also mastered and composed for.

Jose White, a nineteenth-century Cuban virtuoso violinist of mixed Afrocuban heritage,

composed the classic haunting Habanera, “La Bella Cubana.” Lezcano’s composition

“Cuban Sketches” is among his most popular and often-recorded works (it was recorded

by Buffalo Philharmonic conductor and guitarist JoAnn Falletta) and is inspired by

Cuban traditional country and urban music, including son, montuno, and bolero; while

his “Tango-Overture” is an homage to that urban Argentine tradition, featuring varied

tempos and sections, and is a new arrangement of an 8-minute work originally scored

for string orchestra and recorded by the North-South Consonance orchestra of New

York City. (Fanfare in reviewing recording on the North-South CD “Crosscurrents,”

called it “A dance in a dream that sweeps away restrictions and sweeps away the

dreamer.”) Jacob Bandolim’s “Doce de Coco” is a classic of the Brazilian popular music

genre, “Choros,” a hybrid genre featuring traditional European dance-genres like waltz,

schottische, and polka, with Afrodiasporic rhythmic syncopation, swing, and

improvisational ornamentation.

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August 12

NO BOOK GROUP

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August 16

Traditional Music Session