As sister cities for the past decade, Chicago and Hamburg, Germany, share a special bond which will be marked with a three-day musical celebration presented by the AmerKlavier™ Studio at DePaul University’s School of Music and the Goethe Institute of Chicago. The festival on May 12, 13 and 14 focuses entirely on the works by Johannes Brahms, a distinguished native of Hamburg. The festival’s program of piano works, chamber music and vocal compositions will be presented at the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave., and the Recital Hall at the university’s School of Music, 804 W. Belden Ave. Each night’s program begins at 8 p.m. The series is free and open to the public.

The Brahms celebration, organized by internationally renowned pianist and DePaul music faculty member Eteri Andjaparidze, was prompted by her meeting in Chicago earlier this year with Harald N. Clapham, head of the international exchange division of Hamburg’s Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and Rüdiger van den Boom, director of the Goethe Institute of Chicago. Andjaparidze developed the idea of presenting three related musical programs—a Brahms Triptych—inspired by a famous ‘triplex’ image of Brahms (three contiguous portrait poses), taken by a Berlin court photographer O. Brasch around 1889.

The first of these concerts, called “Klavierabend,” on May 12 offers an evening of piano music played by Andjaparidze and students of her AmerKlavier™ Studio at DePaul. Brahms was, himself, a pianist, and wrote works for the piano throughout his creative life.

Among the offerings on this program are the highly romantic Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major, Op. 1, the first work that Brahms allowed to be published, and his Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Händel, Op. 24. Interest in the music of Händel and other early composers was very unfashionable in the 19th century. Brahms was unique in incorporating themes by these composers into his own creations, and in performing their scores in concert.

Titled “Do You Love Brahms?,” the May 13 event is a staged production featuring vocal and chamber ensemble works, interspersed with readings from the composer’s letters. Participants include DePaul music and theatre school students, as well as members of the AmerKlavier™ Studio. The program takes its title from the 1963 novel by Francoise Sagan. It opens with the Piano Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26, which “came off very well,” according to Brahms, at the 1862 premiere in Hamm, a suburb of Hamburg. Despite his many triumphs, by the fall of 1890, Brahms had decided to quit composing. His resolve, however, quickly disappeared upon hearing a performance by the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld the following year. Brahms would eventually write four compositions, including the Clarinet Trio in A Minor, Op. 114, for Mühlfeld, whom he called “ the greatest wind player alive”.

The last of the Brahms Triptych programs, “Kammermusik,” on May 14, provides a showcase for the extraordinary talents of DePaul School of Music faculty members Susanne Mentzer, mezzo-soprano; Andjaparidze, piano; Ilya Kaler, violin; Rami Solomonov, viola; and Stephen Balderston, cello. Brahms’ greatness as a lieder composer is most apparent in his serious songs, a category that includes Two Songs, Op. 91, for alto voice, viola and piano. Brahms wrote lieder in spurts—31 volumes in all—throughout his career. Opus 91 is the composer’s only example of “vocal chamber music;” the first song dates from 1884, but the second was written much earlier to celebrate the birth of violinist Joseph Joachim’s first child.

Together, the featured instrumental artists on the May 14 program bring the festival to a close with a performance of the Piano Quartet in C Minor, Op. 60. It is in this work that Brahms finds expression for the conflicting emotions of loyalty and desire he felt towards his dear friends Robert and Clara Schumann.

Brahms was born in the bustling city of Hamburg in 1833. The town’s seaport and prime location had insured the city’s prosperity and independence, dating back to the 13th century when it joined the fabled Hanseatic league of North German trading cities. Brahms left Hamburg for Vienna in 1862 to establish his artistic reputation. Although he would never again live in his native city, he did return periodically, and expressed affection for Hamburg throughout his life. On the day of his funeral in 1897, all the ships in the harbor at Hamburg lowered their flags to half-mast.

Chicago concertgoers were first introduced to the music of Brahms by Theodore Thomas and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1892. During that first season, the Third Symphony was performed. The program note begins, “Brahms stands at the head of the living German composers”—a comment that would reappear again as Thomas moved on to several of his other major works during the following seasons. That same year, the composer and his celebrated colleague, violinist Joseph Joachim, were invited to Chicago to participate in the Columbian Exposition. Both men declined.

Promotion of cultural and educational opportunities are some of the goals of the Sister Cities International Program, initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. The program now involves 2,649 cities worldwide. The Chicago chapter, established in 1960, now partners 22 other cities around the globe.

BRAHMS TRIPTYCH PROGRAMS FOLLOW:

I: “Klavierabend”
May 12 at 8 p.m.
DePaul Concert Hall
800 W. Belden Ave.

Eteri Andjaparidze, piano, AmerKlavier™ Studio

Sonata No. 1 in C Major, Op. 1
Four Pieces, Op. 119
Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79
Scherzo in E flat minor, Op. 4
Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Händel, Op. 24

II: “Do You Love Brahms?”
May 13 at 8 p.m.
DePaul Recital Hall
804 W. Belden Ave.

AmerKlavier™ Studio piano students and students from The Theatre School at DePaul; staging by John Jenkins

Piano Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26
Minnelied, Op. 71
Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer, Op. 105
Botschaft, Op. 47
Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114

III: “Kammermusik”
May 14 at 8 p.m.
DePaul Concert Hall
800 W. Belden Ave.

Susanne Mentzer, mezzo-soprano
Eteri Andjaparidze, piano
Ilya Kaler, violin
Rami Solomonov, viola
Stephen Balderston, cello

Two Songs, Op. 91
Sonata No. 2 in Major, Op. 100
Selected Lieder
Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60

For more information about DePaul music events, call the DePaul School of Music: (773) 325-7260.