Boston Chamber Music Society Presents: Hummel, Jalbert, Brahms

A piano prodigy and contemporary of Beethoven, Johann Nepomuk Hummel bridges musical eras through his use of a romantic musical language applied to classical forms. His Clarinet Quartet in E-flat major weaves together wind and string timbres while evenly dividing thematic and accompanimental duties amongst the four instruments.

Pierre Jalbert’s Street Antiphons, scored for piano trio and clarinet, explores the contrasting sound worlds of secular and sacred music. Commissioned by BCMS in 2015, the work blends an ancient tonal language—at times presented as long, ethereal notes in the clarinet—with modern rhythmic structures found outside the classical genre.

Serene and lyrical, the Piano Quartet in A major by Brahms opens with a simple triplet theme in the piano that plants the seeds for later rhythmic tension in the frequent juxtaposition of two notes against three. The second movement, in the words of Joseph Joachim, is a “wonderful poco adagio with ambiguous passion.”