This is an arrangement by oboist Peggy Pearson of one of 12 string quartets that Haydn composed in the period 1788 to 1790. The group is known today as the "Tost" quartets in the mistaken belief that Haydn composed them for a Hungarian violinist, Johann Tost. The truth is more prosaic: While Tost played the quartets, the epithet stems from the fact that Haydn entrusted them to this business-wise colleague to market to publishers in Paris and Vienna.

Haydn and Tost became acquainted in 1783 when Tost was hired as principal second violin in the orchestra of the Esterhazy family – wealthy members of the Hungarian landed aristocracy – where Haydn was the kappelmeister (music director). In the custom of the day, Haydn and Tost lived with the servants and wore Esterhazy’s livery. However, Prince Nicolaus was an enlightened patron, and he encouraged Haydn to seek commercial outlets for the works he composed at the palace.

In 1788, when Tost left the Esterhazy palace to try his hand as a free-lance violinist in Paris, Haydn handed him two new symphonies and six new quartets with the authority to seek their publication. Working on commission, Tost contracted with a Paris publisher to issue the six quartets not as a unit as Haydn intended but in two sets of three to enhance their commercial value. The two sets, issued in 1789 and 1790, became known as Opus 54 and Opus 55, and the quartet we hear this evening – one of Haydn’s most striking – is the second of the first set.

Apparently things did not work out for Tost in Paris, and in 1790 he returned to Hungary and married the housekeeper in the Esterhazy household, a woman of some means. With her money, he opened a wholesale cloth business in Vienna, and became a prosperous member of the emerging merchant class. He also became a leading Viennese patron of the arts in a day when most patrons were still members of the aristocracy.

Continuing as a violinist, Tost commissioned for performance in his salon chamber music from leading composers, Mozart as well as Haydn. After settling himself in Vienna, Haydn wrote six more quartets for performance in Tost’s salon, and then, about to leave for London, he asked Tost to market them as well. In April, 1791, thanks to Tost’s efforts, the quartets were published in Vienna as Opus 64, with a grateful dedication to Tost for his services.

Haydn had already composed more than 40 quartets before the 12 "Tost" quartets, carrying the form from a lighthearted divertimento to a serious and demanding medium of expression. In particular, in the six quartets of Opus 20, written in 1771, Haydn had begun to treat the quartet form as a dialog among four equally prominent instruments and to explore the subtle development of the themes and their emotional implications. In the "Tost" quartets, he pursued this trend further, blending in a virtuoso first violin part for Tost’s personal use to give the ensemble color and eloquence.

In arranging Opus 54, No. 2, for oboe and strings, Peggy Pearson gives the oboe basically this first violin part. She explains in an e-mail: "I am always looking for new pieces to play so that I don’t have to inflict upon an audience the repertoire for oboe and piano. I love playing with three strings, and I think this combination of instruments is the best for oboe. I am always excited to come across a great piece that lends itself to the oboe, especially a quartet as unusual and imaginative as this one."

The first movement, vivace, is in traditional sonata form with two themes, their development and their recapitulation. The first theme, forceful and incisive, has an unusual structure: The opening phrase, given to the first violin (oboe in this case) is five measures long, ending in a dramatic measure of silence. The second phrase, one step lower, is again given to the first violin (oboe), is again five measures long and ends in another measure of silence. The third phrase, still lower, finally has the momentum to keep going but in a remote key.

The second theme is shared by the first violin (oboe) and viola, but the violin (oboe) maintains the pace rising to a dizzyingly high D. This is above the range of the oboe, so this arrangement turns that ascent over to the second violin. After the development, the two themes return, but the measures of silence are filled in by three pianissimo quarter notes on the first violin (oboe).

The second movement, adagio, is one of the most unusual in chamber music. The brooding melody in the minor mood is presented by all four instruments in their lower registers. Then the first violin (oboe) enters, embroidering the slow moving melody with ornamental arabesques in 16^th and 32^nd notes while the other instruments keep repeating the melody below. The stabbing dissonances and ornamentation suggest a passionate Hungarian lament.

The minuet, a light and rhythmic allegretto, was so popular with the Esterhazy court that Haydn had the tune built into the sounding mechanism of a musical clock. But the trio is in startling contrast, launched in forceful unison, with bold dissonant harmonies and the first violin (oboe) again in a key role.

The fourth movement is again highly innovative – a finale that is mainly second adagio instead of the customary allegro. After an eight-measure introduction, the first violin (oboe) plays the gentle theme highly ornamented with 32nd notes, over a throbbing accompaniment in the second violin and viola and a counter-melody in the cello rising from the bottom to the top of its range. Eventually, this low-profile material is interrupted by a presto variant of the theme, but the adagio returns for the quiet ending.

The Argentine tango is a style of song and dance music rather than a specific dance or dance rhythm. It originated in the poor slum areas outside Buenos Aires in the late 19th century and has remained the most popular Argentine song and dance style of the 20th century. While it comes in many varieties, its common characteristics are syncopated rhythmic patterns within a 2/4 meter, abrupt rhythmic and dynamic contrasts, and an accompaniment pattern in which all beats are sharply accented and occasionally interrupted by sudden pauses.

Traditionally, the dance is for couples in tight embrace and is characterized by almost violent movement. When sung, the lyrics reflect the origin of the tango among the urban poor – pessimistic, fatalistic and often intensely negative in tone. The original performance groups were solo voice with guitar accompaniment, and trios with violin, flute and guitar or bandoneon (a small type of accordion).

In recent years, the leading figure in the composition of tangos has been Astor Piazzolla, who was born in Mar del Plata, not far from Buenos Aires, but brought up in New York City. Piazzolla learned the tango style and the bandoneon at an early age, but broadened his musical education to include study with Alberto Ginastera, Argentina’s leading classical composer. He also went to France to study with Nadia Boulanger, the great Paris teacher whose other pupils included Aaron Copland, Walter Piston, Virgil Thomson and Roy Harris.

With this background, Piazzolla introduced into the tango such diverse influences as jazz, the dissonance of contemporary classical composition and even Italian opera. He also added a harp and percussion instruments to the traditional tango orchestra, introduced the electric guitar into smaller ensembles, and experimented in adapting the tango style to other instrumental media. At the same time, he maintained the tango’s roots in the working-class dance halls and water-front nightclubs of Buenos Aires.

Inspired by The Four Seasons of Vivaldi, Piazzolla composed over a six-year period (1964-70) four tangos and published them as The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Each tango is a unique blending of the syncopations of the dance, Bach-like counterpoint, touches of Romantic and Impressionistic music, and jazz. Originally, the pieces were conceived as separate compositions rather than one suite, but Piazzolla himself established the practice of performing them as a unit.

The four tangos were originally scored for a quintet of violin, piano, electric guitar, double bass and bandoneon. However, they have been arranged for a wide assortment of groups – including violin and string orchestra, piano trio, saxophone quartet, period Baroque instruments, six cellos and double bass, and symphony orchestra. This evening’s arrangement for flute, two violins, viola, cello and double bass was made by Dmitriy Varelas, a Finnish flutist, for his chamber music group in Helsinki.

Apparently, each of the four "seasons" in Buenos Aires has its unique character. Thus "spring" is a lively fugue, "summer" is outdoor music seasoned with street noises, "autumn" is a busy time of year, and "winter" is quiet and a bit desolate.

This is an arrangement by oboist Peggy Pearson of a work originally composed for organ, with each instrument playing one of the organ’s customary four lines (two hands and two feet).

A "chorale" is a Lutheran hymn, traditionally thought to be by Martin Luther himself, and a "chorale prelude" is a piece for organ based on a chorale tune. In the 1600s, chorale preludes were short, simple introductions to the chorales sung by the congregation. As time passed, the preludes grew longer and more complex, and they evolved into independent pieces. Bach, the foremost organ virtuoso of his day, produced more than 150 chorale preludes, and they are among his most challenging compositions.

This chorale prelude was one of the so-called "Eighteen," a collection composed in Weimar before 1714 but then copied and revised by Bach in Leipzig in the 1740s, probably with publication in mind. The manuscript collection, now in the Berlin State Library, includes three chorales based on this Martin Luther hymn, "Come now, Saviour of the heathen." The primary Lutheran hymn for Advent Sunday, it apparently was a Bach favorite since he also based two cantatas on it.

Each of the three chorales features a different setting of the hymn. In this, the first of the three, the chorale treats the hymn in a florid style. The chorale tune is made into an expressive, highly ornamented melody, with prefatory imitations of each line, interludes between succeeding lines and a meditative coda over a long-held tonic note in the bass.

Schumann had the idiosyncratic habit of concentrating, in any given year, on one particular kind of music. Thus, 1840 was "the year of song" during which he composed 140 of his 260 lieder, including his four greatest song cycles. In 1841 he tried orchestral writing, completing two symphonies and part of the piano concerto. Then came 1842, the year of chamber music, during which he composed his three string quartets, piano quartet and piano quintet, and the Fantasy Pieces for violin, cello and piano.

Schumann took up chamber music as a sort of self-administered psychological therapy. During the winter of 1841-42, his wife Clara and he undertook a joint concert tour of northern Germany, she as a piano virtuoso and he to oversee performances of his music. Unfortunately, her playing attracted more favorable attention than his music, and when she was invited to spend a month in Copenhagen in the spring, Robert, tired of playing second fiddle, returned home to Leipzig.

Clara’s visit to Copenhagen was a triumphant success, but for Robert the month of separation was a period of depression, an early phase of the mental illness that was eventually to drive him to an asylum. He was unable to compose and he over-indulged in beer and champagne; to make matters worse, his hostile father-in-law spread the rumor that the couple had broken up. To occupy his mind and lift his spirits, he launched into an intensive study of the chamber works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Clara returned home in April, but Robert continued his now compulsive digging into the chamber-music repertory and tried his hand at chamber-music composition.

Schumann started the Piano Quartet, Opus 47, on October 24 immediately after finishing the Piano Quintet, Opus 44, and completed it a month later. It was not published until 1845, however, explaining the gap between the opus numbers. It has never been as popular as the quintet, possibly because the elimination of the second violin reduced the tonal brilliance of the ensemble and added to the dominance of the piano. However, it is a work of considerable charm and romantic melody.

The quartet opens with a slow and solemn introduction in which the piano six times raises an upward questioning phrase and the strings give a four-note response. With the start of the main allegro section, the strings’ response is converted into four arpeggio chords, and the piano expands them into the main theme. A few moments later, the cello offers a flowing variant of the theme, supported by the piano. Thus, we hear the theme in three different forms.

The piano introduces the second theme – a sharply rhythmed strain with a strong accent on the second beat, and this is immediately imitated by the strings. A return of the slow introduction ushers in a long and complex development section based mainly on the four notes of the main theme. Toward the movement’s end, another brief reference to the introduction leads to the coda, with the cello playing a completely new strain piu agitato (more agitated).

The second movement is the scherzo. Here we have an example of one of Schumann’s innovations – a second trio, enabling him to contrast two trios as well as each trio with the scherzo’s main section. In this case, the main section is marked by a murmuring staccato pattern; the first trio, by a melody of folk-like simplicity; and the second trio, by a series of syncopated chords with snatches of the main section.

In the slow movement, the cello offers one of Schumann’s most haunting melodies, which is then taken by the violin and varied by the piano. A middle section is in a contrasting contemplative mood. The opening section returns with the viola and violin sharing the melody before it is resumed by the cello. While the viola and violin are having their turn, the cellist is tuning his lowest string down from C to B flat to enable him to provide a deep B-flat sustained bass in the coda.

The exuberant finale opens with four chords, which will dominate much of the movement. The viola then announces the main theme, which is developed in a fugal manner. The movement is then characterized by alternating fugal and lyrical sections, and the quartet ends in a burst of contrapuntal energy.