These 20 performances from 2011 pay tribute to the Friends of Music, who have supported the Music Department since 1938. The assemblage of talent is eclectic, inclusive, and diverse in terms of genres, ensembles, and groups.

Disc I
1. Erich Korngold (1897-1957): String Quartet No. 3 in D, Op. 34 (1945): Scherzo. A wickedly acerbic movement, played by the Alexander String Quartet (4:38)
2. Eric Whitacre (b. 1970): Lux arumque is a setting of the verse "Light, warm and heavy as pure gold, and the angels sing softly to the new-born babe." Sung by the Stanford Chamber Ensemble, Jessica Moffitt, soprano (3:36)
3. Edward Elgar (1857-1934): Salut d’amour, Op. 12 (1888) in
E Major was written for violin and piano, performed here by Laura Dahl (pn) and Dawn Harms (vn). Elgar wrote it as an engagement present for his future wife, Caroline Alice Roberts. (2:44)
4. Charles Mingus (1922-1979): Fables of Faubus. Mingus was an American jazz double bassist, pianist, composer, and bandleader. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered one of the greatest jazz musicians. One of Mingus' most explicitly political works, Fables protests against Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, who in 1957 sent out the National Guard to prevent the racial integration of Little Rock Central High School by nine African
American teenagers, in what became known as the Little Rock Crisis. It is performed by the Stanford Jazz Orchestra (10:05)
5. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Hymn to St. Cecilia, Op. 27 (1942) sets to music words by W.H. Auden. Britten wanted to write a piece dedicated to St Cecilia for several reasons. First, he was born on St Cecilia's day; second, she is music’s patron saint; and finally, a long tradition exists in England of writing odes and songs to St Cecilia. A cappella (unaccompanied by instruments), the piece emanates love and piety, performed by Stanford University Singers (10:40)
6. Frederic Chopin (1810-1849): Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23
(1835) is a passionate, intricate, piano work based on a poem by Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855). This piece appears in the movie The Pianist, starring Adrian Brody. Frederick Weldy performs for a Piano Faculty Showcase. (10:07)
7. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor,
Op. 25 (1861) was premiered in 1861 in Hamburg, with Clara Schumann at the piano and in Vienna on 16 November 1862, with Brahms himself at the piano, supported by the Hellmesberger Quartet. The opening Allegro movement is dark in color and follows the classic sonata-allegro format. The performance herederives from A Chamber Music Showcase by students of the St.Lawrence String Quartet. (13:48)
8. Josquin des Prez (c. 1450-1521): Virgo salutiferi. A composer of high Renaissance music, Josquin is the central figure of the Franco-Flemish School, widely considered the first master of the complex Renaissance style of polyphony which emerged during his lifetime. This a cappella work is set as an antiphon of competing voice ranges, a motet in 5 parts in praise of the Virgin Mary, performed by Early Music Singers (8:01)
9. Charles Ives (1874-1954): Country Band March (1912) is a musical joke that contains the wit, irony, dissonance, and poly-tonality common. to his iconoclastic style. We can hear quotes from London Bridge is Falling Down, Yankee Doodle, and Semper Fidelis, all in the spirit of a 4th of July celebration that has become irreverent, played by the Stanford Wind Ensemble. (4:35)
10. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Piano Concerto No. 1 in
B-flat Minor, Op. 23: 3rd movement, Allegro con fuoco (1875; rev. 1888): the Rondo is quite dramatic and virtuosic, a march with a secondary theme in D-flat. The slow, passionate build-up to a fierce coda has made this finale an explosive crowd-pleaser. Christine Kim plays with the Stanford Symphony directed by Jindong Cai. (7:12).

Disc 2
1. Robert Schumann (1810-1856): In modo d’una Marcia Un poco largamente from Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44 (1842), the funeral march is scored for piano and four stringed instruments. A seven-part Rondo, the music moves in episodes of C Minor and moments of C Major and F Minor and Major. The shimmering triplets and fierce counterpoint make for a dramatic movement, here played boy Jon Nakamatsu and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. (7:40)
2. Henryk Gorecki (1933-2010): Harpsichord Concerto, Op. 40 (1980) was commissioned by the Polish Radio for Composers Forum. Minimalist in its means, repetitive but with loud, striking harmonies and dissonances, the piece conforms to Gorecki’s notion of a sophisticated “prank.” Margaret Chou performs with the Stanford Philharmonia Orchestra, led by Jindong Cai (8:43)
3. Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612): Canzoni septime toni, a8 (1597) is scored for 8 Instruments (2 choirs antiphonal), part of a collection Sacrae Symphoniae, 45 motets. This triumphal music is performed by the Stanford Brass Ensemble (3:26)
4. J.S. Bach (1685-1750): The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Canon alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quinta. The Art of Fugue is the culmination of Bach's experimentation with monothematic instrumental works, consisting of 14 fugues and four canons in D minor, each using some variation of a single, principal subject, and generally ordered to increase in complexity. Harpsichord
virtuoso Elaine Thornburgh plays Contrapunctus IX, a 4 alla Duodecima: a Double fugue, with two subjects occurring dependently, and in invertible counterpoint at the 12th. (3:20)
5. Jacques Ibert (1890-1962): Flute Concerto: Allegro (1932). Flute Concerto was dedicated to Marcel Moyse. The music is rather dense and technically demanding, especially in the rapid passages and cadenzas executed here by flautist James Oh,
with pianist Steven Lightburn. (7:23)
6. Jessica Uno: Taiko Wockeez Jessica "Juno" Uno has been dedicated to the performing arts since 3rd grade when she first began studying traditional Chinese martial arts. The taiko is a traditional Japanese drum whose name translates into “heartbeat,” the primal sound of first life in the womb. The instrument is capable of extremes of vibrations and dynamics, here in concert with mixed percussion of the ensemble Stanford Taiko. (3:24)
7. Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): La cheminee du roi Rene: Cortege and Jongleurs (1939). An influential French composer, Milhaud’s compositions incorporate jazz and Brazilian music and make extensive use of polytonality. La cheminee is a 7-
movement suite for wind quintet, played here by the Stanford Woodwind Quintet (3:04 )
8. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643: Cruda Amarilli (1605) A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered a crucial transitional figure between the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music history. The song derives from a madrigal about a boy (Mirtillo) and his hopeless love for Amarilli, a lovely maid. The dissonances capture the pangs of frustrated desire, here realized by the Early Music Singers. (3:02)
9. Brian Ferneyhough (b. 1943): Funerailles is an example of Ferneyhough’s repute as the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Rather random in sound, meter, and texture, the string work demands the players execute a series of stringent and harsh effects, without any distinct melody. The performance is by the Stanford New Music Ensemble. (10:28)
10. Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992): Oblivion(1982). Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. Oblivion is a popularnostalgic tune by Piazzola, which starts out as a slow milonga, a genre of Uruguay and Argentina music considered to be a forerunner of tango.
Here, it is performed by Quintango. (3:55)