Event
Death and the Maiden
Naples Philharmonic Sypert Salon Chamber Music
Musicians of the Naples Philharmonic
Couperin — Le Parnasse, ou L’apothéose de Corelli
Schubert — String Quartet in D Minor, “Death and the Maiden”
Experience a program of historical significance performed by musicians of the Naples Philharmonic, featuring a picturesque homage to a Baroque-era Italian composer and one of the cornerstones of the chamber music repertoire.
French composer François Couperin deeply admired Baroque-era Italian composer Arcangelo Corelli, to the extent that his early works were criticized for being too Italian in style. Undeterred, Couperin’s admiration led him to compose two chamber works that introduced Corelli’s trio sonata form to France. The first of these, Le Parnasse, ou L’apothéose de Corelli, masterfully merges the French and Italian Baroque styles. In this seven-movement piece, Couperin not only bridges between the two styles, but he also narrates the story of Muses welcoming Corelli to Mount Parnassus, solidifying his place among the gods.
Concluding the performance, Schubert’s irresistible String Quartet in D Minor, commonly known as Death and the Maiden, is cited as one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire. Composed in 1824, this quartet includes the melody from “Death and the Maiden,” an art song he composed seven years earlier. Schubert wrote the masterpiece of the string quartet during a period of intense creativity, despite grappling with depression and terminal illness, and in fact it was not published until after his own death.
