Monday at Last

String trio ZPR was founded by Cecilia Zilliacus, violin; Johanna Persson, viola; and Kati Raitinen, cello. Monday at Last is a concert subscription in which ZPR, now for the twelfth year in a row, invites guest musicians to explore new and old music together, often in close contact with the audience.

The idea for Vent nocturne – Night Wind – came to Kaija Saariaho while reading a bilingual edition of poet Georg Trakl’s poems. The French and German texts were presented side by side and Saariaho transferred the linguistic relationship to viola and electronics. “The sound of the viola has always reminded me of breathing, but in this piece, we mainly hear the wind in the electronics,” she has said of this music.

Duo mit Zwei obligaten augengläsern for viola and cello, Duet with Two Obligato Eyeglasses for viola and cello, was composed by Beethoven for his good friend Count Nikolaus Zmeskall. The two joked around often, and both were near-sighted and needed eyeglasses to see the score when playing together, which they did on occasion. 

In the 1920s, Norwegian Bjarne Brustad travelled around Europe as a violinist and composer before settling in Oslo as concertmaster of the Oslo Philharmonic in 1928. His Capricci for violin and viola alternates between playfulness and gravity, with distinct elements of the Norwegian folk music tradition.

Dame Ethel Smythe was an acclaimed name of the European music scene, and one of the leading members of the suffragette movement which fought for women’s right to vote in England. She has woven unusual melodies into her string trio, including from Scotland and a chorale by Bach. The concert will conclude with Erkki Melartin’s romantic and lyrical trio Opus 133.

This concert will be live streamed. Click here to watch.