Lake County”s newest chamber music group made its debut appearance before a small but enthusiastic audience on Sunday, March 25, at the Galilee Lutheran Church. Billing themselves as the “Lakeside Chamber Players,” the trio of gifted musicians consist of pianist Carolyn Hawley, flutist Catharine Hall and cellist Clovice A. Lewis, Jr. All three are Lake County residents. The performance was sponsored by Clear Lake Performing Arts as a part of its spring concert series.
Since most chamber music is written for different instruments ? in fact only the “Opus 63 Trio” by classical composer Carl Maria von Weber matched their instruments ? the players were usually forced to improvise, with the piano substituting for drums, the flute for violin and the cello for bassoon. That they were able to do so successfully is a measure of their musical competence.
The program opened with the “Sonata in D Major” by Franz Xavier Richter which proved to be a perfect introduction to the mellow tones of Lewis” cello punctuated by the soaring trills of Hall”s flute, all underlain by the exquisite fingering of Hawley at the keyboard of the CLPA grand piano.
This was followed by three movements from Haydn”s “Trio No. 4”, written originally for harpsichord and violin, but expertly and beautifully transposed by the players.
The first movement of von Weber”s “Trio” gave pianist Hawley a chance to show off her talents, playing strong leads throughout, with the other instruments blending in as the melody progressed, while the second movement featured authoritative rhythms from piano and bass, punctuated by the melodious music of Hall”s flute
Following intermission, the group opened with Beethoven”s “Trio in G Major” with Hawley again taking the lead even though, as she had previously pointed out, when the music was originally written the modern piano had not yet been invented.
The program closed with two pieces written by contemporary composer Claude Bolling. The first, “Suite for Flute, Drums and Jazz Piano” had Hall and Hawley teaming up to cover for the non-existent drums, which they did expertly. The final piece, also by Bolling, was called “Suite for Cello, Drums and Jazz Piano,” and this time it was Lewis” turn to make up for the missing percussion, which he handled with perfect aplomb while playing difficult parts Bolling had titled “Baroque” and “Gallop.”
Their finale drew standing applause.
For lovers of chamber music, the formation of the Lake County Chamber Players is exciting news, since all three are not only first-rate musicians, but Hawley and Lewis are also well-regarded composers. The group”s next appearance will be on May 27, at the Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake.
CLPA”s next scheduled concert will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 15, when the ever-popular Black Irish Band will appear at at Kelseyville High School. For further information contact 279-0877.
