Aug. 16 Concerts on the Hill is 'Black Angels: Music for String Quartet'

Concerts on the Hill presents “Black Angels: Music for String Quartet by Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Crumb” on Sunday, Aug.16, according to a press statement.

The music for string quartet will be performed by musicians from the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival at St John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth. The concert begins at 4 p.m. There is a suggested at-the-door donation of $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Children under 16 are welcomed and encouraged to attend at no charge.

The Newburyport Chamber Music Festival celebrates its 15th season with a diverse program of string quartets by three masters that highlights the emotional extremes of the medium. An early quartet by the “Papa” Haydn is classical elegance mixed with a healthy does of rustic humor. Contrasting this is a stormy and dark ultra-romantic quartet by Mendelssohn. The concert ends with George Crumb’s iconic “Black Angels” written “in time of war” (Vietnam) and quite possibly the most terrifying and unsettling piece of music ever written. The quartet players also have to play other instruments including a large gong, tuned wine glasses, and a glass rod they run over their strings.

“The Newburyport Chamber Music Festival is know for its international array of elite and brilliant young artists,” noted Margaret Harper, Director of Music and Liturgy, St. John’s Episcopal Church. “The selection of chamber music they will be performing by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Curmb promises to be more edgy and raw than audiences typically associate with chamber music.”

The Newburyport Chamber Music Festival is a week-long festival of concerts, lectures, open rehearsals, and family programs featuring world-renowned artists and based in Newburyport, MA, half-an-hour South of Portsmouth. This is the third year of collaborations between NCMF and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth.

The next concert in the series will take place on Sept. 16 and will feature Beiliang Zhu playing works by the Bach family for cello and viol da gamba. For the complete 2015 Concerts on the Hill schedule, please visit stjohnnh.org/COTH.

St. John’s Episcopal Church is located at 100 Chapel St. in Portsmouth. For more information about Concerts on the Hill or St. John’s Episcopal Church, please visit stjohnsnh.org/COTH.

Captions: David Yang, Violinist and Director of Newburyport Chamber Music Festival. Visually Interesting Score of “Black Angels”