Students, faculty and community members gathered in Molnar Recital Hall on Monday at 7:30 p.m. for a very special treat. Faculty member and flutist Elizabeth Brightbill joined her husband Andrew Gabbert on cello and Maria Yefimova on piano to put together the third Chamber Music concert entitled Terra Voce.
Without any introduction, Brightbill and Gabbert began the concert with a light, slow piece titled “Aria and Variation I from The Goldberg Variations.” This piece featured multiple legato runs on the flute, a few tradeoffs of melody between the flute and cello and an interesting sound altogether.
Originally, the piece was written for piano, but Brightbill and Gabbert arranged it into a beautiful duet.
After a quick introduction of the second piece titled “Llef for Flute and Cello,” the two were at it again. Like the previous song, this wasn’t originally composed for cello and flute. In fact, it was actually written for a Japanese flute, known as a shakuhachi. The title, “Llef” means a cry from the heart.
The piece began slowly with dramatic dynamic changes, and then alternated between a calmer state and a thicker, more dramatic feel.
This dramatic feeling was carried over into the next piece known as “Selections from Histoire de Tango for Flute and Cello.” The three parts to this song followed the history of the tango and were not only dramatic but also featured a fun, Latin flair.
At one point, it even looked like some of the audience members were about to get up and dance.
This piece wasn’t only beautiful, but incredibly detail oriented, and the fingers of the instrumentalists were almost a blur.
The couple continued their exploration of Latin pieces in their next song from north eastern Brazil. Originally written for accordion and drums, this song was about a bird. Therefore, there were lots of high squeaks and repetitive measures. Nonetheless, the audience was entertained.
After a brief intermission, the couple was joined by a piano accompanist to finish out the last three songs on the program. The first song, titled “Milonga Azure,” was much different from the lively Latin songs at the beginning of the program. There were many dramatic swells in this slow, smooth piece that gave a dreamy sensation.
However, the dreaminess didn’t last very long; the next piece, “On a Clear Morning,” began loudly with all three instruments moving quickly in harmony.
With a slight bang, the mood seemed to change and everything seemed to be calm again. The song continued to alternate between these two feelings, making the song seem like it was telling a story with a very loud and dramatic ending.
The trio finished off their beautiful concert with a “Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano.” This trio consisted of countless dynamic changes, and dramatic runs in every instrument. Many times, the audience seemed to be left at a sort of cliffhanger before the trio slowly moved into the next melody of the piece.
Like the previous song, this one featured many mood changes and diverse styles throughout that constantly kept the audience on their toes.
Overall, it was a beautiful concert, the songs were very diverse and it was a beautiful mesh of two already amazing instruments.
This was the third in the Chamber Music Series funded by Longwood University. The next Chamber Music Series concert will be in April and will feature a string quartet.
