Rediscovering Three American Composers (HSU-CHO DUO)

Violinist Zenas Hsu and pianist Sookkyung Cho make the case in this album for three American composers who are nearly forgotten today. Composer Clara Kathleen Rogers (1844–1931) was a successful opera singer and faculty member of the New England Conservatory of Music. A central figure in Boston’s musical community, she was overshadowed by peers she often hosted in house concerts like Amy Marcy Beach and George Chadwick. Composer Rosetter Gleson Cole (1866–1952) was the President of the Music Teachers’ National Association, and taught at the Cosmopolitan School in Chicago, where his orchestral works were often premiered and performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Born in New York, Rubin Goldmark (1872–1936) studied with Anton Dvořák during his time at the National Conservatory in New York, and himself taught both Aaron Copland and George Gershwin, and served as head of composition at the Juilliard School of Music from 1924–1936.

Hsu-Cho Duo make the case in this recording of Clara Kathleen Rogers’ Sonata for Violin and Piano in D minor, Op. 25, that it should be a staple of the repertoire. The opening Allegro movement presents a driving melody which resolves into a light and optimistic theme before the delicate Andante con espressione. The work resolves in the final Allegro giojoso when its heroic theme ends in an ethereal coda. 

After completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan in 1888, Rossetter Gleason Cole received a scholarship to study in Berlin, where he eventually was accepted to the prestigious Königliche Akademie den Künste (Royal Academy of Arts), where he spent two years under the mentorship of Max Bruch before returning to America. His Sonata for Violin and Piano in D major, Op. 8 was dedicated to Bruch and represents a monumental blending of the Romantic spirit he learned under his tutelage and distinctly American sounds and themes.

Much like his own mentor, Antonín Dvořák, Ruben Goldmark often turned to African-American spirituals for themes in an effort to capture something uniquely “American”. The most lasting and well-known of these was his “Negro Rhapsody” for orchestra. The reception of his works can be seen in the inclusion of his “I Have Done, Put By the Lute”, Op. 10, No. 4 for voice and piano (arranged for this recording by the Hsu-Cho Duo for violin and piano), in the famous Arthur Farwell Wa-Wan Press Catalogue of American Music dedicated to the Folksongs of America. Farwell described the work as “A very melodious and singable song gravely beautiful in feeling, and yet warm. The accompaniment rich in its harmonies, and very simple.” The Duo have also arranged, and premiered, Goldmark’s “Ode”, Op. 5, No. 1.

Clara Kathleen Rogers (1844-1931)
Sonata in D Minor, Op. 25

1. I. Allegro (10:28)

2. II. Andante con espressione (6:51)

3. III. Allegro giojoso (9:07)

Rossetter Gleason Cole (1866-1952)
Sonata in D Major, Op. 8

1. I. Allegro moderato (9:16)

2. II. Scherzo. Presto (6:26)

3. III. Adagio (6:54)

4. IV. Allegro con moto (8:58)

Rubin Goldmark (1872-1936)

1. I have done, Put by the Lute, Op. 10, No. 4* (2:25)

2. Ode, Op. 5, No. 1* (2:53)

*adapted by Hsu-Cho Duo