Sebastian Baverstam, a gifted cellist and composer whose résumé also includes pianist, librettist, conductor, as well as board, card, and video gamer, along with pianist Constantine Finehouse and violinist Jean Huang delivered the second performances of two Baverstam works to a sizable audience at St. John’s Church in Portsmouth, NH last Sunday on behalf of the Portsmouth Athenæum,

Baverstam wrote his Sonata for Cello and Piano in A-flat Minor, a truly exotic key whose signature has seven flats—the maximum possible. This writer can only think of two short pieces he has encountered in this key, which is typically dark and troubled. Unlike those works, however, Baverstam’s sonata operates on a larger scale, ergo, it was not surprising that it encompassed a considerably larger range of moods and textures. The Allegro ma non troppo featured lyricism and long-breathed melody, equally shared by the cello and Finehouse’s piano. The large part of the movement pleasingly evoked 19^th-century Romanticism, particularly the idioms of Dvořák and Brahms, though we heard latter 20^th-century harmony as well. One could tell very quickly that the performers were experienced chamber musicians who were attentive to each other at all times, taking then yielding the spotlight as the music dictated. One of the most prominent reminders that this is a 21^st-century piece came with the unusual major-minor harmonic clashes shortly before the staccato final chord. The figure of Brahms was still more prominent in the Allegretto con moto. The rather brisk waltz in E-flat minor engaged listeners with an attractive theme and frequent double stops in the cello, which enriched the texture. One highlight particularly piqued my interest: Finehouse’s sweet playing of the childlike in A-flat major theme of the trio in octaves accompanied by Baverstam’s pizzicato before returning to the original theme. While one should not automatically expect a traditional sonata form with full development and recapitulation these days, the movement ended seemingly prematurely in A-flat minor rather than the tonic E-flat minor. The Largo—Allegro finale encompassed the most variety of the three, including late Romantic harmonies, 20^th-century techniques including cello harmonics, quartal harmonies, and flavorful dissonances. The slow introduction featured lush harmonies with the muted cello heard over rocking figures in the piano. Yet very soon this love music gave way to the main movement’s driving, aggressive energy which used the percussive aspects of both instruments: the piano part was akin occasionally to Prokofiev while the cello at times featured a bouncing bow technique known as ricochet (aka jeté) as well as more pizzicato. One could see this movement as a tribute to a number of 20^th-century Soviet composers, most prominently Shostakovich, whose music retains humanity and tenderness but does not shy away from depicting the brutalities of Josef Stalin’s USSR. Given the considerable variety of moods, instrumental techniques, styles, etc., Baverstam and Finehouse employed an impressive range of colors while always seeming to be making music as a single unit. The largest part of the finale focused on crushing authoritarian power but included a welcome return to the nurturing and consolatory quality of the introductory music. Subsequently, the final build-up and peroration culminated in a defiant A major.

Ahead of the Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano in A Major, Baverstam told us that he composed both works last winter and that neither had a conscious source of inspiration—with the possible exception of the third movement of the Trio. This the composer associated with a board game he created, “Dragon Soul.” With Jean Huang’s violin added to the mix, one still had the impression right away of seasoned, gifted chamber players whose give-and-take was second nature while their mastery enabled them to be as attentive to the other parts as to their own. The Allegro maestoso opened in a stormy rather than majestic A minor. Though not without calmer moments, this movement incorporated Classical structure and Romantic (even post-Romantic) harmonies in its attractive themes and varied textures. The Adagio, on the other hand, took root firmly in the early 20^th century, reminding me at times of the fantastical melodic meandering of Erik Satie, and at other times, of the folk music inspirations of Bartók. Here again Baverstam utilized the expanded instrumental and compositional techniques of the last century, e.g., otherworldly harmonics, double-stop perfect fourths moving in glissandos, and mostly diatonic but highly fluid harmony (the penultimate chord was nearly as dissonant as a tone cluster before resolving to a soothing pentatonic C major). The ebullient Allegro assai began with an introduction of string ostinatos using the ricochet bowing as the piano built a ladder of ascending fifths (think of string players tuning obsessively!), then settled into a jovial theme with numerous echoes of Shostakovich. While this was likely the most technically brilliant movement of the concert, one could enjoy its high spirits and outright humor as much as the virtuosity. A significant affect of a multi-movement work derives from how one movement flows into or contrasts with the next; we thus regretted the composer’s decision to speak for well over a minute between the third and fourth movements. The juxtaposition of very different moods and keys here would surely made its mark more compellingly without this unnecessary interruption. The Allegretto finale finally commenced with a cozy duet of violin and cello, stating the main theme of the ensuing rondo before the entrance of the piano. While the main theme and ritornello structure drew inspiration from Schubert, we also heard other familiar influences. Prokofiev-like percussive piano chords accompanied a syncopated, minor-mode secondary theme in the strings. In complete contrast, another theme (in the major), painted in late Romantic colors, provided an especially lovely arioso, sung out first by Huang and Finehouse, then joined by Baverstam. But after wandering through a number of styles, countries, and time periods, the threesome ultimately returned exuberantly to the main theme which grew to a climactic conclusion—and the audience responded with hearty approval.