For the second concert of the season for the Chamber Music Society of Bethlehem, the Arianna Quartet played several pieces I was not familiar with:

• Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80
• Arnold Van Wyk Five Elegies for String Quartet
• Beethoven String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat Major, Op. 127

This was the first concert of the 63rd season for the Chamber Music Society of Bethlehem.  The Beethoven and Tchaikovsky were more traditional selections, but the Bright Sheng was a nice contemporary addition to the program.

• Beethoven: Trio in D major, Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost”
• Bright Sheng Four Movements for Piano Trio (1990)
• Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A Minor, Op. 50

I traveled to Glenside, PA on this Friday to see the Tesla Quartet. This is a fine quartet under the capable leadership of violinist Ross Snyder. I enjoyed the program for the evening, particularly watching the cellist, Serafim Smigelskiy. I am looking forward to any future performances in the area.

• HAYDN String Quartet in D major, Op.20 No.4
• SCHUBERT String Quartet in D minor, D.810 “Death and the Maiden”
• DVOŘÁK String Quartet in A-flat major, Op.105

The last presentation of the 2013-14 CMSOB season was Walden Chamber Players. Each year, CMSOB programs a larger chamber music group. The Walden Chamber Players consisted of violin, viola, cello, piano, horn and clarinet for this performance, although their instrumentation varies depending on the repertoire.

They played a program of varied chamber music:

• Bach & Mozart Two Preludes & Fugues for String Trio, K. 404a
• Hindemith Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Cello & Piano
• Schumann Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales) Op. 132 for Clarinet, Viola & Piano
• Brahms Trio for Horn, Violin & Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 40

This was another high quality chamber music performance in a season full of excellent music making!