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Sunday, April 5, 2026

Yunwen Chen

cello

Elias Dagher

piano

Polyphonic Tapestries:
Late Works of
Beethoven and Faure

Beethoven and Faure might seem, at first glance, to have little in common. Their music is often described in opposite terms: Beethoven’s as tempestuous, daring, fiery, heroic; Faure’s as understated, lyrical, charming, subtle. And yet, in these late works for cello and piano, written 102 years apart, we find the two composers walking similar paths.

Both works push the boundaries of tonality, explore new textures and techniques, and weave together passages of astonishing polyphony. This polyphony is evident not only in Beethoven’s fugue or Faure’s canons (in the 3rd movement of each work); it rather colors and informs each work in its entirety. The two instruments seem to talk to each other–oftentimes over each other–spinning lines, spitting rhythms, coming together in moments of sound that are utterly unique.

Both composers faced the deep and life changing condition of progressive deafness in their older years. These two works emerge from years when deafness, for each composer, was well along the path from partial to near-profound. This is another reason we have chosen to program them together.

PROGRAM

Bohuslav Martinu
Nocturnes (Four Etudes) 
  I. Andantino moderato
  II. Lento
  III. Moderato
  IV. Allegretto moderato

Gabriel Faure
Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 109
  I. Allegro
  II. Andante
  III. Final. Allegro commodo

Ludwig van Beethoven
Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op 102, No. 2
  I. Allegro con brio
  II. Adagio con molto sentimento d’affetto 
  III. Allegro

BIOGRAPHY

Cellist Yunwen Chen and pianist Elias Dagher met at New England Conservatory where they both pursued postgraduate studies. They have since performed together throughout New England and across the world. In the spring of 2025 they presented two duo concerts in China’s Sichuan Province. They are Artists in Residence at Grace Note Farm in Pascoag, RI, performing a duo recital each concert season in addition to their work with other artists. Individually, they have participated in various summer festivals including Tanglewood, Yellowbarn, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, and Bowdoin International Music Festival, collaborating over the years with countless inspiring colleagues in instrumental and vocal chamber music. Elias currently accompanies the Braintree Choral Society and maintains a small studio of piano students. He also plays the mbira dzavadzimu, a plucked instrument of metal keys wound over a wooden soundboard, which comes from the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Yunwen is a faculty member at the Community Music Center of Boston. She spends several weeks each summer mentoring young string students at Four Strings Academy in Boston. Elias and Yunwen live together in Quincy, MA.

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