On Saturday, Nov. 19 at 2 p.m., the University of Southern Maine Osher School of Music will present Laura Kargul, pianist, in concert with three members of the DaPonte String Quartet: Lydia Forbes, violinist, Kirsten Monke, violist, and Myles Jordan, cellist.

The concert is sponsored by Murray Plumb & Murray, and will take place at Corthell Concert Hall on the USM Gorham Campus. Tickets are $15 general, $10 students, seniors, USM employees and alumni. FMI and Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/e5ca94ac

Kargul has appeared with the DaPonte String Quartet on a number of occasions, but this will mark the first time the group has performed with her in Gorham. “I’m just delighted that members of the DaPonte String Quartet will be joining me on the series at USM, and with such an exciting program,” says Kargul. “We will present two of the greatest works by Bach and Brahms, completely different in style and period, but both widely recognized to be masterpieces in their respective genres.”

The program will begin with J.S. Bach’s well-known and much loved “Goldberg Variations” performed in an arrangement for string trio. Originally written for solo harpsichord, the set is a tour de force both compositionally and in the virtuosic demands it makes upon the performers. According to Kargul, “this will be a rare opportunity to hear this monumental work performed by three string players, as opposed to a solo keyboardist. With the clarity of voicing made possible by having one player per line, this gorgeous, complex work takes on a whole new life.”

The second half of the program will feature Kargul and her string colleagues in the “Quartet for Piano and Strings in C Minor, Op. 60,” by Johannes Brahms. The piano quartet, composed of violin, viola, cello and piano, was popularized as a chamber music ensemble in the late 18th century, with Mozart’s two masterful contributions to the genre. It was then adopted by later composers, such as Schumann and Brahms.

“The Brahms piano quartets are among the greatest works in the genre, and of the three that he wrote, the C Minor quartet is the most compelling and dramatic,” says Kargul. “Brahms strongly hinted that the work was inspired by the tragic novel ‘The Sorrows of Young Werther,’ Goethe’s tale of a young man’s unrequited love for the wife of a friend.

“The story most likely resonated with Brahms’ intense feelings for Clara Schumann, the wife of Robert Schumann. The true nature of their relationship remains, to this day, an unresolved mystery – but this quartet potentially sheds light upon Brahms’ state of mind when he was young and writing love letters to her. This highly charged work is thrilling in its depiction of a tormented, love-sick heart.”