BACH  Sonata sopr’ il Soggetto Reale from Musical Offering, BWV 1079

The Soggetto Reale, or “royal theme,” upon which Bach based his Musical Offering was written by no less than King Frederick the Great of Prussia, himself a notable flutist and composer. This magisterial and enigmatic work centers on a trio sonata that combines Frederick’s instrument with violin and continuo. The sonata demonstrates Bach’s contrapuntal mastery, as well as his affinity for the fashionable “sensitive style” of the mid-1700s.

ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR  Hrím

Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir is well-known to New York audiences, having received the New York Philharmonic’s Kravis Emerging Composer Award in 2015, as well as this year’s Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center. Hrím—the Icelandic word for “hoarfrost”—is typical of her powerfully suggestive sonic landscapes. Airy and ethereal, the music resonates with “the sense of space ... the sound of the wind and the constantly changing weather” that Thorvaldsdottir considers key to her musical identity.

DVOŘÁK  String Sextet in A Major, Op. 48

One of Dvořák’s most characteristic chamber works, the A-Major String Sextet exemplifies the imaginative evocations of the dumka and other Slavonic folk music that defined his early “nationalist” style. With its generous fund of melodies, exotic harmonies, and robust, multilayered rhythms, the sextet has been a surefire crowd-pleaser ever since it helped establish the Czech composer’s international reputation in the late 1870s.