When academic associations conduct a commemorative symposium for a colleague who has recently died, and then have the papers, which were read at the symposium, published in a single volume dedicated to their departed peer, the volume is called a “festschrift.”

Musical communities, obeying a similar generous impulse, often give concerts to mark the passing of beloved comrades, concerts with programs organized around his or her tastes and repertoire.

There being no universally accepted term identifying these concerts, I nominate “festmusik.”
 
Members of the Santa Barbara Music Club will present a festmusik “In Memory of Betty Oberacker,” 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11, in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 4575 Auhay Drive, Santa Barbara.

True to the club’s mission, the concert is free of charge (though it is a splendid occasion to make a contribution, and there will certainly be ample opportunities for us to do so at the concert).

The Music Club statement:

“Dr. Betty Oberacker (1932-2024), international concert pianist, teacher, coach, Distinguished Member of the Santa Barbara Music Club, and past Vice President of Concerts, peacefully passed away on June 28, 2024.
 
“This concert is a tribute by some of us who were touched by her, featuring music that she played and/or loved. … A reception following the concert will give audience members a chance to speak to their experiences with Betty.”
 
Pianist Eric Valinsky, who is past president of the Music Club, will open the concert with Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Italian Concerto in F-Major (Clavier-Übung II #1), BWV 971” (1735), followed by pianist Pascal Salomon performing two of Franz Schubert’s “Four Impromptus, Opus 90, D. 899” (1827).

Then Jane Hahn, flute, with Eric Valinsky, piano, will play the “Morceau de Concours/Competition Piece for Flute and Piano” (1898) by Gabriel Fauré; and pianist Steven Hodson performs the initial four of the first version of “Consolations, S.171a” (1844-49)” by Franz Liszt.

The concert concludes with Darius Milhaud’s “Suite for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano, Opus 157b” (1936), performed by Nicole McKenzie, violin; David Singer, clarinet; and Valinsky, piano.

I divide the works on this program into two categories: those I heard Betty perform, and those I wish I had heard her play.

The luminous precision of her touch made her a perfect fit for the music of Sebastian Bach, and the “Italian Concerto” might well serve as her signature, were it not for her uncanny ability to slip into the style and spirit of any other era (baroque, classical, romantic, modern, contemporary).

The exquisite sweetness of her tone, when the score called it forth, also made her an ideal interpreter of Schubert.

There was scarcely any pianist/composer more extroverted than Franz Liszt, and the dazzling virtuosity of his “Hungarian Rhapsodies” dominated our concert halls for the first hundred years after his death, as young pianists have traditionally cut their teeth on these exciting vehicles.

Lately, however, pianists have turned to the other, more pensive and introspective side of his mercurial nature, exploring the “Years of Pilgrimage” and the “Consolations.”

The latter, in the form of Nocturnes, demonstrate the composer’s ability to almost out-Chopin Chopin in the area of haunting lyricism.

With the Milhaud, we come to Betty, the champion of the new and the modern. (her Poulenc was also wonderful.)

While we tend not to associate her with the Second Viennese School, we should remember that she made a famous, virtually definitive recording of Schoenberg’s “Pierrot lunaire.” Which is only to say there was no music she could not make her own. 

This concert, as noted above, is free, though it would be a good idea to bring your checkbook, should you be suddenly seized with the urge to make a donation in Betty’s memory.