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Date du récital/Date of recital : April 11, 2017 Nom/Name ... Fantasy Trio by Polish-American composer

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Page 1: Date du récital/Date of recital : April 11, 2017 Nom/Name ... Fantasy Trio by Polish-American composer

Datedurécital/Dateofrecital:April11,2017

Nom/Name:KenjiBellavignaClassede/Classof:ToddCope

Theseprogramnotesarewrittenbythestudentperforming,andarepresentedbythestudentinpartialfulfilmentoftherequirementsoftheircourse.

Cesnotesdeprogrammesontécritesparl'étudiant-interprèteetsontprésentéesentantqueréalisationpartielledescritèresdeleurcours.

NiccolòPaganini(b.27October1782;d27May1840)wrote24capricesforsoloviolinbetweentheyearsof1802and1817.Theybecamehismostpopularworks,andarefrequentlyperformedbyvioliniststoday.Thesametechnicaldifficultiesthatmakethesepiecessochallengingforvioliniststranslatesdirectlytoclarinetistsaswell.Thesepiecesforcethemusiciantolookbeyondthetechniqueandfindthemusicallinesineachphrase.The5thcapricestartsandendswithasetofarpeggiosandscales,theopeninginminorandtheclosinginmajor. DonaldMartino(b.Plainfield,NJ,16May1931;d.2005)wrotethesolopieceASetforClarinetin1954,dedicatedtohis“oldpalandfriendlyrivalclarinetist”ArthurBloom.Theterm“ASet”referstoatraditionaldancebandsetwhichconsistedofthreepiecesplayedinsuccession.Martinooriginallytitledthethreemovements“ConservatoryStomp,”“BluesinEb”and“10thAvenueShuffle”respectively.Thejazzinfluencesonhistitleswerenotmerelyforthesakeoforiginality.Martinogrewupplayingtheclarinet,saxophoneandoboe,idolizingthelikesofBennyGoodmanandCharlieParker.Attheageof23,hischildhoodinfluenceswerestillverystrong.Thepieceopenswithadazzlingrunstartingfromthelowestoctaveoftheclarinetuptosomeofitshighestnotes.SuchfeatsofvirtuositywereBennyGoodman’sforte,hisimprovisationswhicharepreservedinrecordingssuchasSing,Sing,SingcaptureGoodmanflyingthroughscales,arpeggios,andleapsatspeedseventoday’sgreatestconcertclarinetistswouldenvy.CharlieParker’sbeepopstyleofimprovisingatfuriousspeedscaptivatedaudiences.ASetforClarinetimitatesthesetwomusicians’improvisationstylesthroughoutthethreemovements.

Martino’sinfluenceswerenotonlylimitedtojazz.Asaclarinetstudenthisteacherwouldhavehimpracticecountlessetudesthatincorporatedwideregisterleapstohelpimprovetheplayer’sflexibility.Sometimes,itisadvantageousthatacomposerintimatelyknowstheinstrumentforwhichthepieceiswritten,becausethewritingtendstofitwellfortheinstrument,andbringoutitsstrongcharacteristics.Martinouseshisknowledgetocomposeawickedlytechnicalpiecethatonlyaclarinetistwhointimatelyknowshisinstrument’sdifficultieswouldbeabletocomeupwith.Assuch,ASetforClarinethasbecomeastandardintherepertoireduetoitschallengefortheperformeraswellastheenjoymentofthelistener.

Page 2: Date du récital/Date of recital : April 11, 2017 Nom/Name ... Fantasy Trio by Polish-American composer

RobertSchumann(b.8June1810;d.29July1856)wroteThreeRomancesforOboeandPianoOp.94inthreedaysinDecember1849.ThecompositionwascompletedperfectlyintimetoofferittohiswifeClaraasaChristmasgift.Thepieceiswritteninthreeshortmovements,eachwithanA-B-Astructure.Itisaverysimpleandsymmetricalstructure,withthemeAsignifyingtheopeningandclosingofthemovement.

Astheterm“Romances”wouldsuggest,thesethreepiecesareincrediblypassionateandlyrical.Thesecompositionsrepresenttheheightoftheromanticera,atimewheremusicalexpressionofemotioncaptivatedcomposers.Themelodiesaresimple,sosimpleinfactthattheperformermustbecreativetophrasethemelodiesbeautifullyinordertobringoutthesubtlechangesintoneandcolor.Theslowmelodiesmaynotbechallengingfromatechnicalstandpoint,butagreatamountofbreathcontrolisrequiredoftheperformer.Apiecewithaslowtemporesultsinphrasesthattakelongertocomplete.Unlikeastringplayerwhocanplayphrasesindefinitely,awindplayermustcarefullyplantheirbreathssoasnottobreakinthemiddleofaphrase.Playingaslowmelodyabovetheharmonyofapianoalsorequiresgreatintonationcontrol,andactivecommunicationbetweenthetwomusicians.Schumann,famousforhiscompositionofsongs,willleaveyousinginghismelodiesfromtheThreeRomancestoyourselflongafteryouleavetherecitalhall.JohannesBrahms(b.7May1833;d.3April1987)composedtheEbmajorsonataasthesecondoftwoworksintheOpus120-oneofthelastpieceshewouldeverwrite.Sincetheircompositionin1894,theyhavegoneontobecomepillarsinourstandardrepertoire,andareincrediblyimportantforstudentstolearn,becausetheyaretwooftheonlysubstantialsonataswrittenduringtheromanticperiod.Theyrequiregreatexpressiveinterpretationsfromtheperformer,andtheclarinetistmustbeadeptatstretchingandcompressingtime,anoverarchingfeatureofallBrahms’chambermusic.

TheclarinetistRichardMühlfeldhadamajorimpactonBrahms’life.AfterhearingMühlfeldplay,Brahmswassocaptivatedbyhisartistrythatitmovedhimtocomeoutofretirementandwritetheclarinettrio,clarinetquintet,andthefinaltwosonatas.Hisdecisiontowritethesesonataswasnotalightone,thisiscomingfromamanwhospentoverfourteenyearswritinghisfirstsymphony.Brahmsnewthattherewasalothewantedtosayinthesepieces,perhapsafarewelltohiscompositionalcareerandtheromanticera.HewaswellawareofcomposerssuchasMahler,Strauss,andSchoenberg,andknewthatthemusicworldwasshiftinginanewdirection.Brahmswastheflame-bearerofthegreatromanticera,andheknewhewasthelasttocarrythisflame.

Thefirstmovementisthemostcomplexemotionally,andiswritteninsonataform,withacodaattheend.Thesecondmovementisveryfree-spirited,andhasabeautifullyslowsostenutosectioninthemiddle.Thefinalmovementisatheme-and–variations,somethingthatBrahmswasunquestionablyamasterof.ItisonlyfittingthatBrahmswouldincorporatehisgreatestcompositionalskillinoneofhisfinalworks,toshowtheworldtheculminationofhislife-longworkasacomposer.

Page 3: Date du récital/Date of recital : April 11, 2017 Nom/Name ... Fantasy Trio by Polish-American composer

TheFantasyTriobyPolish-AmericancomposerRobertMuczynski(b.19March1929;d.25May2010)waswrittenin1969attherequestofhiscolleaguesattheUniversityofArizona.Inhiswords,“Itismyhopetowriteapiecethatwouldhavenotonlyrewardingrolesfortherespectiveinstrumentsbutonethatwouldcontainsatisfyinginterplayor‘dialogue’forthetrioaswell.Theworkalternatesbetweenratherterserhythmicstatementsandsustainedlyricalmomentsclimaxingwithamovementfullofexuberanceandunabashedjoy.Ienjoyedwritingthismusic,andI’dliketothinkthatsomeessenceofthatexperienceisconveyedtothelistener.” Thepieceincorporatesmanysyncopatedrhythmsandmeterchanges,givingitajazzyfeel.Itiswritteninfourshortmovements.AlthoughMuczynski’scompositionTimePiecesforclarinetandpianoismoreoftenplayed,hisFantasyTrioisgainingrecognitionasoneofthefewgreatworkswrittenforthisinstrumentationinthe20thcentury.