October 1st, 2006
Program Notes
Summon the Heroes
John Williams (1932- )
Majestically - L'istesso tempo
Last SEKSO Performance: March 3rd, 2002
Written In: 1996
"I remember seeing a photograph of a female athlete suspended above the ground, every fiber
of her being stretching for a ball just beyond her reach... captured in a shot,
freezing time and denying gravity. There is unquestionably a spiritual, non-corporeal
aspect to an athletic quest such as this that brings us close to what art is all about."
- John Williams
On the coattails of the Winter Olympic games in Salt Lake City, Utah, John Williams'
Summon the Heroes is a great reminder of the struggle and the triumph
that surrounds athletes as they prepare for and perform in the Olympics. John Williams
captures the inspiration that allows each athlete to compete... win or lose. As
with the themes for his soundtrack compositions (Superman,
Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Williams employs a spectacular
antiphonal brass choir to establish the theme that is molded throughout
Summon the Heroes, the Official Theme of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.
Scored for: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 3 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion, timpani, and strings. [2[1.2/pic]232-4331-tmp-str]
Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major (Kv313)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Adagio ma non troppo
III. Rondo: Tempo di Menuetto
Last SEKSO Performance: May 2nd, 1992 (1st mvmt.)
Written In: 1778
First Performance: Unknown
In 1777, while living in Mannheim, Mozart's friend, flutist Johann Baptiste
Wendling, introduced him to a rich Dutch surgeon and amateur flutist named De Jean.
De Jean offered to pay Mozart two hundred gulden for "three short simple concertos
and a couple of quartets for the flute." In spite of the fact that De Jean's request
was for short and simple, the G Major concerto is not that. Mozart, after much delay and a proper
ammount of complaining and excuse making in letters to his father, completed three
of the four quartets, and two of the three concertos requested. He received only 96 gulden from
De Jean, the rest was delivered in the form of chastizement from his father.
Among his other excuses, Mozart stated that he was "unable to write for
and instrument he could not bear". It's difficult to take this argument seriously, since
Mozart wrote a number of beautiful and memorable lines featuring the instrument, including the
Magic Flute...
De Jean may not have found the introspective mood of the Adagio to his taste, and Mozart later
sent a substitute movement, the Andante in C Major, K.315. Overall, the concerto
utilizes the full range of the instrument and of the performer.
Scored for: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 horns and strings [2200-2000-str]
Flutist James Hall has embarked on an impressive and varied career which includes
significant achievements as solo recitalist, chamber player, orchestral musician,
concerto soloist, and teacher. Principal Flutist of the St. Joseph Symphony, he has
also performed with the Sarasota Music Festival Orchestra, the Kansas City Chamber
Orchestra, the Kansas City Civic Opera, and the Kansas City Chorale, and has collaborated
with the Aurora Trio, Music from China, and Carol Wincenc. He has been featured
soloist with the Kansas City Civic Orchestra, the Southeast Kansas Symphony Orchestra,
and the Orchestra of the Conservatory of the University of Missouri-Kansas City,
where he earned both Master's and doctoral degrees. He performs regularly in a flute
and piano duo with pianist Patricia Higdon in venues throughout the United States.
The duo gave their New York debut in November 2004 at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall.
Dr. Hall is flutist, founder and Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society
of Kansas City, whose highly successful 2003-4 debut season brought together an
outstanding group of musicians from a number of the area's leading professional
ensembles and universities.
In addition to his active commitment to nurturing appreciation and excitement
for chamber music repertoire in the Kansas City area, Dr. Hall is devoted to the
continued development and exposure of new flute repertoire. Most recently, he performed
the regional premieres of Daniel Kessner's Celebrations for Flute and Orchestra and
Paul Schoenfield's Klezmer Rondos, and the US premier of Hubert Birds Flute Concerto,
and has commissioned new works for flute by American composers William Lackey and Stephan Casurella.
In addition to an active schedule of private teaching and free-lance performing,
Dr. Hall serves on the flute and chamber music faculties of Pittsburg State University
and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory's Academy of Music and Dance.
UMKC Academy of music personnel bios
Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56a
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Chorale St. Anthony ~ Andante
Var. I ~ Poco piu animato
Var. II ~ Piu vivace
Var. III ~ Con moto
Var. IV ~ Andante con moto
Var. V ~ Vivace
Var. VI ~ Vivace
Var. VII ~ Grazioso
Var. VIII ~ Presto non troppo
Finale ~ Andante
Written In: 1873
First Performed: Nov. 2nd, 1873, Vienna Philharmonic. Brahms, cond.
Also arranged as: Op. 56b for two pianos.
Alt. Title: Variationen über ein Thema von Joseph Haydn, B-dur
With the exception of two serenades, written
when Brahms was in his mid-twenties, his Variations on a Theme of Haydn was
the first piece in fifteen years written for orchestra that did not incorporate an instrumental
soloist or chorus. Riding on the coat tails of Beethoven, Brahms was reluctant
to step up and compete with the legend. With the success of the
German Requiem, and Variations, the forty year old Brahms
was currently in the process of writing, and would soon release his First Symphony.
Many times referred to as the "St. Anthony" variations, the theme was first introduced to
Brahms by Carl Ferdinand Pohl, through a manuscript of the first of a set of six Divertimenti, or
Feldparthien, by Haydn. It is now believed that they were
actually the work of Haydn's pupil Ignace Pleyel. The second movement was bases on an
old Burgenland chant entitled,
"Chorale St. Anthony."
It is unsure if the piano version (Op. 56b) was written first, then scored for orchestra. It
was Brahms' habit to have piano study arrangements of his major works on hand, to be played
for friends in private gatherings, however he told his publisher Fritz Simrock that
the work was a variation for orchestra, and the piano arrangement didn't have it's
showing until the following year.
The piece is made up of the introductory main theme, eight variations, and finale. The introduction is
a stately presentation of triads based on the tonic/subdominant, or "Amen" cadence,
often found at the end of hymns. This makes way to eight variations, some rhythmic,
some lyrical, or waltz like. The Finale is made up of 5 measure (not two or four measure)
repeated sections taken from variation IV, ending with a brief restatement of the original theme.
The piece was initially met with great success, and Brahms proclaimed it to be one of
his most satisfying compositions.
Scored for: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon,
4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, timpani, triangle, and strings. [3[1.2.pic]223[1.2.cbn]-4220-tmp+1-str]
and...
Flute Links:
- The Dayton C. Miller
Flute Collection (Library of Congress) Nearly
1,650 flutes and other instruments, statuary, iconography, books, music, tutors, patents,
and other materials mostly related to the flute. The Miller Collection contains Western
and non-Western examples from all over the world, and at least 460 European and American
instrument makers are represented.
- National Flute Association
- FluteHistory.com
Other Links:
