"French Fare"
September 26th, 2010
Program Notes
Overture to Si j'étais roi [If I were King]
Adolphe-Charles Adam (1803-1856)
Allegro non troppo
Written In: 1852
First Performed: Paris, Sept. 4, 1852
A Adolphe Adam was born in Paris in
1803, son of the composer, teacher, and pianist, Louis Adam. Although encouraged
by his father to take up some other profession than that of a musician, Adolphe
decided early on that music was his calling, and entered the Paris Conservatoire
in 1821. He went on to become a well known composer in French opera and ballet,
and influenced later French composers such as Massenet, Gounod and Delibes.
Composing 39 operas and several ballets, Adam was perhaps most for the ballet
Giselle, and for the song "Cantique de Noël", or
"O Holy Night", written in 1847, and thought to be one of the very first musical
pieces broadcast on radio.
Si j'étais roi (If I were a King) is set in Goa (southwest India), in 1510.
A young princess is saved from drowning by a fisherman, and of course they fall
in love. The opera deals with the difficulties encountered in seeing each other
again. The opera opened with two casts performing on alternating evenings, and was
considered an extravagant production at the time, with lush costuming and jewelry.
Scored for: flute, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
4 horns, trumpet, coronet, 3 trombones, timpani, percussion, harp, and strings. [2[1.pic]222-42[2crt]30-tmp+4-hp-str]
Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, Op.80
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
I. Prélude
II. Entr'acte (La Fileuse)
III. Sicilienne
IV. Morte de Mélisande
Last SEKSO Performance: 10-24-1993
Written In: 1898-1909
The story of Pelléas and Mélisande is a dark and complicated tale. For
Maurice Maeterlinck's 1893 opening in Paris, dark lighting was used, and a
gauze screen in front of the stage helped enforce the dream like quality of the
performance, influenced by the Symbolist movement in Europe at the time.
In the spring of 1898, Fauré, with the assistance of Charles Koechlin, a pupil
of his at the Paris Conservatory, hurriedly wrote seventeen pieces for an English
language production in London. A few years later, Faure chose three of the pieces
to form a concert suite, and in 1909 added the Sicilienne, to create the four movement
work we know today.
The first movement, Prelude is the opening for act one. The French horn
symbolizes one of the main characters, Golaud, a hunter who discovers Melisande
wandering through a shadowy forest. The Entr'acte, La Fileuse, or Mélisande at
the spinning wheel, introduce Act III. The third movement, Sicilienne, was added
in 1909 and depicts the opening of Act II. The last movement, Mort de Mélisande,
is the opening to the final act and is derived from a song sung by Mélisande in
Act III. It is slow and somber.
Maeterlinck's play captivated several composers. After Fauré, Debussy wrote
for an operatic version; Sibelius wrote incidental music, and Schoenberg scripted
it as a symphonic poem... contemporaries with different writing techniques all
influenced by this work.
Scored for: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, harp, and strings. [2222-4200-tmp-hp-str]
Première Rhapsodie for Clarinet and Orchestra
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Written In: 1909-1910
First Performed:Paris, July 14, 1910
Dedicated to: clarinetist Prosper Mimart
In 1909, Gabriel Fauré, the Director
of the Paris Conservatoire, appointed Debussy to the institution's Board of Directors.
One of his first duties was to supply two works for the following year's clarinet examinations.
The Conservatory's rules mandated a slower section to show off the performers tone,
and a faster, brighter section to display their dexterity.
The first was a short sight-reading exercise, and the Rhapsodie was the second.
With the name "premiere" rhapsody, one could assume a second was expected, however
this never came to pass, at least for the clarinet. He did write a second rhapsodie,
however it is for the saxophone.
Written as an examination, the piece utilizes all of the technical challenges
inherent to the instrument. Difficult fingerings, soft and high lines to display
breath control, and demanding runs across the "break" moving from one register to another.
Originally written for clarinet with piano accompaniment, Debussy orchestrated the piece in 1911.
Scored for: 3 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, english horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, 2 harps, and strings. [3[1.2.3/pic] 3[1.2.Eh] 22-4231-tmp+2-hp-str]
Clayton Dunaway is a senior music
education major from Joplin, MO. Clayton is an active member of the Southeast
Kansas Symphony, having served as both Principal and second clarinetist since 2006.
He has also served as Principal clarinetist with the PSU Wind Ensemble and Chamber
Winds since 2006. Clayton is the recipient of several awards and honors from Pittsburg
State University including first prize in the PSU 2006 Young Artist Clarinet Competition,
Outstanding Student Awards in the Music Theory, Music History, and Woodwind Performance
areas, and inclusion in either the Dean's list or All-A scholastic honors list
every semester since fall 2006.
During his college career at PSU, Clayton has performed in several clarinet
masterclasses; Jon Manasse (Eastman School of Music), Ed Cabarga (National Symphony
Orchestra), and Håkan Rosengren (International soloist). This past spring,
he was awarded 1st prize in the Wadill Chamber Music Competition performing the
Mozart "Kegelstatt" Clarinet Trio K.498 along with violist, Gloria Britez Scolari
and pianist, Daniel Benitz. Clayton is also a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda Music
Honor Fraternity.
Le carnaval des animaux
(The Carnival of the Animals)
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
I. Introduction et marche royale du lion
(Introduction and Royal March of the Lion)
II. Poules et coqs (Hens and Roosters)
III. Hémiones (animaux véloces / quick animals)
IV. Tortues (Tortoises)
V. L'éléphant (The Elephant)
VI. Kangourous (Kangaroos)
VII. Aquarium
VIII. Personnages à longues oreilles
(Characters with Long Ears)
IX. Le coucou au fond des bois
(The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods)
X. Volière (Aviary)
XI. Pianistes (Pianists)
XII. Fossiles (Fossils)
XIII. Le cygne (The Swan)
XIV. Finale
Last SEKSO Performance: 10-5-1997
Written In: 1886
First Performed: Publicly in 1922
There will be a special performance
of Carnival at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, September 24th in the Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium,
as a USD250 Public Schools educational concert!
Saint-Saens composed his "grand zoological
fantasy" in 1886 as a simple entertainment for his friends. It wasn't written
'for real, to be played in concert as his other pieces, perhaps in part because
it poked a bit of fun at Saint-Saens' contemporaries. It was given a second performance for Franz Liszt
in July of that year, prior to the death of his friend. After that, the composer
forbade any performance until after his own death, save "the Swan", a beautiful
melody written for the cello. The first public performance took place on February
26, 1922 - two months after the composer's death. Much to his chagrin, had he known
it, but the Carnival soon became one of his most famous works.
The original score called for only 12 instruments, including two pianos. Narration
was added later from various sources, including even a twist by Peter Schickele,
however the words of Ogden Nash are widely accepted as the standard narration.
The fourteen short movements are:
Introduction et marche royale du lion (Introduction
and Royal March of the Lion) - "The lion is the king of beasts..."
Poules et coqs (Hens and Roosters) - "The rooster is a
roistering hoodlum..." a parody of Rameau's La Poule
Hémiones (animaux véloces / quick animals) - "Have
you ever harked to the donkey wild..." Perhaps Saint-Saens believed that music
critics belonged in a zoo?
Tortues (Tortoises) - "Come crown my brow with leaves of
myrtle..." Well, you certainly can see where that is
headed. This uses the Can-can from Offenbach's Orpheus
in the Underworld but . . . s l o w e d. . . d o w n . . . .
L'éléphant (The Elephant) - "Elephants
are useful friends..." The graceful Dance of the Sylphs
from Berlioz's Damnation of Faust is further afflicted
by being assigned to these lumbering "wannabes".
Kangourous (Kangaroos) - "The kangaroo can jump
incredible..." for two solo pianos.
Aquarium - "Some fish are minnows, some are whales..."
Personnages à longues Oreilles (Characters with Long
Ears) - "In the world of mules there are no rules..."
Le coucou au fond des bois (The Cuckoo in the Depths
of the Woods) - "Cuckoos lead bohemian lives..."
Volière (Aviary) - "birds are incurably philharmonic..."
Pianistes (Pianists) - "Some claim that pianists
are human..." being a pianist, Saint-Saens thought he could include himself in
the zoo, and he sets out with a 'scale-ish' rendition of the performer at work.
Fossiles (Fossils) - "the fossils gathered for a
ball..." Not to leave himself out, the composer parodies his own Danse
Macabre, and a bit of Rosinni's Barber of Seville.
Le cygne (The Swan) - "The swan can swim while setting
down..." a parody in the sense that this is a serious lyrical piece inserted into
the zoo.
Finale - "Now we've reached the grand finale..." A
wild combination of all of the animals at once... perhaps it's feeding time?
Scored for: flute, piccolo, clarinet, percussion, xylophone, 2 pianos, narrator, and strings.
[1[1/pic]010 - 1 perc - glass harmonica[glock or cel] - str 5t perc:xyl]
Pianist Reena Berger Natenberg has
performed internationally as soloist throughout North America, South America, Asia
and in Europe, These appearances include performances at the Cleveland Museum of
Art, the Edward Pickman Hall in Cambridge Massachusetts, The Federal Reserve Bank
of Boston Midday Concert Series, the House of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, and
the Christ Church Cathedrale, the Chapelle du Bon Pasteur, Salle Claude Champagne,
Salle Marie Stèphane and the Gelber Conference Center in Montreal. She was
featured on radio and television, most notably in a television documentary pertaining
to the Czech culture playing the piano pieces of Smetana and Martinu, and on Boston's
radio station WGBH in the program "Off the Record". Dr. Natenberg has also
performed in many music festivals. They include: The Banff School of Fine Arts
(Canada), The Russian School of Music (Freiberg, Germany), the Kent-Blossom Music
Festival (U.S.) and the Orford Arts Center (Canada).
More on Reena Berger Natenberg
A native of Karamay City, western
China, Dr. Gulimina Mahamuti enjoys an active career as a soloist, collaborative
pianist, and piano teacher in both China and the United States. Her performances
have taken her to Canada, major cities throughout China, and the Midwest and East
Coast of the United States. She performed Chopin's Andante
Spianato et Grand Polonaise, in E-flat major, Op. 22 and the famous
Huang He (The Yellow River) Piano Concerto with the
Harbin Symphonic Orchestra (2005, China). In 2008, she opened the University of
Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Festival, A Schoenberg Retrospective, with Drei Klavierstücke
(Three Pieces), op. 11.
More on Gulimina Mahamuti
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