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Program Notes
ARNOLD, MALCOLM - QUINTET, OPUS 73
The prolific English composer Malcolm Arnold (born 1921) had a brilliant career composing varying works including concertos, symphonies, and many chamber and vocal works. He wrote over eighty film scores including The Bridge on the River Kwai, for which he won the Academy Award in 1957.
He was one of the finest orchestral trumpet players, becoming one of the youngest musicians ever to be a principal instrumentalist with the London Philharmonic. Even knowing this, one is unprepared for the inventiveness and range encountered in our last piece, the Quintet, Opus 73.
Written in 1961 for the New York Brass Quintet, this piece has three movements, and each musician has the opportunity to display his mastery of his instrument. Throughout the work, Arnold exploits the contrasts and similarities inherent in the brass ensemble, exploring color, range and technique. It begins with an 'Allegro vivace' that contrasts a brilliant figure, introduced by the trumpets in tail-chasing imitation, with a chorale phrase; at mid-movement these two are combined and set dancing.
The second movement is entitled chaconne. The chaconne originated as a rather melancholy Spanish dance, taking the form of variations on a brief theme in a stately 3/4 rhythm; this movement features a solo for the trombone. The brooding counterpoint of Arnold's 'Chaconne' produces some intensely expressive dissonances that recall even earlier composers such as Monteverdi.
The finale, marked 'con brio', is a mini-rondo that jumbles together jazz-like rhythms and the music hall with a fantastic trumpet duel at the end.
BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN - CONTRAPUNCTUS I
Certainly, one of the most famous and well-known composers in all of Western music is Johann Sebastian Bach. Equally documented, but not as well known to the general public, is Bach's religious and spiritual devotion to the Lutheran liturgy.
Bach spent his entire life as a church musician. He composed over 1,000 works throughout his lifetime, and composed literally until the moment that he breathed his last! Nearly 700 of these works are either directly sacred, or intended for use at sacred functions.
Consequently, even in those works not directly sacred, a great sense of devotion can be heard. As anyone can attest to, one's devotion to faith, whether that be a faith in a religion or spiritual belief, or simply a faith in a person or an ideal, it requires a stalwart commitment. This commitment is not always an easy journey, and work and toil pervade the path of devotion.
The Art of Fugue, a set of fourteen Contrapuncti, is Bach's final contribution to not only music, but to life. Contrapunctus is the Latini adjective for the word, counterpoint, which when translated means literally, "note against note." This is also, perhaps, Bach's greatest musical legacy where he essentially dictates to future generations how to compose this "counterpoint" music involving simultaneous soundings of separate musical lines.
Musicologist, John Rahn, can be quoted as saying, "It is hard to write a beautiful song. It is harder still to write several individually beautiful songs that, when sung simultaneously, sound as a more beautiful polyphonic whole."
In Contrapunctus I, you hear Bach's success in the creation of a simple and hauntingly beautiful melody first played in the horn, and then successively ten more times in various voices throughout the remainder of the piece. Many believe that this number 10 is significant, in that it refers to Bach's unwavering devotion to the 10 Commandments. You hear somber, yet vigilant devotion to his faith. You will hear the piece toil with itself, but finally resolve as his faith is realized and rewarded by music that has proven to be everlasting.
DUKAS, PAUL - FANFARE TO PRECED THE BALLET, LA PERI
Jewish-French composer, better known for his influences on composition as a teacher, researcher, orchestrator and critic. Given his critical nature, especially towards the end of his life, he had little faith in the significance of his own creative genius, Dukas abandoned or destroyed, 11 musical works including overtures, symphonies, operas and ballets - very nearly equals that which survive, 12. Most notable compositions include his Symphony in C (1896), the tone poem Sorcerer's Apprentice (1897) and the one act ballet entitled La Peri (1912). His music often sounds highly impressionistic, and has been compared to that of friend and fellow Paris Conservatory student Claude Debussy.
The original music to La Peri was written in 1911 as a Poeme danse en un Tableau ("dance poem in one scene"), his last published work. The opening Fanfare from La Peri is a piece which begins the ballet and features the full brass section and was written for the popular Russian dance company, called Ballets Russes, who first premiered the ballet in 1912. Similar to the three-part variation ballet, the Fanfare is also in three-part form. The divinity and spiritual aspect of this piece is represented in its parallel Major harmonies (ie: fig. 3-5).
The plot of La Peri concerns itself with Persian legend and Islamic mythology. The "Peri", or fairies, are fallen angels who have been denied paradise (heaven) until they have paid penance. These fairies rank from angels to evil spirits who visit the realm of the mortals (this visitation, co-mingling, and seduction is their sin for which they must pay penance). This particular Peri happened to come across the Flower of Immortality, which she needed in order to ascend into paradise. The flower was stolen by a mortal (Prince Iskander) and the ballet exhibits the Peri's quest to get the flower back and take her place in paradise thus leaving the Prince to die a mortal death.
This Islamic mythology runs parallel to the Judo-Christian mythology of the Nephilim, found in the Old Testament (Genesis 6:1-4, Numbers 13:33,and Deuteronomy 2:11, 3:11). The Nephilim are the hybrid offspring of fallen angels (disobedient angels cast out of heaven) and man. Some believe that the purpose of the Great Flood was to wipe out the Nephilim.
EWALD, VICTOR - QUINTET NO. 1 IN B-FLAT MINOR
Victor Ewald was one of the lucky few who had the opportunity to lead a remarkable and very successful double life. His "sustainable" career lead him to become one of the most highly regarded civil engineers of his time, often credited for establishing a profound heritage in development of materials for construction used throughout Russia.
His "hobby," which included performing with one of the most popular Russian string quartets of the time, lead him to become part of an extremely exclusive club which was simply dubbed 'Friday Evenings'. The Friday Evening soiree's took place over a 16-year period and included frequent visits from top Russian dignitaries and musicians including performances and compositions by the Mighty Handful (Balakirev, Borodin, Cui, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov).
Ewald took great interest in Russian folk music, often taking part in long and laborious expeditions to northern Russia in order to transcribe folk songs, which were used in his compositions and later became a significant contribution to the development of a distinctive Russian national style, which at the time was a far leap from the distinctively Germanic composition tradition.
Although published in 1912, his Op. 5 three movement, brass quintet No. 1 in B-flat minor was originally written in 1888 and later revised in 1902. This was his only quintet published during his lifetime.
Ewald was actually the second composer to write for an ensemble that composed of 5 brass-like instruments. The first was his French counterpart Jean Francois Bellon some 40 years prior to Ewald's Friday Evening soirees, but the instrumentation used was vastly different. The popularity of Ewald's brass quintets exists because he wrote these particular compositions as the first attempt to establish an instrumentation which is recognizable today as essentially the modern brass quintet - consisting of two treble instruments, one alto, one tenor and one bass.
Today we tend to regard the 1950's as the time in which the modern brass quintet gained popularity. Ewald reminds us that music for brass was sought after well before then and his compositions have become a staple of the repertoire and represents one of the most extended examples of originality in Russian romantic chamber music literature.
MONTEVERDI, CLAUDIO - FOUR MONTEVERDI MADRIGALS
British conductor Sir Thomas Beecham once said, "Music first and last should sound well, should allure and enchant the ear. Never mind the inner significance." Fortunately for all of us, Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi believed otherwise.
Born in Italy in 1567, Monteverdi spent most of his life as the music director at St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. He felt that music could, and should, be able to not only provide light entertainment but also convey deeper dramatic and expressive meaning.
Madrigals, originally light-hearted secular vocal works, often contained musical jokes combined with textual puns. Monteverdi, however, began composing madrigals about more serious subject matter. Most madrigals contain imitative polyphonic writing, in other words, cannons. We've all at one time or another sung "Row, row, row your boat" at camp or with our children. Unbeknownst to us, we were actually utilizing imitative polyphonic writing.
Throughout all four of these madrigals, you'll hear numerous examples of both a single melody being passed and echoed throughout the group and Monteverdi's musical representations of emotions: dissonance, minor sonorities, slow tempi, and limited rhythmic activity for sadness and pain as well as faster tempi, major sonorities, and highly rhythm is passages for pleasure and happiness.
And while we don't have the benefit of hearing the original text along with the music, we do have the original titles of all four madrigals - loosely translated they are: Myself, I want to die; Not with war, please; Ah, painful departure; and The little Bird that sings. I think we can all tell by those titles which mood Monteverdi is going to be representing.
We hope you will find that this suite of four Monteverdi madrigals, edited by trumpeter Raymond Mase from the world renowned American Brass Quintet, not only sound well, allures and enchants your ear, but also has some inner significance.
Composed in 1973, this quick tune borrows from Greek folk dances and uses a bag of mixed meters to evoke its dance-like quality. The melody line in the trumpets remains light and cheerful, contrasting the driving figures in the lower three voices.
Wilke Renwick is a horn player who was at one time principal horn with the Denver Symphony, now the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Renwick only composed a few pieces, all for brass. He is now retired and living in the Seattle, WA area.
SAMPSON, DAVID - MORNING MUSIC
Definitions and other interesting keys...
The next piece that you are about to hear is vividly portrayed to jar your senses and feelings. It embodies anguish, anger, disgust, sadness, longing, hope and forgiveness. Consequently, it utilizes a much more complicated musical language, that readily employs both metric and tonal dissonance in order to portray its dissonant subject matter.
David Sampson is a living American composer, born in Charlottesville, VA in 1951. His brother, William Evan Sampson, was a lifelong racial activist, who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazis. Many of us here in audience may recall a bit of Southern history known as The Greensboro Massacre, which occurred in Greensboro, NC on November 3rd, 1979. "What began as a peaceful anti-Klan march and educational conference was never allowed to occur. Minutes before the march was scheduled to begin, a 9 car caravan carrying 35 heavily armed Klansman and Nazis drove into the heart of Greensboro's black community, where marchers were assembling. They opened fire on the crowd killing the 5 organizers and wounding 11 others." Among those killed was William Evan Sampson, one of the "successful and uncompromising organizers of low-wage Black and White textile and hospital workers in the region."
While this situation is heinous enough, the police had promised to meet the marchers for protection prior to the beginning of the march, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. However, no police arrived before the Klan / Nazi caravan appeared at 11:18 a.m. "When the police finally did arrive, minutes after the attack, they arrested demonstrators rather than pursuing the attackers." One demonstrator, Nelson Johnson, was bleeding from stab wounds inflicted by the attackers, yet police beat him, while simultaneously arresting him for inciting a riot. "Meanwhile, 8 carloads of Klansman and Nazis escaped unimpeded. Police eventually stopped a 9th car, a van, only because it slowed to pick up stragglers."
Morning Music is Sampson's sequel to his woodwind quintet, In Memoriam W.R.S., and deals with his thoughts and feelings seven years after the killing. You are going to hear a musical portrayal of those thoughts and feelings. You will hear the anguish over the death that is as intense as ever. You will hear anger, rage, and disgust. However, you will also hear a tender remembrance, and the strength and hope embodied in Sampson's mother, Betty, to who me the piece is dedicated. Morning Music is actually a play on words. You will notice that it is spelled as M-O-R-N-I-N-G, rather than M-O-U-R-N-I-N-G. While there is certainly still MOURNING, seven years later, there is also healing and hope; hence, MORNING.