 |
      |
|
|
| Whenever one scans a chamber music catalog, one notes the abundance of music for piano, violin and cello (duets, trios, quartets), while music for wind instruments is relatively sparse. Especially when it comes to the bassoon, players of this fine instrument find a limited |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Whenever one scans a chamber music catalog, one notes the abundance of music for piano, violin and cello (duets, trios, quartets), while music for wind instruments is relatively sparse. Especially when it comes to the bassoon, players of this fine instrument find a limited repertoire. Why? Composers tend to write music for potential performance and publication, and here the opportunities are not many. Much of what has been written for the bassoon came about either because the composer had a friend whom he wanted to give a musical gift or else it was by direct commission, a sure-fire way to increase the repertoire. Publishers are reluctant to print music with a small sales potential, and composers prefer their music be performed frequently rather than reside in the dusty archives of some music library for decades until some ambitious graduate student, looking for a subject for a paper, decides to research the music of some obscure composer-bassoonist.
I started piano lessons at the age of ten, and by twelve preferred to improvise rather than work on my assigned lessons. I can still hear my mother stating in a clear voice from another part of the house, “Practice your lesson and stop composing!” During my high school years I studied composition with an excellent Viennese composer named Hugo Kauder. His sense of overall balance in composing (the balance of melody, harmony and rhythm) made the strongest impression on me of any of my subsequent teachers. At New York University there were Marion Bauer and Philip James, and at Columbia University it was Otto Luening and Henry Cowell.
I chose the combination of bassoon and string trio because the string instruments supply the best accompaniment for the bassoon. The bassoon has basically a soft tone, so that the velvety string sounds seem to enhance the bassoon. The piano for instance, being tonally brilliant, tends to rob the bassoon of its identity. The full orchestra, as an accompaniment to a bassoon, must be in the hands of a master conductor for the bassoon solo to be effectively heard. This quartet was written in 1950 as partial fulfillment for the Master’s degree in composition at Columbia.
— Bernard Garfield
The Sonata for Violin and Guitar was written in the fall of 1993 and is dedicated to Nancy Bean. Nancy gave me the opportunity to write my first chamber piece for an 1807 & Friends concert and has since performed a number of my works, always with great understanding of my musical intentions. The specific inspiration for the sonata was twofold. First there was the practical desire to write a substantial piece that balances the roles of the violin and guitar. Many of the traditional chamber pieces with the guitar give it a predominantly accompanimental character, while in this sonata the guitar often leads the way with the first statement of thematic material.
The emotional genesis of the sonata started with my reponse to the moving biography of Robert Schumann by psychiatrist Peter Ostwald. The romantic restlessness and inwardness that pervaded the book inspired the character of the first movement, which is in a compact sonata form. The second movement is an homage to the great 19th-century tradition of the lonely wanderer that first appears in the music of Schubert. After the opening motto chords, the guitar sings a lament over a slowly marching violin pizzicato. The agitation that follows leads to a more peaceful and static middle section before an altered reprise of the opening. The Finale is a Sonata-Rondo that alludes to the first two movements.
— Allen Krantz
Bonnee Hoy was born in Philadelphia August 27, 1936. Her piano study began at age 3½ after she had been playing by ear since age 2. A child prodigy, Hoy won three Cultural Olympics Awards from the University of Pennsylvania while still a child, the Silver Medal for piano from the Philadelphia Musical Academy in 1949, and the Children’s Auditions of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1949. Miss Hoy made many appearances with orchestras as piano soloist in her childhood years, won the New Century Club Scholarship in 1954, and in 1956 was again soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra in Richard Strauss’ Burleske.
Bonnee Hoy began composition study in 1957 with Romeo Cascarino, and in 1961 studied at Fontainebleau with Nadia Boulanger while continuing piano study with Madame Gaultier. She also attended the masterclasses of Robert Casadesus.
After returning to the United States, Miss Hoy’s compositions were performed many times. She toured the country in 1964. The 1970’s saw performances of her ballet Pinocchio and an oratorio The Spring of Earth’s Rebirth. Bonnee Hoy recorded some of her own piano works on LP for the Encore label and some of her songs appeared on this label as well.
Lament for Solo Violin was composed in January 1974 and won a diploma at the G.B. Viotti International Contest for Composers held in Vercelli, Italy. Dedicated to Carol Stein, it was recorded for Encore label by Miss Stein. Even at the time, these Encore LP’s were obscure and now have faded from memory.
Diagnosed with cancer in 1983, Bonnee Hoy died in November of that year at age 47, ending a career of teaching, performance, and composition. Her music has now fallen into neglect, and it has been a quarter century since any of it has been recorded.
— William Marsh
Note from the performer:
I first met Bonnee Hoy when I was a student at the Curtis Institute of Music. Bonnee called the school looking for musicians to perform in a concert of some of her works, including the Lament for Solo Violin. Bonnee was already undergoing cancer therapies at the time, and this concert was a real boost to her spirits. Unfortunately the treatments were unsuccessful and she died less than a year later. In a moving tribute to a life cut too short, I performed the haunting Lament at her memorial service.
— Nancy Bean
Samuel Barber was born in 1910 in the Philadelphia suburb of West Chester, PA, and died in New York in 1981. His mother was a fine pianist and sister of the famed opera contralto, Louise Homer. Barber enrolled at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia when it opened in 1924 studying piano with Isabelle Vengerova, composition with Rosario Scalero, and conducting with Fritz Reiner. With voice training under Emilio de Gorgoza, Barber became a respected baritone and even performed his own Dover Beach, Op. 3, for medium voice and string quartet.
Barber met composer Gian Carlo Menotti when he entered Curtis in 1927 and later established a lifelong relationship with him. In 1936, Barber and Menotti shared a cabin in St. Wolfgang, Austria, near Salzburg. There Barber wrote the String Quartet in B Minor, Op. 11. Its premiere came in Rome in December, 1936, by the Pro Arte String Quartet at the American Academy where Barber was staying on a scholarship.
The Quartet never really entered the standard repertory because its famous Adagio in a string orchestra version had become one of the best known pieces of American music. It is often played at state funerals and at other times of mourning. There is even a choral arrangement which has gained in popularity in recent years. The Quartet can be said to have either two or three movements, depending on whether one considers the concluding molto allegro a reprise of material from the first movement, as a tag onto the adagio, or a stand-alone movement in itself. The first movement, molto allegro e apassionato, is indeed a passionate quasi-sonata introduction to the sublime adagio.
Barber continued his Philadelphia connection for most of his life. He taught composition at Curtis off and on from 1939-1942 and for four decades continued to have his works performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra including many first performances. To this day the music of Barber remains popular in Philadelphia and around the world.
— William Marsh
1807 & Friends
The musicians of 1807 & Friends are drawn from many major musical ensembles in Philadelphia, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Opera Company Orchestra, Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, and the Wister Quartet. For approximately forty years, 1807 Sansom St. was a place where many of those musicians gathered for the sheer joy of music making. In this setting, informal chamber music sessions often lasted late into the night and provided an opportunity for musicians to reaffirm musical values. After many private sessions, friends urged the musicians to share the 1807 experience with the public.
1807 & Friends gave its first public performance in 1981 and was hailed with a standing ovation. Thus encouraged, 1807 & Friends incorporated as a non-profit organization in August of 1981 and inaugurated its subscription series, which has earned consistent critical praise. After long tenures as ensemble-in-residence at the Gershman YM & YWHA and The University of the Arts, 1807 & Friends has moved to The Academy of Vocal Arts at 1920 Spruce Street in Philadelphia, where it continues to provide the community with the opportunity to hear great works of chamber music at the highest level of performance.
Since 1992, 1807 & Friends has been giving outstanding concerts for children. In 1996, it developed “Sounds of the Strings”, which has become one of the most innovative and sought-after interactive educational presentations for students in Philadelphia area schools.
.
Nancy Bean
Nancy Bean, a Seattle native, is a graduate of The Curtis Institue of Music, where she studied with Jascha Brodsky and Felix Galimir.
An active chamber musician, she has performed in chamber concerts with Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Alicia de Larrocha, Radu Lupu, Garrick Ohlsson, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Yo-Yo Ma. She is Artistic Director of 1807 & Friends chamber ensemble. She has recorded for Koch International and Direct-to-Tape Recordings.
Before joining The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1983, she was Assistant Concertmaster of the Santa Fe Opera Company. She is currently Assistant Concertmaster of The Philadephia Orchestra.
Davyd Booth
Davyd Booth has been a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1973 as a violinist and was appointed its harpsichordist in 1999. He was a member of the Philarte Quartet for fourteen years and with that group has made several tours to South America, Asia and Central Europe. He has appeared in chamber concerts with Wolfgang Sawallisch and Yo-Yo Ma.
A graduate of the New School of Music, he studied violin with Jascha Brodsky and piano with Susan Starr and Martha Massena. He has made several solo recordings with Direct-to-Tape Recordings.
He is Co-Director and harpsichordist for the Amerita Chamber Ensemble and performs extensively with various chamber groups on violin, piano and harpsichord. He was co-host of Great Singers Remembered, which ran for four and a half years on WHYY-FM in Philadelphia.
Pamela Fay
Pamela Fay was born in Vancouver, Canada, and has been the recipient of many Canada Council Awards and various scholarships. After graduating from the University of Toronto, she joined the Vancouver Symphony and was a member of the Leclair String Quartet.
In 1981 she won the Assistant Principal viola position with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada. She is currently a substitute violist with The Philadelphia Orchestra and is a member of the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia. She has recorded with Direct-to-Tape Recordings.
Lloyd Smith
Lloyd Smith has been a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1967 and is currently its Assistant Principal cellist. A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, his teachers were Leonard Rose and Orlando Cole. He has participated in the Marlboro Music Festivals, where he was coached by cellist Pablo Casals and members of the Budapest String Quartet.
He has performed in chamber concerts with Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Alicia de Larrocha, Garrick Ohlsson, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Yo-Yo Ma and has recorded for Columbia, CRI, Leonarda, Capstone and Direct-to-Tape Recordings. He has composed a Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 1, and a String Quintet, Op. 2; both works were presented at 1807 & Friends concerts.
Bernard H. Garfield
Principal bassoon of The Philadelphia Orchestra from 1957-1999, Bernard Garfield was a member of The Curtis Institute of Music faculty from 1975 to 1980 and rejoined it in 1985. Mr. Garfield has appeared as bassoon soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Concerto Soloists, and the Little Orchestra Society of New York. Among Mr. Garfield’s recordings are Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto, Weber’s Hungarian Rondo, Vivaldi’s La Notte Concerto, Hindemith’s Sonata and much of the woodwind chamber repertoire. A graduate of New York University, Mr. Garfield holds a master’s degree in composition from Columbia University and an associate degree from the Royal College of Music in London.
His compositions include a quartet for bassoon and string trio, a string quartet, piano solos, bassoon pieces and songs. In 1946 he organized the New York Woodwind Quintet and is a member of the Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet as well as an adjunct professor at Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music.
Allen Krantz
Allen Krantz, a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory and Stanford University, has received acclaim as a composer, solo guitarist and chamber musician. He has performed in concert throughout the United States with appearances at Carnegie Hall, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and the Philips Collection in Washington, with his diverse programs often featuring original compositions.
Allen Krantz is composer in residence for 1807 & Friends, which has premiered a number of his chamber compositions. His anyone lived in a pretty how town has been performed by members of The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit in Saratoga and Philadelphia, and a number of his chamber pieces have been recorded for the DTR label. His recordings include the CD Summer Music (DTR9506), a recital with flutist Deborah Carter, and the CD The Romantic Guitar (DTR9802), which includes his solo guitar transcriptions of music by Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms.
Recent works include An American Town for string orchestra, commissioned by the Village Bach Festival in Michigan and also presented at the Moscow Autumn 98 festival in Russia. Without Borders for solo piano was premiered by Clipper Erickson in January, 1999. Other works include a small symphony for saxophone quartet and guitar(electric) and The Cryptic Composition of Sherlock Bach, both commissioned by the Music at Gretna festival, and a string quartet premiered by the Wister Quartet.
His unique collaboration with Janet Eilber, principal dancer of the Martha Graham Company, has resulted in three collaborations for chamber ensemble featuring dancer/narrator and guitar, based on American poetry.
Mr. Krantz heads the guitar program of The New School Institute at Temple University. International Music is currently publishing a series of his solo and chamber music arrangements for the guitar.
Producer & recording engineer: Bob Sellman
Artists & repertoire coordinator: William Marsh
The Recording
This Direct-to-Tape Recording was made using two Earthworks QTC1MP microphones and an Earthworks LAB2 mic preamp for all selections except the Quartet by Bernard Garfield, recorded earlier with a pair of Schoeps microphones and a custom built mic preamp. No compression, equalization, or limiting was used during its recording or manufacture.
For a free catalog of all Direct-to-Tape Recordings available, visit our Web site at:
http://www.dtrmusic.com
Or write to:
Direct-to-Tape Recording Company
14 Station Avenue
Haddon Heights, NJ 08035-1456 USA |
|
|
|
|
|
Facebook
Twitter
Contact Artist
Add to Profile
Add to station