Chris Sacco, Saxophone
Jared Tehse, Piano
Doctoral Recital Series
Katzin Concert Hall I December 6, 2019 | 5:00 pm

Program
Ombra mai fu from Handel's Serse

George Frideric Handel
(168s-17s9)

Flute Partita in A mlnor
Allemande
Corrente
Sarabande
Bourr6e angloise

Johann Sebastian Bach
(168s-1 7s0)

Sonata for

Edison Denisov

Alto Saxophone and Piano

(t929-1996)

Intermission

Kol Nidrei (originally for cello and Orchestra)

Max Bruch
(1

838-1920)

Piet Swerts
(b. 1e60)

Kotekan
Norot
Kotekan

School of Music
Herberger lnstitute for

HIST Design and theArts
Arizona State University

Program Notes:

Handel's Ombra maifu
The recitative and aria from Handel's light and elegant opera Serse (or Xerxes, London, 1738), "Frondi tenere e
belle ... Ombra mai fir," is not only the most famous number fuom Serse, but it may well be the most famous vocal
number ffom any of Handel's forly-plus operas. In mock-heroic terms, Xerxes, King of Persia addresses an
affectionate tribute to the foliage ofa plane-tree in the garden ofhis residence at Abydos, located on the southern
shore of the Hellespont.
-notes by Rodion Pogossov

Bach's Partita in A minor
The technical demands of the unaccompanied Partita require the flutist to juxtapose melody with the illusion of
harmony by quickly moving between registers. Bach adopted the form of this four-movement work from the French
baroque instrumental dance suites. Though this work is commonly known as the Partita in A minor, the prescribed
French title is So/o Pour la Flttte Traversidre-perhaps this is merely a nod to the French origin of the instrumental
dance suite, or Bach could have composed this work with a palticular French virtuoso flutist in mind. The
"Allemande," no longer danced by the 17th century, is a highly-ornamented inkoductory movement. The moderate
triple-time "Corrente" certainly portrays the idea of "running" with a steady stream of sixteenth notes. The third
movement is a slow and dignified "Sarabande," and the work concludes with a "Bourde Angloise," a frequent Bach
substitute for the more customary "Gigue."
-notes by Dr. Amanda Cook

Bruch's Kol I'{idrei

Kol Nidrei, is the ancieht declaration recited at synagogue before the beginning ofthe evening service on Yom
Kippur, the Day of Atonement. While not a prayer per se, it has over the centuries accrued a deep emotional
significance. Its name, in Aramaic, not Hebrew, is taken from its opening words, meaning "all vows." The
declaration has had an uneasy relationship with Hebrew liturgy, and was removed from the prayer book in many
Western European Jewish communities in the 19th century.
The melody, which appears in various forms, is at its most familiar in the opening theme. Its phrasing suggests an
ancient cantorial utterance, a'sob' of penitence. Indeed the melody has enjoyed a life of its own, sometimes as the
setting for other Hebraic liturgical texts.
The melody that dominates the second half of Bruch's work was written by English composer lsaac Nathan, son of a
Canterbury cantor. O Weep for those that wept on Babel's stream is among the thirty verses Lord Byron contributed
to a collaborative collection published, in 1815, as Hebrew Melodies.
-notes by Scott MacClelland

Swert's Kotekan
This work is based off of Balinese Gamelan Music. The first movement "Norot," means "to follow" and "Kotekan"
means "Interlocking." This work was written for the 2006 Adolphe Sax Competition in Dinant. Swerts states, "The

nameAdolpheSaxresultsinthemode ab(germanh)de;the SofSatstandsfor Eflatandthereforethel-mode
has been transposed.

.

.

to

E

flat."

-notes by Chris Sacco

$chool of Music

Hil

Herberger lnstitute for

Design and theArts

Arizona State Unlversity