Kiefer Strickland, MM Recital Program Notes Gabriel Grovlez (1879-1944) French conductor and composer Gabriel Grovlez studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Albert Lavignac, Andre Gedalge, and Gabriel Faure, and taught piano for ten years at the rival establishment, the Schola Cantorum. Grovlez was a frequent guest conductor with orchestras around Paris and regularly worked as a music critic. From 1939 until his death in 1944, he led a chamber music class at the Paris Conservatoire. He composed operas, ballets, symphonic poems, songs, and piano music in an idiom that owes much to both Faure and Debussy. His short Sicillienne et Allegro giocoso, written for the Morceuax de concours, is somewhat reminiscent of Debussy's Danse same et Dance profane for harp and strings (in fact, Grovlez's piece also exists in a version for bassoon and harp). A serene and poised sicilliano gives way to a brief, joyously capering Allegro giocoso that is over almost as soon as it has begun. Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) When we think of Carl Maria von Weber we tend to think of him first and foremost as an operatic composer, the figure who virtually single-handedly created a distinctly German school of opera at a time when national identity was critical. In 1811, Weber composed his Bassoon Concerto, Op. 75. That it is less well known than the concertos and concertante pieces for clarinet has nothing to do with quality, and the elan with which Weber wrote for the instrument in his two symphonies finds its full flowering in the concerto. Once again, much of the work's appeal comes from Weber's unerring ear for sonority, and in particular the dark-hued palette natural to the bassoon. The Allegro ma non troppo opens boldly, with a confident orchestral tutti before the bassoon's dramatic entrance, Weber glorying in the range of the instrument, its agility and its ability to sing a wide-spanned line. Though the soloist dominates the remainder of the movement, it proves a most congenial companion as it cheerfully duets with orchestral players. A brush with minor keys proves fleeting as the opening idea returns, leading to an effervescent close. Roger Boutry (b. 1932) The most re,i::ent work in this recital is by composer, conductor, teacher, and pianist Roger Boutry, a native Parisian who started studying music at the early age of eleven with teachers Marguerite Long, Nadia Boulanger, and Tony Aubin. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and garnered many prizes there, climaxing with the Prix de Rome in 19 54; in 19 58, as a pianist, he was awarded a special prize at the immensely prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. From 1962 he was Professor of Harmony at the Paris Conservatoire. I