MARY CALO BASSOON AND CONTRABASSOON GAIL NOVAK: PIANO ASU BAROQUE ENSEMBLE RECITAL SERIES ORGAN HALL SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015 • S:OOPM ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY Program Notes Program Concerto in A minor RV 497 for Bassoon and Orchestra Allegro Molto Andante Molto Allegro Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Violins: Spencer Ekenes, Ali Smurawa, Myung Sun Lee. Violas: Ashley Carroll, Yaqi Xie. Cello: Jiahua Ma Bassoon: Alex Toenniges. Double Bass: Tyler Francis Harpsichord: Jacob Hofeling Concerto in Bb Major for Bassoon and Orchestra W.A. Mozart Allegro (1756-1791) Andante Rondo **There will be a JO-minute intermission** **The recital will resume in Katzin Hall** Lyric Suite for Contrabassoon and Piano Earth Prayer Sonata for Bassoon and Piano Quarter Note= 160 Quarter Note = 60 Dotted Quarter Note = 82 Bill Douglas (b. 1944) Nancy Galbraith (b.1951) ********* ****** Out of respect for the performers and those audience members around you, please tum all beepers, cell phones and watches to their silent mode. Thank you. Vivaldi - Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra RV 497 Vivaldi worked at the Pio Ospedale de Pieta as the maestro di violin in 1703 and the maestro die concerti in 1716. The Pieta was the most famous of all of the ospedales. (An ospedale was a place where young orphaned girls were raised and able to learn music). They would perform concerts behind screens for the people of the city they lived in. Many people would flock to the ospedales to hear these young performers play and in many instances it was the only opportunities young girls at the time had to learn and perform music. When the girls got older many would enter the church to become nuns and continue their musical education. During his time at the ospedale Antonio Vivaldi wrote 37 concertos for bassoon. This is the second most amount of concertos he wrote for an instrument, the first being violin. His "Concerto in A Minor" RV 497 follows a a three movement, fastslow-fast, form that was starting to emerge in Baroque era. Previously most concertos and solo works were performed in four movements. This particular concerto focuses on the contrast that is shown through this new form form. From the first measures you can hear the quick change from the tutti with the Unrelenting continuo to silence in the fermata followed by a delicate string passage. As in all of Vivaldi's works it also shows off the elegance and virtuosity of the bassoon. The player is brought through large leaps, vurtuosic scalular passages and a variety of musical playing. Mozart - Concerto for Bassoon in Bb Major Mozart was a child prodigy on the keyboard who traveled around Europe. He followed the wishes of his father to become employed by a patron and took the post at the court of Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo in Salzburg. During this time he wrote some of his earliest concertos including his "Concerto for Bassoon". During the classical era there were many developments in the bassoon such as the first pinhole being added to the bocal allowing for wider leaps and octave changes. There were also keys being added allowing for stability and more chromatic playing. In the first movement the listener can hear Mozart taking advantage of these developments as early as in the exposition of the piece. If the second movement sounds familiar it is because it has been quoted in Mozart's works before. There are many similarities between the theme from "Porgi Amor" also known as "the Countess's Aria" from the opera The Marriage ofFigaro and the second movement of this concerto. It is theorized that he developed this theme over the years and also recycled it in other pieces. The last movement, Rondo Tempo di Minuetto, brings us to the funny and quirky playing that is normally associated with Mozart. It is in the form of a Rondo and is full of arpeggiated themes and large leaps that again take advantage of the new bassoon innovations. Bill Douglas, Lyric Suite Bill Douglas is an active composer and bassoonist. As a performer he attended the University of Toronto and received a degree in music education while playing fourth bassoon in the Toronto Symphony. He then continued his studies by receiving a Master's in Music degree in music performance at Yale and two years later studied to obtain a Master's of Musical Arts degree also at Yale. He is inspired both by classical music and jazz. "Lyric Suite" for contrabassoon and piano was recently written in 2006. It was commissioned by twenty-six contrabassoon players in May of2006 and was completed in August of that same year. The piece is three movements with the two outside movements highly influences by jazz and improvisation. The feeling of this piece is very free and improvisatory. Douglas even states in the program notes that if needed the performer can "change slurs in order to make passages easier". It was premiered by Bill Douglas and Fraser Jackson at !DRS in 2007 in Ithaca, NY and made its second debut with Steven Braunstein and Bill Douglas at a San Francisco Symphony Chamber Music Concert. Though the piece is three movements, the second movement is often perfc;>rmed as a stand alone piece. This movement is inspired from Douglas's piece, "Earth Song" that is on his CD Earth Song where it is performed with the Ars Nova Singers. This five-minute movement shows the lyricism as well as the beauty and flexibility with leaps from different ranges, that one would not expect from the contrabassoon. Nancy Galbraith, Sonata for Bassoon and Piano Nancy Galbraith's Sonata for Bassoon and Piano Is quickly gaining prominence in the bassoon world. It was commissioned for and is dedicated to Eric Goldman and was also the required solo for the 2007 Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition. It has been recorded by both Nicolasa Kuster and Christin Schillinger. · Nancy Galbraith describes the first movement (in her program notes) as being very "upbeat and jazzy". Harmonically it is made of mostly whole tone scales and polytonality. It sounds seamless from the audience, but one look at the score and you will see a plethora of meter changes, hemiolas, and mixed meters. This is combined with syncopation and lively interplay between the bassoon and piano making this movement challenging and exciting. The second movement starts with a sense of serenity with chord clusters and what Galbraith calls the "sighing melody" in the bassoon. It soon expands into the main theme in the lower and middle register of the bassoon. The theme is soon developed into an almost frantic flurry of emotions which then slow back down into the previous mood of tranquility and serenity. The last movement is played mostly with a light staccato in both the piano and bassoon to make for a fun and lively ending to the piece. This movement involves syncopation between the instruments allowing for a playful feeling, but also has brief cadenzas to add a sense of momentum and meter.