ARR. ERIC SAMMUT | B. 1968
VARIATIONS ON PORGY AND BESS
Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted as a film in 1959. Some of the songs in the opera, such as "Summertime," became popular and are frequently recorded.
George Gershwin, born in Brooklyn,1898, was the second son of Russian immigrants. In 1924, when George teamed up with his older brother Ira, “the Gershwins” became the dominant Broadway songwriters, creating infectious rhythm numbers and poignant ballads, fashioning the words to fit the melodies with a “glove-like” fidelity. This extraordinary combination created a succession of musical comedies, including Of Thee I Sing (1931), the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize.
In 1926, Gershwin read Porgy, DuBose Heyward’s novel of the South Carolina Gullah culture, and immediately recognized it as a perfect vehicle for a “folk opera” using blues and jazz idioms. Porgy and Bess (co-written with Heyward and Ira) was Gershwin’s most ambitious undertaking, integrating unforgettable songs with dramatic incident. It previewed in Boston on September 30, 1935 and opened its Broadway run on October 10.
Johann Strauss II | 1825-1899
Csárdás
from "Die Fledermaus"
Dr. Kyung-Mi Kim, piano
Die Fledermaus is based on a French Vaudeville play, Le Reveillon (1880), by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy; it was translated as a stage play by Carl Haffner (1804-1876). The score is dominated by well-known dance forms. The Overture itself is a patchwork of dances that weave in and out of one another seamlessly. In a setting of fabulous mansions and extravagant palace parties, Strauss lures us into a world of Viennese opulence where champagne flows freely and the dancing never ends.
In Act 2, Rosalinda, disguised as a Hungarian countess, sings this aria, “Sounds of my homeland,” a csárdás—folk dance traditional to Hungary.
Enjoy this thrilling preview of this Spring's GSU Opera performance of Die Fledermaus!
Bela Kovacs | 1937-2021
Sholem-alekhem, rov Feidman!
Dr. Kyung-Mi Kim, piano
This one-of-a-kind piece was composed by Hungarian clarinetist Béla Kovács as a tribute to the famous klezmer (an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe) clarinet idol, Giora Fideman. Featuring a dazzling array of klezmer songs and dances, this piece lets the clarinetist sing through a broad range of emotional depths—from joyful, upbeat melodies to sardonic, dark tunes to pseudo-improvisatory styles— all rooted in the Klezmer tradition.
The Hungarian clarinetist Béla Kovács, Kovács was a clarinet teacher for over 40 years.As a soloist, chamber, and orchestra musician, he performed in many places in Hungary and abroad. Many of his CD and broadcast recordings became famous. Among his virtues as a performer, his almost perfect technique, his superior style, and his receptivity to musical humor have always been highlighted. His work in the literature was also significant; he published several clarinet textbooks.
Besides these, Kovács composed more than 60 works for solo clarinet, clarinet and piano, clarinet chamber ensembles, saxophone and piano, and saxophone quartet. His best-known works worldwide include the Hommage series. He was a jury member of several prestigious foreign competitions, and in honor of his 40 years of pedagogical work, the 1st International Béla Kovács Clarinet Competition was held in 2015 in Békéscsaba.
Henri Tomasi | 1901-1971
Trombone Concerto
III. Tambourin
Dr. Kyung-Mi Kim, piano
Henri Tomasi was a French composer and conductor; his music is tonal, attractive, and a little exotic. This trombone concerto was written later in his compositional career and life in 1956. A 16-minute piece in three movements, it is a very French work in its elegance and its propensity to echo the tones of popular and street music. The next year, In 1957, Tomasi stopped conducting because of physical problems, including advancing deafness in his right ear.
Themes from the first two movements provide the themes for the final movement that are then transformed with South American rhythms. The composer named the movement "tambourin," which is an up-tempo French dance that pushes the trombone into a virtuosic ending.
- Program Note by Joseph Stevenson
Amanda Harberg | b. 1973
Court Dances
III. Tambourin
Miya Suen, piano
In Court Dances, Amanda Harberg’s palette sparkles with her trademark sense of magic, delight and warmth. Initially inspired by the fast and syncopated bounce of a squash ball, Court Dances grew into a celebratory and soulful suite in three movements. The piece was co-commissioned by 57 flutists from around the world in a consortium that was spear-headed by flutist Cobus du Toit. It was premiered at the National Flute Association convention in Minneapolis in August, 2017 by Mr. du Toit, with the composer at the piano.
In this movement, we see another interpretation of the "tambourin," a dance accompanied by lively duple meter named after a tenor drum from France. The dance is so named because the music imitates the drum (tambour being a generic French term for "drum"), usually as a repetitive not-very-melodic figure in the bass.
Rebecca Clarke | 1886-1979
Sonata for Viola and Piano
I. Impetuoso
Amy O'Dell, piano
Rebecca Clarke achieved what she called “my one little whiff of success” in 1919 when her viola Sonata tied for first place in a competition sponsored by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Clarke lived much of her life in the US, although she was born and educated in Great Britain. Striking for its passion and power, her music spans a range of 20th-century styles including Impressionism, post-Romantic, and neo-Classical. Although she wrote nearly 100 works (including songs, choral works, chamber pieces and music for solo piano), only 20 pieces were published in her lifetime, and by the time of her death in 1979, at age 93, all of these were long out of print.
The opening movement is vibrant and highlights the viola as a powerful solo instrument. The cadenza-like solo fanfare is bold, and revolves around chromatic movement. There is a strong sense of syncopation throughout many of the sequences in this movement, and the relationship between the viola and piano is somewhat tumultuous at times, but it always comes back together harmoniously.
Overall this movement is very melodic, both in the viola and piano. The movement is marked ‘Impetuoso’, which translates into ‘lively’, ‘rash’, and even ‘spirited’, and Clarke’s first movement surely reflects this effectively.
Johann Nepomuk Hummel | 1778-1837
arr. Childs
Fantasy
Dr. Kyung-Mi Kim, piano
Hummel wrote three such works, for guitar, cello, and viola; this arrangement is based on a shortened version of the work for viola and orchestra. The original, published as Hummel’s Opus 94, dates from about 1820 and includes themes from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Rossini’s Tancredi. The cuts in the present arrangement, however, mean that one of those quotations only the andante ‘Il mio tesoro intanto’ from Don Giovanni remains; the opening section and the boisterous finale are thought to be the work of Hummel himself. This arrangement was arranged for Euphonium by David Childs and Phillip Wilby.