FACS - Natalie Syring + Eclipse - 2/4/24

Natalie Syring and Eclipse Featuring: Natalie Syring, flute Gerald Warlick, oboe Jenny Rucker, clarinet Miho Fisher, piano With Guest Artist: Dustin Seay, bassoon 5 PM February 4, 2024 This concert is sponsored by: Larry and Leah Westmoreland Margaret Brisch All proceeds from the Faculty Artist Concert Series go towards scholarships for UCO music students Program Nocturne (1913) Georges Barrère (1876-1944) Sonata in A minor, Op. 34 (1896) Amy Beach (1867-1944) I. Allegro moderato II. Scherzo III. Largo con dolore IV. Allegro con fuoco Natalie Syring, flute Miho Fisher, piano Quartett in d-moll für Flöte, Oboe, Violine and Basso Continuo Fortunato Riedel (c. 18th cent.) Allegro Largo Allegro Ricordanze della Traviata (Memories of Verdi’s opera La Traviata) Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886) edited/reconstructed by Fred Ormand Allegro Allegretto Andantino Tempo di valzer Theme and Variation I, Variation II, Variation III Andante mosso agitato Andantino Finale Valzer Eclipse Chamber Ensemble Natalie Syring, flute Gerald Warlick, oboe Jenny Rucker, clarinet Miho Fisher, piano Guest Artist: Dustin Seay, bassoon Program Notes Georges Barrère (1876–1944) holds a preeminent place in the history of American flute playing. Born in Bordeaux, France, he was student of Henry Altès and Paul Taffanel at the Paris Conservatoire. By age 17 Barrère premiered the landmark Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy. He went on to become solo flutist of the Concerts Colonne and to found the Société Moderne d’Instruments a Vent, a pioneering woodwind ensemble that premiered 61 works for 40 composers in its first ten years. In 1905 he was invited by Walter Damrosch to become principal flute of the New York Symphony. As part of his New York Symphony contract, he also taught at the Institute of Musical Art (later Julliard) where he founded the woodwind ensemble program. With his silver flute, Barrère quickly revolutionized American flute playing, replacing wood flutes and the heavy German style with the lighter, more flexible, and brilliant French style. Not long after his arrival in the US, Barrère began to ask young American composers, who were struggling to gain recognition, to write solo, chamber and orchestral compositions for him. Two of the best known are the Poem of Charles Tomlinson Griffes and Density 21.5 by Edgard Varese. The Nocturne is Barrère’s only original solo piece for flute. Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867-1944) was considered one of the most gifted composers of her day, known as the first prominent American woman composer of symphonic music. She also had a very successful career as a piano soloist and chamber musician. She was born into a cultural family of early New England colonists. She displayed great talent at a very early age, and some considered her a child prodigy. She studied piano and harmony in her earliest years. As was common for women of her time, she married young (age 18) to Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach, who was 24 years her senior. The marriage was conditional upon her willingness to live according to his status, that is, function as a society matron and patron of the arts. She had to agree not to teach piano (beneath her social status) and to limit performances to two public recitals per year, with profits donated to charity. She was allowed to compose, but not to study composition with a tutor, which explains why she was mostly self-taught in the field of composition. The Sonata in A minor, Op. 34, was composed in 1896, at the age of 29. The Sonata is written in four movements, which are interconnected musically by the first movement’s opening theme. The movements are thoroughly crafted to follow conventions of the form while implementing each musical element in a precise and well-constructed way.[ It was premiered by Beach with Franz Kneisel, a leading Boston violinist, and successively played in recitals in several other New York cities. Although the critics seemed to have a mixed reaction to the piece, the sonata was well received by the audiences. Today, it is one of the most recorded of Amy Beaches’ compositions. This transcription for flute and piano was done by Alexa Still. The composer Fortunato Riedel is elusive, as Eclipse has not yet been able to discover his birthdate or much anything about him. We found his composition, the Quartet in D minor on the IMSLP database in our ongoing quest for chamber music that might fit the instrumentation of our Eclipse ensemble. We think the piece is well written and works nicely with all wind parts. Jenny Rucker is playing the violin part on a “C” clarinet instead of a standard Bb clarinet. Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886) is an Italian composer best known for his ballet “The Dance of the Hours” from the opera La Gioconda, more widely recognized as the “Hippo Dance” in Walt Disney’s movie Fantasia. Ponchielli studied at the music conservatory in Milan with the equivalent of a full tuition scholarship. After he completed his studies, he took a position as an organist in his home town of Cremona. Much like today’s musicians, he held a variety of music jobs throughout his career: band director, assistant theater director, chorus director. As a composer, some of his early operas showed musical inspiration but were limited by mediocre librettos. The success of his opera La Gioconda (mentioned above), was what cemented his place in Italian music history, and earned him a position a s Professor of Composition at the conservatory in Milan. Ricordanze della Traviata (Memories of La Traviata) is an undated divertimento based on themes from Verdi’s opera La Traviata. It is referenced in a letter to Ponchielli’s publisher in July 30, 1873: “Soon I shall write a Trio for flute, oboe and clarinet on Traviata.” The memories explore and embroider melodies and songs from the opera. Both the virtuoso and lyrical aspects of each instrument are exploited in the ensemble.