Program Notes for Dissertation Project 1 (TMUS 8129) Solo Recital. Jason M. Johnston

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1 Program Notes for Dissertation Project 1 (TMUS 8129) Solo Recital Jason M. Johnston Eugene Bozza s ( ) En foret is a staple in modern horn repertoire. It was intended as a composition competition entry during his graduate studies at the Paris Conservatory. Bozza was considered to be brilliant and demonstrated so by taking first prize in violin, conducing, and composition while at the conservatory. He later became the conductor of the Paris Opera- Comique and then went on to become the director of Ecole Nacionale de Musique, retiring in The piece demonstrates an athletic yet natural quality to the audience. Presented in an arch form, the opening material is exciting, intense, and to the fore with heavily accented passages and sweeping use of the harmonic series. The second section brings the horn back to its roots with enchanting hunting calls in a recitative fashion over a sea of impressionism played by the piano. The third section is a lyrical portrait, which eventually gives way to the fanfare hunting section once more. The first section comes back to bring the piece full circle and finishes with an exciting codetta. Paul Basler (b. 1963) is a Fulbright Lecturer and is currently Associate Professor of Horn at the University of Florida. He is an active composer and clinician throughout the world having served as artist in residence or Culture Affairs Specialist in Kenya, Turkey, and the Dominican Republic. His compositions have reached far and wide and he has been the recipient of several grants from the National Endowment of the Arts. Basler s contribution to the horn repertoire has been stupendous and he has been specifically composing to fill the needs of certain

2 portions of the repertoire in order to help create a more diverse compositional palette. Canciones was specifically written to fill that niche. Commissioned by Myrna Meeroff, Basler wrote this set of three lyrical, connected songs in order to fill the void of recent horn literature for that genre. The first song is a loving conversation between the horn and piano. The soaring melodies in the horn are gracefully supported by the piano leading the listener to yearn for the love they already have experienced. The second song is a stark contrast to the first bringing focus to the journey to find love which occasionally has a hard time finding its footing by keeping beat one constantly hidden but eventually becomes stable and determined by the third song the Lullaby. Canciones is beautiful from top to bottom, in which Basler takes full advantage of his knowledge of the beauty and lyricism of the horn, to compose from the heart, for the heart. Jan Koetsier was born in Amsterdam ( ), receiving instrumental encouragement and support at a very young age. He moved to Berlin in 1913 with his family, and aged 16, was the youngest student of his day to pass the entrance audition in piano to the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. Koetsier worked as conductor of the newly founded Kammeropera in The Hague, during which he travelled to numerous Dutch towns and cities (1941/42). He later became second ever conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam , a central point in his artistic development. Koetsier then spent a short period as conducting teacher at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague before being invited by Bavarian

3 Radio to become principal conductor of its newly founded Symphony Orchestra in Scherzo Brillante was written for internationally renowned horn soloist and educator, Marie- Luise Neunecker. Scherzo could fit a recital program as a clever encore, which incorporates an abundance of technical practice. The first section titled, Presto, requires a tremendous amount of agility and range. The Trio section requires a snarky use of stopped tones and triple tonguing. As most scherzos require, the Presto section comes back to end the tune on an exciting high note! Dr. Elaine M. Ross is currently on faculty with the University of Ohio teaching music theory and composition. Her compositions have been featured with the Society of Music Composers, College Music Society, and Music Educators Association conferences. Notable compositions include: Canyons for wind quintet, Neon Fanfare for trumpet ensemble, The Presence for choir, Moonstruck for percussion ensemble, and Wildfire for band. A Wandering Voice was written for hornist Jerry Peel, former professor of horn at the University of Miami. Peel was also an active member of the Hollywood recording studios appearing on several popular motion picture soundtracks. The piece is presented in three movements accompanied by a representative poem displaying a subconscious journey traveling through three states of mind culminating in an awakening of beauty and hidden dreams. Andy Wolfe is an active freelance musician in Colorado, performing throughout the state on alto, tenor, and bass trombone as well as euphonium for such groups as the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Ballet, Opera Colorado,

4 Central City Opera, The Denver Brass, Boulder Brass, Greeley Philharmonic, Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra, and many others. In addition to his busy performance schedule, he is an actively commissioned composer/arranger for many prestigious groups and soloists nationwide including Grammy Award winning brass players! Andy is a homegrown artist; born and raised in Littleton, CO, he received his Bachelor and Master Degrees in Trombone Performance from the University of Northern Colorado. He returned to the Denver Metro Area in 2002 where he currently resides with his wife and four children. Jekyll & Hyde was commissioned for the purpose of adding shorter, exciting works to the horn repertoire that could undertake the position of a recital opener or provide a short, unique, contemporary work to a program. The piece outlines the two personalities of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The thematic material representing Dr. Jekyll is a long lyrical melody describing ponderous thoughts always hiking forward with a march- like lilt. The Mr. Hyde theme suddenly erupts with a chromatic fervor in the middle and low register of the horn emanating the strength and persistence of the Hyde presence with constant tritones and augmented fifths. The work also contains a third theme that acts as a love theme continuously questioning the duel relationship with hope of compromise. Sigurd Berge ( ) was a Norwegian born composer earning his degree at the Music Conservatory in Oslo and also studying modern electronic music in Copenhagen and Utrecht. Berge was president of the Norsk Komponistforening (Society of Norwegian Composers) from 1985 to The piece is dedicated to internationally renowned horn soloist, Frøydis Ree Wekre who premiered the work

5 at the 1973 International Horn Society Symposium in Pomona, CA. As the title suggests, this unaccompanied piece is filled with moments of distant calls suggesting chilling beauty found throughout the hills and fjords of Norway. Horn- Lokk opens with echoic moments of waiting and wanting eventually moving into a chromatic- like response into the low end of the horn finally displaying the three note motif played throughout the piece. The middle section begins with a haunting melody which is the deconstructed with emotion, developed with time, and brought back at the end of the work finishing very much like it began with the caveat of playing in the basement of the horn. This work is ripe with ideas and modern, jazz- like motifs ready to be discovered and developed by the performer. Czech born composer, Vaclav Nelhybel ( ) studied at the University of Prague and the Prague Conservatory; he immigrated to Switzerland in 1942 to study at the University of Fribourg eventually teaching there in Nelhybel came to live in the United States in 1957 teaching at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the University of Scranton where his full collection of works is housed. Nelhybel has composed for full orchestra, for the stage, for sting groups, and for solo players with special attention to wind and brass instruments. Scherzo Concertante employs his trademark compositional styles of vigorous rhythms, accented syncopations, dissonance, and counterpoint. The melodic material is mainly monothematic with fast paced interchanges between the horn and piano. James Naigus is a young and upcoming composer currently finishing his DMA at the University of Iowa. He previously studied horn and/or composition with

6 Jeffry Agrell, Paul Basler, Soren Hermansson, Bryan Kennedy, and Adam Unsworth. His successful compositions for horn ensemble started his foray into composing for horn and piano. Episodes is a set of contrasting musical chapters that takes the listener through a passage of time and experience. The seven distinct movements end with cyclical closure, creating an encapsulated narrative that is a sum of its parts. They are deliberately undeveloped in order to perceive the guise of an episode a small, short work. Although the melodic material is written with a strong tonal pathway, each episode is unique and the composer expects the interpretation to be leisurely concerning the printed markings in order to allow the performers to create a unique experience.

THEME AND VARIATION: GRADUATE HORN RECITAL FEATURING COLLABORATION

THEME AND VARIATION: GRADUATE HORN RECITAL FEATURING COLLABORATION By JAMES NAIGUS SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: PAUL BASLER, CHAIR JOYCE DAVIS, MEMBER A PROJECT IN LIEU OF THESIS PRESENTED TO THE COLLEGE OF