JONATHAN GUNN, CLARINET & ANTON NEL, PIANO

Transcription

1 JONATHAN GUNN, CLARINET & ANTON NEL, PIANO Sunday, September 16, 2018, 4:00 PM WITH FACULTY ARTIST Roger Myers, viola This concert will last approximately two hours with one intermission

2 PROGRAM Gerald Finzi Five Bagatelles, Op. 23 Prelude Romance Carol Forlana Fughetta W.A. Mozart Trio in E-Flat Major, K. 498 Kegelstatt Andante Menuetto Allegretto with Roger Myers, viola Intermission Sergei Prokofiev Sonata in D Major, Op. 94 Moderato Scherzo. Presto Andante Allegro con brio PLEASE SILENCE YOUR ELECTRONIC DEVICES

3 ABOUT THE PROGRAM Gerald Finzi Five Bagatelles, Op. 23 Born: July 14, 1901, London, United Kingdom Died: September 27, 1956, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, United Kingdom Composed: 1941 Premiered: January 15, 1943, by Pauline Juler at a National Gallery lunchtime concert Duration: 14 minutes Following the outbreak of the first World War, Gerald Finzi moved to Yorkshire with his mother where he studied composition with Ernest Farrar. He found, however, that he was attracted to the English countryside and moved to Painswick, Gloucestershire in 1922 in an attempt to compose in solitude. After a short time, he found rural England to be more oppressive than inspirational and moved to London in 1926 where he became acquainted with Ralph Vaughn Williams, who conducted his Violin Concerto in He was appointed composition professor at the Royal Academy of Music in 1930 and held the position until 1933 when he married artist Joy Black and moved to Aldbourne, Wiltshire. Finzi continued composing until he died of Hodgkin s Disease in Gerald Finzi wrote the first three bagatelles in this collection in 1941 and these were premiered by clarinetist Pauline Juler accompanied by Howard Ferguson in London at a National Gallery lunchtime concert. The final and prelude were added to publication in 1945 in order to quell a dispute between Finzi and his publisher, who wanted the original three bagatelles to be released separately. Each of the five are used to show off the versatility of the instrument and are highly diverse in range and color of the clarinet. The middle three bagatelles are slower movements that each explore a different side of the clarinet and are framed by faster movements on either side. Despite the musical materials consisting of 20 year-old bits and pieces, Finzi found the success of the Five Bagatelles to be somewhat frustrating, stating they were only trifles, and not worth much, but got better notices than [his] decent stuff. While the term bagatelle typically indicates a throw-away piece, FInzi manages to combine a diverse selection of both serious and lighter music.

4 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Trio in E-Flat Major, K. 498 Kegelstatt Born: January 27, 1756, Getreidegasse, Salzburg, Austria Died: December 5, 1791, Vienna, Austria Composed: 1786 Premiered: August 5, 1786 Duration: 19 minutes Mozart began playing chords on the harpsichord at age 3, playing entire piece by age 4 and composing his first works by age 5. His father, Leopold, was Kapellmeister in Salzburg and noticed his young son s prodigious talents for music. He soon took a prolonged leave from his post to travel to European Classical music hubs to both allow young Wolfgang to perform and witness other prolific musicians and composers. Mozart was not only able to find his own musical voice, but also adept at imitating local dialects, particularly those of Paris and London. By 1775 Mozart earned his own composing and performing position in Vienna where he met his future wife, Constanze. Soon, Mozart expressed dark feelings of depression and it was during these later years a vast number of piano concerti, chamber music, and operas were composed. Mozart died at only 35 years of an infection. Though exposed to the clarinet during his travels to Munich, Mozart likely wrote Trio in E-Flat Major with good friend and renowned basset horn virtuoso Paul Stadler ( ) in mind. It was also Stadler who played on the first performance with Mozart on viola and family friend Franziska von Jacquin, to whom the work was dedicated, on piano. While many authors dismiss Stadler s character are dissolute, Mozart thought highly of his musicianship and wrote a number of other pieces for Stadler to perform. K. 498 features a particularly unique timbre of the clarinet and the viola, giving it a sweet and mellow sound while highlighting the strengths of each instrument. The nickname Kegelstatt comes from the German a place where skittles are played, skittles being akin to duckpin bowling. Some authors suggest Mozart had the game in mind when composing the Trio, though it is equally likely Ludwig von Köchel assigned the nickname in 1862 while completing a thematic catalog of Mozart s music.

5 Sergei Prokofiev Sonata in D Major, Op. 94 Born: April 23, 1891, Sontsivka, Ukraine Died: March 5, 1953, Moscow, Russia Composed: 1943; transcribed and edited by Kent Kennen Premiered: December 7, 1943, on flute by Nicolai Kharkovsky Duration: 25 minutes A Soviet Russian composer, pianist, and conductor, Prokofiev was known as a musical giant of the 20 th century. His vast output ranges from ballet and opera to chamber and film music. While proficient as a pianist and conductor, Prokofiev s prodigious nature reveals itself in his compositions. At age 5 he had already composed his first piano piece and his first opera followed not long after at age 9. He studied composition at St. Petersburg Conservatory with Aleksandr Glazunov where he was seen as arrogant by the other students. After the Russian Revolution he left the Soviet Union with the blessing of the government and toured the United States and Europe and met his wife, Spanish singer Carolina Codina. He was modestly described by his acquaintance, Igor Stravinsky as the greatest Russian composer of his time after himself. Prokofiev was most successful for his operas, specifically The Love for Three Oranges. He died in 1956 on the same day at Josef Stalin. Sonata in D Major has undergone a number of changes in instrumentation, though only one was instituted by Prokofiev himself. He wrote Op. 94 for flute originally, though was unhappy with it and later made a small number changes for a violin soloist the most notable being the addition a few moments of double stops. It has since been transcribed for the underrepresented instruments such as bassoon and clarinet. While it is particularly challenging and virtuosic for the latter instruments who have borrowed the sonata from the flute repertoire, the scoring is well-suited for quieter and mellow timbres with relatively thin textures throughout the four movements. The opening melody is lyrical and eloquent; in the words of Alan Rich, it was written in the tenderness of a Mozart andante. The gentle and flowing classical style lends itself well to the clarinet range and color while maintaining a high level of technical difficulty.

6 ABOUT JONATHAN GUNN Jonathan Gunn is a versatile artist with a varied career as educator, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. Currently, Mr. Gunn serves as the Assistant Professor of Clarinet at the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Texas, he served on the faculties of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Goshen College, Andrews University and Seton Hill University. Appointed by Maestro Paavo Järvi to the position of Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2004, Mr. Gunn then served as Principal Clarinet from 2011 to 2016 before joining the faculty at the Butler School of Music. Prior to joining the Cincinnati Symphony, he was the Principal Clarinetist of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and has performed as Guest Principal Clarinet with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions as well as playing with the New York Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh and Colorado Symphony Orchestras. He received a Bachelor of Music from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and a Master of Music from the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University. Jonathan is married to Jennifer Gunn, who plays piccolo and flute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

7 ABOUT ANTON NEL Anton Nel, winner of the first prize in the 1987 Naumburg International Piano Competition at Carnegie Hall enjoys a remarkable and multifaceted career that has taken him to North and South America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa. A student of Adolph Hallis, he made his European debut in France in 1982, and in the same year graduated with highest distinction from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He came to the United States in 1983, attending the University of Cincinnati, where he pursued his Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees under Bela Siki and Frank Weinstock. In addition to garnering many awards from his alma mater during this three-year period he was a prizewinner at the 1984 Leeds International Piano Competition in England and won several first prizes at the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition in Palm Desert in ABOUT ROGER MYERS Roger Myers enjoys an impressive record of performing and teaching both here and abroad and has traveled widely presenting critically acclaimed concerts and master classes in countries on four continents including Austria, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico as well as the U.S.A. He is Professor of Viola at the University of Texas at Austin where for a decade he served as Chairman of Strings and was the recipient in 2007 of the School of Music Teaching Excellence Award. Roger studied on scholarships with Donald McInnes at the University of Southern California and on completion of his master s degree the string faculty named him its most outstanding graduate of the year.

8 UPCOMING FACULTY CONCERTS AND EVENTS THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS JAZZ FACULTY CONCERT Thursday, October 4, 7:30 PM STEPHEN PAGE, SAXOPHONE WITH GUEST ARTIST CAMERON HOFMANN, PIANO Thursday, October 25, 7:30 PM RICK ROWLEY, PIANO Sunday, October 14, 4:00 PM MIRO QUARTET Tuesday, November 13, 7:30 PM VOICES FROM THE GREAT WAR A faculty concert commemorating the centenary of the end of World War I. Sunday, December 2, 4:00 PM Tonight s program notes written by Julissa Shinsky, program annotator for the Butler School of Music. For more information about Butler School of Music concerts and events, visit our online calendar at music.utexas.edu/calendar Become a member of The Butler Society and help us successfully launch tomorrow s brightest performers, teachers, composers and scholars. Make a gift today at music.utexas.edu/giving THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS Douglas Dempster, Dean SARAH AND ERNEST BUTLER SCHOOL OF MUSIC Mary Ellen Poole, Director