Jacqueline Paige Tang Wunrow

Transcription

1 Saturday, February 25, :00 p.m Jacqueline Paige Tang Wunrow Graduate Recital DePaul Recital Hall 804 West Belden Avenue Chicago

2 Saturday, February 25, :00 p.m. DePaul Recital Hall Jacqueline Paige Tang Wunrow, violin Graduate Recital PROGRAM Edvard Grieg ( ) Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45 (1887) Allegro molto ed appassionato Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza Allegro animato Ernest Bloch ( ) Abodah (God s Service): A Yom Kippur Melody (1929) Jordan Tang (b. 1948) Rondo for Solo Violin (2017) Intermission Erich Wolfgang Korngold ( ) Much Ado About Nothing, Op. 11 (1920) The Maiden in the Bridal Chamber Dogberry and Verges Garden Scene Masquerade

3 Program Maurice Ravel ( ) Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op. 77 (1927) Allegretto Blues Perpetuum mobile Jacqueline Paige Tang Wunrow is from the studio of Janet Sung. This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Music. As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you.

4 PROGRAM NOTES Edvard Grieg ( ) Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 45 (1887) Duration: 25 minutes Most audiences are familiar with the Scandinavian nationalistic music of Edvard Grieg. Most of his pieces have connections to folk melodies of Norway. However, Grieg did not limit himself, creating many masterpieces now considered major repertoire from the Romantic era. Grieg wrote his third and final violin sonata in 1887, which is considered a high point in his career. Grieg thought highly of his violin sonatas, perhaps because they were all written with or for some of his best friends. He himself premiered the piece with violinist and friend Adolf Brodsky in Leipzig. Performing the sonatas was very common during his tours and today the third sonata is still an audience-pleaser. Beginning with a burst of energy, the first movement drives in constant intensity. It eventually dies down into a playful interlude between the violin and piano and relaxes into a haunting melody. But the calm, not lasting long, returns to its original intensity. The movement ends with a long crescendo and an accelerated tempo. In the second movement Grieg spins a beautiful lyrical melody for the violin to sing. The final movement once again contains brilliantly written conversation between the violin and piano. It is not as driven as the first movement but is constantly looking for harmonic resolutions. Ernest Bloch ( ) Abodah (God s Service): A Yom Kippur Melody (1929) Duration: 7 minutes Abodah (ע ב ד ה) is defined as service or work and is often used as a prayer for restoration of God s service in the temple. Today this work is celebrated during the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) as found in Leviticus 16 in the Hebrew Bible. The passage describes the priests work in the temple and the atonement for the people. Ernest Bloch, a Jewish composer, thought very highly of his ethnicity and recognized the importance of his heritage within music. He embraced his Jewishness and allowed it to propel his artistic ability. Abodah was written for his young violinist friend Yehudi Menuhin, a fellow Jew, in The music is a transcription of the Vehakkohanim, a chant used in celebration of Yom

5 Program Notes Kippur. The Vehakkohanim is a very old chant that uses text from the tractate Yoma in the Mishna and consists of 20 musical motifs. A few motifs Bloch used for Abodah were traditional modes and scales, such as chromatic Lydian. Other motifs were the chant-like repetitions of notes. Of course Bloch added a few of his own ideas for sake of the instrumentation. Here is an example of an abodah ( Journal of Synagogue Music): Favor, Lord, Thy people, Israel, And their humble prayer. Restore the Service to Thy Temple; And receive in love and favor there Israel s worship and sacrifice. O may our sufferings suffice; And may our eyes soon behold Thy return to Zion, as of old! Blessed art Thou, Merciful Lord, Whose Presence, to Zion, is restored. Jordan Tang (b. 1948) Rondo for Solo Violin (2017) Duration: 4 minutes Jordan Tang is a Chinese born composer that is known primarily for his dodecaphonic works. He was a part of the very first graduating class for music of Chung Chi College in Hong Kong where he was grounded in traditional musical theory. While earning a degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Tang studied under professor Marcel Dick. Dick was a professional violist in a string quartet that premiered much of Arnold Schoenberg s music. Due to this friendship, Dick taught Tang the form of dodecaphonic or twelve-tone theory. Tang responded positively to this new style saying that, Within its limitations, there is freedom. From there, Tang has had many of his compositions premiered around the world, including America, Europe, and Asia. Tang worked in Jackson, Tennessee as their symphony conductor for 27 seasons and is still writing to this day. The Rondo, composed specifically for this performance, uses the twelve-tone row freely. The form is a seven-part rondo with a hint of arch form in the overall outline. There are slight variations of articulation and

6 Program Notes rhythm in the A and B sections and the piece ends with a brief, three measure coda. Erich Wolfgang Korngold ( ) Much Ado About Nothing, Op. 11 ( ) Duration: 13 minutes Erich Wolfgang Korngold first came to America in 1934 to work in Hollywood as a film composer. After his first film, A Midsummer Night s Dream, he continued to work in Hollywood for Warner Brothers studio and made a name for himself with film scores for director Michael Curtiz and swashbuckling actor Errol Flynn. Previous to his work in films, Korngold already had experience writing music to accompany stories. Much Ado About Nothing was written several years earlier in 1918 as a commission for the Vienna Burgtheater s production of the play. He later decided to use parts of this work as arrangements for both chamber orchestra and solo violin and piano. This is a wonderful piece showing Korngold s ability to tell a story through music. According to film music researcher Nathan Platte, Korngold s desire to coordinate musical structure with visual form is also reflected through the orchestration of his film score Adventures of Robin Hood ( Dream Analysis: Korngold, Mendelssohn, and Musical Adaptations in Warner Bros. A Midsummer Night s Dream ). The first movement, The Maiden in the Bridal Chamber, beautifully portrays a happy bride and bridegroom. Comedy arises in the constable characters of Dogberry and Verges in the second movement. The idea of the constable guard watch is represented as a march but it has bumbling characteristics. The Garden Scene is a gorgeous piece, describing well two people revealing their love for one another. The final movement is bright and cheery, perfect for a Masquerade dance. Joseph Maurice Ravel ( ) Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major ( ) Duration: 17 minutes Maurice Ravel considered music as a form of art. Studying authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Ravel searched throughout literature applying the knowledge of other artists to his own work. He was also influenced by composers from the Renaissance era and by the styles of different countries

7 Program Notes and cultures. According to Ravel scholar Arbie Orenstein, Ravel strove for technical perfection. Although he was certain of never being able to attain it, he realized that the important thing is to get nearer to it all the time. Art, no doubt has other effects, but the artist, in my opinion, should have no other aim (Maurice Ravel, quoted in Orenstein, Maurice Ravel s Creative Process ). Ravel s second violin sonata does not fall short of his standards and artistic value. Knowing he was about to embark on a tour to America in 1928, he wrote the piece in the genre he enjoyed most from American music: jazz. In the first movement he demonstrates jazz through vocal-like melodies. The music is unsettling yet yearning, resembling the lyrics of the blues. The second movement, cleverly called Blues, uses soulful glissandos and syncopated rhythms, which imitate the brilliance of jazzy improvisation. Finally the third movement is a perpetual mobile. There is less specific jazz influence but the desire for technical perfection is extremely evident in the difficulty of the violin part. Notes by Jacqueline Paige Tang Wunrow.

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