Wednesday July 29 in Chapel Hill NC and Thursday July 30 in Durham NC
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CarolinaClarinet

July 2009

Barber of Seville Overture Rossini arranged D Dorff

Histoire du Tango Piazzolia arranged B Edwards
1900 Bordel
1930 Cafe
1960 Disco

Prelude Marc-Carles

Traumerei Schumann arranged J Williams

Rhapsody Op 79 Brahms arranged J Williams
No 1 Agitato
No 2 Molto appassionato

Legend Op 59 No 6 Dvorak arranged B Smith

Marriage of Figaro Overture Mozart arranged G Sweric

Barber of Seville – Rossini (arranged D Dorff)

Our program today opens with an arrangement of the well-known overture to the comic opera “The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution” which premiered in Rome in 1816. This overture, which exquisitely shows Rossini's characteristic Italian style, was recycled by Rossini from two of his prior operas, “Aureliano in Palmira” and “Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra”. The Barber of Seville, the first Italian opera ever performed in America (New York’s Park Theater, 1825), is based on the “Figaro trilogy” of French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais. Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, the closing piece on today’s program, was composed 30 years earlier and is also based on the same trilogy.

Histoire du Tango – Piazzolia (arranged B Edwards)

This very popular clarinet quartet was transcribed by Bruce Edwards from the original, which was written for four saxophones. The first movement “Bordel 1900” is an easygoing joyous rag in the turn-of-the-century style. The second, “Café 1930”, has a more quiet and sultry style. The third, “Night-Club 1960”, exhibits a lighthearted disco-influence. Piazzolla was internationally known for his innovative tango music, rooted in working-class dancehalls and dockland nightclubs of Buenos Aires. Piazzolla was born in Argentina in 1921 and studied with Carlos Gardél (the undisputed king of classical tango) and played in several motion pictures in New York. He returned to Argentina and achieved great success as a solo performer, then continued his career in Paris studying with Nadia Boulanger, who encouraged him to further develop his vivacious 'nuevo tango' style, which had great appeal for South American and eventually worldwide audiences.

Prelude – Marc-Carles

The Prelude is the opening movement of Marc-Carles well-known quartet “Prelude and Danse”. Unlike all the other selections on this program, which are arrangements that use 3 Bb clarinets and bass clarinet, “Prelude and Danse” was originally written for quartet of equal Bb clarinets, without bass clarinet. This Prelude shows great understanding of the clarinet as it begins with the powerful dark resonances of the clarinet’s chalumeau register, and later builds upward into a tense exposition of the clarinet’s altissimo. Marc-Carles is a virtually unknown composer, having published only nine compositions – all chamber music – including pieces for flute, trombone quartet, viola, clarinet choir, clarinet alone, a collection of 40 duets, and this clarinet quartet “Prelude and Danse”, his best known composition. Today, we will perform only the first section “Prelude”. In spite of Marc-Carles’ obscurity as a composer, this particular quartet is well-known and is performed frequently by clarinet quartets around the world.

Traumerei Op 15 No 7 – Schumann (arranged J Williams)

Träumerei (Dreaming) is one of Schumann's most popular and best known pieces, and was used as the love song for Robert and Clara Schumann in the 1947 Hollywood film “Song of Love” starring Paul Henreid and Katherine Hepburn as Robert and Clara Schumann. It is a movement from Schumann’s piano suite Op 15 Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) written in 1838. These pieces provide reminiscences of childhood. Schumann had originally written 30 movements for this work, but published only 13 in the final version.

Rhapsody Op 79 No 1 and No 2 – Brahms (arranged J Williams)

These two Rhapsodies (Op 79 No 1 and No 2) for piano were written by Johannes Brahms in 1879 during his summer stay in Pörtschach. He named them "Klavierstücke" (piano pieces). By this time, Brahms had reached full maturity and mastery of his career, and the result is evident. He dedicated these to his friend, musician and composer Elisabeth von Herzogenberg, who suggested renaming them "Rhapsodies". Each of the two Rhapsodies is actually a miniature sonata and consists of a retrospective slower central section enclosed between two more lively outer sections. The first Rhapsody is in B minor, marked Agitato; and the second is in G minor, marked Molto apassionato, ma non troppo allegro.

Legend Op 59 No 6 – Dvorak (arranged B Smith)

Legends Op 59 is a cycle of ten short pieces by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák for four hands piano duet. Due to their popularity in that form, Dvořák's publisher requested that a few of them to be arranged for chamber orchestra. The piano duet version was written in 1881, Dvořák dedicated the composition to the critic Eduard Hanslick, who praised them with a great enthusiasm. The orchestral version has been performed locally by the Chamber orchestra of the Triangle and the Raleigh Civic Symphony. Biographers of Dvořák have speculated that the ten pieces are musical depictions of various Catholic saints. We have selected one of the 10 Legends, No 6, to play today.

Marriage of Figaro K 492 – Mozart (arranged G Sweric)

Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro or the Day of Madness" (K492) is a comic opera composed in 1786 and first performed in Vienna that same year. The Italian libretto for the opera (by Lorenzo Da Ponte) is based on a comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais "La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro" (1784). The opening piece on today's program, The Barber of Seville, was also based on the same play. The opera became one of Mozart's most successful works. Especially the overture is one of his most famous and often-played concert pieces. Interestingly, practically none of the musical material of the overture is used in the opera itself, aside from a brief phrase during the Count's aria.