Intermezzo Sunday Concert, June 8, 2014 @ 3pm

Windward Brass from Navy Band Southeast

Navy Band Southeast’s Brass Quintet, Windward Brass, performs music ranging from traditional brass quintet literature and patriotic fare to Broadway hits and the popular music of today.

• MU2 Scott Farquhar (Unit leader, Horn) 
• MU3 Carl Schulte (Trumpet) 
• MU3 Shawn Reince (Trumpet) 
• MU2 Tony Garcia (Trombone) 
• MU2 Rebecca Jenkins (Tuba)

Giovanni Gabrieli : Canzona per Sonare No. 2
Ludwig Maurer : Three Little Pieces
   Maestoso alla marcia - Andante con moto - Allegro grazioso
Victor Ewald : Quintet No. 3, Op. 7. Allegro
Michael Kamen : Quintet
W. C. Handy : St. Louis Blues
John Philip Sousa : El Capitan
Eric Ewazen : Frost Fire. Tense and dramatic
Armed Forces Medley

PLEASE NOTE: This Sunday concert takes the place of one originally scheduled for Tuesday, June 3

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ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

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Established in 1995, Navy Band Southeast is one of 13 official U.S. Navy Bands. Proudly representing the Commander, Navy Region Southeast, the band consists of 35 highly trained professional musicians dedicated to the highest levels of musical performance. Highly versatile, the band or any of its various sub-groups are perfect for the widest variety of musical settings including military ceremonies, public concerts, parades and much more. Inspiring pride and patriotism through music, this incredibly popular unit performs more than 500 engagements annually throughout the Southeastern United States.

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Musician Second Class Scott Farquhar hails from Kalamazoo, Michigan. He studied music at Kalamazoo Valley Community College before entering the Navy in 2001. MU2 Farquhar has served the Navy for 13 years as a hornist and is currently the Unit Leader of “Windward Brass.”

Musician Second Class Rebecca Jenkins is from Alexandria Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. MU2 Jenkins has been serving the Navy for four years as a Tubist.

Musician Second Class Antonio Garcia hails from Austin, Texas and has been in the Navy music program for almost four years. He has recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Rutgers University, primarily studying with American Brass Quintet trombonist, Michael Powell. This is his first tour, but he looks forward to his next assignment with U.S. Naval Forces Europe Band in Naples, Italy.

Musician Third Class Carl Schulte is from Clarkston, Michigan, and holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Western Michigan University, as well as a Master of Music Degree from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He has served the Navy for two years as a Trumpet player. In addition to being a valued member of “Windward Brass,” MU3 Schulte is a freelance musician and private instructor.

Musician Third Class Shawn Reince was born and raised in Green Bay, WI. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Music from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. In 2009, MU3 Reince graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities earning a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance. Upon graduation, MU3 Reince was accepted into the Navy Music Program and attended Recruit Training in December 2010.

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PROGRAM NOTES, by Ed Lein, Music Librarian

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Giovanni Gabrieli : Canzona per Sonare No. 2

Italian composer Giovanni Gabrieli (1554?-1612) was among the most influential musicians bridging the Renaissance and Baroque stylistic periods. He became organist and chief composer for Venice's famed Saint Mark's Basilica, and the prestigious position made him one of the best-known composers in Europe. Among the Venetian master’s students was the early German Baroque composer Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), who in turn cultivated the style that culminated in the works of J.S. Bach (1685-1750). Canzon Secunda a 4 (Second Song for 4) is one of four canzoni by Gabrieli included in Canzoni per sonare (Songs to Play), an anthology of works by a number of different composers first published in 1608. They are among the earliest works intended for performance specifically by instruments rather than by voices.

• YouTube Performance

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Ludwig Maurer : Three Little Pieces
   Maestoso alla marcia - Andante con moto - Allegro grazioso

Following a successful career as violin soloist and conductor in Germany and France, German-born composer Ludwig Wilhelm Maurer (1789-1878) moved permanently to Russia in 1833. In 1834 he appeared as soloist in the first Russian performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, and in 1835 he became director of the French Opera in St. Petersburg. Maurer's principal works include four operas, ten violin concertos, a symphony, and six string quartets. His Maestoso alla marcia, Andante con moto, and Allegro grazioso are the first three of his 12 Kleine Stücke (12 Little Pieces). Originally for 2 cornets, 2 horns and trombone, the pieces were published posthumously in 1881.

• YouTube Performance

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Victor Ewald : Quintet No. 3 in D-flat Major, Op. 7.  I. Allegro moderato

Professor of Civil Engineering by day, Victor Ewald (1860-1935) was a Russian composer and cellist with the Beliaeff Quartet, said to have been one of Russia's most influential music ensembles. Ewald belonged to the same nationalist circle that spawned "The Mighty Handful" (Balakirev, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky and Cui), who hoped to forge a distinctly Russian musical style rooted in indigenous folk music, and less beholden to Germanic compositional traditions. Brick and cement manufacturing notwithstanding, Ewald is most remembered for his four Brass Quintets, opp. 5-8.  This might seem a bit surprising for a cellist, but his studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory included both cornet and horn, and he was photographed as the tuba player in a brass quintet in 1912. Ewald's quintets generally are regarded as the most significant original works for brass quintet from the Romantic era. They also are among the earliest examples of music written for the "modern" brass quintet voicing (2 treble instruments, and one each in alto, tenor and bass ranges), made practicable with the development of modern valved brass instruments in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Of Ewald's four quintets, only Quintet No. 1, Op. 5 was published during his lifetime.  His Quintet No. 3 in D-flat major, op. 7, was composed (and probably performed) around 1912, but the manuscript only came to light in 1964. A decade later, the American Brass Quintet gave the first "modern" performance.

• Online Performance

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Michael Kamen : Quintet

Best known for collaborations with rock musicians and for his film scores (Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Don Juan de Marco, X-Men, etc.), American composer and oboist Michael Kamen (1948-2003) received multiple Oscar, Gloden Globe and Emmy nominations, and won numerous other awards including three Grammys. In addition to his music for over 80 films and television shows, Kamen’s output includes ten ballets, a concerto for saxophone, and one for electric guitar. His one-movement Quintet dates from 2002, and was commissioned by the famed Canadian Brass.

• YouTube Performance

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W. C. Handy : St. Louis Blues

Called "The Father of the Blues," W(alter) C(hristopher) Handy (1873-1958) was born in a log cabin in Florence, Alabama, which now is preserved as the W. C. Handy Home, Museum & Library. Handy's father was a preacher who tried to discourage his son from taking up popular music, so W.C. was mostly self-taught and had to keep his true calling from his parents. In addition to early gigs throughout the Southeast United States and Cuba, Handy performed on cornet at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. He joined the faculty of the newly-formed Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes in 1900, but by 1902 he realized he could make a better living as a touring musician. In 1912 Handy wrote Memphis Blues, perhaps the first song in a distinct "blues" style, which also became the inspiration for the foxtrot dance-step. Two years later Handy himself published St. Louis Blues, which has a "tango" bridge section using the habanera rhythm, perhaps reminiscent of his time spent in Cuba. The jazz standard has been recorded by numerous jazz and popular musicians— and also by Minnie Mouse in the 1931 cartoon short, Blue Rhythm.

• YouTube Performance

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John Philip Sousa : El Capitan

"The March King" John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) was an American composer and conductor whose many works include 136 marches and 10 operettas. As fate would have it, the composer of Stars and Stripes Forever was born in the Marine Corps barracks in Washington, D.C., where his father was a member of the Marine Band. Musically precocious, at age six Sousa began studying violin, piano, flute, cornet, baritone, trombone and alto horn, and at age 13 his father enlisted him as an apprentice in the Marine Band, reportedly to keep the youngster from running away and joining a circus band. Beginning at age 21 Sousa performed first as violinist and later as a conductor for Broadway shows, and drawing on this experience he returned to the Marine Band as its conductor from 1880-1892. He then formed a civilian band, but during World War I he became a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve and conducted the Navy Band in Illinois. El Capitan (1896) is the name shared by Sousa's most popular operetta and the march composed on themes from his stage work.

• YouTube Recording

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Eric Ewazen : Frost Fire. III. Tense and dramatic

On the faculty of the Juilliard School since 1980, Eric Ewazen (b. 1954) also has been lecturer for the New York Philharmonic's Musical Encounters Series, Vice-President of the League of Composers/International Society of Contemporary Music, and Composer-In-Residence with the Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York City. With a particular affinity for wind ensemble and brass music, Ewazen has won multiple awards and commissions, and his works receive numerous international performances. Published in 2006, Frost Fire was commissioned by the American Brass Quintet for its 40th anniversary. “Tense and Dramatic” is the last of the work’s three movements.

• YouTube Performance

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Armed Forces Medley

It is no surprise that the Armed Forces Medley combines music honoring the valiant men and women who serve and have served the United States as members of our Army (The Army Goes Rolling Along), Coast Guard (Semper Paratus), Marine Corps (The Marines’ Hymn), Air Force (The U.S. Air Force) and Navy (Anchors Aweigh). Past and present Service members and their families are invited to stand during the playing of your branch’s song. We honor and salute you!

• YouTube Performance

Windward Brass performing Fats Waller's Aint Misbehavin' at a Music @ Main "Out to Lunch" concert in June 2013.

Tuesday Serenade, May 6, 2014 @ 7pm

Dr. Ken Trimmins, trumpet
Dr. Mimi Noda, piano
Faculty Artists from Albany State University

Pierre Gabaye
Boutade for Trumpet and Piano
[Video performance]

Ernst von Dohnányi
Capriccio in B Minor, Op. 2, No. 4
[Piano roll performance]

Jacques Castérède
Brèves rencontres: Three Pieces for Trumpet and Piano
1. Divertissement - 2. Pavane - 3. Scherzo
[Video performance]

Ernst von Dohnányi
Aria in C Major, Op. 23, No. 1

George Enescu
Légende for Trumpet and Piano
[Video performance]

Frédéric Chopin
Ballade No. 4 in B Minor, Op. 52
[Video performance]

Eugène Bozza
Caprice No. 1 for Trumpet and Piano, Op. 47
[Video performance]

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

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Dr. Ken Trimmins is a dynamic and versatile trumpet player, composer and educator who excels in both jazz and classical genres. He completed a distinguished 23-year career with the United States Air Force Band, serving as director of operations, musical director and band leader for a number of touring ensembles. As a trumpet soloist, he has been a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State, and his broadcast performances have included appearances on BET Jazz and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Dr. Trimmins holds degrees from Valdosta State University (BA), Mercer University (MM), and FSU (DMA), and has studied with a number of world-renowned artists, including jazz great Bobby Shew, Willie Thomas, Vincent DiMartino, and former Atlanta Symphony principal trumpeter Jim Thompson. Currently Assistant Professor of trumpet, conducting and jazz at Albany State University (Albany, Georgia), Dr. Trimmins previously served on the faculty of Armstrong Atlantic State University, in Savannah. As a jazz artist, he performs with The Ken Trimmins Jazz Quartet.

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Dr. Mimi Noda was a collaborative pianist with the Japanese Choral Association before relocating to the United States in 1998 to pursue graduate studies. While earning degrees at the University of Georgia (MM) and Florida State University (DM), she was awarded a number of prizes and scholarships in piano performance, and she also has taught Japanese in FSU’s Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. In addition to her responsibilities as Assistant Professor at Georgia's Albany State University, Dr. Noda is a keyboardist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and she regularly volunteers keyboard performances at Albany's Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. She also enjoys singing as a member of the Albany Chorale.

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PROGRAM NOTES (in alphabetical order by composer's last name) - by Edward Lein, Music Librarian

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Although the catalog of French composer Eugène Bozza (1905-1991) includes five symphonies, an opera, and a ballet, he is known primarily for his chamber music for wind instruments.  His Caprice No. 1, Op. 47, dates from 1943, while Bozza was conductor of the Opéra-Comique in Paris. It was written as a contest piece for the Paris Conservatory, and among the technical challenges for the trumpeter is its frequent use rapidly-repeated notes in all registers. The Caprice begins with a rather moody introduction before the capriciousness begins, and the introduction is recalled, momentarily muted, and extended before a jaunty dash to the finish.

Born in Paris on April 10, 1926, French composer and pianist Jacques Castérède (1926-2014) passed away just a few weeks ago, on April 6, 2014.  Among several awards he won while studying at the Paris Conservatory was the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome in 1953, for the cantata La boîte de Pandore (Pandora's Box). In 1960, he returned to the Conservatory as a professor, and also taught in China at the invitation of the Chinese government.  Castérède's output includes works for the stage, vocal and choral music, orchestral music, and chamber music, and, as with so many French composers, he was quite generous in writing chamber music for wind instruments.  The three movements of Castérède's Brèves rencontres ("Brief Encounters) were composed in 1965 as a contest piece for the Conservatory.

The Polish-born pianist Frédéric Chopin was the first composer to make full use of the expressive qualities and coloristic potential of the piano when it was a still-developing keyboard instrument, and he rightly has been called the "Poet of the Piano." Much of all piano music by subsequent composers shows his influence, and his revolutionary use of chromatic harmonies and unusual key relationships profoundly influenced composers of symphonic music and operas as well, such as Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner--thus Chopin's importance in the development of the "Romantic" style in general can not be overestimated.  Chopin is credited with establishing the Ballade as an extended instrumental form, and all four of his solo piano works bearing this title are considered among the crowning achievements of the Romantic period. British pianist and composer John Ogdon (1937-1989) called the Ballade No. 4, Op.52, completed in 1842, ”the most exalted, intense and sublimely powerful of all Chopin’s compositions ... it contains the experience of a lifetime.”

Hungarian-born composer, pianist and conductor Ernst von Dohnáyi (born Ernő Dohnányi, 1877-1960) first gained international recognition as a pianist performing in the tradition of Franz Liszt, and as a composer his first published work, Quintet in C minor, Op. 1 (1895), was introduced to the Viennese public by no less than Brahms himself when Dohnányi was only 18. Between 1905 and 1915 Dohnányi taught in Berlin, and then returned to Hungary where he became a driving force in his homeland’s musical life, both as a teacher and as the conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic. Dohnányi always remained true to his conservative Romantic voice in his own compositions, but he vigorously promoted the music of his younger contemporaries Bartók and Kodály, thereby actively encouraging the development of a modern Hungarian school of composition.  Dohnányi remained in Hungary through most of World War II, but moved first to Argentina in 1944, and finally to Tallahassee, Florida, where he joined the music faculty of FSU in 1949. The Capriccio in B minor is the last of Four Pieces, Op. 2, written in 1897 when Dohnányi was 20.  His Aria in C Major is the first of Three Pieces, Op. 23, composed in 1912.

If you ask musicians to name a Romanian composer, unless they draw a complete blank they almost certainly will answer "George Enescu" (1881-1955), or, as the French say, "Georges Enesco." As fate would have it, Enescu was born the same year as the Kingdom of Roumania (the "u" was dropped later), and he became a national hero in his fledgling homeland. Enescu's compatriots have since named an international airport after him, and changed the name of the village where he was born to "George Enescu." Young George's extraordinary musical gifts were recognized early. He earned the silver medal for his prodigious virtuosity when he graduated from the Vienna Conservatory at age 12, and he entered the Paris Conservatory at 14.  Among the greatest masters and teachers of the violin, Enescu also was so highly regarded as a conductor that he was considered as Toscanini's replacement for the New York Philharmonic, and he just as easily could have become a leading piano virtuoso. Légende was composed in 1906 in collaboration with Merri Franquin, a trumpet professor at the Paris Conservatory who gave the first performance.  The piece incorporates lyrical episodes and virtuoso passages, and utilizes the full range of the trumpet while demonstrating its chromatic capabilities that were only just evolving.  Légende is regarded among the greatest 20th-Century works for trumpet and piano.

French composer and pianist Pierre Gabaye (1930-2000) was at home in jazz as with the classics.  Among numerous prizes from the Paris Conservatory, he won a 1956 Grand Prix de Rome for his cantata, Le Mariage forcé (The Forced Marriage), and 1st Prize in piano at the International Jazz Competition sponsored by Jazz-Hot magazine that same year. His Neoclassical compositions mostly date from the 1950s and 60s, but his last work, Marche pommarde for concert band, was composed in 1988. He taught at the Conservatory in Vésinet, and served as Director for Light Music for Radio France from 1975 to 1990. Despite his many awards, Gabaye’s essentially light-hearted music has never gained wide-spread exposure. He is most remembered for his chamber music for woodwinds and brass, and—if YouTube performances are an indication—his joyous Boutade ("Outburst") for Trumpet and Piano (1957) ranks among the most popular.

Intermezzo Sunday Concert, April 6, 2014 @ 3pm*

Kimberly Beasley, Soprano 

Scott Watkins, piano

Faculty Artists from Jacksonville University

*Note that this concert has been rescheduled from April 1.

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
  Quattro Rispetti, Op. 11
     Un verde praticello senza piante
     Jo dei saluti ve ne mando mille
     E tanto c'è pericol ch'io ti lasci
     O sì che non sape vo sospirare

Piotr Tchaikovsky
   Three Romances, from Op. 47
       1. Кабы знала я (Had I but Known)
       6. День ли царит (Whether Daylight Reigns)
       7. Я ли в поле да не травушка была (Was I not a Sprig of Grass in the Meadow?)
   Нет, толко тот, кто знал, Op. 6, No. 6 (None but One Who Knows Longing,
        aka "None But the Lonely Heart")

INTERMISSION

Richard Strauss
   Zueignung, Op. 10, No. 1
   Ich trage meine Minne, Op. 32, No. 1
   Heimliche Aufforderung, Op. 27, No. 3

Claude Debussy
   Trois chanson de Bilitis
     I. La flûte de Pan
     II. La chevelure
     III. Le tombeau des Naïades

William Bolcom
   3 Cabaret Songs
     Over the piano
     Places to Live
     Amor

UNDER CONSTRUCTION - Please Check Back!

Kimberly Beasley is an Assistant Professor of Voice at Jacksonville University and holds a Bachelor's in Music Theatre from the University of Colorado, a Master of Music from Valparaiso University and a Certificate of Vocal Performance from Northwestern University where she studied with Sunny Joy Langton and coached with Richard Boldrey and Baritone Sherrill Milnes of the Metropolitan Opera, who observed that   "Kimberly is a fine musician who sings with great sensitivity, offering mature musicianship and strong performance technique."            

While a Chicago resident she performed frequently as a soloist with the Northwest Festival Orchestra, Southwest Michigan Symphony, Elmhurst Symphony, the Northwest Indiana Symphony, DuPage Opera Theatre, the New Philharmonic Orchestra, Light Opera Works, and the Grant Park Symphony Chorus. With the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Kimberly performed in their productions of Cavalleria Rusticana, Fidelio, and Turandot. 

Professor Beasley has extensive concert and recital appearances featuring varied repertoire including opera, oratorio, jazz, and musical theatre. Her varied stage roles have ranged from Cinderella in Into the Woods and Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, to Angelica in Suor Angelica, Rosina in Barber of Seville, Dorine in Tartuffe, Micäela in Carmen, and Butterfly in Madama Butterfly. An experienced stage director for companies including the Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso and OneTheatre in Chicago, Professor Beasley has brought her expertise to Jacksonville University, directing a number of opera and musical theater productions, including Little Women, the Musical, which won awards for Best Actor and Best Set Design from Broadway World, and the Jacksonville premiere of Kurt Weill's Street Scene, in April 2013.

Professor Beasley has taught university courses in applied theory, opera scenes, vocal pedagogy, and opera history at Valparaiso University, Northwestern University, and the Graham School of the University of Chicago. In addition to Music at Main, you can hear her locally with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music Society of Jacksonville, and Friday Musicale.

Scott Watkins, Assistant Professor of Piano at Jacksonville University, is well known to First Coast audiences for his appearances with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, his numerous solo recitals, and his frequent collaborations with many of the areas finest singers and instrumentalists. His 1985 U.S. debut, an all-Bach recital given in Chicago, was broadcast live nationwide, and has been followed by a steady flow of solo and concerto performances in North and South America, Europe and the Caribbean. He has been heard often in the United States and Canada on National Public Radio and Television, and in South America and Europe on The Voice of America. Performances have included the world premieres of Elie Siegmeister’s From These Shores and Ned Rorem’s Song and Dance.

An active chamber musician, Dr. Watkins has appeared with the LaSalle Quartet and violinist Eugene Fodor, and a  performance with violinist Hillary Hahn was broadcast on NPR's Performance Today. Much in demand as an accompanist, he has appeared with soprano Elizabeth Futral and baritone Steven White, and released a disc of late romantic lieder with White. Watkins also released two solo discs, one featuring works from his New York debut at Carnegie Hall, and another, Christmas Cards, featuring music for the holiday season, with works by Bach, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Handel, Grainger, and others. A champion of new music, Watkins recently recorded An American Sonata for two pianos and percussion by noted American composer and pianist Gary Smart.

Dr. Watkins is the recipient of numerous awards, including the John Philip Sousa Award for Outstanding American Musicians, Rotary Club of Florida's Annual Artistic Merit Award, and France's Jeunesse Musicales. In 1985, he became the youngest winner ever of The U.S. Department of State's Artistic Ambassador Award. His degrees include a Bachelor of Music from the University of Cincinnati, Master of Music from University of South Carolina, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Florida State University.

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PROGRAM NOTES, by Kimberly Beasley

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Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948) was an Italian composer born of a German father, but his tastes always gravitated toward Italian Renaissance music. His songs are melodic and tonal and he is quoted as saying, "Why do so many `modernists’ rail at the things past? Can one imagine a saint, railing at all the saints that preceded him?" He never apologized for not being drawn to more modernist compositional techniques. These songs are appealing for their melodic beauty and I imagine them to be somewhat of a progression: imagining love not yet discovered, pining for love that has become a reality, encouraging and maintaining love in an effort to hold on to it, and finally being exhausted of all the effort this thing called love has required!

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Piotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) wrote over 100 songs and had a special ability to take a poem and demonstrate its deepest emotions. Although not sung with the expanse of vocal color in Schumann or Mahler, his songs are engrossing and haunting. The three on this program from Opus 47 use the poetry of Tolstoy (1817-1875), Apukhtin (1840-1893), and Surikov (1841-1880). Tolstoy is an understood favorite of the Russian romantic era and Had I But Known is a fantastical, imaginary vignette, sung by a young girl anticipating a rendezvous. Apukhtin supposedly wrote Whether Daylight Reigns at the suggestion of Tchaikovsky himself in honor of the singer Alexandra Panayeva. He knew Apukhtin was enamored with her and asked if he had ever written her a poem. Apukhtin handed him a piece of paper with this poem on it, and Tchaikovsky wrote the song two days later. Surikov was a peasant by birth and remained a stable hand until his death. His poem for “The Bride’s Lament” (Was I not a Sprig of Grass in the Meadow?) uses a familiar theme in Russian poetry and echoes the poet’s own station in life.

• Whether Daylight Reigns - on Youtube

 

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[Given his gift for singing melodies, it is not surprising that Tchaikovsky created some memorable songs.  The best-known, at least in the English-speaking world, is None but One Who Knows Longing (aka, None but the Lonely Heart), which even has been recorded by pop and jazz singers, including Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan.--Ed Lein]

  Нет, толко тот, кто знал                                            None but One Who Knows Longing

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Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was a multifaceted composer with output in song, opera, and orchestral repertoire. His songs written between 1885 and 1918 have a more conservative harmonic structure; however, although never reaching the progressiveness of Salomé, which commenced his operatic output ranging from 1905-1942, the later songs do have mildly shocking chord structure and harmonic progression reminiscent of later compositions. The songs selected are from Opus 10, 27, and 32 and demonstrate some evolution as a composer. All three songs were orchestrated by Robert Heger and Heimliche Aufforderung and Ich trage meine Minne were later transcribed for piano by Max Reger. Zueignung, with poetry by Hermann von Gilm, was dedicated to singer Viorica Ursuleac, Ich trage mein Minne, with poetry by Karl Henckell from his Buch der Liebe, is dedicated to Pauline, Strauss’ wife, and Heimliche Aufforderung, with poetry by John Henry Mackay, was given to Pauline on her wedding day.

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Claude Debussy (1862-1918), known for his pentatonic and whole scales, defines the Impressionistic era of classical music. Although his orchestral works are frequently heard, you almost have to be at a song recital to hear some of his vocal works. The Trois chansons de Bilitis are set to poetry by Pierre Louÿs, poetry that depicts the Grecian courtesan Bilitis* as a contemporary of Sappho. They are set low in the soprano voice, but it is a timbre that was desired by the composer and evokes the mood of these sensual, “satyrical” poems perfectly. I picture the Narnia of C.S. Lewis, first in spring, then in winter, fauns, satyrs, and nymphs all around.

*Louÿs presented his original poetry as though it were translations of ancient Greek poems written by Bilitis, though she actually is a fictional character he created for the project.

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William Bolcom (b. 1938) is a National Medal of Arts winner as well as a multiple Grammy award winner. He retired from teaching in 2008 after serving as Professor of Composition at the University of Michigan for 35 years. An accomplished pianist, he has performed and recorded extensively with his wife Joan Morris. He has written songs as well as orchestral works and operas that have been premiered all over the world. The Cabaret Songs hearken back to the day when Bolcom played for vaudeville shows and are, as a group, a cabaret in and of themselves. Set to poems by Arnold Weinstein, a frequent collaborator with Bolcom, enjoy these three selections!

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Tuesday Serenade, March 4, 2014 @ 7pm

Music Students from 

Douglas Anderson Schools of the Arts 

Vera Watson, faculty coordinator 

 

Douglas Anderson School of the Arts is a Duval County Public School for students grades 9 through 12 with a desire for intensive study in the arts. Established as an arts school in 1985, the school attracts students from all parts of North Florida and South Georgia who have talent in dance, instrumental or vocal music, performance or technical theater, film and video production, creative writing, and visual arts. A high academic standard, coupled with broad arts curriculum, offers students an opportunity to excel in a chosen discipline while preparing them for post-secondary education.

Douglas Anderson's Piano Program
In 2000 DA’s Piano program was recognized as the best music program in Northeast Florida and was awarded the Jacksonville Symphony Association’s Harmony Grant. The Piano Department offers serious young pianists a unique opportunity to be in an intensive and varied program and to work with internationally acclaimed guest artists.

Vera Watson has been Chair of the Piano Department at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts since 1999. She holds National Certification in piano from the Music Teachers National Association and a Florida Professional Educator’s Certificate. Under her leadership the DA piano program was recognized as the best music program in Northeast Florida by the Jacksonville Symphony Guild in 2001, for which Douglas Anderson received the Harmony Grant. In 2003, Ms. Watson received the Surdna Foundation Grant in New York City, in recognition of her achievements among the best arts teachers in the United States. In 2010, Friday Musicale presented Vera Watson with the Carolyn Day Pfohl Music Educator Award for Outstanding Achievements. She is especially proud of her many students who have been accepted into prestigious music conservatories, and have become successful artists.

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PROGRAM NOTES (Alphabetical order by composer) - UNDER CONSTRUCTION - Please check back!

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ALEXANDER : Tango à la Mango [SCORE EXCERPT] [RECORDING - click on the title under the cover illustration]

Dennis Alexander is one of America's most prolific and popular composers of educational piano music for students at all levels. Professor Alexander taught at the University of Montana, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge, and currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he maintains an active composing and touring schedule. Tango à la Mango is from A Splash of Color, Book 3, which he describes as "Romantic and Contemporary Piano Solos Designed to Enhance an Awareness of Imagery in Performance."

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JAXCAT entries for Ludwig van Beethoven

BEETHOVEN: Presto (1st Movement), from Piano Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3
[SCORE] [RECORDING]

 The Transcendent German-born composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) began his compositional career essentially imitating the styles and forms he inherited from Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) and W.A Mozart (1756-1791), but during his "middle" period (ca. 1803-1815) Beethoven expanded and personalized this inheritance, creating works that have come to represent the culmination of the Classical style in much the same way that the works of J.S. Bach (1685-1750) represent the culmination of the Baroque. During Beethoven's "late" period (ca. 1815-1827), he discovered new paths toward still more personal, even intimate, musical expression, and, despite the gradual and eventually total degeneration of his hearing, he forged the way beyond the Classical tradition into the Romantic. Even though  his Piano Sonata No. 7, Op. 10, No. 3, composed in 1798, is still grouped with his "Early" works, Beethoven already had begun experimenting with new formal procedures, building upon what he had learned from the models Haydn had provided.

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CHOPIN:

JAXCAT entries for Frederic Chopin

Nocturne in C# minor, Op. posth. [SCORE] [RECORDING]
Nocturne in D-flat, Op. 27, No. 2  [SCORE] [RECORDING]

The Polish-born pianist Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) was the first composer to make full use of the expressive qualities and coloristic potential of the piano when it was a still-developing keyboard instrument, and he rightly has been called the "Poet of the Piano." Much of all piano music by subsequent composers shows his influence, and his revolutionary use of chromatic harmonies and unusual key relationships profoundly influenced composers of symphonic music and operas as well, such as Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner--thus Chopin's importance in the development of the "Romantic" style in general cannot be overestimated.

Influenced greatly by the piano works with the same title by Irish composer John Field, Chopin's 21 Nocturnes remain among his most popular pieces. These "night pieces" are typically characterized by singing melodies somewhat reminiscent of bel canto opera arias, with accompaniments characterized by arpeggios and broken chords.

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JAXCAT entries for Claude Debussy

DEBUSSY : Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum [SCORE] {RECORDING]
Arabesque No.1 [SCORE] {RECORDING]

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was a quintessentially French composer, pianist and music critic whose own revolutionary music ushered in many of the stylistic changes of the 20th Century. Debussy is universally identified as the chief proponent of musical “Impressionism,” but he did not approve of that label and the associations he felt it harbored. But since his death the term, as applied to music, has been redefined almost exclusively around the characteristics of some of Debussy's most famous pieces, such as Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and La mer ("The Sea"), so whatever negative connotations "Impressionism" once may have had have since evaporated. Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum is the first of six movements in Debussy's piano suite, Children's Corner, which was dedicated to the composer's daughter in 1908. The title "Gradus ad Parnassum" refers less to the famous book of counterpoint instruction by Johann Joseph Fux, and more to a collection of piano exercises by Muzio Clementi with the same title. Debussy's early Arabesque No. 1 (Andantino con moto) is the first of Deux Arabesques, composed between 1888-91. The arching curves of the two pieces provide an aural evocation of the visual curlicues typical of the Art Nouveau movement that helps define the end of the 19th Century.

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JAXCAT entries for Joseph Haydn

HAYDN : First Movements from Sonata in D Major & Sonata in C major

Genial Austrian composer (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) is the musician most credited with establishing the “Classical” style that his two younger contemporaries Mozart and Beethoven built upon.  By the time of his death "Papa" Haydn had become the most widely celebrated composer in Europe. Haydn started out as a choirboy and never developed into a keyboard virtuoso, so his 52-62 keyboard Sonatas (depending on who's counting) were mostly composed in the early part of his career for the instruction and amusement of his noble patrons.

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JAXCAT entries for W.A. Mozart

MOZART : Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545. II. Andante [SCORE] [RECORDING]


Wolfagang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), unquestionably one of the greatest composers in history, began his career touring Europe as a six-year-old piano prodigy, and he absorbed and mastered all the musical trends he was exposed to along the way. Mozart’s graceful and charming Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545, is likely the one that first comes to mind when his 18 works in the genre are mentioned. Despite its present-day popularity, the Sonata, dating from 1788, remained unpublished while Mozart was alive, not appearing in print until 1805.

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JAXCAT entries for Sergei Rachmaninoff

RACHMANINOFF : Moment musicaux Op. 16, No. 4, Presto [SCORE] [RECORDING]

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was a Russian composer and conductor, and one of the greatest pianists of all time. Although of the 20th Century, Rachmaninoff's music remained firmly rooted in 19th-Century Russian Romanticism. For a time some post-War critics foolishly dismissed him as old-fashioned, but the lush harmonies and sweeping melodies that characterize his music assure it a continuing place in the world’s concert halls. Astonishingly, Rachmaninoff had what might be called a "phonographic" memory in that upon hearing virtually any piece he could play it back at the piano, even years later—and if he liked the piece it would sound like a polished performance! Rachmaninoff was only 23 when he wrote the 6 concert pieces grouped as his opus 16, entitled Moments musicaux (Musical Moments).  No. 4, Presto, is the most bravura piece in the set, and with its torrential flood of notes it seems to pay homage to Chopin's famous "Revolutionary" Etude.

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JAXCAT entries for Domenico Scarlatti

SCARLATTI : Sonata in D minor L.422 [SCORE (go to p. 5)] [RECORDING]

In the beginning of his career Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) concentrated mostly on vocal music, following in the footsteps of his famous father, Alessandro. But in 1719 Domenico resigned his position in the Vatican, and moved first to Portugal in 1720, as music master to the Portuguese royal family, and then to Spain in 1729, following one of the Portuguese princesses after she married. It was after he left Italy that he began to concentrate more on keyboard music, and it is for his 555 one-movement keyboard sonatas that he now is most remembered. The toccata-like Sonata in D minor (L. 422) is regarded as one of his finest compositions, and it is meant to imitate the mandolin in its use of rapidly-repeated notes.

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Tuesday Serenade, February 4, 2014 @ 7pm

Julian Toha, piano : Immersion

UNDER CONSTRUCTION - Please check back!

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 4, Jacksonville Public Library will host Immersion, a free concert event featuring pianist and multimedia performance artist Julian Toha.

Currently engaged in a 30-city concert tour throughout the United States, Toha is known for his passionate performances and innovative concert design. His Immersion is a through-composed performance piece which combines music with dance, poetry and the visual arts.

Immersion will be held in the Main Library’s Hicks Auditorium, at 303 Laura Street North.



Since Toha’s Infinite Potential Tour 2012, he has emerged as one of the industry’s leading innovators. Composed of over 45 concerts and engagements from Miami to New York City, Toha’s 8 week Infinite Potential Tour 2012 showcased an original 3D film, marking the first-ever use of 3D film in live classical music performance. In addition to his 3D production Stereoscopic Impressions,  the concert featured four more ground-breaking works: Insomniac, Project Easel, Elements, and Law of Attraction; including world premieres of Elements by American composer John Callahan and Search for Your Google by South Korean composer Chorong Park.

Following premieres with the Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra and the Florida State University Philharmonia in February 2009, Toha cultivated a growing career allowing him to share his communicative performances with audiences everywhere. In summer 2009, Toha brought his passion for music to Europe playing debut concerts in Italy, Spain, France and Germany. Then Toha debuted in Los Angeles in June 2010 under maestro Frank Fetta and the Culver City Symphony Orchestra. In spring 2011, Toha embarked on his first major concert tour, American Tour 2011, consisting of 24 concerts and engagements across the United States including a performance with the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra under maestro Jeffrey Rink. Recently, in London’s National Gallery of Art, Toha performed a solo concert while discussing the relationships of the compositions with several of the masterpieces on the surrounding walls of the museum. In August 2012, Toha performed concerts on the Greek island of Poros.

A recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, Toha’s most prestigious was earning the title of National Presser Scholar 2009. Under the tutelage of Professor Leonard Mastrogiacomo, Toha graduated in May 2010 with a Bachelors of Music in Piano Performance from Florida State University. Prior to FSU, he studied with pedagogue Sue Colvert. Toha now resides in London studying piano at the Royal College of Music with Professor Ian Jones.

Tuesday Serenade, January 7, 2014 @ 7pm

 Min Young Cho, violin & Eun Mi Lee, Piano

Franz Schubert 
   Sonatina for Piano and Violin Op. post.137, No.1, D. 384
     Allegro molto - Andante - Allegro vivace
     [recording/scores at imslp.org]

Josef Suk 
   Appassionato Op.17, No.2 
   Burleska Op.17, No.4 
   [scores at imslp.org]

Felix Mendelssohn 
   Sonata in F major for Violin and Piano (1838)
     Allegro vivace - Adagio - Allegro vivace
     [click links for YouTube performances]

Dr. Min Young Cho is a native of Seoul, Korea, and she has performed with many orchestras in her homeland, including the Korean-American Youth Orchestra, Gwacheon Youth Orchestra, Seoul National Symphony Orchestra, Korean Philharmonic Orchestra and Gangneung Philharmonic Orchestra. Her talent as an ensemble player remains much in demand, and she often serves as concertmaster or assistant concertmaster for many of the orchestras she plays with. She regularly performs with a number of chamber and symphony orchestras in North Florida, including Tallahassee Bach Parley, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Gulf Coast, as well as with the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra and Panama City Pops Orchestra. As a guest solo artist, other recital engagements have included appearances at Chipola College (Marianna, Florida) and Valdosta State University (Valdosta, Georgia), and for Jacksonville Public  Library's December 2012 Promenade! concert she performed in a trio recital.

As a winner of the American Fine Arts Festival, Dr. Cho performed at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), and also was awarded an AFAF Summer Music Courses in Europe scholarship. Other competition wins include the Korea Music Competition, the Chungbu Conservatory Competition, and the Music World Newspaper Company’s Competition. Dr. Cho received her Bachelor of Music degree from Dankook University in Korea, and both her master's and doctoral degrees from Florida State University, where she also has taught as a Graduate Assistant. Her principal teachers have included Corinne Stillwell, Karen Clarke and Daesik Kang.

In her native South Korea, Eun Mi Lee received a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano from Ewha Women’s University, and a Master of Music degree in Piano Accompanying on scholarship at Sungshin Women’s University.  In 2007, Ms. Lee was accepted into the Master’s program at Florida State University's College of Music, working closely with Valerie M. Trujillo, the Grammy-nominated associate professor of vocal coaching and accompanying.  Eun Mi Lee is continuing her post-graduate studies at FSU, where she is a doctoral candidate.

A passionate accompanist and teacher, she began working with faculty artists and student performers at Baekseok Conservatory, Muyngji University, and University of Seoul, and she has been a member of Korea Collaborative Pianists Association since 2002. Much in demand as a collaborative artist, Ms. Lee has pursued an interest in performing new music, and recorded Soo Jin Cho's 2-piano work, Exodus, released by the Society of Composers, Inc., in March 2010, on an album entitled Mosaic.

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JAXCAT entries for Franz Schubert

In addition to numerous symphonies, chamber works, masses, and solo piano music, the Austrian composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) composed over 600 songs in his short life, and he has remained unsurpassed in the ability to marry poetry with music. Even Beethoven, who apparently never met the younger composer, touted Schubert's genius when he was given some of Schubert's songs shortly before his death. Although Schubert was virtually unknown to the general public, his music was regularly performed in private concerts for Vienna’s musical elite, and by 1825 he was in negotiations with four different publishers. But the bulk of Schubert's masterworks remained unpublished at the time of his death, so he generally had had to depend on his devoted circle of friends to help maintain his finances. After Schubert died, probably from medicinal mercury poisoning, his wish to be buried next to Beethoven, who had died just the previous year, was honored.

Austrian musicologist Otto Erich Deutsch (1883-1967) prepared a chronological thematic catalog of Schubert's total output, which now includes 998 pieces altogether. Considering the generous bulk of Schubert's oeuvre, it is surprising that only eight of the nearly 1,000 works are for a solo instrument with piano. Of the six duos from among these that are for violin and piano, four are sonatas, and, given Schubert's proficiency on the violin as well as piano, they are perfectly idiomatic to the forces at hand. In 1836, Diabelli issued the first three sonatas, all composed in March and April 1816, renaming them Sonatinas, Op. 137, probably to better whet the growing appetites of amateur players.

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JAXCAT entries for Josef Suk

Josef Suk (1874-1935) was a Czech composer and violinist who began his music studies with his father. Suk entered the Prague Conservatory at age 11, where his teachers included Antonin Dvořák, who provided the greatest influence on Suk's early, nationalistic style. Dvořák considered Suk his best student, and in addition to becoming friends, Dvořák also became Suk's father-in-law in 1898. Suk's compositional style became more cosmopolitan during the last few years of the 19th Century, and even more so following Dvořák's death in 1904, and the death of Suk's wife, Otilie, in 1905. Now known as a chief representative of Czech Modernism, Suk became a professor of composition at the Prague Conservatory in 1922, where he served as head from 1924-1926, and again from 1933-1935.

Suk also enjoyed a career as 2nd Violinist with the internationally-famous Czech Quartet for four decades, so it is surprising that he wrote relatively little chamber music. Considered Suk's first mature chamber composition, his set, Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 17, dates from 1900. In addition to the Appassionato (No.2) and Burleska (No.4), the other pieces are Quasi Ballata (No. 1) and Un poco triste (No. 3). Except for a brief Minuet (1919), Suk wrote no other music specifically for his own instrument and piano.

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JAXCAT entries for Felix Mendelssohn

The prodigious musical talents of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) rivaled those of Mozart, and like Mozart, Mendelssohn did not live to see his 40th birthday. But his affluent German family provided young Felix with an intellectually stimulating and stable environment, and protected him from the childhood exploitation that Mozart endured. At sixteen, Mendelssohn produced his first masterwork, the Octet for Strings, Op. 20, and the following year saw the completion of the brilliant A Midsummer Night’s Dream concert overture. In terms of achieving his musical maturity, Mendelssohn surpassed even Mozart. He grew into a superstar composer, pianist, organist and conductor, and he also founded Germany's first conservatory, located in Leipzig.

The first two of Mendelssohn‘s three sonatas for violin and piano were composed at ages 11 and 16 respectively. The Sonata in F minor dates from 1838 and is a work of his maturity, but it was never submitted for publication by the composer, nor does it appear to have been performed prior to its rediscovery by British virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin in the early 1950s. This has caused some to ponder why Mendelssohn might have “rejected” so fine a work, but it is much more likely that the composer simply never found time to revise the Sonata to his full satisfaction. Unlike so many composers, Mendelssohn did not depend on the publication of his works for income, so he had the luxury of taking as much time as he wanted to refine various details—e.g., even though Mendelssohn first conducted his ever-popular “Italian” Symphony (No. 4) in 1833, he still was withholding it from publication at the time of his death 14 years later! 

Tuesday Serenade, December 3, 2013 @ 7pm

Dr. Boyan Bonev, cello 

Please join us on Tuesday, December 3, at 7 p.m., when Jacksonville Public Library will host a free recital featuring cellist Boyan Bonev, a faculty artist from the University of West Florida.  Making his fifth Music @ Main appearance, Dr. Bonev will perform virtuoso works for unaccompanied cello by J.S. Bach, Dimitar Tapkoff, Georg Philipp Telemann, and Petar Christoskov.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

     Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009

     Prelude - Allemande - Courante - Sarabande - Bourree  I & II - Gigue [YouTube performance][Score at imslp.org]

Dimitar Tapkoff (1929-2011)

     Sonata for Solo Cello (1990)

     Allegro - Cantabile - Rondo 

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)

     Sonata in D Major, for unaccompanied Viola da Gamba, TWV 40:1 (from Der getreue Musikmeister, 1728)

     Prelude - Courante - Recitativo and Aria - Minuet [DailyMotion performance][Score at imslp.org]

Petar Christoskov [aka Hristoskov] (1917-2006)

     Aria for Solo Cello (1999)

     Fantasia, op. 15 [YouTube Performance]

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Award-winning Bulgarian cellist Boyan Bonev teaches cello and double bass at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, and previously taught in Georgia at Albany State University and Darton College.  Dr. Bonev is on the faculty of the Florida State University Summer Music Camps, and performs with the Tallahassee, Pensacola, Mobile, Florida Lakes, and Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestras.  Active as a solo and chamber musician, Boyan Bonev has appeared in concert and educational programs for Bulgarian National Television and Radio, in performance at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), and as soloist with orchestras in the United States and Europe.

Dr. Bonev holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Florida State University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the National Music Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria.

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PROGRAM NOTES 

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Once dismissed by many of his contemporaries as being too old-fashioned, the works of the great German Baroque master Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) probably have been studied more than those of any other composer, making him perhaps the most influential musician of all time. Among works written for unaccompanied cello there is no doubt that Bach’s six Suites are the best known. Current research suggests that they were composed between 1717-1723, while Bach was Kapellmeister in the court of Prince Leopold (1694-1728) at Cöthen. Bach’s own manuscripts of the Cello Suites have never been found, but it is believed that they predate his well-known Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, which were written in 1720. All six of the Cello Suites follow a standard six-movement pattern, but with the fifth movement dance types varying among minuets (in Suites 1, and 2) bourrées (in 3 and 4), and gavottes (in 5 and 6).   For his Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009, Bach takes full advantage of the Cello's sonorous open strings (C-G-D-A), weaving a rich tapestry from the stylized, dancing rhythms.

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Among numerous cultural positions, Bulgarian composer and pedagogue Dimitar Tapkoff (aka Tapkov and Tupkov,1929-2011) worked for Bulgarian National Radio, was Secretary General of the Union of Bulgarian Composers, and was Director of Sofia Opera. He was a professor at his alma mater, Bulgaria's State Academy of Music, and also taught at the Academy of Music and Dance Art. His compositional output includes works for symphony and string orchestra, chamber music, choral music, and music for the stage. Tapkoff's Sonata for Solo Cello (1990) was given as a 60th birthday gift to Bulgarian cellist Zdravko Yordanov (1931-2004). (Yordanov is regarded as the patriarch of the Bulgarian cello school, whose students included Boyan Bonev's teacher at Florida State, Lubomir Georgiev; Dr. Bonev himself had the privilege of knowing Yordanov while at the conservatory in Sofia.) Tapkoff's relatively short movements (2-3 minutes each) demonstrate the composer's capacity for lyric expression mixed with rhythmic vigor. Although the composer uses the highly-charged chromaticism typical of many composers of his generation, he also finds inspiration in Bulgarian folksong. This is especially evident in the concluding Rondo, with irregular rhythms reminiscent of Bulgarian folk dances.

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Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific composer in history, with over 3,000 pieces including 1000+ church cantatas and 600+ suites, plus numerous operas (many now lost) and virtually every sort of composition there was.  He became the most famous musician in Germany, and his popularity extended throughout Europe. By all accounts the generous and affable Telemann was a man of great humor, and a personal friend of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) and J.S. Bach (1685-1750), even becoming godfather to C.P.E. Bach (1714-1788), one of  J.S.'s famous sons.  Largely self-taught, Telemann played a wide variety of keyboard, wind, and string instruments, and was involved in publishing as well, issuing both his own poetry and music. Between November 1728 and November 1729, he published a bi-weekly periodical called Der Getreue Music-Meister (The Faithful Music Master).  The 35 lessons were designed to provide amateur musicians with new pieces while improving their skills, and each issue included one large-scale piece for 1-6 instruments, plus, as space permitted, smaller pieces and counterpoint exercises. Telemann composed most, but not all, of the music himself, and mostly tailored the chamber music to skill levels of non-professional musicians.  But several of the pieces, especially those for solo harpsichord or solo string instruments, require more advanced technical skills, and among these is the Sonata in D Major, for unaccompanied Viola da Gamba, TWV 40:1. (The viola da gamba is an archaic, bowed instrument that looks vaguely like a cello, but with six strings and frets similar to those on a guitar; modern performances of gamba music are frequently performed on the cello.)

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Petar Christoskov [aka Hristoskov] (1917-2006) was a Bulgarian violinist, composer and pedagogue. Having completed studies at the Bulgarian State Academy of Music in 1936, between 1940-1943 he continued is education in Berlin, and extended his performance experience in Germany and Austria. After moving back to Bulgaria, he toured Europe and Asia, and in 1950 he joined the faculty of the State Academy of Music. Christokov's orchestral works include solo concertos for piano, violin, and cello; a double concerto for violin and cello; and a triple concerto for violin, cello and piano. Most of his chamber music is for the violin, but he also wrote Improvisation and Presto for viola and piano, op.14, and the two works for unaccompanied cello performed this evening. Christoskov's Aria for Solo Cello was composed in 1999, and like the Tapkoff Sonata, it is dedicated to Bulgarian cellist Anatoli Krastev.  The Fantasia, Op. 15, dates from 1967.

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Tuesday Serenade, November 5, 2013 @ 7pm

Jacksonville University Singers

Dr. Timothy Snyder, director
Edith Moore-Hubert, collaborative pianist
Jeremy McKinnies, assistant conductor

PROGRAM GUIDE (PDF)