|
among friends
Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra
8 Andante et Scherzo-Valse [7:43]
Sonata for Trombone and Piano
14 Allegro Maestoso [6:50]
16 Allegro Giocoso [6:22]
Jean Baptiste Loeillet (1688-c.1720), a native of Ghent, in what is now Belgium, is known exclusively for his woodwind sonatas, 48 of which, for recorder and continuo, were published in four sets of 12 between 1710 and 1716. The present work, which opens the second set, follows the four-movement (slow-fast-slow-fast) structure that had become the norm after the publication of the epoch-making sonatas by Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713). The slow movements are instrumental arias full of expressive leaps. The first Allegro (movement 2) contains many sixteenth-note passages; the last movement is a spirited Giga (Gigue). This is remarkable because Gigues are usually found at the end of suites (dance sequences also known as sonate da camera or “chamber sonatas”), not in a sonata da chiesa or “church sonata” whose other movements are not dances.
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) wrote more than twenty works in 1849, his most productive year. Among other things, he created a series of compositions for instruments whose solo literature was not very extensive. Although he did not get as far as the trombone, he wrote a set of Fantasy Pieces for clarinet, Adagio and Allegro for French horn, and Three Romances for oboe. In each of these cases he indicated alternate instruments that could be used, such as violin, cello, or clarinet. Performing these melodious and haunting Romances on trombone can certainly be seen as a natural extension of what Schumann himself was encouraging musicians to do.
Henri Tomasi (1901-1971) wrote one of the first trombone concertos in the 20th century to gain a permanent place in the repertoire. Tomasi, a classically trained composer born in Marseilles, France, worked in many genres, yet he is best remembered for his contributions to the brass literature. The trombone's coming of age as a solo instrument had a lot to do with jazz, where the instrument had been used soloistically at least since the 1920s. Therefore it is not surprising that Tomasi's concerto opens with a solo cadenza containing what seems a direct reference to “I'm Getting Sentimental Over You” (by George Bassman and Ned Washington). After all, it is the song jazz trombonist Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956) had chosen as the theme song for the radio broadcasts of his band, which was one of the greatest of the “swing” era. In the concerto for trombone, the near-quote of the opening sets the tone for a work that freely mixes jazz-derived motifs with typically French harmonies. The concerto follows the usual three-movement form, but the movements have characteristic subtitles. The first movement merges a lyrical Andante with a zesty Scherzo in waltz time, with a hint of the languid Andante returning at the end. The second movement begins as a long, drawn-out trombone melody over an unchanging ostinato accompaniment. The melody accelerates, intensifies, and finally melts into a blues section, where we again recognize the pitches of the opening jazz song allusion, although the rhythm is different. The movement, in whose various sections the soloist alternates between playing with and without mute, ends with a recollection of its opening melody. In the last movement, marked “Tambourin,” the rhythmic element predominates, even though a singing legato melody is consistently opposed to the rhythmic ostinatos. The first entrance of the soloist once again elaborates on the five-note motif that is at the core of the opening cadenza, although the melodic identity is becoming a little more disguised. Yet in one way or another, the motif continues to predominate proceedings until the end of the work.
Barney Childs (b. 1926) has written well over a hundred compositions for a variety of performing forces ranging from solo instruments to large orchestra, and has taught for many years at the University of Redlands in California. His Sonata for Unaccompanied Trombone dates from 1962. The work is based on a sustained contrast between freedom and fixed patterns: some passages are precisely notated while in others, the order of the notes is left to the performer's discretion. The first movement (“Recitative”) is improvisatory in character. In the second (“Double”), which employs quarter-tones as melodic steps, a continuous rhythmic motion gradually evolves from a more hesitant beginning. The third-movement Rondo contains an interesting formal experiment. For each occurrence of the rondo theme and for each episode, the performer may choose from three or four different segments that are rhythmically similar or identical but different in melody. This allows for a very large number of combinations in performance, virtually ensuring that no two renderings of the work will ever be the same.
Eric Ewazen (b. 1954), a composer teaching at the Juilliard Music School in New York, has written prolifically for brass instruments. After early works written in a more experimental vein, he more recently adopted a more traditional approach, embracing tonality and a rhythmic style based on symmetrical configuration. The three movements of Ewazen's Sonata for Trombone and Piano, written in 1992, follow the classic fast-slow-fast format. The melodic material emphasizes the intervals characteristic of the five-note pentatonic scale, but the harmonies draw upon a wider tonal vocabulary, freely and playfully skipping from key to key. The sonata has been performed by many trombonists around the country and has always met with great success by virtue of its melodic richness and idiomatic instrumental writing.
program notes by Peter Laki
Steve Witser has served as Assistant Principal Trombone of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1989, and is a member of the highly acclaimed Center City Brass Quintet. He received his Bachelor of Music degree and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in 1981. That same year he was a prize winner in the Munich International Solo Competition. In 1988, Mr. Witser returned to Europe and won second prize in the Geneva International Competition for Musical Performers. His teachers include John Marcellus, Ned Meredith, Mitch Ross, and Dan Livesay. Mr. Witser has served as Principal Trombone with the Music of the Baroque Ensemble in Chicago, the Honolulu Symphony, the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and the Phoenix Symphony. A faculty member of the Cleveland Institute of Music since 1993, he has also taught at the Eastman School of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory. Mr. Witser can be heard on the Center City Brass recordings Brass Quintets and Street Song and on the High Anxiety Bones' trombone quartet recent release, also on Albany Records. Steve Witser is a UMI artist.
Kathryn Brown performs regularly as solo pianist, chamber musician and singer. As pianist, Ms. Brown has appeared in recital at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, and on the Columbia Artists' Community Concerts series. She has also been featured in Chicago's Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts series. She was one of only five Americans invited to compete in the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and was first-prize winner of the San Antonio International Keyboard Competition. Ms. Brown was chosen as winner of the Pro Piano Competition and performed her New York Solo Debut Recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Pianist and co-founder of the Myriad Chamber Players, (a seventeen-member ensemble comprised of musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra and international soloists), Ms. Brown's chamber music credits also include performances at the Marlboro Music Festival in collaborations with members of the Guarneri String Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio. She performed with Dmitri Ashkenazy on Ravinia's Rising Stars series and teamed up with violinist Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio in a tour of Estonia, Sweden, and Africa as winners of the USIA Artistic Ambassadors Competition. Kathryn Brown appeared in recital at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC as a member of The Verdehr Trio and has been featured on the British Broadcasting Network, the PBS Artistry of... series, Chicago's WFMT Radio, and NPR's Performance Today. An accomplished singer, Ms. Brown is a frequent recitalist who has appeared in a title role at the Aspen Music Festival and has performed in the Phyllis Curtin Seminar at Tanglewood. Kathryn Brown is currently on the piano faculty and is a vocal coach at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Rip Jackson is a DMA candidate in Historical Performance Practice at Case Western Reserve University, studying harpsichord under Lisa Goode Crawford. He was awarded the Bachelor of Music in music history with an emphasis in piano performance cum laude from the Florida State University in Tallahasse, and the Master of Music in organ performance from Emory University in Atlanta. He studied and performed in the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin College. Cleveland audiences have seen him perform regularly with the chamber ensemble The Cleveland Camerata. In 1994 he composed original music for the Working Theatre's production of The Mysteries: The Passion. Mr. Jackson holds the position of Director of Music and Arts at Valley Presbyterian Church in Bainbridge, Ohio, where he has directed fully-staged productions of Godspell, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Jesus Christ Superstar. Mr. Jackson also conducts, from the harpsichord, the CWRU Baroque Orchestra, a student period-instrument ensemble.
Marta Jasberg earned her Bachelor of Arts in music at Stanford University where she was a student of Margaret Rowell and Bonnie Hampton. She has been a member of the Honolulu Symphony, the Arizona Opera Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. Ms. Jasberg currently performs with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra and the Cleveland Opera.
My wife Marta for her guidance and constant, sustaining love;
Kathryn for her laughter and great musicianship;
John for his incredible insight and wisdom (I would not have done it without you);
Dr. Fudge for making me what I am;
“Lovely Boy” for facilitating everything;
and Fish for his friendship and great ideas.
Most of all, thanks to M and D who made all of this possible.
Michael Schulze, recording engineer (L)
and John Lofton, producer (R)
Produced by John Lofton and Steve Witser
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Michael Schulze
Assistant producer, Gary Adams
Cover photography, Roger Mastroianni
Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra
8 Andante et Scherzo-Valse [7:43]
Sonata for Trombone and Piano
14 Allegro Maestoso [6:50]
16 Allegro Giocoso [6:22]
|
