|
Ragtimes & Serenades
DePaul Wind Ensemble
Donald DeRoche, conductor
Willem van Otterloo
Serenade for Brass & Percussion
George Perle
Concertino for Piano, Winds & Timpani
Mary Sauer, piano
Ned Rorem
Sinfonia
Thom Ritter-George
Concerto for Flute
Mary Stolper, flute
Hans Werner Henze
Ragtimes & Habaneras
The 20th century was an amazing time in the development of repertoire for winds. An astonishing number of pieces were written to support a variety of wind organizations from community bands to school bands to serious professional wind groups. With so many pieces being produced, it has been easy for us to forget about some of the really valuable music written for us. It is in the spirit of preserving some of these works that we offer this recording of sometimes forgotten, but interesting works.
Conductor and composer, (Jan) Willem van Otterloo (1907-1978) was born at Winterswijk, Netherlands and died at Melbourne, Australia. After studying medicine for a time, he went to the Amsterdam Conservatory where he studied cello under Orobio da Castro and composition with Sem Dresden. He was a young cellist with the Utrecht Municipal Orchestra, when his Suite No.3 won a composition prize given by the Concertgebouw Orchestra. The first performance of his Suite resulted in a conducting debut with the Concertgebouw, and subsequent conducting positions in Utrecht. He was engaged as conductor of the Hague Resedentie Orchestra in 1949, the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra in 1972, and as general music director in Dusseldorf in 1974. In addition to his Serenade which appears on this recording, he composed a Symphonietta for sixteen woodwinds and horns.
The Serenade is loosely based on the wind serenades of the 18th and 19th centuries and consists of four movements—Marsch, Nocturne, Scherzo and Hymne. As the titles suggest, this music is meant to be accessible to the listener and appropriate for concert as well as occasional performances. The music, written in 1944, is in a post romantic style and runs the gamut from charming to brilliant to reflective.
George Perle (1915-), has been celebrated as both a composer and theorist of extraordinary accomplishments. He is a favorite son of the DePaul School of Music, where he earned his BA in 1938. His studies included composition with Wesley La Violette and Ernst Krenek, and a PhD from New York University in 1956. He has served on the faculties of the University of Louisville, the University of California at Davis, and Queens College in New York, in addition to serving as visiting professor at several other schools between 1965 and 1995. As a composer he won the Pulitzer Prize in music (for Wind Quintet No.4), the MacArthur Fellowship (1986) and two Guggenheim Fellowships (1966, 1974). As a theorist he received the Otto Kinkeldey Award of the American Musicological Society and the Deems Taylor Award for his book, The Operas of Alban Berg (1980).
Although Perle was among the first American composers to seriously consider the music and theoretical ideas of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern, his music is less concerned with being 12-tone than with reflecting a systematized approach to dodecaphonic composition. While his music is certainly of his time, it is nonetheless conservative and logical, often reminding us of earlier simpler forms. In addition to the Concertino for Piano, Winds, and Timpani heard here, he has written a Serenade for Viola with chamber winds that is very much in the character of an 18th century serenade.
The Concertino for Piano, Winds, and Timpani was composed between 24 September 1978 and 20 February 1979 on a commission from the Fromm Music Foundation. It was premiered in Chicago in April 1979 with Ralph Shapey conducting and Morey Ritt as the piano soloist. In addition to the solo piano, the Concertino calls for two flutes, two oboes (second doubling English horn), two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, two trombones, and timpani.
Ned Rorem, (1923-) grew up in Chicago as a gifted and somewhat unsettled young man with an avid interest in the music of the early 20th century. He studied briefly at Northwestern University and the Curtis Institute, served as secretary and copyist to Virgil Thompson, spent two summers at Tanglewood, and finally completed his musical training at Juilliard in 1949. Next he traveled to Paris to study with Honegger, visited Morocco and returned to Paris where he gained acceptance into the literary and musical circle of Cocteau, Auric and Poulenc. He returned to New York in 1958 and quickly gained attention both as a composer and writer, particularly for his diaries. These popular diaries include his observations on culture, music, his personal life and the lives of other people. In addition he completed essays on pop culture and music criticisms that are direct, elegant and insightful. Rorem won the Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his orchestral suite, Air Music, but it is really for his more than 400 songs that he is best known.
The Sinfonia was written as the first commission for the American Wind Symphony Orchestra and its conductor, Robert Boudreau. It is cast in four brief sections, two of which are lyrical and reflective, and two of which are full of energy. The work is short, but possesses both charm and wit.
Thom Ritter George (1942-) discovered his great interest in music, particularly composition and orchestral conducting, as a boy growing up in Detroit, Michigan. He wrote his first composition when he was ten years old and conducted his first orchestral concert at the age of 17. During his high school years, he was a composition student of Harold Laudenslager, a pupil of Paul Hindemith.
Dr. George earned Bachelor's (1964) and Master's (1968) degrees from the Eastman School, followed by an appointment as Composer/Arranger for the United State Navy Band in Washington, D.C. After completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Catholic University of America in 1970, he was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra (Quincy, Illinois). He moved to Idaho in 1983 to become Music Director of the Idaho State Civic Symphony and Professor of Music in Idaho State University's Department of Music, where he continues to serve.
The Concerto For Flute was written in early 1966 on commission from the music publisher, P. Litchard Toland. Mr. Toland requested two special features for the new work. The first was that the solo part should be written with optional scoring for piccolo in certain passages. Adah Toland, the publisher's daughter, was a young player who liked to alternate flute and piccolo.
Mr. Toland's second request was that there should be three versions of the accompaniment - orchestra, piano, and wind ensemble. In his role as Orchestra Librarian for the Eastman School of Music, he had seen many situations where accompaniment alternatives were needed. From the composer's viewpoint, it is certainly possible to provide three idiomatic accompaniments provided that desire was known before composition started.
The Concerto For Flute is in three movements and follows the classic fast-slow-fast tempo arrangement. The first movement is a lilting pastorale. The second movement is an introspective song built on an expressive melody for the solo flute, and the third movement has a virtuoso character which brings the score to a brilliant close .
Hans Werner Henze (1926- ) is a German composer best known for his operas, ballets and other stage works. His compositional style has varied a great deal throughout his life, reflecting elements of Neo-Romanticism, twelve tone style, revolutionary commentary, and popular styles. Influences of Kurt Weill, Hindemith, Stravinsky and Bartók are all evident in his work.
Ragtimes and Habaneras was originally written for brass band and was rescored for wind orchestra by his pupil Marcel Wengler. The work consists of eleven short dance movements reminiscent of ragtime dances like the Charleston and the Foxtrot, and Latin American dances such as the Tango, Son and Rumba. The final movement is a kind of cross between a ragtime and a march. While the harmonic materials are modern and each form a kind of short parody, the music is full of humor and fun.
Mary Stolper is a frequent soloist and chamber performer who regularly makes guest appearances throughout the United States and Europe. She toured the former East Germany with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra and received excellent critical reviews for her performance of the Nielsen Flute Concerto. With the world-renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has made nine European tours under Maestros Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim. Ms. Stolper performed with the Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra in Vienna as soloist in Bernstein's Halil for solo flute and strings. Also with the Sinfonietta, she performed the U.S. Midwest premiere of the Concerto for Flute by Joan Tower. While in Prague soloing with the Czech National Symphony, she recorded her second CD entitled “American Flute Concertos.” Most recently she has performed Voices for Flautist and Orchestra by Shulamit Ran.
In addition to her many solo and chamber engagements, Ms. Stolper serves as Principal Flutist of the Grant Park Symphony and Concertanti di Chicago Orchestra. She is also solo flutist for the Chicago Opera Theater and the new music ensemble, Fulcrum Point. As an active studio musician, she has played for hundreds of TV and radio commercials.
Ms. Stolper is dedicated to the performance of music by women composers and invited two Chicago Women Composers/Performers to perform with her at her Carnegie Hall debut recital. She is a frequent guest recitalist and lecturer on the subject of women composers, has had several compositions written for her, and has recorded the flute music of Shulamit Ran.
As a Masters student at Northwestern University, Ms. Stolper studied with Mr. Walfrid Kujala. She has also received instruction from Geoffrey Gilbert, Jean Berkenstock, and Edwin Putnik. She has participated in masterclasses with William Bennett and received coaching from Samuel Baron. Ms. Stolper is currently the Chair of the Flute Faculty at DePaul University in Chicago.
Mary Sauer has been the principal keyboardist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1959, when she joined at the invitation of Fritz Reiner. She has served as the keyboard coach of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra of the CSO, and is on the piano faculty of DePaul University, where she was the coordinator of the keyboard program for 22 years. In addition to her many professional DePaul graduates, Ms. Sauer's private studio has produced many concert pianists, conductors, and high school and university teachers world-wide.
Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Ms.Sauer received both bachelor's and master's Performance Degrees from the Chicago Musical College. Her teachers have included her mentor Rudolph Ganz, William Kapell, Irene Schneidmann, and Mollie Margolies.
A frequent soloist with the Chicago Symphony on piano, celesta, organ, and harpsichord, she has played concertos under Sir Georg Solti, Jean Martinon, Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado, Rafael Kubelik, Zubin Mehta, and Margaret Hillis, among others. She also is featured as soloist on many of the Orchestra's recordings with Solti, Giulini, Leopold Stokowski, Leonard Bernstein, Michael Tilson Thomas, and James Levine, as well as on discs with the Chamber Players of the Ravinia Festival. For twenty-one years, she was accompanist for the Chicago Symphony Chorus.
In addition to her work with the CSO, she is much in demand as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, lecturer, and for master classes. She had a long association with the Peninsula Music Festival in Wisconsin, performing as soloist for eighteen consecutive seasons.
Having studied under the guidance of Alexander Schneider, her commitment to the chamber music repertoire is shown by her long involvement with the CSO chamber music series, collaborating with several ensembles, including the Symphony Chamber Soloists of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony String Quartet, and the Alistaire Trio.
Ms. Sauer received the Governor's Award of the Chicago Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for her contributions in education, performance, and recording, and for her many years as the Orchestra's keyboardist. She also has received the honor of being appointed to the International Roster of Steinway Artists.
Dr. Donald DeRoche is the director of bands and chairman of the Performance Studies department at DePaul University in Chicago. Dr. DeRoche earned degrees in music education and performance at the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in music education at Northwestern University. For three years he was clarinetist with the U.S. Army Band in Washington, D.C. and for two years was principal clarinetist with the Victoria (Canada) Symphony Orchestra. He appeared as guest artist at the Alaska Festival of Music, and soloist with the Czech, Arcturus and Vancouver quartets. On his return to the U.S. he spent six years directing the band program at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, Illinois. He has conducted the DePaul Wind Ensemble in Austria, Russia, Estonia, Poland, Ireland, and Hungary, and has been guest conductor with professional and conservatory wind orchestras in Estonia.
The DePaul Wind Ensemble, conducted by Dr. DeRoche, can be heard on several recordings. French Plus 2 on the Toshiba/EMI label was recorded in 1992 and released in Japan. Chicago Symphony clarinetist John Bruce Yeh is the featured soloist on the album Ebony Concerto available world wide on the Reference Recordings label. Trombonist Charles Vernon (Chicago Symphony), is the soloist on a recording titled Eight Minutes to the Loop on Wild Ear Music. Two recordings of 20th Century “classics” featuring Chicago Symphony members Larry Combs and Donald Peck are available on Albany Records. A third recording for Albany Records, Friends in Low Places, features tuba player Floyd Cooley (San Francisco Symphony) and Charles Vernon performing concertos with wind accompaniment.
Producer: Julie DeRoche
Engineer: Thomas Miller
Editing: Donald DeRoche, Thomas Miller, Louis Kholodovsky, Jeffrey Conary
Mastering: Dan Steinman, Thomas Miller, Donald DeRoche
Recorded in the DePaul University Concert Hall between June 2000 and June 2002.
Otterloo Serenade published by Donemus.
Perle Concertino published by Boelke-Bomart.
Rorem Sinfonia published by C. F. Peters
George Concerto for Flute published by .Accura Music
Henze Ragtimes & Habaneras published by Schott
DePaul Wind Ensemble: Personnel
Piccolo
Sara Dickman +
Kaitlyn Valovick #
Flute
Caitlyn Valovick + ø ß
Hsin-Hue Huang +
Heidi Hagglund ø
Sarah Kruser #
Sara Dickman ß
Oboe
Joseph DeLuccio + ø ß
Melanie Gjellstad + #
Maria DeFiore ø
Shannon Groskreutz #
Anika Frahm #
English Horn
Shannon Groskreuz + ß
Bassoon
Erin Stodd + ø ß
Theresa Brown + ß
Elaine Walters ø
Matthew Evers #
Ryan Coward #
Contra Bassoon
Elaine Walters +
Eb Clarinet
Emily Hanzlik + #
Bb Clarinet
Thomas Fortier + ø # ß
Brooks Thon + ø ß
Phillip O. Paglialonga ø #
Stephanie Wernlie ø
David Malito ø #
Emily Hanzlik ø
Scott Moore ø
Campbell McDonald ø
Daniel Won ø
Chie Tamaki ø
Bass Clarinet
Ken Chin + ø
Saxophone
Nicholas Meyer ø
Shemeka Nash ø #
Charles Gorczynski #
Brenda Davies #
Ryan Golden #
Matthew Dingeldein #
Trumpet
David Leon *
Jennifer Marotta * ø ß
Jonathan Weber * ø ß
Anthony Zator *
Brent Turney *
Brandon Craswell #
Brian Reichenbach #
Kim Brown #
Fluegel Horn
Christopher Jones #
Anthony Zator #
Horn
Daniel Vidican * + ß
Rebecca Hill * + # ß
Carrie Kinghorn* ø
Margaret Tung * ø
Alana Vegter * #
MacKinzie Merrill
Christopher Chanston
Trombone
Tom Stark * ø ß
Brian Fallon * ø # ß
Joseph Rodriguez #
Bass Trombone
Craig Moore #
Dandrick Glenn * ø
Euphonium
Matthew McDonald ø #
Hitomi Takata #
T. Richard Cron #
Casey Maday #
Tuba
Jerome Stover * ø
Michael Roylance #
Aaron Donny-Clark #
Glenn Dimick #
Timpani
Matthew Kallend *
Matthew Bell +
Aaron Sherman ø
Paul Mutzabaugh ß
Percussion
Matthew Bell *
John Hall * +
Rick Urban * + #
Erin Martisz *
Paul Mutzabaugh +
Matthew Kallend + #
Aaron Sherman #
Troy Bartholomew #
Piano
Paul Mutzabaugh *
Celeste
Walter Tambor *
Harp
Ann Laura Schap *
+=Rorem; #=Henze; ø=Ritter-George; *=Otterloo; ß=Perle
|
