Friday, April 20, 2018 • 9:00 p.m ​

Benjamin Cruz

Junior Recital ​ ​

DePaul Recital Hall 804 West Belden Avenue • Chicago

Friday, April 20, 2018 • 9:00 p.m. ​ DePaul Recital Hall

Benjamin Cruz, clarinet Junior Recital Beilin Han, piano

PROGRAM

Louis Spohr (1784-1859) Concerto No. 3, WoO 19 (1821) Allegro Moderato Adagio Vivace non Troppo

Beilin Han, piano

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo (1919)

Beilin Han, piano

Intermission

Eugene Bozza (1905-1991) Claribel (1952)

Beilin Han, piano

Benjamin Cruz • April 20, 2018 Program

John Ireland (1879-1962) Fantasy Sonata (1922)

Beilin Han, piano

Ben Cruz is from the studio of Julie DeRoche. This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the degree Bachelor of Music.

As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you.

Benjamin Cruz • April 20, 2018

PROGRAM NOTES

Louis Spohr (1784-1859) Clarinet Concerto No. 3, WoO 19 (1821) Duration: 30 minutes Louis Spohr came from a very musical household. His mother played the piano and his father played the flute. Louis’s musical career quickly developed as a result. He started to play violin at a very young age. His first violin teacher was Franz Eck, the leader of the Brunswick Orchestra. Soon after, he developed a great interest in composing. Although he had no professional training as a composer, he thoroughly studied the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and regarded him as the “perfect composer”. Spohr composed numerous concerti, operas, and chamber works, although most of his works now are not commonly performed. The only concerti he composed, other than for violin, were for the clarinet. In his Clarinet Concerto No. 3, one can definitely tell that Spohr was a violinist writing for the clarinet. One of the biggest challenges for this piece is that there are numerous places where the clarinetist does not have time to breath. This is problematic for clarinet players because clarinetists need air in order to keep the sound up. Violinists can breathe while they play which, in turn, allows them to continue longer phrases more easily.

The concerto follows the Classical era three-movement formula. The first movement has the orchestra state the shortened version of the theme. Then the clarinet enters and plays the entire thematic material. The theme then modulates to the relative major A-flat major from F minor . Then the piece enters the development section which takes you through many different keys until the piece arrives back in the home key of F minor. The recapitulation occurs shortly after which is the restatement of the theme but instead of modulating back to in the relative major, A-flat major, the section modulates and ends in the parallel major, F major. The second movement is labeled as an adagio which is standard for concerti written within this time frame. It starts in D-flat major with a direct modulation to E major. It goes through a restatement of the material first introduced in the beginning of

Benjamin Cruz • April 20, 2018 Program Notes this movement and modulates back to D-flat major before it ends. The last movement is a rondo and has a dance like quality to it because it is written in 3 with a strong emphasis on beat 1. This movements starts in F major and stays in that key until the end of the first theme where it modulates to C major. It then returns back to F major when the clarinet restates the material. It modulates to A-flat major shortly after. The piece has one last modulation back to F major before finally ending.

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo (1919) Duration: 6 minutes Igor Stravinsky is regarded as one of the most impactful and influential composers of the 20th century. His new concept of rhythm, tonality, and texture sparked a whole new movement in music, the Contemporary era. Stravinsky’s works fall under three categories. Circa 1907-1919 was known as his “Russian Period”. Notable works in this time include Firebird, ​ Petrushka, and Rite of Spring. These compositions fell under great influence of ​ ​ ​ his then teacher/mentor Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. His compositions from circa 1920-1954 were known as his “Neoclassical period”. This term relates to music that is influenced by other works from the Classical period in music. Some of his notable works in this time frame include Octet for Winds, ​ ​ Symphony of Psalms, and Oedipus Rex. His last composing period is known as ​ ​ ​ the “Serial Period” and is dated circa 1954-1968. The biggest influence of Stravinsky during this time came from the famous serial composer, Arnold Schoenberg. Serialism uses a compositional technique called dodecaphony, also known as the twelve tone technique. Dodecaphony is a musical technique that composers use to make sure that every note is used the same amount of times in a given piece, all the while preventing the emphasis on any other note. Some of his notable compositions from this time period include Agon and Canticum Sacrum. ​ ​ ​ ​

Benjamin Cruz • April 20, 2018 Program Notes

Stravinsky Three Pieces falls under the “Russian Period” with influences of Jazz sprinkled in the various movements. The first movement of this three movement work is slow and represents a song that Stravinsky began to compose but never published in 1916. It stays in the low range of the clarinet throughout this whole movement and disregards a tonal center. The second movement is almost a direct homage to free form Jazz. There is no meter, time signature, nor key in this movement. The last movement is very fast and short when compared to the previous movements. It is inspired by the ragtime from the L’Histoire du Soldat Suite. ​ ​

Eugène Bozza (1905-1991) Claribel pour Clarinette et Piano (1952) Duration: 7 minutes Eugène Joseph Bozza was a French contemporary composer. He composed a variety of works including symphonies, operas, ballets, a large choral work, wind band music, and concerti. Bozza and his family moved to Italy to get away from the destruction that World War I was causing at the time. Bozza studied in Rome at the Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia during this time. Soon after he graduated, he returned to France and attended the Paris Conservatoire. He was awarded the Premier Prix for violin from the ​ conservatoire in 1924 as well as the Premier Prix for composition in 1934. His compositions can be best described as Neoclassical. He is more known for his chamber works than his larger scale compositions. His works have a similar style to those of Darius Milhaud and Igor Stravinsky.

In this piece the opening material stays in the realm of B-flat major but quickly changes as Bozza uses the flat-VI chord to modulate to the new key. One can hear the deceptive cadence he builds by repeating the same material then before the cadence of the I chord he swaps it for a flat-VI chord. There is no stable key throughout the piece but after the giant cadenza in the middle section, the piece lands in A minor. This is later directly contrasted with a slow section that begins in A minor then quickly

Benjamin Cruz • April 20, 2018 Program Notes changes to various different keys before the piece repeats material previously heard. The piece then modulates back to A minor before ending.

John Ireland (1879-1962) Fantasy Sonata (1922) Duration: 13 minutes John Ireland was born in Cheshire, England. He entered the Royal College of Music to study piano and organ in 1893 at the age of 14. In his time there he also studied composition under his first teacher, Charles Villiers Stanford. Ireland started to become most prominent as a composer in the early 1900s. He composed everything from songs to concerti, although he is most well known for his smaller chamber works. He died of heart failure in 1962 and his epitaph read “one of God’s noblest works lies here”. In regards to his Fantasy Sonata, the piece does not follow the traditional sonata form. It is free and meanders between various tonal centers and time signatures. This piece includes a lot of rubato and accidentals outside the established tonality. Ireland drew a lot of inspiration from the Eastern culture because of the prominent use of the pentatonic scale throughout the piece. In addition to this he also experimented with non traditional use of scalar patterns. He uses the Locrian scale very often, which provides the piece with a different type of mood and texture. The Locrian scale includes the lowered, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th scale degrees.

Notes by Benjamin Cruz.

804 West Belden Avenue Chicago, IL 60614 773.325.7260 music.depaul.edu