Program Notes
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PROGRAM NOTES Asturias Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) Isaac Manuel Francisco Albeniz was a Spanish pianist who was often regarded as the Father of Spanish music. He was born in Camprodon, Spain in 1860 to Angel Albeniz and Dolors Pascual. He was a child prodigy who gave his first recital at the age four. Even though he passed the entrance examination to the Paris Conservatory at age seven but was refused admission, he was considered too young to attend classes there. During 1876, he studied at both the Leipzig Conservatory and the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Like Mozart, Albeniz’s father took both him and his sister, Clementina, on tour throughout northern Spain when he was only nine. By the age of 15, he has already performed all over the world including places like New York, San Francisco and London. It was his teacher and composer Felip Pedrell, whom he met in 1883, inspired him to focus on writing Spanish music. Albeniz married his student Rosina Jordana in the same year and had five children but two passed away in infancy. Albeniz was mostly famous for his piano music and his most notable composition is Iberia (1905 – 09), a collection of 12 virtuoso pieces for the piano. His musical styles are highly influenced by famed composers such as Liszt, d’Indy and Dukas, and characterized by Andalusia rhythms and harmonies. His other major compositions include Suite Española, the Cantos de España and Tango in D Major. One interesting fact about Albeniz is that he never wrote for the guitar; many of his works were transcribed for the instrument by Francisco Tárrega. A few days before Albeniz’s death on May 19, 1909, he was awarded France’s highest honour, the Grand-Croix de la Legion d’honneur. Albaniz’s personal effects and notes are preserved mainly in the Biblioteca de Catalunya in Barcelona. Asturias (Leyenda) was originally composed for the piano but it was later transcribed for the guitar by musicians such as Spanish guitar virtuoso Andre Segovia. It was first published in 1892 in Barcelona by Juan Bta Pujol & Co. as the prelude of a three-movement suite called Chants d’Espagne. Albeniz’s biographer, Walter Aaron Clark, described Asturias as “pure Andalusian flamenco” and it is a virtuosic show piece for the guitar. It has not only become one of the most important works in the classical guitar repertoire, the rock group, The Doors, even incorporated the beginning bars in their song Spanish Caravan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKmkOIlHbok). The version that is being performed on the program is an arrangement for guitar and string orchestra by Charles Demuynck, conductor of the Oakville Chamber Orchestra. Tango en Skai Roland Dyens (1955 – 2016) Roland Dyens, a French classical guitarist, composer and arranger, was born on October 19, 1955 in Tunis, Tunisia. He studied Spanish classical guitar with Alberto Ponce and analysis with Désiré Dondeyne. Dyens is famous for his improvisational skills which is evident at his concerts and has won many prizes in competitions for classical guitar and compositions. He not only wrote exclusively for the guitar; he has also published several volumes of arrangements of guitar music, ranging jazz music to Brazilian folk music, for both professional and amateur musicians. Dyens has taught master classes and performed at many major music festivals in the United States, Europe and Asia during his life time. As for his compositional styles, Dyens incorporates elements of jazz and folk music and has become popular with musicians and audience alike. Tango en Skai (1985) is one of his signature pieces; Skai is the French word for imitation leather and he references this to the Gauchosof Argentina and Southern Brazil regions which are famous for their leather attire. Thus, this work is a humourous take on the Tango with an unique twist. Dyens was a Professor of Guitar at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris until his recent passing on October 29, 2016. Danza Habanera For Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Chamber Orchestra Ronald Royer (1959 – ) Ron Royer is a multi-talented musician who is active as a composer, conductor and educator. Born in Hollywood, he began his career as a cellist, performing with the Utah, Pacific and Toronto Symphonies, as well as working in the motion picture and television industries in Los Angeles during the 1980s. Mr. Royer has served as music director and conductor of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008 and regularly guest conducts across Ontario. He has conducted Sinfonia Toronto for the recordings Premieres, featuring violinist Conrad Chow, and The Hollywood Flute, featuring flutist Louise DiTullio. Mr. Royer conducted the Toronto Studio for the children’s movie Gooby. The Gryphon Trio, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, cellist Shauna Rolston, and flutist and conductor Patrick Gallois are a few of the prominent ensembles and artists who have performed his compositions. Mr. Royer has worked in film and theatre and his concert works have been performed worldwide by over 60 orchestras. Recordings include Romancing Chopin with the Toronto Sinfonietta, The Nightingale’s Rhapsody with clarinetist Jerome Summers and The Thirteen Strings of Ottawa, the Storyteller’s Bag by The Children’s Group, to name a few. Mr. Royer teaches and conducts at the University of Toronto Schools and is an advocate for music education. A habanera is a Cuban dance and song named after its capital, Havana. It was first popular in the western world at the beginning of the 19th century and later became popular in Europe, especially in Spain. The habanera is possibly the most universal of all Cuban musical forms. There are various theories regarding its origin, ranging from Cuban Pre- Columbian music or even the music of the Incas, to a similarity between the habanera and the zortzico Basque air of Spain. Royer added Danza to the Habanera title to denote a freer use of form from the traditional habanera. Four solo woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon) are featured in various groupings, each of which is featured in a short solo cadenza. The Danza Habanera starts with a plaintive air in the key of C Minor and gradually evolves into a happier but dreamier piece in the key of F Major. With a variation of the opening habanera rhythm, the composition (now in G Minor) builds in intensity to reach the climax in an intense orchestra tutti before returning to the beginning plaintive atmosphere. The Danza Habanera was first performed in 2008 and was commissioned by the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts. This work is dedicated to John Barnum and the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra. Scaramouche For Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 165 Darius Milhaud (1892 – 1974) Darious Milhaud was born in Marseilles in 1892 to a Jewish family. He first studied the violin but later switched to composition. He attended the Paris Conservatory and studied composition under Charles Widor, harmony and counterpoint with Andre Gedalge and privately with Vincent d’Indy. It was also here, at the Paris Conservatory, where Milhaud met fellow French composers George Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Francs Poulence and Germaine Tailleferre; which later formed the famous Les Six. Their music demonstrated a negative reaction towards the styles of Wagner and Impressionistic composers such as Debussy and Ravel. Due to his travels to Brazil and the United States, one can find influences of Latin rhythms (especially the works of Brazilian pianist and composer Ernesto Nazareth) and the musical style of jazz in Milhaud compositions. In fact, it was in Harlem where Milhaud heard “authentic” jazz music for the very first time. Dave Brubeck (Jazz composer) whom Milhaud met when Brubeck was a student at Mills College in the late 40’s and popular songwriter Burt Bacharach were among his most notable students. He once said told Bacharach, “Don’t be afraid of writing something people can remember and whistle. Don’t ever feel discomfited by a melody.” Milhaud’s major compositions include Le boeuf sur le toit (The Ox on the Roof), La ceation of monde (The Creation of the World), Ma vie heureuse (My Happy Life), Scaramouche and Saudades do Brasil (a dance suite). Others include 19 ballets, 4 operas, and numerous orchestral and piano works to his credit. As for his personal life, Milhaud married his cousin, Madeleine, in 1925 and she gave birth to his only son, painter and sculptor, Daniel Milhaud in 1930. He taught alternate years at the Paris Conservatory and Mills College between 1947 and 1971. It was because poor health that led to his retirement. He passed away in Geneva in 1974 and was interred at the Saint-Pierre cemetery in Aix-en-Provence. Milhaud’s Scaraouche was written in 1937 in response to a request from Marchelle Meyer and Marguerite Long. This three-movement work was originally written for two pianos and has the structure of a concerto (Fast-Slow-Fast) and the clarinet is given ample opportunity to showcase the instrument’s capabilities. The title, Scaraouche, literally means a stock clown in the Italian commeida dell’arte. The work opens with a movement energetic running scales and with syncopated rhythms provided by the accompaniment. The Moderate movement is a solemn adagio with interesting interplays between the clarinet and the orchestra. The final movement, Brazileira, is a dance in the style of the Brazilian Samba and the rhythmic accompaniment guarantees the audience to be up on their feet until the last note is played. Unfortunately, Milhaud did not like this work very much and did not received recognition after its premiere. It was not until much later that Scaramouche became one of his most performed compositions.