Sunday, April 15, 2018 • 2:00 p.m
Valerie Kolb
Junior Recital
DePaul Recital Hall 804 West Belden Avenue • Chicago
Sunday, April 15, 2018 • 2:00 p.m. DePaul Recital Hall
Valerie Kolb, trumpet Junior Recital Hailey Menkhus, trumpet Claire Hendrickson, trumpet Katelyn Mason, trumpet Qianqian Li, piano
PROGRAM
John Barnes Chance (1932-1972) Credo (1959)
Qianqian Li, piano
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) Trumpet Concerto in E Flat Major (1803) III. Rondo: Allegro
Qianqian Li, piano
Kevin McKee (b. 1980) Centennial Horizon (2011) I. Aspen Grove Interlude. Alpenglow II. Roaring Gunnison
Qianqian Li, piano
Intermission
Valerie Kolb • April 15, 2018 Program
Michael Daugherty (b. 1954) The Lightning Fields (2015) I. Griffith Observatory II. The Lightning Field III. Marfa Lights IV. Times Square
Qianqian Li, piano
Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654) Canzon Cornetto (1621)
Hailey Menkhus, trumpet Claire Hendrickson, trumpet Katelyn Mason, trumpet
Valerie Kolb is from the studio of Matthew Lee. This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the degree Bachelor of Music Performance.
As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you.
Valerie Kolb • April 15, 2018
PROGRAM NOTES
John Barnes Chance (1932-1972) Credo (1959) Duration: 4 minutes John Barnes Chance was a composer and arranger who is most well-known for his concert band pieces. He studied composition at the University of Texas in Austin and eventually took a job with the Austin Symphony as a timpanist. Upon joining the Eighth United States Army Band, he soon began arranging and it was this experience which led Chance to dedicate his life to full-time composition. In 1966, he began teaching composition at the University of Kentucky where he would continue to work until his death in 1972. Credo is Chance’s only piece written for a soloist with piano accompaniment, and it requires the soloist to move effortlessly through the ever-changing time signatures while executing the various articulations and varying styles that are required. The introduction is powerful and immediately begins building intensity as it pushes into the A section, which holds various motives and technical passages. The B-section then drifts along as if the player is in a trance without time constraints. Without warning, the A section returns and presents the same motives and challenges as the initial statement. The piece then drives forward with growing intensity until it ends, even more powerfully than the opening bars.
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) Trumpet Concerto in E Flat Major (1803) Duration: 4 minutes Johann Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and a talented pianist. As a child prodigy, he studied under Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart until age 9, when he began touring with his father. In the early 1790s, Hummel returned to Vienna and studied with many composers, one of which was Franz Joseph Haydn. Continuing his development as a composer and conductor, in 1819, Hummel became the musical director in Weimar, Germany and held this position until his death in 1837.
The Trumpet Concerto in E Flat Major was composed for the inventor of the keyed trumpet, Anton Weidinger, in 1803. Garnering wide success since it’s premiere in 1804, Hummel’s trumpet concerto has become a staple in the
Valerie Kolb • April 15, 2018 Program Notes trumpet literature. Typically played on an Eb trumpet, the piece is demanding for a number of reasons. The third movement features trills and other ornaments, and also requires the player to make wide stylistic variations between a fanfare rondo and a mysterious allegretto.
Kevin McKee (b. 1980) Centennial Horizon (2011) Duration: 12 Minutes Although he considers himself primarily a trumpet player, Kevin Mckee is an American composer who frequently writes for brass instruments. He admits that being viewed as a legitimate composer is still surprising to him, as he did not begin composing until he was well into his masters degree at the University of Maryland. Mckee’s first piece was for brass quintet and was written for a group in which he was a performing member. Since then he has expanded his compositions to include many brass solo works, brass chamber pieces, and even compositions for large ensembles that also feature trumpet solos. This piece, Centennial Horizon, was commissioned by Catherine Sheridan, but the idea for the solo ultimately came from Mckee’s late grandmother who had always wanted him to compose a piece about the most beautiful parts of Colorado. He chose to write two movements that in turn depict the quiet calmness of the state and the contrasting quickly flowing Gunnison River. While the first movement features the singing capabilities of the trumpet, the patterns and scales in the second movement fly across the range of the instrument deftly depicting the rapidly flowing river.
Michael Daugherty (b. 1954) The Lightning Fields (2015) Duration: 23 Minutes Michael Daugherty grew up surrounded by jazz and popular music. As a child, he taught himself keyboard and then continued to study piano for several years. During this time, Daugherty was not only influenced by the Bach fugues he was studying, but also the pop songs he listened to on the radio. It wasn’t long before he began transcribing soul charts for his high school band, and six years later, Daugherty premiered his first composition, Movements for Orchestra, in 1974. His work earned Daugherty a scholarship to study composition at the University of North Texas College of Music
Valerie Kolb • April 15, 2018 Program Notes where he later earned a B.M. in composition. Today, Daugherty is considered to be one of the top ten most performed living American composers.
The Lightning Fields was commissioned by the International Trumpet Guild and is inspired by four magnificent light displays in the United States and Mexico. It moves across the country from Los Angeles, where the city lights can be seen endlessly across the landscape, to a grid of lightning rods in New Mexico where lightning strikes frequently, to the mysterious “ghost lights” at the southern border, and finally to Times Square with its unparalleled display of lights and electronic billboards.
Daugherty’s childhood influences are showcased with various jazz figures throughout the piece. He also employs heavy imagery in order to depict the location in which each movement is taking place. Movement IV in particular moves briskly liken to the constant activity of Times Square. Notes rise and fall with quick scalar patterns as if the player is winding through the heavy traffic of tourists and workers. The movement finally ends with a cadenza which slows the pace of the movement and borrows from jazz figures that were showcased in the first movement followed by the driving tempo and rhythm returning to finish out the piece.
Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654) Canzon Cornetto (1621) Duration: 3 minutes Samuel Scheidt was a German composer credited as the first German composer for the organ. Widely known for his organ pieces and his sacred vocal pieces, Scheidt’s most common compositional technique, “pattern variation”, can be heard in Canzon Cornetto as the opening motive passing through the four parts and being altered by modulation and augmentation. This piece also features a call and response originating between the first and second parts and then expanding to include the third and fourth parts. The final section of the work restates the motive in its original form as it leads to the concluding tonic chord.
Notes by Valerie Kolb.
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