SFCM Wind Ensemble Brad Hogarth’12 conductor Saturday, February 13th, 2021 7:30 PM PST Program Octet Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) I. Sinfonia (Lento – Allegro moderato) II. Tema con variazioni (Andantino) III. Finale Octet Anna Meredith *US premiere (b. 1978) Dream Elegy Jonathan Bailey Holland (b. 1974) *World premiere of arrangement for chamber ensemble Serenade for Wind Instruments Antonín Dvořák arr. Anne Dich for nonet (1841-1904) I. Moderato quasi marcia II.Tempo di minuet III. Andante con moto. Allegro molto IV. Allegro molto SFCM Wind Ensemble Stravinsky: Octet Elissa Brown, flute Ivan Ferguson, clarinet Shelby Capozzoli, Jamael Smith*, bassoons Michail Thompson, Karlee Wood, trumpets Chase Waterbury, Jeremy Mojado, trombones Meredith: Octet Jolie Fitch, flute Jake Byers, clarinet Shelby Capozzoli, Jamael Smith*, bassoons Michail Thompson, Scott Macomber*, trumpets Carlos Reyes, Jeremy Mojado, trombones Holland: Dream Elegy Jolie Fitch, flute/piccolo Quinton Smith, oboe/english horn Eugenia Coe, clarinet Tian Qin, bass clarinet Davis Hampton, contrabass clarinet Shelby Capozzoli, bassoon Adolfo Pena, Ben Engelmann, horns Karlee Wood, Scott Macomber*, trumpets Ned Harlan, Jeremy Mojado, trombones SFCM Wind Ensemble Dvorak: Serenade Jolie Fitch, flute Jini Baik, oboe Eugenia Coe, Tian Qin, clarinets Davis Hampton, bass clarinet Shelby Capozzoli, Jamael Smith*, bassoons Ben Engelmann, Adolfo Pena, horns *indicated guest artist Orchestra Personnel Hank Mou Associate Dean of Artistic Operations Bryan Lin Manager of Ensemble Operations Sydney Apel Assistant Ensembles Manager and Librarian Jason O’Connell Director of Recording Services Kelley Coyne Assistant Director of Recording Services Chris Ramos Director of Concert Operations John Jaworski Director of Production Services Andrew Ross Concert Operations Manager Julian Bennett, Connie Song Ensemble Student Assistant Managers Elisabeth Bruckner, Daniel Hallett, James Nelson Ensemble Library Assistants Program Notes Igor Stravinsky Born: June 5, 1882; Oranienbaum, Russia Died: April 6, 1971; New York, New York Octet (1923, rev. 1952) According to Stravinsky, the Octet is “not an ‘emotive’ work, but a musical composition based on objective elements that are sufficient in themselves.” The composer conducted the 1923 premiere himself to ensure that no unwanted interpretation was imposed on the work. In the audience of this performance was a young Aaron Copland, who expressed a feeling of “mystification” about the piece, wondering why Stravinsky would abandon his popular, avant-garde Russian style--seen in works like The Rite of Spring--for a “mess of 18th-century mannerisms.” In retrospect, Copland admitted that Stravinsky was actually bringing forward a prominent new category of music called neoclassicism. Although Stravinsky himself hated the term and believed it was meaningless, most scholars agree that the Octet was the first major work to truly embody the ideals of this style. Born out of a rejection of modernity and romanticism after the devastation caused by World War I, neoclassical works drew inspiration from eighteenth century forms and traditions, valuing simplicity, clarity, and restraint, while still maintaining twentieth century melodic and harmonic language. The piece is scored for flute, clarinet, two bassoons, two trumpets, and two trombones, differing from traditional eighteenth century wind octets, which include oboes and horns rather than flute and brass. Stravinsky chose to compose this piece for wind instruments because he felt they were “more apt to render a certain rigidity of the form [he] had in mind,” unlike string instruments, which were “less cold.” In his mind, the most important element of this work was form, which must be respected and kept intact at all costs, or the work would be destroyed. Program Notes Continued Each movement follows a Classical period form. The first movement reflects Stravinsky’s “rediscovery” of sonata form. As in typical classical sonatas, the piece starts with a slow introduction that moves into a faster exposition. However, Stravinsky steps outside tradition by relating the two major themes by a half-step, rather than a perfect fifth. The highly chromatic development then leads into a varied but clear recapitulation. The second movement, the longest and most complex, is a theme and variations. Like in the previous movement, Stravinsky takes a modern approach to this form by making each variation distinct in character. Variation A also reappears several times throughout the movement, which contains what Stravinsky referred to as “ribbons of scales,” where the entire ensemble engages in a frenzy of quick-moving notes. Several of the variations are whimsical and humorous, but the movement ends solemnly with a fugue inspired by Bach’s two-part inventions. A flute cadenza ties the second and third movements together with no break. The finale is in the form of a five part rondo with a coda, with the thematic material from this movementj derived from previous movements and pairs different groups of instruments together in the presentation of another fugue. The coda unexpectedly incorporates some rhythms that evoke jazz and Latin music, reminding us in the end that this is still a modern and progressive piece of music. Elissa Brown, PSD, ‘21 Program Notes Continued Anna Meredith Born: January 12, 1978; Tufnell Park, England Octet Anna Meredith’s music defies stylistic boundaries, touching every point on the musical spectrum—contemporary classical, art pop, techno, experimental rock, and film scores to name a few. This fluidity stems from her unique relationship with music. After spending a day with the composer, Sam Walton realized that to her, music is about the “light-headed giddiness” she gets when playing and creating. “When I’m writing,” she said, “I can physically tell if the material’s good because I feel it very clearly in my hands.” This creates a compositional process that is very intuitive and experimental by nature and, therefore, allows for a lot of freedom. Rather than framing ideas within a set musical language, Meredith lets the ideas determine the language needed to communicate them. Such is the case with her Octet. The piece was originally commissioned by Sinfonia ViVa to pair with Stravinsky’s Octet, also included on this program. Her composition not only uses the same instrumentation as Stravinsky’s, but also acts as a musical response to the groundbreaking neoclassical work. Meredith took three of her favorite parts of the Stravinsky—his opening, his sudden leaps, and his closing—and used them as jumping-off points in order to build her work. That being said, Meredith’s piece is not neoclassical, but rather post-minimalist in nature. Meredith’s Octet opens similarly to the Stravinsky with a B-flat in the first trumpet followed by short woodwind gestures. Meredith then takes this first cell and begins to repeat and develop it slowly. Soon, the main melody of the piece appears above the complex counterpoint in the flute and the second trumpet. This continues to develop until the melody drops out and the focus shifts to the clarinet, playing a very pointillistic line. This highlights Meredith’s adoption of Stravinsky’s sudden leaps. Throughout his Octet, Program Notes Continued Stravinsky frequently would have instruments float between a handful of pitches via stepwise motion before leaping up high for a single note and coming back down. This isn’t the first place where Meredith uses this technique in the work—and it is far from the last—but it is the first place where it takes center stage. After a short pause, the work transitions into its B section. Three patterns make up the texture in the B section: the trombones on a short, two note motif, clarinet and bassoons in rhythmic unison on highly syncopated interjections, and flute and trumpets on longer, static lines. This texture slowly develops until all of the instruments die out, leaving only the flute to vault the piece into the final A section. The final A section starts with the flute, clarinet, and first trumpet playing fast, rhythmic lines on two or three notes. Soon after, the melody comes back, this time played by the second trumpet with Harmon mute (giving the instrument a cool, soft, metallic buzz) and trombone. The timbre created by these two instruments gives a lonely, hollow tone to the piece, like looking at a foggy landscape at dusk. This is further compounded by the lush chords that appear at the end of the work, which recall the sudden appearance of similar chords at the end of the Stravinsky octet. Finally, all of the instruments drop out, leaving the flute to close the piece. Jonathan Bailey Holland Born: February 27, 1974; Flint, Michigan Dream Elegy While disportionate police brutality towards people of color--especially Black Americans--has been a systemic issue throughout American history, in 2014 it came to a head with the killing of Eric Gardner and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. In the midst of these horrific tragedies, composer Jonathan Bailey Holland found himself without words, and thus turned to music. Program Notes Continued The result is his only wind ensemble piece, Dream Elegy. This extremely emotional work is crafted as a passacaglia, with one melody repeated in different harmonies throughout the piece. However, what makes this piece stand out is the way that segments of the melody constantly hop between different instruments in the ensemble. This technique starts with the flutes in the first measure, jumping down an octave and continuing with the clarinet. The trombones then take over the melody before tossing it to the trumpets a measure later and the flutes with oboe a measure after that. Altogether, this creates one full melody combined pointillistically by many different instruments. This technique, called Klangfarbenmelodie (or “color-only melody”), not only gives the piece an enormous amount of color but, moreover, creates the emotional throughline of the work: different people separately begging for peace before all joining together into a larger movement.