Friday, May 5, 2017 • 7:00 p.m. ​ Julia Larson Senior Recital DePaul Recital Hall 804 West Belden Avenue • Chicago Friday, May 5, 2017 • 7:00 p.m. ​ DePaul Recital Hall Julia Larson, clarinet Senior Recital Beilin Han, piano PROGRAM Jörg Widmann (b. 1973) Fantasie, KLB 56 (1993) Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Clarinet Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 120 (1894) Allegro appassionato Andante un poco adagio Allegretto grazioso Vivace Beilin Han, piano Intermission Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953); trans. by Kent Kennan Flute Sonata, Op. 94 (1944) Moderato Scherzo Andante Allegro con brio Beilin Han, piano Julia Larson • May 5, 2017 Program John Williams (b. 1932) Viktor’s Tale (from The Terminal, 2004) ​ ​ Beilin Han, piano Julia Larson is from the studios of Julie DeRoche and Larry Combs. 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. Julia Larson • May 5, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES Jörg Widmann (b. 1973) Fantasie, KLB 56 (1993) Duration: 8 minutes Jörg Widmann is a world-renowned clarinetist, composer, and conductor. A colleague of Widmann once compared him to Mozart in terms of his jovial personality and his immense compositional output. Widmann has written string quartets and other chamber music, solo clarinet works, orchestral works, and even a few operas. Widmann loves to test the limits of music composition. For example, the score for his opera, Babylon was so big that a ​ ​ new podium had to be built for the conductor. Fantasie for Solo Clarinet was inspired by commedia dell'arte, a theatrical form ​ characterized by improvised dialogue and a cast of colorful stock characters. Widmann writes, “Fantasie for Solo Clarinet is my first real piece for my own ​ ​ instrument, the clarinet. It is largely based on the usual Romantic melodious sound, though with ironic side trips into dance, klezmer, and jazz….With its eccentric virtuosity and its cheerful, fundamentally ironic character, it reflects Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet and the tonal innovations ​ ​ that appeared with Carl Maria von Weber, and takes them further in a new way.” Widmann is a new music composer, but he also loves music “of the past.” Fantasie for Solo Clarinet was premiered in March of 1994 by Widmann ​ himself. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Clarinet Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 120 (1894) Duration: 23 minutes Johannes Brahms wrote his Clarinet Sonata No. 1 after a very brief retirement, which was cut short when he heard clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld perform. He was so inspired by the performance that he wrote two clarinet sonatas in only about three years. These were the first extended works for clarinet and piano by a major composer since Weber’s Grand Duo Concertante of 1816. During a time when clarinet repertoire was still fairly Julia Larson • May 5, 2017 Program Notes limited, Brahms essentially established the clarinet sonata as a musical genre. Brahms grew up during Germany’s shift from the “traditional” music of Robert Schumann and company to that of Wagner and Liszt, who championed the harmonic freedom of the New German School. Brahms was always fascinated by chamber music, and he traditionally used this genre to explore new musical ideas. Brahms’ Sonata No. 1 has a four movement design, adhering to the standards set in the Classical era. However, Brahms’ frequent use of developing variation, which didn’t even have a name until years later, illustrates his radically new compositional style. In this new technique, each time a particular musical idea is repeated, it is changed in some way: a new harmony, rhythm, accompaniment, etc. The sonata opens with a dark, brooding melody, presented by the piano. Not only does this set the melancholic mood of the first movement, it also establishes the piano as the clarinet’s equal. Throughout the movement (and the rest of the piece), the piano has a complex, constantly-changing line that is essential to Brahms’ technique of developing variation. Brahms’ innovations are all built upon the orthodox and expected sonata form. The second movement marks the transition into quiet, reflective lyricism. A thinly-textured piano part allows the clarinet to sing out melodically throughout. This is followed by a charming third movement, suggestive of the Austrian “Ländler,” a waltz-like peasant dance. The high-spirited finale, in the unexpected key of F major, is characterized by quick harmonic changes and constant exchanges between the two instruments. Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953); trans. by Kent Kennan Flute Sonata, Op. 94 (1944) Duration: 24 minutes Sergei Prokofiev was born into a well-off family in Ukraine. In his autobiography, Prokofiev recounts one of the many privileges he had as an only child: “When my mother played her [piano] exercises, she allowed me to tap out my childish experiments in the two upper octaves.” At age five, Prokofiev wrote down his first tune with his mother’s help; this sparked a lifelong fascination with musical composition. Initially jealous of others’ masterpieces, he worked to learn from their “more mature” models. Julia Larson • May 5, 2017 Program Notes Prokofiev wrote his Flute Sonata in D during one of his many trips abroad during WWII. These periods of evacuation were some of the most productive periods in Prokofiev’s life, since he could escape government scrutiny. He sketched out the sonata during his free time, when he was not busy working with Sergei Eisenstein on the film score for Ivan the Terrible. ​ ​ In this sonata, Prokofiev adheres to a conventional formal structure. Recognized as a leading Neoclassicist, his bold innovations in harmony and tone color enliven the classical structures he embraced. The first movement, marked Moderato, is in sonata form and features a first theme inspired by French lyricism and a starkly contrasted march-like second theme. The graceful and energetic Scherzo movement playfully refuses to obey the confines of its time signature. The lyrical simplicity of the Moderato returns in the brief, yet expressive Andante movement. The final movement, th marked Allegro con brio, is reminiscent of 18 ​ Century classicism with its ​ sonata-rondo form. The finale is dance-like and triumphant in character. In the words of music scholar Robert Markow, “it hurtles along with a white-heat intensity to a thrilling close.” John Williams (b. 1932) Viktor’s Tale (from The Terminal, 2004) ​ ​ Duration: 4 minutes John Williams’s life has revolved around the two poles of New York and Los Angeles, both major hubs for American entertainment and culture. He was born in Long Island, but soon moved with his family to North Hollywood. He studied composition successively at UCLA and the Juilliard School, and finally settled back in Los Angeles to compose and orchestrate film scores. “Viktor’s Tale” is an excerpt from the soundtrack to Stephen Spielberg’s The Terminal (2004), and is originally written for clarinet and ​ ​ orchestra. Publishing company Hal Leonard describes the piece as such: “As in the original soundtrack from The Terminal, a featured solo clarinet is used to portray the warmth and friendliness of the main character Viktor Navorsky. This appealing dance-like composition also captures something of [Viktor’s] colorful ethnic background.” Julia Larson • May 5, 2017 Program Notes Williams has written a number of concerti (most notably, those for horn, bassoon, and cello), and is a renowned pianist and conductor. However, he is most well-known as a film composer, and he is credited with defining the “film music” genre as we know it today. Notes by Julia Larson. 804 West Belden Avenue Chicago, IL 60614 773.325.7260 music.depaul.edu.