SONGS DANCES Acknowledgments & Recorded at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Jacksonville, Florida on June 13 and 14, 2018 Jeff Alford, Recording Engineer Gary Hedden, Mastering Engineer in THE SAN MARCO CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY collaboration THE LAWSON ENSEMBLE with WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY1753 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643 ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD TEL: 01539 824008 © 2018 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. SanMarco_1753_book.indd 1-2 10/18/18 9:36 AM The Music a flute descant – commences. Five further variations ensue, each alternating characters and moods: a brisk second variation; a slow, sad, waltzing third; a short, enigmatic fourth; a sprawling fifth, this the Morning Elation for oboe and viola by Piotr Szewczyk (2010) emotional heart of the composition; and a contrapuntal sixth, which ends with a restatement of the theme Piotr Szewczyk was fairly new to Jacksonville when I asked him if he could compose an oboe/viola duo for now involving the flute. us in 2010, so I did not expect the enthusiasm and speed in which he composed “Morning Elation”! Two In all, it’s a complex, ambitious score, a glowing example of the American Romantic style of which days later he greeted me with the news that he had a burst of inspiration and composed our piece the day Beach, along with George Whitefield Chadwick, John Knowles Paine, and Arthur Foote, was such a wonder- before. This piece remains one of our favorite duos and we perform it often. It is appropriate to open this CD ful exemplar. with it since it captures the excitement we feel about this recording project. Learn more about composer — © Jonathan Blumhofer and violinist Piotr Szewczyk at www.verynewmusic.com. — Ellen Olson Songs and Dances for oboe and string quartet by Bill Douglas (2003) Theme and Variations for flute and string quartet by Amy Beach (1916) When Peter Cooper first asked me to write an oboe concerto for him, he told me that the oboe was Amy (Cheney) Beach, the United States’ first major native born and trained composer, was born in Hen- especially good for ‘singing and dancing’. I immediately decided to write a suite of dances interspersed niker, New Hampshire in 1867. From an early age, she displayed musical talent, though it wasn’t until her with song-like movements. family relocated to Boston in the 1870s that she received formal training in piano – she was one of the Because I am interested in many genres of music, the influences on these pieces turned out late-19th-century’s greatest keyboard virtuosi – and a year of composition lessons. Remarkably, in the to be quite wide-ranging. The first movement, ‘Bebop Jig’, uses rhythms influenced by both Irish and latter area, Beach, one of the 19th- and 20th-century’s most important female composers, was largely African music, but the harmonic and melodic style of most of it comes from the ‘bebop’ jazz language that self-taught. developed in the mid-1940’s. The second movement is a simple song inspired by British Isles folk music. Early on, she experienced great success as a composer of large-scale forms: her Symphony in E ‘Afro-Cuban Baroque’ uses rhythms influenced by Afro-Cuban music, but the harmony and some of the minor (“Gaelic”) and Piano Concerto were both premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and, to this melodic style come from the Baroque era. ‘Lament’ uses a scale that is commonly used in Arabic and day, stand as two of the most brilliant, engaging, and finely-crafted examples of American symphonic Spanish music. The concerto ends with a Celtic-inspired waltz that also has a touch of African influence. music of her era. This piece was composed with the generous assistance of Cecilia Cooper in memory of Allen Cooper, and Following the turn of the century, Beach’s output (which grew to over 300 works) focused primarily Kevin and Sandra Shackell for their granddaughters Taylor Baker and Cierra Borjon. To learn more about on songs and chamber music. The Theme and Variations for flute and string quartet dates from this period Bill Douglas, please go to www.billdouglas.cc. and was written in 1916 on a commission from the San Francisco Chamber Music Society. As with many of — Bill Douglas Beach’s compositions, the principal theme is drawn from one of her many songs, in this instance a certain Indian Lullaby. We hear this melody played, at first, only by the string quartet. After the statement of the theme, the flute enters with an extended solo and the first variation – basically a repetition of the theme now with SanMarco_1753_book.indd 3-4 10/18/18 9:36 AM The Performers Dr. Nick Curry is the Associate Professor of Cello at the University of North Florida. He received his BM, cum laude, from Vanderbilt and then served as Hans Jorgen Jensen’s teaching assistant for five years at This recording is a collaboration between The San Marco Chamber Music Society and The Lawson Ensemble. Northwestern University, earning both his Master and Doctor of Music degrees. He also was the teaching assistant to Professor Jensen at the Meadowmount School of Music for four summers. About The San Marco Chamber Music Society Nick has played concerts in Austria, England, France, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Taiwan The San Marco Chamber Music Society (SMCMS), based in Jacksonville, Florida, has been performing and Turkey, and throughout the United States. In April of 2006, he performed as a soloist on National free chamber music concerts in Jacksonville, Florida since 2008. Founded by oboist Eric Olson and violist Public Radio (USA) Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion on the King Amati (ca. 1538) cello. Ellen Olson, its performers are largely members of the Jacksonville Symphony. Its home base and main Dr. Curry was visiting faculty at the Meadowmount School of Music for two summers and is on the faculty concert venue is St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. The name “San Marco” is to honor both the group’s concert at the Aria International Summer Music Academy. He has presented at national, regional and state confer- venue and the San Marco area of Jacksonville where the church has its roots. ences and is a sought-after clinician and adjudicator. His research has been published in the ASTA journal In June 2016, the musicians on this disc played a 4-concert tour in the Oxford area of England, multiple times. where they performed all-American music, including the Beach and Douglas on this disc. The performers on this recording represent only a small number of the musicians used in a given Violinist Clinton Dewing received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School as a student season. They have a large base of musicians from Jacksonville and present music of all genres. SMCMS is of Joel Smirnoff. His summer festival credits include the Spoleto Festival USA and Italy, Festival Mo- thrilled to be able to release this premiere recording on Albany Records. For more information, please go to zaic, Pacific Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Sarasota Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Mu- www.sanmarcochambermusic.org. sic Festival, National Orchestral Institute and the Tanglewood Music Center. He has performed with the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, About The Lawson Ensemble Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Clinton is currently a member of the The Lawson Ensemble was formed in 2015. The Lawson’s mission is to perform and share high-level Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s violin section since 2006. chamber music with audiences around the world. Founding members are violinist Aurica Duca, violinist/ violist Clinton Dewing, and cellist Nick Curry. The group is in residence at the University of North Florida A native of the Republic of Moldova, Aurica Duca began the violin at age of seven. She has taken First (UNF) in Jacksonville and performs regularly on the UNF campus, in Jacksonville, and around the region. Prize in the Cornelia Bronzetti violin competition and the International Violin Competition of Brasov. Ms. The trio has been playing together for several years, but a generous donation to the UNF music department Duca was the Grand Prize winner at the Paul Constantinescu International Competition in Romania. She allowed them to form an official ensemble and invite other gifted musicians to play with them for select was awarded the Mayor’s Scholarship of Chisinau, Moldova and the prestigious scholarship from the programs. Nick, Clinton, and Aurica believe in the enduring power of chamber music, the necessity for all Foundation of Beneficence. Ms. Duca has performed in solo engagements with the Moscow Chamber music students to have a chamber experience, and the need for audiences to feel the immediacy, intimacy Orchestra, the National Philharmonic of Chisinau and the National Youth Orchestra in Holland and studied and beauty of the best chamber works. at the A. Casella Conservatory in l’Aquilla, Italy. She has participated in The Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina and she is featured in Festival Mozaic’s chamber music series in San Luis Obispo, Califor- SanMarco_1753_book.indd 5-6 10/18/18 9:36 AM nia every summer. In 2006 Ms. Duca joined the violin section of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and Les Roettges is the principal flutist for the Jacksonville Symphony, the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra, in the fall of 2015, she was named principal second violin of the orchestra. and the Coastal Symphony of Georgia.