SONOKLECT '96-'97 A Concert Series of Twentieth-Century Music

Terry Vosbein, Director

Verdehr Trio Walter Verdehr, violin

Elsa Ludewig Verdehr, clarinet Gary Kirkpatrick, piano

Donald Erb Guest Composer

WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY

KELLER THEATRE• 8:00 P.M. • 15 MARCH 1997

PROGRAM

Trio Concertante (1985) William Wallace Commissioned by the Verdehr Trio

Serbelloni Serenade (1996) Jonathan D. Kramer Commissioned by the Verdchr Trio and Michigan State University

Trio No. 3 (Persian) (1995)

Vivace A11da11te Moderato

Commissioned by the Verdehr Trio

- INTERMISSION -

Drei disparate Essays (1995)

!11troversio11 Disparate Ereig11issc und Stille Extraversio11

T. C. David

Georg Katzer

Commiss ioned by the Verdchr Trio ,md Michigan State University

Sunlit Peaks and Dark Valleys (1995)

J= 144 Children's Song-for the children of Oklahoma City _j = 132

Donald Erb

Comm issioned by the Verdehr Trio ;ind Michig;,n State University

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PROGRAM NOTES

Trio Concertante William Wallace

It was both a challenge and a pleasure to write for this unusual but highly effective combination of instruments . (And a pleasure it was as well to assist the Verdehr Trio in its efforts to expand the literature for such a natural grouping.)

Trio Concertante is a single movement work falling into three sections . In the first, the basic thematic materials appear in somewhat traditional fashion. In the extensive third section, these materials recur in a highly developmental way, with much use made of canon as well as less strict imitative devices. The middle section is devoted to unaccompanied solos for clarinet and violin. At the conclusion of the third section a brief clarinet solo followed by a climax for all three instruments brings the work to a close.

- Wi[[iam Wafface

Born in Salt Lake City in 1933, William Wallace received his musical education at the University of Utah (Ph.D. in Composition, 1962, under Leroy J. Robertson), with a year's graduate work at the University of Oxford (studies in composition under Egon Wellesz and Edmund Rubbra).

Best known of Dr. Wallace's numerous orchestral works are Introduction and Passacaglia, now widely performed in the U.S.A. and Canada, and the lively, soloistic Concerto Variations. He has produced, in addition, a large number of choral and chamber works.

Major publications include Ceremonies for Orchestra, Diversions for Brass Quintet, and Sonata for Viola and Piano (all by Berandol Music Ltd.). Publications also include numerous choral works (various publishers).

Dr. Wallace is Professor of Music at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada . He divides his time between that location and Wyoming, where he maintains a home and devotes himself to composition.

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Serbelloni Serenade Jonathan D. Kramer

I composed the Serbelloni Serenade at the Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, Italy. This wonderful place, run by the Rockefeller Foundation as a retreat for scholars and artists, is beautiful and peaceful. As I had previously been writing a book (on music and post-modernism), I had little time before coming to Bellagio to plan what music I wo uld compose. I knew only that it was to be a trio for clarinet, violin, and piano for the magn ificent Verdehr Trio. My first day at the Rockefeller center I went to the composer's studio, in the woods overlooking Lake Como. I stared at blank music paper. Three weeks later, I drew a doub le bar at the conclusion of the piece. Freed from concerns of daily existence and living far away from the outside world, I was able to work uninterrupted for eigh t to ten hours a day, seve n days a week.

Since one of the theses of my book is the demise of structural unity in post­modern music, I wan ted the music to have a healthy degree of disu nity: Non sequiturs, "discontin uiti es", unrelated materials, surpr ises. But pieces have minds of their own. Probably because I wrote it in one intense period, thinkin g of little else, the Serbelloni Serenade ended up tightly unifi ed. I kept discovering that different part s of the piece, whic h had tricked me into believing that they were unr elated, were actually thinly disgu ised variants of each other. I saw that the form, far from being the free association of ideas I had wanted, was quite logical. To my amazement, I found the piece beginning and ending in the sa me key!

This Serenade is noneth eles s po st-modern in its use of diff erent styles, references to various historical period s, and surprising juxtaposition. But, because of how it was writt en , it is more inte grated than I had expected or plann ed it to be. I am amu sed when I compare it to another recent chamber pie ce, A Game, for cello an piano (1988-92). When I wrote that short piece, I was not so consciously interested in disunity. However , it came out delightfully chaoti c, becaus e it was composed over a four-year period of considerable change in my life: I mov ed from a small Midwestern city to a large Northeastern one, and from a music conservatory to an academic music department. Just as A Game unintentionall y reflects my chaotic life when I wrote it, so the Serbelloni Serenade shows how orderly my existence was when I composed it. It resolutely refused to become the statement on disorder I had tried to make it.

Also, the Verde hr Trio had wanted a piece with aspects of jazz, as in several of my earlier compositions. I tried to incorporate jazz elements, but again the piece was not going to allow me to dictate to it. Almost every time I tried to inject some swing, Serbe/loni rejected it. Thus, the piece has only a few small hints of jazz.

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With the help of the Serbe/loni Serenade, I have discovered my love of chamber music. This music is not jazz and it is not a statement of ideas that properly belong in a book. No, it is simply a piece of chamber music, composed for some wonderful chamber musicians. That is what it insisted on becoming throughout its three-week gestation period, and-despite its composer's intentions to the contrary-that is what it ultimately is.

- Jonatfian 'J(ramer

Jonathan D. Kramer (b. 7 December 1942, Hartford Connecticut) received his B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. His composition teachers included Karlheinz Stockhausen, Roger Sessions, Leon Kirchner, Seymour Shifrin, and Andrew Imbrie. Currently a professor at Columbia University , he has previously taught at Oberlin, Yale, and the University of Cincinnati. He was the Cincinnati Symphony Composer-in-Residence from 1984 to 1992.

Honors include a Barlow Endowment Commiss ion , the Ohio Governor's Award for Individu al Artists, three Composer Fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, an Independent Research Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Alienor Harpsichord Composition Award, and three individual Artist Fellowship Grants from the Ohio Arts Council.

Three times Kramer's music has been performed at the World Music Days Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music (Israel, Holland, and Poland). His music ha s been played in 23 countries by such ensembles as the London Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Seattle Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Cleveland Chamber Symphony Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Sacramento Symphony, Nat ion al Orchestra of El Salvador, members of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and members of the Saint Louis Symphony. A compact disc of his music is available on the Leonarda label.

Also active as a writer on music, Kramer has published numerous articles and the books, The Time of Music and Listen to the Music. He is currently writing a book on music and post-modernism.

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Trio No. 3 (Aziz Djune) Thomas Christian David

Aziz Dju11e is a Persian concept and means something like sweetheart. It is the first word of a folk song with banal content which is very popular in Iran (what else can one expect from a love song?). This love melody is rooted in every s ingle part of the music and is woven into the overall

structure of each mov ement. The compos itional technique could be compared to the weaving of an oriental carpet-everything is made from the same yarn and follows one format.

The music should be executed with the most vivid tonal colors. It transforms

the musicians into an orienta l mentality but never leaves the European structure out of sigh t.

The work was commissioned by Michigan State University for the Verdehr Trio.

- %.omas Cfiristian 'Davia

Thomas Christian David, son of composer Johann Nepomuk David, was born in Weis, Austria, in 1925 and for many years was Professor of Composition at the Hochschule fur Mu sik in Vienna. One of Austria's most prolific, distingui shed and frequently played composers, he is also well­known as a conductor. He presently divides his time between his duties in Vienna and concert tours on which he plays and conducts many of his own compositions. He has received composition prizes from the City of Stuttgart, Paris Radio , the City of Vienna and the Province of Upper Austria.

Christian David has had a long association with the Verdehr Trio which

began when he was a guest professor at Michigan State University in 1977. This close relationship has resulted in two trios , a duo for violin and clarinet , the Triple Concerto for Trio and Orchestra (which has been recorded with the Verdehr Trio and the Tonkiinsler Orchestra), the Sinfonia Concertante for Trio and Wind Symphony (commissioned by the Michigan State University Wind Symphony), and Schubertiade (in the style of Schubert) .

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Orie disparate Essays (1995) Georg Katzer

For a second time-since the Fiinf Bagatellen (1980)-I have been inspired to write for this combination (violin, clarinet and piano) by the Verdehr Trio. The origin of my compositional considerations is always an inner hearing, an insight into the finished piece, to some extent a foreshadow of the music. Parallel to this, material is collected: cells-that is short characteristic motives-naturally always in the colors of the intended instruments: blown (wind); drawn (string); struck (piano). A language gradually emerges, solidifying the material. Only at this point in time do I begin to think about order; that is, I attempt to derive this order out of the existing outlines of the piece. This resulted, for example, that in the opening slow movement, Introversion, the piano has only five pitches (although, throughout all the octaves) and the clarinet and violin also use only five pitches. The second movement, short as well, is developed rather from its title: Disparate Ereignisse und Stille ("Disparate Occurrences and Silence"). Here the aphoristic cadence strives to formulate the outline. The third, longer movement is called Extraversion. To the exploding gestures of some passages are juxtaposed others, quoting overviewed order in an almost mechanical manner. But the order is constantly disturbed and disintegrates. Simplicity stands here against sophistication. Nevertheless the piece still establishes continuity through its contrasts, in that one evokes the other. Overall the three movements reveal three forms of (not only) musical thought. I am indebted to the Verdehr Trio for having inspired me to this composition.

- (jeo1lf 'l(atzer

Georg Katzer, born 1935 in Habelschwerdt, Silesia (Germany), studied composition and piano in East Berlin and at the Academy of Musical Arts in Prague . Afterwards he was a student of Hanns Eisler at the Academy of Arts and in 1978 became a faculty member himself. Here he established and became artistic director of the Studio for Experiential (electronic) Music in 1986. In 1980 he was appointed Professor in combination wi th a Master Class for Composition at the Academy of Arts in Berlin.

Mr. Katzer has received numerous composition prizes in the DOR, France, Switzerland and in the Federal Republic of Germany. He is a member of the Arts Academy of Berlin-Brandenburg and the Free Academy of Leipzig. In 1980 he was Visiting Professor at Michigan State University and in 1993 he was Guest of Honor at the Villa Massimo in Rome.

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Along with his compositional work (orchestra works, solo concertos, chamber music, three operas, two ballets), Mr. Katzer occupies himself with electronic music, multimedia projects and is also involved in live improvisation of electronic music. On European tours he performs with Johannes Bauer, Wolfgang Fuchs, Paul Lytten, Phil Minton, Radu Malfatti, and Phil Wachsman.

Since 1963 he has lived as a free lance composer in and around Berlin.

Sunlit Peaks and Dark Valleys (1995) Donald Erb

Sunlit Peaks and Dark Valleys was commissioned by the Verdehr Trio and Michigan State University. It was completed in May of 1995. The work is in three movements: two fast movements with a slow one in the middle.

The first and last movements are bright and virtuosic in character. The dark valley in between was my second attempt to deal with one of the most profound events in recent times ... the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the murder of the children. The sight of firemen removing dead, hurt, and frightened children from the building moved me beyond words, all the more so because I had spent a significant part of my childhood not far from there. This slow movement is based on Jesus Loves Me, a song which I and many American children learned in Sunday School.

- 'lJona{c[ 'Er6

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The Music of Donald Erb

by James H. North

excerpted from Fanfare magazine July / August 1995

Music in the United States has always been ridden with politics . An aspiring composer could expect recognition according to the musical faction he was taught by and belonged to. For generations we had the East Coast School ... and we had the West Coast School. The breakdown of absolute Babbittry began to loosen things up , and lo, there were composers in Middle America; at the head of the pack was the energetic, fiercely independent Donald Erb.

Many adjectives have been applied to Erb's music: vital, aggressive, raunchy (by Erb himself), bold and harrowing, even whiz-bang (Harold C.

Schonberg); it can also be lots of fun. He has described himself as an abstract expressionist; that's about as close as one can get to pinning a label on his music. Erb has written 100 works over the past 37 years, and his music has been widely heard; over 80 orchestras in the United States, including every

major ensemble, have performed his music, and this does not include conservatory performances, of which there have been many more . These totals are all the more astonishing when one considers that Erb's music has

always been considered avant -garde .

Donald Erb was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1927, and his early ambition

was to be a jazz trumpeter; he worked in that capacity for a number of

years. After major ing in trumpet and composition at Kent State University

(1950), Erb went to The Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied

with composer Marcel Dick . . . Erb is more interested in making music

than in explaining methods, but a statement in his notes to a 1969 Nonesuch

LP still carries force today:

To me composing is basically an intuitive process. A

composer should be able to use what he knows about music

in an instinctive manner rather than relying on "systems."

Neither am I interested in abdicating my responsibility as

a composer to factors over which I have little control.

At age 70, Erb continues at his blistering pace, and his music still keeps

getting better ; 37 years of composition have refined his skills without

dimming his wondrously fertile imagination . Erb is a fearless critic of

pretension and shoddiness, and the unflagging honesty of his public

utterances has ruffled more than a few famous feathers. He is deeply

concerned for the future of young composers in this "age of sleaze," where

art and culture are fast degenerating into the thirty second commercial

sound bite. In these days of trepidation over the future of classical music

in Americ<): Erb is a beacon to follow.

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The Verdehr Trio

An acknowledged leader in the field of new music, the Yerdehr Trio for more than 20 years has concentrated on molding and defining the personality of the violin-clarinet-piano trio. Through its commissioning efforts, over 80 new works written by some of the world's most prominent and exciting composers have been added to the chamber music repertoire. To round out its repertoire with Classical and Romantic works, the Trio has rediscovered as well as transcribed 18th and 19th century pieces for inclusion in its concert programs.

The Yerdehr Trio has performed throughout the world: in 14 European countries, the former Soviet Union, in South and Central America as well as in Asia, Australia and in more than half of the United States. Among major concert halls where the Trio has appeared are Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Vienna's Brahmssaal, Sydney Opera House, London's Wigmore Hall, Auditorio de Madrid, Smetana Hall in Prague, IRCAM Center in Paris and Leningrad's Philharmonic Chamber Hall.

In addition to trios, the group has also commissioned Trio Concertos from Arutiunian, David, Ott, Skrowaczewski and Wallace and performed these with Vienna's Tonkiinstler Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony, Prague Chamber Soloists and as well as with the National Orchestra of Spain and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra.

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To complement its commissioning efforts, the Verdehr Trio has embarked upon a project of making CD recordings of the new works created for the Trio. A parallel project is "The Making of Medium" video series, consisting of half-hour programs with interviews and discussions by both composers and performers as well as a complete performance of each work Hosted by Martin Bookspan, these are available in a variety of video formats from the Instructional Media Center at Michigan State University. The series includes composers Leslie Bassett, Alan Hovhaness, Karel Husa, Thea Musgrave, Ned Rorem and Gunther Schuller. A second series hosted by Peter Schickele will include new trios from Alexander Arutiunian, William, Balcom, Philippe Manoury, Gian Carlo Menotti, Peter Sculthorpe and Peter Schickele.

The Verdehr Trio is in residence at Michigan State University.

Recordings by the Verdehr Trio

LP Works by Jere Hutcheson and Thomas Christian David, S644, Crystal Records

Works by Joseph Haydn and Karel Husa, S648, Crystal Records Works by Don Freund and Thomas Christian David (Duo), LP 1 122

Stereo, Leonarda Records Triple Concerto, Thomas Christian David, Tonkiinstler Orchestra,

Amadeo, 423-733-1

CD Works by Bassett, Bruch, Hoag and Hoover, LE 326, Leonarda Records Works by Ida Gotkovsky, Musique de Chambre, CC 890680, Corelia

"The Making of a Medium" Video Series

Vol. 1

Vol. 2

Vol. 3 Vol. 4

Vol. 5

Works of Mozart, Hovhaness, Frescobaldi, Pasatieri and Bartok, CD741, Crystal Records Works of Vanhal, Rorem, David, Musgrave and Liszt, CD742, Crystal Records Works of Averitt, Currier and Schuller, CD743, Crystal Records Works of Husa, Freund, Niblock and Dickinson, CD744, Crystal Records Works of Arutiunian, Schickele and Sculthorpe, CD445, Crystal Records

FOR FUTURE RELEASE:

Vol. 6 Concertos of Skrowaczewski, Sarasate, Wallace and Ott (1997 release)

Vol. 7 The Works of James Niblock written for the Verdehr Trio (1997 release)

Vol. 8 Works of Brahms, Dvorak, Hoag, Mozart and Saint Saens ("Mostly Dances")

Vol. 9 Works of David: Sinfonia Concerta11/e, Car111e11 Suite (both with Wind Symphony), Trio No. 2

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