Program Notes
Paul Hindemith – Sonata for Oboe and Piano (1938)
Paul Hindemith began studying violin, composition, and conducting, and developed into one of the most important composers of his time. During a period when much of the music culture around him was breaking from tonality, Hindemith chose to use new harmonies combined with traditional structures rather than lose all tonality. His music was highly controversial at the time, and some called him a mere “degenerate” or “atonal noisemaker”, yet, others hailed his work as the music of the future..
However, 1938 was a year of turbulence for the family: Hindemith emigrated with his family to Switzerland, largely due to the fact that he was coming under increased scrutiny because of his Jewish wife. Like many other composers (such as Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Beethoven,) the strain on his life brought a burst of creativity, and the year was one of Hindemith’s most prolific. In addition to the oboe sonata, Hindemith completed the bassoon sonata, cello sonata, piano sonata for four hands, and a ballet, among other works.
The oboe sonata is two movements; the first movement written in traditional ABA’ structure. This movement is polymetric, giving the listener the feeling that that the musical line is repeatedly jarred out of a comfortable pulse. The second movement is written in ABA’B’C form, and begins with a calm, reflective tone. The line quickly launches into a brisk 3/8 fugue, complex in the feeling of 2 against 3. The piece finishes triumphantly, settling into a longer-flowing lyrical line.
Georg Philipp Telemann – Quartet in D minor for two Flutes, Recorder, and Basso Continuo from Tafelmusik II
Georg Phillipp Telemann was a contemporary of J.S. Bach and Georg Frederic Handel during the Baroque period. Telemann wrote at least 800 confirmed works, and may have written as many as 3000, including over forty operas, forty-six Passions, 125 orchestral suites, 125 concertos, 130 trios, 145 pieces for keyboard, and hundreds of other works. Many included unusual instrumentations to accommodate whatever musicians were available for that week.
Telemann’s Tafelmusik, literally meaning “dinner music”, was printed and released in 1733. Phillip Huscher writes this about Tafelmusik:
“Each set of Tafelmusik includes an assortment of pieces for increasingly smaller performing forces—an orchestral suite, a concerto, a quartet, a trio sonata, and a solo sonata. The set is rounded off with a “conclusion,” scored for the same large forces employed in the opening suite. The three sets were issued as installments—one each in the late spring, early fall, and at Christmas. All three compilations demonstrate not only the ease with which Telemann turned out vast quantities of music, but more importantly his extraordinary versatility and fluency in various forms and styles.
Henri Tomasi – Evocations
Henri Tomasi was born into a working class family. At age five, his family moved to Mazarques where his father worked as a postal worker and enrolled his son in music theory lessons. By the age of seven, Henri entered the Conservatoire du Musique de Marseilles and won first place in music theory and piano at the age of ten. Henri’s father took him around, to play for upper class families, where he felt “humiliated to be on show like a trained animal.”
Despite his early success, Tomasi was not happy being a musician. He had dreams and aspirations to be a sailor, and often skipped music classes to go swimming or read Les Pieds Nickelés. Tomasi’s education continued to the highest of levels, and eventually culminated at the Paris Conservatoire. However, his passion for faraway lands and exotic places never ceased. At the age of 38, after already having established himself as a celebrated composer and conductor, he secretly boarded a ship for Dakar, Senegal, swearing to leave his old life behind. However in a cruel twist of fate, upon arrival in Morocco, Tomasi discovered he had been drafted. He was soon shipped back to France, where he was assigned head of the marching band, and he never traveled again. Despite his unsuccessful escape, Tomasi continued to write colorful pieces with the harmonies of Japan, Laos, and the Sahara Desert in North Africa. This piece, written only a few years before the end of his life, demonstrates Tomasi’s neverending dreams of faraway lands (of which he never made the journey to) it demonstrates his idea of the music of Peru, Nigeria, Cambodia (omitted), and Scotland.
This piece is very programmatic, depicting in my imagination the following. Peruviènne begins with distant sounds of drums in the jungle followed by a full display of tribal calls to the gods above. The movement requires the broadest spectrum of dynamics on the instrument, and is well written for the instrument demonstrating a variety of color. Nigeriènne takes the listener to the plains of Nigeria, where a dancing gazelle happily plays in the long grass. A lion stalks the gazelle and chases it, only to fail miserably and stalk hungrily and exhausted back to its home. The final movement, titled Ècossaise after the traditional Scottish dance, begins on the Scottish Highlands, before entering in a bar to find that the townsfolk are enjoying an evening of drinking and dancing. As the night progresses (and the ale flows), the dancing gets a bit quicker, spinning out of control until too many people bump into each other, causing the occasional table to fall over, in which the dancers pick it back up, and resume their dancing.
Camille Saint-Saëns – Sonata for Oboe and Piano
Born in 1835, Camille Saint-Saëns became one of the most definitive French Romantic composers. At the early age of three, his father passed away and the family moved in with his aunt, Charlotte Masson, who introduced the 2 year old to the piano. It was quickly discovered that young Camille had perfect pitch and thus, Saint-Saëns’ musical career began. At age 10, Saint-Saëns gave his debut piano recital, and at age 16 his first symphony was completed, of which the composer Hector Berlioz commented “Il sait tout, mais il manque d’inexpérience.” (He knows everything, but lacks inexperience).
Saint-Saëns continued to make his living as a church organist, composer and performer. In 1887, he made a historic tour to St. Petersburg with flutist Paul Taffanel, clarinetist Charles-Paul Turban, and oboist Georges Gillet who was also the professor at the Paris Conservatoire. During this trip Saint-Saëns composed the Caprice sur des Airs Russes et Danois for flute, oboe, clarinet, and piano. One would imagine he would draw these memories of playing with such incredible performers when he finally decided to write a sonata for every major wind instrument in 1921. The Flute sonata and English Horn sonata were not completed, however Saint-Saëns did complete a bassoon, oboe, and clarinet sonata, all which have become standards in their respective repertoires, during his final year of life.
Saint-Saëns style is commonly considered elegant and clean. His oboe sonata equally as fine as his other chamber compositions, with a first movement full of warm, tonal colors and transparent textures. The second movement is a light 9/8 skipping paced melody, sandwiched by more meditative cadenza-like gestures. Finally, the third movement, marked Molto Allegro, is full of fire and drive.
Howard Hanson – Pastorale for Oboe and Piano
Howard Hanson’s name will forever be linked to the Eastman School of Music. He was appointed to direct the school by George Eastman and continued to do so for 40 years. During this period, besides his administrative duties, he found the time to conduct the orchestra, establish the Rochester Symphony Orchestra, compose four more symphonies (he wrote seven in total), as well as multiple choral, chamber, and keyboard works.
The Pastorale for oboe and piano was the only piece the famous Marcel Tabuteau (founder of the American school of oboe) ever premiered. It was written in 1949 for the fourth general meeting of UNESCO in Paris. The convention called for eleven composers from eleven different countries to write pieces for the special concert in commemoration of Chopin’s Centennial. Jules Goetgheluck played the oboe part with Hanson playing the piano during its submission. The piece was later orchestrated for solo oboe, strings and harp. Robert Sprenkle, professor of oboe at the Eastman School of Music at the time (who would later perform the definitive recording of the piece) noted that the orchestration was “so thick it would better suit a trumpet”. The piece was obviously dear to Hanson’s heart: it was dedicated to his wife whom he had married 3 years earlier. The piece continued to serve him eight years later when he toured with Eastman students in 1958 while performing for the television series “Paintings with Sound”, with my previous professor Daniel Stolper playing the solo oboe part.
