PROGRAMME NOTES
(alphabetical order by composer's last name)
BOEHM, THEOBALD: Grande Polonaise in D Major Op. 16
Theobald Boehm is best known as the inventor of the modern flute. Born in Munich, Bavaria, Boehm received his training as a goldsmith from his father. Using this knowledge, Boehm perfected the flute of his time, and improved its fingering system. Eager to demonstrate the capabilities of this new instrument, Boehm composed many pieces of great brilliance, most of them scored for flute and orchestra. Among the most demanding is the Grande Polonaise.
In 1871, Boehm published Die Flöte und das Flötenspiel, a treatise on the acoustical, technical, and artistic aspects of the Boehm system flute. In addition to being an inventor, Boehm is also remembered today as a virtuoso flutist, Bavarian Court Musician, and celebrated composer for the flute.
CALIENDO, CHRISTOPHER: Caliente (Hot)
Composer of over 550 world music compositions and the first composer in history to be twice commissioned to compose sacred music for the Vatican, Christopher Caliendo is one of the foremost living composers in the world. He is also a guitarist and conductor, and has received numerous awards for his works, including an Emmy nomination for the CBS series, Paradise – Ghost Dance. Caliente, which will be performed tonight, is a highly energetic Samba combining Latin rhythms and Brazilian harmonies.
DOPPLER, FRANZ: Andante et Rondo Op. 25
Franz Doppler, along with his brother Karl, were the most celebrated duo in Europe during the 19th century. Many compositions were born whilst the height of their career, such as the Andante and Rondo Op. 25. Despite the modest title, this composition displays the quintessential elements of romantic lyricism and classical structural designs.
DOROZIO, TOD PAUL: The Exodus Partita
The Exodus Partita is based on the biblical account of Israel’s movement from bondage to freedom in the second and third books of the Bible.
This piece is made up of three undivided sections. The first movement depicts both Israel’s yearning for freedom and eventual release from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 1:13-14). The second movement is a sound-picture of Israel’s 40 years spent wandering in the wild lands of Egypt and Arabia (Exodus16:2-3), and the third and final movement conveys Israel’s long awaited and jubilant entry into The Promised Land. (Deuteronomy 1:7-8).
As with all journeys, experience begins with a dream. In the case of Israel, their dream was their faith in the promises of God. Although their dream took a long time to come to fruition and was fraught with trials (because of their disobedience to God), in the end their dream came true. God always keeps His promises. Israel had to spend many years in the desert so that God could mold His people into the kind of people he wanted to inherit the Promised Land. When Israel entered the Promised Land prophecy was fulfilled and Israel was blessed with a sacred inheritance. This composition received its Canadian premiere on March 07, 2009 by Samantha Chang at Good Shepherd Community Church.
© Tod Paul Dorozio 2006
GOOSSENS, SIR EUGÈNE AYNSLEY: Four Sketches Op. 5 Book II
Sir Eugène Aynsley Goossens was born into a family of musicians in London 1893. He was sent to boarding school in Bruges when he was eight and began his musical education at the conservatory there at the age of ten. After gaining the Liverpool Scholarship, Goossens returned to England to study composition with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Charles Wood at the Royal College of Music in 1907. He made his conducting debut in April 1912 at an RCM public concert with his first composition, Variations on a Chinese Theme.
In 1921 Goossens formed his own orchestra for a series of contemporary performances. One of these concerts was the British premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, performed in the presence of Stravinsky, Diaghilev, and Massine. Diaghilev responded by engaging Goossens to conduct the Ballet Russes. From 1923 to 1931, Goossens went to USA at the invitation of the ‘Kodak King’, George Eastman, to conduct his newly founded Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. By the end of the decade Goossens was established as a brilliant and dynamic figure on the podium of America’s greatest orchestras and in 1931 to 1946 was appointed musical director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
From 1947 to 1956, Goossens worked with the Sydney Symphony in Australia and raised them to international fame. He also became director of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music and was credited for much of the lobbying to the NSW Government to build a music performance venue which led to the construction of the Sydney Opera House. In 1955 Goossens was knighted for his services to Australian music and was commemorated with the Eugene Goossens Hall, a small concert and recording facility that is part of the broadcasting complex of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Harris Street, Ultimo, in Sydney.
Unfortunately Goossens was forced to resign in March 1956 after a major public scandal involving himself and the so-called Witch of Kings Cross, Rosaleen Norton. Norton was known as an artist of the grotesque and her interest in the occult and erotica, which Goossens secretly shared. Goossens suffered from long periods of illness following the scandal and returned to England in disgrace. He left sketches for a ballet and third opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1962.
Goossens’s success as a conductor, and especially his role in bringing modern and difficult works before a wide public, proved detrimental to his own later career as a composer. His early chamber works were influenced by Debussy and Ravel and his later orchestral compositions, although masterly in their use of instrumental colour, tend to lack an individual voice. This recording showcases the Romance that is gorgeously trilled and sung with a foot in both English and French camps and the Humoresque which has the three players cackling like cherry witches from Goossens’ Four Sketches Op. 5 Book II written in 1913.
IBERT, JACQUES: Deux Interludes
Deux interludes suivi de Carillon from Le Burlador was inspired by the 1920s fascination with Iberia (modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Gibraltar). Composed in 1946 by French composer Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert, this piece of incidental music created as an afterthought has long since outlived the initial Spanish play. Le Burlador, originally written in 1936 by playwright Suzanne Lilar, is a reinterpretation of the myth of Don Juan from the female perspective. Lilar was a Flemish Belgian essayist and novelist writing in French and in 1925 became the first woman to receive a Law Degree from the State University of Ghent thus becoming the first woman lawyer in Antwerp.
Born in Paris in 1890, Ibert began his musical studies on the violin and piano at the age of four. After obtaining his baccalaureate, Ibert decided to devote himself to composition. He joined Emile Pessard’s harmony class at the Paris Conservatoire in 1910 and went on to Gédalge’s counterpoint class in 1912 and Paul Vidal’s composition class in 1913. Gédalge also advised his pupils on orchestration and organized a private class for the best of them. It was in that class that Ibert met Honegger and Milhaud. In 1919, Ibert won the Prix de Rome for his cantata Le poète et la fée, and in 1937, he became the director of the French Academy in Rome. From 1955 to 1957, Ibert directed Paris’s Opéra-Comique and composed a number of operas, such as L'Aiglon, and the operetta Les Petites Cardinal. His best known works include Divertissement, based on his incidental music for Eugène Labiche's play Un Chapeau de paille d'Italie. In the course of the work he comically quotes many pieces, including Mendelssohn's Wedding March. Among his film scores is the one for Orson Welles' version of Macbeth from 1948. In 1956 Ibert wrote the work Bacchanale to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the BBC Third Programme. Its premiere was given by Sir Aynsley Eugene Goossens.
Although not a member of Les Six, Ibert’s music shares some strong characteristics with theirs. His music was considered to be typically quite “light” in character, often witty, colourfully orchestrated with attractive melodies. Neither atonal nor serial, and very rarely polytonal, Ibert’s harmony relates closely to the Classical tradition. He makes regular use of chords of the 9th, 11th, and 13th and also utilizes altered and added-note chords. His orchestration is always transparent and avoids undue complexity, showing a good understanding of instrumental possibilities.
KARG-ELERT, SIGFRID: Sonata Appassionata in F# minor Op. 140
Written in 1917, Sonata Appassionata in F# minor Op. 140 by Sigfrid Karg-Elert, offers a sharp contrast to French music written in the same decade. One has the impression of leaving the world of Vuillard, all charm, polish and peace, for the neuroses of Kokoshka, tormented, torn, jumping from one extreme to the other. The indications underline this musical expressionism: ‘always very passionate’, ‘desperate’ as opposed to ‘tender’ and ‘careful’. As far as form is concerned, instead of a Sonata, it is a brief Sonatina in four episodes linked without break to a furious coda. It is still tonal, but its developments explore the atonal and serial researches. The aesthetic is closer to Mahler. Disciple of Reinecke in Leipzig, precocious pianist and composer, Karg-Elert wrote a large number of works for keyboard instruments and theorectical literature.
卡爾格－艾勒特，斯格佛禮德（KARG-ELERT, SIGFRID）
F# 小調熱情奏鳴曲，作品第140號（Sonata Appassionata in F# minor Op. 140）
這部“F# 小調熱情奏鳴曲，作品第140號”是卡爾格－艾勒特在1917年完成的，偏高的音域有別於同一時代的法國作品。卡爾格－艾勒特的作品給人有法國印象主義畫家－維亞爾德（Vuillard）繪畫作品的迷人，精煉與祥和的感覺；同時攙雜奧地利表現主義藝術家－科克西卡（Kokoshka）的神經質，糾纏與苦痛，從一個極端感受跳入另一個極端。相對於“溫柔”和“精致”等形容詞，表現主義派的音樂給人的感受總是“非常的熱情與極端”。就音樂作品體裁而言，卡爾格－艾勒特以四個不間斷的小奏鳴曲代替完整的奏鳴曲形式，最后賦予一個鮮明強烈的結尾樂章。盡管如此，整部作品依舊保持優美的調性，他的曲調變化更開啟了無調性和音序形式的研究。卡爾格－艾勒特作品的美學風格比較接近馬勒（Mahler）的曲風。作為早期就表現出超常天分的鋼琴大師和作曲家－芮內克（Reinecke）在萊比錫的門徒，卡爾格－艾勒特發表了大量和鍵盤樂器相關的音樂作品和理論文學作品。
PIAZZOLLA, ÁSTOR PANTALEÓN: Oblivion
Until the turn of the century, the milonga was the most popular dance in Argentina. Its slow tempo and swaying rhythm provides Oblivion with its gorgeous languorous ambiance which passes between the flute, cello, and piano in this arrangement.
REINECKE, CARL HEINRICH CARSTEN: Ballade Op. 288
Full of passion and lyricism, Reinecke’s Ballade Op. 288 opens with a dramatic statement in D minor reminiscent of Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor. Mendelssohn’s influence creeps in later on in the faster scherzo-like sections. Although Reinecke composed extensively, only his piano works and a few chamber works are regularly performed today.
Ervin Schulhoff, a much celebrated Central European composer, came from a Prague Jewish-German family. Although Schulhoff’s parents were not musical themselves, they wholeheartedly supported and encouraged their son’s talent. He commenced his musical studies at the Prague Conservatory of Music, and continued them in Vienna, Leipzig and Cologne, where his composition teacher was Max Reger. The promising start of Schulhoff’s career as a composer and pianist was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War, a period which he spent as a soldier mostly on the eastern front. His wartime experiences completely changed his vision of the world and of art. During his stay in postwar Germany (1919-1923), Schulhoff joined the ranks of the left-wing avant-garde, while helping to shape its views as a composer. After returning to Prague, his compositional style displayed an oscillation between expressionism and neoclassicism, such as the Sonata for flute and piano written in 1927, which was dedicated to René Le Roy.
TAFFANEL, CLAUDE-PAUL: Fantaisie on Mignon
Fantaisie on Mignon was written in 1866 and appeared in 1874 as Taffanel’s first published work. The composition was dedicated to his teacher, Louis Dorus, whom he studied with at the Paris Conservatoire. Many themes from Ambroise Thomas’ Mignon are used throughout the piece. After the brief cadenza-like section, the flute plays the beautiful aria ‘Connais-tu le pays?’ which is then followed by the orchestral Entr’acte which opens Act 2. The polonaise section features Philine’s aria ‘Je suis Titania’ and a series of brilliant variations ensues.
塔法奈耳，克勞德－保羅（TAFFANEL, CLAUDE-PAUL)
梅娘幻想曲（Fantaisie sur Mignon）
梅娘幻想曲（Fantaisie sur Mignon）是塔法奈耳在1866年完成，並且在1874年首次出版的作品。這部幻想曲是塔法奈耳特別寫給他在巴黎音樂學院的老師路易斯．都羅斯（Louis Dorus）的作品。在整首作品中，他採用很多昂布魯瓦．托馬斯（Ambroise Thomas）的“梅娘”歌劇（Mignon）作為主旋律。在一段類似華采段旋律之后，由長笛演奏出美麗的詠嘆調 “你知道這個地方嗎？”（Connais-tu le pays?)，緊接其后的是管弦樂作為間奏曲帶出第二段梅娘歌劇中費琳娜（Philine）的詠嘆調“我是泰坦女神”以及一連串精湛的變奏曲。
翻譯者: 李玉美
TAN, MIZI: A Caged Partridge's Longing
Set the Partridge Free, written by Tang Dynasty poet, Zong Yuan Liu, inspired composer, Mizi Tan, to create his composition A Caged Partridge’s Longing. The humanitarian spirit that dominates Liu’s poem spoke strongly to the composer while he resided in the United States in 1987. The composition can be parsed into three sections. The first portion depicts the partridge confined in his cage, denied of freedom; nevertheless, he refuses to succumb to his destiny. In the second section, the partridge’s dreams of taking flight into the blue skies, completely independent and liberated. The final scene portrays many failed attempts to escape; however, the partridge’s hope has not wavered, as the future is yet to be determined. Instead of ending on the tonic key, the composer has chosen to end on a diminished fifth interval, thus depicting the partridge’s optimism. This composition received its Canadian premiere on September 23, 2006 by Samantha Chang at the George Weston Recital Hall.
楚越有鳥甘且腴, 嘲嘲自名為鷓鴣。
徇媒得食不复慮, 机械潛發罹嗟孚。
羽毛摧折触籠圄, 煙火煽赫掠庖廚。
鼎前芍葯調五味, 膳夫攘腕左右視。
齊王不忍觳觫牛, 簡子亦放邯鄲鳩。
二子得意猶念此, 況我萬里為孤囚。
破籠展翅當遠去, 同類相呼莫相顧。
譚蜜子（TAN, MIZI）
放鷓鴣曲（A Caged Partridge's Longing）
這首“放鷓鴣曲”是長笛作曲家－譚蜜子先生，根據唐朝詩人柳宗元的作品“放鷓鴣詞”所得靈感啟發的創作。1987年，當時正旅居美國的譚蜜子先生深深被詩中所散發的濃厚人道慈善精神所撼動。這首曲子共分為三個段落：第一段所描述的是這隻鷓鴣被困在籠子裡失去自由，即便如此，他一點也不向命運屈服；第二段講述的是困在籠中的鷓鴣不斷夢想著有一天能夠自由自在，無拘無束的在藍天裡翱翔；最后一段則描繪這隻受困的鷓鴣數度嘗試著逃離鐵籠，總是徒勞；即使如此，鷓鴣的願望從來沒被抹去，渴望飛向藍天的夢想只有更加堅定。最後，作曲家不按常規將樂曲結束在主和弦上，而是結束在不協和的減五度音程上，就像是一聲嘆息，一種不明朗的期待...
這首曲子首次在加拿大發表，便是由張秋暘小姐於2006年9月23日在喬志威斯頓演奏廳（George Weston Recital Hall）演出。
《放鷓鴣詞》
楚越有鳥甘且腴，嘲嘲自名為鷓鴣。
徇媒得食不復慮，機械潛發罹嗟孚。
羽毛摧折觸籠圄，煙火煽赫掠庖廚。
鼎前芍葯調五味，膳夫攘腕左右視。
齊王不忍觳觫牛，簡子亦放邯鄲鳩。
二子得意猶念此，況我萬裡為孤囚。
破籠展翅當遠去，同類相呼莫相顧。
翻譯者: 李玉美
譚蜜子（TAN, MIZI）
西北風情（Suite）
中國西北部是長江、黃河的發源地，是我中華民族繁衍生息的大搖籃。可是千百年來的天災人禍，卻使大西北成為黃煙千里，貧瘠窮困的地區。但在長期的奮鬥中，也孕育了西北人的堅強性格和樂觀精神。作曲家就是通過這首以三幅風情音畫構成的組曲，從一個側面去表現這種樂觀精神和人們美好的理想。
TAN, MIZI: Two Lyrics of Yi People
Composed during a visit to the Yunnan Guizhou mountainous areas in 1960, the composer was so moved by the local music culture of the ethnic minorities and touched by the simplicity of sentiment set out in its folk songs and dance. Two Lyrics of Yi People evokes images of birds singing under the moonlight, sounds of laughter from the youth, and memories recollected by the bonfires.
譚蜜子（TAN, MIZI）
彝族抒情詩兩首（Two Lyrics of Yi People）
作於1960年，那年作者曾到雲貴山區採風，不僅對當地少數民族音樂文化的絢麗多彩而驚嘆萬分，更為當地人民能歌善舞，熱情奔放的純樸情操所感動。那月琴伴奏下幽柔的巴鳥樂聲，那年輕人通宵徹夜的歡歌笑語，那篝火旁老人沉浸在回憶中的幸福目光…給作者留下了深刻的印象！以彝族民謠海菜腔為基調的“寨外靜悄悄”是一首愛的頌歌，用彝族舞曲為素村的“綠綠的後山坡”則是一闕對青春活力的禮讚。
齊賓，弗拉基米爾 （TZIBIN, VLADIMIR)
塔蘭泰拉舞曲（Tarantella)
俄羅斯長笛演奏家，作曲家，齊賓（Tzibin），的長笛作品除了“音樂會快板” (１－3號) 及“音樂會練習曲” (１－10號) 兩大糸列以外，還包括不少中小型作品,“塔蘭泰拉舞曲”（Tarantella）就是其中突出的一首。
“塔蘭泰拉舞曲”（Tarantella）為義大利那不勒斯舞曲，非常快速的6/8拍。曲名的起源一說與義大利的“塔蘭托港”（Taranto）有關，一說與一種稱為“塔蘭圖拉”（Tarantula）的毒蜘蛛有關，傳說凡被這種毒蜘蛛咬過的人須不斷地跳一種狂熱的舞蹈方能痊愈。故樂曲在節奏，情緒上是活躍，激烈的。19世紀中期，作曲家通常以華麗的無窮動 (Perpetuum mobile) 形式來寫作這種舞曲。
First recorded by Marcel Moyse in the 1930s, this nostalgic Serenade is the only piece by Woodall to have survived the test of time. According to its title page, which was published in 1907 by The Flute Player’s Journal, this piece was dedicated to and edited by Edward de Jong, a Dutch flutist. Woodall was rarely mentioned in reference books, and as a result, little information is known about this composer.
伍德沃，亞伯特（WOODALL, ALBERT)
小夜曲（Serenade)
1930年代首次由馬塞爾．莫依茲（Marcel Moyse）所錄制，這部懷舊氛圍濃厚的小夜曲是伍德沃（Woodall）唯一經歷時代考驗所遺留下來的作品。根據他的書名扉頁上的記載，這部小夜曲在1907年由“長笛演奏家期刊”出版，這個作品是特別獻給一位荷蘭的長笛演奏家愛德華．戎格（Edward de Jong），他也同時為這部作品編曲。伍德沃（Woodall）很少被任何參考書目所提及，因此有關這位作曲家的資料非常有限。
翻譯者: 李玉美