Winds on Wednesdays: Purcell, Britten, Stravinsky, & Rouse

Henry Purcell | from Abdelazar Suite, Z 570

II. Rondeau
IX. Air

Henry Purcell | Fantasia Upon One Note, Z 745

Henry Purcell | from Abdelazar Suite, Z 570

VIII. Hornpipe

Wind Ensemble Personnel

Oboe
Elias Medina
Gillian Bobnak
Ryoei Kawai
Izumi Amemiya

English horn
Izumi Amemiya

Bassoon
Morgan Pope

Benjamin Britten | from Concert Suite, The Sword in the Stone (1939)

IV. Bird Music
V. Lullaby
VI. Water Theme and End Music

In the spring of 1939 Benjamin Britten composed the incidental music for a BBC radio “Children’s Hour” six-part dramatization of T. H. White’s Arthurian story, The Sword in the Stone. He provided fifteen numbers: Introduction, Boys’ Tunes, Merlyn’s Tune, Merlyn’s Spell, Lullaby, Water Theme, Jousting Music, Jousting Song, Bird Music, Bird’s Song I, Bird’s Song II, Witch Tune, Witch’s Song, Tree Music, and End Music. Oliver Knussen compiled this suite for a performance at the 1983 Aldeburgh Festival, using ten of the numbers with a minimum of editorial change, but linking them to form separate movements.
        The Sword in the Stone concerns Arthur’s boyhood, when he was known as “Wart,” his friendship with Kay (Wart’s foster brother), his education under Merlyn’s guidance, and the eventual revelation that he is, in fact, King Arthur.
        Britten’s use of parody is present throughout the score, employed in response to the text’s parodic relationship to its Arthurian forebears of Malory and Tennyson. Often treated in this way are motifs from Wagner’s Ring cycle. In The Sword in the Stone, the Wagnerian references are thinly veiled: Merlyn’s Tune echoes the sound of the Rheingold prelude, suggested by the similar primordial mood of the subjects; in the same number Britten appropriately includes Wagner’s “Sword” motif in the correct key (C major), played by the correct instrument (trumpet); and in the End Music a brief snatch of the “Freedom” motif from Act I of Siegfried can be detected. Wagner is also to be found in the witty Bird Music in which the composer eschews imitating real bird calls in favor of a medley of musical birds compiled from various sources including Beethoven, Strauss, and Delius.
        Britten also incorporates sophisticated, small-scale musico-dramatic symbolism in the score. In Boys’ Tunes, for example, the open-minded Wart, unaware of his true identity, is represented by a lively sixteenth tune on piccolo and clarinet in the innocent key of C major. Kay’s theme, however, could not be more sharply contrasted: its marching pompous quality in the regal key of A-flat reflects his self-importance, as does the use of brass rather than the more playful woodwind.
– Luke Camarillo

Symphonic Winds Personnel

Flute
Jeongwon Choe

Clarinet
Hyeokwoo Kweon

Bassoon
Evan Judson

Trumpet
Cody York

Trombone
Elias Canales

Harp
Elizabeth Yeoh-Wang

Percussion
Mark Larrivee

Igor Stravinsky | from Octet

II. Tema con variazioni

Stravinsky started composing the Octetat Biarritz, late 1922 and finished in Paris in May 1923. Written during the neo-classical period of Stravinsky’s composition career, the Octet was inspired by a dream, “in which I saw myself in a small room surrounded by a small group of instrumentalists playing some attractive music (Stravinsky & Craft, Dialogues).” According to George Antheil, Mozart was at the time Stravinsky’s special musical love. Thus, the piece took the form of a classical sonata in three movements: Sinfonia, Theme with Variations, and Finale. In addition, it is the also first piece with which Stravinsky made his conducting career debut.
        The Octet is written for flute, clarinet, two bassoons, trumpet in C, trumpet in A, tenor trombone, and bass trombone. The first two movements will be performed in this concert. Counterpoint is a fundamental feature of the Octet. The constant juxtaposition between the flute and tenor trombone provides vivid contrast in the texture. Both movements are full of irregular meters and regular meter changes. For instance, in the Lento introduction leading into the Allegro of the Sinfonia, the flute and clarinet play an extended melody on top of bassoon counter melodies in mixed 3/16, 2/8, 3/8 meters. The nuances of dynamics and special articulations make the piece uniquely Stravinsky’s.                                        
– Sally Yu

Wind Ensemble Personnel

Flute
HyoJin Park

Clarinet
Theodore Robinson

Bassoon
Kylie Hansen
Delano Bell

Trumpet
Cameron Abtahi
Kimberly Sabio

Trombone
Matthew Vezey

Bass Trombone
Luke Sieve

Christopher Rouse | Ogoun Badagris (1976)

Ogoun Badagris derives its inspiration from Haitian drumming patterns, particularly those of the Juba Dance. Hence, it seemed logical to tie in the work with various aspects of Voodoo ritual. Ogoun Badagris is one of the most terrible and violent of all Voodoo loads (deities), and he can be appeased only by human blood sacrifice. This work may thus be interpreted as a dance of appeasement. The four conga drums often act as the focal point in the work and can be compared with the role of the four most basic drums in the Voodoo religion — the be-be, the seconded, the maman, and the asator. The metal plates and sleigh bells are to a certain extent parallels of the Haitian ogan. The work begins with a brief action de grace, a ceremonial call-to-action in which the high priest shakes the giant rattle known as the asson, here replaced by cabasa. Then the principle dance begins, a grouillere: this is a highly erotic and even brutally sexual ceremonial dance which in turn is succeeded by the Danse Vaudou at the point at which demonic possession occurs. The word "reler," which the performers must shriek at the conclusion of the work, is the Voodoo equivalent of the Judaeo-Christian "amen".                                 – Christopher Rouse