Winds on Wednesdays: Britten, Varèse, Ayala, & Stravinsky

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

I. Introduction and Boys' Tunes
II. Merlyn's Tune and Tree Music
III. Merlyn's Spell and Witch Tune

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

Personnel

Flute
Jeongwon Choe

Clarinet
Hyeokwoo Kweon

Bassoon
Evan Judson

Trumpet
Cody York

Trombone
Elias Canales

Harp
Elizabeth Yeoh-Wang

Percussion
Mark Larrivee

Edgard Varèse | Octandre (1923)

Assez lent
Très vif et nerveux
Grave - Animé et jubilatoire

Octandre, whose title refers both to its eight-player ensemble and the word’s literal meaning, a flower with eight stamens, is written in three movements. The first movement begins with an oboe solo reminiscent of the opening bars of Stravinsky’s Sacre du printemps. The clarinet enters second, punctuating the mesmerizing atmosphere with weighty, repeated triplets. The movement develops in a similar way, with each of the 8 instruments stacking their unique melodies to create a Varèse special: gestural sound masses.  
        The second movement begins with a frantic piccolo solo punctuated again by an eager clarinet. The brass and string bass steer the cacophony into a mixed-meter dance that ends with a tutti crescendo that, when spent, leaves the string bass to sing alone, guiding the ensemble into the third movement marked grave.  
        Octandre ends like the flower from which it gets its name, it blossoms into an electrifying fugue, features a return of the mixed-meter dance, a fiery trumpet solo, and an ending that is as loud as it is exciting.                                     
– Riley Vogel

Personnel

Flute
Elena Rubin

Oboe
Kip Zimmerman

Clarinet
Theodore Robinson

Bassoon
Jazmyn Barajas-Trujillo

French horn
Helen Wargelin

Trumpet
Charles Jones

Trombone
Katherine Franke

Double Bass
Diego Martinez

Nicolás Ayala Cerón | Octeto (premiere)

Octeto was written for the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble and features a diverse instrumentation not often utilized in works of this type: a double wind quartet, including flute, oboe, English horn, bassoon, and horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba. It is a single movement through-composed work comprising five sections that function as theme and variations. The piece opens with a slow introduction in the key of G minor, the theme established by the trombone as it peers through a persistent sustained D pitch; the conflicting duality between the insistent D and the moving theme in thirds informs the entire composition. The second section is a pastoral reflection in the tonic key, carried by the horn and modulating a tritone away to C-sharp minor before reaching a climax and a descent back into the tonic key. The third section is a spirited Allegro in 12/8, constantly churning as the theme unravels in a rapid flourish. The fourth section treats the theme in a fugue. The final section begins with a partial reprisal of the slow introduction, a final struggle between the constant D and the theme in thirds in the key of G minor. Both thematic ideas merge together in harmony as the key changes to D major, giving way to a sonorous finale.
        Octeto receives its premiere performance tonight and is livestreamed by the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble, under the direction of the composer, in Jordan Hall.                                   
– Nicolás Ayala Cerón

Personnel

Flute
Nnamdi Odita-Honnah

Oboe
Spencer Grasl

English horn
Rajan Panchal

Bassoon
HanYi Huang

French horn
Helen Wargelin

Trumpet
Kimberly Sabio

Trombone
Matthew Vezey

Tuba
Colin Benton

Igor Stravinsky | from Octet (1923)

I. Sinfonia

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

Personnel