Belmont University School of Music
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2024 10:00 A.M.
HARTON RECITAL HALL
Belmont University School of Music presents Chamber Winds
Divertimento for Flute and Bassoon
Leopold Hofmann Allegro (1738-1793) Menuetto and Trio Vivace
Trio for Flute, Bassoon, and Piano, A.507
Gaetano Donizetti Larghetto (1797-1848) Allegro
Petite Suite for flute and bassoon
Pierre Max Dubois Prélude (1930-1995) Interméde Cadence Burlesque Mouvement Perpétual
Personnel
Jake King, flute Harrison Sampson, bassoon
Deacon Angle, piano
Carolyn Totaro*, coach
*School of Music Faculty
Program Notes
Leopold Hofmann, born August 14, 1738, in Vienna, Austria, was the son of Georg Adam Hofmann. From an early age he showed an interest in music by singing as a chorister and receiving instruction in piano and composition. Throughout a career where he served as Kapellmeister, or musical director, of Peterskirche (St. Peter’s Church) in Vienna, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Hofklaviermeister (court piano master) of Joseph II, and teacher to the imperial family, he also began building his reputation as a composer. Hofmann, a genius of sacred music, was widely popular in Vienna during his life and was often considered Vienna’s premier musician. In addition to sacred music, Hofmann is also responsible for many chamber works, however many are lost. Those that still exist suggest that they were written with amateur in mind. Hofmann died March 17, 1793, in Vienna.
Hofmann’s Divertimento for flute and bassoon features three movements: the Allegro is energetic and lively, which contrasts with the stately, dance-like Menuetto and Trio. Finally, the piece concludes with an exciting and spirited Vivace.
Program Notes by Harrison Sampson, School of Music Student
Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) was born in Bergamo in the northern Lombardy region of Italy. He is mostly known for his sixty-five operas such as Lucia di Lammermoor or Don Pasquale, but Donizetti still composed a fair amount of chamber music, including eighteen string quartets. This piece stands out as it is the only instrumental trio from Donizetti with the combination of a flute, bassoon, and piano. Although Donizetti was a student when he composed this, his structure and style of the piece foreshadow his future operatic compositions. The first movement larghetto mirrors a cavatina, a short and lyrical form of aria, and the second movement allegro represents a cabaletta, a quick finale of an aria with a repeated rhythmic idea.
Program Notes by Deacon Angle, School of Music Student
Pierre Max Dubois was born in 1930 in a small village in Southern France called Graulhet. Dubois’s music career expanded while studying at the Paris Conservatoire from 1949 through 1953. He studied piano under Jean Doyen and composition under Darius Milhaud. At age nineteen, Dubois composed his first commissioned work entitled Suite humoristique, which received national accolades. Throughout his career, Dubois earned several awards including the Prix de Rome in 1955 and the Grand Prix of Paris in 1964. By 1967, he returned to the Paris Conservatoire as a professor of analysis, guiding students in composition and theory until his death in 1995. Dubois specialized in woodwind composition, focusing on the saxophone, flute, and bassoon. His chamber works combine unique timbres that showcase the possibilities of diverse instruments.
Published in 1964, Dubois’s Petite Suite for flute and bassoon highlights the composer’s creativity and virtuosic goals. There are five movements in total with unique characteristics that evoke distinct, powerful moods. The “Prélude” is primarily slow and calm, but the middle section abruptly shifts into a staccato, quicker melody. “Intermède” showcases a call-and-response relationship between the soloists as well as smooth tempo shifts. “Cadence” provides a lamentable state and is freely expressive in its form. “Burlesque” expresses a central, repetitive motive with a fast interlude in between. “Mouvement Perpétuel” contains the constant passing of sixteenth notes between the flute and bassoon.
Program Notes by Jake King, School of Music Student
About the Performers
Jake King is a sophomore major in Music Performance, flute, from the Chicago suburbs. Under the instruction of Dr. Carolyn Totaro, King has grown exponentially as a flutist and performer. He currently plays principal flute in Belmont’s Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra and had the opportunity to play the Concertino by Cecile Chaminade with the Orchestra last semester. Today, King is excited to share the stage with Deacon Angle and Harrison Sampson, celebrating the art and beauty of chamber music.
Harrison Sampson is a bassoonist from Newport, Tennessee. He is a member of both Belmont University’s Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble and has performed in numerous chamber ensembles on campus. In addition to performing on campus, Sampson has performed around Tennessee in various roles, including musical theater orchestras, clinics, and conferences. Before his time at Belmont, he was a Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra member.
Born in Redlands, California in 2005, Deacon Angle has been playing piano since the age of three, studying under Joel Bergey until graduating high school in 2023. During that time, he took part in various performance opportunities such as the Music Teachers’ Association of California’s Certificate of Merit, playing for judges from across the state multiple years in a row. He is currently enrolled at Belmont University, studying Music Performance, piano, under the instruction of Dr. Kristian Klefstad.
Upcoming Concerts and Events
Voxology
Friday, November 8, 7:30 p.m.
Massey Concert Hall
Jazz String Septet
Sunday, November 10, 6:30 p.m.
Massey Concert Hall
Percussion Ensemble & World Percussion Ensemble Monday, November 11, 7:30 p.m.
McAfee Concert Hall
For more information on upcoming concerts and events, please visit www.belmont.edu/cmpa or “like” Belmont University School of Music on Facebook.
