Belmont University School of Music
Faculty Concert Series presents
Belmont University School of Music
Carolyn Totaro, flute Sonata da Camera, Op.48 (1927) I. Prélude – Allegro con spirito II. Sarabande (Sur le nom de Louis Fleury) – Trés modéré III. Finale – Allegretto giocoso
Concerto da Camera, H.196 (1948) I. Allegretto amabile II. Andante III. Vivace
Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937)
Arthur Honegger (1892-1955)
Intermission Sonata for flute and piano (1926) I. Allegro moderato II. Lento e sostenuto III. Lievemente mosso
Mario Pilati (1903-1938)
Carolyn Totaro, flute Rebecca Van de Ven, English horn Carmine Miranda, cello Kristian Klefstad, piano
I would like to express my deep gratitude to my fellow performers for their time, artistry, and enthusiasm. I am so blessed to have you as colleagues.
MONDAY, JANUARY 22, 2024 7:30 P.M.
MCAFEE CONCERT HALL
I also want to thank Melissa Wertheimer, Senior Music Reference Specialist at the Library of Congress for her help researching Mario Pilati in the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation Collection. ~Dr. Carolyn Totaro
Program Notes Elizabeth Penn Sprague was born in Chicago on October 30, 1864, to Nancy Ann Atwood and Albert Arnold Sprague. As an infant, Elizabeth and her mother attended President Lincoln’s funeral procession on their street, the first of many historical events she would experience in her life. Her parents welcomed two more daughters, Carrie in 1867, and Suzie in 1869 (Barr 13). Elizabeth’s father established a wholesale grocery business with his brother Otho S. A. Sprague and an old friend, Ezra J. Warner. The business on State Street was called Sprague Warner and Company. After the great fire of 1871, the company experienced tremendous loss, but the founders managed an incredible recovery thanks in part to the railway system and relocated the business to Michigan Avenue. Tragically, a few years later, the Sprague’s youngest daughter, Suzie, died of measles exacerbated by scarlet fever. This sad event was followed within years by the death of their middle daughter, Carrie, from tuberculosis of the brain (Barr 18). Elizabeth became the sole focus of her mother’s attention henceforth. It was at this time that Elizabeth began her music studies with Regina Watson, a German born and educated pianist who had settled in Chicago in 1874 with her husband, Dr. Louis H. Watson. An incredibly talented and highly regarded performer who was acquainted with many notable musicians in Europe and America, Watson had relinquished a career in performing once she married, a common decision for women at this time. Instead, she opened a piano studio that was highly successful, and Elizabeth became one of her prized pupils and life-long friend. During this time, Albert Sprague’s business was flourishing, and he became incredibly involved in the community development of Chicago, beginning a life-long pattern of philanthropy in the arts. The Sprague’s increasing social stature and affluence inevitably crystallized in a grand tour of Europe in 1882, when Elizabeth was seventeen. Some of the highlights of their tour included attending the premiere production of Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus with Wagner in attendance and seeing Brahms perform his own chamber compositions (Barr 29, 30). Upon their return to the United States, Elizabeth was sent to a rigorous finishing school in New York where she mastered French, continued her piano studies, and attended rehearsals of the New York Philharmonic Society and the Church Music Association as well as a production of Gounod’s Faust at the newly opened Metropolitan Opera House (Barr 32, 33). While Elizabeth initially thrived in New York, she became more withdrawn in her letters and caused her mother concern. Her mother missed her dearly and eventually arranged for Elizabeth to remain in Chicago at the end of 1884. Back in her familiar environment in her parents’ new home at 2710 Prairie Avenue (a new neighborhood of Chicago’s wealthiest citizens), Elizabeth resumed her piano studies with Regina Watson and engaged in piano duets with Frances Glessner, wife of industrialist John J. Glessner. Frances had many artistic pursuits and hosted many musicales and dinners, to which Elizabeth was invited, that featured many great performers of their time. Elizabeth’s affiliation with Frances led to an introduction to the Coolidge family of Boston and an instant friendship with Isabella Coolidge and then, six years later, an engagement to Isabella’s younger brother, Frederic. Elizabeth and Frederic Shurtleff Coolidge were married on November 12, 1891 (Barr 48). Frederic was a doctor, specializing in orthopedic surgery, a new field. As a member of the board of Rush Medical College in Chicago, Elizabeth’s father helped procure a position for Frederic so that the newlyweds could remain local. In January of 1894, Elizabeth gave birth to her only surviving child, a son they named Albert Sprague Coolidge but referred to him only as Sprague (Barr 55). In December of 1895, Elizabeth’s father gifted the young family with a new home at 2636 Prairie Avenue (Barr 57). While managing marriage and motherhood, as best she could, Elizabeth resumed her musical studies by joining several organizations including the Friday Club, the Amateur Music Club, and the most prestigious organization, the Fortnightly, to which she was formally invited (Barr 60).
Shortly after Sprague’s first birthday, Frederic became extremely ill and required surgery; it would be several months before his condition would be correctly diagnosed. It was later determined that he had contracted syphilis from a patient on whom he was operating. It was not yet practice for surgeons to wear gloves during operations and Frederic cut himself during the surgery. Although he and another doctor cleaned his wound as thoroughly as possible, he still fell ill. Fortunately, they had the means with which to travel to resorts for rest and to other major cities with leading medical centers to seek treatment. Elizabeth accompanied Frederic to these various locations and her parents often joined them because the treatments could require months. In addition to the stress of Frederic’s illness, Elizabeth was beginning to lose her hearing, but she did not let it interfere with her playing or her burgeoning interest in composition. Her first work, After Supper Songs, was a set of twenty children’s songs composed for Sprague (Barr 63). Elizabeth wrote the text and music and provided illustrations for each song. Her next foray into composition would be her tenth anniversary present to Frederic, a cycle of ten songs on texts by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in the Sonnets from the Portuguese (Barr 64). Elizabeth sent both works to American composer Amy Beach for critique who, in turn, was positive and encouraged Elizabeth to study with Percy Goetschius, with whom she did eventually have a two-year correspondence (Barr 66). Frederic’s health proved to be a continuous challenge in their marriage. Surprisingly, when he was well enough to practice medicine, he was tremendously successful and highly regarded. 1n 1902 another catastrophe occurred, Frederic was diagnosed with tuberculosis requiring him to seek the newest and most effective treatment possible at the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium (Barr 70). Frederic’s health did improve tremendously at the clinic and, when it was time to leave in 1904, his doctor advised him not to return to Chicago. The Coolidges decided to build their new home, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and named it “Upway Fields” in honor of the Sprague family’s home village in England, (Barr 72, 73). Despite having the means to receive the latest treatment for syphilis with short-lived success, Frederic began to experience symptoms of late-stage syphilis: heart problems, stroke, delirium, hearing and vision loss, and diminished faculties. He could not be moved, his tuberculosis had returned, and the number of doctors involved grew to eight (Barr 99). Concerned for Elizabeth’s well-being, the doctors urged her to take leave, which she did only to find upon her return that Frederic had suffered another stroke. In addition, he was suffering from depression and had developed a dependency on morphine (Barr 101). Elizabeth’s parents continued their moral and emotional support and a regular allowance to help with Frederic’s treatment expenses. Sadly, Regina Watson, Elizabeth’s first piano teacher died on August 1, 1912 (Barr 101). Elizabeth was not able to attend her friend’s funeral due to Frederic’s health. The doctors again suggested Elizabeth take leave of Frederic for her own health. Agreeing to this, she took some time to travel and composed her greatest achievement yet, the String Quartet in E minor (Barr 104). A move to New York was required in 1912 for another new treatment so Elizabeth leased “Upway Fields” to help cover the costs of apartments and hospital bills. The next few years would prove to be extremely taxing for Elizabeth. Her father died in January of 1915. Frederic died in May of the same year and her mother died in March of 1916. A sad series of events in quick succession resulted in Elizabeth’s inheritance of a tremendous fortune (100 million dollars in today’s economy) with which she made generous donations in memorials to her husband and parents. For her father’s memorial, she donated $100,000 to the Chicago Symphony to establish a pension and sick benefits fund for the members of the orchestra (Barr 111). For her husband’s memorial,
she expanded upon a donation her father had made earlier to the Pittsfield Anti-Tuberculosis Association by giving $100,000 to be held in trust for a new building to be named “The Frederic Shurtleff Coolidge Memorial Home” (Barr 114). After her mother’s death, Elizabeth donated another $100,000 to the Chicago Symphony pension fund which was thereafter to be named “The Albert and Nancy Sprague Memorial Fund” (Barr 116). Elizabeth then completed the memorial her mother had begun in honor of her father, Sprague Music Hall at Yale University (Barr 117). In 1918, Elizabeth donated her estate “Upway Fields” to the Berkshire County Society for the Care of Crippled and Deformed Children with an endowment of $200,000 (Barr 118). She funded research fellowships in medicine at Columbia University, endowed a room in Frederic’s name in a new dormitory at Harvard University, and established a student-loan fund there (Barr 119). To honor her first piano teacher and long-time friend, Regina Watson, Elizabeth helped to build a new cottage at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire (Barr 119). Leonard Bernstein composed his MASS while staying in the Watson Cottage. Elizabeth provided financial support for the MacDowell Colony from 1916 – 1935. The beautiful homes that the Spragues and the Coolidges owned on Prairie Avenue in Chicago became Nurses’ Residences for the Catholic Hospital and the Presbyterian Hospital, respectively. And then her music philanthropy began in full force. While residing in New York, Elizabeth was contacted by Hugo Kortschak, a violinist in the Chicago Symphony. In his letter, Kortschak explained that he had formed a string quartet with other musicians from the CSO and they were searching for a sponsor to finance their chamber group professionally. Elizabeth heard the quartet perform while home in Chicago settling her mother’s estate and signed a three-year contract with the musicians. The contract required that they play for her and with her (when the piano was needed) at her summer home in Pittsfield and in New York during the winter. “Their agreement with me was that they should not play publicly until, by their concentrated practice, they had reached a satisfactory level of excellence. Their rehearsals, which I regularly attended, were held in my music-room” (Coolidge, 1951, 2). The quartet was named the Berkshire Quartet and Elizabeth privately entertained ideas of a chamber music festival. “...I had secured the permission of my son to build a music hall and some artists’ bungalows on South Mountain, his Pittsfield property. I then engaged an architect to design and a contractor to build the structures…A year later, in September 1918, we gave the first Berkshire Festival”. (Coolidge, 1951, 4). The Berkshire Festival also featured a composition competition. There were eighty two submissions for the first competition for the best string quartet with a prize of $1000. The winner was a young Polish composer, Tadeusz Iarecki (Barr 135). The composition competition would become a biennial event alternating with a commissioned work. Hugo Kortschak eventually became the secretary of the Berkshire Music Colony and published the rules for the competition that disqualified any transcriptions, adaptations, or previously published and/ or performed works. The rules also stipulated that Elizabeth would have control over the publication and private performances of the winning work for the first four months after the award was given. After that, Elizabeth would obtain the manuscript and the composer would have the copyright (Barr 147). The success of the Berkshire Festival garnered international attention for Elizabeth, resulting in a request from Italian violist Ugo Ara to hold a similar event in Italy. With the assistance of Ugo Ara and Alfredo Casella, the first European festival was held at the American Academy in Rome in 1923 (Coolidge, 1951, 5). Her visits overseas expanded to include London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Prague, Budapest, Moscow, Venice, and Naples to hear various
performances of the winning compositions. As time passed, the scope of Elizabeth’s patronage was becoming too much for one person to continue, especially in advancing age, so she focused on finding an institution to manage it. She approached Yale University and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, but neither was able to accommodate her at that time. Elizabeth would prove to be undaunted in her manifesting her projects. While on a brief road trip with Frank Bridge and his wife, Elizabeth stopped in Washington, D.C. to sightsee and was invited to lunch at the “Round Table,” a group of Division Chiefs from the Library of Congress led by the Librarian, Dr. Herbert Putnam (Coolidge, 1951 8). Questions about her festival and the winning compositions resulted in a successful series of concerts at the Freer Gallery at the Smithsonian. Elizabeth began working closely with her lawyers, Dr. Putnam and Carl Engel, Chief of the Music Division, over five months. With their assistance, she submitted two proposals to the United States Government, one for the construction of an auditorium and donation of the manuscripts and the other for an endowment of trust. President Calvin Coolidge signed the law creating the Coolidge Foundation on March 3, 1925 (Barr 166). The Foundation Collection includes music manuscripts, photographs, extensive correspondence, programs, publicity, reviews and much more filling more than one hundred boxes. The official dedication of the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Auditorium and the first Library of Congress Festival took place on October 28th through 30th of 1925 (Barr 177). The first season included twenty-five programs of chamber music, outreach programs in other major cities, and the addition of pre-concert lectures by musicologists. Radio equipment was installed in the auditorium, enabling live broadcasts thereby reaching an even bigger audience, of which Elizabeth was immensely proud as she believed concerts should be free. As she said to her son, Sprague: “No one should live as you and I do without devoting a part of our opportunities to the world” (Barr 203). Elizabeth felt immense responsibility in subsidizing chamber music due to her love and gratitude for it. The first part of her life was committed to intense piano study with dreams of being a performer. Music became a therapeutic tool during her husband’s illness; chamber music especially because she could participate in her own home. Her foray into composition was a means of selfexpression but also a refuge from her hearing loss over the years. Even in her seventies, she still practiced three hours daily with a wire from her hearing aid to the soundboard of her piano. In tandem with the establishment of the Coolidge Foundation, Elizabeth began an affiliation with Mills College in Oakland, California by sponsoring the Pro Arte Quartet from Brussels to be in residence during the summers giving weekly concerts, teaching, and coaching. Founded in 1912, the original members of the Pro Arte Quartet performed together for approximately 30 years, having made 33 trips to the United States between 1926-1940 under Coolidge’s sponsorship. Elizabeth established a Pro Arte-Coolidge Trust in 1938 and helped the musicians to remain in residency at the University of Wisconsin (Barr 278). The Pro Arte Quartet continues to this day at the University of Wisconsin, making it the longest surviving quartet to continue under one name. Through her international connections, she was able to help Jewish composers from Europe emigrate to the United States into positions at various universities. Following the unexpected death of the composition teacher at Mills College, Elizabeth arranged to have Darius Milhaud hired as a replacement, supplying part of his salary. Milhaud had fled France in 1940, leaving behind his family fortune and scores – thankfully, his publisher hid them from the Nazis. His appointment became permanent, and he was promoted to Full Professor (Barr 270). Ernest Bloch, Ernst Toch, and Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco were also supported by Elizabeth in their moves to the United States.
The Coolidge Foundation and the Library of Congress hosted a concert in honor of Elizabeth’s eightieth birthday on October 30, 1944. The concert included three commissioned ballets for Martha Graham limited to thirty minutes in length, and Elizabeth suggested one instrument of each kind, both wind and string with piano to suit the stage of the Coolidge Auditorium. Paul Hindemith provided “Herodiäde;” Darius Milhaud provided “Jeux de Printemps;” and Aaron Copland provided “Ballet for Martha” (Barr 301). Martha Graham renamed Copland’s work “Appalachian Spring” and Copland won the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1945 for it. Elizabeth was awarded honorary degrees from Mount Holyoke, Smith, Yale, Mills, The University of California, and Pomona. She received the Cobbett Medal for her service to Chamber Music. Other awards included induction as a Chevalier of France’s Legion of Honor; presentation of key to the city of Frankfurt, Germany; awarded the Order of the Crown of Belgium; awarded medal Hommage de gratitude from the University of Líege, Belgium; and awarded the Order of Léopold, King of Belgium. In addition to the many commissions and dedications to Elizabeth, many composers chose to honor her by leaving their manuscripts to the Library of Congress. The Foundation awarded more than two dozen Coolidge Medals to individuals for exemplary service to chamber music and more than two hundred and seventy-five commissions, dedications, and prize-winning manuscripts reside in the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation Collection in the Music Division of the Library of Congress. In one of her final public speaking engagements, Elizabeth reminisced: “I sometimes think of my experiences of the past thirty-five years in terms of a musical composition-say, a scherzo or an impromptu. After a short prelude, the subject-matter is unfolded at more or less length; then comes a contrasting middle section or “trio” after which we are told to repeat from the beginning - “da Capo”-and (omitting the trio) finally arrive at the end - “poi la Coda” (Coolidge, 1951, 1). Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on November 4, 1953, leaving behind an unparalleled legacy. Program notes by Dr. Carolyn Totaro, School of Music Faculty
Gabriel Pierné was a prominent composer, conductor, and organist in France during the late 1800s and the early 1900s. At the Paris Conservatory, Pierné studied organ with César Franck and composition with Jules Massenet, winning first prizes in multiple areas. In 1882, he won the coveted Prix de Rome with his cantata Edith. After his return from Rome, Pierné succeeded his former teacher, César Franck as the organist at Sainte-Clotilde Basilica in Paris from 1890–1898. Through his association with Édouard Colonne, founder of the Concerts Colonne, Pierné developed as a conductor, eventually becoming the musical director of the ensemble from 19201932. During his tenure with the orchestra, he avidly supported contemporary music through dozens of premieres, including Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird. Much like many other conductor-composers, Pierné composed in the summertime; his output encompassing orchestral, choral, ballet, chamber, and solo music. He became a member of the Academie des Beaux Arts in 1925 and was named a Commander in the Legion of Honour in 1935. On the title page of the score to the Sonata da Camera, Pierné inscribed:” With respectful thanks and gratitude to Mrs. Elisabeth Coolidge for the first performances of this work (Venice, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, October 1927) Gabriel Pierné” (Pierné, 1926, i). In addition to the dedication to Coolidge, Pierné composed the work in memory of the prominent French flutist, Louis Fleury, who died in 1926. Fleury is most remembered for Claude Debussy’s Syrinx. The famous flute solo
was originally incidental music to be performed offstage by Fleury during Gabriel Mourey’s play Psyché. In addition to Syrinx, Fleury was the recipient of several dedications including works by Cyril Scott, Reynaldo Hahn, Cyril Bradley Rootham, Jacques Ibert, and Charles Koechlin (Carroll 3). Fleury was also an avid scholar, publishing several articles in Music & Letters. In “The Flute and its Powers of Expression” from 1922, Fleury espoused the natural characteristics of the flute (melancholy sweetness, pathos, and wit and gaiety) and cited specific musical excerpts in support of his points in a serious yet humorous style. In a letter published in Music & Letters months after Fleury’s death, founder A.H. Fox Strangways wrote: “He taught us that size is nothing in comparison with aptness to context and appropriateness to occasion. Whether he was one good player among many or, as might happen, the only good player in the room, he put the music first and of it the most faithful account he could. A scholar, an artist, and a human being” (Strangways 1926, 394). Perhaps in reference to Fleury’s article concerning the expressive powers of the flute, Pierné included a quotation in French from Virgil’s Eclogue V on the first page of the piano score. “Since we meet here, Mopsus, both skilled, you in the art of playing the country flute, I in that of singing verses, why don’t we sit down in the shade of these elms and hazel trees who confuse their foliage?” (Pierné 1926, ii). The Sonata da Camera, dating from the Baroque period, was a chamber genre for an instrumental ensemble featuring one or more melody instruments and a basso continuo. Consisting of free forms and dance movements, it was the secular counterpart to the Sonata da Chiesa, which was more serious in nature and intended for the church. The Sonata da Chiesa was also distinguished by its fugal writing and its use of the organ as continuo. Pierné cleverly combined elements of both genres in his work: polyphonic texture is evident in all three movements; the Prélude, a very popular free movement form in keyboard music, serves to attract the attention of the audience and set the key or mood of the remaining movements; the Sarabande, is a textbook example of the French Baroque dance with its slow tempo, triple meter, dotted rhythm on the second beat, and highly expressive melody - Pierné based the melody on the name Louis Fleury (Figure 1); and the last movement, Finale, provides an energetic and exciting finish to the work. Figure 1. Pierné, Sonata da Camera, Op.48, II. Trés modéré, cello part, mm.1-4.
The Sonata da Camera, Op.48 was premiered in the United States on November 19, 1934, in New York’s Town Hall with the French flutist, Georges Barrére. Program notes by Dr. Carolyn Totaro, School of Music Faculty
Arthur Honegger was born in Le Havre, France to Swiss parents. As a youth he studied piano and harmony and heard the cantatas of J.S. Bach in church. He attended the Zürich Conservatory and developed a keen interest in the works of Strauss, Wagner, and Reger. Honegger’s studies at the Paris Conservatory were influenced by his professors, Gédalge, Widor, and D’Indy. While in Paris, he established a friendship with fellow student composer, Darius Milhaud. Milhaud exposed Honegger to the compositions of the great French composers and to other artists, namely poets and writers including Jean Cocteau. At the suggestion of Cocteau, the journalist Henri Collet met with Honegger, Milhaud, and the composers Auric, Tailleferre, Poulenc, and Durey for an article. In the published article, Collet named the group Les Six, implying a group of French composers with a shared aesthetic or vision, even though Honegger did not share the same musical aspirations as the other composers. Milhaud said succinctly: “Arthur Honegger comes to us as a champion of chamber, symphonic, and dramatic music. He is one of those on whom we rely to keep alive the traditions of absolute music…” (Rae 1992, 119). Honegger’s works truly reflected Germanic and French influences; chromatic harmony (Reger), contrapuntal texture (Gédalge and Bach), and architectural symmetry (D’Indy). In fact, in his earliest sonatas, Honegger espoused a different concept of sonata form: In architecture you have a façade, the two left pillars of which for instance, are arranged so that A is followed by B. Your object is solidly and harmoniously to rest the architrave and the pediment upon these pillars and upon those that form a pendant to them on the right. Symmetry, as regards those on the right will inevitably give you B followed by A, not vice versâ, as the first time. Very well; in the sonata the pillars correspond to the themes; the pediment is the central development. Symmetrically, then you must have B followed by A in the recapitulation, since you had A followed by B in the exposition. (Landormy 1929, 390) In his approach to harmony, Honegger often referred to a single note of any pitch as a dominant because of the natural tendency of sound to fall back to its fifth. It could also be attributed to the fact that a single pitch can still project harmonic energy because of its overtones. The use of fourths and fifths in sequential fashion is another feature of Honegger’s style. Honegger’s vast output included five symphonies, three symphonic movements (including Pacific 231 and Rugby), concertos, choral works, oratorios, operas, operettas, ballets, chamber music, solo piano music, incidental theater music, film scores, and Danse de la Chévre for solo flute dedicated to René Le Roy. In June 1947, Honegger suffered a heart attack and ceased composing for about a year to help him recover. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge had commissioned him to compose a solo work for the English horn. His first composition after his hiatus, the Concerto da Camera was composed from August to October in 1948. Honegger had originally considered writing a solo concerto with full orchestral accompaniment but opted to write a chamber style concerto for flute and English horn with strings, harkening back to the concerto grosso and the sonata da camera genres of the Baroque period. Honegger followed the traditional form of the concerto with three movements in a fast-slow -fast pattern but with his own interpretation of formal design. Concertos of the classical period were identified by a unifying tonality and the use of sonata form. Honegger composed the work’s three movements in three different keys: E major, F minor, and B minor. The first movement can be viewed as a combination of sonata and rondo forms or as a binary form with three distinct themes: English horn, flute, and a closing theme (that is not in the
recapitulation). Honegger specifically wrote contrasting melodies for the solo instruments to distinguish them from each other and to suit the unique timbres of the instruments themselves. The ambiguity in form can be explained by the universal Golden Mean theory of natural proportions that is present in architecture, poetry, nature, and music. Historians have determined the most adaptable musical form for the Golden Mean theory is sonata form. Sonata form is based on the departure and return of the initial tonality over three sections: Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation. While Honegger does not follow the standard form exactly, the repetition of his three themes constitutes the first Golden section and the repetition of the first two themes constitutes the second Golden section. Halbreich clarified the form in Figure 2. Figure 2. Halbreich, Arthur Honegger. 1999, 341.
The second movement, in F minor, is highly expressive and contrapuntal. Honegger again uses distinct themes for the strings and the flute. The themes are freely varied creating a form of eight sections that can be further organized into two groups of four sections each. The Golden Mean, when applied in this movement, is located at measure 51 and marks the beginning of the second section as seen in Figure 3. The solo instruments play together for the first time in this movement and Honegger composed the flute part as somewhat of an obbligato to the English horn solo, a similar orchestration that can be found in Rossini’s Overture to William Tell. Figure 3. Honegger, Concerto da Camera, II. Andante, full score, mm.49-53.
The final movement, Vivace in B minor, is a scherzo with a brief Trio section, followed by a shortened recapitulation and a coda in compound meter. The use of fourths and fifths is quite prevalent and reminiscent of his solo flute work, Danse de la Chévre, as seen in Figures 4 and 5.
Figure 4. Honegger, Concerto da Camera, III. Vivace, flute part, mm.1-11.
Figure 5. Honegger, Danse de la Chévre. Vivace, flute part, mm.14-19.
Honegger shows a preference for dotted rhythms and a particular rhythmic motif that resembles the “hee-haw” of a donkey – a la Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Like the middle movement, Honegger includes arabesque qualities in the flute part with rapid sixteenth-note passages as ornamentation or a countersubject featured in Figure 6. Figure 6. Honegger, Concerto da Camera, III. Vivace, flute part, mm.48-61.
The Concerto Da Camera was premiered on May 6, 1949, with flutist André Jaunet, English hornist Marcel Saillet, and the Collegium Musicum of Zurich with Paul Sacher conducting. Born in Naples in 1903, Mario Pilati started composing on his own as a teenager. He studied at the Naples Liceo Musicale briefly before entering the composition class of the Conservatorio di Musica San Pietro a Majella at the age of fifteen. Pilati quickly became a star pupil in the class and received his diploma four years later. He held a brief appointment as a composition teacher at the
Conservatory of Cagliari before moving to Milan in 1925, where he worked as an arranger, teacher, music critic, and private teacher before his works were eventually performed. His Piano Quintet in D of 1926 marked one of his first triumphs, circulating his name among the leading composers and conductors in Italy at that time such as Respighi, Casella, Toscanini, and Mitropoulos. Consequently, Pilati became a featured composer at the Venice festival of modern music called “Biennale” and his works were published by Casa Ricordi, Fratelli Curci, and Carisch. He held an appointment in Palermo before returning to his hometown of Naples in 1938. Sadly, his life ended at the age of thirty-five due to an undisclosed terminal illness. Pilati’s output was surprisingly large for such a short life: Concerto for Orchestra, Suite for Strings and Piano; Six Bagatelles for chamber orchestra; Preludio, Aria e Tarantella for orchestra; numerous Italian songs for solo voice, vocal ensemble, with piano or orchestral accompaniment; Piano Quintet; String Quartet; Flute Sonata; Violin Sonata; Cello Sonata; and several shorter works. His popularity as a composer was hindered by his early death, his lack of recognition outside of Italy, and the political climate preceding World War II. Pilati composed his Flute Sonata for a competition held by L’Associations Scarlatti di Napoli and Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge on August 1, 1926. He was awarded the Coolidge Prize for the Flute Sonata in 1927 and dedicated the work to ESC: “alla Signora Elizabeth S. Coolidge con vivissima riconoscenza” (“to Mrs. Elizabeth S. Coolidge with deepest gratitude”) (Pilati, 1927, 1). The two continued corresponding about various performances of the work until 1931. While the overarching key signature of the sonata implies B major or G sharp minor, the first movement’s tonal center is closer to F sharp major or E major. The harmonic ambiguity continues in the other movements as well. The formal design is also unusual in that it sounds throughcomposed, even though Pilati develops a two-note motive throughout the first movement as seen in Figure 7. Figure 7. Pilati, Flute Sonata, I. Allegro Moderato, flute part, mm.67-77.
He then transposes it in a brief cadenza section in Figure 8. Figure 8. Pilati, Flute Sonata, I. Allegro Moderato, flute part, mm.98-106.
The second movement has the same key signature as the first but centers more on C sharp and D sharp and the influence of Debussy is ever prominent.
Figure 9. Pilati, Flute Sonata, II. Lento e sostenuto, piano part, mm.10-13.
Figure 10. Debussy, La Cathedral Egloutie. mm.1-7.
The last movement has a constant ebb and flow in tempo that makes ensemble challenging while Pilati also changes keys often: B, G, E, A flat, and back to B but still with a center closer to F sharp or E. French flutist Marcel Moyse and Italian composer-pianist Alfredo Casella were credited with the first performances given in Rome and Naples. The American premiere took place at the Chicago Festival of Chamber Music in 1930, sponsored by ESC, and featured the flutist Georgés Barrere. Program notes by Dr. Carolyn Totaro, School of Music Faculty
Bibliography Adriano, and Keith Anderson. “Mario Pilati.” Liner notes. Mario Pilati: Concerto for Orchestra, Suite for Strings and Piano. Tomás Nemec, piano; Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra; Adriano. NAXOS, 2001. CD. “Arthur Honegger.” The Musical Times, vol. 97, no. 1355, 1956, pp. 42–43. JSTOR, http:// www.jstor.org/stable/938564. Accessed 28 Dec. 2023. Barr, Cyrilla. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge: American Patron of Music. New York: Schirmer Books, 1998. Print.
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About the Performers Dr. Carolyn Totaro is an Assistant Professor (Flute) at the Belmont University School of Music. Before moving to Nashville in 2005, Totaro taught applied flute, music history, and music appreciation at Southeastern Louisiana University and then served as the Graduate Coordinator for the School of Music at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she also served as an adjunct flute instructor. She has performed with symphony orchestras in Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas. Totaro has been the director of the Nashville Philharmonic Flute Ensemble and currently teaches flute and coaches chamber ensembles at the Tennessee Valley Music Festival each summer. Dr. Totaro received her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas (at Austin), her Master of Music (Flute) and Master of Music (History) from the University of Akron and her Bachelor of Music Education and Bachelor of Music from Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music. Totaro's primary instructors have included William Hebert (Cleveland Orchestra), Jaqueline Hofto (Interlochen Arts Academy), Peter Lloyd (London Symphony, London Virtuosi), and George Pope (Akron Symphony, Solaris Wind Quintet). Rebecca Van de Ven joined the faculty at Belmont University and Tennessee State University in 2018 and the faculty of the University of the South in 2011. Prior to that Ms. Van de Ven taught at Middle Tennessee State University, Albion College, and Spring Arbor University. In addition, she is on faculty at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival where she coaches and organizes the wind
chamber music program. Ms. Van de Ven often records music in Nashville and can be heard playing English Horn on season three of the Emmy winning hit TV series Fargo as well as the 2016 Evanescence Album. She currently plays the second oboe in the Nashville Opera. Her orchestral engagements have included orchestras such as Nashville Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Grand Rapids Symphony. She can also be found playing regionally in Chattanooga and Huntsville Symphonies and in staged works at Tennessee Performing Arts Center. On a full tuition scholarship, Ms. Van de Ven received a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory in oboe performance where she was a student of Eugene Izotov, current Principal Oboe of the San Francisco Symphony. She attended the University of Wisconsin—Madison on tuition scholarship where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Science degree. She was a student of Professor Marc Fink. Ms. Van de Ven attended the Pierre Monteux Music Festival in Maine and was awarded a full scholarship to the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. She lives in Sewanee Tennessee with her husband and two children. Dr. Carmine Miranda is a Belmont Fellow in the School of Music where he teaches cello. He has a Doctoral Degree in cello performance with honors and a chamber music cognate from the University of Cincinnati. American cellist Carmine Miranda has quickly established an awardwinning international career and recognition as a soloist, chamber musician and recording artist. Praised by many publications such as Fanfare Magazine for “fast becoming known for his ability to combine virtuosity with intense, well-thought-out interpretations” and by The Strad Magazine for "showing himself to be in full command of both instrument and works", Carmine’s performances and recordings have appeared in some of the finest concert halls, music festivals, radio and TV stations, as well as PBS affiliated stations all over the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Born in Venezuela to Armenian and Italian immigrants, Carmine began his musical studies at the Latin-American Academy of Violoncello and the Simon Bolivar Conservatory of Music (the institution that spawned the famous “El Sistema”) where he was a member of the National Youth Orchestra and the Orchestra of Beethoven under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel and Giuseppe Sinopoli. In the United States, he continued his musical education. As an avid soloist, he has performed with several chamber ensembles and orchestras including Caracas Municipal Symphony, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, South Czech Philharmonic, Moravian Philharmonic, among many others. He has taken part in several music competitions as a soloist and chamber player, winning several recognitions and awards at a national and international level. Dr. Miranda is regularly invited to conduct masterclasses as a professor and lecturer at some of the finest institutions and music festivals around the world. He is the president and founder of the independent electronic music label and production company RLU Records, equally skilled as an electronic and dance music composer, producer, and DJ under the pseudonym “45trona Ut”. Currently Carmine Miranda is a Dogal USA artist and plays on a 2005 Jules Azzi cello made in New York City, on Dogal’s Montagnana strings handmade in Venice, Italy. Dr. Kristian Klefstad is Assistant Professor of Piano at Belmont University, where he teaches piano, piano pedagogy, piano literature, and directs the piano ensemble. He is the Coordinator of the Piano Pedagogy program at Belmont, and serves as both the President-Elect for the Nashville Area Music Teachers Association, and the Secretary/Treasurer for the Southern Chapter of the College Music Society. In addition, Dr. Klefstad directs the Belmont Piano Camp, a summer piano program at Belmont. Dr. Klefstad is an active recitalist, clinician, lecturer, and adjudicator in the
United States. He has performed solo and collaborative concerts throughout the country and has appeared as a soloist with the Jefferson City Symphony, the Millikin-Decatur Civic Symphony, and the University of Texas Symphony. Recent events include concerts for the Steinway Society of Nashville and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Guest Artist Series. Dr. Klefstad has previously taught piano at Baylor University, and served on the faculty of Baylor's Summer Keyboard Institute. He has completed several arrangements of symphonic music for piano duo, and his setting of the finale from Beethoven’s Choral Symphony for two pianos was premiered in Temple, Texas by the CAC Chorale in 2005.
Upcoming Concerts and Events Musica and Discourse: Dr. Terry Klefstad “Music in the Redwoods” Wednesday, January 24, 10:00 a.m. Bunch Multimedia Hall Songs of Hope: Unveiling Darkness Friday, January 26, 7:30 p.m. McAfee Concert Hall Graduate Honors Recital Saturday, January 27, 2:00 p.m. McAfee Concert Hall Instrumental Honors Recital Saturday, January 27, 6:00 p.m. McAfee Concert Hall Faculty Woodwind Quintet Monday, January 29, 7:30 p.m. McAfee Concert Hall Faculty Jazz Group Tuesday, January 30, 7:30 p.m. Massey 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.