Program Notes
The three pieces on this program were all written in the early twentieth century. The Two Rhapsodies of Charles Martin Loeffler were the earliest, written in 1901. The Sowerby Trio for Flute, Viola and Piano was written in 1919. Durufle’s Prelude, Recitative, and Variations was the latest of the three, written in 1928. Each of these pieces reaches toward modernism and shows the composers looking for a sound, form and harmonic language that would be distinct from German Romanticism. Yet, the pieces all have romantic or post/romantic elements. Because of this, these composers were seldom performed in the later twentieth century. We are rediscovering the beauty of this music. Each of the composers had an interest in Medieval plainchant, which is sometimes reflected in this music. The two Americans were also interested in Jazz and popular music.
Maurice Durufle (1902-1986) was the latest of the three composers, and despite living well into the twentieth century, he was not typical of the composers of his time. He was a conservative in a radical world. He was known as reclusive and shy. He was also a perfectionist, publishing few pieces.
The Prelude, Recitatif and Variations is a rare piece of instrumental chamber music written by Durufle. It was written early in his life, in 1928. His interest in plainchant and French song style are evident in the modal melodic material. His twentieth century style is chromatic and impressionist.
Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935) was born in Berlin and his parents were German, but for most of his life, he identified as French and claimed to be from Alsace. Loeffler was a violinist. He moved to the United States in 1881 and became Assistant Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony shortly thereafter. Loeffler was a prolific composer and became a proponent of American music. His music reflects his interest in contemporary French and Russian music, French Symbolist poetry and literature, the works of Poe and Whitman, and also his interest in impressionist art.
The Deux Rhapsodies, written in 1901, is based on two poems by Maurice Rollinat,” L’Etang” (The Pond) and “La Cornemuse” (The Bagpipes). This version of the piece is a reworking of a song setting of these poems for baritone voice, piano, and clarinet, and the form and mood closely follow that of the poems.
Leo Sowerby (1895-1968) was born and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and later in Chicago. His principal instrument was organ and he is primarily remembered as a composer of church music. However, Sowerby wrote extensively for orchestra and wrote chamber works for various instruments as well. Sowerby taught at the American Conservatory in Chicago and as the Dean of American Church Music at the Washington National Cathedral and so certainly had an influence on the direction of music in the modern era.
The Trio for Flute, Viola and Piano was written in 1919 and is dedicated to Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the famous musical patron. This piece was dedicated to Mrs. Coolidge for her help in recommending Sowerby for the Rome prize, which he won in 1921. Sowerby’s interest in Jazz is very clear in this music, in particular, the second movement has elements of ragtime and the charleston.
Program notes by Sarah Cote, School of Music Faculty.
The Pond
Full of aged fish struck with blindness, The pool, beneath a lowering sky rolling with muted thunder, Disperses between its centuries old rushes The lapping horror of its murky depths. Down there, water-sprites act as lighting For a swamp blacker than black, sinister and fearsome; Nothing emerges from this desolate place But the hideous din of its consumptive toads.
Whereas the moon[,] which rises just at this moment Appears to regard herself so eerily, One might say, as she catches sight of her ghostly form there.
Her flat nose and the strange ripple of her teeth, A death’s head illuminated from within That would come to be reflected in a mirror of darkness.
The Bagpipe
His bagpipe groaned in the woods As the wind that belleth; And never has stag at bay, Nor willow, nor oar, Wept as that voice wept.
Those sounds of flute and hautboy Seemed like the death-rattle of a woman. Oh! his bagpipe, Near the cross-roads of the crucifix!
He is dead. But under cold skies, As soon as night weaves her mesh, Down deep in my soul, There is the nook of old fears, I always hear his bagpipe Groaning as of yore.
Translations by Philip Hale
Charles Martin Loeffler Maurice Durufle Leo Sowerby
About the Performers
Violist Sarah Cote has been a member of the faculties at Middle Tennessee State University and Belmont University since 2003. She was a member of the San Antonio Symphony for sixteen years. In San Antonio, she was a frequent chamber music performer and was on the steering committee for the Music Advancement Program, a music program for inner-city middle school students. Cote has served on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival since 1995, spending two of those summers as Acting Assistant Principal of the Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra. She performs as a member of the Eastern Chamber Players. She has performed at the Garth Newell, Fontana, and Blowing Rock chamber festivals, and with the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society. Cote holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Indiana University where she studied with Yuval Yaron and Mimi Zweig. She spent a sabbatical year at Oberlin Conservatory, where she worked with Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsay-Irvine. She has had coaching with Patricia McCarty and Burton Kaplan. Cote studied Baroque violin and viola with Marilyn MacDonald and Simon Standage. She also has done extensive pedagogy training with Mimi Zweig and Carol Dallinger. Currently, Sarah Cote performs with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra, Stones River Chamber Players and the Belmont Camerata.
Tiantian Liang maintains a multifaceted career as a pianist, organist, harpsichordist, and teacher. Her mission is to share her love for music through performing and teaching. A versatile keyboardist, Liang performs a diverse selection of repertoire spanning from the late renaissance through modern-day works. Born into a musical family in Chengdu, China, she displayed a palpable connection to the piano as a child. After beginning piano lessons at the age of five, Liang continued studying at the Preparatory School of Sichuan Conservatory of Music before coming to the United States. Liang’s international piano solo performances include the United States and Europe. Recently, she performed at the Borromeo Festival in Switzerland. Additionally, Liang was a featured performer in the Gala Concert of the Dublin International Piano Festival in 2016. Her future repertoire projects will explore the compositions of women and minorities. Liang is also a performer of rare chamber music; her current project is performing the three organ and piano duets of Marcel Dupré. Liang currently serves on the faculty at Belmont University and Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. She earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance with cognates in piano pedagogy and harpsichord performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Additionally, she holds a Performer Diploma at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Master of Music in Piano Performance from Rice University, and Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Concordia College.
Carolyn Totaro is an Assistant Professor (Flute) in 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. Totaro received the Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas (at Austin), Master of Music (Flute) and Master of Music (History) from the University of Akron and 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 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. Van de Ven frequently 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 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, 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. 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 currently resides in Sewanee Tennessee with her husband and 2 children.
Upcoming Concerts and Events
Faculty Concert Series: Jeff Phillips, trombone
Belmont University String Chamber Orchestra and University Symphony Orchestra
For more information on upcoming concerts and events, please visit www.belmont.edu/cmpa or “like” Belmont University School of Music on Facebook.
