TheYearoftheRabbit– Daniel Dorff
Program Notes
Daniel Dorff (1956-) is an American composer, saxophonist, and bass clarinetist born in New Rochelle, New York. His first major success as a composer came at the age of 18, where he won First Prize at the Aspen Music Festival’s annual composers’ competition. With degrees in composition from Cornell and University of Pennsylvania, as well as the opportunities to work with teachers such as George Crumb and Karel Husa, Dorff has contributed greatly to the solo and chamber woodwind repertoire, writing works for acclaimed musicians including the South Dakota Symphony, Ithaca College School of Music, as well as piccoloists Walfrid Kujala and Sarah Jackson.
Dorff’s The Year of The Rabbit was written in 1999 for composer and flutist Alexandra Molnar-Suhajda and to premiere at the Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair in Bethesda, Maryland by the Columbia Flute Choir. Dorff took inspiration from his trip to Taiwan in 1997, as much of the ancient artwork is centered around the Chinese Zodiac. Hence, this piece, in addition to actual rabbits, is inspired by the characteristics and sayings about those born in the year of the rabbit, including those of Dorff’s family and Molnar-Suhajda herself (which he discovered later).
TrioOp.63forFlute,Cello,andPiano– Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) was a German composer who was a major influence in music going into the German Romantic era. He was born in Eutin, Bishopric of Lübeck as part of the Holy Roman Empire (this part is considered modern-day northern Germany) into a musical family and, being particularly prodigious at voice and piano, he learned music under his violinist father. His life beyond his music was filled with disease and tragedy, but his impact as a composer is undeniable, especially with his contributions to opera, as he took inspiration from Viennese, German, French, and Italian styles combined with his acute understanding of bringing out dramatic effect. Weber’s Trio Op. 63 is a four-movement chamber work written in 1819 for flute, cello, and piano. It also breaks from the typical structure of the classical symphony, showing aspects of change into the romantic era while still maintaining some classical outlines. The first movement “Allegro Moderato” is a moderately-paced movement in sonata form, in which each instrument passes around melodic ideas. The second movement “Scherzo” is a fast movement, in which the flute primarily takes the leading role with the cello and piano serving as accompaniment roles. The third movement “Schäfers Klage” (Shepard’s Lament) is a very slow and melodic movement, which is out of place for classical music, as it has “switched places” with the second movement, as it was typical for the slow movement to be second and the third movement to be the scherzo. The fourth movement “Finale” returns to a faster pace in sonata form, once again passing around melodic concepts between each of the voices, which were also inspired by Weber's opera Der Freischütz.
Entr’acte– Jacques Ibert
Jacques Ibert (1890-1962) was a French composer who studied composition at the Paris Conservatoire from 1910 to 1914. Following his studies, World War I started, where he would then serve as a nurse and stretcher-bearer. After which, he would win first prize at the Prix de Rome in 1919, which was especially impressive, having put off his focus on music during the war. Afterwards, he would become renowned in France and abroad for composition in addition to his administrative roles in education, notably serving as the director of the Académie de France at the Villa Medici from 1937 to 1960, interrupted by World War II. In terms of his writing, Ibert had a vast list of compositions, including numerous dramatic, orchestral, chamber, and solo works. He preferred to maintain a sense of the French style in many of his works, but he allowed his creativity to shine brightest in his orchestral works, with three concertos, two symphonies, and eight symphonic movements, that showcase his complexity, precision, and balance in orchestration.
Ibert’s Entr’acte is a chamber piece written in 1935 for either flute or violin and guitar or harp. Originally, the piece was from the opera Le médecin de son honneur, in which music was also written by Ibert, but was extracted and adapted to the pairings two years later. The music itself takes after concepts of Spanish and flamenco, resonant of
much of Bizet’s work. It also follows a structure of mostly fast and repetitive rhythms in both parts, but with a melodic section in the middle, in which the guitar/harp starts and the flute/violin follows.
VoicesfromtheDeep– Alexandra Molnar-Suhajda
Alexandra Molnar Suhajda (b. 1975) is a flutist and composer who received her bachelor’s degree in music composition from George Mason University, also receiving the Music Department’s Most Outstanding Musician Award in 1998. She has also studied with numerous professional flutists including Wendell Dobbs, Beverley Rajnes, Judith Lapple, and Sharyn Byer. In her professional career, she has performed in many different ensembles in very prestigious venues including the White House and the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. She also maintains a flute studio in Reston, Virginia and leads in local school’s flute ensembles.
Molnar-Suhajda’s Voices from the Deep, written in 2010, is a five-movement work for low flute choir, including alto, bass, and contrabass flutes. The first movement, “Aubade”, is a moderately slow movement that conveys concepts of morning. The second movement, “Balletto Pensiero”, is a very graceful-sounding movement that still maintains a sense of motion, as one may compare to ballet. The third movement, “The Temple in Cherry Blossom Time”, is very spacious, but eventually builds some motion into the melody, perhaps depicting the concept of sacredness with a sense of excitement. The fourth movement, “Wondrous Love”, is also very slow and spacious, but in a very soft and singing presentation. The fifth movement, “Valse de Bravoure”, is a very quick movement, creating a sense of dancing while maintaining a strict sense of time with very particular rhythm and articulation throughout all of the parts.
AssobioaJato,W493– Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) was a Brazilian composer who had a significant role in the development of Brazilian art music, particularly through his use of reinterpreting contemporary European concepts. Born into the middle class, his father was insistent in Villa-Lobos’ musical studies, in which he favored the cello and popular contemporary music at the turn of the 20th century. He also favored the street music of Brazil, teaching himself guitar and playing in the street bands of Rio de Janiero. This sort of experience has helped him establish his own sense of nationalism in his composition. In 1923, he would travel to Paris and meet with many renowned composers including Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Varèse, which would further bolster his presence as one of the most well-known Latin-American composers in the world.
Villa-Lobos’ Assobio a Jato, W493, or “The Jet Whistle”, is a three movement chamber work written in 1950 for flute and cello. The first movement is fairly fast, as Allegro non troppo, with the cello and flute exchanging melodic and accompanying ideas, with the melody starting in the cello and ending in the flute. The second movement is a much slower Adagio, which pushes concepts of spacious yet lyrical sound and the extreme highs and lows of both instruments. The third movement picks up the pace to a much faster tempo and introduces the extended technique in which the piece is named after. At the very end of the movement, the flute introduces the jet whistle technique, in which the flautist blows directly into the flute with an upwards glissando in the fingers, giving the effect of a jet taking off.