ANCESTRAL TALES

SAT JAN 28 | 7:30 PM

Centennial Concert Hall

MICHAEL OESTERLE PARLOUR GAMES (2021)

Traditionally, parlour games involve logic or word-play. They can involve skill in drawing or the dramatic arts, and while some of these games are more physical, they wouldn’t be considered a sport or exercise. Most do not require any equipment beyond what would be available in a typical parlour. The twelve pieces of Parlour Games for cello and double bass are written to resemble games for the two instrumentalists and the listener. Although they offer a wide range of characters, moods, tempi, and expressions, they all share the idea of game-play. In these pieces the listener may hear familiar musical formats such as nursery rhymes, lullabies, rondos, arias, counting songs, etc. The twelve pieces can be arranged like a deck of cards, shuffled and reordered to suit a particular occasion. Alternatively, they can be presented as a smaller combination of pieces. The title of each work may be a clue in presenting the pieces in a particular order, or in combinations of subsets.

I would like to thank Meredith Johnson who initiated this commission and assembled a group of musician friends to fund this project. My idea was to write a variety of short pieces, like a box of chocolates, where everyone involved might find the particular piece that appeals to them.

– MICHAEL OESTERLE

KALEVI AHO SOLO V FOR BASSOON (1999)

With the bassoon (as with the oboe), Aho set himself the goal of composing various works over the years, with the aim of enlarging contemporary repertoire and providing players with good, demanding works for different occasions.

In 1999 the Sinfonia Lahti Chamber Ensemble gave some concerts in Germany that included exclusively music by Aho. To give the programme more variety, Aho composed Solo V for the orchestra’s solo bassoonist Harri Ahmas and Solo VI for double bass for the double bass player Eero Munter. Both works were premièred on 13th November 1999 at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich.

Solo V is a dramatic work – one that is to be played especially loudly so that the colourful over tone spectrum is audible. Note repetitions amplify the low notes, giving the impression of latent chords. In addition, Aho uses so-called multiphonics and motifs based on micro-intervals.