Program Notes

December 9, 2008

7:30 PM

 

Copland: An Outdoor Overture

Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola

     Adrian and Cornelia Demian, Soloists

Dvorák: Symphony No. 7 in D Major

Tonight’s Guests

Dennis Bubert has been the bass trombonist of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 1981, a post he previously held with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra.  During that time he has also appeared with virtually every major performing group in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Opera, in addition to appearing as a clinician, recitalist and guest artist at clinics, music festivals and universities throughout the U.S. and abroad.

     Mr. Bubert, a native of Illinois, holds degrees from Illinois Wesleyan University and Southern Methodist University, and has pursued further academic work at the University of North Texas.  His primary teachers have been Edward Kleinhammer, legendary bass trombonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra who trained three generations of orchestral trombonists during his 45 year career; the venerable Arnold Jacobs, widely acknowledged as the world’s foremost authority on brass pedagogy; and John Kitzman, the esteemed principal trombonist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.  Additional studies have been with Charles Vernon of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Edwin Anderson, retired bass trombonist of the Cleveland Orchestra.

Mambo Machine is a Fort Worth based Salsa and Latin jazz band that is active in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area; it was conceived by Pablo Benavides and Edgar Valenzuela on the summer of 2007. The members of this band are well-known musicians with many different backgrounds making Mambo Machine a unique band.

Mambo Machine is a very versatile ensemble that plays everything from original compositions to jazz standards remixed with Latin groves. This vibrant band has performed at many different venues in the Dallas Fort Worth Area where the band has attracted a varied audience, which has always enjoyed and acclaimed the great music of this energetic band.

 Members of the group include Belinda Viesca, Micah Bell, Sarah Bauza, Preston Lewis, Eduardo Rojas, Mariano Martinez, Michael Serbantez, Steven Washington and Edgar Valenzuela.

TONIGHT’S PROGRAM

Russian Easter Overture

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (b Tikhvin, 1844; d  Lyubensk, 1908)

Russian Easter Overture is based on Russian Orthodox canticles from a collection called Obikhod. According to Rimsky-Korsakov's autobiography, he was “eager to reproduce the legendary and heathen aspect of the holiday, and the transition from the solemnity and mystery of the evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan-religious celebrations of Easter Sunday morning”. It is the last in a series of three brilliant orchestral works, Capriccio Espagnol, Scheherazade and Russian Easter Overture. The first performance of Russian Easter Overture was December 15, 1888 with Rimsky-Korsakov conducting.

¡Saada!  with Mambo Machine

Mary Alice Rich

“In May I got a call from Sergio Espinosa telling me that St. Alcuin Montessori would like to commission a composition in honor of Jean-Claude and Beth Saada for their generosity toward their school.  Dr. Espinosa told me that Mr. Saada is especially fond of Latin music and could I write something to reflect the spirit of that music?  I told the folks at St. Alcuin that I would be delighted to try but that it would help if they had recordings of Mr. Saada's favorites so I could get a feel for what he might like.  Dr. Espinosa stepped in and spent quite a bit of time selecting music for me to listen to and providing extensive information to get me started, for which I am very grateful.  He even came up with a fine Latin Combo, the Mambo Machine, whose players I could incorporate into both the symphonic part of the piece and then let them improvise as they normally would, sort of like a cadenza, toward the end of the composition.

It has been a joy and an honor to be allowed to write this piece, and it is my hope that the Saada family--and you, the audience--will enjoy the music.”

          ~Mary Alice Rich

Concerto for Bass Trombone

Eric Ewazen (b Cleveland, Ohio, 1954)

Eric Ewazen studied composition under Samuel Adler, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, Warren Benson, and Eugene Kurtz at the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School (where he received numerous composition awards, prizes, and fellowships). He has been on the faculty of The Juilliard School since 1980, and has been a lecturer for the New York Philharmonic’s Musical Encounters Series. He has also served on the faculties of the Hebrew Arts School and the Lincoln Center Institute. He served as Vice President of the League of Composers - International Society of Contemporary Music from 1982-1989.

Pines of Rome

Ottorino Respighi (b Bologna, 1879; d Rome 1836

Respighi’s early works, such as Sinfonia Dramattica, were large, unwieldy and heavily influenced by the thick textures of Richard Strauss. However, in 1916, Respighi found his true style in the Fountains of Rome, a musical description of the Eternal City at different times and places. Brilliant orchestration and instrumental colors emphasize the evocative rather than the intellectual.

The Pines of Rome, again a tone picture of four locations in Rome, soon followed. The first movement depicts the Pines of the Villa Borghese, a bright gathering place consisting of a park and gardens on the Pincian Hill. The contrast could not be greater than the gloom of Pines Near a Catacomb. Moonlight and a nightingale evoke the thick groves of the Pines of the Janiculum in the third movement. The fourth movement portrays the armies of the Roman Empire rising out of the mists of the ancient Appian Way.

Very soon after completion of the Pines of Rome, Arturo Toscanini took the two works into his repertoire, establishing international fame for Respighi.