Resurrection -- Easter Concert Wilderness Cello April 2022

Program Notes


Claude Debussy
Born: August 22, 1862, Paris
Died: March 25, 1918, Paris
Beau Soir, arranged by Arthur Hartmann


Justus J.F. Dotzauer
Born: 1783, Dresden, Germany Died: 1860
Study #22 Allegro non troppo in e minor


Maurice Ravel
Born: March 7, 1875, Ciboure
Died: December 28, 1937, Paris
Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte
(Composed in 1899 for piano)


Georg Philipp Telemann
Born: March 14, 1681, Magdeburg, Germany
Died: June 25, 1767, Hamburg, Germany
Concerto for Viola and Orchestra in G Major
1.Largo
2.Allegro
3.Andante
4.Presto




Claude Debussy "was the incomparable painter of mystery,
silence, and the infinite, of the passing cloud, and the
sunlit shimmer of the waves- subtleties which none before
him had been capable of suggesting."    -Henri Prunieres

In cafes, Debussy met Symbolist poet Stephane mallarme, 
and the Impressionist painters Manet and Renoir. He now
"tried to approximate in music what the Symbolists and 
Impressionists were doing in poetry and art." The
Symbolist movement was a reaction to Romanticism and a 
precursor to twentieth-century Abstractionism. Debussy
attempted a one-act opera on Symbolist Edgar Allen Poe's
Le Diable Dans Le Bellfroi (1901-1912), but never
completed it.

Debussy is best known for his two books of piano
"Preludes", 1909-10 and 1911-13.

Ironically enough, the very ethereality that characterizes
Debussy's music makes it difficult to put into writing a
concrete list of achievements, as it is the mood that lingers, not the message.


Justus J.F. Dotzauer was the founder of the school for
cello in Dresden, Germany. His pupils were F. A. Kummer
and Karl Drechsler. A critical force in cello pedagogy,
he wrote 200 etudes and exercises.
I hope to perform some of these studies as stand-alone
solo pieces, akin to the Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suites.

Maurice Ravel "was a brilliant student at the Paris
Conservatory. His compositorial technique had an almost
virtuoso quality, as he used rhythm, instrumentation,
melodic development, harmonic color, and counterpoint
with stunning effect."
Although often compared, I couldn't find that Debussy and 
Ravel knew each other, though they had the same friends,
were Parisian and missed each other at the Paris
Conservatory by only 5 years.

Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte and Jeux D'eau "helped
introduce a new technique of producing sonorities and
colors for the piano (particularly in the upper register)
which influenced even Debussy in all his later writings
for piano."

A contemporary of Bach and Vivaldi, Georg Philipp
Telemann was the most prolific composer of the first half
of the 18th century. He wrote everything; opera, cantatas,
masses, Passions, orchestra and chamber music and songs.
Ironically, he withdrew his application to the post of
Kantor of St. Thomas, Leipzig, paving the way for the
appointment of J.S. Bach.

The delightful and energetic Viola Concerto written in the
resonant key of G major is a gem in this instrument's
literature. It translates nicely to the cello one octave
below.


refs. Encyclopedia of the Great Composers and Their Music,
Milton Cross, Cello Story, Markevitch, The Oxford
Companion to Music, ed. by Alison Latham

Spring Concert For Freedom Peace Justice

             Wilderness Cello February 22, 2022


                    Camille Saint-Saëns
                    Le Cygne (The Swan)
                from Carnival of the Animals
                            In G
        Born: October 9, 1835, Paris October 9, 1835
             Died: December 16, 1921, Algiers 


                    Ludwig van Beethoven
                 Born: December 1770, Bonn
                Died: March 26, 1827, Vienna
                      Sonata Op.5 Nr.2
                 for Violoncello and Piano
                         In g minor
               Adagio sostenuto ed espressivo
                            And
               Allegro molto più tosto presto
                      


                    Filippo D. Marchetti
                        Fascination
        Born: 26 February 1831, Bolognola, Macerata
                Died: 18 January 1902, Rome
                   Italian opera composer


Beethoven's two-hundred-fiftieth birthday was in 2020.
Ironically, the planned year for Beethoven celebrations
were quashed in the name of that which he most detested,
TYRANNY!

"Freedom, the right of the creative ego to assert itself
unhampered, was a religion with him. When he filled his
music with a profound humanity, he was the son of the
French Revolution, the true democrat, who believed
passionately in the equality of man and who identified
himself with mankind's struggles. 'I, too, am King'
was his credo."

The Sonata Op.5 Nr.2 for cello and piano was composed in 1796.

"We are indebted to Beethoven for introducing the era
of the true sonata for two instruments... true dialog
between equals".

                      ~~

Saint-Saëns had "a restless intellect and prodigious
capacity for work. He studied astronomy, physics and
natural history. He wrote books on philosophy,
literature, painting, and the theater. He produced
poetry and a play. He wrote critical essays and mastered
several languages. He visited virtually every country
in the world."

The Carnival of Animals, subtitled 'A Grand Zoological
Fantasy' was written exclusively for his own
entertainment. He neither permitted it to be published
nor performed it while he was alive... except for
Le Cygne (The Swan).


refs:
Milton Cross, Encyclopedia of the Great
Composers and Their Music

Dimitry Markevitch, Cello Story

What's up at horizontal tree?

The full concert at the roadside boulder.