Overture Magazine: 2017-2018 Season January-February 2018 | Page 39

RITE OF SPRING CONCERTINO DA CAMERA FOR ALTO SAXOPHONE AND ORCHESTRA Jacques Ibert Born in Paris, France, August 15, 1890; died in Paris, France, February 5, 1962 Born into the generation of French composers following Debussy and Ravel, Jacques Ibert, like his classmate at the Paris Conservatoire Darius Milhaud, was determined to follow a different path from their impressionism. Ultimately he refused to align himself with any compositional school. “I want to be free—independent of the prejudices that arbitrarily divide the defenders of a certain tradition and the partisans of a certain avant garde,” he said. “All systems are valid, provided that one derives music from them.” Ibert’s studies at the Conservatoire were interrupted by World War I, but after returning from service, he won the highly coveted Prix de Rome, which had launched so many prominent French composers before him. While in Rome in 1922, he composed his popular orchestral suites Escales (Ports of Call), which made his name in European musical circles. He wrote prolifically in nearly every musical genre and was particularly devoted to writing music for film. Composed in 1935, Ibert’s Concertino da camera (Small Chamber Concerto) reflects the French fascination with American jazz during the 1920s and 30s. Nevertheless, it is far more a classical work than a cross-over piece, though it is studded with jazz influences. In addition to the alto saxophone soloist, it employs an ensemble of eleven players: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet and a few strings. After an explosively noisy introduction, the soloist enters with a witty, high-energy melody, animated by syncopations. Though this theme dominates the Allegro con moto movement, the saxophone also offers a languidly lyrical second theme that soars on high. By contrast, movement two is very slow and bluesy, with a solo for the saxophone and beautifully colored commentary from the ensemble winds and strings. This SING music flows directly into the Animato molto finale: playful scherzo-like music unfurling at breakneck speed. Pay special attention to Branford Marsalis’ elaborate cadenza near the end; it is his own demanding creation and something probably only he could play. TO YOUR AUDIENCE. WITH Instrumentation: Flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, OVERTURE. horn, trumpet and strings. SCARAMOUCHE Darius Milhaud Born in Aix-en-Provence, France, September 4, 1892; died in Geneva, Switzerland, June 22, 1974 For Darius Milhaud, the gulf between popular and classical music simply didn’t exist. One of the most prolific composers of the 20 th century and a charter member of the radical French group of the post- World War I era known as Les Six, he was among the first to incorporate jazz elements into concert music, notably in his Harlem-inspired La Création du monde, as well as other folk elements from his native Provence and the many lands he visited on his extensive world travels. As a young man in 1916, Milhaud was chosen by the celebrated French poet and diplomat Paul Claudel to be his secretary at the French embassy in Brazil. Arriving in Rio de Janeiro in the middle of Carnival season, the young composer was immediately smitten by “the mood of crazy gaiety that possessed the whole town.” Though he spent only two years there before returning to Paris, he remained obsessed with Brazilian dance music for the rest of his career, as we’ll hear in the samba finale of his little suite, Scaramouche. Though he also composed an astounding total of 12 symphonies and 18 string quartets, Milhaud did not hesitate to write prolifically in the humbler categories of film scores and incidental music for the theatre. The music for Scaramouche, or at least its first and third movements, was first composed for a production of Molière’s comedy Le Médicin volant (The Thieving Doctor) at Paris’ Théâtre Scaramouche in 1937. Reach over 150,000 patrons of the BSO five times a year in Overture, a program that’s about more than just beautiful music. RESERVE YOU AD SPACE TODAY! TO ADVERTISE, CONTACT: Ken Iglehart [email protected] Lynn Talbert [email protected] Call 443.873.3916 Now also distributed at Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda JA N – F E B 2018 / OV E R T U R E 37