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RECITAL 1997--PROGRAM NOTES
George Frideric Handel: Sonata in C major, Op. 1, no. 7
Daniel Pinkham: Elegy for Alto Flute
Johann Sebastian Bach: Arias from the sacred cantatas, for tenor, flute and continuo
- Intermission -
Salvador Brotons: Sonata for Flute and Piano
Sofia Gubaidulina: Sonatina for flute alone
François Borne: Fantaisie Brillante on themes from Bizet's Carmen
Handel's instrumental works have been handed down in a maze of various versions, arrangements, and editions. Several publishers, encouraged by his apparent indifference to the fate of his smaller works once they were published, cashed in on Handel's great popularity with unauthorized editions. Adding to the confusion, Handel was a habitual borrower from his own works (the third movement of this sonata shows up in a different key, but otherwise virtually unchanged, in Op. 1, no. 5). Such matters have vexed musicologists and confused musicians down to the present day, but they need not distract us from our enjoyment of Handel's genial genius.
A CD of Daniel Pinkham's chamber music with flute will be released by Koch Records in April 1998, in time for the composer's 75th birthday. In the notes to this recording Mr. Pinkham writes: "In 1988 Fenwick Smith informed me that he was planning to record several chamber works I had composed for flute. I was content only with only one of those titles that he proposed, namely Miracles [for flute and organ]. All the other pieces were composed expressly for this CD. . . The last work to be composed was the Elegy for alto flute solo written in early August 1995. This brief work, in A-B-A form, surprisingly contains a very cheerful middle section. When Fenwick Smith questioned me on this unusual aspect I replied that this little memorial to an unnamed colleague reflected in its central panel a remembrance of his sunny disposition."
Bach first wrote for the transverse flute around 1720, and demonstrated immediately an unparalleled understanding of its technical and expressive potential. His sonatas are the cornerstone of the flutist's repertoire, but much of his greatest writing for the instrument is to be found in the passions, the B-minor Mass, and the sacred and secular cantatas. The arias in these works nearly always include an instrumental obbligato that illustrates, comments upon, adorns, or engages in dialogue with the sung text.
Das Blut, so meine Schuld durchstreicht,
Macht mir das Herze wieder leicht
und spricht mich frei
Ruft mich der Hölle Heer zum Streite,
So stehet Jesus mir zur Seite,
Daß ich beherzt und sieghaft sei.
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Thy sacrifice absolves my sins,
makes my heart light again,
and sets me free.
Should the hordes of Hell call me to battle,
Jesus will be at my side,
that I may be courageous, and victorious.
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Erschütt're dich nur nicht, verzagte Seele,
Wenn dir der Kreuzeskelch so bitter schmeckt.
Gott ist dein weiser Artzt und Wundermann,
So dir kein tödlich Gift einschenken kann,
Obgleich die Süßigkeit verborgen steckt.
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Tremble not, despairing soul
If the Savior's cup is bitter!
God is thy wise Healer, worker of wonders,
He could never pour thee a fatal draft,
though its balm may lie hidden.
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Ermunt're dich, dein Heiland klopft,
Ach, öffne bald die Herzenspforte!
Ob du gleich in entzückter Lust
Nur halbgebrochne Freudenworte
Zu deinem Jesu sagen mußt.
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Arise! Thy Saviour knocks--
open thy heart to Him!
Even if, in rapturous transport,
thy words of joy are broken and halting,
speak them to thy Jesus.
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The Spanish-born composer, conductor, pianist, and flutist Salvador Brotons resides in Oregon, where he is Professor of Composition at Portland State University. When I gave a recital last year at the University a colleague recommended this Sonata to my attention; the warm reception it received there prompted me to introduce it in Boston. The Sonata, a substantial piece of some 16 minutes' duration, is played without pause. Mr. Brotons' fluent, accessible style is reminiscent of Shostakovich in the searching lines of the first movement and in the energetic motor rhythms of the last. The Presto has at its center a slow episode reminiscent of the opening Lento. Here Brotons makes striking use of a device most composers use cautiously, if at all: the interlude closes with a high, haunting melody for the flute, played entirely in harmonics.
Sofia Gubaidulina's rise to prominence among her generation of Russian composers has been paralleled by her increasing visibility on Boston's concert calendar. My interest in her music was piqued by the BSO's recent performance of her Viola Concerto, and by a concert devoted to her works at last summer's Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood. Central to Ms. Gubaidulina's mature style is an interest in the expressive potential of timbre--of musical sound itself--that often takes precedence over conventional melody, harmony, and counterpoint. From this follows her use of any and all non-traditional means of tone production that suit her expressive purposes, including, in the Sonatina for flute alone, extended trills, which mark three climactic moments; double stops, 1/4-tone glissandos, harmonics, and flutter-tonguing. In a way typical of her recent music the piece is improvisatory, even theatrical; but her sure hand organizes her chosen materials into a compelling whole.
When I walked into Jordan Hall at 10:45 yesterday morning for our dress rehearsal I realized to my chagrin that I had failed to provide a page-turner for Sally Pinkas. I set out to roam the building in hope of finding some student or colleague willing, at no notice, to fill this crucial function. No sooner had I set foot in the hallways that I bumped into a flutist friend whose daughter was in a Preparatory School rehearsal until noon, leaving Mom at loose ends in the meantime. She was happy to oblige. We played through Brotons. . . we played through a dazzling little flute-and-piano piece by Sofia Gubaidulina which we will play on a recital at the University of Michigan the day after tomorrow. . . but when it came time for the Carmen Fantasy, our flutist/page-turner enthused, "Oh, that's a great piece!" So if you wonder why Fenwick Smith would program such a piece of fluff on an otherwise so tony program, ask the flutist sitting next to you.
--Notes and translations, Fenwick Smith
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