Originally Posted by
Faculty Recital November 17, 2006
Karl Wohlwend, guitar
with
Eugene Braig, mandolino
Kimberlee Goodman, alto flute and flute
Richard Bell, 'cello
Michael Haberkorn, harpsichord
Knot Fibb'n: Beth Hicks, flute; Renilda Marshall, accordion; Tim O'Neill, bodhran
Sonata per Armandolino # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Giovanni Battista Sammartini (1701-1775)
i. # Allegro
ii. #Andante
iii.
Toward the Sea # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996)
i. #The Night
ii. #Moby Dick
iii. #Cape Cod
Trio Op. 18 no. 1 for vioin, guitar, and 'cello # # # # # # # # #François de Fossa (1775-1849)
i. #Allegro non tanto
ii. #Largo cantabile
iii. #Menuetto: Poco presto
iv. #Rondo: #Allegretto
Sonata for Guitar and Harpsichord # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #Manuel Maria Ponce (1882-1948)
i. #Allegro moderato
ii. #Andantino
iii. #Allegro non troppo e piacevole
Merry Blacksmith/Father Kelly's/Uncle's Lucky Charms # traditional/K. Wohlwend
The Butterfly/The Galway Hooker
Program notes:
Sammartini is an important figure in the evolution of the early symphony. #The present Sonata per Armandolino del Sig. Gio. Batt.a S. Martino was discovered along with four other mandolin manuscripts in Florence. #The instrument for which this piece was composed bears only superficial resemblance to the modern mandolin, which is tuned the same as a violin. #The baroque mandolin was much more akin to soprano lutes, having five or six courses of gut strings tied directly to a fixed bridge and tuned mostly or wholly in fourths: [g]-b-e'-a'-d"-g". #Names for the instrument were relatively plastic; mandola, mandolino, armandolino, etc. could all refer to the same type in different regions at different times. #Composers as diverse as Vivaldi, Scarlatti, and Handel wrote music for it. #In spite of being a rare mandolin work by a "major" composer, this sonata is seldom performed because its solo line is impractical in the modern tuning; its chord voicings and frequent pedal effects require the 6-course instrument and a fingerstyle technique (which is not common amongst modern mandolinists) to play it faithfully. #The original accompaniment is an unfigured bass line which I have used as the basis for an arrangement for guitar.
Toru Takemitsu, a self-taught Japanese composer, wrote Toward the Sea in 1981 for the Greenpeace “Save the Whales” Campaign. #He subsequently scored the work again for harp and alto flute and a third time for alto flute and orchestra. # Takemitsu said that his interest was in the sea as a "spiritual domain" and cited a passage in Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick: "Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries...and he will infallibly lead you to water.... Yes, as everyone knows, meditation and water are wedded together."
François de Fossa was an amateur guitarist and a professional soldier in both the armies of Spain and France. #In addition to his posts in Spain, he spent five years working in Mexico. He wrote a great deal of highly sophisticated chamber music including guitar in addition to some very inventive solo works. #The opus 18 includes three trios. #Unlike most of his contemporaries, de Fossa provided the guitar with a substantial role in his chamber works, even to the point of using the guitar to introduce thematic material. #Thanks to Columbus guitarist and scholar, Matanya Ophee, for re-discovering and publishing the work of this fine composer.
The Mexican composer, Manuel Maria Ponce was a friend and colleague of the legendary guitarist, Andres Segovia. #He wrote a great deal of solo guitar music for Segovia and three pieces for guitar and harpsichord. #This sonata, unlike the other two guitar and harpsichord works, is not an imitation of a Baroque style, but is rather a modern (for the early 20th century at least!) work, full of neo-classical formal device and impressionist color.
Irish traditional music represents an unbroken living tradition of perhaps a millennium or more, with the dance tunes reaching back to at least the 17th century. #The famines and political oppression of the 19th century cast Irish immigrants (and their musical culture) around the world, and the contributions of second-generation Irish-Americans have been especially significant. #In the late 1990s, following on the heels of the Riverdance craze, artists such as Eileen Ivers, Cherish the Ladies, John Whelan, and the supergroup, Solas combined modern American musical sensibilities with the timeless traditional dance music. #It was in this climate that the members of Knot Fibb'n came together, exactly nine years ago this evening. #The Merry Blacksmith and Father Kelly's are both anonymous fiddle tunes, often played in traditional pub sessions. #I wrote Uncle's Lucky Charms in imitation of these types of reels. #The quixotic title is a meaningless jab at the quasi-descriptive titles of many of these tunes, as well as a tongue-in-cheek reference to Irish caricatures such as the leprechaun on the Lucky Charms cereal box. #The Butterfly is often touted as a tune with rather ancient roots, in this setting it is played first as a lovely air, then as a slip jig. #The Galway Hooker refers not to anyone working in the fine city of Galway, but is rather a single-masted fishing vessel, as seen in the fierce seas outside the Galway Bay on Ireland's west coast. #It is in 7/8 time (mostly), which I arrived at by writing a reel (in 4/4) and a jig (in 6/8), neither of which I liked. #I stuck half of the reel measure to half of the jig, and ended up with this tune.
Karl Wohlwend
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