Files

Download

Download Full Text (606 KB)

Publication Date

Winter 12-3-2013

Year of Release

2013

Note(s)

assisted by:

Dr. Julio Ribeiro Alves, guitar

Nate Bohach, vibraphone

Evan White, marimba

Jake Arnoldt, Christina Stradwick, tenor saxophone

Jordan Carinelli, soprano saxophone

Jodi Bapst, alto saxophone

Nicholas Blain, piano

Middle Earth Saxophone Quartet:

Jordan Carinelli, soprano saxophone

Jodi Bapst, alto saxophone

Christina Stradwick, tenor saxophone

Jake Arnoldt, baritone saxophone

Choro ("cry" or "lament") is a Brazilian instrumental genre formed in Rio de Janeiro during the 19th century. It is the result of a mixture of European styles such as the polka and mazurka combined with the lundu and batuque African rhythms. Pixinguinha is often considered one of the most important of the choro composers. He was responsible for combining the style of the original choro and with jazz-like harmonies to make the choro more accessible to a global audience. After Pixinguinha's musical group folded in the 1940's, he quickly joined forces with flautist Benedito Lacerda's band to create one of the most widely known duos in the history of Brazilian music. All of the choros heard in today's performance are composed in the typical Rondo form: AABBACCA, with each section in a different key (principal key, relative key, and sub-dominant key).

Cavalcante is a new composition written by young Brazilian musicians Noel Carvalho and Jonas Cruz. The music was inspired by the death of their dear friend. It has lyrics written by a group of friends in memory of this lost friend. Today's performance is the USA premier of this piece.

Hermeto Pascoal is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. Pascoal is a beloved figure in the history of Brazilian music who is known for his orchestration, improvisation, and use of unconventional instrumentation. Pascoal doesn't consider his music to be a form of Brazilian Music, but, instead, labels it as Universal Music - a term that reflects all that he experiences on earth. Bebê is an example of Pascoal's Universal Music that is influenced by the sounds a baby makes. Often times when Pascoal performs this piece live, the melody will be sung in a way that emulates the sounds of a baby. Apart from the elements that make this piece of music Universal, it contains the Baião rhythm-an important Brazilian style. The Baião rhythm is performed in traditional Brazilian music by the zabumba (a double-headed bass drum played with a mallet in one hand and stick in the other, each striking the opposite head of the drum). In today's performance the Baião rhythm is played by the marimba.

Giacinta Scelsi lived much of his life as a largely unknown composer who refused to participate in interviews or search for performers to premier his works. Around the time of the Second World War, Scelsi suffered a mental breakdown that resulted in his viewing his composition process as a type of spiritual revelation. During this time he found himself obsessed with the possibilities of sound that could be produced by a single note, often played a single note on the piano repeatedly and listening to the complexities of the sound. Using this new perspective of music, Scelsi composed Tre Pezzi. The composition is one of many solo instrument suites that Scelsi composed during the 1950's using static harmony. The first movement is perhaps the most fascinating of all. The lyrical phrases are constantly brought back to direct statements of a "key" note (here at the top of the instrument's range). The second movement is the most lyrical. It begins with crescendos and keeps the musical ideas smooth. As it continues, more long tones interrupt that limit the melodic flow. It is easy for the listener to become lost in this piece. Each phrase seems to erase the previous one, but with time, the musical gestures begin to linger and mix with each new idea.

Paul Bein-Haim conceived his Three Songs Without Words as vocalises for high voice and piano. Later, it occurred to him that the songs easily lent themselves to instrumental performance. The composer explains that the three parts of this little suite are "tone-pictures of an oriental mood" and adds that "whoever's imagination needs additional prompting may think that the long-breathed melodies of the Ariosos were inspired by the mood of a summer day's heat in the Judean Hills, while the Ballad pictures the monotonous babbling of an oriental story-teller; the last song is based on a traditional folk tune of shepardic-Jewish origin." The performance of this piece displays a high level of melodic expression.

Six Studies in English Folksong is a collection of pieces written by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams for Cello and Piano. Each of the six studies uses a different traditional English melody as the basis of the composition. Today's performance will include four of the six original movements. I. Adagio (Lovely on the Water), II Andante sostenuto (Spurn Point), V. Andante tranquillo (The Lady and the Dragon), VI. Allegro vivace (As I Walked Over London Bridge). In these studies Vaughan Williams weaves elements from the traditional English melodies into his new compositions rather than simply imitating the elements of the folkloric melodies.

Jean Baptiste Singeleé was a Belgium composer, performer, and conductor of the romantic period. Singeleé was a friend of Adolph Sax, the creator of the saxophone, and was responsible for writing much of the early repertoire for the instrument including the first piece for saxophone quartet Premier Quatuor. Singeleé's Grand Quatuor Concertant is his second work written for this ensemble. The work is operatic in nature. Each of the instruments is given a different character that can be heard exchanging dialog throughout the piece.

The Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 (1721) is one of six concertos written for mixed instrumentation dedicated by J.S.Bach to the Margrave of Brandenburg Schwedt. The original instrumentation was for three violins, three violas, three cellos, and basso continuo. The first movement starts with a three-note motive that can be heard throughout the piece. This motive is exchanged by the instruments in a combination of melody, imitation, and development.

Henry Cowell was an American composer most notable for his experimental works that helped pioneer a culture of avant-garde music around the world. Apart from his interest in experimental music, Cowell was very interested in world music and studied comparative musicology (the predecessor to ethnomusicology) in Berlin. Sailor's Hornpipe (also known as College Hornpipe, or Jack's the Lad) is a traditional British melody from the 18th Century that is accompanied by a dance. The dance, which required no partner and a very small amount of space, became very popular among ships in the Royal Navy. Cowell's arrangement for saxophone quartet stays true to the original melody by maintaining the danceable rhythm that made the song so popular.

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music Performance. Mr.Arnoldt is a student in the studio of Dr. W. Edwin Bingham.

Note

Smith Recital Hall

Library of Congress Authorities

Pixinguinha, 1897-1973.

Ferreira, Abel

Carvalho, Noel dos Santos

Vaughan Williams, Ralph, 1872-1958. Studies in English folk song

Ben-Haim, Paul, 1897-1984. Songs without words

Scelsi, Giacinto, 1905-1988. Pieces, saxophone

Quartets, saxophones, no. 1, op. 53

Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750. Brandenburgische Konzerte. Nr. 3. 1st movement

Cowell, Henry, 1897-1965. Hornpipe

Keywords

recitals, chamber music, saxophone, sonatas

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Fine Arts | Music | Music Performance

Marshall University Music Department Presents a Senior Recital, Jason Arnoldt, saxophone

Share

COinS