This delightful work is nothing less than an inspired concert tribute to the amazing tradition of klezmer clarinet. Klezmer is the traditional music of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe. From its centuries-old antecedents...
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Category: Program Notes
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Four Sea Interludes, Op. 33a from Peter Grimes
Benjamin Britten is one of the last century’s most respected composers, and unquestionably the most influential and admired British composer from WW II, until his death in 1976. Fantastically gifted from an early age...
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Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56A
Good things often come in modest packages, and this work is unquestionably an example of that rule. We have often observed that Johannes Brahms was the major successor to the legacy of Beethoven, in a century filled with...
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Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
This work was Robert Schumann’s first piano concerto, the best of the lot, and deservedly one of the most popular in the repertoire. He composed in almost all of the common genres and, notwithstanding his success in the larger forms...
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Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7
According to Clara Wieck Schumann, “I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not desire to compose—there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?” She must have written these dark words in a moment of despair...
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Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn Overture
History is cruelly reductive, and it is the natural state of our collective memory that it often bears little resemblance to the balance of affairs that characterized the past. Whole lives, bodies of creative work, and popular acclaim of significant artists commonly disappear...
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Yesterthoughts and Punchinello (1900)
Irish-born American composer Victor Herbert (1859–1924) was quite prolific. He wrote many piano pieces, songs, choral works, orchestral suites, concertos, and chamber compositions, but is...
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The Light of Three Mornings: Sketches of Braintree Hill
As if to remind us that Ireland and Scotland are not the only places with rolling, green hills and breathtaking views, Gwyneth Walker’s The Light...
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Irish Suite for Strings (1940)
A quick look through a list of Arthur Duff’s composition titles reveals his musical philosophy: Irish stories are best told with Irish-sounding music. The composer’s...
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Suilean a’Chloinne (Children's Eyes) (2010)
In 2006, a familiar figure to the Fort Collins Symphony, conductor and violinist Leslie Stewart, approached Scottish-born composer Jennifer Margaret Barker (b. 1965) with a...
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An Irish Party in Third Class (1997)
When James Cameron’s Titanic opened in movie theaters in December 1997, it ranked as the most expensive movie ever made to date. Accolades were swift,...
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Ashokan Farewell (1982/1990)
The sun is sinking low in the sky above Ashokan,The pines and the willows know soon we will part.There’s a whisper in the wind of...
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Suite for Strings (1951)
Composers have three choices when creating folk-inspired music: to quote tunes as literally as possible, to adapt them to established forms, or to compose newly...
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Liebeslieder Walzes, op. 52
German composer Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) may have achieved great professional success, but, personally, he remained unlucky in love. Although involved in a number of romantic...
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Romance in C, op. 42
In 1904, the same year that Mahler’s Fifth Symphony premiered and Coleridge-Taylor made his first tour of the United States, Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)...
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Adagietto from Symphony no. 5
“This Adagietto was Gustav Mahler’s declaration of love to Alma! … both of them told me this!” ~ Wilhelm Mengelberg, conductor’s score What could be more...
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Novelletten, nos. 2, 3, 4, for string orchestra
They say that good things come in small packages. A handwritten note, a sampler of Belgian chocolates, or a carefully selected piece of fine jewelry,...
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Symphonie fantastique, op. 14
Of all of the major composers of the nineteenth century, Hector Berlioz is perhaps the most personally interesting. What a vivacious, unique individual he was,...
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Lieutenant Kijé Suite, op. 60
Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich are the two composers who stood above the rest of those who labored during the years of the Soviet Union....
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A Light in the Ocean
“A Light in the Ocean” is a pure reflection of the wonders of life across our planet. As I composed the music, I consistently envisioned...
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Symphony No. 36 in C Major, K. 425 "Linz,"
In the crystalline perfection of Mozart’s works, pride of place must be given to his operas, nonpareil dramatic works that unified drama and music like...
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Flute Concerto in D Major, op. 283
Public memory is cruel, and there are legions who were household names during their lifetimes, only to gradually fade into obscurity. Who today remembers folks...
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Le Tombeau de Couperin,
Ravel and Debussy are often paired in music lovers’ minds. They certainly were friends, admirers of their respective talents and musical works, and landmarks, not...
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Coriolan Overture, op. 62
Beethoven wrote a gaggle of overtures, some were admittedly potboilers (his heart really wasn’t into them, but his financial needs were), but most were what...
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Symphony no. 2 in D Major, op. 36
The years 1801-02 marked the nadir of Beethoven’s emotional life, as he grappled with the reality of his increasing and permanent deafness. His despair was...
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Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 61
By 1806 Beethoven had surmounted a series of significant distractions that had seriously affected his creative life. The difficulties that he had with writing his...
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Overture no. 2 in E-flat Major, op. 24
Until recently Farrenc has been practically unknown to symphonic audiences—especially in this country–but in her time she was held in high regard in the first...
