Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble

Claude Debussy (arranged by Michael Webster), “Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun” (flute, clarinet and piano):  The teachers of Claude Debussy (1862-1918) at the Paris Conservatory considered him insolent because he thought his own rules of composition were superior to theirs.  Another young nonconformist, Eric Satie, suggested to Debussy that they create their own music – and make it “without any sauerkraut.”  Debussy became the finest French composer of his time and, in doing so, created that new music.  He was a revolutionary whose style did not trigger musical warfare.  Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun was his early orchestral triumph.  Premiered in 1894, its exotic, sensual sounds created a “dreamlike trance” that “set twentieth-century music on its way.”  [Schoenberg]  Debussy disliked the label impressionist, but the way he painted with his music certainly “enlarged music’s color wheel.”  [Dubal]  Prelude was a watershed composition, occupying “a place in musical history comparable to the Eroica Symphony.”  [Schoenberg]  The arrangement Brightmusic will play was written by clarinetist and Rice University music professor Michael Webster.

François Devienne, Duo Concertante for Flute and Viola in C Minor, op. 5., no. 3:  François Devienne (1759-1803) was a French contemporary of Mozart – a composer, performer, teacher and scholar.  The youngest of 14 children, he moved to Paris at age 20, where he studied, taught and performed bassoon and flute with ensembles including the Paris Opera.  In 1793 he authored an important book about flute technique.  When the Paris Conservatory was chartered in 1795, he became one of its first flute professors.  Devienne composed 12 operas and approximately 300 other works.  Jean-Pierre Rampal’s performances of Devienne’s works revived his music for the concert-going public.  Devienne composed six duets for flute and viola, each in two movements.  They were unusual for their time because the composer assigned approximately equal importance to each instrument.

Benjamin Britten, “Lachrymae: Reflections on a Song of Dowland” (viola and piano):  Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) created a wide variety of music but marched to his own drummer.  He “made his mark before World War II and never substantially changed his style,” [Schoenberg] even though this “went against the grain of the postwar era.”  [Ross]  In Lachrymae  he “revives the Elizabethan world” of composer and lute player John Dowland (1563-1626).  Britten wrote Lachrymae to perform with violist William Primrose at the 1950 Aldeburgh Festival.  Britten’s “reflections” are ten short variations on Dowland’s song, “If My Complaint Could Passions Move.”  Typically, variation style states the theme first, followed by the variations.  Although Dowland’s song makes a brief appearance at the beginning of this work, Britten reveals Dowland’s song, as the Renaissance composer wrote it, only at the end.

Edward Knight, “INBOX” (flute, viola and piano):  Dr. Edward Knight (b. 1961) is a Professor of Music, Composer-in-Residence and Director of Composition at Oklahoma City University.  He has composed works for orchestra, symphonic band, percussion ensemble and piano trio, as well as a clarinet sonata, cabaret songs, two fanfares and two original, full-length romantic musical comedies.  The four movements of “INBOX” explore a world in which a flood of information awaits us each morning: “Do Not Delete” (the joy of spam and viruses), “Classmate Quest” (the connection of classmates now living in different worlds), “Match.com” (the romance of cyber dating), and “EBay Bid Wars” (the frenetic world of online auctions).  “INBOX” was commissioned and premiered in 2009 by Matthew Dane, Christina Jennings and Alexandra Nguyen.  Ed Knight serves as a member of the board of directors of Brightmusic.

Max Bruch, “Eight Pieces,” Op. 83 (clarinet, viola and piano): Max Bruch (1838-1920) was one of the most prominent practitioners of 19th-Century German Romanticism (probably one of the composers whose “sauerkraut” Debussy and Satie wanted to leave behind).  He composed instrumental and choral music for the concert hall, theater and church.  He was also a conductor and, from 1891-1910, a professor of composition at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik.  His music was, like Mendelssohn’s, conservative in form and harmony, but it reflected “deep thoughtfulness and melodic richness.”  [Dubal]  Bruch composed his autumnal “Eight Pieces” at age 72 for his clarinetist son.  Seven of the eight are in minor keys that “draw the mellowest sound possible” from the instruments.  [Reel]  “Eight Pieces” is a work of special meaning to Brightmusic:  It was performed at Brightmusic’s second concert on January 13, 2004, by the same four wonderful musicians who will perform it at this concert.