Musical Narratives

Gernot Wolfgang, “Three Short Stories” (clarinet and bassoon): Born in Austria in 1957, Gernot Wolfgang lives in Los Angeles where he composes, arranges and orchestrates music for film and television, as well as music for concert orchestras, chamber groups, solo instruments and jazz ensembles. He received his music education in Graz, Austria and Boston. Wolfgang is also a graduate of the “Scoring for Motion Pictures and TV” program at the University of Southern California. He composed “Three Short Stories” in 2000 in versions for viola/bassoon and viola/cello, as well as the clarinet/bassoon version which Brightmusic will perform. Jazz artist Dave Brubeck has complimented Wolfgang’s “unconventional beauty.” And in reviewing the CD that features this work, Gramophone magazine noted Wolfgang’s “creative individuality” and the “frisky and poetic material” that he wove into his three narrations. For more information about Gernot Wolfgang, see www.gernotwolfgang.com.

Franz Schubert, String Trio in B-flat Major, D.581 (violin, viola and cello): Schubert (1797-1828) was, in the words of Harold Schonberg, “a Kewpie doll of a man.” He was very short and curly-haired; he had poor eyesight; he endured the nickname “Schwammerl” (Tubby); and he was painfully shy. Outside a circle of Bohemian friends, Schubert was little-known during his lifetime. Beethoven’s nephew Karl once noted in his journal, “They greatly praise Schubert, but it is said that he hides himself.” The first public concert of his music was not given until 1828 – the year of his death. His efforts to secure publication of his music met with little success during his lifetime. Schubert wrote two string trios, this one composed in September 1817 when he was 20 years old, struggling in his short-lived career as a schoolmaster. The B-flat major trio follows a four-movement, late-Classical format, but the work (particularly the first movement) shows the imprint of Schubert’s personal style that grew with every composition he penned. While this trio was probably performed for Schubert’s friends at one of his private “Schubertiad” gatherings, it was not published until 1897 – 69 years after his death.

Carl Nielsen, “Sernata in Vano” (“Serenade in Vain”) (cello, double bass, clarinet, bassoon and horn): Nielsen (1865-1931) was “Denmark’s most distinguished composer” [David Dubal], who “wrestled music of brilliance and violence from rough-hewn folk melodies” [Alex Ross]. Nielsen was a violinist, a conductor and a music educator at the Royal Danish Conservatory, as well as a composer. Unlike his contemporary Sibelius, his style was more late Romantic than nationalistic. “Sernata in Vano,” written in 1914, is programmatic music – music that tells a story of a group of musicians hired to serenade their patron’s love object. Nielsen described his work as “a humorous trifle.” First, the musicians “play in a somewhat chivalric and showy manner to lure the fair one out onto the balcony, but she does not appear. Then they play in a slightly languorous strain … but that hasn’t any effect either. Since they have played in vain (in vano), they don’t care a straw and shuffle off home to the strains of the little final march, which they play for their own amusement.”

Louis Spohr, “Nonet for Winds and Strings” in F Major, op. 31 (violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn): German composer Louis Spohr (1784-1859) was “the greatest Classical violinist of his time” and “one of the most admired and respected composers of his time” [Schonberg]. Today, in an interesting role reversal, he is little known as Franz Schubert was during his lifetime. Spohr served as a court musician in Germany and Austria, when royal patronage was still the anchor for many musician careers. He emerged as one of the world’s first “virtuoso conductors,” and he was best known in that capacity, conducting six tours of England, as well as concerts throughout Germany and Austria. He invented the violin chinrest; developed the lettering and numbering conventions for printed orchestral music; and was the first conductor to use a baton. His music, introduced to contemporary audiences by Mendelssohn, was influenced by Mozart and other Viennese composers. Among Spohr’s other “firsts” was to use the designation “Nonet” for this 1813 composition for a nine-member ensemble. His instrumental combination for this work has become the standard instrumentation for nonet ensembles ever since.