Student Recital Series 2024 – 2025 Season
Sara M. Snell Music Theater Sunday, April 12th at 2:30pm
Jovany Rivers, Bass clarinet
Dr. Keilor L. Kastella, piano
7 Pasos (2014)
Zebus (2008)
Dr. Christine Hoerning, Bass Clarinet
Cello Sonata No.1 in E Minor, Op.38 (1862)
II. Allegretto quasi Menuetto
Tozzola Sebastian (b. 1985)
Johan Favoreel (b. 1957)
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) arr. Jean-Marc Volta
Prelude for Bass Clarinet, Op. 51 (1958)
Ruth Gipps (1921 – 1999 Intermission
Duo De Concert (1904)
On Sorrow (2018)
I. Prelude – Loss
II. Withdrawal
V. Renewal - Postlude
Paul Jeanjean (1874 – 1945) Dr. Julianne Doyle, Clarinet
Jonathan Russell (b. 1979)
Jovany Rivers is from the studio of Dr. Christine Hoerning
This Program is presented to fulfill the senior recital requirement for Bachelor of Music degree in Performance
PROGRAM NOTES
7 Pasos Sebastian Tozzola
Seven Pasos, for two bass clarinetists, exploits the delicious possibilities of bass clarinet. In the introductory section, marked “Very Rhythmic,” meters change frequently. This creates quick switches between a swinging feeling and vertical angular shapes and carries us to the main part of the piece, marked, “Groove, exaggerating accents.” It is in a faster tempo and is written in 7/4 meter. Zippy, sharply articulated voices in rhythmic unison alternate with areas where there are smoother melodies, first in one clarinet part and then the other. Tozzola also sets the players free for twelve bars of improvisation, with the option to repeat this section as desired before returning to the earlier material.
Zebus Johan Favoreel
"Zebus" is a work for bass clarinet and piano that demonstrates Favoreel’s deep understanding of instrumental timbre and color. Composed in 2008, Zebus brings together playful and vibrant textures in a duet that brings out both the sonic capabilities of the bass clarinet and the piano. This charming miniature for bass clarinet and piano pictures an imaginary ancient heavy-weight Greek God “Zebus” (the warm mild and mellow sound of a heavyweight clarinet), enjoying life sitting in the sun while eating and drinking wine. The idea of taking part in a hunting party (the faster tempo) excites him, but because he is so tired everything stays calm and nice. Life continues as it was.
Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38
Johannes Brahms's Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38 is one of the composer’s most beloved chamber works, notable for its depth of emotional expression and virtuosic demands on both the cello and piano. Composed between 1862 and 1865, this sonata marks a turning point in Brahms's development as a composer. It is a deeply personal piece, reflecting Brahms's ability to blend lyrical beauty with technical complexity. The second movement is a charming, dance-like minuet with a trio section. Brahms's rhythmic playfulness is evident here, as he combines lighter moments with more somber contrasts. The movement’s relatively simple, elegant character offers a respite from the emotional intensity of the first movement, yet it still maintains a profound depth.
Ruth Gipps
The Prelude for Bass Clarinet is an unaccompanied work that serves as a reflective and deeply expressive piece for the performer. The work explores the unique sound world of the bass clarinet, highlighting its wide range of tonal colors and its ability to move between lyrical and dramatic registers. The piece is intimate and introspective, as it opens with a slow, mournful melody. The bass clarinet's deep, resonant tones allow for rich, expressive phrasing that moves seamlessly between delicate, introspective moments and more intense, impassioned outbursts. Gipps’s writing highlights the bass clarinet’s lower register, which gives the work a sense of gravity and warmth, while also allowing the performer to explore its flexibility and emotional range.
Duo De Concert
Paul Jeanjean
Paul Jeanjean was a French clarinet virtuoso and composer, known for his exceptional technical skill and contributions to clarinet repertoire. The Duo de Concert composed by Jeanjean, is one of his most prominent chambers works, showcasing his deep understanding of the clarinet family and his ability to blend the timbres of different instruments.
On Sorrow
Jonothan Russell
The piece opens with wispy piano chords in a stuttering rhythm, with the bass clarinet floating above, evoking the eternal, endless river of time, the neutral backdrop to the cares and concerns of living. This figure also takes on a quality of “fate,” appearing again, suddenly loud and forceful, at the climaxes of the first, third, and fifth movements. After a few minutes of this material, the main “sorrow” theme of the piece enters: a circular, chromatic figure in five. This material begins slowly and lugubriously, but gradually starts to become more flowing and buoyant. Before it can go too far in this direction, however, it is interrupted by a hammering version of the “fate” motive. This is followed by two intense statements of the “sorrow” theme, and then a high, wispy version that melts into the second movement. The piece, like sorrow itself, has fractal and cyclical qualities. The process it evokes can happen on many time scales, successively or simultaneously. The sequence of emotions could be happening in real time over the course of the 30-minute work; or it could happen over the course of an instant, a year, a lifetime. The ending of the piece could lead directly back to the beginning: even as we overcome one sorrow, the next one may be just on the horizon, or already underway. And even the sorrows we think we have overcome will continue to be with us, carrying us again through their gauntlet of emotions when we least expect it.
