Evening Concert Series 2024 – 2025 Season
Sara M. Snell Music Theater Sunday, October 6th at 3:00 PM
Julianne Kirk Doyle, clarinet
Julie Miller and Keilor Kastella, piano
“Her”story:
Music by Women of the 19th and 20th Century
Romanze (1892)
Sonatina (1825)
Larghetto
Waltz-Trio Polacca
Drei Romances op. 22 (1856)
Andante molto
Allegretto
Leidenschaftlich schnell
Image de Norvege (1977)
<Brief Pause>
Op. 42 (1931)
Elegie (1931)
Cantilene (1933)
Fantasia (1996)
Christine Hoerning, clarinet
Elisabeth sachs von Meinengen (1853-1923)
Caroline Schleicher-Kraemer (1794-1850)
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Ida Gotkovsky (b. 1933)
Fernande Breilh Decruck (1896-1954)
Sarah Feigin (1928-2011)
PROGRAM NOTES
There are a number of solo works by women that were written alongside what we consider the masterpieces of the clarinet repertoire. These works were likely overshadowed by the famous male composers of the day. The music presented in this recital should be considered for study in the studio curriculum alongside our traditionally programmed repertoire. Each work on this program is a delight to play, each full of challenges, character and has a story to tell. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I have enjoyed discovering these works and the stories of their composers. As you listen today, consider repertoire that is traditionally programmed and where these and similar works could fit into your future repertoire choices For more information on female composers by era, visit https://clarinetmusicbywomen.com/ I have encouraged this examination of my clarinet colleagues across the globe in a recent article Fostering New Traditions in Programming. -JKD
PRINCESS MARIE ELISABETH VON SACHSEN-MEININGEN (1853-1923)POTSDAM, GERMANY
Princess Marie Elisabeth was the third child and only daughter of Georg, Hereditary Prince of SaxeMeiningen, by his first wife, Princess Charlotte of Prussia, and had only one surviving brother, Hereditary Prince Bernhard. Marie Elisabeth’s father participated in the Franco-Prussian War, where he fought in nearly every battle. After the war, Georg II devoted himself to the stage, and his court became famous for its brilliance and culture.
As her father was a great patron of the stage and founder of a national theater, Marie Elisabeth was raised in this environment, consequently becoming artistic and a great lover of music. She received a thorough education under the tutelage of Theodor Kirchner, a talented pianist. Her father was a great patron of German composer and pianist Johannes Brahms, who worked as a music teacher in Meiningen for various pupils including Marie Elisabeth, to whom he gave piano lessons. Marie Elisabethwasinclosecontactwithotherfamousmusicianssuch asRichardStrauss,FranzMannstädt and ans von Bülow. Among her cherished works is a beautiful Romanze in F Major for clarinet and piano, composed for none other than Richard Mühlfeld, for whom Johannes Brahms also wrote his famous clarinet sonatas a few years later.
On a personal note, while we have no evidence of this, it is interesting to imagine this time in the Meinengen court There was a pivotal concert: Mühfeld’s performance of the Mozart Quintet which inspired Johannes Brahms to come out of compositional retirement and compose the Clarinet Trio with cello, Clarinet Quintet with strings and Two Sonatas for clarinet and piano Being her father’s court, Marie Elisabeth was likely also present for this monumental concert in our clarinet history. Looking at the timeline, Brahms wrote the Clarinet Trio and Quintet in 1891, around the same time that Princess Marie Elisabeth composed this charming Romanze in 1892, also for Mühfeld. Brahms then wrote his sonatas in 1894. Could this beautiful work have inspired ideas in the works we know so well from Brahms? Could it have inspired the sonatas themselves? It is an interesting idea to consider that this female composer also made an impression on Brahms and Mühlfeld
CAROLINE SCHLEICHER-KRÄHMER (1794-1873) –STOCKACH, GERMANY
Caroline Schleicher-Krähmer was a well-known clarinetist in Vienna during her lifetime and the first female clarinet soloist known by name Born into a musical family, her father was bassoonist Franz Joseph Schleicher and her mother a violinist and clarinetist, Josepha Schleicher. Caroline began studying violin with in Stuttgart where the family moved when her father was offered a court position. In addition to being a professional bassoonist, her father was stationed as the regimental bandmaster in the Ludwigsburg court. Caroline began piano lessons at age 5 where she also learned the basic composition from her teacher Johann Melchoir Dreyer. She also began violin lessons from her mother and then at age 9, clarinet lessons with both of her parents Caroline learned diligently and easily, her talents quickly recognized though she preferred the clarinet andpiano over the violin.
In 1815, her father accepted a position as a town musician in Pforzheim, Germany and Caroline eventually took over his teaching position when he became ill In 1819, she moved to Karlsruhe and studied violin with the concertmaster Friedrich Ernst Fesca and basso continuo with Franz Danzi. Both were highly esteemed composers of the time. Danzi became her mentor and sponsored several performances. She eventually toured as a soloist giving concerts in Vienna where she met her future husband who was an oboist.
Even in the 1800s, women were powerful musical influences as teachers, performers and composers. While there is currently no original manuscript, according to concert advertisements from the time, Krähmer also composed a set of Variations for clarinet and piano. Krähmer has clear influence from Mozart and her teacher Danzi. This delightful piece was composed in the same time period as Danzi’s famous clarinet sonatas and Concertos by Crusell, Spohr, Mendelssohn as well as works such as the Schubert Octet, and not long before the famous Shepherd on the Rock. To give some clarinet context, works that had come before this include the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, Weber’s Concertos and Concertino. She was 11-years older than the famous Fanny Mendelssohn and 24-years older than Clara Schumann.
CLARA SCHUMANN (1819-1896)LEIPZIG,GERMANY
For too long, female composers of the past have been consigned to the footnotes of music history textbooks.Although ClaraSchumann isoneofthemostfamousexamples,given hermarriagetoRobert Schumann (1810–1856), her contributions to music history as a composer, performer, and teacher have largely gone underreported. When she is discussed, the narrative often centers around her marriage to Robert and speculates about the nature of her relationship with Johannes Brahms.
Clara not only birthed eight children between 1841 and 1854 and managed the household, but she was also the primary breadwinner of the family, maintaining an active performing career and using her international reputation as a piano virtuoso to champion Robert’s works. To Robert, Clara also served as a vital creative adviser, especially in writing for the piano. Robert had lost much of the feeling in the middle finger of his right hand from over-practicing and experimenting with a finger-strengthening device called a chiroplast. Unable to do his piano works justice, he composed them for Clara’s hands. (She was the better pianist anyway.) Robert recognized the immense value of this partnership even before they married, writing to Clara in 1839, “You complete me as a composer, as I do you. Every thought of yours comes from my soul, just as I have to thank you for all my music.”
Clara Schumann was born in Leipzig in 1819 to a family of musicians. Her mother, Mariane, was a talented singer and pianist, and her father, Friedrich, was a piano teacher. A domineering figure, Friedrich pushed Clara into a career as a child prodigy and controlled every aspect of her life. She made her debut at the Leipzig Gewandhaus at the age of nine and had toured throughout Europe by her early teens. Composition and improvisation were integral to her artistic development, and at 14, she premiered her Piano Concerto inAMinor, op. 7, with Felix Mendelssohn at the podium.
Pianist Lara Downes, who recorded an album of Robert and Clara’s piano music in 2019, said in an interview with the New York Times, “Their music is so profoundly connected that you really can’t separate the one from the other. From the very beginning, they were so deeply enmeshed, always listening and sharing, consulting and collaborating. It’s like all of the music they produced carries both sets of genes.” The two composers would often include nods to each other’s work in their compositions, Robert quoting a motif of Clara’s and vice versa, like a secret code. Clara also premiered virtually all of Robert’s piano compositions.
In 1878, she was appointed principal piano teacher at the music conservatory in Frankfurt. The first woman to teach there, Clara attracted students from far and wide, leaving a substantial pedagogical legacy in her unique approach to the instrument and repertoire. In particular, she bolstered the careers of her female students, who were often forced to give up their pianistic aspirations after marriage, by introducing them to her vast professional network.
Throughout her six-decade performing career, she helped establish the convention of pianists playing from memory in recitals and concertos. She also took a different approach to programming than many of her predecessors and contemporaries. Instead of highlighting her own virtuosity with flashy transcriptions, she preferred to elevate the composers on her programs. While audiences at the time mostly expected new works, her recitals were unusual in their inclusion of pieces by historical composers such as Bach and Scarlatti alongside contemporary works.
IDA-ROSE ESTHER GOTKOVSKY (B.26 AUGUST 1933,CALAIS,FRANCE)
Ida Rose Esther Gotkovsky is a French composer and pianist and currently a professor of music theory at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in France. Her father was the violinist Jacques Gotkovsky of the Loewenguth Quartet and her mother also played violin. Both her brother Ivar (a pianist) and her sister Nell (a violinist) became accomplished musicians. Gotkovsky began composing at the age of eight.
She entered the National Conservatory of Music in Paris and studied counterpoint under Nöel Gallon, harmony and analysis under Olivier Messiaen, and composition under TonyAubin and Nadia Boulanger. Showing promise as a young, gifted composer, she entered compositions in numerous contests and won many awards of distinction including the Prix Blumenthal (1958), the Prix Pasdeloup (1959), the Prix de Composition International de Divonne les Bains (1961), the Medaille de la Ville de Paris (1963), the Prix Lily Boulanger (1967), and many others.
Through Messiaen’s tutelage, Gotkovsky showed a pronounced interest in his techniques of composition through mode usage and additive meter. Featuring lyric melodic ideas, her compositions range from pensive and introspective to brilliant and virtuosic. She boasts a varied catalogue of works that include chamber works; symphonic works; soloist with piano as well as large ensemble accompaniment; and even an opera.
Nadia Boulanger was also influential to Gotkovsky’s style. Gotkovsky became one of a singular list of women composers that helped to carry the mantle of prominent female composers of the 20th Century begun under Cecile Chaminade, Melanie Bonis and Nadia Boulanger. This list includes Louise Talma, Thea Musgrave, Grazyna Bacewicz, Rachel Eubanks, Peggy GlanvilleHicks and Mary Howe Gotkovsky’s output includes chamber music, symphonies, instrumental music, vocal music, ballets, and operas Notably, she has contributed many solo and chamber pieces for the saxophone. Her Concerto for Trombone (1978) has been compared to Messiaen, and her Suite for Tuba and piano (1959) reveals influence of Hindemith.[2] She is also recognized for having written important works for band.[3][4]
To the clarinet repertory Gotkovsky has contributed several compositions: two works for clarinet and piano, Chanson, and Images de norvège (Images of Norway), an unaccompanied clarinet sonata in four movements, two concertos, Éolienne, for either clarinet and harp or piano (available in other instrumentations), a trio for Trio for violin, clarinet and piano, and a clarinet quartet. Gotkovsky’s music credo is: “To create a universal musical art and to realize the oneness of musical expression through the ages by means of a contemporary musical language with powerful structures.”
FERNANDE DECRUCK (1896-1954)GAILLAC, FRANCE
JeanneDelphineFernandeBreilh-Decruck wasbornonDecember 25,1896inGaillac,France Ateight years old, she entered the Toulouse Conservatory where she won first prize in music theory (1911), first prize in piano (1913) and a second prize in harmony (1917). In 1918, eager to join the harmony class of Xavier Leroux, she tried and immediately passed the entrance exam for Paris Conservatory. Her studies were crowned by a first prize in harmony (1919), a second prize in counterpoint (1921), a first prize for fugue (1922) and a first prize piano accompaniment (1922). In addition, she won the Théodore Dubois and Louise de Gouy d’Arsy prize in fugue and two Fernand Halphen prizes, one in harmony the other in counterpoint.
In December 1922, she began studying organ with Eugène Gigout. The following year, Jean Gallon gave her the position of teaching assistant of his harmony class. She contributed to the formation of brilliant composers like Olivier Messiaen. Seven of her students went on to win the Prix de Rome.As a young pianist, Fernande often found work improvising music for silent films. On January 29, 1924, she married Maurice Decruck, a clarinetist and bassist from northern France. They met while both were students at the Paris Conservatory in the class of Edouard Nanny
Although she had enjoyed a great deal of success in Paris during World War II, after the war ended it became more difficult for her to find performance opportunities in her own country as some viewed her active performing career in German-occupied France negatively. France was rebuilding and male composers that had been proscribed during the war were returning.
During her lifetime Decruck contributed numerous works to the clarinet repertory, included several extant reed trios, a piano-wind sextet, six clarinet duets, three solos for B-flat clarinet and piano, as well as a solo for contrabass clarinet and piano. In addition, records indicate she composed a clarinet concerto that is tragically lost at this time. For more of her life story and a complete list of works for clarinet, including those that are lost, visit fernandedecruck.com
SARAH FEIGIN (1928-2011),LATVIA/ISRAEL.
Sarah Feigin was a Latvian music educator and composer who lived and worked in Israel. She was born in Latvia, and studied piano and composition at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music originally known as the Riga Conservatory of Music. She graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She moved to Israel in 1972 and founded a Conservatory of Music in Holon in 1973, working as its director until 1983. Feigin worked for “Jeunesses Musicales d’Israel”2 from 1973 to 1990, organizing concerts for youth. Her music has been performed internationally.
Sarah would teach children as well as teach at music education institutions when she lived in Israel. Her preferred instruments are organ and piano when composing music. Her work has been published by the Israel Music Institute and the Israel Composers’League, and her pieces have been on the Israeli radio on a regular basis. She composed pieces such as, chamber music, music for piano, educational pieces, songs for ballets, and vocal music.
In 2000, Sarah received an award for her work “Thoughts On Playing” at the International Composition Competition in Miami, Florida. On October 9, 2012, Feigin was included in the album Clarinet Repertoire Of Women Composers The last title on the album is Feigin’s Fantasia for Clarinet and Piano Written in 1996, in Israel.
For the clarinet, Feigincomposed several notable works, among them are aclarinet concerto, also arranged for clarinet and string quartet, a work for two clarinets and piano, a trio for clarinet, flute, and piano, three accompanied works for clarinet and piano, one of which, Fantasia, she also arranged for clarinet and string quartet and for two clarinets and piano.