Ravinia 2022, Issue 5

FELIPE TOVAR-HENAO (b.1991) «Di .ver.ti.men.to » for String Trio Colombian composer Felipe Tovar-Henao re- ceived a bachelor’s degree in composition from Universidad EAFIT (Escuela de Ad- ministración, Finanzas, e Instituto Tecnológi- co) in Medellín before moving to the United States for graduate studies at Indiana Univer- sity’s Jacobs School of Music, where he earned master’s and doctoral degrees in composition. His awards include the 2013 Becas para la Creación Artística y Cultural from the Co- lombian Ministry of Culture, 2018 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award and SCI/ASCAP Student Commission Award, and 2019 Morris and Sheila Hass Electronic Music Award. In addition, To- var-Henao was a resident composer at the 2020 and 2022 Mizzou International Com- posers Festivals, an adjunct professor of mu- sic theory and composition at Universidad EAFIT in 2020/21, and the 2021/22 Center for Contemporary Composition Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Chicago. Tovar-Henao’s growing catalog of orchestral, chamber, choral, and solo vocal and instru- mental compositions frequently involves the interaction of acoustical and electronic media and, in the words of the composer, is “deep- ly rooted in aesthetic experiences with tech- nology, philosophy, and cinema.” His recent composition «Di .ver.ti.men.to » , which enjoys its world-premiere performance on this oc- casion, offers another manifestation of his electroacoustic imagination. “The title of this piece, «Di .ver.ti.men.to » , refers to both the spirit of playfulness in which it was written, as well as its source material, the first movement from Mozart’s Divertimento for String Trio in E-flat major, K. 563. Borrowing from sampling and remix traditions, the piece consists exclu- sively of short segments from Mozart’s work, each individually rearranged and manipulated in different ways—e.g., transposed, stretched, spectrally distorted, etc.—to create a dance- like, disjointed, humorous, and sometimes Felipe Tovar-Henao riotous experience.” «Di .ver.ti.men.to » was written for and commissioned by Guarneri Hall NFP and NEXUS Chamber Music. ELEANOR ALBERGA (b.1949) Duo from Dancing with the Shadow Eleanor Alberga’s passion for music took hold at the age of 5, when the little girl from Kings- ton, Jamaica, decided to become a concert pianist. She studied at the Jamaica School of Music, an institution that, at the time, mod- eled its curriculum on the Royal Schools of Music in England. In 1970, Alberga received the West Indian Associated Board Scholar- ship, which supported her studies in piano and vocal performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She enjoyed immediate success as a performer, becoming a finalist in the 1974 International Piano Concerto Com- petition in Dudley, West Midlands, England. Alberga joined The London Contemporary Dance Theatre in 1978 as pianist, composer, and, eventually, musical director. Since writing her first original music at age 10, Alberga became increasingly engaged in com- position, especially after leaving The London Contemporary Dance Theatre in 1988. She has focused almost exclusively on composi- tion since receiving the prestigious NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technol- ogy, and the Arts) Fellowship in 2001. Her compositions encompass two operas, orches- tral works including two violin concertos and music for Roald Dahl’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , chamber and solo piano pieces, choral and vocal compositions, and music for television and film. Alberga characterized her compositional style for a recording of her or- chestral works on the Lyrita label: “Two things are there in my life and in my music. One is my Caribbean influence, and this has to do with the tonality and with rhythms; the oth- er is extreme contemporary European music. My music always grows out of these two.” Eleanor Alberga Alberga and her husband, violinist Thomas Bowes, perform as the ensemble Double Ex- posure and serve as founders and co-artistic directors of the Arcadia Music Festival in the Welsh Marches near Ludlow, Shropshire, En- gland. She became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to music in 2021. Dancing with the Shadow , one of Alberga’s most frequently performed works, embod- ies her background and interests in modern dance and composition. Commissioned by the contemporary music ensemble Lontano and Sue MacLennan Dance & Co., Dancing with the Shadow is a five-movement composi- tion for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion. The first performance took place on March 21, 1990, at The Place, the home of the London Contemporary Dance School. The effervescent and boldly dynamic Duo for clarinet and piano often is performed as an independent work. BÉLA BARTÓK (1881–1945) Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano, BB 116 Bartók received a commission in 1938 from a most unlikely source. Benny Goodman, the popular swing clarinetist and bandleader, re- quested a chamber piece for violin, clarinet, and piano. With Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti acting as intermediary, Bartók accept- ed Goodman’s offer to compose a work in the style of his two-movement Rhapsodies , short enough (six to seven minutes) to fit on both sides of a 12-inch, 75 rpm record. Bartók com- pleted his two movements in Budapest proba- bly in August 1938, but exceeded the time re- quirements by almost six minutes. “Generally, the salesman delivers less than he is supposed to. There are exceptions, however—as for ex- ample if you order a suit for a two-year-old baby and an adult’s suit is sent instead—when such generosity is not particularly welcome.” Béla Bartók These two movements, Verbunkos (Recruit- ing Dance) and Sebes (Fast Dance), were first performed at Carnegie Hall in January 1939 by Szigeti, Goodman and pianist Endre Petri, un- der the title Two Dances . By that time, Bartók had composed an additional piece, Pihenő (Relaxation), as a slow movement between the fast dances. The final three-movement version, renamed Contrasts , was finished on September 24, 1938. Szigeti, Goodman, and Bartók made a historic live recording of Con- trasts for Columbia Records in 1940. Contrast lies at the very heart of the commis- sion and creation of this trio. The ensemble draws from three distinct instrumental fam- ilies and tone colors. This is Bartók’s only major chamber work for a wind instrument, compared to his numerous pieces for piano and strings. Even the key musicians repre- sented contrasting musical traditions: the classically trained Szigeti; Bartók, whose in- terests ranged beyond contemporary art mu- sic to folksong; and the jazz idol Goodman. Bartók features his two colleagues in caden- zas in the march-like Verbunkos (clarinet) and the burlesque Sebes (not only a violin cadenza, but a second “mistuned” violin in the first 30 measures). Pihenő provides a pic- turesque example of Bartókian “night music.” WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581 Mozart became enamored of the clarinet during a youthful encounter in Milan or Lon- don. In the hands of a skilled performer, the 18th-century clarinet frolicked with the agili- ty of the oboe, but without the latter’s strident, nasal tone quality. The clarinet’s intonation and clarity of sound remained more consis- tent throughout its wide range than the flute, an instrument Mozart generally disliked. Its warm timbre blended effortlessly with both strings and voices. The clarinet slowly made inroads into the Viennese musical scene, at one time prompting Mozart to lament, “If only we too had clarinets; you would not be- lieve the glorious effect of a symphony with flutes, oboes and clarinets.” To Mozart’s good fortune, the Austrian broth- ers Anton and Paul Stadler, having mastered the clarinet, took up residence in Vienna. After freelancing for a decade, the Stadlers received appointments to the imperial wind band. Their names were added to the impe- rial orchestra roster in 1787 as the first resi- dent clarinetists. Anton Stadler (1753–1812), the more accomplished of the brothers, played the second clarinet part because of his remarkable mastery of the lower register. Stadler’s downward expansion of the range led to the development of a new instrument, the Bass-Klarinett (basset clarinet), that played a third lower than the normal clari- net. Not only were Mozart and Stadler close RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 45