Download Amberly Westermeyer, clarinet

Notes
the phrase in a way that conveys this same effect. In many ways this is the central challenge of
the work that the performer must address in order to effectively present the piece to listeners.
CLAUDE DEBUSSY | Première Rhapsodie pour Clarinette en Sib
French composer, Claude Debussy was among the most influential composers of the late
19th and early 20th centuries for his use of non-traditional scales and chromaticism which
influenced many composers who followed him.
For over a hundred years, the world-renowned Conservatoire de Paris has awarded the Prix
de Rome to those students demonstrating particular excellence in their musical craft. The
Conservatoire seeks to teach the skill and artistry of performance with the end goal being
professional status. In preparation for the final performance exam, candidates are given thirty
days to study a newly commissioned piece known as the ‘Solo de Concours’. Additionally
candidates are tested on a sight-reading piece, from the same composer, provided just a few
days prior to the exam.
In 1910, Debussy composed two pieces the Première Rhapsodie and the Petite Pièce that would
be used for the main piece and sight-reading piece for the annual contest. Debussy wrote the
short sight-reading piece Petite Pièce very quickly in July 1910, apparently just days before the
actual examination. He composed the Rhapsodie in a more appropriate amount of time from
December 1909 to January 1910. He dedicated the piece to the prominent clarinet professor
Prosper Mimart. Later the work was adapted for full orchestra and was premiered by clarinetist
Gaston Hamelin in 1911 at the Société Musicale Indépendante, Salle Gaveau.
Debussy wrote the Rhapsodie to test the player’s proficiency and artistry on the instrument.
The piece has different sections that are meant to show the different styles of clarinet playing.
The Rhapsodie starts with a slow tempo of “dreamily slowly” followed by the opening motive.
This dream-like style is interjected with the faster scherzando section. The opening section and
motive returns followed by the return of the scherzando section all the while building to the
climatic high G and E in the altissimo register, the highest register of the clarinet.
Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsodie is among the finest pieces ever written for the clarinet and
is a cornerstone of the repertoire. It shows Debussy’s true artistry as a composer, being an
excellent example of his post-impressionism period, and pointing the way towards the sort of
neoclassicism which would become popular following Debussy’s death.
Liberal Arts and
Human Sciences
College of
SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS
MUSIC | THEATRE | CINEMA
presents
A SENIOR RECITAL
Amberly Westermeyer, clarinet
assisted by
Richard Masters, piano
~notes provided by Amberly Westermeyer
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The eighty-second music program of the
2014–2015 SEASON
Sunday, May 10
5:00 p.m.
Squires Recital Salon
Program
Notes
SENIOR RECITAL
presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the bachelor of arts degree in music
Amberly Westermeyer, clarinet
student of Phillip Paglialonga
Hillandale Waltzes: Eight Waltz Movements.......................................... Victor Babin
Théme (1908–1972)
Valse elegant
Valse passionée
Valse somber
Valse volante
Valse triste
Valse de bonne humeur
Valse brilliante et joyeuse
Valse oubilée
Adagio for Clarinet and Piano....................................... Heinrich Joseph Baermann
(1784–1847)
Intermission
Las Presencias No. 7, Rosita Iglesias............................................. Carlos Guastavino
(1912–2000)
transcribed by Javier Vinasco
Première Rhapsodie pour Clarinette en Sib.........................................Claude Debussy
(1862–1918)
Please silence cell phones and other audible electronic devices.
Audio/video recording and flash photography are not permitted during the performance.
VICTOR BABIN | Hillandale Waltzes: Eight Waltz Movements Composd on a Theme
by Johann N. Hummel
In 1947, Victor Babin composed the Hillandale Waltzes as a gift for Washington D.C art
patron, Anne Achbold who had named her idyllic estate “Hillandale”. Victor Babin, a Russian
composer had been made famous with the duo-piano team he and his wife Vitya Vronsky
started. The Hillandale Waltzes is based on a theme written by the German composer and
pianist Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) that he used in his Introduction, Theme and
Variations for Oboe and Piano. The opening theme is a simple, elegant waltz that allows the soloist
to be expressive in their own way using modest rhythms and articulations. The theme is then
followed by a set of eight variations, each depicting a variety of emotions, ranging from joyous
to somber, to humorous, to melancholy, to passionate. The work really shows Babin’s skill as
a composer to be able to craft so much new material from one simple theme and having the
variations show the skill and artistry of the soloist who plays them.
HEINRICH JOSEPH BAERMANN | Adagio for Clarinet and Piano
Heinrich Joseph Baermann is most known for his virtuosic clarinet playing, and for
inspiring the major works of Carl Maria von Weber. He was able to bridge two styles of
clarinet playing, having studied in both the French and the German traditions, studying under
Joseph Beer (1805) and Franz Tausch (1762-1817). Numerous composers were inspired
to write for Baermann including Felix Mendelssohn and Giacomo Meyerbeer. Parallel to
Baermann’s rise as a clarinet player, the clarinet was undergoing a series of new developments
in key construction and bore design that allowed for greater agility and flexibility. These new
technical possibilities helped Baermann achieve a smooth, rich, expressive tone sound that
audiences had never heard before.
Though Baermann is primarily remembered as a performer, his compositions have also
garnered serious attention. Originally written for clarinet and strings, Baermann’s Adagio in
D-flat major was long attributed to Richard Wagner. The story goes that the work had been
commissioned by the clarinetist Christian Rummel from Wagner in 1833 and published under
Wagner’s name in 1926. The work, though romantic and operatic in style is not typical of the
style of Wagner. Wagner wrote very few pieces for solo instruments, sticking to operas where
the instrumentation was big and full, creating a rich romantic sound. Baermann’s style, though
still romantic, tended to be more straightforward leaving room for the extended dynamics,
ornaments and tempo to be interpreted by the performer.
CARLOS GUASTAVINO | Las Presencias No. 7, Rosita Iglesias
Carlos Guastavino was one of the most popular Argentinean composers of the 20th
century. He wrote over 500 works, most of them songs for piano and voice that are still
largely unpublished. His style was relatively conservative, always tonal and quite romantic in
sensibility. Originally for violin and piano, Guastravino’s Las Presencias No. 7 Rosita Iglesias was
transcribed for clarinet by prominent South American clarinetist Javier Vinasco. The clarinet’s
range of tone and lyrical flexibility make this piece particularly suitable for the instrument.
The opening melody starts out very strong and lyrical creating dynamic contrast throughout
the whole piece with the very soft sections that follow. The piece goes back and forth between
these sections all building to the climax of the piece. The work then fades away leaving just two
short staccato notes, in which the clarinetist imitates the pizzicato of the violin. Throughout,
the bowing suggested in the original version helps to clarify both the phrasing and expression
to the audience. When performing this work on the clarinet, it is up to the performer to shape