Klarinet Archive - Posting 000244.txt from 1995/03

From: Josias Associates <josassoc@-----.COM>
Subj: Forthcoming Recital
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 20:23:38 -0500

For interested people in the Southern California area, I will be
participating in a recital at the Pasadena Public Library Main Branch on
Sunday, March 12th at 2:30 pm. The other performers are Diane Stevenett,
lyric coloratura soprano, and John Sonquist, piano. The recital is part
of the monthly Second Sunday series.

The program, which includes the Brahms Eb and Poulenc Sonatas, is
notable mainly for the following two other selections not usually heard on
clarinet programs:

1. "Four Seasonal Songs" for Clarinet, Soprano Voice, and Piano
by Gordon Jacob (1983). Jacob wrote this composition at age 88 (he died
the following year in 1984), which put it in the somewhat eerie category
of clarinet music written by other prominent composers at the ends of their
careers (e.g., Brahms, Schubert, Saint Saens, Poulenc). The composition
was suggested to me a few years ago by Jim Gillespie, Editor of
"The Clarinet," who had then just recently performed it. I am indebted to
him for introducing me to this wonderful music, which has been on my
performance wish list for some time;

2. "Roumanian Folk Dances" by Bela Bartok. The original of this
famous music (as I understand it) was written first for piano and later,
in 1917, was arranged by Bartok for chamber orchestra. Shortly thereafter,
Zoltan Szekely arranged the dances for violin and piano with the
composer's consent. It was the Szekely arrangement that was eventually
transcribed for clarinet and piano by Kalman Berkes (the copyright year
is 1989), with editorial review by Pamela Weston, Dieter Klocker,
and Gunther Joppig. The preface to the sheet music by Heinz Stolba
states (fairly I think), "There can be few other instruments which so aptly
convey the bucolic character intrinsic to this music than the clarinet."

The sheet music is a European edition, which our pianist, John Sonquist
(who is Professor Emeritus from UC Santa Barbara), found during a recent
visit to Europe. We first performed the piece at a recital in Santa Barbara
a short while ago, and we're delighted to have a chance to do a reprise
of this fine, and rarely heard, transcription on March 12th.

Connie

Conrad Josias
La Canada, California