Anne McNamara Charles Bolen Faculty Recital
Friday February 28, 2025
7:30 pm Kemp Recital Hall
Program Notes
Paths (1994)
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996)
In 1994, Takemitsu was commissioned by Warsaw Autumn festival to write a piece in memory of Poland’s famous composer, Witold Lutoslawski, who died earlier that year. The two composers were friends, and according to Dutch trumpeter and new music specialist, Mark Blaauw, Paths is a “melancholic obituary” portrayed by a duet between a muted and unmuted trumpet. I was inspired to finally learn and perform Takemitsu’s piece after my trip to Japan last summer. My family and I loved everything about our trip: the beautiful sights and culture, generous people, and the delicious food!
Sonata No. 2 for Trumpet & Piano (2022)
Eric Ewazen (b. 1954)
As my students and friends know, my time studying with Chris Gekker at the University of Maryland is one of the biggest influences on me as a teacher and performer. I grew up listening to all of Chris’s beautiful recordings and early on I imprinted on his sound. Chris and Mr. Ewazen have had a life long friendship and working relationship, so I am going to include Chris’s notes on the sonata here:
“Eric Ewazen composed his first Sonata for Trumpet and Piano in 1995. Eric and I gave the world premiere in the early summer of that year at the International Trumpet Guild Convention in Bloomington, Indiana, and we recorded it later the same summer, in Aspen, Colorado. His Sonata has become one of the most performed solo works for trumpet worldwide, and has been recorded a number of times since. Sometime around 2010, I began speaking to Eric about the possibility of a Sonata no. 2, and a commission soon followed – ideas for this work were discussed, off and on, for a number of years. Eric finished Sonata no. 2 in the early winter of 2022. That November, Rita Sloan and I gave the world premiere in New York City, on a concert by the Manhattan Contemporary Chamber Ensemble.
Eric’s first Sonata has been described as a quintessential large-scale work for trumpet and piano: essentially lyric, with bold gestures that revel in the kind of powerfully expressive potential of the solo trumpet, partnered with beautifully composed piano music. His Sonata no. 2 might be seen as a polar opposite: a conception and design that is unique in the trumpet/piano sonata repertoire. Structured in three movements, slow-fast-slow, it opens with distant offstage trumpet, answered by solo piano while the trumpeter enters the stage. The first movement is a meditative elegy, with intimate singing lines that project a somber and sorrowful mood. The second movement is energetic, featuring rhythmic motifs that are bounced back and forth between the two musicians. The third movement is achingly expressive and prayerful, paced at a daringly slow tempo. In speaking with Eric, he talked about the isolation, felt by all during the Covid-19 epidemic shutdown, that had a bearing on his conception of the Sonata. He also could not help being influenced by the world events of 2022, with the various global conflicts, and often painful news, delivered on a daily, sometimes hourly basis, forming an emotional backdrop which infused his composition of this final movement.”
On a personal note, the third movement reminds me of another one of Eric’s works, Variations & Fugue on a Theme by Brahms which is for flugelhorn and piano. Since I love flugel so much, I decided to perform the 3rd movement on flugelhorn even though it isn’t marked this way.
L’Histoire du Soldat Concert Suite (1920)
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat is a work that I have always wanted to perform and I am so excited to get to share the stage with my colleagues and perform it at I.S.U.! Traditionally the concert suite version does not include any actors or narration, but I think the narration is such an integral part of understanding the story behind the music. I adapted the full script so that it could be read by one narrator, acting out a few different characters, for tonight’s performance. The artwork included was created for me by a former student who wishes to remain anonymous (Thank you!). Rather than spoil the performance by telling the whole story here, I will simply say that the story behind the Soldier’s Tale is a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of trusting the wrong person and being swayed by greed.