Graduate recital in voice

Includes recorded audio files in WAV and MP3 formats, 64:35 in length.The six compositions chosen for this program demonstrate the characteristics of the bassoon and its uses in music literature.\ud The F Major Sonata by Johann Ernst Galliard is one of the standard concert pieces for the bassoon. The largo with its long melodic lines and leaps of an octave or more are reminiscent of Galliard???s contemporary George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). The second movement, Allegro, shows that Galliard understood the capabilities of the bassoon in the jubilant use of octave leaps and staccato figures in such an excellent way in this movement. The adagio is a recitative leading harmonically into the 6/8 spiritoso movement. The final movement, which could be considered a gigue, gives the bassoonist a chance to show a large portion of the tessitura of the instrument in an impressive fashion with the use of scale patterns and jumps throughout the range of the instrument. \ud Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart wrote the six Divertimenti for two clarinets and bassoon for the domestic music culture he was introduced to by his friend, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, a Professor of Botany at the Vienna University. Divertimento No. 3 is a typical suite of entertaining music for a small ensemble. The instrumentation of two clarinets and bassoon makes it most suitable for a Vienna bourgeois garden party. The use of the bassoon in this work shows the instrument in its more usual role as a continuo instrument as well as a soloist. The interplay between the instruments shows Mozart???s understanding of the possibilities of clarinets and bassoons extremely well, making this composition a joy to play as well as a good listening experience. \ud The rationale of choosing the Lyric Suite by Thomas Dunhill is that the movements display a wide spectrum of the bassoon???s abilities. The first and third movements show the singing quality of the instrument in a long melodic line throughout the range the bassoon. This lyrical quality is also included in the middle sections of the fourth and fifth movements as a contrast to the staccato articulation of these two movements. The second movement is based almost entirely on use of short staccato articulation for the bassoon. The piano throughout the Lyric Suite, is more of an equal partner than an accompaniment, which makes it paramount for both performers to work for a unified ensemble. \ud Paul Hindemith, in his compositional career, wrote a number of sonatas exploring the attributes of the various instruments. The Bassoon Sonata, written in 1938, is one of the most reflective and shortest of these sonatas. The work is in two movements with the first movement being mainly lyric, though the dotted eighth, sixteenth, and eighth note figures which come periodically point to the march of the second movement. The lyrical trait of the bassoon is shown in the entire composition, with this factor most prominent in the Leicht bewegt and Langsam sections. The Marsch has a much harsher style, which gives the soloist a good opportunity to show off his articulations in order to bring out the sensation that is necessary to give the second movement significance. The Coda or Beschluss; Patroale-Ruhig, even in tis somber moodiness, still has the sharp articulation of the Marsch, which is very reflective of history at the time the work was written. \ud The performance of Eugene Bozza???s Trois Pieces for Woodwind Quartet has been included because of its excellent characteristics of French wind music of the twentieth century. The andantino and moderato demonstrate the melodic fluency the bassoon and the other instruments are capable of performing. The Allegro Vivo, in being a peppy waltz in 3/8, is mainly showing off the staccato abilities of the instruments, but still the bassoon is given lyrical lines to exhibit that aspect of the instrument. The overall analysis is that Bozza has shown a consistent sensitive care for all the instruments??? capabilities. \ud Persephone???s Song, by Cynthia Woll, a composer presently studying at California State University, Northridge, is included on this recital because it fulfills a number of purposes. The orchestral texture of string and winds shows the bassoon in uses as an orchestral instrument. In its function as one of two soloists in this element, the bassoon, going from A below the bass clef to C#2, exhibits the extreme tessatura of the instrument. The lyric melodic lines demonstrate the tonal beauty of the bassoon. The necessity for learning is evident in this work and is of the utmost importance to the performer. Here in this work, as in most new music, there is a necessity to learn new skills in order to perform the music, and with these skills come the natural consequence of becoming a better musician