Graduate recital in clarinet performance

Includes recorded audio files in WAV and MP3 formats, 72:27 in length.Wendy Mazon, a student of Dr. Julia Heinen, performed a graduate recital on February 17, 2001. The performance was held in the Recital Hall at California State University Northridge. Assisting performers were, pianists Roberta Garten and Ko Eun Park, and violist Darrel Sims. The program included the Premiere Sonata by Francois Devienne, Sonata in f minor, opus 120, no.1 by Johannes Brahms, Premiere Rhapsodie by Claude Debussy, Capriccio by Heinrich Sutermeister, and Eight Pieces by Max Bruch, movements 1, 2, 7, and 8.\ud Devienne's Premiere Sonata is a transcription for Bb clarinet by Jean-Pierre Dautel. Devienne originally wrote and published the work for flute in D major, the piece was then transcribed by the composer for C clarinet in C major. The sonata consists of three movements. The first movement, marked Allegro con spiritoso, is a sonata-allegro form. The second movement, the Adagio, is a binary form. The third movement, marked Rondo Allegretto, is a five-part rondo.\ud Brahms wrote the opus 120 sonatas for clarinet and piano in 1894 and dedicated them to Richard Muhlfeld, a renowned clarinetist of whom Brahms held in high regard.2 Richard Muhlfeld and Johannes Brahms first performed the f minor sonata in November 1894 for a private performance where Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim were in attendance. \ud The first movement, marked Allegro appassionato, is a sonata-allegro form with a coda labeled sostenuto ed espressivo. The second movement, the Andante un poco Adagio, is written in a ternary form, and is marked dolce espressivo. The third movement, the Allegretto grazioso, is a minuet and trio. The last movement, marked Vivace, is a seven-part rondo form (ABACADA/Coda) with the entire A theme returning at the end of the coda.\ud The Premiere Rhapsodie was written by Claude Debussy in 1910. At this time Debussy was a member of the Conseil Superieur of the Paris Conservatoire. It was during this time that he was asked to write two contest pieces for clarinet. The products of this request were the Petite Piece and Premiere Rhapsody. In a letter to Jacques Durand, Debussy wrote,"... this is unquestionably one of the most attractive pieces that I have ever written ?????? The next year Debussy orchestrated the work. \ud The piece is a rhapsody, a style that is very improvisational and expressive in nature. The Premiere Rhapsody is unique with a single, dreamlike melody that recurs several times throughout the piece. This melody alternates between sections that vary in tempo and key.\ud Heinrich Sutermeister is a Swiss composer born in 1910. In 1947, Sutermeister was commissioned to write a piece for the Concours International d'execution Musicale Geneve. The Geneva Competition is one ofthe world's oldest and most prestigious music competitions. It has sought to promote the music of its time, and in particular Swiss music, by regularly commissioning new works by Swiss composers. Capriccio was written and used for the Concours International d'execution Musicale Geneve in 1947.\ud The Capriccio is an atypical form. It contains two themes that recur several times. All the sections of the piece are quite fast with the exception of the center section, which is marked Poco rubato.\ud Max Bruch, a German composer, wrote the Eight Pieces, opus 83 in 1910. The pieces were written for his son Max Felix who was a clarinetist and theory teacher at von Barmuth's Conservatoire in Hamburg. Christopher Fifield suggests that, "The pieces are self-contained and [that] Bruch advised against the playing of all eight together in a concert programme. " Movement 1, marked Andante, is in the key of a minor and a binary form. Movement 2, the Allegro con moto, is in b minor and a ternary form. The last two pieces programmed, movements 7, marked Allegro vivace, ma non troppo, and 8, marked Moderato, are both sonata-allegro form.\ud This recital encompassed significant clarinet literature of varying musical periods for solo clarinet, clarinet and piano and chamber ensemble. The program reflected the variety, breadth, and culmination of studies for the graduate degree in clarinet performance