Spring Break
Faculty recital a treat
Karen Tableiou
Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: The Edge
Two music department professors, Bruce Briney on trumpet and Eric Ginsberg on clarinet, performed at COFAC in a recital featuring several recent and contemporary pieces on Sunday. Ashlee Mack accompanied on the piano and Rick Kurasz played percussion.
The most notable piece of the afternoon was "And Still, Between" composed by George Hufnagl, a 2005 graduate of Western. It is a contemporary piece incorporating trumpet, percussion and computer, written this year. Hufnagl wrote the piece as a statement of foreign war and civilian life, how our lives keep on going (soccer and football games, traffic jams, shopping trips) while wars on foreign soil rage beyond our horizon.
The poem "Picture Show" by Siegfried Sassoon was the inspiration for Hufnagl's "And Still, Between." As percussion and trumpet (instruments chosen because they were used in the war field long ago) played their haunting and melodious tunes, a computer-synthesized recording accompanied them. Bits of the poem were recited throughout with sounds from a soccer game, cars driving down a road, news reports and an ever-present ticking clock. It was a wonderfully composed and performed piece that captivated the audience.
Gerald Finzi's "Five Bagatelles for Clarinet and Piano," performed first, sticks with the classical sounds one expects to hear at any instrumental recital. The Prelude gives an overview of the next four bagatelles, which ranged from graceful and beautiful melodies to light and jumpy jig like sounds.
"Masks" was composed by Dana Wilson, a member of the faculty at Ithaca, and showcases various mutes trumpeters use. As a result, the music seemed dark and a little disjointed, with some romantic, lyrical and lilting parts that, when all pieced together, created a different and refreshing sound.
Elliot Carter's "GRA" was written as a tribute to Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski for his 80th birthday. It is a solo piece for clarinet and is a very jumpy, playful piece. The image of a forest scene with squirrels playing in the trees and birds flitting among branches came to mind while listening to the music.
The last piece used both clarinet and trumpet. Both professors performed this double concerto by Gordon Jacob beautifully. Their harmonies were spot on and they passed the melody back and forth as if playing catch with a baseball.
It was a wonderful performance from all four players who are masters of their instruments.
The most notable piece of the afternoon was "And Still, Between" composed by George Hufnagl, a 2005 graduate of Western. It is a contemporary piece incorporating trumpet, percussion and computer, written this year. Hufnagl wrote the piece as a statement of foreign war and civilian life, how our lives keep on going (soccer and football games, traffic jams, shopping trips) while wars on foreign soil rage beyond our horizon.
The poem "Picture Show" by Siegfried Sassoon was the inspiration for Hufnagl's "And Still, Between." As percussion and trumpet (instruments chosen because they were used in the war field long ago) played their haunting and melodious tunes, a computer-synthesized recording accompanied them. Bits of the poem were recited throughout with sounds from a soccer game, cars driving down a road, news reports and an ever-present ticking clock. It was a wonderfully composed and performed piece that captivated the audience.
Gerald Finzi's "Five Bagatelles for Clarinet and Piano," performed first, sticks with the classical sounds one expects to hear at any instrumental recital. The Prelude gives an overview of the next four bagatelles, which ranged from graceful and beautiful melodies to light and jumpy jig like sounds.
"Masks" was composed by Dana Wilson, a member of the faculty at Ithaca, and showcases various mutes trumpeters use. As a result, the music seemed dark and a little disjointed, with some romantic, lyrical and lilting parts that, when all pieced together, created a different and refreshing sound.
Elliot Carter's "GRA" was written as a tribute to Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski for his 80th birthday. It is a solo piece for clarinet and is a very jumpy, playful piece. The image of a forest scene with squirrels playing in the trees and birds flitting among branches came to mind while listening to the music.
The last piece used both clarinet and trumpet. Both professors performed this double concerto by Gordon Jacob beautifully. Their harmonies were spot on and they passed the melody back and forth as if playing catch with a baseball.
It was a wonderful performance from all four players who are masters of their instruments.
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