Ariel Concert Series | October 4, 2024 | Washington University 560 Music Center

Program

Salina Fisher: Komorebi for Violin and Percussion

Shannon Wood: Oort Cloud

Johannes Brahms: Trio in A minor for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, Op.114
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III.Andantino grazioso
IV. Allegro

Date: Oct 4, 2024
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Washington University 560 Music Center
Address: 560 Trinity Ave, St Louis, MO 63130
Admission: Free

Concert Artists

Shannon Wood, Percussion

Ann Choomack, Flute

Bjorn Ranheim, Cello

Robert Walker, Clarinet

Chris Tantillo, Viola

Grace Roepke, Harp

Tzuying Huang, Clarinet

Brian Woods, Piano

Siyu Zhang, Violin

Hannah Ji, Violin

Kevin Ritenauer, Percussion

Salina Fisher: Komorebi for Violin and Percussion
Salina Fisher is a world-renowned, award-winning composer from New Zealand. She is the youngest composer to win the SOUNZ Contemporary Award in 2016 and 2017. Fisher also received a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music and was the Composer in Residence at the New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī in 2019-2020.

Her compositions often involve the traditional instruments, Taonga Pūoro, of the Māori people of New Zealand. The instruments imitate the sounds of nature, such as the wind, sea, birds, and insects. Fisher’s works have been performed by ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In 2014, Fisher won the New Zealand School of Music Composers Competition award for her piece, Komorebi. Komorebi is a Japanese word meaning “sunlight filtering through the trees”.

Shannon Wood: Oort Cloud, for Solo Percussion and Others (2011)
This piece depicts a spherical cloud of icy bodies in the outer Solar System known as the Oort Cloud. This cloud of comets lies roughly 50,000 AU, or nearly a light-year, from the Sun. Long-period comets plunge towards the Sun from the Oort Cloud because of gravitational perturbations caused by either the massive outer planets of the Solar System (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), or passing stars. Rare hyperbolic comets pass once through the inner Solar System before being thrown out into interstellar space along hyperbolic trajectories.

The piece is scored for violin, viola, cello, flute doubling piccolo and alto flute, clarinet doubling bass clarinet, harp, percussion and solo percussion. It premiered in 2012 as part of the GRAM’s Fall Classical Concert Series in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Johannes Brahms: Trio in A minor for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, Op.114
Johannes Brahms who lived from 1833 until 1897 is one of the most famous composers to come out of the Romantic period. Encouraged by his father who was a musician himself, Brahms started lessons on piano, violin, and cello all before the age of ten.
Surprisingly, his father wasn’t as supportive when it came to young Brahms’ efforts as a composer and encouraged his son to seek a career as a performer instead! Perhaps his father’s influence kept Brahms from taking credit for his early compositions. While Brahms was composing and publishing works as a teenager he wrote under the pseudonym G.W. Marks.

Brahms was introduced to Robert Schumann in 1853. Schumann recognized Brahms’ musical talent and was integral in the development of Brahms’ career as a composer. It was due to Schumann’s high praise that Brahms finally published his earliest works, including piano sonatas and vocal songs, using his real name. It was much later in his life when Brahms composed the Trio for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano in A minor. Brahms was 58 years old and had plans to retire. He even wrote a letter to his publisher in 1890, one year before composing the clarinet trio, which read “With this letter you can bid farewell to my music, because it is certainly time to leave off . . ." However, it wasn’t the end of his composition career. Besides the clarinet trio, Brahms went on to write his Clarinet Quintet, two clarinet sonatas, solo piano works, and vocal pieces.

Oort Cloud by Shannon Wood

Oort Cloud was written for GRAM chamber series and was premiered in 2012. It received it's St. Louis premier in 2014 by members of the SLSO (Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra).

Oort Cloud is a spherical cloud of icy bodies in the outer Solar System. This cloud of comets lies roughly 50,000 AU, or nearly a light-year, from the Sun. Long-period comets plunge towards the Sun from the Oort cloud because of gravitational perturbations caused by either the massive outer planets of the Solar System (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), or passing stars. Rare hyperbolic comets pass once through the inner Solar System before being thrown out into interstellar space along hyperbolic trajectories.

Brahms and Richard Mühlfeld

"Nobody can blow the clarinet more beautifully than Herr Mühlfeld, who is the best woodwind player I know. You cannot imagine a more charming player than Mühlfeld. It is quite impossible to play the clarinet better than he does here."

—Johannes Brahms, 1894

Johannes Brahms and clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld had a transformative relationship that significantly impacted Brahms’s later works. Brahms, who had retired from composing, was so inspired by Mühlfeld's expressive clarinet playing that he resumed writing. Mühlfeld's exceptional talent led Brahms to create four major works for the clarinet, including the Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114, in 1891.

Their collaboration was marked by mutual respect and admiration. Brahms referred to Mühlfeld as "Fräulein Klarinette" (Miss Clarinet) due to his exceptional skill. The Clarinet Trio, Op. 114, scored for clarinet, cello, and piano, consists of four movements and showcases the lyrical and expressive capabilities of the clarinet, featuring rich harmonies and intricate interplay among the instruments.
This work exemplifies the inspiring collaboration between Brahms and Mühlfeld, contributing significantly to the clarinet repertoire and remaining a beloved piece in chamber music.