Liebermann - Clarinet Concerto

"The Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 110 was written for Clarinetist Jon Manasse, and commissioned by a consortium of orchestras and organizations comprised of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (which will present the world premiere performances in November, 2009), Bozeman, Juneau, Las Cruces, North State (California) Roanoke symphony orchestras, Erie and Evansville philharmonic orchestras, The Chappaqua Orchestra, Hanson Institute for American Music at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, Buffet Crampon USA, Vandoren Paris, River Concert Series at St. Mary's College of Maryland & The Chesapeake Orchestra and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

I have known Jon for many years, since our shared years as students at Juilliard. He performed and recorded my Clarinet Quintet, and I have always thought he is a fantastic player - one of the absolute best. He was interested in my writing a clarinet concerto, and it fell to Tom Parker, Jon's manager, to take on the heroic task of getting together a consortium - of 14 different orchestras and organizations - that commissioned the work.

The concerto, my first for clarinet and orchestra, was completed during the summer of 2009. It is scored for piccolo, with pairs of flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones and tuba; plus timpani, two percussionists playing on a variety of instruments that include slapstick, bass drum, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, ratchet, woodblock, cowbell, jawbone, maracas, cymbals, snare drum, triangle, gourd, tambourine, tubular bells, glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba and vibraphone; harp, one keyboardist playing both piano and celesta, and the normal string complement. Orchestral clarinets are absent.

The work is in three movements. The first is an Andante that gives way to a Presto, ending with a restatement of the Andante; the second, marked Larghissimo with a central section of variations marked Grave; and the last, an Allegro with a pronounced Latin influence."

Lowell Liebermann (photo by Linda Harris) is one of America's most frequently performed and recorded living composers. Called by the New York Times "as much of a traditionalist as an innovator." Mr. Liebermann's music is known for its technical command and audience appeal. Having written over one hundred works in all genres, several of them have gone on to become standard repertoire for their instruments, including his Sonata for Flute and Piano, which has been recorded more than twenty times to date, and his Gargoyles for Piano, which has been recorded fifteen times.

Mr. Liebermann has written two full-length operas, both of which were enthusiastically received at their premieres. His first, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was the only American opera to be commissioned and premiered by Monte Carlo Opera. His second opera Miss Lonelyhearts, to a libretto by JD McClatchy after the novel by Nathanael West, was commissioned by the Juilliard School to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Among his orchestral works, Mr. Liebermann has composed two Symphonies - the Second, with chorus, written for the centennial of the Dallas Symphony; a Concerto for Orchestra; three Piano Concertos; and Concertos for many other instruments. Piano Concerto No.3 was commissioned for pianist Jeffrey Biegel by a consortium of eighteen different orchestras both here and abroad. Stephen Hough and the Indianapolis Symphony performed Liebermann's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which the orchestra commissioned to celebrate Raymond Leppard's farewell concert as conductor. His Violin Concerto was commissioned and premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra with violinist Chantal Juillet, and conducted by Charles Dutoit. The New York Philharmonic and principal trumpet Philip Smith presented the premiere of Mr. Liebermann's Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, which the Wall Street Journal described as "balancing bravura and a wealth of attractive musical ideas to create a score that invites repeated listening. [Liebermann] is a masterful orchestrator, and just from this standpoint the opening of the new concerto is immediately arresting," also noting that the "rousing conclusion brought down the house."

In the realm of chamber music, Mr. Liebermann has composed four string quartets - the two most recent for the Ying and Orion Quartets respectively; four Cello Sonatas; two Piano Trios; Sonatas for Flute, Violin, Viola, Flute and Harp; and works for many other combinations.

A pianist himself, Mr. Liebermann has written a wealth of music for the solo instrument, much of which frequently appears on concert and competition programs. Mr. Liebermann was awarded the very first American Composers' Invitational Award by the 11th Van Cliburn Competition after the majority of finalists chose to perform his Three Impromptus, which were selected from works submitted by forty-two contemporary composers. In an interview with newscaster Sam Donaldson, Van Cliburn described Mr. Liebermann as "a wonderful pianist and a fabulous composer."

Orchestras worldwide have performed Liebermann's works, including the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, L'Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, the Tokyo NHK Symphony, L'Orchestre National de France, and the symphonies of Dallas, Baltimore, Seattle, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Minnesota. Among the many artists who have performed Liebermann's works are Sir James Galway, Charles Dutoit, Garrick Ohlsson, Andreas Delfs, the Beaux Arts Trio, Raymond Leppard, Stephen Hough, Kurt Masur, Joshua Bell, the Orion Quartet, the Ying Quartet, Hans Vonk, Steven Isserlis, Andrew Litton, Susan Graham, Edo de Waart, David Zinman, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Paula Robison, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Steuart Bedford, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Mr. Liebermann maintains an active performing schedule as pianist and conductor. He has collaborated with such distinguished artists as flautists Sir James Galway and Jeffrey Khaner, violinists Chantal Juillet and Mark Peskanov, singers Robert White and Carole Farley and cellist Andres Diaz. He performed the world premiere of Ned Rorem's "Pas de Trois" for Oboe, Violin and Piano at the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival. He made his Berlin debut at the Philharmonie performing his Piano Quintet with members of the Berlin Philharmonic. In 2006, on Mr. Liebermann's 45th birthday, the Van Cliburn Foundation presented a highly successful all-Liebermann concert as part of their "Modern at the Modern" series, with the composer at the piano and featuring the premiere of Liebermann's 3rd Cello Sonata. Mr. Liebermann is a Steinway Artist.

Lowell Liebermann was born in New York City in 1961. He began piano studies at the age of eight, and composition studies at fourteen. He made his performing debut two years later at Carnegie Recital Hall, playing his Piano Sonata, Op.1, which he composed when he was fifteen. He holds bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School of Music. Among his many awards is a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters as well as awards from ASCAP and BMI. Theodore Presser Company is the exclusive publisher of his music. He currently resides in Weehawken, New Jersey with his partner, pianist and conductor William Hobbs, their Australian Shepherd named Daphne, and an American Eskimo named Phoebus.

Dvorák - Symphony No. 8

Antonin Dvorak wrote music that reflected the cultural life and landscape of his Bohemian homeland - works steeped in the Czech countryside and people. He is best known for his 9th Symphony - From the New World - written while in residence in the United States, but his 8th Symphony, in G Major, remains one of his warmest and best loved works. Dvorák composed his Symphony in G major in 1889 and conducted the premiere in Prague on January 2 of the following year.

This work is Czech through and through. The symphony begins with a beautiful cello melody, and a sequence of birdcalls, woodland sounds, and Slavonic marches fills out the first movement. The second movement begins with a hymn-like tune, and like the first movement, also includes pastoral melodies. The third movement is a wonderful waltz evoking a village festival. Its trio is a tune Dvo?ák recycled from his 1874 opera The Pigheaded Peasants. The symphony's triumphant finale exudes good-natured pomp and revelry in its brilliant fanfares, dizzily whirring variation figures and fierce march episodes.

(A brief note on the numbering of Dvorak's symphonies - he wrote nine symphonies, but only the last five were published in his lifetime. These were long known as numbers 1 through 5 in order of publication, not of composition, and the first four were virtually unknown. In the 1950s the current numbering - one to nine in order of composition - came into general use.)

As a young boy in England, Vaughan Williams studied the piano, organ, violin and later viola. Though some of his family members and early teachers doubted his compositional and musical ability, he was determined to have a career in music, and he eventually became the most important English composer of his generation. Vaughan Williams studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music and in Berlin with Max Bruch and Paris with Maurice Ravel.

Shortly after Vaughan Williams's three month study with Ravel, he composed incidental music for a performance of Aristophanes' comedy The Wasps at Cambridge. Of all the music in the entertaining and clever suite, the overture is the most commonly performed section. At the beginning of the overture, one can hear the buzzing of wasps. This wonderful little work contains some of Vaughan Williams most enduring and joyful melodies.

Music Director: Kyle Wiley Pickett

Photos taken by Micheal Penn