Poulenc Trio - October 7 & 8, 2023

Jean Françaix
(Born in Le Mans, France in 1912; died in Paris in 1997)

Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano (1994)

1. Adagio — Allegro molto
2. Andante
3. Finale

Jean Françaix was a modern French composer very much in the neoclassical tradition of Poulenc. He eschewed the trends of atonality and the rejection of traditional form, choosing wit, color, and a supple lightness in service of producing musical “pleasure.” Proliﬁc throughout his life, Françaix was a piano virtuoso, an active performer, a skilled orchestrator and a composer in myriad forms and ensembles. Like great French composers, Françaix had a skillful penchant for the wind instruments.

The Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano was commissioned by the International Double Reed Society for their 24th Festival in 1994. The Trio is astonishing for its modernity and its accessibility. In the tradition of neoclassicism, the music is simultaneously familiar from the past, yet new and diﬀerent, undeniably of the present. But where the original neoclassicists looked to the 18th century and earlier for their inspiration, Françaix, in this work, seems to look back within his own lifespan. In a new loop of neoclassical spirit, the music evokes the popular sounds of a young modernism in the early 20th century: syncopated urban rhythms, musical theatre, the exuberance, and occasional plaintive nostalgia of contemporary man. The strengths of the composition are its exquisite detail and complexity, the virtuosic demands placed on the performer, and the expert use of the idiomatic qualities of the instruments.

Françaix’s thoughts are as refreshing as his music:

It’s diﬃcult for a composer to talk about his own works. If he praises them, he is accused of boasting; if he disparages them, he is considered guilty of false modesty. If he dissects them into theme A and theme B, musicologists will applaud, but musicians will ﬁnd him boring. If the work is of any value, it will need no explanation; if it is of no value, no esoteric commentary will render it any better . . . . All I ask my listeners is to open their ears and be brave enough to decide whether they like my music or not. I don’t want any intermediary between me and my listeners trying to sway their judgment one way or the other. They should remember they are free human beings, not obedient automata. I want them to crush snobbery, fashion, and envy with the power of common sense and to enjoy my music if it gives them pleasure, which of course I hope it does. (Adapted from a text by Kai Christensen, Earsense.org.)

Francis Poulenc
(Born in Paris, France, in 1899; died in Paris in 1963)

Selected Songs (arr. Dietrich Zöllner and Poulenc Trio)

Les chemins de l’amour (1940)

C (from 1944)

Toréador (1918; rev. 1932)

These three enchanting compositions by Poulenc, orchestrated beautifully for oboe, bassoon, and piano by German arranger Dietrich Zöllner, each portray a distinctive chapter of French history, colored by Poulenc’s extraordinary abilities as a storyteller.

Les Chemins de l’amour, or The Pathways of Love, a melodious creation composed in 1940, is based on lyrics by Jean Anouilh, from his play Léocadia. The creation of this piece provided Poulenc a respite from the shadow of Nazi occupation looming over his residence, as he disclosed in a 1941 New Year’s letter. He mused on the melancholic era in which they were living and wondered about its impending conclusion.

The song title, C, or Cé, originates from a French commune called Les Ponts de Cé or The Bridges of Cé, a site known for its historical signiﬁcance. This commune, entrenched in numerous decisive battles, ﬁnds a mention in the song’s opening verse. The song’s text is from the Deux Poèmes by Louis Aragon, published in 1944 during the Nazi occupation, one of the most devastating periods of French history.

The lyrics encapsulate the poet’s somber memories of the fateful days of May 1940, when a substantial part of France was on the run from invading armies. Amid the disarray, the poet crossed the bridges of Cé, amid abandoned weaponry and overturned vehicles — a poignant memory of a beleaguered nation.

The deeply sentimental tone of the narrative, akin to an old ballad, compelled Poulenc to create this song, which stands today as one of his most emotionally profound works.

Toréador, one of Poulenc’s ﬁrst forays into song composition, came into existence under the guidance of Jean Cocteau. Poulenc, who used to delight his friends by singing this piece, was eventually convinced to make it public in 1932. The lyrics tell a whimsical tale of unrequited love a toreador harbors for Pépita, the so-called queen of Venice. The narrative humorously transposes the bullring to Venice’s Piazza San Marco, gondoliers are fancifully portrayed as Spanish galleons, and the oldest doge of the city becomes the lucky recipient of Pépita’s aﬀections. This light-hearted, almost surrealist composition perfectly captures the spirit of Poulenc’s musical creativity.

Viet Cuong
(Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1990)

Explain Yourself! (2019)

Explain Yourself! was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University for the Poulenc Trio. Here are notes from the composer:

As a clarinetist and admirer of twentieth century French music, I’ve always loved the music of Francis Poulenc. I’m particularly drawn to the joyous, witty nature of many of his pieces, and, with this piece being for the Poulenc Trio, I wanted to pay homage to Poulenc and his sense of humor. As such, the piece begins with a direct quote of his chamber piano concert, Aubade. This quote serves a few purposes: it acts as a marker for when the ﬁrst section “repeats” itself, and, perhaps more importantly, the main melody of the entire piece uses the same pitches as the opening of Aubade.

After the Poulenc quote, the piece jolts into a tango-like romp with a baroque ﬂair. The instruments all play an equal role in this music and, all things considered, it’s mild mannered. After a few minutes, the Aubade quote signiﬁes a trip back to the beginning after the ﬁrst climax concludes— much like a repeat in a classical symphony’s ﬁrst movement. However, this repeat goes awry as the oboist begins to act out by replacing regular notes with raucous multiphonics. The other wind instruments begin to pick up on this mischievous behavior, and all three of them start to interrupt, mock, and distort the phrases. The pianist notices and isn’t pleased. Much like a frustrated parent or teacher, the pianist hammers out dense chords, essentially scolding the winds to get back on track.

Things nearly fall apart as the winds continue to misbehave. Eventually it all comes to a head when the pianist and oboist perform an imitative duet. In doing this, the oboist has a chance to explain himself and prove that, while these multiphonics can be funny, they can also be played melodically and provide structure to a phrase. Won over, the pianist joins in on the fun and the piece concludes in a place where functional classical harmonies and multiphonics can coexist.

André Previn
(Born in Berlin, Germany, in 1929; died in New York City, 2019)

Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano

1. Lively

2. Slow

3. Jaunty

André Previn was born to a Jewish family in Berlin and emigrated with them to the United States in 1939 to escape the Nazis. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1943 and grew up in Los Angeles. An Oscar winner, Previn toured and recorded as a jazz pianist and was conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1985-89. In the UK, where he was knighted in 1996, Previn is particularly remembered for his performance on the Morecambe and Wise comedy show in 1971, which involved his conducting a spoof performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto. At a concert in Britain afterwards, Previn had to interrupt the concerto to allow the audience time to stop giggling as they remembered the sketch. It is still considered one of the funniest comedy moments of all time.

Andre Previn composed his Trio for Piano, Oboe and Bassoon in 1994 on a joint commission from the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. Music for this combination of instruments is unusual but by no means unique; French composers loved the sound of woodwinds, and in some ways Previn’s Trio shows virtues that might be thought typically French: clarity, careful attention to the character of the individual instruments, and a sense of play and fun. Yet if the impulse behind this music might be thought French, here it has an American accent: Previn’s Trio is full of energy, jazz rhythms, and the open harmonies that have, since the time of Copland and Harris, distinguished American music.

The piece is in three movements. The opening, marked “lively,” moves from a spiky beginning through a ﬂowing second theme-group introduced by the bassoon and marked espressivo. The basic metric markings in this movement are 2/4 and 4/4, but Previn frequently interrupts this even pulse with individual measures in such subdivisions as 7/8, 5/8 3/4, 7/16, and others. It is indeed a “lively” movement precisely for the vitality of its rhythms, and a brief coda drives to an emphatic close on a unison B-flat.

In the second movement, Slow, a piano prelude leads to the entrance of the solo oboe; this entrance is marked “lonely”, a marking that might apply to the entire movement, where long chromatic woodwind lines wind their way above chordal accompaniment. The music rises to a climax, then falls away to conclude on its opening material, now varied.

The last movement, Jaunty, changes meter almost by measure. Previn treats the two wind instruments as a group and sets them in contrast to the piano, which has extended solo passages. The leaping opening idea reappears in many forms, including inversion and near the end the tempo speeds ahead as Previn speciﬁes that the music should be played with “jazz phrasing”; these riﬀs alternate with brief piano interludes marked “simply.” Gradually the movement’s opening theme reasserts itself, and the Trio rushes to its blistering close, once again on a unison B-ﬂat. — Program notes for this work by Eric Bromberger

Dmitri Shostakovich
(Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1906; died in Moscow in 1975)

Romance, Op. 97a (from the ﬁlm score of The Gadﬂy, arr. Anatoly Troﬁmov.)

A Spin Through Moscow (from the operetta Moscow, Cheryomushki, arr. Anatoly Troﬁmov.)

In a musical career spanning half a century, Shostakovich engrossed himself with a staggeringly diverse range of genres and styles. Beyond his 15 symphonies and 15 string quartets, his lesser-known works oﬀer intrigue and interest likewise. With the reappraisal of Shostakovich in recent times, his light music is beginning to enjoy unprecedented popularity in concert halls and record catalogues.

The Gadﬂy (1955) is probably Shostakovich’s best-known ﬁlm score. It is an orchestral suite of incidental music from the ﬁlm, which was based on the novel of the same name by Ethel Lilian Voynich. Set in Italy in the tumultuous 1840s, when that nation was under Austrian domination, and revolt and uprisings were common, the story centers on the illegitimate son of a cardinal who joins the ﬁght to unite Italy. When caught, he faces the ﬁring squad as a willing martyr. It is a story of faith, disillusionment, revolution, romance, and heroism.

As a novel The Gadﬂy was exceptionally popular in the Soviet Union, exerting a large cultural inﬂuence. It was compulsory reading there and the top best seller. Indeed, by the time of Voynich’s death, it is estimated to have sold 2,500,000 copies in the Soviet Union alone. Shostakovich composed the score for the ﬁlm of the same name. Its most famous movement, Romance, was used in the BBC/PBS TV series, Reilly, Ace of Spies.

Moscow, Cheryomushki (1958) is a three-act comic operetta in a bewildering variation of styles, from the Romantic idiom to the most vulgar popular songs. The satirical plot deals with one of the most pressing concerns of urban Russians of the day: the chronic housing shortage and the difﬁculties of securing livable conditions. Cheryomushki translates to “bird-cherry trees,” the name of a real housing estate in southwest Moscow. A Spin Through Moscow is the ﬁrst of the four dance-like movements of the orchestral suite from the operetta.

Gioachino Rossini
(Born in Pesaro, Italy, in 1792; died in Paris, France in 1868)

Fantaisie Concertante sur des Thèmes de L’ Italiana in Algieri (arr. Charles Triébert and Eugene Jancourt)

This “concert fantasy” is from a delightful collection of opera-inspired arrangements dating from 19th-century Paris and the salon music of that time. It contains works by the opera composers Rossini and Donizetti, who were the delight of Parisian audiences, in potpourri arrangements by the oboe and bassoon virtuosi (and conservatoire professors) of the day Charles Triébert, Henri Brod, and Eugéne Jancourt. These works were not only “tuneful” but enabled the performers to show oﬀ their ample virtuosity very well. The rousing Fantaisie Concertante, based on tunes from Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, (The Italian Girl in Algiers) is such a work.

Rossini composed L’italiana in Algeri, an operatic drama in two acts, when he was 21 years old. The work was ﬁrst performed at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice on May 22, 1813. The opera was a notable success, and Rossini made progressive changes to the work for later performances in Vicenza, Milan, and Naples.

The music is characteristic of Rossini’s style, remarkable for its fusion of sustained, manic energy with elegant, pristine melodies. The opera is notable for Rossini’s mixing of opera seria (the “serious” style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe during the early 18th century), with opera buﬀa (a genre of comic opera which originated in Naples in the mid 18th century).

Except where otherwise noted, program notes by the Poulenc Trio.