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Program Notes

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Introduction and Allegro for Harp, String Quartet, Flute, and Clarinet, with Katerina Englichová, harp, the Prazak Quartet, Janice Tipton, flute, Patricia Shands, clarinet.

Although Ravel's Introduction and Allegro is frequently termed a septet, it is actually a concerto for harp with the accompaniment of flute, clarinet and string quartet. The manuscript was very nearly lost. Soon after Ravel began work on this 1905 commission, he received an invitation to accompany friends on an extended yachting trip through European river ways. He refused, insisting that he must complete the manuscript, but changed his mind hours before their departure. With his manuscript under his arm, he set off to purchase new clothing but left the manuscript at the tailor's shop. The tailor, an amateur musician, had taken the manuscript home and returned it only after an argument with its composer--who missed his boat.

Ravel here has created a vividly colorful, virtuoso harp solo that exploits the instrument's full range of technical possibilities. Concise in its construction, Introduction and Allegro develops two themes in an atmosphere of classical poise.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Fantasy for Violin and Harp, Opus 124, with Josef Suk and Katerina Englichová.

Saint-Saëns was 72 when he composed his Opus 124 Fantasy for Violin and Harp, a period during which he continued to create prolifically, exploring new sonorities in his many chamber works. Always obsessed with order, clarity, and precision, Saint-Saëns in his late maturity sought to refine his style further to achieve a rarified, austere classicism. A virtuoso pianist, he now heard his instrument as being too weighty and opaque in sonority. He then virtually eliminated the piano from his ensemble works and instead wrote for the lighter, more transparent harp.

In Opus 124 the harp presents lilting counter melodies gracefully balancing the more assertive violin line. The writing for both instruments is virtuoso, but with the understated elegance characteristic of 19th-century French classicism. The Fantasy falls freely into five sections, followed by a return of the opening subject matter. In the fifth section a repeating figure articulated in the harp unifies the impassioned, acrobatic violin line--which then quiets to support the harp's arabesques.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp, with Janice Tipton, Cynthia Phelps, and Katerina Englichová.

Near the end of his life, Debussy planned an ambitious cycle of six sonatas for various combinations of instruments. His intention was to advance French national music through a synthesis of the refined 18th-century stylistic gestures of Rameau and Couperin and his own highly nuanced style of musical impressionism. Because of his poor health, he completed only the first three, among which was the Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp of 1915. Living at the time in a small cottage overlooking the English Channel, Debussy anguished over the devastation of World War I. As he completed the work, he wrote to a friend, "I am writing down all the music that passes through my head like a madman, and rather sadly."After hearing his austere, ethereal sonata performed the following year, he stated, "It is the music of a Debussy I no longer know. It is frightfully mournful, and I don't know whether one should laugh or cry--perhaps both?" The sonata's contrasting instrumental sonorities--plucked harp, bowed string instrument, and woodwind--throw its various motifs, many resembling ornamental arabesques, into clear relief. The writing is fluid and improvisational. The opening movement offers six melodic ideas, but they often appear to be fragmentary motives rather then fully developed themes. Frequent tempo changes impart an episodic cast to the movement. The interlude is an homage to the 18th-century masters who inspired the sonata. Despite its rapidity, the freely structured Finale projects a subdued mood. The work concludes with a section that recalls the opening themes of the first movement.

Jean Absil (1893-1974)
Silhouettes, Opus 97, with Michel Debost and Lydia Artymiw.

Belgian composer Jean Absil was initially trained as an organist, but at age 27 decided to become a composer. Even at the beginning of his career he composed with astounding facility, winning several prizes, such as the Belgian Prix de Rome. He became professor of composition at the Brussels Conservatory in 1939, and in 1955 he was elected to the Belgian Royal Academy.

Absil was an eclectic, brought up in a 19th-century tradition but fascinated by the diversity of his early 20th-century environment. He tended to follow trends set in motion by Stravinsky, initially indulging in polymodality inspired by the Rite of Spring and later tending toward neoclassicism. The charming, sophisticated Silhouettes (1959) is a work that emulates the musical portraits crafted by Couperin 200 years earlier. Each of the four movements presents a profile, in the feminine voice, of a particular effect: serene, roguish, plaintive, capricious. In their sparkling clarity they reflect Absil's Gallic sensibilities.

Marcel Tournier (1879-1951)
Images for Harp and String Quartet, Opus 35, with Katerina Englichová and the Prazak String Quartet.

A musical prodigy who began his career as a pianist, Marcel Tournier won first prize in harp at the Paris Conservatory after only four years of study on the instrument. Strongly committed to composition as well as performance, he also won both a prestigious Prix de Rome and a Prix de Rossini award at the Conservatory in the same year. Soon after these successes, the Paris Conservatory appointed him to its composition faculty, and when a vacancy arose, to a professorship of harp. Tournier created the vast majority of his finely crafted, melodious works for harp, either alone or in combination with other instruments. His Opus 35 is a set of tone poems depicting Middle Eastern scenes: gray donkeys ambling along a camel route, a lone dancer at a fountain, an evening party at an oasis. Lush harmonies and opulent textures convey the exoticism of the Arabian desert.

© Notes: Nancy Monsman

Festival Musicians

The Prazak Quartet was formed in 1972 while its members--Vaclav Remes, violin, Vlastimil Holek, violin, Josef Kluson, viola, Michal Kanka, cello--were students at the Prague Music Conservatory. The quartet has received numerous awards, including First Prize in a competition celebrating the Year of Czech Music (1974), and the Grand Prix at the Evian International String Quartet Competition (1978). The Prazak Quartet performs throughout Europe, Japan, Australia, and North America and has recently a long-term contract with Nuova Era (Italy) to record quartets of Haydn, Mozart, and the complete Beethoven cycle.

Josef Suk, Violinist, has won international renown as a pre-eminent soloist and chamber musician. Following his Prague recital debut, Mr. Suk joined the distinguished Prague Quartet as a first violinist and soon after formed his own chamber group, The Suk Trio. A prolific recording artist, Josef Suk has recorded for EMI, London/Decca, Supraphon, and Erato, among other labels. He is a six-time winner of the Grand Prix du Disque de l'Academie Charles Cros, and has been honored by the Viennese Mozart Society.

Katerina Englichova, Harpist, has performed with numerous Czech orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout Europe. A Fulbright Scholarship winner, Ms. Englichova came to the United States in 1989 to study at the Curtis Institute. Since then she has been a finalist in the Philadelphia Orchestra Competition, a prize winner in the Elisabeth Herbert Harp Competition in Trenton, and a 1995 winner of the Pro Musicis International Foundation Award. She has recorded for various record labels, including Supraphon, New World, and Harmonia Mundi.

Michel Debost, Flutist, served as the principal flute of the Orchestre de Paris under conductors Munch, Karajan, Solti, and Barenboim between 1967-89. In 1989 he was appointed chairman of the flute department at the Oberlin Conservatory. He collaborates regularly with such eminent artists as Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zuckerman, and James Galway. Mr. Debost has been the recipient of the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque for many of his recordings on the Deutsche Grammophon, CBS, Angel, and Nonesuch label.

Lydia Artymiw, Piano, made her professional debut at age 8 with the Philadelphia Orchestra while studying with Frada Berkowitz at the Curtis Institute. A recipient of numerous awards, including the 1987 Avery Fisher Career Grant, she also garnered top prizes in major competitions, such as the 1976 Leventritt and 1978 Leeds. She has appeared with more than 95 orchestras throughout the U.S., Europe, and the Far East, has collaborated with the Guarneri and Vermeer Quartets, and has appeared at the Aspen, Caramoor and Marlboro Festivals.

Cynthia Phelps, Violist, is principal violist of the New York Philharmonic and also maintains a career that embraces solo recital work and numerous chamber music appearances. She has been a featured soloist on popular programs such as St. Paul Sunday Morning and the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour.

Janice Tipton, Flutist, has been praised for her solo work with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Musical Offering Baroque Ensemble, the Los Angeles Quartet, and the California Chamber Virtuosi. Ms. Tipton has been featured atnumerous festivals,including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Oregon Bach Festival, where she appears each summer. She is a member of the Santa Clarita Chamber Players and the Valencia Trio.

Patricia Shands, Clarinetist, has received kudos for her solo and chamber music performances. She has won numerous prizes and has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, South America, and Italy. Chamber music collaborations include performances with the Colorado String Quartet, the Concord String Quartet, and the Franciscan String Quartet. She is a member of the American Sinfonietta and the Pacific Arts Wind Quintet. Ms. Sands is on the faculty of the University of the Pacific.

Recording and Mastering: Matthew Snyder; Absil Recording: David Saddler, KUAT-FM

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