Summary of Three Dissertation Recitals

Abstract

In each of the three dissertation cello recitals, music from a different nation is featured. The first is music from France, the second from Germany and Austria, and the third from America. The repertoire chosen was meant to provide audiences with music receiving varying levels of notoriety and containing a wide range of compositional technique and style. Recital #1: Music from France - December 13th, 2020 in Stamps Auditorium Featuring: Narae Joo, piano This recital features well-known composers Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy, and other lesser known composers Arthur Honegger and Louis Vierne. Each of the works on this program presents a level of obscurity either for being rarely performed or for being reimagined from its original instrumentation: Sonatine for Clarinet or Cello and Piano, H. 42 by Arthur Honegger Cello Sonata No. 1, Op. 109 by Gabriel Fauré “Syrinx” by Claude Debussy arr. for Cello and Piano Cello Sonata, Op. 27 by Louis Vierne Recital #2: Music from Germany and Austria - February 21st, 2020 in Britton Recital Hall Featuring: Ji-Hyang Gwak, Narae Joo, Natalie Sherer, piano and Danielle Belen, violin The works on this concert are centered around the great Arnold Schoenberg. The pieces featured are by the composer himself, his students, people who lived in similar historical context to him, and his greatest influences. Many of the works are rethought for cello from their original vocal versions. Another goal of this particular program is to illustrate a more accessible side to the earlier writings of the Second Viennese School: “Waldesnacht” by Arnold Schoenberg arr. for Cello and Piano Zwei Lieder, Op. 14 by Arnold Schoenberg arr. for Cello and Piano Cello Sonata by Anton Webern Sieben Frühe Lieder by Alban Berg arr. for Cello and Piano Divertimento, Op. 37, No. 1 by Ernst Toch “O Tod” from Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121 by Johannes Brahms arr. for Cello and Piano Cello Sonata by Alexander Zemlinsky Recital #3: Music from America - March 20th, 2020 in Stamps Auditorium Featuring: Narae Joo, Michelle Papenfuss, piano The pieces performed on this recital were all written in America in the last seventy-five years. Each contains deep, powerful historical and/or personal significance to the composers that wrote them: Ricordanza (Soliloquy for Cello and Piano) by George Rochberg Abu Ghraib by John Harbison Three Pieces for Cello and Piano by Samuel Adler Sonata for Cello and Piano by Elliott Carter