Bläser Band
Nina Stern and Ed Matthew ~ clarinets and basset horns
Stephanie Corwin ~ bassoon
Classical Masters of the Winds
Divertimento No. 4, K439b (publ. 1803): Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)
Allegro
Larghetto
Menuetto
Adagio
Allegretto
Duo No. 3, WoO 27 (1810-15): Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)
Allegro sostenuto
Aria con variazioni
Dreizehn Stücke, Op. 47 (publ. 1804): Franz Vincent Krommer (1759 – 1831)
Romanze
Menuetto
Rondo
Die Zauberflöte, K. 620 (1791): Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)
Act I, Scene V: “Hm! Hm! Hm!”
About the Program
As the artistry and skills of both players and makers of wind instruments in Europe improved during the late 18th century, composers used the new timbres and techniques available to them. A rich body of original and arranged Harmonie Music flourished under Mozart, Beethoven, and their contemporaries.
In 1781, Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo, the ruler of Salzburg and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s employer, was so upset with his composer’s requests to travel and perform in other cities that he dismissed Mozart – with a kick up the backside by Colloredo’s steward (as Mozart described the meeting to his father). Mozart took advantage of his freedom to begin a precarious freelance career as composer and pianist in Vienna. There he met the clarinetist brothers, Anton and Johann Stadler, and the Bohemian basset horn players Anton David and Vincent Springer. With four superb clarinet and basset horn players on hand, and with Anton Stadler working with the builder Theodor Lotz on technical improvements, between 1783 and 1785 Mozart wrote thirteen works with basset horn, including a set of five Divertimenti, K. 439b. Though there is no surviving manuscript, in 1800 Mozart’s widow Constanze wrote to the publisher Johann André that the Stadler brother Anton – who had served as a music copyist for Mozart – had probably pawned off the chest that contained the pieces. Another publisher, Breitkopf & Härtel found the music and published the Petites Pieces Pour Deux Cors de Bassette et Basson by W.A. Mozart in 1803.
The manuscripts of Ludwig van Beethoven’s three Duos, Werke ohne Opuszahl 27 (“Works without opus number”), were also lost. All copies of the first edition, published in Paris between 1810 and 1815, are missing as well, and it is the resourceful publisher Johann André’s 1830 reprints that are the basis of modern editions. In style, this music is from young Beethoven’s time in Bonn. Among his piano students was the daughter of Count Friedrich Von Westerholt, a bassoonist for whom he likely wrote the early Trio for Flute, Bassoon, and Piano that was discovered in Beethoven’s possessions following his death. Westerholt may have been a catalyst for the Duo, too. It showcases bassoon and clarinet and remains a standard piece for those instruments.
Today, Mozart and Beethoven are immensely popular composers. During their lives, other musicians enjoyed greater recognition and financial success. The Czech composer, organist, and violinist Franz Krommer was one. Born three years after Mozart and outliving Beethoven by almost four years, he held positions as orchestral musician, Kapellmeister, and court composer. Krommer’s string quartets were felt to be second only to Haydn’s in creativity; he wrote more than 60. In The Musical Quarterly, Carl Engel recounted a gathering in Vienna with Beethoven and Krommer in attendance. Sitting though one of Krommer’s quartets, Beethoven’s jealousy led him to talk and sneer so much that the host reprimanded him. Krommer’s wind serenades were often heard as well, indoors and out. We’ve chosen three of the 13 Stücke (originally composed for two clarinets and viola and published with a wind part in lieu of viola) that were written to charm at home entertainments.
Bundled in sets of “greatest hits,” arrangements of opera and ballet selections comprised a considerable repertoire for small ensembles of winds. Composers or performers created them, depending on who finished the folios first. Recently uncovered in 18th- and 19th-century holdings at Prague’s National Museum was a collection of arias from Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Wenzel Müller’s The Magic Zither. Music publishers often provide alternate versions to improve sales (e.g., string players perform the Beethoven Duos from parts for violin and cello). We’ll perform the Mozart in an alternative for two clarinets and bassoon rather than the original copy for three basset horns.
About the Artists
Based in New York City, Stephanie Corwin enjoys performing and teaching music of the past four centuries on modern and historical bassoons. Her vocation has taken her throughout the United States and abroad, simultaneously satisfying her love for travel and her desire for connecting with people on and off the stage. Highlights include solo appearances at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, performances at the Yellow Barn and Staunton music festivals, and concerts with Philharmonia, Tafelmusik, Trinity Wall Street, and Handel and Haydn Society. In addition, she was the inaugural winner of the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition, which creates opportunities for young female bassoonists. Enjoying intimate collaboration through chamber music, she is a core member of Kleine Kammermusik and Repast.
Ed Matthew has served as guest-principal clarinetist with Tafelmusik, Philharmonia Baroque, American Classical Orchestra, Pacific MusicWorks, Clarion Music Society, ARTEK, Grand Harmonie, and Musica Angelica. He has performed with Portland Baroque Orchestra, Opera Lafayette, Apollo’s Fire, Handel & Haydn Society, REBEL, Connecticut Early Music Festival, Washington Bach Consort, Boston Baroque, and other period ensembles. On modern clarinet and woodwinds, he is in the orchestra of the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera, and has played in many other Broadway shows. The New York Times praised his “seductive saxophone work” with the Pit Stop Players. For the 150Music label, he recorded Passages, Gary William Friedman’s clarinet concerto. He premiered Joan Tower’s Island Prelude with the award-winning Quintessence. He also creates original scores and soundscapes for Chatillion Stage Company and its Project Mercury podcast.
Nina Stern has carved a unique and extraordinarily diverse career for herself as a world-class recorder player and classical clarinetist. She performs widely as a soloist and with orchestras such as The New York Philharmonic, American Classical Orchestra, New York City Opera, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque, and Opera Lafayette. She has recorded for Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Sony Classics, Newport Classics, Wildboar, Telarc and Smithsonian labels. She was appointed to the faculty of Juilliard’s Historical Performance program in 2012 and has served on the faculties of the Civica Scuola de Musica (Milan, Italy), Mannes College of Music, the Five Colleges in Massachusetts, and Oberlin Conservatory. She is founder and Artistic Director of S’Cool Sounds, an award-winning music education project serving public school and under-served children in the United .States, Kenya, Jordan (with Syrian refugees) and Burundi.