Date/Time
Date(s) - Sunday, May 5, 2024
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Location
Aspinwall Presbyterian Church
Category(ies)
Join the Winds for a concert of some very special musical surprises! One of those may well be the first-ever complete performance of all three movements of the Three Tone Pictures, Op. 5, in the version for nine winds and harp. Originally written for piano in 1910-12, Charles Tomlinson Griffes was commissioned to make a winds and harp version for the Georges Barrére Ensemble, which only performed the first two movements. Shortly thereafter, Griffes died from the 1919 flu pandemic and the finished score disappeared forever. From his penciled draft, the first movement missing the harp part, Winds’ Artistic Director R. James Whipple has painstakingly reconstructed the work which will be performed as originally intended.
Charles Tomlinson Griffes, 1884-1920
From the pen of the 22-year-old Beethoven came his Octet in E-flat Major, for pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons. Its four movements bristle with energy and his unexpected rhythmic accents that reveal his sense of humor.
Another surprise is the Romantic Octet Op. 71 by the largely unknown Theodore Gouvy. It’s full of catchy tunes and lush harmonic effects.
Equally unexpected is Lunch With Amadeus by Pittsburgh composer R. James Whipple, a (mostly) reverent nod to Mozartian Classical style that was intended for the WQED-FM radio show, “Lunch With Amadeus and Friends.” The show, regrettably, disappeared but the music lives on and recently received its Latin American premiere in Mexico City.
The venue for this concert is Aspinwall Presbyterian Church, which has outstanding acoustics and a warm interior decor. Street parking on Sundays is free. This concert is at 7:30pm, well after the traffic disruptions from the Pittsburgh Marathon. Don’t miss it!
* * * PROGRAM * * *
Charles Tomlinson Griffes:
. . .Three Tone Pictures, Op. 5 (1915)
R. James Whipple: Lunch With Amadeus, Op. 24
Theodore Gouvy: Octet Op. 71
Samuel Holyoke: Massachusetts March (1810)
Beethoven: Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 103