SEPTEMBER 3, 2009 ISSUE
Hayes School of Music This Week
The viola and organ are showcased this week as part of the Hayes School of Music’s concert offerings. Unless otherwise indicated, concerts take place in the Broyhill Music Center on the ASU campus. For more information about any of these performances, call 828-262-3020.
ViolasFour! String Quartet Sunday
The ViolasFour! string quartet will present a program of music for the viola Sunday, September 6, at 4:00 p.m. in Rosen Concert Hall. Admission is free.
The violists are Eric Koontz, a member of the Hayes School of Music’s string faculty at ASU, Katrina Smith, Scott Rawls and Constance Gee.
The program includes Richard Lane’s “Quartet for Four Violas” composed in 1978, the 2004 composition “Viola Fight Song” by Michael Kimber and based on best-loved themes from famous viola works, Ichiro Nodaira’s “Ciaccona de Bach” written in 2000, “Transformation pour quatre altos de” by Bach and the 1907 composition “Fantasia for Four Violas” by York Bowen.
The literature for viola quartet is a 20th-century invention. Although the ensemble lacks the lower octave of the cello, its range and color offerings are surprisingly generous, ensuring its permanent place at the table in the offerings of chamber music.
The quartet is made up of four friends who studied and worked together in New York, New Haven, Conn., Spain and North Carolina.
Joby Bell Organ Recital September 8
Joby Bell will present an organ recital Tuesday, September 8, at 8:00 p.m. in Rosen Concert Hall. Admission is free.
Bell is university organist and an assistant professor in ASU’s Hayes School of Music.
The program includes “Toccata-Sortie” by Théodore Dubois, two movements from “Symphony No. 6” by Charles-Marie Widor, “Sketches for Pedal-Piano, Op. 58” by Robert Schumann, “Gospel Prelude” by William Bolcom and “Prelude and Fugue in D, BWV 532” by Bach.
Dubois’ toccata is a departure from the flamboyant style of most toccatas and is described as more charming than flamboyant. Widor symphonies for solo organ are loosely considered autobiographical, reflecting his maturing from a young socialite to a gentleman.
While the German Romantic composers are best known for their symphonies and chamber music, many of them were also organists. “Sketches for Pedal-Piano” is one of several compositions Schumann wrote for organ.
Bolcom’s composition is based on the well-known gospel songs “O Zion Haste” and “How Firm a Foundation.” Part of a collection of 12 compositions for organ, the pieces explore the treatment of familiar church songs with contemporary concert writing.
“They are extremely difficult for the organist and are not intended to soothe the listener nor encourage singing along,” Bell said.
Bach’s well-known prelude and fugue concludes the recital. “The sheer virtuosity of the fugue is the product of a young genius composer who perhaps had not quite learned to channel his virtuosity in service to the music,” Bell said. “The organ can be an appealing diversion as well as a serious musical instrument, and audiences should have no problem enjoying this piece for its music—along with its shameless pyrotechnics of pedal scales, lightning quick manual work and a fiendishly unrelenting fugue.”
Bell also will perform the program in October as the inaugural concert on the new organ at Houston Baptist University built by Orgues Létourneau.
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