Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Slee Sinfonietta Concert



Slee Sinfonietta Concert

Tuesday, September 20
7:30pm | Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall
*Pre-concert lecture will be at 7:00pm for Pierrot Lunaire

Today the Slee Sinfonietta will present their first concert of the 2016-2017 season, conducted by Maestro Case Scaglione.  The program will feature works by two of music history’s most innovative composers, Arnold Schoenberg and Pierre Boulez.  UB Faculty Member Professor Tiffany Du Mouchelle will feature as a guest artist during the concert.

Slee Sinfonietta, credit to Irene Haupt
The program begins with Pierre Boulez’s hypnotic Dérive 1 (1984) for six instruments (flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, vibraphone, and piano).  Translated roughly as “derivative,” this piece is derived from two compositions Répons (1981) and Messagesquisse (1976), and explores colorful textures through statement and decoration of various rotating themes and chords.  Boulez was one of the prominent figures of 20th century classical music.

The second piece of the evening is Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, a string sextet orchestrated with two violins, two violas, and two cellos, composed in 1899.  Literally meaning “Transfigured Night,” the piece was inspired by a poem of the same name by Richard Dehmel.  The poetry depicts a nighttime stroll of a man and woman through a dark forest on a moonlit night, where the woman shares a dark secret with her lover.  Mysterious and tonal with a twist, this piece has a striking resemblance to German late-Romanticism, with influences apparent of Brahms and Wagner.  The work features five sections which resemble the structure of the poem it is based upon and has musical themes that related the narrative woven throughout.  Verklärte Nacht is one of the earliest examples of program music that was written for a chamber ensemble and a thrilling early example of Schoenberg’s work.


The program will close with Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, one of his most loved and well-known compositions.  Composed for voice and flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano; it is a melodramatic song cycle based upon 21 poems from Otto Hartleben’s German translation of Albert Giraud’s cycle of French poems of the same name.  Meaning literally, “Pierrot in the Moonlight,” the piece is traditionally sung by a soprano voice, and calls for the vocal art of Sprechstimme, or speech voice.  The audience is treated to three groups of seven poems, each group having its own theme.  In the first group, Pierrot sings about love, sex, and religion; the second group of violence, crime, and blasphemy; and the third of his return home.

Pierrot Lunaire, credit: Schoenberg Facsimiles


Pierrot Lunaire is associated primarily with the Expressionism movement, where the music focuses more on dissonances rather than consonance, and gives an unfinished or ‘unsettled’ feeling to its listeners. The piece is atonal and generated from ten-note motifs, but does not make use of the 12 tone method that Schoenberg is so well known for.  Pierrot Lunaire is arguably one of Schoenberg’s most famous works, not one to be missed.

UB Faculty member Professor Tiffany Du Mouchelle, who wrote her dissertation on the performance of Pierrot Lunaire, will offer a pre-concert talk beginning at 7:00pm.


Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for all seniors, UB Faculty/Staff/Alumni, and non-UB students. All UB students with a valid ID receive one complimentary ticket to all UB Music Department concerts.

Tickets may be purchased in person at UB's Center for the Arts box office, Monday-Friday between 10am-6pm, online at www.tickets.com (service charges apply), or one hour before concert time in the box office adjacent to the concert hall.




2016 - 2017 Calendar of Events


As University at Buffalo enters a new academic year, the Robert and Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music is excited to present our 2016-2017 Calendar of Events.  This season will consist of a host of stimulating music for the adventurous listener, given in performance by Slee Sinfonietta, Ensemble Signal Mivos Quartet, Dal Niente, and other stellar ensembles.

Photo credit: Irene Haupt
This year the Center will feature an exciting array of international artists, including Stockholm Chamber Brass, violinists Curt Macomber and Alexandra Greffen Klein, Mise En New Music Ensemble, and soprano Juliet Fraser; all artists will present concerts on music at the forefront of the contemporary music scene, and work directly with Buffalo composers during workshops for students.  Featured during our Vising Lecture Series will be renowned composers such as Mathew Rosenblum, Hans Thomalla, and Hilda Paredes.

Photo credit: Irene Haupt
To cap off the season, June in Buffalo, the Center’s annual festival and conference will host both international and regional artists, including composers Eivind Buene, David Dzubay, Brian Ferneyhough, Henrik Hellstenius, Jeffrey Mumford and the festival’s artistic director, David Felder.  In addition, a number of ensembles will participate in the festival; these include the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Dal Niente, Ensemble Signal, and Slee Sinfonietta.



See below for our full calendar of events, or visit the Center’s website for more information.


ROBERT AND CAROL MORRIS CENTER FOR 21ST CENTURY MUSIC

2016 – 2017 Schedule of Events

Visiting Lecture Series

September 25-26, 2016
Stockholm Chamber Brass of Stockholm, Sweden

October 19-21, 2016
Curt Macomber, violin
Julliard, Manhattan School of Music

October 22-25, 2016
Alexandra Greffen Klein, violin
Paris, France

November 11, 2016
Mathew Rosenblum, composer
University of Pittsburgh

March 11
Hans Thomalla, composer
Northwestern University

March 15-17, 2017
Ensemble Mise En
New York, NY

March 29, 2017
Hilda Paredes, composer
UK/Mexico

March 30-31, 2017
Arditti Quartet
UK

May 4-5, 2017
Juliet Fraser, soprano
UK


Slee Sinfonietta

September 20, 2016
7:30pm | Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall
Case Scaglione, conductor
Tiffany Du Mouchelle, soprano
Featuring works of Boulez and Schoenberg

October 25, 2016
7:30pm | Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall
Julien LeRoy, conductor
Alexandra Greggen Klein, violin solo
Featuring works of Donatoni, Felder, Harvey, Leroux

April 11, 2016
7:30pm | Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall
Robert Treviño, conductor
Amanda Pabyan, soprano
Corby Welch, tenor
Featuring Schoenberg transcription of Mahler and Debussy

June 6, 2016
7:30pm | Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall
Featuring works of June in Buffalo faculty composers

June in Buffalo 2017

June 5th – 11th, 2017
David Felder, Artistic Director

Faculty Composers
Eivind Buene
David Dzubay
David Felder
Brian Ferneyhough
Henrik Hellstenius
Jeffrey Mumford

Resident Ensembles
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Ensemble Signal
Dal Niente
Mivos Quartet

Slee Sinfonietta