The Music School of Delaware took a defiant leap and
presented a delightful menu of winds – which, in spite of the chilly title and
weather, attracted quite an audience. The programming was surprising,
refreshing and delightful and unexpected like an amaryllis opening in the
middle of winter.
The first piece was Wind
quintet No. 3 in F major by Giuseppe Maria Cambrini. Although Cambrini did not make it to the
standard repertoire as did his contemporary and teasing competitor, Wolfgang
Mozart, his style is evocative of that era in its light classical lilt. The interweaving themes and Mozartian style
were a great vehicle for combining the dark sounds of horn (Anna Skrupky) and
bassoon (Chuck Holdeman) and the filigree of clarinet (Jared Eastridge), oboe,
(Susan Ritter) and flute (Melinda Bowman).
The Three Irish Songs
by john Corigliano with Jessica Graae, soprano, and Lynn Cooksey, flute
presented and intriguing combination with some harmonies that were rather
surprising, but this could be due to the small auditorium and the big sound of
diminutive Ms. Graae’s surprisingly strong voice.
And when was the last time you heard kettledrums in a
chamber ensemble? The Nightwatch: a dialog for horn, flute and
kettledurms by Ellis B. Kohs was an amazingly delicate morsel. The flute starts with a birdsong, the horn
follows with a frog call and the kettledrum provides a beat and drone and then
the flute and horn move into a duet and the kettledrum joins for a trio.
The Sonata for flute,
oboe and piano by Madeleine Dring, a
British composer (1923-1977) --who, by
the way, sounds surprisingly like
Francis Poulenc-- is a fun romp. Ms.
Ritter and Ms. Bowman played the wild cadenza beautifully.
Ms. Cheng, piano, was the backbone of the second half with
her collaboration. The Dance from “Ballade, pastorale, and dance” by
Eric Ewazen for flute, horn and piano and the Tarantella for flute, clarinet and piano, Opus 6 by Camille
Saint-Saens profited from her expertise.
The Concertino pour
flute, opus 107 by Cécile Chaminade
showcased a very talented student of Mindy Bowman, Genevieve Hahn whose technique and poise were
outstanding.
The concert was topped off by the Sonata for horn, trumpet and trombone by Francis Poulenc which was
played in a no-holes-barred romp by Anna Skrupky, horn, Katelynn Griess,
trombone and Malcolm McDuffee, trumpet.
Even on that grey winter evening, the winds warmed up the
smiles in the audience. Music School
Dean Cheri Astolfi created a fantastic event to show off her wind staff.
