Exuberant

JENNI BRANDON
Wildflower Trio (2004) ~20 min.

Dan Williams, Oboe
Pat Nelson, Bassoon
Judith Widrig, Piano

Jenni Brandon is a fantastic, prolific, living composer whose works are often born out of rich collaborations with other musicians and reflect a love of nature and storytelling. Check out her website where you can sample many of her works. Pat and Jen had the pleasure of meeting her at the International Double Reed Society conference in 2022 and BCMS has commissioned a new work from her!

In the composer’s own words:
“I’ve been writing for the double reeds, oboe and bassoon, for decades. There is something that is really attractive to me as far as them having a very vocal quality to them. I always feel like when I am writing for oboe and bassoon it’s like writing for a singer….the colors, the textures…. writing for the double reeds is a big joy”

LOUISE FARRENC
Sextet in C minor for Winds and Piano Op. 40 (1852) ~20 min.

Kim Breilein, Flute
Dan Williams, Oboe
Erika Block, Clarinet
Pat Nelson, Bassoon John Cox, Horn Michelle Huang, Piano

The sextet by Louise Farrenc is a delightful, charming, graceful work with a fiery edge. Mme Farrenc’s music has already graced our BCMS concert space in 2023 when we performed her fabulous nonet for winds and strings. The New York Times printed an article in 2021 about her ‘return’ to classical programs. It is exciting to be a part of this reality!

In the words of conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin:
“(Her) symphonies and overtures should hold a similar place as Schumann and Mendelssohn. I do believe that she’s completely deserving of that.”

DVOŘÁK
Piano Quintet in A Major Op. 81 (1887) ~40 min.

Lenelle Morse & Shu-Hsin Ko, Violins
Eric Kean, Viola
Sam Sinai, Cello
Kay Zavislak, Piano

In the composer’s own words:
“My (chamber) work brings me as much pleasure as if I were writing a major symphony”

In the words of Johannes Brahms:
“It would be wonderful if the major ideas that occur to me
were like the ones that occur to Dvořák simply in passing.”