SiBRASS 2020 CONCERT CYCLE

 Concert 1

Euphonium and Piano

Sunday, 27 September 2020, at 11.00 a.m.

Slovenian Philharmonic, Slavko Osterc Hall

 Performing:

Nejc Merc, euphonium

Davorin Mori, piano

 Programme:

Roland Szentpáli

SYMPHONY CONCERTANTE

I. Introduction

II. Passepied

III. From Nóra

IV. Play

Georg Philipp Telemann

SONATA FOR BASSOON AND CONTINUO in F Minor, TWV 41:f1

I. Triste

II. Allegro

III. Andante

IV. Vivace

Robert Kamplet

SKRIVNOST (Eng.: “Secret”)

BLIZU (Eng.: “Close”)

Gioachino Rossini

LARGO AL FACTOTUM (Cavatina from The Barber of Seville)

The cycle will open on 27 September 2020 with a concert by the euphonist Nejc Merc and pianist Davorin Mori, presenting music for euphonium and piano. Since the mid 19th century the role of the now well-established brass instruments has gradually increased in various orchestra and instrumental ensembles, especially with regard to French horn, trombone, and trumpet. This was facilitated in particular by the system of valves invented at the beginning of the 19th century by Heinrich Stölzel and Friedrich Blühmel; this also stimulated the development of new brass instruments. One of these was the euphonium – aerophone, which was invented in 1843 by Ferdinand Sommer of Weimar under the influence of Adolph Sax and his saxhorns. The euphonium is a low brass instrument of conical bore with four valves (three upright valves and one side valve, while other versions have three or five valves), known for its full, soft sound. Although it was called the sommerophone at the 1851 London Great Exhibition, its inventor called it the euphonion. The word derives from the Ancient Greek word euphonos, in which eu means “sweet” or “good”, and phonos means “to sound”. Hence, the Greek combination could be translated literally as “sweet-voiced” or “well-sounding”. Nowadays, the instrument belongs in the tuba family, which is characterised by a tenor pitch; a synonym for the euphonium is the tenor tuba.

The initial concert will open with Symphony Concertante by Roland Szentpáli, presented in a version for euphonium and piano. This Hungarian tuba virtuoso, composer, and general master of low brass instruments composed this piece in 2015, having been commissioned by the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, and premiered it the same year as a soloist on four historical instruments: serpent, cimbasso or bass horn, ophicleide, and saxhorn. This melodically inventive composition, with a virtuosic character and spontaneously unravelling musical flow, comprises four movements (Introduction, Passepied, From Nóra, and Play), whose primary purpose is to allow the soloist to demonstrate his mastery of the instrument(s). The composer dedicated the piece to his friend Steven Mead, yet another great master of the euphonium, who is an old acquaintance of Slovene musical stages, and to his French colleagues who play saxhorns and other similar French instruments. 

Nearly three centuries older is the Sonata for Bassoon and Continuo in F Minor, TWV 41:f1 by Georg Philipp Telemann, regarding whom Johann Mattheson, a famous music theorist from Hamburg, once wrote the following: “Lully is praised, Corelli will let himself be praised greatly, only Telemann rises above all praise.” One of the most prolific composers of all time, who according to some of the latest studies composed as many as 3,000 works, Telemann created 43 different complete musical works between 1725 and 1740 alone. During his lifetime he was deemed the most important German composer, with his chamber music pieces in particular being held in high regard. Unfortunately, many of them were lost during the Second World War, but not the Sonata for Bassoon and Continuo in f Minor, which was probably created around 1728, during the period when Telemann served as cantor at the Johanneum Latin School in Hamburg. He published this composition in the monthly journal Der getreue Musik-Meister, i.e. The Reliable Music Teacher, the first journal of this kind in history, in which Telemann published his compositions for various ensembles and in all styles popular at that time. His Sonata for Bassoon and Continuo in F Minor was modelled on the Italian church sonata (sonata da chiesa), with its movements (Triste, Allegro, Andante, Vivace) following one another according to the following principle: slow-fast-slow-fast.

Robert Kamplet is a teacher of composition and solfeggio at the Maribor Conservatory of Music and Ballet. He graduated summa cum laude from the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana under Prof. Dane Škerl and obtained his Master’s Degree under the mentorship of Prof. Marko Mihevc. His works are performed at concerts and musical festivals, such as the Lent Festival in Maribor, Slovenia, the World Music Days in Belgium, the Leoben Music Festival, and the Vocal Series of the Slovenian Philharmonic. Kamplet’s opus, comprising approximately 150 works, mainly consists of chamber music. Skrivnost (Secret) and Blizu (Close), his characteristic pieces for violin and piano, were composed in 2017. On 16 March 2020, they were premiered at an event entitled “The Night of Slovene Composers” organised by the Society of Slovene Composers at the Knights’ Hall of the Križanke venue in Ljubljana by violinist Matej Haas and pianist Beata Ilona Barcza. The dreamy first composition (Secret), with regard to which it seems as if the violin floats above the repetitive, ostinato patterns in the piano base, is followed by a contrastive, impulsive, and at times even abrupt movement (Close), which maintains a somewhat rhythmically emphasised element. In the composer’s opinion, “the compositions were essential in the renaissance of his creativity upon the transition to his second, more mature creative period. The music of the compositions, which can be performed together or separately, expresses hidden thoughts through an impulsive gradation of sound.”

The opening concert of the SiBRASS cycle will finish with another composition of an older date, i.e. the bravura Figaro’s Cavatina from The Barber of Seville, an opera by Gioachino Rossini, adapted for euphonium and piano. Rossini masterfully transformed a libretto created by Cesare Sterbini on the basis of the eponymous French comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais into a musical composition. Perhaps the most famous part of the opera is Figaro’s Cavatina from Act One, entitled Largo al factotum, in which the self-confident character lists his successes as well as his burdens in a rapid yet effective patter.

Nejc Merc, euphonium

 After graduating from the at the Maribor Conservatory of Music and Ballet, Nejc Merc continued his education at the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana and in 2014 was awarded, summa cum laude, a Master’s Degree under Prof. Darko Rošker. He has had great success and been awarded numerous recognitions at national and international competitions. In Slovenia, he has been awarded the Prešeren Award for students. He further upgraded his knowledge under world-renowned professors such as Øystein Baadsvik, Steven Mead, Thomas Rüedi, Roger Bobo, and James Gourlay. He cooperates on a regular basis with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra; he also collaborates with other groups, e.g. the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Brass Band Slovenia, the Slovenian Philharmonic Brass Ensemble, etc. Since 2013, Merc has been employed at the Maribor Conservatory of Music and Ballet, where he is the leader of the GŠ Center Wind Orchestra, and since 2017 he has been employed as a teaching assistant at the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana.

Davorin Mori, piano

Davorin Mori studied piano and conducting at the Carinthian State Conservatorium in Klagenfurt under Alexei Kornienko and piano at the Mozarteum University Salzburg under Claudius Tanski. Currently, he is a student of conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna under Johannes Wildner. As a pianist, he has won competitions in Italy, Slovenia, and Serbia. He has been awarded the Dr Roman Klasinc Award for artistic achievement. As conductor or soloist, he has performed with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Viennese choir Philharmonia Chor Wien, the Symphonieorchester des KONSE, the Tonkünstlerorchester Niederösterreich, etc. He often performs with various chamber music ensembles in Italy, Slovenia, and China. In the spirit of Arnold Schönberg, who in 1918 established a society for private musical events, Davorin Mori founded, one hundred years later, the Camerata Sinfonica Austria, a chamber orchestra that performs great symphonic compositions by Gustav Mahler, Antonín Dvořák, and other composers. In 2019 he worked as Assistant Choir Director for the choir academy of the Vienna State Opera.