SiBRASS 2020 CONCERT CYCLE

Concert 2

The Brass Trio

Sunday, 11 October 2020, at 11.00 a.m.

Slovenian Philharmonic, Marjan Kozina Hall

Performing:

Gábor Tarkövi, trumpet

Andrej Žust, French horn

Jesper Busk Sørensen, trombone

Programme:

 Johann Sebastian Bach (adapted by Heribert Breuer)

SUITE FOR BRASS TRIO

Leonard Bernstein

ELEGY FOR MIPPY II for solo trombone

Nina Šenk

...da kehrte die Ruhe ein... (Eng.: “…and then came peace…”; premiere, comissioned by the SiBRASS Association)

Vincent Persichetti

PARABLE XIV for trumpet solo

Francis Poulenc

SONATA FOR HORN, TRUMPET, AND TROMBONE

Allegro moderato / Andante / Rondeau

***

Jean-François Michel

SUITE FOR TRUMPET, HORN, AND TROMBONE

Vitaly Buyanovsky

ESPAÑA for solo French horn

Vaclav Nelhybel

TRIO FOR TRUMPET, HORN, AND TROMBONE

Frigyes Hidas

TRIGA

The second concert of this year’s cycle will feature three exceptional musicians, all members of the Berlin Philharmonic: in addition to “our own” Andrej Žust (French horn, Slovenia), Gábor Tarkövi (trumpet, Hungary) and Jesper Busk Sørensen (trombone, Denmark) will be performing. The programme includes a series of short, yet diverse musical pieces for brass trio or solo, encompassing everything from baroque music to the latest compositions, which were specifically created for tonight’s event. The opening work – Suite for Brass Trio, an adaptation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s piece arranged for trumpet, French horn, and trombone by the German composer and arranger Heribert Breuer, will be followed by Elegy for Mippy II for solo trombone by Leonard Bernstein. The composer dedicated this short and humorous work, in which he applied the expressive element of a foot stamping on the floor, to Mippy – his brother’s dog.

The concert will premiere the composition …da kehrte die Ruhe ein… by Nina Šenk, one of the leading composers of the younger generation in Slovenia, who is well established internationally. She created this piece for tonight’s concert upon the commission of the SiBRASS Association and her perspective thereon is as follows: “…da kehrte die Ruhe ein… was written during the period of the current epidemic, when life on the streets of Ljubljana came to a halt and the clamour of the city died down – those lively, ever present sounds that one becomes aware of only when they disappear. Ljubljana became enveloped in silence; however, my ideas became more sensitive if only also a little frightened and fragile. In the composition, whose name translates as ‘…and then came peace…’, I attempted to gather the entire range of feelings and sounds that arose inside of and around me in the silence of Ljubljana. I chose a German title for two reasons: first, because the composition was written for a very special trio based in Berlin, and second, because the feeling of insecurity reminded me of my time studying in Germany, where I was occasionally faced with apprehension as regards the future.”

The first half of the concert will round off with Parable XIV for solo trumpet, Op. 127 by Vincent Persichetti and Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone by Francis Poulenc. In the 20th century Persichetti was one of the most prominent personas in the field of music in the United States. He is important as a composer and teacher – for a number of years he taught composition at the famous Julliard School, his students included Philip Glass, Lowell Liebermann, and Robert Witt. He wrote more than 160 compositions, in which he often integrated new ideas and thus created his unique musical expression. Parable XIV for solo trumpet, Op. 127, a short yet demanding composition, is number fourteen in his series of twenty-five parables for various instruments and ensembles. Therein, the composer often quoted passages from his other works or drew inspiration from incidents from his personal life.

Poulenc composed Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone in 1922 and further adapted it some two decades later. He dedicated it to his childhood friend Raymonde Linossier. Through three movements, this light and playful composition brings about a fair-like atmosphere. The first and third movements are vivacious with a predominant dance character, while the central Andante is a dreamy lullaby.

The second part of the concert opens with Suite for Trumpet, Horn, and Trombone by Jean-François Michel, a Swiss musician who began his career as an excellent trumpet player, but has lately become increasingly established as the composer of wide-ranging chamber music works and music for wind orchestras. He does not employ radical means in his musical expression, but rather his music is often illustrative – and effective as such.

Vitaly Buyanovsky was an excellent Russian French horn player, music teacher, and – under Yevgeniy Mravinsky – the long-standing principal French horn in the Leningrad Philharmonic. His España, a composition imbued with the rhythmic and melodic colours of this Iberian country, pertains to a series of compositions for solo French horn that Buyanovsky subtitled “four improvisations on impressions from travels and a Russian song”.

The concert will close with Trio for Trumpet, Horn, and Trombone by Václav Nelhýbel, an American composer of Czech origin; this scherzo composition, moody at times, was dedicated to the German trumpet player Helmut Hunger. The second work in the closing part is Triga, a fanfare, solemn composition by Frigyes Hidas.

Gábor Tarkövi, trumpet

Gábor Tarkövi comes from a family of musicians. At the age of nine he received his very first trumpet lesson from his father, István Tarkövi, and even in his early childhood developed a fondness for the music of local brass ensembles. After graduating from the Richter János Conservatory in Győr, he first enrolled in a programme under György Geiger at the Franz Liszt Teacher Training College in Budapest, and then continued his studies at the Budapest Franz Liszt Academy of Music. After graduation, he took a position at the Wurttemberg Philharmonic Orchestra (Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen), and then as principal trumpet performed with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Bayern Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (2004-2019). Since 2018 Gábor Tarkövi has been Professor for Trumpet at the Berlin University of the Arts. Furthermore, he plays chamber music in various ensembles: the Austrian Brass Connection, Pro Brass, the Wien-Berlin Brass Quintet, and the Berlin Philharmonic Brass Trio. He is a renowned soloist, having performed concerts with many of the most eminent German and foreign orchestras, e.g. the China National Symphony Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Under an exclusive contract with the Swiss Tudor Classics label, Gábor Tarkövi has released four CDs, which have won critical acclaim.

Jesper Busk Sørensen, trombone

Jesper Busk Sørensen’s first instrument was the euphonium, but he later decided to take up the trombone because he loved its warmth, opulence, and versatile tone. In his words, the trombone is one of the most powerful yet mellowest instruments in an orchestra. He studied with Niels-Ole Bo Johansen, Rolf Sandmark, and Jesper Juul at the Royal Music Academy in Århus. His first professional engagement was in 2002 as second trombone – later becoming first – of the Århus Symfoniorkester. In addition, he undertook further training with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra trombonist Michael Mulcahy at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA. As a chamber musician, Sørensen is a member of the Danske Basunkvartet (Danish Trombone Quartet), which has premiered several contemporary works. Since 2009, he has been a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Ensemble. He enjoys traveling and has a special interest in architecture and design.

Andrej Žust, French horn

Andrej Žust was born in Logatec, Slovenia, where he finished music school studying the French horn under Prof. Janez Polanc. He continued his education at the Ljubljana Music and Ballet Conservatory under Prof. Metod Tomac and subsequently graduated from the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana under Profs. Jože Falout and Boštjan Lipovšek. He improved his knowledge and skills through lessons with renowned French horn players such as Hermann Baumann, Radovan Vlatković, Frøydis Ree Wekre, etc. Between 2009 and 2011 he received a scholarship from the prestigious Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. As soloist, he won three first prizes at the Competition of Young Slovene Musicians (TEMSIG), i.e. in 1996, 1999, and 2001 – at the last of which he received a perfect score. He also received the Prešeren Award of the University of Ljubljana. For a number of years, he played solo horn in the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, cooperated with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, and the Ljubljana National Opera and Ballet Orchestra. Since 2011 he has been a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Furthermore, Andrej Žust is a very active chamber musician and regularly performs at international festivals throughout the world. As soloist, he has performed with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Baroque Soloists orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, the Mito Chamber Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra, the Zadar Chamber Orchestra, the Maribor National Theatre Orchestra, the 1B1 Orchestra, etc. He performs works from the canonical repertoire as well as new compositions by Slovene and foreign composers.