Two Centenaries: Canon on Arnold Schönberg's Name & Quodlibet for Charles Ives (1974)
Instrumentation: alto flute/flute/piccolo, bass clarinet/clarinet in B flat, percussion (1 player: glock, timp), celesta/piano, violin, viola and cello
Duration: c. 5 minutes
Première
First performance: Tuesday 10 June 1975; South African Association of Arts, Carlton Centre, Johannesburg; Orion Ensemble, Michael Blake conductor.
Programme note
One of the most intriguing musical coincidences of our time must be the fact that Schönberg and Ives were born in the same year, and this pair of anniversary pieces focuses on a particular characteristic of each of them: a serial canon for Schönberg - based on the musical letters of his name - and an atonal potpourri for Ives - substituting Cape Malay and Afrikaans songs for the American hymns and songs he used in the central piece of his ‘Set for Theatre Orchestra’ - ‘In the Inn’.
Instrumentation: alto flute/flute/piccolo, bass clarinet/clarinet in B flat, percussion (1 player: glock, timp), celesta/piano, violin, viola and cello
- Canon on Arnold Schönberg's Name (for alto flute, bass clarinet, glockenspiel, celesta, viola and cello) (1'25")
- Quodlibet for Charles Ives (for flute/piccolo, clarinet in B flat, timpani, piano, violin, viola and cello) (3'35")
Duration: c. 5 minutes
Première
First performance: Tuesday 10 June 1975; South African Association of Arts, Carlton Centre, Johannesburg; Orion Ensemble, Michael Blake conductor.
Programme note
One of the most intriguing musical coincidences of our time must be the fact that Schönberg and Ives were born in the same year, and this pair of anniversary pieces focuses on a particular characteristic of each of them: a serial canon for Schönberg - based on the musical letters of his name - and an atonal potpourri for Ives - substituting Cape Malay and Afrikaans songs for the American hymns and songs he used in the central piece of his ‘Set for Theatre Orchestra’ - ‘In the Inn’.
