October 7, 2018 — 2:00 PM

FREE CONCERT

No ticket required

CONCERT REPERTOIRE

Leoš Janáček, Woodwind Sextet, Youth 4’
Vivace

Svend Schultz (1913-1998) Divertimento 12’
Tarantelle
Marcia
Pastorale
Capriccio

Mozart Serenade No 11 in Eb, K375 23’
Allegro maestoso
Menuetto
Adagio
Menuetto
Allegro

GRACE NOTES
by Norman Gilliland

Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s Woodwind Sextet for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and bass clarinet got off to a rocky start. During its 1924 debut by Brno Conservatory faculty members, the oboist struggled with a defective instrument, and a broken key spring forced the clarinetist fake his performance. A few weeks later, a Prague performance by members of the Czech Philharmonic was the first of many successes for the sextet. The subtitle “Youth” comes from the work’s evocation of the composer’s early years in the Old Brno Monastery.

Twentieth century Danish composer and conductor Svend Schultz is best known for his choral works, arrangements of Danish songs, and one-act operas. His instrumental works include five symphonies and ten string quartets. His Divertimento begins with a Tarantelle (the lively dance once thought to cure the bite of the tarantula), and continues with a march, a Pastorale, and a Capriccio.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his Serenade No. 11 in E-flat the October 15, 1781, observance of St. Teresa’s Day. The opening Allegro maestoso is reminiscent of outdoor serenades in which the musicians entered at a stately tempo. Two fashionable minuets flank a lyrical Adagio, and the final Allegro ends the serenade in high spirits.