Performer Name: Bute Wind Quintet
Show Name: American Dream
Show Description
Celebrating the breadth of music-making from the United States of America with well-known classics and some unheard gems. Programme: Bernstein West Side Story (12) Ewazen Roaring Fork Suite (18) Joplin Bethena (6) Donelian Metropolitan Madness (3) Maslanka Quintet No. 3 (32) Coleman Tzigane (10) Beloved by many, Bernstein’s West Side Story needs no introduction and Richard Price’s arrangement has been performed by some of the leading Wind Quintets across the globe. Joplin and Donelian close the first half with two shorter works. Bethena (1905) is a concert waltz, the first work he wrote after the death of his wife one year earlier. Brought back into fashion during Joplin’s 1970 revival it has been described as ‘an enchantingly beautiful piece that is among the greatest of the Ragtime Waltzes.’ The main feature piece of the programme is Maslanka’s Wind Quintet No. 3 (1999) which opens with the Bach chorale Ihr Gestim ihr hohlen Lufte – Your stars, your cavernous sky and develops with Maslanka’s distinctive wind writing, which is why he still is one of America’s best composers for winds. Further chorales are used to create a texture for Maslanka’s own themes and interpretations; however the final movement dedicates itself more to a developed Dies Irae theme used across history – for example Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. This tour de force encapsulates the dramatic film-music style of Maslanka at its best. Closing the concert is Valerie Coleman’s Tzigane inspired by its namesake from Ravel, again a dramatic tour de force showcasing a final ‘hurrah!’ for each instrument in the Wind Quintet.
