1924

The premiere of season ten of “On Stage At Curtis” begins with a program called “1924”. 1924 was the year that Curtis Institute of Music was founded by Mary Louise Curtis Bok. In celebration of that year the program features music that you would have heard in 1924.

Barber: Allegro agitato, from Violin Sonata
Ania Filochowska, violin; Andrew Hsu, piano

Samuel Barber was in the first class at the Curtis Institute of Music, graduating in 1934. He entered at the age of 14 as a piano and voice major, later composition. He wrote the Violin Sonata at the age of 18. Only the third movement of this sonata was discovered. It is unknown what happen to the other movements.

Edgard Varèse: Octandre
Lydia Roth, flute; William Welter, oboe; Slavko Popovic, clarinet; Emeline Chong, bassoon; Eric Huckins, horn; Alexander Greene, trumpet Alexander Walden, trombone; Samuel Casseday, double bass and Edward Poll, conductor.

Edgard Varèse is one of the great experimental composers in history. Octandre published in 1924 was inspired by botany. The number eight has a prominent role in this innovative piece. First the word’s meaning, refers to a flower with eight stamens, there are eight instruments and its about eight minutes long.

Songs from 1924 … Or Thereabout
Elena Perroni, soprano; Lauren Eberwein, mezzo-soprano; Evan LeRoy Johnson, tenor; Sean Michael Plumb, baritone with Mikael Eliasen, Dean of Vocal Studies on piano.

Singers from the Curtis Vocal Studies program presents Songs from Gershwin, Isham Jones, Guy d’ Hardelot and Harry Ruby in this sampling of popular songs from 1924 or thereabout.

Prokofiev: Quintet in G minor, Op. 39
Alexandra von der Embse, oboe; Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinet; Yvonne Lam, violin; Zsche Chuang Rimbo Wong, viola; and Xavier Foley, double bass

Sergey Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. He is considered one of the significant composers of the 20th century. The quintet was written for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double bass in 1924.