We arrived at Las Vegas International Airport to the sound of a hundred slot machines, a "Prelude" to four fascinating days of new music, multifarious performances, shared ideas, new acquaintances, and renewed friendships. Most of the action took place on the U.N.L.V. campus at the Artemus Ham Concert Hall and the Judy Bayley Theater, the two separated by the world's largest "flashlight" (Claus Oldenburg's monolithic sculpture at the center of the courtyard).
After the opening general meeting at which Ralph Gomberg and Leonard Sharrow were nominated for honorary membership, the presentations began with The California Double Reed Quartet, Ron Grun, bassoonist. Grim's contribution was not only as a very accurate supportive bass for the ensemble, but also as arranger for a couple of the numbers. My favorites on the program were his entertaining "Opera Selections" from works of Mozart, and the two ricercar of Palestrina arranged by Sand Dalton. The program ended with an adaptation of Prokofiev's Humorous Scherzo, a very inwresting contrast to the more homogeneous sound of the original version for four bassoons.
The next bassoon presentation came early Tuesday morning with the semifinals of the Gillet Competition. The five semifinalists, while quite diverse, were all quite well prepared as evidenced by the difficulty the judges had in selecting just three finalists. Magnus Nilsson, Sweden, had a particularly strong tone and personal style but unfortunately seemed to have great difficulty in adapting his reed to the desert climate. Interesting also, as it may involve differing pedagogical approaches, was the fact that the two European competitors performed the Parable by Persichetti from memory. At the close of the performances, Bill Davis, competition chairman, announced the passing of Vincent Persichetti and led those in attendance in a few moments of silent tribute.
Immediately following the competition Dan Phipps presented a lecture demonstration of the bassoon-string music of Francois Gebauer. Mr. Phipps, currently with the Air Force Band, has a particularly homogeneous tone and commanding technique. One would have liked to have heard more performance and less of the lecture. As it was, a movement from each of the first three quartets Op. 40 was presented, while omitting the example from the Op. 33 Trios which is readily available through Musica Rara. Like the Duos for Two Bassoons, Op. 44,
Gebauer gives us works in the full classical forms but tends to write more by formula than inspiration, a judgment this demonstration tended to reinforce. So, whereas an evening with Gebauer might become tedious, any one of these works would make a delightful contrasting piece for a recital.
Because of scheduling problems the North American French Bassoon Quartet exchanged places with Alexandre Ouzounoff to present their program Monday afternoon rather than Wednesday. I admire this group for their continued efforts to maintain a good example of the French instrument in performance on the North American continent. Unfortunately, geographic distances make regular rehearsals an impossibility. Indeed, on this occasion regular member Chuck Holdeman was unable to make the trip and was substituted for by JoAnne Simpson, a colleague of Gerald Corey in Ottawa, Canada. The program included Don Christlieb's arrangement of Le Phoenix, and Corey's arrangement of Bach's Suite No. 2 for solo Cello. But the highlight for me was the Fraser Jackson arrangement of Gershwin's I Got Rhythm, and the From a leaf in falling by Peter Lutek, although somewhat tentatively performed. I still remember fondly listening to Corey, Ron Klimko, and Kim Laskowski playing ensembles on their French instruments in the living room of Cecil James following the Edinburgh conference. (Mr. James is one of the last English artists to perform exclusively on the French instrument.)
Following the NAFBQ came a very interesting and humorous lecture on reed making by Mark Eubanks, founder of the Arundo Research Company, during which he shared some of the interesting techniques he'd learned over the years with his company. Among the demonstrations was his technique for "slicing" the tip rather than scraping, and tuning the reed by comparing different fingerings of the same pitch. Mark announced that Arundo Research Company is closing its doors after fifteen years. However, he is still sharing his experience through the publication Advanced Reed Design & Testing Procedure for Bassoon. Write to him at Box 4952, Portland, Oregon 97208.
The 4:10 recital included two presentations by Alan Leech from Montana State University: a Suite (1980, rev. 1987) by Henry Campbell for solo bassoon, and a short work for flute & bassoon composed by Alan and performed with his wife Karen entitled Ranch-On Danzon. The duet comprises a lyrical flute solo over a latin ostinato and makes for a very charming little encore number.
The first two heavy-weight bassoon recitals occurred Monday evening with Arthur Grossman from the University of Washington at 8:00, and Mark Eubanks in a jazz performance with the Eddie Wied Trio at 9:00. I always look forward to Mr. Grossman's recitals as I have yet to attend one at which he has not presented at least one work for the bassoon of which I'm not familiar. In this case there were two: the Adagio by Ludwig Spohr and Ma Celine by Friedrich Berr. The program ended with a rendition of the Sonata by Cesar Franck, a performance of the cello version virtually as written. This work lends itself admirably to the bassoon and was made all the more enjoyable on this occasion by a most masterful performance by pianist, Carol Urban.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, as one wag put it. We crossed the courtyard to the Bayley Theater for what I found to be one of the most creative performances of the conference. Mixing patter, the use of fuzz box, and some borrowing from Ray Pizzi, Mark Eubanks kept us entertained for almost two hours with a highly original look at melodies from Weber's Andante and Hungarian Rondo, Shostakovitch's 9th Symphony, Bizet's Carmen, etc., all the way to Leave it to Beaver and Flintstones.
Tuesday began with a repeat showing of the fluoroscopic study of the physical production of vibrato first shown by Chris Weait at the 1976 Conference in Toronto. Always a most provocative demonstration, perhaps it may inspire some corroborative research for future meetings.
The morning recital was New Music for Double Reeds. Philip Gottling, currently with the Honolulu Symphony, presented the Fantaisie sur la "Norma" (1845) by Bellini as arranged for flute/bassoon/piano by Eugene Jancourt (not "new" music but certainly little known). This is a very nice work for a trio combination lacking in repertoire. Then Philip performed a composition of his own aptly titled Trance (1984), a work for solo bassoon and electronic echo-reverb. It consists of a single line which grows and diminishes from an additive and subtractive process. More than one member of the audience appeared to "trance". Jon Beebe, bassoon instructor at Appalachian State University, presented a work for solo bassoon by Scott Meister entitled Fantasmi (which refers to ghosts or spirits). This is a work which deserves another hearing. It is in five movements and explores most of the modern technical effects such as multiphonics, altered timbres, tongue slaps, and vocalizations (grunts, etc.) in a somewhat affected manner. It wasn't until a small tin foil globe was placed over the bell to rattle around rather humorously that the audience warmed to the piece and gave it some real attention. This might be a delightful work to introduce a less sophisticated audience to some of the more "modern" performance practice. For those interested in exploring multiphonics, Jon has prepared a manual and tape with over 600 fingerings, and an annotated bibliography of literature for unaccompanied bassoon.
Tuesday afternoon's performance was a presentation of new music for solo bassoon, and bassoon and tape, by Yoshiyuki Nakanishi, principal bassoonist with Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra of Japan. That this was NEW music was reflected by the dates on three of the four works: Frequency for Bassoon and Tape (July, 1987) by Naoyuki Terai, Reflection (July 1987) by Hiroaki Koi, and Sonata (July 1987) by Yuzo Toyama. I expected prodigious technique having heard a recording of the Jolivet Concerto performed by Nakanishi some years ago, but I was surprised to hear such a big tone as well. The works are quite interesting and worthy of programing. Although not the most recent, I found particularly interesting the Japanese Lyric Suite (1982) by Yuzo Toyama, in four parts: "seashore song", "evening song", "evening glow", and "red dragon fly".
The final offering for bassoon Tuesday was the afternoon performance of Villa-Lobos' Bachianas brasilieras No. 6 by Alan Goodman, and Miles Zentner, flute, both of the L.A. Philharmonic.
Wednesday morning began with a marvelous lecture/demonstration by William Ludwig, associate professor of bassoon at LSU, who will be our host for the 1990 conference in Baton Rouge. The lecture was a brief explanation of some of the criteria used for selecting works for transcription. Most of the session was devoted to performance, and it was just beautiful. Works performed included movements from Bach's unaccompanied cello Suites, Beethoven's Sonata in A for cello, Brahms' Clarinet Sonata in f, and Prokofiev's Sonata in D for flute. Mr. Ludwig played a 9000 series Heckel in a most lyrical manner, provoking this reaction from at least one member of the audience... "Now that's the kind of playing I've been waiting for." [1]
Four U.S. premieres and one world premiere marked Alexandre Ouzounoff's two o'clock performance. The world premiere of Lydia Ayers' Other Waters I found to be one of the most interesting on the program. Lydia's interest was piqued when she happened to be at Salabert as Ouzounoff's treatise on multiphonics for the French bassoon, "Actuellement Ie bassoon", came off the press, and then subsequently met Alex at a lecture in Darmstadt. The work is constructed in two parts (1-Lake, and 2-White Water) and makes use of timbral exchange, pitch bends, timbre tremolos, and sustained multiphonics in carefully laid-out chordal progressions. Another favorite was Hopi by Philippe Hersant, a haunting chantlike work, almost bluesy in the beginning, which shifts to a lament punctuated by low electronic sounding multiphonics. It is a striking work that would be accessible to most audiences. Ouzounoff produces a big "dark" tone and displayed technical mastery throughout.
The four o'clock recital displayed the talents of another member of the Gillet judging panel. Rufus Olivier gave us a real virtuoso rendition of Hummel's Concerto for bassoon. He demonstrated a clear, sweet, if not large tone, and a Iiquidly facile technique in a performance enlivened by frequent. strolls about the stage and conducting of the tutti sections. Then the Sonata for Bassoon by Otomar Kvech was delivered by bassoonist Alan Goodman who later joined David Weiss for Poulenc's Trio for Piano, Oboe and Bassoon.
The highlight of the conference was the final recital featuring Richard Ranti, bassoonist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Brenda Ishikawa, pianist. He began with four arias by Mozart, establishing rapport by addressing the audience between each with commentary and translation. Then to Willson Osborn's Rhapsody for unaccompanied bassoon. Here it became a lovely study in the use of vibrato and nonvibrato for expressive purpose. Passionate, with beautiful control and dynamic contrast, it elicited the first spontaneous "Bravo!". Hallucinations by Alain Bernaud was a beautiful illustration of control in the extreme upper range, of fast, clean and even staccato, of lovely pianissimo and final morendo. Ravel's Piece en forme de Habanera was an example of beautiful sustained phrasing. "It flows naturally... nothing confined here,"[2] was one assessment. The Tansman Sonatine was likewise a marvelous display of breath control, and expressivity. It was in all a thoroughly rewarding program masterfully performed.
At the intermission a sizable portion of the audience moved on-stage for the traditional conference Finale. The large double reed ensemble premiered Scott Tibbs' Fanfare for Double Reed Instruments, then concluded with Music for the Royal Fireworks under the direction of Don Christlieb.
Earlier in the day Gillet finalists were announced, the close nature of the competition again reflected by the tie for second place between Mark Rogers and Roger Nye. The first place winner Bernard Kolle of the Paris Conservatory Orchestra performed the required two movements of the Gordan Jacob Concerto also from memory.
Beyond the scheduled program of events there are always the spontaneous happenings and shared anecdotes that make each conference special. One of the most exciting happenings on this occasion was the announcement of the new Bassoon Heritage edition through the collaboration of William Waterhouse and Henry Skolnick. This is a catalogue of reprints of literature from the early 17th to the early 19th centuries which may be as valuable in the theory or history classroom as in the studio. Watch for further information in The Double Reed.
Kudos go to host Yoshiyuki Ishikawa and his staff for a most splendidly organized and promoted conference. Everyone came away from the University of Nevada Las Vegas a winner.
ENDNOTES
1.
Marilyn Chappel, bassoonist, Houston, Texas.