Washington, D.C -- At 2 p.m. this Sunday, Oct. 22, the Fall Chamber Music Series will continue featuring the virtuoso musicians of the Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra as they perform in intimate small ensemble settings. This week’s performance includes selections by Ludwig van Beethoven, Louis Andriessen, Pierre Gabaye, David Popper, and Béla Bartók.
The concert will take place at the Marine Barracks Annex in Washington, D.C. and is free, with no tickets required. The program will also stream live on the Marine Band website and YouTube channel. The concert is coordinated by clarinetist Staff Sgt. Parker Gaims, who had this to say about the program:
I selected the repertoire for this program because it showcases a variety of musical styles and a wide array of instrumentations. I also chose pieces which feature interesting or unusual combinations of instruments. The program begins with Beethoven’s Sextet for Two Horns and String Quartet in E-flat, Op. 81b. This piece is entirely of a Classical style, but Beethoven’s use of two horns in a concerto-like manner within a chamber music piece creates an unique sound world which no other composer has really attempted since. Andriessen’s Percosse utilizes four instruments: flute, trumpet, bassoon, and percussion, each which produces sound in very different ways. The composer introduces motives which shift between the instruments highlighting their differences in tone and color. He also crafts entirely new colors by scoring the instruments all at once. Gabaye’s Sonatine for Flute and Bassoon is a charming neoclassical duet. Not many pieces are written for this combination of instruments and the composer demonstrates both their brilliant and subdued characters. Popper’s Requiem for Three Cellos and Piano, Op. 66 (originally for orchestra), is another piece with a truly unique instrumentation. The cello is an extremely expressive instrument with a huge range and the composer’s use of three of them creates a texture which tugs at one’s heartstrings. Bartók’s Contrasts probably has the most common instrumentation of the pieces on the concert, but his use of scordatura violin and both A and B-flat clarinets is atypical. Like all of Bartók’s compositions, Contrasts is original, innovative, and will leave the audience wanting more.
Complete Program Notes
The Marine Barracks Annex is located at 7th & K Streets in southeast Washington, D.C. Free parking is available under the overpass on 7th Street. Patrons should have identification available for possible security checks at the gate.
Directions and parking
Watch the live stream