Jan. 22, 2015 -- “The President’s Own” 2015 Chamber Music Series begins at 2 p.m. this Sunday, Jan. 25, with a concert featuring unique and standard instrumentation, a new work, and a classical favorite. Coordinated by assistant principal clarinet Staff Sgt. Patrick Morgan, the performance will take place in John Philip Sousa Band Hall at the Marine Barracks Annex in southeast Washington, D.C. The concert is free and no tickets are required; it will be streamed live at www.marineband.marines.mil. Free parking is also available under the overpass across from the annex.
The program will begin with Astor Piazzolla’s “Adios Nonino” for the unique instrumentation of string quartet and accordion. The piece, which is translated to mean “Farewell Dad,” was written in October 1959 in memory of the composer’s recently deceased father. It is written in the style of “tango nuevo” (new tango), which blends tango rhythms with jazz harmonies and classical instrumentations. Following “Adios Nonino” a brass quintet will perform Victor Ewald’s Brass Quintet No. 2, Opus 6, which is a serious composition of great fervor and lyricism.
The second half of the program will feature a very new work for horn, tuba and piano by Chicago area composer James Stephenson. Vast and Curious was premiered less than a year ago at the International Horn Symposium and is a pun on the popular car racing movie “Fast and Furious,” which also musically inspires the piece. Stephenson wrote about the selection: The curious part is mostly exemplified in the first movement, where I took on the most unique challenge of scoring the entire thing in unison ... for all three players. ... The vast is represented by the tuba, of course, but also in the 2nd movement I scored with a wide-open sensibility.”
The concert will conclude with the popular Quintet in A for Clarinet and Strings, K. 581 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The work was premiered in 1789 by clarinetist Anton Stadler and Mozart referred to the piece as “The Stadler Quintet.” It is a beloved piece by not only many clarinetists, but was also a favorite of Mozart himself.
Complete program and notes
Directions and parking information