Desertion & The Devil's Work
performed by members of the Paul Hindemith Academy
(DIFFERENT VENUE: Bockenheimer Depot)
Enrique Crespo 1941–2020
excerpts from Suite Americana, for brass quintet
Kevin McKee 1980*
Iron Horse for brass quintet
1. The Blue Goose
2. Highball on White Pass
Erwin Schulhoff 1894–1942
Concertino for flute, viola & double bass
* * *
Igor Stravinsky 1882–1971
L'histoire du soldat for chamber ensemble
A milestone in 20th Century European music history, Igor Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale, is the nucleus of this concert. A soldier's tricked by the Devil, a work for a fairground becomes an allegory. The last battles of World War I were being fought when this groundbreaking composition for small ensemble was written in 1918. Economic hardship forced the composer, living in exile in Switzerland, and his librettist Charles Ferdinand Ramuz to be pragmatic: the dearth of musical theatre resources due to the war was supplemented by the plot.
Another highlight this evening is the Concertino for flute, viola and double bass by Erwin Schulhoff. This pianist and composer, who was born in Prague in 1894, was one of the most extraordinary artists of his day who bequeathed a complex Oeuvre to the world before his early death at the hands of the Nazi regime. These two pieces are preceded by works for brass quintet by Enrique Crespo and Kevin McKee.
