Henri Tomassis Concerto Fro Trombone and Orchestra Piece in Depth Review

French composer and conductor

Henri Tomasi (pronounced [ɑ̃ʁi tomazi], 17 August 1901 – xiii Jan 1971) was a French classical composer and usher. He was noted for compositions such as In Praise of Folly, Nuclear Era and The Silence of the Body of water.

Early years [edit]

Henri Tomasi was born in a working-class neighborhood of Marseille, French republic, on 17 August 1901. His male parent Xavier Tomasi and mother Josephine Vincensi were originally from La Casinca, Corsica. When he was five, the family unit moved to Mazargues, France where Xavier Tomasi worked as a postal worker. At that place, he enrolled his son in music theory and piano lessons. At the historic period of vii, Tomasi entered the Conservatoire de Musique de Marseille. Pressured by his father, he played for upper-class families, where he felt "humiliated to be on prove like a trained creature."

In 1913, the family moved dorsum to Marseille. Tomasi had dreams of condign a sailor and skipped many of his music classes. During the summer, he stayed with his grandmother in Corsica and learned traditional Corsican songs. In 1916, he won first prize in harmony, along with his friend Zino Francescatti, the celebrated violinist. World War I delayed his entrance into the Paris Conservatoire, so he played piano in Marseille to earn money. He performed in diverse venues such equally upscale hotels, restaurants, brothels, and movie houses. His gift for limerick was developed during this fourth dimension as he excelled in improvisation at the keyboard. The early on Charlie Chaplin films likewise intrigued him and influenced his works.^[1]

The 1920s [edit]

In 1921, he commenced his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris with a scholarship from the municipality of Marseille and a stipend from a lawyer, Maitre Levy Oulman. He still performed at cafes and in the cinemas to earn money. His friend Maurice Franck described Tomasi as a hard worker: "He showed upwards with a fugue a week, he was indefatigable - an inveterate workaholic."^[2] In 1925, his commencement piece, a air current quintet called 'Variations sur un Theme Corse', won the Prix Halphen. His teachers at the Paris Conservatoire included Gaubert, Vincent d'Indy, Georges Caussade, and Paul Vidal. In 1927, he won the second Chiliad Prix de Rome for his cantata, 'Coriolan', and a First Prize for Orchestral Conducting, which were both awarded unanimously. That same twelvemonth, he met his future wife, Odette Military camp, at the Opéra-Comique. They midweek in 1929. Tomasi began his career as a usher for Concerts du Journal.

The 1930s [edit]

From 1930 to 1935 Tomasi served as the music director of the Radio Colonial Orchestra in French Indochina, which was founded by Julien Maigret during the 1931 Colonial Exhibition in Paris. Tomasi became one of the first radio conductors and a pioneer of "radiophonic" music. During the 1930s he was i of the founders of a contemporary music grouping in Paris entitled Triton along with Prokofiev, Milhaud, Honegger, and Poulenc. He spent equal time composing and conducting. He was 1 of the conductors for studio broadcasts of the Orchestre Radio Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Francaise. He made his most memorable recording in 1936 with the extraordinary French mezzo-soprano Alice Raveau in Gluck'due south Orfeo, which was awarded the One thousand Prix du Disque. In 1939 Tomasi was drafted into the French Army and was named marching-ring conductor at the Villefranche sur Mer fort.

The 1940s [edit]

In 1940 he was discharged and took upwards the baton at the Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion française. As a composer, his orchestral music is of import, but in a higher place all he was attracted to the theater. In the realm of instrumental music, he preferred composing for air current instruments. He composed concerti for flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, trumpet, horn, and trombone. He also composed concerti for violin and viola. In 1944, his son Claude was born and Tomasi started composing a Requiem defended to "the martyrs of the resistance movement and all those who have died for France."^[3] Tomasi was disillusioned past the events of World War II and later on rejected all faith in God. His Requiem was set aside and was not discovered over again and recorded until 1996. In 1946, Tomasi causeless the postal service of conductor of the Opera de Monte Carlo. He became extremely sought-after equally a guest conductor all over Europe. In 1948, he wrote what would become his most popular limerick, the Concerto for Trumpet. In 1949 the Concerto for Saxophone was performed past Marcel Mule.

An hr-long documentary moving-picture show virtually the composer produced by Jacques Sapiega was made in 2001.

His later Life [edit]

In 1956 he composed the Concerto for Clarinet and the Concerto for Trombone. This same year brought the long-awaited world premiere of his opera Don Juan de Mañara based on a text past poet O. 5. de Fifty. Milosc. This opera, "L'Atlantide", and the comic opera "Le Testament di Pere Gaucher" collectively established his reputation every bit an opera composer.

In May 1956 at Bordeaux, his opera Sampiero Corso was premiered, with the Australian tenor Kenneth Neate in the title office. It was repeated at the The netherlands Festival in June.^[four]

In 1957, Tomasi stopped conducting because of concrete problems, including advancing deafness in his correct ear. In 1966 Jean-Pierre Rampal played his Concerto for Flute with the Orchestre des Concerts Classiques in Marseille. His final piece for the theater, "In Praise of Madness (the nuclear era)", is a cross between opera and ballet and contains references to Nazism and napalm. It reflects Tomasi'south postwar disillusionment with mankind. During his final flow of composition he was motivated past political events and wrote pieces such every bit the Third Globe Symphony and Chant cascade le Vietnam. In 1969, he held a series of interviews with his son, Claude, chosen "Autobiography with a Tape Recorder." (Tomasi assoc.) As his wellness deteriorated, he began working on an operatic version of Hamlet. On 13 January 1971 he died peacefully in his apartment in Montmartre, Paris. He was buried in his married woman'southward family tomb in Avignon. Later, to gloat the centennial of his birth, his ashes were moved to the village of his ancestors in Penta di Casinca, Corsica.

His music [edit]

Tomasi's music is fundamentally lyrical. Diatonic and chromatic melodic lines predominate, supported by tertian and polychordal harmonies. His music is highly colorful and one can hear the influence of his French contemporaries. Exotic sounds and colors of Corsica, Provence, Kingdom of cambodia, Laos, the Sahara and Tahiti are used. He too wrote music inspired past medieval religious songs. He utilized many styles including Oriental recitative and twelve tone techniques but they were ever personal and unique to him.

Tomasi said: "Although I oasis't shirked from using the most modern forms of expression, I've ever been a melodist at heart. I can't stand up systems and sectarianism. I write for the public at large. Music that doesn't come from the heart isn't music." (Tomasi assoc.)

His earliest influence stemmed from a performance his mother took him to of the opera La bohème. He wept over the tribulations of the main character, Mimi. In fact, he felt that La bohème was responsible for his musical destiny. Information technology gave him a not bad passion for lyrical theater. After he heard Bizet's Carmen and learned about Mussorgsky through Boris Godunov, and Debussy through Pelléas et Mélisande. He was influenced by Ravel, and later by Richard Strauss. Richard Wagner was never an influence on him. His harmonic inspiration derived from Debussy and Ravel. He felt that his experience from conducting enabled him to orchestrate with more skill. He felt that dodecaphonic music could be used occasionally when needed or called for. He thought that the inherent danger in electronic music was that it was devoid of the man gene: "...the end of the heart -a world filled with zero more than than the audio of machines!" (Tomasi assoc.) Tomasi ofttimes based his works on a text of some sort, even if words were non actually used. To translate Tomasi's views on his own music: "My musical knowledge is not based on any organization. The sensibility expresses itself and the listen controls. What good is it to invent new forms of speech? Everything has been said and everything has been washed." (Tomasi assoc.) Tomasi was primarily interested in "man and his passionate fashion." (Tomasi assoc.)

Nocturne was get-go published in 1954 by Pierre Noel. The copyright was later taken over by Gerard Billaudot in 1999. It is marked Lent and has a surreal quality. It is intensely lyrical and expressive. At that place are polychords present. At that place is constant eighth-note movement. The slow section evolves to a poco pui agitato interlude followed past a short cadenza marked a piacere (freely). The initial tempo returns and the song ends in calm repose with an unusual closing chord: the C minor seventh. Complainte du Jeune Indien was equanimous in 1949 and published the same yr past Alphonse Leduc. It is cordially defended to Monsieur Beaucamp. The French give-and-take Complainte refers to a lament or plaint. Perhaps one can conjecture that the jeune (young) Indian is expressing nostalgia for his homeland. (Gordon) It is marked tristamente (sadly) in a slow Andante tempo. The harmonic move is very boring with only a 1000 modest chord until rehearsal #ii. The chords move in parallel move like to Debussy. Before the brief cadenza at rehearsal #4, there is a "B" eleventh chord. This cadenza is optional; some other optional cut is between rehearsal #8 to #11, which eliminates the 2d brief cadenza. These cuts will not be taken in this performance. The initial theme returns, and it closes fifty-fifty more slowly and sadly.

The Danse Nuptiale (Wedding Trip the light fantastic) was originally composed as a work for bedroom orchestra and soloists in 1961. It was published past Alphonse Leduc in 1962 and dedicated to Andre Boutard. The original instrumentation was for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, tuba, tympani, a battery of percussion, pianoforte, and cord quintet. The first movement, Danse Agreste (Rustic Dance) in the original work features the oboe. The 2d motility, Danse Profane has the French horn as soloist. The Danse Sacree (Sacred Dance) features a tuba soloist, and the fifth movement, Danse Guerriere (War Dance), highlights the bassoon. In that location is a woodwind quintet version of this entire work dating from 1963. The transcription was dedicated to the Rejeliovo Decliove Quintet from Prague. In the third motion of the quintet, the bassoon is the soloist instead of the tuba. The marker at the beginning is Bien scande, which refers to placing much stress or accent when indicated. (Gordon) There are a plethora of accents sprinkled throughout this cursory movement. It opens with a quick 2 bar ostinato in three/8. The changing meters give information technology impetus. Information technology is in ABA form with the interior section marked Lent and fantasque This is punctuated by a figure marked brusquement and counteracted with iii bars marked tendrement. The "A" section returns briefly with the main theme ostinato.

Introduction et Danse was composed in 1949 and defended to the clarinetist Louis Cahuzac. Information technology was published in 1949 past Alphonse Leduc. It can exist performed with clarinet and piano or clarinet and orchestra. Information technology is a stylish handling of different trip the light fantastic toe moods. The unabridged range of the clarinet with respect to pitch and dynamics is utilized. A polychord opens the Andantino introduction. This fantasia similar start has a short clarinet cadenza with a descending arpeggiated effigy that volition subsequently appear in the trip the light fantastic toe. This is followed by a department in serial course that is soft and brooding in mood. The trip the light fantastic toe starts with an ostinato in the piano and cascading arpeggios in the clarinet. The dance is a play with freedom and constraint. There are numerous markings indicating slight fluctuations in tempo. The wealth of tone color and motivic work are reminiscent of Ravel. Chords move in parallel motion every bit in Debussy's writing, but are more than dissonant, The work concludes with assai lento marked con malinconia.

Sonatine Attique is for solo clarinet and is, reputedly, a "poetic recollection of a nighttime spent by Henri Tomasi under the Greek sky near the Parthenon in Athens." (Woodwind.org) Information technology was composed in 1966 and published in 1967 by Alphonse Leduc. It is dedicated to the foremost French clarinetist of the fourth dimension, Ulysse Delecluse, who premiered it in Rennes, France. His Evocations for solo oboe or solo saxophone are written in a similar guise and call on the music of Peru, Kingdom of cambodia, Nigeria and Scotland. Tomasi is referring to Aboriginal Greece's Attica (L'Attique) whose capital is Athens. The describing word attique refers to Attica, feature of the Athenians and their language, art, and literature. Information technology has a connotation of delicacy, refinement, and gracefulness. The Ancient Greek Attica dialect was closely related to the refined Ionic language of the great Greek writers such every bit Aescchylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. (Gordon) The starting time and third movements of the work are senza misura (without meter). It is improvisatory in nature and Tomasi uses motives and develops them like his French compatriot, Jolivet. The get-go movement is marked Giocoso (playfully) and Tomasi makes chords out of the arpeggiated figures in the clarinet. This movement is in sonata class with a sostenuto section framed by the giocoso sections featuring complex rhythms and big leaps in register. The second movement is marked Mysterieux. A cadenza connects this to a Scherzando that is independent in form and fluctuates between 3/8 and ii/8. The soft motif in the low register returns to close the movement. The terminal movement uses rhythm and accents as a cohesive force. There is a cursory slow interlude earlier the get-go tempo returns. The movement pulsates with perpetual motion until the stop.

The Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra was likewise dedicated to Ulysse Delecluse and was published by Alphonse Leduc in 1953. Unfortunately, there is no commercial CD recording available with clarinet and orchestra and merely 1 recording with piano reduction (Actually, the clarinet concerto was recorded with orchestra and released on the CD "20th Century Clarinet Concertos" by the Koch Schwann characterization^[5]). Undoubtedly the orchestration is colorful, although information technology retains its amuse with piano. Tomasi composed in an economical style, deriving thematic material from motivic cells. The kickoff movement was chosen to exist the Paris Solarium Exam Solo in 1953. Afterward, the 2nd and 3rd movements were the Contest Solo at the Paris Conservatory in 1966. Delecluse observed that "the concerto had gained enormous popularity throughout Europe; many critics consider it a masterpiece." (qtd. in Gee 20) It deserves to have greater notoriety today. The first movement is in sonata course and starts with an E apartment/D Major polychord. Usually a conventional concerto has an exposition in the orchestra, but here the clarinet starts unaccompanied with a like figure to Bach's E Major Partita for Solo Violin (Lerner 7). The 2nd theme is stated in the pianoforte at rehearsal #11. A long cadenza connects back to the original theme and ends with rhythmic material in 7/8. There are traditional key centers in a flexible framework. The nontraditional elements include polychords, chords with added notes, clusters, and noise. The clarinet exhibits a liberty of key relationships and tonal centers. The second movement opens with a motive from the beginning movement. This introduction is followed with ternary form with render higher up an ostinato of Sicilian rhythm. The brusque development at rehearsal #ten is followed by a recapitulation at rehearsal #fifteen. The virtuoso Scherzo finale is in a sonata rondo construction. A combination of meters is used: 4/four 12/8, 3/4 9/8, 2/iv 6/8. The concerto comes to a blazing conclusion later the final statement of theme "A". Henri Tomasi wrote his ain notes on the concerto in 1957 and they are printed on the Tomasi Association of French republic website. He says of the offset move, "of odd and caricatural step, the main topic must be interpreted like an improvisation, with some lyric and night abandonments rather discrete. A significant rate of frightening difficulty will bring us back little past little to a tempo starting time more stressed, to lead to final giocoso…" He says of the Nocturne (Night): "Mysterious recalls of the starting time principal theme will be similar a romantic daydream. The dialogue between soloist and orchestra will exist increasingly pressing, to go towards a lyrical and impassioned crowing. The conclusion will be melancholy." He describes the Scherzo-finale, "Furious accents will disturb this quietude. Suddenly, information technology will be a romantic and fantastic escape; rides through landscapes of dream, continuations, etc. Then, a song of extreme softness, pointing out the atmosphere of dark volition rise out of this tumult to create an idyllic environs. The furious agreements of the beginning will bring back to reality soloist and orchestra for an increasingly disheveled last conclusion." (Tomasi assoc.)

In that location is other worthy chamber music by Tomasi utilizing the clarinet to explore. He composed two woodwind quintets (1925 and 1952) in improver to the 1963 reduction of the Cinq Danses Profanes et Sacrees. There are Trois Divertissements for four clarinets, a Corsican Song that may exist performed on clarinet (the instrument is non specified), wind trios, and a piece for clarinet, flute and harp. The works for clarinet by Tomasi accept been relegated to the groundwork of this oeuvre but they deserve to be performed with more regularity.

Selected filmography [edit]

• Coral Reefs (1939)
• The Island of Love (1944)

References [edit]

1. ^ "Henri Tomasi - Main Dates". Henri Tomasi . Retrieved May 9, 2018.
2. ^ "Henri Tomasi - Main Dates". Henri Tomasi . Retrieved May 9, 2018.
3. ^ Ink, Hannah. "The French Three: A Comparing (Performed) of Recital Music by Darius Milhaud, Henri Tomasi, and Eugene Bozza". Academy of Maryland . Retrieved May ix, 2018.
4. ^ The Independent: Obituary – Ken Neate
5. ^ "20th Century Clarinet Concertos".

External links [edit]

• Henri Tomasi at IMDb

dejesusgurhander.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Tomasi

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