The lives of today's featured composers span the baroque period to the 21st century. Therefore, there is
tremendous variety of compositional styles, techniques, and even instruments. Prokofiev wrote Romeo and
Juliet for the ballet, but also published a piano reduction of ten pieces.
Linda MacGougan will perform No. 10 (Say Goodbye), which depicts the very painful parting of the two
famous young lovers. Finzi's 5 Bagatelles, performed by Carolyn Bernstein, clarinet, and Linda
MacGougan, piano, is lighter in mood and character, as the word "bagatelle" implies.
The baroque pieces that follow, Sonata in F Minor by Telemann and Suite in D Major by Marais, are more
harmonically and structurally predictable, while still full of complex technicalities. Laura Mazza-Dixon and *Zarina Irkaeva, viola
da gamba, Anne Mayo, harpsichord, and Deborah Robin, recorder will present these pieces. Michelle
Davis, flute and *Rob Breen, clarinet will then return us to the 20th and 21st centuries for Duos for Flute
and Clarinet by Muczynski, featuring a modern weave of rhythms and harmonies, followed by a rollicking
dance, and the Presto movement from Tarantella, Op. 6 by Saint-Saens, which will add Bridget de Moura
Castro, piano. Though there may not be a single connecting theme in the choices of today's performers,
the program is a wonderful and contrasting display of the infinite variety of styles and moods that reflect life
from its lightest to its most painful moments.