Rochester Suite

SKU: PR.14440426S

UPC: 680160030484.

In 1999, while packing up myriad boxes to move to a new home (following academic retirement from Eastman School of Music), I stumbled-literally-over a short string suite of five vignettes I had composed during the 1950's as a college freshman. They had never been performed. I decided to transcribe them for the American Saxophone Quartet following a request from that august ensemble. Other than slightly lengthening the first ditty to accommodate an imperious alto sax which thinks it can play ALL of the 4-part fugal entries itself, I made few changes from the original youthful version. The first four movements each feature one of the quartet members as a leading voice, the others largely accompanying; everyone shares the wealth in the final dance. The whole piece is very tonal (with centers on A, D, E, G and D respectively) and make copious use of a jazz/pop music ambience that was prevalent in my first-year-conservatory world at the time. The five Snippets are approximately twelve minutes in duration and are affectionately dedicated to my long-standing friend, the saxophone virtuoso Albert Regni. The work was complete in 1954 in Rochester, New York and transcribed in Ormond, Florida, during the summer of 2000. The American Saxophone Quartet, founded by Mr. Regni, gave the premiere performances in New York City. --Sydney Hodkinson.

SKU: PR.114417610

ISBN 9781491107904. UPC: 680160636051. 9x12 inches.

SONATA CHO-CHO-SAN(Based on themes from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly)In the spirit of the great 19th-century opera fantasies for woodwinds, Michael Webster has created a concert trio on the many great arias from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. However, as its name implies, Sonata Cho-Cho-San is not the typical virtuosic operatic potpourri. Rather, it follows the plot, resembling a sonata mirroring Puccini's use of recurring and developing themes. Webster makes the most of the winds as versatile performers - equally suited to deliver Puccini's beautiful vocal writing, and to ornament and embroider the poignant themes in symphonic style. For advanced performers._______________________________________Text from the scanned back cover:Born in 1944, Michael Webster made his New York recital debutat Town Hall in 1968 with his eminent father, Beveridge Webster, as pianist. In the same year, he won the Young Concert Artists International Competition and succeeded his teacher, Stanley Hasty, as Principal Clarinet in the Rochester Philharmonic, a position he held for twenty years. Webster has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y, with the Tokyo, Cleveland, Muir, Ying, Enso, and Dover String Quartets, and with the festivals of Marlboro, Santa Fe, Norfolk, Chamber Music Northwest, Angel Fire, Steamboat Springs, Park City, Sitka, Kapalua, Bowdoin, Orcas Island, Skaneateles, La Musica di Asolo, Stratford, Victoria, and Domaine Forget.As soloist he has appeared with many orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra under Aaron Copland and the Boston Pops under John Williams. His travels have taken him as performer and teacher to most of the 50 states, as well as Canada, Mexico,Puerto Rico, Central and South America, Europe, Japan, China, Australia, and New Zealand. Webster was Acting Principal Clarinet of the San Francisco Symphony, and has served on the clarinet and/or conducting faculties of New England Conservatory, Boston University, University of Michigan, and the Eastman School, from which he earned his three degrees. Currently he is Professor of Music at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and Artistic Director of the Houston Youth Symphony, which has won multiple first prizes in national performance competitions.With his wife, flutist Leone Buyse, and pianist Robert Moeling, he plays in the Webster Trio, which has recorded his arrangements on Tour de France and World Wide Webster for Crystal Records. Otherarrangements were recorded for Nami and Camerata Tokyo in Japan with pianist Chizuko Sawa. Webster has also recorded for Albany, Arabesque, Beaumont, Bridge, Centaur, CRI, and New World. He has played at many ClarinetFests for the International Clarinet Association and written a column entitled “TeachingClarinet” in The Clarinet Magazine since 1998. Michael Webster is a Buffet artist-clinician, performing on Buffet clarinets exclusively.