To be given before an audience in the Concert Hall, Broadcasting House
MARIE KORCHINSKA (harp)
BRADBRIDGE WHITE (tenor)
MARTIN BODDEY (tenor)
STANLEY RILEY (bass)
SAMUEL DYSON (bass)
AN ORCHESTRA under the direction of ERNEST ANSERMET (Specially written for and dedicated to Marie Korchinska) (First performance)
The Octet for Wind Instruments was one of the first fruits of the tendency that originated with Stravinsky's' Pulcinella', in which he had adapted the classical melodies of Pergolesi to his own modern idiom. That was in 1919, and the Octet did not make its appearance until 1923, but of the intervening works only the Concertino for String Quartet points definitely in the same direction, which has come to be known as neo-classic. The Octet is for flute, clarinet, two bassoons. two trumpets, and two trombones. It is classical in form and retains here and there a little of the buffo spirit that went to the making of Mavra, the opera that intervened, in 1922, but what made the deepest impression at the time was the transparent quality of the writing. To adopt a colloquialism, it was all clear and above-board. There were no devices to dazzle or trick the ear. Virtuosity there was certainly, but not used for that purpose. (Text by the composer based on Russian folklore)