May Concert 2026
Sunday MAY 3, 2026 | 4:30 pm
Monday MAY 4, 2026 | 7:00 pm
artists:
Program:
Five Yiddish Songs…………… ………………………………………...…………………………….……..…………..….Traditional
Five Yiddish Songs arranged for Soprano, Clarinet and Piano opens our program. These varied and enchanting traditional songs, sung in Hebrew by the fabulous Hilá Plitmann, might get stuck in your head. Enjoy!
Arabesque—for Clarinet and Piano………………………………………………..…………………….….……Germaine Tailleferre
The only female member of Les Six—the circle of French composers that included Poulenc, Milhaud, and Honegger—Germaine Tailleferre cultivated a style that was elegant, witty, and rooted in clarity of line. Her music often shows the influence of French neoclassicism, with graceful melodies and sparkling textures, yet always carries her distinctive touch of charm and lightness.
Composed in 1973, the Arabesque for clarinet and piano is a late work that exemplifies her enduring stylistic traits. The title recalls the decorative “arabesque” figures in visual art and design, and Tailleferre’s music responds in kind with flowing, ornamental melodic lines for the clarinet. The piano provides nimble support, weaving rhythmic vitality with harmonic clarity.
Though modest in scale, the piece captures Tailleferre’s gift for refinement and expressive economy. It is playful yet poised, lyrical yet concise—an elegant miniature that reflects the freshness she maintained throughout her long career.
Spell of Safekeeping……………….…………………………………...………………………………………………Kathryn Mishell
Woman to Lover
Spell to Bring Lost Creatures Home
Kathryn Mishell’s Spell of Safekeeping, Woman to Lover and Spell to Bring Lost Creatures Home were composed in 1961, when the composer was a college student. They are settings of poems by Kathleen Raine.
Elegia Op. 10, III—for Clarinet and Piano……………………………………………………..……………..….…Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924) is remembered today chiefly as a visionary pianist, pedagogue, and forward-looking composer who bridged the Romantic and modern eras. Yet his earliest works reveal the remarkable precocity of a teenage prodigy. Busoni composed his Elegie, Op. 10, No. 3, in 1881 when he was only fifteen years old, dedicating it to his friend, the clarinetist Hans Demar.
Despite his youth, Busoni already demonstrates a deep sense of lyricism and expressive intensity. The clarinet sings in long, yearning phrases, while the piano provides both harmonic support and dramatic commentary. The mood is one of Romantic melancholy, closer in spirit to Brahms or Schumann than to the bold modernist Busoni would later become.
As part of his Op. 10 set of chamber works, the Elegie shows Busoni’s early mastery of instrumental color and his sensitivity to the clarinet’s vocal qualities. Though a youthful work, it has earned a place in the clarinet repertoire as a brief but deeply expressive miniature.
Selected songs……………..……………………………………………..…………………….….…..…. Robert and Clara Schumann
Both Robert and Clara were writing songs during their marriage that they would show to each other and share with friends and audiences. The songs in our selection illuminate the individuality of each composer’s voice while also reflecting the deep artistic partnership at the heart of their marriage.
I Never Saw Another Butterfly—for Voice and Clarinet……………………………………………………………..…Lori Laitman
ii. Yes, That’s The Way Things Are
iii. Birdsong
iv. The Garden
I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Lori Laitman (1995–96; revised 2018) uses as its texts poems by children imprisoned in the Thereienstadt Concentration Camp. The cycle consists of six songs, of which we are presenting three. Laitman said she was drawn to the texts because of the hope, innocence, and truth in the children’s poetry, even in horrible circumstances. She sought to preserve that mixture of fragility and resilience. Laitman felt the clarinet timbre could be “haunting, soulful, and with echoes of Klezmer music.”
[New Work]……………………………………………………………..……..….……………………………………Kathryn Mishell
Kathryn Mishell is looking forward to creating a new work for this concert.
Con Amores, la mi madre……………………………………………………………..…………….…..……….…Fernando Obradors
Chiquitita la novia
Spanish composer Fernando Obradors is best remembered for his Canciones clásicas españolas, a four-volume collection published between 1921 and 1941. In these settings of traditional Spanish texts, Obradors brought folk-inspired melodies and rhythms into the concert hall with elegance and charm. Con Amores, la mi madre, from Volume I, sets a traditional Andalusian text. The vocal line flows with graceful lyricism, while the piano part provides rhythmic vitality, evoking the pulse of Spanish dance. The song’s refrain-like structure and radiant simplicity capture both intimacy and folk character.
Chiquitita la novia, also from Volume I, is more playful in spirit. Its text tells of a young bride, and Obradors matches it with sprightly rhythms, lilting melodic lines, and sparkling accompaniment. The music reflects his gift for wit and lightness, balancing popular idiom with refined artistry.
Austin composers’ songs set:
I Carry Your Heart ……………………………………………………………...…………………….….……..…Donald Grantham
When God Lets My Body Be…..…………………………………………………………………………….……..……Dan Welcher
Try Me………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………Sam Lipman
[New Work]…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….. Sophie Mathieu
We are happy to put together a group of songs by four esteemed Austin composers.
The Shepherd on the Rock, Op. 129 ………………………………………………………..…………………………Franz Schubert
Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (“The Shepherd on the Rock”) by Franz Schubert was composed in the final months of his life in 1828 and stands as one of his last and most transcendent works. Written for the celebrated soprano Anna Milder-Hauptmann, who requested a piece combining lyrical song with virtuosic display, the work bridges Schubert’s lieder style and the concert aria. The text combines verses by Wilhelm Müller and Karl August Varnhagen von Ense, expressing the thoughts of a shepherd who sings of solitude, longing, and hope for reunion. The clarinet functions as both partner and echo to the voice, its warm timbre blending seamlessly with the soprano’s line.
Structured in three sections, the piece moves from introspective melancholy to pastoral reverie and finally to radiant optimism. The opening conveys loneliness across a vast alpine landscape; the middle section, set in a flowing major key, expresses tender yearning; and the brilliant final section bursts forth in a joyful anticipation of spring and renewal. Written just months before Schubert’s death, the work is both farewell and celebration—a luminous expression of beauty and renewal.
Goodnight Moon………………………………………………………………………...………………………………Eric Whitacre
Eric Whitacre’s Goodnight Moon is a tender and lyrical setting of Margaret Wise Brown’s beloved 1947 children’s book. Known worldwide for his choral works of luminous harmony and emotional immediacy, Whitacre here transforms a familiar bedtime story into an intimate art song.
Originally composed in 2011 for his then-wife, soprano Hilá Plitmann, Goodnight Moon exists both in an orchestral version and a version for voice and piano. Whitacre preserves the simple, rhythmic phrasing of Brown’s text, allowing its gentle repetitions to unfold with warmth and wonder. The piano accompaniment shimmers with soft, resonant chords that evoke the quiet ritual of saying goodnight, while the vocal line floats with lullaby-like grace.
Though deceptively simple on the surface, the song carries Whitacre’s hallmark harmonic richness and emotional sincerity. It captures a child’s sense of security and imagination, yet speaks equally to adults through its nostalgia and tenderness. In its quiet beauty, Goodnight Moon becomes a meditation on love, memory and the comfort of home.