D0FC42D5-D62B-4388-A469-280E7665EBDE
| ID | D0FC42D5-D62B-4388-A469-280E7665EBDE |
|---|---|
| Titlecode | X642709 |
| Title Name | Divertimento from Gimpel the Fool for Clarinet and Piano Trio |
| Marketing Copy | For Clarinet with Piano Trio. Recorded in the US and Australia, Divertimento combines Jewish folk music with 20th-Century sophistication and Schiff's dramatic sense and flair for melody. |
| Instrumentation | Clarinet, Piano Trio |
| Commission | Commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest. |
| Dedication | (not set) |
| Program Notes | Program Notes My opera, Gimpel the Fool, with libretto by I. B. Singer based on his famous story, was first staged at the 92nd Street Y in 1979 as the first offering of in the series "Jewish Opera at the Y". It tells the story of the naive baker, Gimpel, who is deceived by his wife Elka and everyone else in the village of Frampol. In 1982 I composed the Divertimento for Chamber Music Northwest, combining various numbers from the opera to form a four movement suite for clarinet, violin, cello and piano: 1) Overture/The Rabbi's advice ("He who brings shame on his fellow man must lose the world to come.") 2) Wedding Song ("Clouds lift me up and take me to where my heart yearns to be.") 3) Bread Song (Gimpel and the Apprentice) 4) Who Knows One? Mazel Tov! The style of the music draws on Jewish liturgical modes and on Klezmer music (which was just beginning to be revived when I began composing the opera in the mid seventies) , but I used very few folk melodies--one of them is heard in the introduction to the Bread Song. -David Schiff or The Divertimento was the first of the many works I composed for David Shifrin and Chamber Music Northwest. In 1981, at David's suggestions, I arranged music from my opera Gimpel the Fool, based on the famous story by I. B. Singer. The Diverimento has become my most popular piece and has been performed just about everywhere, but most memorably in the Palais de Luxembourg in Paris. The Divertimento is drawn from several numbers in the opera. The movements are: Overture/the Rabbi; Wedding Song; Bread Song; Badkhen’s Song/Mazel Tov. The idiom of my opera Gimpel the Fool owes much to the sound of the klezmer band. Instead of trying to imitate authentic klezmer music (which was just being revived when I started working on the opera in 1975) I sought to reconstruct the sound of this music from the traces it left in the works of Mahler, Stravinsky and Kurt Weill. The music of the opera is unified by the use of the four Jewish liturgical scales and of “nusach”, traditional melodic formulas from Jewish liturgy, particularly from the High Holiday services. -David Schiff |
| Title Brand | 2 |
| Year Composed | 1982 |
| Copyright Number | (not set) |
| Copyright Year | (not set) |
| Duration | 17 |
| Ensemble Size | 4 |
| Date Created | 2008-10-31 20:33:16.000000 |
| Date Updated | 2025-09-30 20:33:16 |
| Inhouse Note | (not set) |
| Bsc Code | (not set) |
| Text Author | (not set) |
| Premier Performance Memo | (not set) |
| Recording Credits | Recorded by Chamber Music Northwest on Delos Records and Collusion on Move Records (Australia) |
| Review | “For those of us not clued in on this corner of folk music, the divertimento had a pleasing exoticism spiced with pungent harmonies, rhapsodic tunes and lively rhythms. Schiff neatly brought the 20th century into this by using subtle dissonances to create atmosphere and tension. The result was music that seemed Jewish not only in sound but in spirit—passionate, exuberant, melancholy and occasionally grim in outlook. Here was music with both good tunes and emotional character. With his apparent ability to entertain and move the listener Schiff would seem to be a natural theater composer.” Robert Lindstrom, The Oregonian, 2 July 1982. |
| Awards | (not set) |
| Title Category | 2 |
| Title Movements | I. Overture/ The Rabbi's Advice (3"); II. The Wedding Song (4"); III. Pantomime and Bread Song (4"); IV. Jester's Song and Mazel Tov (6") |
| Title Grade | (not set) |
| Set Series ID | (not set) |
| Title Instrument Category Text | Quartet |
| Title Sub Category Text | (not set) |
| Title Sub Category | -1 |
| Title Instrument Header | 19 |
| Title Grade Text | (not set) |
| Clean Url | divertimento-from-gimpel-the-fool-for-clarinet-and-piano-trio-x642709 |