DLIII. DRUCKMAN, Jacob (1928-1996)
Divertimento (1950)
1. Allegro aperto (4:46)
2. Adagio (5:55)
3. Scherzando (2:37)
4. Andante (3:32)
5. Allegro (5:36)
David Shirin, clarinet
Robert Johnson, horn
Guillermo Figueroa, violin
Sarah Clark, viola
Jerry Grossman, cello
Barbara Allen, harp
Jacob Druckman had a lot to do with my decision to go Paris and study. He was one of the kindest persons I ever met.
The divertimento, of course, is a term that needs no translation. His first published work, one can hear a very sharply developed style in these five delicious movements.
The first movement -- Allegro aperto -- (open) -- dances and whirls, with a most imaginative spirit.
The Adagio is particularly stunning, a still-life, barely breathing. A short unison line springs out into tangents, which are carefully decorated.
The Scherzando sparkles with wit and energy. Lively, it finally expends its compulsive rhythm and melts into the next movement ...
... Andante. Like the previous slow movement, Druckman uses intervallic leaps as the six instruments weave in and out of a drone-like stillness.
The final movement -- Allegro -- a little Bartók-like -- uses repeated rhythmic cells as a structural foundation on which the different instruments play over. In the middle, a stopped horn plays over an insistent octave motif from the harp. This all flowers into more urgent movement, pushing to a dramatic and exciting conclusion.
The divertimento, of course, is a term that needs no translation. His first published work, one can hear a very sharply developed style in these five delicious movements.
The first movement -- Allegro aperto -- (open) -- dances and whirls, with a most imaginative spirit.
The Adagio is particularly stunning, a still-life, barely breathing. A short unison line springs out into tangents, which are carefully decorated.
The Scherzando sparkles with wit and energy. Lively, it finally expends its compulsive rhythm and melts into the next movement ...
... Andante. Like the previous slow movement, Druckman uses intervallic leaps as the six instruments weave in and out of a drone-like stillness.
The final movement -- Allegro -- a little Bartók-like -- uses repeated rhythmic cells as a structural foundation on which the different instruments play over. In the middle, a stopped horn plays over an insistent octave motif from the harp. This all flowers into more urgent movement, pushing to a dramatic and exciting conclusion.
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