THE CD
COLORS
Color, and colors, are words that are visual in nature, but so often used as descriptive devices for what we hear, whether it be the blue note, the brown sound, the “Blue Danube” or “Purple Haze”, or in more generalized terms such as instrumental colors or a colorful score. Sy Brandon’s “Southwestern Suite” captures the many colors of the history of the American southwest, from cowboy prairies to Mexican
fiestas. Eugene Bozza’s “Trois Pieces” explores the many colors of the flute and the guitar with great nuance and detail in hue and saturation. Finally, we wanted to capture the unique colors of our instruments, asthe combination of wood flute and guitar enables us to create new colors together.
THE ARTISTS
DUOZONA
THERESA HULIHAN, FLUTE
CHARLES HULIHAN, GUITAR
Duozona is rapidly becoming recognized as one of the top flute and guitar duos, excelling at balancing artistic depth, style, and interpretation, with inviting, warm, and often humorous commentary and dialogue. Charles and Theresa Hulihan have been described as “understated yet virtuosic”, their concerts hailed “truly an evening of Bravos” and their programming called “a global trek of sound”. A vibrant and gifted pair that presents a rich and colorful palette of
musical styles from all over the world, their joy in music making and their unique abilities to communicate with both one another and with audiences is displayed in their compelling performances and magnetic presence on the concert stage. The duo has been coached by a wide variety of musicians including guitarists Frank Koonce and Sharon
Isbin, flutists Ransom Wilson and Trygve Peterson, and oboist Martin Schuring. They first met while students at Arizona State University,and since have performed throughout North America including concerts in Washington, Rhode Island, California, New Mexico, Colorado, and throughout Arizona. Noted performances include concerts for the Seattle Guitar Society, Grand Canyon Guitar Society, American Mandolin and Guitar Summer School, Guitar Associates Summer Workshop, Pepperdine University, Chandler Center for the Arts, Scottsdale Center for the Arts, and multiple appearances at the Kerr Cultural Center. In June 2006, the duo performed at the first Wood Flute Conference at the University of Washington, where they were featured in concert, discussed their work as a duo in symposium,
and had the honor of performing in a memorial concert for renowned flutist and wooden flute revival pioneer Felix Skowronek.
Duozona have begun to enrich their repertoire with new works by contemporary composers. Noted guitarist, composer, and writer John W. Duarte wrote one of his final works for Duozona, "Five Moods", each of the five movements depicting a different aspect of their personalities and reflective of many genres of American music. In 2007, Duozona released their first CD, “Colors”, which includes music by Eugene Bozza, Jacques Ibert, and Jan Truhlar, and features original works by Sy Brandon, including the world premiere recording of "Southwestern Suite" written for Duzona with support from the Co-Op Press Commission Assistance Grant. In addition to their musical performances, both Chuck and Theresa are active teachers and ardent supporters of programs in the arts. They have a combined experience that includes primary, secondary, and college teaching, arts organization board membership, non-profit administration, musical adjudication, lecturing, guest speaking, chamber music coaching, conducting, concert promoting and presenting, and public radio. They reside in Phoenix, Arizona, where they both teach at Glendale Community College and share a love for the music of Django Reinhardt and their English Bulldogs.
“The pair takes their listeners on a global trek of sound, acting as musical and cultural guides through some of the spiciest sounds on earth.”
-Flagstaff Live
"Your outstanding program, your passion and energy touched us all, it was truly an evening of BRAVOS!"
-Seattle Classical Guitar Society
You communicate wonderfully with the audience and with each other, and you are inspiring in an unpretentious and audience-friendly way. I wish you the great success you deserve.”
--Frank Koonce, guitarist
"Duozona are witty, inventive, and musically engaging. Their playing is beautiful, and they have a knack for programming that is very rare indeed."
--Ransom Wilson, flutist/conductor
The audience senses their excitement about music making no matter what style being performed. They are the consummate artists!"
--Sy Brandon, composer
"Duozona are blessed with excellent technique and fine musicality, and are pleasing to watch. What more needs to be said?"
--John Duarte, composer/guitarist/writer
THE COMPOSERS
THEIR PIECES
SY BRANDON
Sy Brandon (b.1945) professor emeritus of music from Millersville University, Millersville, PA, has received numerous commissions and honors including 1st place in WITF-FM’s 25th Anniversary Composition Contest, and the New England String Ensemble Composition Contest. His music has been recorded by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Bulgarica, the Kiev Philharmonic and has been performed both throughout the United States and abroad including performances by the United States Army, Navy and Air Force Bands, and on NPR’s Performance Today. A complete bio, discography and catalog is available at http://coopress.hostrack.net.
FOUR SPANISH DANCES
Four Spanish Dances was composed in 1997 at the request of Dr. Andy Wen for a performance at the World Saxophone Congress in Valencia, Spain. In 2001, it was transcribed by the composer for flute and guitar. Zortziko~ is a fast dance with five beats per measure with frequent dotted rhythms. Flemenco ~ is a dance in minor that disguises its modality by vascillating between the normal and lowered second degree of the scale, and the normal and raised third degree of the scale. It has a narrow range, absence of strict meter, expressive ornamentation, short phrases, a melancholy mood and often begins with “ay”. The Malagueña ~ is an emotional song using an ostinato of VIII, VII, VI, V in minor with an improvised melody. Polo ~ is a moderate dance with three beats per measure with hemiola rhythms. It also contains rapid colorations and uses the words "ay” and “ole”.
SOUTHWESTERN SUITE
Southwestern Suite was composed during 2004 at the request of DUOZONA. The work is based on American themes and it provides a balance of aesthetic depth, tonal variety, and audience appeal. The piece is divided into three sections, NATIVE AMERICAN SONGS, COWBOY SONGS and MEXICAN SONGS, with each section containing multi-movements. The composition is more than arrangement of folk songs. It is best described as “settings”, where the basic character of the songs are retained, yet elements of them are transformed and treated in the manner of compositional development, i.e. fragmentation, ornamentation, modulation, contrapuntal
treatment and alternate harmony.
THREE PRELUDES
Three Preludes is a 2001 transcription of the composer’s Preludes for English Horn and Guitar. Two slow rubato preludes frame a fast, rhythmic prelude and all are influenced by the music of Spain.
JAN TRUHLAR
Jan Truhlar (b.1928) attended the Prague Conservatoire as a student of both guitar and composition, and has taught at the Conservatoires in Kosice and Prague. Since his first years composing, Jan Truhlar has given great importance to the guitar, both as a solo and as a chamber instrument, and has also written fro the instrument in concerto settings. His music has been premiered by such notable guitarists as
Konrad Ragossnig and Narciso Yepes. Truhlar’s writing style has varied over the years from neoclassicism to atonality, and his works often feature twelve-tone theory, serial harmony and aleatoric techniques.
SONATINA SEMPLICE Op. 18
Sonatina Semplice Op. 18, is a very early work of Truhlar, and is one of several written for the combination of flute and guitar, an output which also includes works for flute, guitar, and orchestra, a rarity to say the least. The Sonatina begins with a thoroughly modernistic line in the guitar, but immediately heads in almost an opposite direction, with a harmonic and melodic style grounded in tonality and, as the title suggests, simplicity.
EUGENE BOZZA
Eugene Bozza (1905-1991) contributed greatly to the large body of chamber music for woodwind instruments written in the twentieth century. His chamber music for winds shows great familiarity with the capabilities of the instruments, often demanding a great deal of technical skill, without losing the expressive, melodic style that is typical of French chamber music in the last century. He studied
composition, conducting, and violin at the Paris Conservatoire and served was director of the Ecole Nationale de Musique, in Valenciennes. His cantata La légende de Roukm a ni won him the Prixde Rome in 1934.
BERCUSE ET SERENADE
Berceuse et Serenade offers the listener an escape to the French countryside, with its languid flute melodies and lilting rhythms of the guitar.
TROIS PIECES
Trois Pieces displays the composer’s obvious familiarity with the tonal shades and technical capabilities of the flute, while at the same time exploring colorful use of idiomatic guitar effects such as natural harmonics, rasgueado strums, and pizzicato lines. Bozza strikes a
balance between the robust excitement of the outer movements and the serene, almost haunting character of the middle movement.
JAQUES IBERT
ENTR’ACTE
PARABOLES
Jacques Ibert (1890-1962) is known for his contagious melodies, unique craftsmanship, and use of lighthearted mood that is present in so much of his music. Like Bozza, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won the Prix de Rome for a cantata, his work Le poète et la fée. He went on to direct the French Academy in Rome and later, Paris's
Opéra-Comique. Ibert is included on a long list of French composers (Ravel, Debussy, Chabrier to name a few) enticed by the exotic sounds of Spain.
The short but dazzling Entr'acte is one of his most well-known works and certainly one of the most played by flute and guitar duos. Written as incidental music for a French production of Pedro Calderón's El médico de su honra, the piece opens with a breathless, whirling dance with a driving accompaniment, inspired by flamenco guitar music. The music clearly calls to mind an animated flamenco dancer proudly displaying their footwork, from the fiery opening, through the enticing guitar cadenza, and leading into the final stamping of the heels.
Also from Calderón's El médico de su honra and originally arranged for two guitars, Ibert’s Paraboles show the composers fondness for the Spanish guitar . The first movement (allegro moderato) is characterized by the way in which the composer plays around with the different possible ways of accenting the beat in 3/4 time. The movement starts with strong rasguaedos and ends with intense chords. The second movement begins with enchanting, contemplative
harmonics, moves on through short solo passages in both instruments, to a final dance in 4/4 that gradually fades away.
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