Saturday, September 28, 2024
8:00 PM
The Boston Symphony Orchestra launches its 2024-25 season with an all-American program led by Music Director Andris Nelsons, including works by critically-acclaimed composer Sarah Kirkland Snider and inaugural BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon. Also, BSO Principal Clarinet William R. Hudgins is the soloist in Aaron Copland’s delightful Clarinet Concerto, contrasted with Samuel Barber’s soulful Adagio for Strings.
Andris Nelsons, conductor
William R. Hudgins, clarinet
Sarah Kirkland SNIDER Forward into Light
Aaron COPLAND Clarinet Concerto
Samuel BARBER Adagio for Strings
Carlos SIMON Wake Up! Concerto for Orchestra
Meet BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon in an interview with WCRB's Brian McCreath.
This concert is no longer available on demand.
Hear a preview of Copland's Clarinet Concerto with William R. Hudgins with the audio player above, and read the transcript below:
TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):
Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Bill Hudgins, Principal Clarinetist of the Boston Symphony. But more importantly for this week, the soloist in Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto. Bill, thanks for a little of your time today. I appreciate it.
William R. Hudgins Thank you, Brian. It's so nice to be here.
Brian McCreath Well, I got to start with what they say interviewers should never do, which is ask a two part question, but I'm going to do it anyway. So, for those of us not super familiar with the clarinet repertoire, is the Copland one of those pieces that must be learned by every serious clarinetist? Or is it more in the sort of fringes of the repertoire? And secondly, when did you first encounter the piece, either as a player or a listener?
William R. Hudgins Yes, every clarinetist will learn this piece because we don't have that many. And by big name composers, this is one of the most important ones. But that being said, I didn't learn this until I was a professional already. I think the first time I played it was with my job that I had in Charleston, South Carolina, with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. The music director there asked me to play it, so that was my introduction to it. Although I do remember the first week I was in Boston to study at Boston University as a student. I remember coming to Symphony Hall and hearing [past BSO Principal Clarinetist] Harold Wright perform this work. I think it might have been my first concert I'd ever heard in Symphony Hall.
Brian McCreath Wow, that's amazing! W hat a fantastic introduction to this place and this orchestra and your teacher, too, right?
William R. Hudgins Right, and my teacher, yes. It's a very fond memory for me.
Brian McCreath Absolutely. Well, beyond the story of it being written for Benny Goodman by maybe arguably the most iconic American composer there is. What is it, musically, that makes this piece so essential to the clarinet repertoire? What does Copland do with the clarinet to make it one of those pieces that, as you say, every clarinetist has to encounter and play?
William R. Hudgins Well, you're adding a depth of musicality to the clarinet repertoire that is not necessarily there. But that being said, this is one side of the clarinet. You know, we spend a lot of time working on Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and these things. And even in pieces like Copland's Appalachian Spring or the ballets, it's a slightly different clarinet writing for part of this concerto because it is going towards Benny Goodman and the big band style. There's a little bit of that inflection in a lot of this piece, and so, for someone that plays classical music all the time, that's just a lot of fun to get to slide into that category that's different a little bit.
Brian McCreath When this season was being planned, was this basically presented as the concerto we want you to do, or was it more a question of the BSO saying, well, Bill, maybe a concerto... what do you think? Which one?
William R. Hudgins In this case, they came to me and said, we'd like to schedule the Copland Clarinet Concerto. Would you be willing to play it? And whether it was smart of me to say yes or not, I did say yes, and I'm having fun. And hopefully it'll be a lot of fun for the audience, too.
Brian McCreath Well, I think that the rest of us will just absolutely say we're glad that you agreed to do it. So, Bill, thanks a lot for your time today. I appreciate it.
William R. Hudgins Okay. Thank you, Brian.