Robert Capanna’s Piccolo Concertante
World Premiere Recording
Pre-save: choose your preferred music service
Pre-order download from bandcamp (artist friendly)
Bandcamp Listening Party: June 11, 7 PM EST
Track Listing:
Piccolo Concertante for saxophone quartet and string quintet by Robert Capanna
1. Intenso
2. Rilassato
3. Presto
Musicians:
Jan Krzywicki, conductor
PRISM Quartet
Timothy McAllister, soprano saxophone
Zachary Shemon, alto saxophone
Matthew Koester, tenor saxophone (for Matthew Levy)
Taimur Sullivan, baritone saxophone
Network for New Music
Juliette Kang, violin
Mark Rovetti, violin
Burchard Tang, viola
Tom Kraines, cello
Nate West, double bass
Robert Capanna
Liner Notes:
Piccolo Concertante by Robert Capanna (1952-2018)
Notes by Bruce Hodges
Originally written for string quartet and string orchestra, Piccolo Concertante was first performed in 2014 by Orchestra 2001 in Swarthmore. After hearing it, PRISM’s Matt Levy asked Capanna to revise the piece for saxophone quartet and strings, and the result — this version — premiered in 2017 at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. About 18 minutes long, the work is in three movements.
Intenso
Almost exactly the length of the second and third movements combined, the first exploits the luxurious interplay between the saxophones and the string contingent. The strings lead off immediately with sputtering passages marked “col legno battuto” (using the wooden back of the bow) and “sul ponticello” (bowing near the bridge) for a skeletal beginning. In contrast, the saxophones alight, darting in and out in butterfly-like flourishes — a motif that reappears throughout the piece, as the strings mimic the fluttering saxophone cells. Scurrying motion and wide intervallic leaps create a sense of restlessness.
Rilasatto
In the middle movement (which means “relaxed”) the strings hover in languid, sustained chords, with the saxophones resuming their trill-like bubbling. But the harmonic language makes the relaxation feel hesitant, perhaps anticipating the agitation to come in the last movement. The trancelike quality continues until the end, when a calm, deliberate arpeggio levitates upward, before the soprano sax has the last word.
Presto
For the sly finale, the strings, moving quietly and very fast, usher in the saxophones, all marked “piano.” The time signature is an unusual mix of 5/8 with measures of 6/8 and 7/8 sprinkled throughout, lending a peculiar insouciance — like a slightly bewildering march, or an off-kilter ticking clock. The saxophones offer tremolos and tongue slaps, for percussive accents that echo the “battuto” in the strings. Now and then the procession is interrupted by declamatory sequences, in fortissimo measures marked 15/16 for the entire ensemble, before the droll ride comes to an abrupt halt.
Credits:
Producer; Editing/Mixing/Mastering: Matthew Levy
Recorded December 4, 2023 at Elm Street Studios, Conshohocken, PA
Lead Session Engineer: John O. Senior
Assistant Engineer: Nancy Kimmons
Artwork/Design: Jon Rohrer, officeofdevelopment.com
Painting used for album cover: Blueberries, Candle, Games, Hats (2024) by Mariel Capanna (16 x 20 in., oil and wax on linen)
Acknowledgments:
This recording has been made possible with generous support from the Musical Fund Society and an extraordinary collection of Bob’s past friends, collaborators, and colleagues: Eric and Rae Ann Anderson, Ingrid Arauco, The Bissketts, Richard Brodhead and Joellen Meglin, Peter and Miriam Burwasser, Jeffrey Cornelius, William Davison, Carolyn and Norman Ellman, Richard and Cheryl Everill, Carole Haas Gravagno, Stan Harrison and Margot Steinberg, Jan Krzywicki and Susan Nowicki, Natalie Levkovich and Richard Nalbandian, Matthew Levy and Willa Rohrer, Philip and Wendy Maneval, Patricia Manley and Michael Harrington, Karen Mauch and Diane Zilka, Dugan and Kristi Morgridge, Kristine S. Parsons, Linda Reichert, Jay Reise, Teresa Araco Rodgers, Meg and Jacob Smith, Fred Snitzer, Katharine Sokoloff and William B. McLaughlin, Gail Haefner Straith, Fay Trachtenberg and Howard Goldman, Jeannine Burky Webber, and anonymous.
We are especially grateful to Bob’s family — Cathy, Cecelia, Mariel and Tyler, Steve and Katie — for their friendship and kindness. Many thanks to Network for New Music, with a special nod to Artistic Director Thomas Schuttenhelm and Executive Director Susanna Loewy, for being excellent partners!
Record Label / Catalogue Number:
XAS 123
Release Date:
June 13, 2025