Bassoonarama 12/16/19 Sudler Hall

Wouldn't be Christmas season without an installment of Dr. Frank Morelli's bassoon class doing their annual holiday recital. The 2019 concert was "Happy Anniversaries", a musical stroll through some important dates. In 1894, the Yale fight song Boola Boola March hit the charts (via pony express I guess). The tune sounded as if it was made for 8 bassoons. In 1969, yes you heard right, women were first admitted to Yale. In honor of this woefully out of date date, Morelli accompanied the female bassoonists in his class. In 1924, the former dean and professor of composition Ezra Laderman was born. Laderman composed a solo piece for his student and protege Morelli. In 1678, Antonio Vivaldi was born. The male members of the troupe performed a couple of movements of the Concierto in C major. In 1969, the first of the Godfather movies was released. Scored by the peerless Nino Rota, the bassoon crew played the Godfather waltz, the Godfather theme, Michael's theme and the Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana. All of these selections were familiar and striking in the hands of the crew. Also in 1969, the world watched the moon landing. In homage to this event, the bassoons played Fly Me to the Moon and Moonlight Serenade. In 1969, Sesame Street began, you probably don't remember the episode where Big Bird says " what the cluck is going on here?, you mean women can't go to Yale?! Boola Boola my ass!". In honor of this great show, the bassoons played Rubber Duckie. The final date was 1919, the year that Yale changed its official color from green to blue. The medley started with Kermit's Bein' Green, on to Duke Ellington's Mood Indigo, and ending with the Elvis classic Blue Christmas. The sight and sound of multiple bassoons having fun means Christmas to me.