Five Duets

By Ingolf Dahl (1912-1970)
1. Sonatina for Donal Michalsky 0:00
2. Invention on Two Intervals for Christie Lundquist 3:20
3. Cadenza Pastorale for Nicolas Roussakis 5:20
4. Invention on a Rhythm for Robert Wojciak 8:20
5. Canonic Rondo for Mitchell Lurie 11:15
Joe Clark, Elisabeth Waldburger, Bb clarinets
Dahl was born Walter Ingolf Marcus in Hamburg to German Jewish attorney Paul Marcus and Swedish Hilda Maria Dahl. Dahl studied piano in Germany but left as the Nazi Party came to power, continuing his studies at the University of Zurich. He became assistant conductor of the Zürich Opera and worked on the premieres of Berg’s Lulu and Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler. Facing antisemitism in Switzerland, he emigrated to the United States in 1939, taking the name Ingolf Dahl to hide his Jewish heritage. He settled in Los Angeles near other expatriate European composers like Darius Milhaud, Arnold Schoenberg, and Igor Stravinsky. He worked as a pianist, conductor, composer, and critic, frequently working in entertainment. He produced arrangements for Tommy Dorsey, gave private lessons to Benny Goodman, and played for many film and TV soundtracks including The Twilight Zone and A Boy Named Charlie Brown. In 1945, he joined the faculty at USC where he taught for the rest of his life. Although he married Etta Gornick Linick, he was gay and had a long relationship with Bill Colvig with her blessing.
Each of the five duets is dedicated to a musician he knew, mostly composers and clarinetists.
Performed at the La Porte High School PAC on May 10, 2024.