Ways of Listening

You may have noticed the link at the end of the recent NY Times review of the Tanglewood performance of my Dark the Star - it takes you to a YouTube posting of a track from the Bridge recording of the piece. The recording is by William Sharp, baritone, the 21st Century Consort, and Christopher Kendall, conductor. You really should pick up a copy of the disc (there are links to do that at the Bridge website), but if you disdain physical media (and paying artists for their work!) and want to hear the piece from the beginning, go here. Dark the Star consists of nine movements played without pause, which means the separate videos for each track of the piece interrupt the flow in disconcerting ways, sometimes in mid-phrase - another reason to spring for the physical disc. The pieces from the Sacred Songs cd featuring soprano Susan Narucki are also on YouTube - here’s the first track from the cycle Holy the Firm.

Another way of listening to my work is to visit the audio excerpts link above. I’ve just posted two items:

- under solo voice, you can find the recent premiere of Shadow Memory, with soprano Lisa Williamson and pianist Rami Sarieddine, recorded at SongFest this past June. The piece is on a text by Susan Orlean.

- under instrumental, you’ll find the Oboe Quartet I wrote for Peggy Pearson and the Apple Hill Quartet, this taken from their performance at St. Paul’s in Brookline, MA this past spring.

And, yes, I was thinking of this title when I titled this post, though not of the book’s content.

In the Shadow of a Premiere

I heard from soprano Lisa Williamson that her premiere of my new song Shadow Memory (with pianist Rami Sarieddine) at SongFest went well this past Wednesday, and that it was well-received. I also heard from Susan Orlean, whose beautiful words I set in this new song. She was able to attend the performance, and was impressed by both the song (“gorgeous”) and by Lisa (“divine”). Here’s hoping Lisa gets more chances to do my music, and that the young artists and faculty who heard the new piece at SongFest also take an interest! SongFest continues through June, if you are in LA, do check out the remarkable array of events they have planned.

Rehearsing Shadow Memory

lisa-homeSongFest has gifted me with a couple of splendid young musicians to give the first performance of my new Susan Orlean song, Shadow Memory. I rehearsed with soprano Lisa Williamson (at left - photo by Brian Hatton) and pianist Rami Sarieddine on Wednesday up at Bard College, and it was immediately clear that they had the piece well in hand. We were able to work on relatively subtle details, little nuances of tempo and dynamics. It’s a simple song, but I think it will be affecting, especially with its beautiful text. Go here to read the essay where I found the text - I used just the last paragraph.

You always learn a few things about a piece and about your notation when you finally hear it tried out. For example, Rami took my notation (see below) to mean that he shouldn’t change the pedal in the first bar. The combination of my request for generous pedaling and the high C sustained in the upper register across the chord change suggested a single pedal for the whole measure. I asked him to change the pedal when the left hand chord changed, otherwise it was too blurry. I think I need to re-write this so that the high C terminates when the harmony changes, that will help make it clear that the pedal should change.

Go here for a page at the SongFest website on the June 3 concert that includes the Shadow Memory premiere. While you are there, look around at some of the other events - there is an astonishing array of talent on the faculty, and with a faculty like that the program attracts very gifted young performers.

Here are a couple of snapshots from my visit to Bard.  The Bitó Music Conservatory Building where we rehearsed:

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There is a suite of John Cage drawings in the lobby:

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as well as a Joel Shapiro, elegant and playful in its balance of forms:

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End of March Miscellany

- The musicians who will premiere my Shadow Memory at SongFest this coming June have been chosen: soprano Lisa Williamson and pianist Rami Sarieddine will give the first performance in Thayer Hall at The Colburn School on June 3.

- fine composer and Penn alum Matthew Schriebeis is blogging at Sound Dialogue.

- much food for thought in Night after Night’s Symphomania post. The complete playlist for the event is here. What would you have included in - or omitted from - that list?