Dec 7, 2009
7:30pm
c:n Garden
538 Reading Road
Downtown Cincinnati
The Program
Domine Deus virtutem
O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae
led by Ken Lam & Matthew Peattie
George Crumb: Vox Balaenae (1971)
Randolph Bowman, flute/ Theodore Nelson, cello/ Julie Spangler, piano
Toru Takemitsu: Raintree (1981)
Patrick Schleker, Jeff Luft, Brady Harrison, percussionists
André Jolivet: Chant de Linos (1944)
Randolph Bowman, flute/ Anna Reider, violin/ Heidi Yenney, viola/ Theodore Nelson, cello/ Gillian Benet Sella, harp
George Tsontakis: Gymnopedies (2007)
Randolph Bowman, flute/ Ixi Chen, clarinet/ Matt Annin, horn/ Tatiana Berman, violin/ Theodore Nelson, cello/ Gillian Benet Sella, harp/ Julie Spangler, piano
Arvo Part: Fratres for Strings (1983, revised 1991)
Tatiana Berman, violin/ Anna Reider, violin/ Heidi Yenney, viola/ Theodore Nelson, cello
Domine Deus virtutem
O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae
Thomas Tallis: O Nata Lux
led by Ken Lam & Matthew Peattie
Video Art by Charles Woodman
Light Sculpture by Tony Luensman
Multimedia artists Charles Woodman and Anthony Luensman will join concert:nova for an interplay of sound, video, and light. The music of George Crumb, Arvo Part, Andre Jolivet, and Toru Takemitsu will serve as springboards for Woodman and Luensman’s imaginations.
American George Crumb has cultivated a distinctive voice through his fusion of electronics, theatrical gestures, and literary inspiration, ranging from the religious to contemporary poetry. His Vox Balaenae (“Voice of the Whale”) is a study of nature. Written for flute, cello, and piano, all amplified in performance, Vox Balaenae was inspired by the singing of the humpback whale. The piece has a simple three-part design consisting of a prologue, a set of variations named after the geological eras, and an epilogue. In his notes, Crumb discusses his artistic vision: “Each of the three performers wears a black half-mask (or visor-mask). The masks, through a sense of human projection, are intended to represent symbolically represent the powerful, impersonal forces of nature (i.e. nature dehumanized). I have also suggested that the work be performed under deep-blue stage lighting.”
Toru Takemitsu merged elements of Eastern and Western music to forge his own unique musical language. Rain Tree, written in 1981, takes its origin from a description of a tree in Kenzaburo Oe's novel Clever Rain Tree. A tree with tiny leaves collecs and retains water from a morning rain shower, so that later, when the rain has stopped, raindrops still fall from the tree. Rain Tree and has been described "as a metaphor of water circulating in the cosmos". Much of his evocative cosmic imagery was directly influenced by Olivier Messiaen, and his later Rain Tree Sketches were dedicated to him.
Andre Jolivet composed his Chant de Linos for flute, violin, viola, cello, and harp in 1944 originally as a piece for solo flute and piano. The Chant de Linos is an ancient Greek mourning chant based on a six-tone scale that evokes an antique modality. The chant is a lament for the death of Linos, who was the greatest mortal musician his time, who aroused a jealousy so great in Apollo, that he killed him. The magic, ritual and incantatory aspects of ancient music is Jolivet's compositional focal point.
George Tsontakis is the director of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Composer-in-Residence at the Aspen Music Festival and at Bard College. He is the recipient of the prestigious Charles Ives Living by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The Gymopedies are" four compact pieces that highlight translucent colors, textural layering and centrifugal energies". The musical structure bears no reference to preconceived form, and each movement expresses a single image or idea, with all the colors and shapes reflecting each idea. The work offers a magical atmosphere, shimmering colors and textured translucence to the program.
Estonian Arvo Pärt has carved out a special 20th Century niche. His creation of medieval music and his development of “sacred minimalism” have had a profound impact on his contemporaries. His Fratres for Strings strongly resembles a Gregorian Chant. To bring the piece to life, concert:nova will perform the work beneath a projection of Woodman’s magisterial video of sunlight and sky created specifically for the event.
