Graduate Composition Recital
March 15, 2010 | 7:00 PM
War Memorial Chapel, Bob Jones University (Greenville, SC)
On the program:
SONATA FOR DOUBLE BASS AND PIANO
Last year Alex Jones commissioned a sonata, and we’re proud to present it on this program. The work follows (roughly) the parameters of classical sonata form, but instead of development of a melody, several sets are developed. These pitch cells recur at various times throughout the sonata and are found under a number of guises.
The sonata opens with the bass playing the main set, an [0123], which is developed for a short time. This atonal melody is treated as if it were tonal, with regard to line and gesture. Indeed, the basis for the work is an examination of how an atonal sonata might have sounded in the late Romantic period. My argument is that even such dissonant music may still be lyrical. After the first set is developed, a second ‘theme’ is presented. It’s a very quiet, thoughtful theme upon which the bass plays an improvisatory cadenza, which is intermittently interrupted by the piano.
In the development section the sonata develops both themes at the same time, blending them to create increased tension. The tempo increases, as does the degree of difficulty, driving ahead into a fugal section based on subsets of the original sets. At the climax of the fugue, the strict counterpoint falls apart, driving frenetically into a clangorous conclusion to the development, which melts immediately into the recapitulation. The first theme is restated, but at the new, faster tempo. After a brief developmental section, we reach a coda, which drives relentlessly toward the end of the work.
The Sonata for Double Bass and Piano will be premiered by Alex Jones and pianist Mark Buller.
STRING QUARTET NO. 2
My first foray into composing for string quartet was an aleatoric piece, the score of which featured lines of music intersecting with each other and curving around the page. For one of the movements, the players were asked to play their line, then play it backwards, then turn the page upside-down and play it that way, much like the Baroque ‘Table canon.’ The next piece for quartet was a set of songs for mezzo-soprano and string quartet. It was with a good deal of excitement, then, that I approached this project. I studied a number of quartets, including those by Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, Bartok, Stravinsky, Danielpour and Jonathan Harvey, before commencing on sketches of the piece. It’s easy to see why so many composers have written for quartet– there are so many great sounds to be coaxed out of the players, yet there’s always that homogeneity of timbre that provides great blend. And even dissonant sections can sound gorgeous because of the overtones produced by the instruments — listen, for example, to the Harvey quartets, which at times are microtonal, and still there’s that underlying sense of lushness and beauty that holds sway.
The Second String Quartet is in three movements. The first is ‘Aria,’ which begins with a simple E major chord. One by one, instruments take turns coming out of the texture and ’singing’ their line to the accompaniment underneath. As the players increasingly embark on solo lines, the accompaniment ceases to exist, and we’re left with a confusing mixture of four independent lines. This climax gradually settles back down to the opening E major chord.
The second movement is a rowdy ‘Toccata’ that begins with a forceful [016] sonority played on four successive downbows. This is immediately contrasted with a quieter section, a combination of pizzicati strings and folksy viola. For 26 measures these alternate in a tug-of-war, before giving way to a nervous B section. In this section the strings present an ostinato on an [0127]; much like the first movement, each player takes a turn playing his signature theme against the backdrop. As players increasingly quote (and even trade) their respective themes and abandon the ostinato, the tension increases, driving us into a short restatement of the original measures.
The third movement is entitled ‘Chorale’ and alternates sections of counterpoint with cadences. The main theme is presented by the first violin, and is complemented by the other players who enter in turn. The movement is comprised of increasingly tense sections (in which each of the instruments presents a take on the main theme) which ‘resolve’ into cadences. After 38 measures, the players play a single F natural, then fan out chromatically into a chord. This occurs two more times; after the latter, the viola is left holding that same F natural, which provides a sort of tonal base against the restating of the original theme by the other instruments. The work ends with the first violin holding an F-sharp against the B-flat major triad in the other instruments, providing a peaceful, if somewhat uncertain, close.
The String Quartet No. 2 will be premiered by Sam Arnold, Allison Chetta, Lydia Minnick, and Chris Erickson.
WIND QUINTET NO. 1 ‘QUODLIBETS’
I’ve always enjoyed small wind ensembles because the great mixture of timbres can create any number of moods and colors. I chose to follow the pensive string quartet with a playful wind quintet because it’s always quite enjoyable writing music in a more lighthearted vein. In planning the quartet, I considered a number of possibilities, but settled on a style used for several centuries: the quodlibet.
A quodlibet is a work which combines popular tunes, usually in a humorous manner. The earliest quodlibets known are from the 15th century, when musicians would combine folk tunes. As time went on, composers began to incorporate popular tunes into their works to show their prowess in contrapuntal styles. Modern composers such as Ives, Cage, Zimmerman, and Berio also used musical quotations in major works. For my wind quintet, I decided to quote (mostly) well-known pieces, some quoted more blatantly than others, and juxtapose them with my own melodies, blending them so that it is at times difficult to tell who wrote what melody.
The first movement is a march and quotes ‘Do you know the muffin man,’ ‘A-hunting we will go,’ a march by Sousa, and ‘Bringing In the Sheaves’ (the latter an homage to Ives). The second movement, a graceful waltz, quotes a popular tune by Strauss. The third movement is a bourée, a dance, often pastoral, originating the the Auvergne region of France. It is in a quick cut time and features both a melody from Beethoven’s 6th symphony (the Pastoral) and, appropriately, a folk song from Auvergne.
The fourth movement, a passacaglia, deserves some explanation. Students of composition have for centuries studied counterpoint, a discipline which requires the composer to write countermelodies to a cantus firmus (a pre-written melody against which other lines of music are written in a polyphonic piece). Perhaps the most popular cantus firmus is one by Johannes Fux, a 17th-century master of counterpoint. This D minor cantus firmus gradually becomes well-known to students of counterpoint. Since a passacaglia is a series of variations over a fixed bass, a cantus firmus is needed. Naturally, the Fux D minor proved a logical choice, but in this passacaglia, nothing is tonal. For the first time, I was allowed to write dissonant, unresolved counterpoint against the cantus firmus. So, each instrument plays a theme by another composer: a melody from Britten’s Peter Grimes, a theme from Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto, and Pachelbel’s Canon in D, itself arguably a passacaglia. After a ‘train wreck,’ I give in and write some tonal counterpoint to the Fux.
The final movement is a gigue, a dance form which often ended Baroque suites. Like those from the Baroque, this is in a fast 6/8; unlike Baroque works, this quotes a famous English jig as well as the theme for a well-known early-1960s television show.
The Wind Quintet No. 1 will be premiered by Lydia Carroll, Meagan O’Malley, Fiona Knoll, Aaron Gellos, and Brittany Batdorf.
FIVE MOTETS
In the Five Motets for choir I’ve set some of my favorite sacred Latin texts. I’ve arranged their order so that they provide a sort of commentary on the life of Christ. The first motet, O nata lux, deals with the incarnation:
O Light born of Light, Jesus, redeemer of the world, with loving-kindness deign to receive supplicant prayer and praise. Thou who once deigned to be clothed in flesh for the sake of the lost, grant us to be members of thy blessed body.
The second text, O magnum mysterium, is well-known:
O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the birth of the Lord lying in a manger. We have witnessed His birth, and heavenly choirs praising the Lord. Alleluia!
The third motet, Tenebrae factae sunt, deals with the crucifixion:
Darkness covered the earth when Jesus was crucified. And around the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice: My God, why hast thou forsaken me? And with his head inclined, he gave up his spirit. Jesus, crying out again with a loud voice, said: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
Ave verum corpus is similarly concerned:
Hail, true Body, born of the virgin Mary, who has truly suffered, was sacrificed on the cross for mortals, whose side was pierced, whence flowed water and blood: Be for us a foretaste of heaven during our final examining. O Jesus sweet, O Jesus pure, O Jesus, son of Mary, have mercy on me. Amen.
The final motet, Ascendit Deus, a Latin version of Psalm 47:5, completes the set by commenting on the ascension:
God is ascended amid jubilation, and the Lord to the sound of the trumpet. Alleluia!
In creating the sound-world for these motets, I aimed for a style that’s up-to-date yet eerily reminiscent of earlier choral styles. Throughout the set may be heard echoes of plainchant, parallel fourths (Machaut, e.g.), and Renaissance cadences. Each motet dons a specific affect, similar to the Baroque aesthetic: chant in O nata lux, added-tone chords and incidental dissonances in O Magnum, wrenching dissonance alternating with simple cadences in Tenebrae, chant again in Ave verum corpus, and jubilation in Ascendit Deus.
Five Motets will be premiered by a chamber choir directed by John Hudson, with pianist Mark Buller.