Faculty Composer
Concert
Sunday, February 26, 2012
7:30 pm
Recital Hall Music Building
Program
Pack (2012) Alexander Ezerman
Alexander Ezerman, Charles Rasmussen
Caroline Beck, Eric Perreault,
Damian Wilder, Chad Shaffer, Nathan Martin,
and friends, cello
Two Songs from Connie-Lieder (2012) Greg Carroll
I. Watchful Silence
II. Morning Song
Scott McLeod, baritone
Ināra Zandmane, piano
Music For Examining and Buying Merchandise (2011) AlejandroRutty
Steve Stusek, alto saxophone
Kristopher Keeton, vibraphone
Ināra Zandmane, piano
Intermission
Swamp Song, for bassoon and cd (1986) Michael Burns
Michael Burns, bassoon, CD playback
Grace (2012) Mark Engebretson
(2nd mvt. Of Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra)
Performance version for soprano saxophone and piano
Susan Fancher, soprano saxophone
Ināra Zandmane, piano
Fughetta on ‘Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? John Salmon
Mambo Madness
Salmon is A Jumpin’
John Salmon, Antonio Truyols, piano
Program Notes
Alexander Ezerman: Pack
Pack is an episode in the lives of a group of primordial cellists.
Greg Carroll: Two Songs from Connie Lieder
These two songs heard tonight are half of a quartet of songs that will eventually
complete the Connie Lieder. I have previously set two other quartets of poems as song
cycles (Luthardt Lieder and Day Songs, Night Songs—both for soprano voice with piano
accompaniment) on the poems of Klaus Luthardt, an Austrian poet who currently
resides with his wife, Connie, on the Greek island of Kefalonia. The poems are a
celebration of his love for her. Their intimacy and underlying spirituality attracted
my attention; they also contained imagery suitable for musical text painting. I chose to
set these songs for baritone-tenor so as to match the register of the poet’s actual voice.
Watchful Silence
The sun’s vermillion
Reached across the ocean,
Poured into our room.
You turned to greet the light,
Eyes full of grace.
I watched in silence.
Felt the radiance
From your contemplation
Dance through space
Like a masterful melody
Played so exquisitely
Upon a magic flute.
Morning Song
I heard this morning
In your words, the voice
That wants to soothe a world.
And when you looked at me,
The light that seeks to know
Flowed through your eyes
Into the light in me.
We trembled like the earth
Beneath the lightning’s touch,
Spoke the word of arcane energy
That seeks us,
Seeks through us
Until we seek it, too,
Then speaks through us.
~ Klaus Luthardt
Alejandro Rutty: Music For Examining and Buying Merchandise
Examining and buying merchandise, or shopping, normally takes place in an
environment where music designed to encourage spending is played in the
background. As such, the music has a function added to that of listening, which is
mood regulation and behavior control.
This piece, which has as its only purpose to be listened to, paraphrases, from a
distance, some of the features of the music designed for mood-control.
Michael Burns: Swamp Song
Swamp Song was written at the Electronic Music Studios at Victoria University of
Wellington, New Zealand, in 1986. All of the sounds on the tape were originally
produced in some way on the bassoon and then manipulated electronically. One of
the aims was to blur the lines of distinction between electronic and acoustic sounds.
The live bassoon plays some effects intended to sound somewhat electronic, and the
tape plays some barely transformed acoustic sounds. This, I hope, leads to places
where the listener may not be sure of what is on the tape and what is being played
live. The title Swamp Song, while not meant to be programmatic, seems appropriate
for a piece that is intended to be lighthearted and fun and is derived from the
evocative nature of the sounds that emerged on the tape part.
Mark Engebretson: Grace
"Grace" is a piano version of the second movement of a larger Concerto for soprano
saxophone and orchestra. It is a highly ornamented adagio that is harmonically and
expressively rooted in the tradition of the jazz standard. The entire Concerto for
Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra was completed in 2012 for saxophonist Susan
Fancher. The project was supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of
the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment
for the Arts. The work is in three movements, entitled "Groove," "Grace," and "Burn."
The first movement takes inspiration from electronic, pop and hip-hop worlds, and
features a cadenza played over the top of looped orchestral parts. The third
movement is a flashy tour-de-force that fully displays the technical virtuosity of the
soloist. Overall, the Concerto continues my interest in developing pieces in close
collaboration with stellar performers, so that the composition is imbued with aspects
of the musicality, performance abilities and personality of the dedicatee. Susan
Fancher is set to give the first performance of the entire work on April 15, 2012 with
conductor Ligia Amadio and the Symphonic Orchestra of the University of Sao Paulo
in Sala Sao Paulo, Brazil.
John Salmon: Set from Salmon Is A Jumpin’
I was both composer and pianist on Salmon Is A Jumpin’ (Albany Records, Troy
1224), a CD that contains the three pieces to be performed on tonight’s concert. All
the compositions on that recording combine, to one degree or another, classical and
jazz styles, making them belong to the style of music called “third stream.” (I’ve
always thought of myself as swimming upstream.) For some strange reason, I
decided to overdub every track, resulting in a kind of “duet” with myself in which I
constantly altered the ratio of written-out to improvised parts.
Tonight jazz-piano major Antonio Truyols will be my musical accomplice.
“Fughetta on ‘Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?’” is as much a response to Dave
Brubeck’s fugal treatment of Harburg and Gorney’s well-known Depression-era song
as to the original “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” My piece does borrow harmonies
from Harburg and Gorney’s song and the melody does appear briefly, about three
minutes in, but cast in Brubeck’s distinctively imitative counterpoint.
I don’t recommend trying to dance to “Mambo Madness.” The 7/4 meter and frenetic
pace may cause injury.
“Salmon Is A-Jumpin’” would have been grammatically incorrect if referring to the
fish. But, as an autobiographical statement, it is correct, especially when I get in a B-flat
blues swinging mood.
-John Salmon
