Composition Recital April 25, 2008
On April 25, 2008 I had all of my completed pieces preformed at Florida Southern College (Excluding “Through the Eyes of the Mind”, of course). It was an experience to work with the wonderfully talented musicians at my school. Many of the pieces were completed but never finished. Through the hours of rehearsals I ended editing a lot to do miner tweaks and you’ll even notice on Siam Mais that the video for it (April 19, 2008) actually has a different ending than the recording (April 25, 2008). I have here the program notes from the performance including the performers and a brief description.
I
TRIOVE is a trio of love songs for tenor and piano. Currently only the first movement is complete with the other two in the beginning stages. The title emerged from a combination of the words “trio” and “love” with the movement titles being that of the original poems. The words are based on poems by Billy Corgan. Siam Mais is the first in the trio and speaks of a longing, innocent love.
II
AT THE BOTTOM OF IT ALL was written over two years ago on request by the performer (Brandon Bair) to have piece specifically for bassoon. The piece begins with a basic melody that develops steadily to a climax and finally resolves peacefully at the end.
III
MUSICAL COUCH is based on a simple melody that I had written years ago in high school. I then used it as part of a theory project to accompany an instrument with piano. It’s a comical, upbeat piece that ends as abruptly as it starts.
IV
ERFINDUNG is a piece that started as a counterpoint exercise that expanded to three movements. It is based on the structure of Back’s early 2-part inventions and fugues. The word Erfindung literally translates from German to mean “invention.” Einundzwanzig translates into English as one and twenty (21). The one represents that it is the first movement and the two represents how many voices are used. The second movement Zweiundzwanzig translate as two and twenty (22). Similar to the previous movement the first two represents that it is the voices present and the second two the movement. Lastly Dreiunddeißig translates as three and thirty (33) with the first three representing the voices present and the second three representing the movement number.
V
AVA’S WAR is a 12-tone piece based on Schoenberg’s system in which each of the twelve chromatic pitches can only be used again after all the other pitches have been used. The inspiration for this piece is a story of a girl who was neglected as a child. The first movement Memoir speaks of her child-hood years in which tragedy struck home with the loss of a loved one and the years following. The second movement Aurora shows that not everything is lost and that there is “hope for the future”.
VI
IF HEAVEN WERE TO KNOW expresses the loss of a loved one. Each movement adds another instrument to the musical textures. Passing Time has a double meaning and begins with solo piano. The title refers both to waiting and anxiousness of expected news as well as having someone pass away. The third movement Manifestations adds viola to the piano. This movement refers to the increased grief and the its accompanying chaos. Movement three introduces percussion (vibraphone and tubular bells) and is an extension of the previous movement, in terms of expression. However, Turmoil is more extreme in both it’s positive and negative impact. The final movement adds guitar to the ensemble. Walk at Forty-Eight reflects that no matter what “It’s All Good.” It is a passacaglia and has but one melody that repeats itself. Finally, the Prelude ties everything together by including the first and last instruments together (piano and guitar). This speaks of the time before loss and how simple life can be.
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