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This page is for you - our audience. We always enjoy talking to you during our performances about the pieces and composers you're about to hear, but often we have more to say than we have time for. So we'd like to take this opportunity to give you some advance program notes for our next concert. Here you can read about the composers, the pieces and find links to more detailed information on our concert repertoire.
Back To The Movies - Part II
Saturday - May 30, 2009Notes coming soon!!
Program Notes for our March 29th concert
"Women In Music"
Meet our Featured Composer - Melinda Wagner
“Imagine Elliott Carter and Olivier Messiaen teaming up to write a concerto, add a certain lithe sense of mystery that is Wagner's own and you'll have some idea of ‘Extremity of Sky.’” The comparison with two of the giants of 20th and early 21st century music may give you an initial sense of Melinda Wagner’s music, blending form and fantasy, but what is the impact of that style? How does it make you feel? When Tim Page wrote those words in the Washington Post about Wagner’s Piano Concerto, he also made mention of the “prismatic color and romantic fantasy.” Expressing in words a non-verbal art form can be challenging, but time and time again, commentators on Wagner’s music seem to have no problem in finding a rich, highly descriptive, emotive vocabulary. Sure, they comment on the admirable structure with words such as “well-conceived,” “well-crafted,” “finely structured”; but the focus always moves to language associated with the joy of listening – “captivating,” “magical,” “beguiling,” “shimmering,” “attractive and intriguing,” “moments of exceptional beauty and wonderful atmosphere.” Structure provides the base, but it is the emotional response that keeps you wanting more. [Quotes include, among others, American Record Guide, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, and Jeanne Baxtresser, former Principal Flute of the New York Philharmonic]
Where does this emotional response originate? In the composer’s own words: “Music offers composers an immeasurably rich and generous sonic landscape in which to explore the 'life story' of each musical idea — its dramas, intrigues, joys and sorrows — a life. I strive to find various and persuasive ways of moving through the resulting temporal narrative, and to traverse a wide spectrum of expression and color on the way. Ultimately, I want listeners to know me; I want them to hear that while I enjoy the cerebral exercise, I am led principally by my ear, and by my heart.”
Wagner comments further on communicating with the audience: “There is great pressure upon composers these days simply to amuse quickly — to cultivate thrilling moments in the present of a work, without requiring the listener to engage in retrospect or anticipation. I want the audience experience to be nuanced and multi-layered, so that when a work is heard again, something different, more subtle perhaps, will be revealed.” To achieve this, she is aware of the three essential elements in a performance: the composer, the musician, and the listener. “I become very connected to the musicians who perform my music; there is always electricity in the relationship between us. I want the audience to be a part of that — to complete the circuit.”
Her colorful Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion, commissioned by Paul Lustig Dunkel and the Westchester Philharmonic, was awarded the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in Music (the only flute concerto to date to win the coveted award). Since then, she has written Concerto for Trombone, for Joseph Alessi and the New York Philharmonic, and a piano concerto, Extremity of Sky, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony for Emanuel Ax, who has also performed it with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Staatskapelle Berlin. In addition to Extremity of Sky (2002), the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has commissioned two other major works: Falling Angels (1992), and a forthcoming work for the 2011-12 season.more notes on the program coming soon....
"West meets east"
-an evening of Asian and Asian-related works-November 15, 2008
Our Featured composer - Sunbin Kim
At the age of four, prior to receiving any musical training, Sunbin Kim composed his first short songs on piano. At age 8, in his first public recital, Sunbin premiered twenty-six of his own compositions for piano and string chamber orchestra at Seoul's Opus Hall. Sunbin has been recognized seven times in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Competition. He was a finalist in 2000, at the age of ten, and has since won awards in 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007. He received Honorable Mention in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, he also won the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts/Hartt School Community Division's Young Composers Award. In 2005, Sunbin won the Bradshaw-Buono International Piano Competition which resulted in a performance at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. He was also elected to receive the 2005 New Jersey Governor's Award for Arts Education in music composition. In 2006, Sunbin was also a winner of the international North/South Consonance Composers Competition for Aphorisms, a sonata for solo oboe composed for Sarah Davol which resulted in a New York City premiere of the piece by Ms. Davol in May of that year. The Pike's Peak Young Composers Competition also honored him with a First Place award for his solo piano piece, Elegy; he received Honorable Mention for Aphorisms in the same competition.
Sunbin has studied composition with Dr. Stephen Sacco at the Mannes College of Music and is now studying with Joan Tower at Bard College. He studies piano privately with Thomas Osuga. For the past two summers, Sunbin attended Boston University's Tanglewood Institute's Young Composers Program.
This commissioned work, "Whirlwind" is designed to capture the imagination with swirls of sound that mimic a dust-driven storm - quite an effective piece.
Each year PV gives a recognition award to an outstanding student as outlined below:
PV Young Artist Recognition AwardMission: To recognize outstanding High School music students in our area.
Award: $100, a certificate or plaque and a chance to perform on a PV series concert.
Selection: Winner is chosen by the chairman of a high school music department. PV & the Board will select the chosen high school in a random process.(PV would like to thank The Trophy King (309 Queen Anne Road Teaneck, NJ – (201)836-1482 - www.trophyking.net) for providing the award plaque. )
This year's recipient is ALLIE STEINBERG
Allie is a senior at Ridgewood High School. She has been studying voice with Forrest Munger this past year, and is currently in a musical theater workshop with Marla Schaffel. This past summer, Allie attended the NYU Steinhardt pre college musical theater program and the Musical Theater Laboratory with Elizabeth Parkinson and Scott Wise. In school, she is a member of the New Players Company and the Ridgewood High School Chamber Choir. Allie would like to thank Forrest Munger for his wonderful training, inspiration, and continuation of Diane Durand's legacy.
Allie performed two songs on our program: "Del Cabello Mas Sutil" by Fernando Obradors and "Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here!" from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
We opened our program with "Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes" from Ma Mére L’Oye by Maurice Ravel. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the Ma Mére L’Oye (Mother Goose Suite) was originally a 4-hand piano work. Ravel later orchestrated the work. We created our PV "corruption" (as we are fond of calling our arrangements) by melding the flute, piccolo & clarinet parts from the orchestral version with the bottom two hands of the 4-hand piano part. It served as a delightful entry into our program of Asian and Asian related works.
Godfrey Schroth [b. 1927] is one of our commissioned composers. He composed "Variations of an Appalachian Carol" for us in 2003 as one of our first commissioned works. A pupil of the noted American composer, Paul Creston, Godfrey Schroth first came to attention in 1959, when his Piano Quintet won the LADO Foundation Prize for chamber music, and was subsequently premiered in New York by the Phoenix Quartet. Many published choral and organ pieces followed; “A Solemn English Mass” was the first vernacular setting sung at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In 1973, on a grant from the NJ Arts Council, he wrote Rocky Mountain Serenade for Strings, Percussion and Guitar for the Pueblo (Colorado) Arts Festival. In 1979 he completed “Green Graves and Violets”, a vocal chamber cycle, which celebrated the writings of a forgotten Civil War poetess, the tragic Ellen Howarth. "The Mystic Trumpeter", a work for chorus and wind ensemble on a Walt Whitman text, was commissioned by the Pro Arte Chorale and received its premiere performance in March 1999. Other recent compositions by Mr. Schroth include a Ballade for Clarinet, Horn and Piano, an orchestral “Threnody For The Victims Of September 11”, a song cycle, “Strangeness of Heart” settings of poems by Siegfried Sassoon, and a recently premiered “Magnificat” for soprano and chamber ensemble.
On this program, Don & Ron performed his "Memories of Anatolia" for clarinet & piano. Schroth writes of this piece "It is a product ofour extensive travels through Turkey. The sarcophagus (in the first movement) is in Istanbul's Archeological Museum. Aphrodisias was a splendid Greco-Roman city only excavated in recent years. It was the center of the cult of Aphrodite. It had its own school of sculpture and was also dedicated to music and the dance."
Ikuma Dan was an incredibly prolific composer during the "Golden Age of Japanese Cinema." Born in 1924, Dan showed a very early interest in music as he began to learn the piano at age seven. A graduate of the Tokyo Music Academy, he also enlisted in the Toyama military band school during World War II. After the war and his graduation, Dan signed an exclusive agreement with NHK. During this period, the composer created several popular operas including his famous Twilight Crane in 1952. His success in this regard caught the attention of Toho, as he was brought on to compose his first ever soundtrack for the 1952 production Sword for Hire. Pleased with his work, Toho then signed the composer up under contract in 1954, as Dan would create numerous scores for the company over the years, including as many as seven soundtracks in both 1956 and 1957 for Toho and its affiliates. Dan's success in both film scores and his operas led the composer to be picked to create the opening music for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. It was around this time that the composer also briefly took up a more active role in film, writing the story for the 1965 movie We Will Remember, for which he used his own military band experience to help create. Ultimately, he left film composition in 1970 at the age of 46, with his last soundtrack Grand Everest Descent. Dan continued scoring operas, though, while he also became active in trying to improve cultural relations between China and Japan; something that he continued to work toward up until 2001 when he passed away while visiting Suzhou, China.
Margaret & Ron performed his "Theme and Variations" from the Sonata for Flute & Piano[1986] - a delightful and imaginative set of variations on a Japanese-sounding theme, not a strict folk melody. The variations themselves are more Western than Eastern in compositional style, reminiscent of Schubert, Reinecke and even Nielsen at times.
Maria Grenfell was born in Malaysia in 1969 and was raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, graduating with a Master of Music degree from the University of Canterbury. She completed further studies in the USA, gaining a Master of Arts from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and a doctorate from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where she was also a lecturer. Her teachers have included Stephen Hartke, Erica Muhl, James Hopkins and Morten Lauridsen in Los Angeles, and Joseph Schwantner and Samuel Adler in New York.
Grenfell's work takes much of its influence from poetic, literary and visual sources and from non-Western music and literature. Her works have been performed by musicians such as the Australia Ensemble, The Seymour Group, the Vienna Piano Trio, the New Zealand Trio, the Esperance Trio, Stellar Collective, and Antipoduo in the Netherlands. Orchestras that have commissioned, performed or recorded her music include the Adelaide, Queensland, Sydney, Tasmanian, West Australian Symphony Orchestras, as well as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Auckland Chamber Orchestra, Wellington Sinfonia and the Christchurch Symphony. Grenfell's music is broadcast regularly on ABC Classic FM in Australia and Concert FM in New Zealand, and is released on Kiwi-Pacific and Trust CDs. Her works are available from the Australian Music Centre, SOUNZ New Zealand Music Centre, Opus House Press and Reed Music.
Grenfell has been a violinist with the Christchurch Symphony and the New Zealand Youth Orchestra, and has performed bowed piano with the University of Southern California Percussion Ensemble. Her awards include the Jimmy McHugh Composition Prize and the Halsey Stevens Prize from the University of Southern California, the Composers' Association of New Zealand Trust Fund Award and the University of Otago's prestigious Philip Neill Memorial Prize. Grenfell lives in Hobart, Australia, with her husband, guitarist David Malone, and son, Alexander, and is a lecturer in music at the University of Tasmania Conservatorium of Music.
We programmed this work a couple of seasons ago but brought it back again because we really enjoyed performing it so much and because it fit into the programming for this concert so well.
Ms. Grenfell writes of this work: "Poems of a Bright Moon" (2000) for flute/alto flute, clarinet and piano was inspired by the Hsiang-Yang Songs of Li Po, an 8th-century Chinese poet of the T’ang Dynasty (ca.618-906 A.D.). On a visit to New Mexico in the United States, the discovery of the poet William Carlos Williams and the art work of Georgia O’Keeffe led to the poetry of Li Po, which conjures up visions of mountains and rivers, also very much part of the New Mexico landscape. Li Po was something of a mischievous travelling minstrel and liked to indulge in the drink somewhat. A legend says that “while out drunk in a boat, he fell into a river and drowned trying to embrace the moon.” The moon appears in over a third of his poems, and the opportunity to combine Li Po’s images of moonlight with the rich dark tones of the alto flute was irresistible. The individual titles of the movements of this piece come directly from the poems, and the music attempts to evoke the spirit of the titles: “Hsien mountain rises above emerald Han river,” “On a moonlit night, a recluse plays his pale white ch’in” and “A pure ten-thousand-mile wind arrives.” Poems of a Bright Moon was commissioned by Ethos trio with funding assistance from Creative New Zealand.
Ron also performed two solo piano works - "Pagodes" from Estampes by Debussy and "Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon" [1975] by Jian-Zhong Wang, a prolific Chinese composer who is Vice President of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Artistic Director of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music Youth Symphony Orchestra.
"PV Goes Green"
-works related to nature-
September 27, 2008Our featured composer - Amanda Harberg
A native of Philadelphia, Amanda Harberg has performed and had her music performed in Lincoln Center, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, the Juilliard School, the Eastman School’s Women in Music Festival, the National Flute Convention, the New York State Piano Teachers Convention at Ithaca College, the National Theory Convention at Skidmore College, the MLA Convention, the Chautauqua Music Festival, Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Woodmere Art Museum, and many other universities and recitals throughout the country. Harberg has received many prizes including a Fulbright/Hays Fellowship, a MacDowell Colony summer residency, regular ASCAP Plus awards, and a Whittaker Reading Session with the American Composers Orchestra. Her commissions include those from the New York Youth Symphony, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Palisades Virtuosi, the Harmonium Choral Society, the New York State Music Teachers Association, the Juilliard School’s ‘Piano Century’ Festival, the New Juilliard Ensemble, the Azure Ensemble, the Margaret Atwood Commissioning Project, and from the violist Brett Deubner. Harberg has also composed music for several PBS documentaries. Harberg’s music has been recorded by Koch International, the Centurion label and on an independent label. She has taught at Juilliard and at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, as well as maintaining an active private teaching studio since 1997. Harberg received her BM and MM from the Juilliard School, where she was awarded the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding accomplishment. Harberg currently lives in New Jersey with her family.
‘Birding in the Palisades’
Commissioned by the Palisades Virtuosi, ‘Birding in the Palisades’ is a three-movement piece for flute, clarinet and piano. The first movement, ‘Eagles’ Flight’, depicts an aural dance between two American Bald Eagles perched high on treetops swaying in a gusty breeze. When the wind picks up, the Eagles take flight and we follow them as they play in the sky, soaring, diving, and gliding.
‘The Kingfisher and the Fish’, the second movement, is a wry dramatic miniature set around a small pond (the piano). A fish (the clarinet) is swimming peacefully, oblivious to the hungry Belted Kingfisher (the flute) hovering above. The Kingfisher makes a ratcheting sound as it flies, which the flute mirrors with its ‘fluttertongue’ effect. Does the Kingfisher get its meal? Come find out…
The third and final movement,‘The Crows of Tokyo (PV Takes a Field Trip)’ is an exploration of nature out of balance. This piece was inspired by my reading about the Crows of Tokyo. Due to the large amount of waste produced by Western-influenced Japan, the huge scavenging Crows of Tokyo (much larger and more aggressive than the American Crow) are flourishing more than ever, and are becoming a problem in Japanese cities. The intelligent birds are causing frequent short-circuits, blackouts and even disrupted train service from biting into power lines. They will sometimes go aggressively after people carrying bags of food and they are constantly outsmarting culling efforts. After one of the birds attacked the mayor of Tokyo in 2001, the city responded by killing 93,000 crows between 2001 and 2008. Other cities are now following Tokyo’s example. Japan’s crow problem is reflected in the violent outer sections of the movement.
I was struck by this piece of news because I have been touched by the spiritual belief of many Native American tribes, in which Crows represent wisdom that transcends ordinary dimensions such as space and time. They are seen as harbingers of change who sometimes pass important messages to humans. Many Native American believe that if a Crow talks to you, it is advisable to listen. Today, I wonder if we are listening closely enough to what the crows of Tokyo are telling us? The piccolo solo in the middle of the movement is a meditation on the strange wisdom of the crow. - A. Harberg
Papillons, for flute, clarinet & piano [2005] Kristofer Spike (b. 1959)
This piece was inspired by the butterflies of Northern California during a 5 week hiking trip undertaken by the composer in the summer of 2005. Even before they begin flying, butterflies move their wings slowly up and down and this is suggested by the opening notes of the clarinet.. The flute takes to the air with a busy melody which is later taken up by the other instruments as they joyfully spiral around each other. The second theme has the lilt of a larger and slower butterfly. Spike says that this melody....."came into my head as I was falling asleep in my tent after a long and strenuous day. I hummed it over and over again hoping I would remember it in the morning but when I woke up it was gone. Several hours later while back on the trail the theme floated back into my head like a butterfly on a summer breeze."Kristofer Spike
Kris is a Sydney-born composer, pianist and environmental campaigner who began learning the organ with Eric Smith at the Wesley Chapel and later studied piano with Albert Landa at the Sydney Conservatorium where he also gained his Bachelor of Music Education. Kris has pursued a variety of activities in popular and classical music and his compositions combine elements of both. Several of his chamber works have been performed in live broadcasts on ABC Classic FM and in 2004 one of his songs was featured in the 200th anniversary celebrations of The Battle of Vinegar Hill in Sydney's Hills District. Kris has recorded 2 CDs of his compositions for piano and winds and has recently finished a third featuring Australia's internationally renown oboist, Diana Doherty. When not involved with music, he likes to spend time in the outdoors and involves himself in the fight to preserve wilderness for future generations.
Papillon Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Aye-Aye (from “Endangered Species”, for piano) Godfrey Schroth (b. 1927)
Rain Dance, for flute & tape [1993] Mark Phillips (b. 1952)
The composer's notes: "Rain Dance has four main contrasting sections or movements which are linked together and performed without pause. The first and third sections are related by both their accompaniment and the lyrical nature of the flute line. The second section is pointillistic and builds to a grand climax where the soloist must struggle to avoid drowning. A brief flute cadenza links the third movement to the rollicking, rondo-like finale,m which features a very brief (and very "wet") tape music "cadenza." [ It's all I can do to keep from putting up my hands to protect myself from getting wet during this "downpour"!!-Margaret says] Nearly all of the sounds in the tape music accompaniment for Rain Dance are derived from half a dozen flute sounds and a couple of different water sounds. Mostly I chose flute sounds such as key clicks, flutter tonguing, tremolos, blowing air without producing a tone, etc. - rather than ordinary flute tones. In addition, a few white noise and percussion sounds are used. The title and the nature of the sounds on the tape are meant to be evocative merely in a general way. There is no strict programmatic intent nor does the work derive inspiration from any specific culture or ritual. The idea for combining water sounds with the flute sounds, which were the original basis for the composition, grew out of what I perceived to be a complementary sonic relationship betweeen water drops and some of my transformed key clicks. However as the piece began to develpp and the title took hold, some very peculiar national weather patterns set in. I had the eerie experience of being immersed in the sounds of this composition as the Mississippi River valley endured the flood of the century, while much of the East, including my part of Ohio, suffered a severe summer-long- drought."I first encountered this piece in 1995 when I performed it at the Lancaster Festival in Ohio. Mark and I still correspond and he was delighted when I told him I would perform this piece again. It's a very effective piece and a lot of fun to play. I particularly love the "Daphnis & Chloe" imagery of the 3rd movement and the boogie rhythms in the 4th movement. I also had an eerie experience - I found as I practiced more and more, our unusually dry weather gave way to absolute downpours the day before the concert, and hence I felt an apology was due to the audience for the inclement weather I had brought upon us! - Margaret
Le Calme de la Mer (from “Suite Eolienne”, for flute, clarinet & piano) Tony Aubin (1907-1981)
Two settings of “Green,” by Paul Verlaine:
Green, Op. 58, No. 3 Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Green (from "Ariettes oubliees”) Claude Debussy (1862-1918)Julie Schmidt, soprano “Green” - text by Paul VerlaineHere are fruits, flowers, leaves and branches,
And here, also, is my heart which beats only for you.
Do not tear it apart with your two white hands,
And may this humble offering seem sweet to your so lovely eyes.
I come, still covered with dew,
Which the morning wind has turned to frost on my brow.
Permit that my fatigue, reposing at your feet,
May dream of the cherished moments that will refresh it.
On your young bosom let me cradle my head,
Still filled with music from your last kisses;
Let it be soothed after the good storm,
And let me sleep a little, while you rest.Julie Schmidt, soprano, has performed the role of Carlotta Giudicelli to critical acclaim in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and in over forty cities across the nation. She was twice nominated for the Best Actress award by the League of American Theatres and Producers. She has also produced benefit concerts for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in St. Paul, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Houston. Ms. Schmidt has performed with the Greater Miami Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and numerous companies in the New York area. The Kansas native received her Bachelor’s Degrees summa cum laude in Voice and Theory-Composition from Wichita State University, and her Masters in Voice from Florida State University, and in 1990 was a recipient of a Kansas Cultural Trust Grant. She is currently on the voice faculty at the Mannes Conservatory in Manhattan, and maintains a private voice studio in New Jersey. Ms. Schmidt is married to clarinetist Donald Mokrynski and is mother to twins Kaete and Isabelle.
Abîme des Oiseaux Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
(solo clarinet movement from “Quatuor pour le fin du temps”)
On this program Don performs this solo clarinet movement from the iconic "Quartet for the End of Time". In this work Messiaen portarys for the listener a grand scale experience of how the last day on earth might unfold. This movement is the "Abyss of Birds". In the score's describtion is as follows: "The abyss is Time, with its sadness and weariness. The birds are the opposite of Time: our longing for light, starts, rainbows and jubilatin vocalises."Three Scenes from the Mountains [2004: commissioned by PV] Robert Manno (b. 1944)
Robert Manno is an acclaimed composer, conductor, singer and pianist. His compositions include over 30 chamber works, a Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, 2 song cycles, pieces for chorus, solo piano pieces, art songs and arrangements. Composer Ned Rorem has described his music as "maximally personal and expressive" and Fanfare Magazine has said: "his instrumental compositions are shot through with powerful lyrical impulses. Manno's music, in whatever guise, always sings...displaying an expansive, well-rounded sense of architecture and shape.” A full-time member of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus from 1977 to 2001, he was previously a member of the New York City Opera Chorus. Following his retirement from the MET Chorus, Manno served as an assistant conductor on the Metropolitan Opera Music Staff. The recipient of numerous compositional honors, he has been awareded the Ernest Bloch Award, First Prize at the Delius Festival, and many Meet the Composer Grants and ASCAP Awards. His music has been performed and broadcast throughout the United States and in Wales, U.K.
“Three Scenes from the Mountains” was inspired by views from my home overlooking a mountain range in the Northern Catskills. The first movement, “The Wind on the Water” depicts the visual movement of the rippling of wind-driven water on our pond, sometimes still, sometimes flowing and suddenly rushing, and always with a sense of change and calm. The second movement, “The Meadow at Dawn” is a song-like description of a gentle summer morning in our meadow when the mist is just beginning to clear. The third movement, “The Forest at Night” attempts to elicit the sense of loneliness that one experiences when walking in the woods by moonlight. -R.M.
For program notes from previous concerts please click here
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