Brave New Works Presents
the
Number
One
April 3, 2002
Wednesday
8 pm
Program
Shulamit Ran
East Wind [6 minutes]
Emily
Perryman, flute
Bright Sheng
Seven Tunes Heard in China
Andrea
Yun, cello
Grazyna
Bacewicz
Sonata per violino solo [11 minutes]
Maria
Sampen, violin
R.
Murray Schafer
The Crowne of Adriadne [20 minutes]
Amy Ley,
harp
Andrew
Mead
Let the Air Circulate [World Premiere]
Jennifer
Goltz, soprano
Program notes
East Wind
by Shulamit Ran
Around the country, from Seattle to Baltimore to Houston, Shulamit
Ran's
music has garnered such reviews as "gloriously human," "compelling
not
only for its white-hot emotional content but for its intelligence and
compositional clarity," and "Ran is a magnificent composer." It is
hardly
surprising, then, that her Symphony, which has drawn references to
"the
superior quality of her musical imagination and artistic invention"
and
"a work that will reward each new listening" should have won the 1991
Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Shulamit Ran was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she received her early
training in music. She came to the U.S. at the age of fourteen to study,
having received scholarships from The Mannes College of Music in New
York
and the America Israel Cultural Foundation. Among her numerous awards,
fellowships and commissions are those from the Martha Baird Rockefeller
Fund, the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the
Guggenheim Foundation, Chamber Music America, the Chamber Music Society
of Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, and many more. In 1990, Ms. Ran
was
appointed by Maestro Daniel Barenboim to be Composer-in-Residence with
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a position she held for seven seasons.
From 1994 to 1997, Ran also served as Composer-in-Residence with the
Lyric Opera of Chicago. She is presently the William H. Colvin Professor
in the Department of Music at the University of Chicago, where she
has
taught since 1973.
Ran's East Wind (1987) for solo flute was commissioned by the
National
Flute Association for its annual Young Artists Competition and was
first
performed by the six semi-finalists at the 1988 San Diego NFA Convention.
Ran dedicated the work to the memory of Karen Monson, a writer, critic,
and friend, who died in February 1988 at the age of 42. It may or may
not
have been Ran's intention to embody a biblical force when she composed
this piece, but one cannot deny the connection to the east wind as
found
in many scripture passages of the bible. It is the fiercest of all
winds,
the one in Exodus that brought the eighth plague of locusts and was
powerful enough to part the Red Sea for Moses and his people. Ran's
East
Wind is also remarkably ferocious (and certainly uncharacteristic
of the flute), but it is the so-called "calm after the storm" that the
composer
describes as East Wind's central image: "from within its ornamented,
inflected, winding, twisting, at times convoluted lines, a gentle melody
gradually emerges.
--Notes by Emily Perryman
Seven Tunes Heard in China
for solo cello
Bright Sheng
Edited by Yo Yo Ma
1. Seasons (Qinghai)
2. Guessing Song (Yunnan)
3. The Little Cabbage (Hebei)
4. The Drunken Fisherman (Classical)
5. Diu Diu Dang (Taiwan)
6. Pastoral Ballade (Mongolia)
7. Tibetan Dance (Tibet)
Written for Yo Yo Ma
Commissioned by the Pacific Symphony for
Dr. George Cheng in honor of his wife Arlene
Dedicated to Arlene Cheng
The work is recorded on Sony Classical SK 64114
by Yo Yo Ma, Violoncello
Copyright 1995 by Bright Sheng & G Schirmer
Program note:
The work is based on seven folk tunes heard in
China:
I. Seasons(Qinghai)
Spring is coming,
Narcissi are blooming,
The maiden is out from her boudoir seeking,
My love boy, lend me a hand, please.
II. Guessing Song (Yunnan)
Baby, I am testing you:
What is the long, long thing in the sky?
What is the long, long thing under the sea?
What is the long, long thing sold on the street?
What is the long, long thing in front of you,
young girl?
III. The Little Cabbage (Hebei)
The little cabbage is turning yellow on the ground,
She lost her parents when she was two or three.
Mom, my Mom!
IV. The Drunken Fisherman
(Classical, based
on a tune originally written for qin, a seven string Chinese zither, originated
thousands of years ago.)
V. Diu Diu Dong (Taiwan)
The train is coming,
It is going through the tunnel!
VI. Pastoral Ballade (Mongolia)
White clouds are floating in the blue, blue sky;
Under the clouds, the grass is covered by the
snow-white sheep.
The sheep are like pieces of white silver,
Spreading over the green, green grass.
How lovely!
VII. Tibetan Dance(Based on the music of a popular
Tibetan folk dance)
The Crowne of Ariadne
Composer: R. Murray Schaffer
The Crowne of Ariadne forms part of the stage work by Canadian
born composer R. Murray Schafer (b.1933) entitled "Patria 4".
This work
deals with the story of Theseus and Ariadne, the Minotaur and the
Labyrinth. As a stage production this piece would be performed with
dancers accompanied by harp. Yet as a solo work the harpist is, in
a sense,
also a dancer, performing with ankle bells in "Ariadne's Dance" and
indulging in various elaborate gestures with percussion instruments
which
also suggests choreography. "The Crowne of Ariadne" was first
published
for harp and percussion in 1980.
Let the Air Circulate [World Premiere]
Comoser: Andrew Mead
In many of her poems, Amy Clampitt wrote about a part of the coast
of
Maine that coincidentally I know intimately, both from the shore and
from
having spent many summers cruising its waters on my dad's sailboats.
'Tit Manan light is a lighthouse some miles offshore on a small rocky
island that can be seen from a considerable distance in all directions.
We are seeking sponsors for these
concerts.
If you are interested in becoming
a sponsor please contact us at
cyoungk@umich.edu
or call 1-800-896-7340
Thank you