NEC Philharmonia + Tristan Rais-Sherman '21 AD: Greenwood, Esmail, Mason, & Stravinsky

Jonny Greenwood | Excerpts from "There Will Be Blood" (2005/2012)

Jonny Greenwood is an English composer and musician, known for his work as guitarist, keyboardist, and arranger in the rock band Radiohead.He has also had great success with film scores, in particular There Will Be Blood and the Phantom Thread. (He has written the score for every Paul Thomas Anderson film after 2007’s There Will Be Blood.)

        There Will Be Blood is a 2007 British-American epic period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1927 novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

        Greenwood’s innovative and compelling score received immediate attention and unanimous accolades. The music perfectly captures the maniacal greed, destructive impulses, and descent into isolation and madness of the films’ main character, Daniel Plainview. 

II. Future Markets
III. HW/Hope for New Fields
V. Proven Lands

Personnel

Reena Esmail | Teen Murti (2013)

Teen Murti means literally “Three Statues”, and refers to the monument that stands in front of the residence of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In Mrs. Esmail’s own words, 

“Though not directly based on the sculptures, this work shares their title as it is centered around three large musical ‘figures’ that are adjoined by short interludes – similar to the idea behind Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. It lays out three tableaus: each is rooted in a specific raag and its Hindustani melodic tradition, and those melodies are interwoven using a more Western technique.”

These main sections are connected by dream-like interludes featuring improvisatory solos from violins and violas. The outer sections of the piece are full of lively and rhythmically complex music, with an inner section featuring deeply introspective and somber statements by the cello.

Scherzo: Malkauns
Recitativo: Basant
Rondo: Jog

Personnel

First Violin
Joshua Brown
Evan Hjort
Jiyoung Lee
SooBeen Lee
Yuzhe Qiu
Natalie Boberg

Second Violin
Julian Rhee
Isabelle Durrenberger
Liucong Feng
Qiyan Xing
Hae Kyung Ju
Chloe Hong

Viola
Claudia Do Minh
Lydia Plaut
Andrew Hughes
Anabel Tejeda

Cello
Ben Maxwell
Pi-Wei Lin
Mari Nagahara
Sebastian Ortega

Bass
Gregory Padilla
Yihan Wu

Quinn Mason | Reflection on a Memorial (2020)

Reflection on a Memorial contemplates the passing of a person or a tragic event and meditates on this idea. In the composition, the listener experiences grief and mourning at first as we ponder and think deeply about events past, and at a brief moment in the climax, an enlightening moment that can be seen as light through darkness and a spark of hope. 

     There are 4 distinct sections in the piece: a somber, melancholy beginning, then a faster, tragic outburst of grief, followed by a calmer reflective passage, which feature hopeful yet intense chords that build up to a light infused climax. This is all brought together with a coda that is a faint memory of an earlier section of the piece, which becomes distant and fades into the abyss.

Another one of my ‘open interpretation’ compositions, this piece can be used to commemorate any event or person, so that it may be performed in a variety of situations.                                                                                           
– Quinn Mason                 

     Personnel

First Violin
Joshua Brown
Evan Hjort
Jiyoung Lee
SooBeen Lee
Yuzhe Qiu
Natalie Boberg

Second Violin
Julian Rhee
Isabelle Durrenberger
Liucong Feng
Qiyan Xing
Hae Kyung Ju
Chloe Hong

Viola
Claudia Do Minh
Lydia Plaut
Andrew Hughes
Anabel Tejeda

Cello
Ben Maxwell
Pi-Wei Lin
Mari Nagahara
Sebastian Ortega

Bass
Gregory Padilla
Yihan Wu

Igor Stravinsky | Apollon Musagète: A Ballet in Two Scenes (1947 version)

Apollo (also known as Apollon Musagète)is a neoclassical ballet in two tableaux composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky. It was choreographed by a young George Balanchine, with scenery and costumes designed by Andre Bauchant and Coco Chanel. 

        Stravinsky thought of Apollon Musagète as a ballet blanc, that is, costumed in traditional minimal white. Balanchine later said that when he heard Stravinsky's music all he could see was pristine white. The avoidance of any conflict in the scenario, of any narrative, psychological or expressive intent, was further matched by monochrome costumes for the dancers and the absence of elaborate scenery on stage.

         The music is marked by a striking absence of the traits that seem to form the core of much of Stravinsky’s other music -- rhythmic incision, angular textures, sharp contrasts, explosive and colorful instrumental effects, and sometimes strident dissonances. This piece is revolutionary and unique in the sense that Stravinsky consciously and deliberately avoids these qualities, for the most part. Much of the music exists in a dreamlike state of peace, tranquility, serenity, and generally consonant or “simple” tonality.                                                               

–Tristan Rais-Sherman

Tableau I
   Naissance d’Apollon

Tableau II
   Variation d’Apollon (Apollon et les Muses)
   Pas d’action (Apollon et Calliope, Polymnie, et Terpsichore)
   Variation de Calliope (L’Alexandrin)
   Variation de Polymnie
   Variation de Terpsichore
   Variation d'Apollon
   Pas de deux (Apollon et Terpsichore)
   Coda (Apollon et les Muses)
   Apothéose

Personnel

First Violin
Joshua Brown
Evan Hjort
Jiyoung Lee
SooBeen Lee
Yuzhe Qiu
Natalie Boberg

Second Violin
Julian Rhee
Isabelle Durrenberger
Liucong Feng
Qiyan Xing
Hae Kyung Ju
Chloe Hong

Viola
Claudia Do Minh
Lydia Plaut
Andrew Hughes
Anabel Tejeda

Cello
Ben Maxwell
Pi-Wei Lin
Mari Nagahara
Sebastian Ortega
Lily Stern

Bass
Gregory Padilla
Yihan Wu