NEC Philharmonia + Tristan Rais-Sherman '21 AD: Þorvaldsdóttir, León, Mozart, & Ibert

Anna S. Þorvaldsdóttir | Aequilibria (2014)

Anna Thorvaldsdóttir  is an Icelandic composer who has received widespread acclaim for her innovative use of sound and texture to create vast soundscapes. Hailed as “one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music” (National Public Radio), Thorvaldsdóttir conceives of her music as “an ecosystem of sounds, where materials continuously grow in and out of each other.” While she acknowledges the importance of nature’s influence on her compositional process, Thorvaldsdóttir does not attempt to replicate nature in a literal sense; rather, she emphasizes that the “qualities of the music are first and foremost musical”.
     Aequilibria (2014) is a musical portrayal of the flux between order and chaos that is found in nature. The work begins with a forceful sustained pedal on A from all winds, brass, and strings, which is soon combined with fluttering ascending and descending motifs interspersed throughout the ensemble. As the music progresses, dissonances and extended techniques appear, creating an atmosphere that becomes increasingly volatile and uncertain. The climax of the piece is a colossal burst of sound, featuring a cluster chord low in register on the piano, and quarter tone intervals around A in the rest of the ensemble. Following this, the piece winds down until all movement has ceased, culminating in a final chord that fades to nothing.
     The work is orchestrated for a small ensemble of alto flute, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, trombone, and piano, plus a minimal string section of two violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass. While the duration is just 14 minutes, a variety of extended performing techniques are used, such as sul ponticello (where the stringed instrument is played with the bow near the bridge, bringing out the higher harmonics and a brighter tone), sul tasto (where the bow is played near the fingerboard to bring out a warmer, softer tone), key clicks, slap tongue (techniques for woodwind instruments for percussive effect), tongue flick/flutters (for the brass to create a flickering effect) and glissandos (a continuous slide between two notes). The use of quarter tones (pitches between the notes of a traditional chromatic scale) gives this music an extensive tonal spectrum.
     Written for the BIT20 Ensemble, Aequilibria was first performed by that group in 2014 in Bergen, Norway. The International Contemporary Ensemble for the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in New York City presented the US premiere was in 2017. To learn more about Anna Thorvaldsdóttir please visit https://www.annathorvalds.com/.

- Minhoo Suh and Nathan Le 

Personnel

First Violin
Hannah Goldstick

Second Violin
Tiffany Chang

Viola
Chiau-Rung Chen

Cello
Milla Gyldfeldt Magnusson

Bass
Diego Martinez

Alto Flute
Hui Lam Mak

Bass Clarinet
Hyookwoo Kweon

Bassoon
Delano Bell

French horn
Theresa Reagan

Trombone
Luke Sieve

Piano
Miles Fellenberg

Tania León | Indígena (1991)

Tania León, renowned composer and conductor, grew up playing Chopin and Tchaikovsky in preparation for conservatory, while taking in the lively music scene just outside the window in her hometown of Havana, Cuba. This duality in León’s cultural identity can be heard throughout her compositions. She has created a compositional style that illustrates the ineffable complexity of sound, culture, and identity. In Indígena, her composition for chamber orchestra, León takes listeners on a journey from New York to Cuba, the place of her family’s heritage, then back to New York, the place she now calls home.
     The music was commissioned by New York City’s Town Hall and written in 1991, just after the composer visited Cuba and reunited with family after twelve years apart.  On this trip León met a nephew for the first time (who inspired the works title which means “indigenous”) and made several new friends.  The composer wrote these people into the composition by assigning each wind solo a specific musical syntax based on the idiosyncrasies and cultural origins of these newfound friends.
     The piece begins with a moment of dissonance followed by an improvisatory flute solo, the first of several conversational exchanges among the wind players.  Another significant part of the soundscape from Cuba is the use of two porcelain mugs. The clinking sound of the mugs represents León’s memory of improvising as a child, turning utensils and kitchenware into fun musical instruments at mealtimes.
     The dance music that León heard from her window appears throughout the piece. The syncopated rhythms reflect a comparsa: the street bands and dancers of Afro-Cuban descent who perform in Cuba’s local carnivals. These bands often include lots of brass, typically highlighting the trumpet. In Indígena, the trumpet can be heard taking the lead of the comparsa with great exuberance. Comparsas often play the conga, a type of music that moves quickly in duple time and involves call and response between the performers. The rhythm in la conga comparsa is kept steady by claves. The ever-changing, colorful instrumental textures recall of the vibrant streets of Cuba in León’s memory.
     After the musical conversations with friends and the dancing alongside neighborhood comparsas, the piece marks the return to New York with a hypnotic diminishing tone in the trumpet. This fades into a dreamy piano melody signifying León’s landing back in New York. The piece ends just as it began, with fading dissonance, showing the beauty of ambiguity and the importance of sitting with unresolved complexity that comes with being of mixed cultural heritage.

- Samantha Watts

Personnel

First Violin
Hannah Goldstick

Second Violin
Tiffany Chang

Viola
Chiau-Rung Chen

Cello
Yuri Ahn

Bass
Gregory Padilla

Flute
Clara Lee

Oboe
Kip Zimmerman

Clarinet
Theodore Robinson

Bassoon
HanYi Huang

French horn
Helen Wargelin

Trumpet
Charles Jones

Percussion
Felix Ko

Piano
Miles Fellenberg

W. A. Mozart | Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201

The Symphony was completed on April 6th 1774 when Mozart was only 18 years old. Despite his young age, Mozart’s handling of the symphony genre shows great expressivity and formal mastery. The symphony was composed after a trip to Vienna, where Mozart’s horizons were expanded by contacts with contemporary music, especially Haydn and J. C. Bach and the new poetics of the Sturm und Drang movement. There is strong thematic development, active polyphony, and a fresh handling of orchestral sonority.
     The first movement, Allegro Moderato, opens with an octave drop from the violins and a pattern of repeated notes, later imitated by the cellos and the horns. The second theme, also presented by the first violins, has a recurring trill motif. The entire movement displays a perfect balance between lyrical freshness and motivic elaboration, which contribute to the liveliness of the piece.
     In contrast to the energy of the first movement, the second movement Andante is a slow pastoral piece in D major. It has the special tender sonority of muted strings.
     The third movement is a lively Minuet.  The dotted rhythm of the violins is echoed emphatically by the two oboes and two horns. Mozart alternates piano and fortissimo dynamics, to great effect. In contrast, the Trio is a more relaxed and lyrical dance.
     The concluding Allegro con Spirito opens with the distinctive octave drop heard in the opening theme of first movement. Mozart ramps up the counterpoint with stretto imitations of the second theme. The entire movement has a lively feeling, with trills and hunting calls contributing to the exuberant character. The rich harmonic language and complex motivic elaboration show Mozart has mastered a fresh and lively symphonic language.

- Xiaoqing Yu

Allegro moderato
Andante
Menuetto
Allegro con spirito

Personnel

First Violin
Emma Carleton 
Jeein Kim
Grant Houston
Caroline Jesalva
Eunha Kim
Chloe Hong

Second Violin
Kyumin Park
Rachel Yi
Qiyan Xing
Kristy Chen
Hae Kyung Ju

Viola
Chiau-Rung Chen
Haneul Park
Junghyun Ahn
Lydia Plaut

Cello
Yuri Ahn
Joan Herget
Sarah Tindall
Milla Gyldfeldt Magnusson

Bass
Gregory Padilla
Yihan Wu

Oboe
Izumi Amemiya
Rajan Panchal

French horn
Helen Wargelin
Theresa Reagan

Jacques Ibert | Divertissement

Jacques-François-Antoine Ibert, born in 1890 to a musical family, is one of the notable French composers of the early 20th century. From an early age he studied harmony, counterpoint, composition, and orchestration at the Paris Conservatory with Gabiel Fauré, Paul Vidal, Émile Pessard, and André Gedalge. Unfortunately, his studies were interrupted by the first world war, but after serving as a naval officer, he returned to his studies and secured the highest honour, the Prix du Rome. His most notable peers were Arthur Honegger and Darius Milhaud. In later life he traveled frequently to Italy as director of the Académie de France at the Villa Medici. Exiled to Switzerland during the second world war, his first major position upon his return home was as an administrator of the Paris Opera. He lived a long, successful life until the death in Paris in 1962.
     Ibert’s compositional voice doesn’t belong to any specific school or method. He believed there to be validity everywhere. The word eclectic certainly comes to mind when one hears his music. Considering he experienced the horrors of a world war; his music is surprisingly light-hearted and playful. Ibert composed a wide variety of music ranging from concerti and opera to film and chamber works. Fellow French composer at the time, Henri Dutilleux has be quoted saying, “Of all our composers, Jacques Ibert is certainly the most authentically French.”
     The Divertissement, premiered in 1930, is perhaps Ibert’s most performed work. He composed it as incidental music forThe Italian Straw Hat, a five-act comedy by Eugène labiche set in the 18th century. Later, he revised the work to be an orchestral suite. This suite version, most commonly performed today, is written for a small chamber orchestra of reduced strings, percussion, piano, and celesta, with trombone, trumpet, horn, bassoon, clarinet and flute featured throughout. It is a six-movement work with a decidedly cheeky character.  The Introduction, an operatic-style overture, is followed by the Cortège, a funeral procession that alarmingly quotes Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, and the quiet eerie Nocturne. The Valse evokes the dance halls of Paris, and the Parade is a march that begins from afar, approaches, and disappears back into the distance. Lastly, the Finale, brings the music to a wild conclusion. In these contrasting movements, Ibert uses many familiar compositional styles and forms drawn from a variety of backgrounds. However, with each movement he cleverly inserts his own unique style whenever the opportunity arises. It is a true embodiment of French comedic taste, farcical and deeply unserious.  When one considers Divertissement was premiered the same year as Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, we see just how unpredictable the artistic scene was between the two world wars.

-Eric Prodger

Introduction
Cortège
Nocturne
Valse
Parade
Finale

Personnel

First Violin
Emma Carleton 
Jeein Kim
Grant Houston
Caroline Jesalva
Eunha Kim
Chloe Hong

Viola
Chiau-Rung Chen
Haneul Park
Junghyun Ahn
Lydia Plaut

Cello
Milla Gyldfeldt Magnusson
Joan Herget
Sarah Tindall

Bass
Gregory Padilla

Flute, Piccolo
Elena Rubin

Clarinet
Theodore Robinson

Bassoon
Jazmyn Barajas-Trujillo

French horn
Helen Wargelin

Trumpet
Charles Jones

Trombone
Katherine Franke

Percussion
Taylor Lents

Piano, Celeste
Miles Fellenberg