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SCHOLARLY FEATURE ARTICLE:
Understanding Akin Euba's Wakar Duru: Studies in African Pianism Nos. I-III
--by
Godwin Sadoh
Instead of reproducing the Feature Article in its entirety here, we are presenting some outstanding (and enticing) excerpts from the article--
| According to Akin Euba, it was through trade with Europe that Western musical
instruments were introduced to Africa and these instruments found their way into churches,
night clubs and schools. One of the most popular Western instruments in Africa, the piano,
eventually became an important medium for the expression of neo-African art music. |
Western classical music was introduced to Nigeria around mid-nineteenth century by
two major forces: (1) the church and (2) the schools built by European and American
missionaries as well as the colonial administration. In these institutions, talented Nigerians were
taught to read, write, and play Western music. From the arrival of the missionaries around 1850
until the early twentieth century, musical activities among elitist groups and churches in Western
and Eastern parts of Nigeria were mostly European. Missionary activities were more
pronounced in the southern regions of Nigeria because the colonial policy encouraged the
northerners to hold unto their Islamic religion. Elitist musical activities in the early twentieth
century in Lagos (former capital of Nigeria) mirrored the Victorian English type of concerts
featuring solo songs, vocal duets and quartets, religious plays and musicals, arrangements of
English folksongs as well as excerpts from cantatas and oratorios, especially the works of George
Frederic Handel and Felix Mendelssohn. Instrumental works were mostly performed on harmonium, piano, and the violin, with occasional appearances of the police band. A discussion
of Akin Euba's Wakar Duru will certainly illuminate the intricacies of the creative process in
African pianism.
African Pianism
According to Akin Euba, it was through trade with Europe that Western musical
instruments were introduced to Africa and these instruments found their way into churches,
night clubs and schools. One of the most popular Western instruments in Africa, the piano,
eventually became an important medium for the expression of neo-African art music. African
pianism simply connotes piano compositions by modern African composers in which traditional
materials are copiously utilized. The concept was coined by Akin Euba, the foremost Nigerian
composer, pianist, and musicologist. He defines African pianism as "a style of piano playing
which is as distinct as a jazz pianism or a Chopinesque pianism." Before the European piano
came to Africa, there was some kind of pianism already in the culture. The agidigbo (Yoruba hand
piano), the mbira (hand piano in some other African cultures), and the xylophone are all
keyboard instruments.
Euba uses his piano compositions to articulate his theories on African pianism. The first
major piano work in which he expressed this theory is his Scenes from Traditional Life. Other piano
pieces by Euba include Impressions from an Akwete Cloth (1964), Saturday Night at Caban Bamboo
(1964), Tortoise and the Speaking Cloth (1964), Four Pieces from Oyo Calabashes (1964), Themes from
Chaka I (1996), Study in African Jazz (2002), as well as Themes from Chaka II (2003). All the pieces
written in the 1960s are based on twelve-tone row and atonality. Wakar Duru is representative of
a transition between the atonal works of the 1960s and the more recent pieces from the 1990s
which are built on modal pitch collections such as the three pentatonic pitch sets of Study in
African Jazz. Wakar Duru is tonally conceived, thus, marks the beginning of piano compositions
in tonal harmony in Euba's creative experience.
A Short Biography
Akin Euba was born on April 28, 1935 at Lagos, Nigeria. He received his earliest musical
education under his father's tutelage in Lagos between 1943 and 1948. In 1952, Euba was
admitted to the Trinity College of Music, London, to study piano and composition. While at
Trinity College, he wrote his first major work, Introduction and Allegro for Orchestra in 1956. He
received a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship in 1962 to study ethnomusicology at the University
of California, Los Angeles. At UCLA, he was introduced to different musical cultures from
various parts of the world, and as time went on, he acquired a deeper understanding of Nigerian
traditional music. On the completion of his Master’s degree at UCLA in 1966, Euba joined the
University of Lagos as a Lecturer in music. He later enrolled for the Ph.D. program in
ethnomusicology with Kwabena Nketia, at the University of Ghana, in 1967 and earned the
degree in 1974. Euba has held several academic and administrative positions such as the
founding Head of the Department of Music, University of Ife (1976-1977), Director of the
Center for Cultural Studies, University of Lagos (1977-1980), Executive Director of the Elekoto
Music Center, Lagos (1981-1986), Research Scholar at the Iwalewa-Haus, University of Bayreuth
(1986-1991), Founder and Director of the Center for Intercultural Music Arts, London (1988-
1998). Euba is currently the Andrew Mellon Professor of Music and Head of the African Music
program at the Department of Music, University of Pittsburgh.
Thematic Process
Wakar is a Hausa word for music in the northern region of Nigeria; Duru means piano
or keyboard in Yoruba language of the southwest region. Thus, the full meaning of the two
words is piano music. Indeed, one could see the interaction of two cultural regions in Nigeria in
this composition. The title and the thematic materials are both derived from the northern and
southern regions of the country. Through this work, the composer demonstrates one of the
significant trade marks of modern music in Nigeria, that is, pan-ethnicism. This gesture makes
the music more appealing to the northerners as well as the southerners. It will inevitably unite
the caucus of modern Nigerian musicians from different parts of the country.
Wakar Duru Nos. I-III is based on songs borrowed from Nigerian culture. No. I is based
on a song from a Gbari (northern region of Nigeria) folk tale, "Ma Wuwo Nuwa Sui Kwaita,"
about the hare and the water goddess. No. II is based on a song from a Yoruba folk tale,
"Jigbo," concerning the tortoise and the singing drum, while No. III employs the theme of a
highlife song, "Omo l'aso," which is attributed to the famous band leader, Ambrose Campbell.
Euba explained in the composer's note to the music that in the first study, the Gbari tune is only
employed structurally and without reference to the underpinning story.
(sample from the score not included in online version)
Wakar Duru No. I Based on Gbari Song (mm. 169-180).
In the composer's note to the music, Euba drew attention to the fact that the second
study was structurally planned in a similar way as No. I, however, in the course of the
composition, the work turned out to be a tone poem; that is, he uses the music to tell the actual
story of the song. This piece is characterized by constant repetition of the thematic idea
interlaced with subtle variants of the original theme.
(sample from the score not included in online version)
Wakar Duru No. II Based on "Jigbo" (mm. 176-187).
The third study is derived from a popular highlife song, "Omo l'aso." This movement is
basically divided into three main sections: (A) an introduction of the principal theme in F; (B) a
contrasting section based on highlife idiom in G-flat. It features a repetitive imitation of highlife
bass guitar and drum roll, interlocking rhythm as well as flattened seventh; (A) a return of the
main theme in the home key of F.
(sample from the score not included in online version)
Wakar Duru No. III Based on Highlife Song (mm. 145-153).
Highlife Idiom
Highlife music developed from the guitar band but represents an inter-ethnic (and to some
extent pan-African) ideas. It is a popular dance band music created and practiced chiefly in West
Africa. In Nigeria, it consists of the ikwokilikwo idiom from the Igbo region and the Yoruba
version. Highlife orchestra is made up of mostly guitars, brass such as trumpets, and percussion
instruments.
Wakar Duru No. III essentially mirrors the highlife idiom.
As bodily movement is one of the resultant features of African music, Wakar Duru No.
III is vividly characterized by dance. Euba uses various rhythmic devices to accentuate and create
motion in the music.
Bode Omojola, observes that, "Euba's approach to musical composition reflects a
strong desire to reinterpret elements of his native Nigerian, especially Yoruba, musical tradition
in contemporary musical terms." Every exposure of African music to any foreign culture brings
about a cultural assimilation. This type of intercultural activity has not been able to obliterate the
African essence in the music of modern African composers; rather, it provides a platform for
continuity.
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(Eight footnotes are removed in this online version.)
| Note that three score examples and eight footnotes are not reproduced above. This paraphrase also removes some text which some might find important.
|
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Cups with Saucers: Impressionistic Strata
within Job's Mixed Poetics
by Lynn Job
(Lynn Job: composer, poet, scholar)
By kind invitation, I offer here a
philosophical theory of associative properties
of a "layered music," and follow with
examples of rich imagery and stratifying
devices within select, finished works from my
own catalog.
| Cups with saucers, gifts with ribbons, jackets with ties: these are simple examples of companion presentations which provide a "layered" refinement magnifying the effect of elegance. Presentation -- the anchor of social and visual graces -- models my own literary and musical approach toward fine art expression: discipline it, cultivate it, layer it -- and never spare the intuitive sensuality.
|
Cups with saucers, gifts with ribbons,
jackets with ties: these are simple examples of
companion presentations which provide a
"layered" refinement magnifying the effect of
elegance. Presentation -- the anchor of social
and visual graces -- models my own literary
and musical approach toward fine art
expression: discipline it, cultivate it, layer it --
and never spare the intuitive sensuality. Spare
sentimentality, perhaps, but never sensuality.
This particular sensuality is heartfelt passion,
delicious display, carefully-timed dramatic
gesture, and honestly-painted, bold
impressionism.
My inspirations for musical works are
diverse and superimposed one on another
during the writing process: the totality of the
employed impressions and rationale is never
revealed. However, I usually share insight into
at least two relational elements for each score
at the point of publication with preface,
inscription, and/or additional references. If
the resulting musical response came by
impress of borrowed or original image, poem,
text, mood, plot, scheme, meditations or other
influences during its genesis, one or more of
these can also be added during or after the
musical constructs to distill additional ideas
generated by the music itself. There is an
organic co-mingling of creative media and
reflexive thought.
Any companion text or graphic within
a score might therefore be a direct, or
abstracted, reference to this germinating or
summary material -- if abstracted, this makes
yet another layer of subtext, of tangency, of
reverberation. To be expected, most of my
titles are crafted to contribute motif.Wrapping the recipient within a rich world of
this companion imagery or direction is not
meant to prescribe or narrow the individual's
personal response to the musical texture, but
to enhance it through associative
amplification.
It is a common observation that social
and art entertainments mix media and sensual
stimuli of many kinds to heighten one's total
immersion within a creative or dramatic
experience.... As this
multi-associative process commences it
subjectively affects the intensity of the
experience and results in a derivative
"meaning" unique to each recipient within
shared contextual limits....
"Layering" information, I propose,
enriches the intellect's consumption --
deepens the cognitive demands -- intensifies
the pleasure or the pain through multi-tasking
the senses and reason.... This is not a new style or
aesthetic, just a continuing one described with
more contemporary terms. I would consider
many historical devices and genres to loosely
fall into the category of a "layered" music
entertainment such as (to name just a few):
multi-lingual madrigal text painting; theatrical
underscoring (from staged dramas to
computer games); romantic-era, programmatic
tone poems; ballet dramas; some intermedia
installations; works of allegorical strata; and
even, richly-dimensioned acoustic antiphony
whereby associative processing may reorient
certain derived contexts.
Various theoretical devices have been
employed throughout history to create hidden
games, designs and allegorical "layers,"
though to such an obscured and subtle effect
that often only the literate initiates receive the
key(s) to the scheme (as in my own musical
allegory ELATIO: Praises & Prophecies [in work
since 1998, BMP cat. 38] 2 - a grand, 28-
movement parody and modern application of
these historically mystic devices). I might
argue that interior mental imagery alone
(generated most often by a descriptive title,
poem, story notes, or keys to schemes as
mentioned above) provides the most variable
and freely associative form of companion
ideas with which to layer a widely foreground
music. That is, accompaniments such as film,
drama, or other visuals -- even dance, can
work to degrade or weaken the focus upon
the musical stratum giving away a great degree
of associative influence to these other
contributors. Such intermedia presentations
should be crafted from the start as a suite of
co-contributing elements -- with the music
appropriately shaped to weave into the total
tapestry and not overwhelm.
To describe my own layered works
(music with printed texts, ascribed dramatic
program, and/or musical allegories), the
following examples of my thinking would be
applicable. For example, I accept that in
poetry and dramatic or theatrical literature,
allegory stratifies a single story line into
simultaneous dramas of two or more subjects
allowing repeated readings to offer a variety of
interpretations and depth. Such texts continue
to challenge solution and thereby continue to
engage interest -- the capacity to renew
interest is one enabling qualifier toward an
enduring entertainment.
Mentioned at the top of this essay, I
make sensuality (or a "sensual music") my
basic foundation because I accept as a tenant
that music is, by definition, first an acoustic
message received (heard) by activation of a
physical mechanical sense (and/or psychoacoustic
inner ear realizations from music
notation) which is then conducted through a
physical intellect. The human intellect applies
a process of associative assimilation toward an
innate goal of reasoning out a derivative
"meaning," or at least, a substantive
"impression." Finally, the original message
might even arrive in some cases at a point of
transcendence to a "spiritual" or "soulful"
plane of reasoning. If processed to this final
stage, it still remains remembered first as an
emotive "felt" experience affecting heart rate,
blood pressure, serotonin and endorphin
release, but inclusive of an extraordinary
cognitive association which breaks into a
stratum of the metaphysical.
As used in this essay, I intend the term
"sensual music" to in no way imply, as some
might assume, a conditional absence of
applied abstract philosophical or mathematical
properties, of highly refined cognitive craft, of
scientific reference, or of grand schemes of
the highest sophistication. A "sensual music"
simply means a music which successfully
renders a stirring, association-rich experience
as it reverberates in series from ear to brain to
psyche. It can be, in some cases, the most
disciplined of musics.
Below are just a few samples of music
compositions which I have published bundled
with original poetry (and in some cases
additional texts) -- information meant to be
provided to the listener within an audience
program or reproduced in recording booklet
notes.
Here, a short reference to spiritual
consciousness and transfiguration after death
from the complex, 7-minute metaphorical
rhapsody originally for solo violin Arcangelo
Red (2003, BMP cat.80) states (ellipses are
original): ". . . beyond the tent - gardens of
immortal starlight . . ." This piece also
references 2 Corinthians 5: 1-5 (Holy
Scriptures quoted in part from The Jerusalem
Bible). Number symbolism (using 10 and 12),
and other devices explained within the preface
of the score, leads one into deeper and deeper
layers of back story allusions involving the
Nation of Israel, prophetic meditations, and
more.
"Clash! by cliffs of Aran-born,
splinting spray - wet Burren brew -
night-glowing bogs come ballys green.
Across the Clare, a cold coastal morn
blows ancient musics brightly brave." |
This poetic imagery above was written
after I was nearly finished with the 6-minute
Bally Brew (an Irish Whimsy) (rondo
capriccio for alto saxophone & bodhrán, an
Irish frame drum) (2006, BMP cat.87). My
time spent near the Cliffs of Moher
(Knockeven, County Clare on the western
Atlantic coast), while in residency at Salmon
Publishing (April - May, 1999), was in view of
Liscannor Bay and somewhat across from the
Aran Islands. The tenure there continues to
color my several treatments of Irish subjects,
both in music and poetry....
Duetto Maduro (fantasy for two
violins) (2004, BMP cat.76) presents (ellipses
are original): " . . . vanilla wood, magenta
starlight -- skins that sing to mystery's
madness." This 7 to 8-minute duet was titled
and penned with this inscription before any of
the music was composed -- a veiled allusion to
the sexual tension ignited by the acrobatics of
duet performance....
Breathless -- Joel's Fast (2003) is a
work for which the historical and descriptive
setting is critically informative - akin perhaps
to that historical element of Olivier
Messiaen's (b. 1908 -- d. 1992) Quartet for the
End of Time (Engl. trans.) composed in 1940
and performed January 15th, 1941 in Silesian
camp Stalag 8A 6 (no agreement in
theosophical theme intended). Or, maybe
more relevant, it can be compared to George
Crumb's (b. 1929) Night of the Four Moons
written during the flight of Apollo 11 to the
moon (July 16-24, 1969): the mission which
televised the first step on the moon by
Astronaut Neil Armstrong....
"Foggy cool and sappy green
the sugar gleams,
golden bubbles chill the dusk,
eagles gliding, sea waves tiding,
newborn dreams and cork dust." |
This fun imagery above is from Iron
Horse Nocturne: "of salt & grapes ..."
(2002, BMP cat.66) for organ (ellipses are
original). The piece, with its bright fanfare,
dreamy waltz, and Wagnerian vocabulary,
might be as much at home in the 19th Century
as the cultivated vineyard which inspired it....
Not finished expressing my
recent inspiration with just this one piece, I
launched immediately into a new trumpet
septet: TOUMAI - Hope of Life (more on that
piece to follow).
This line "between the silver rivers,
a mountain of midnight dreams ..."
(ellipses are original), sprang out of nowhere
during the composition process to color
Moon Largo, a mysterioso/cantabile
unaccompanied solo air originally for trumpet
(2003, BMP cat.75). This dreamy,unpretentious 3-minute song, with its
undeveloped potential in the beautiful short
themes, leaves one yearning to return again
and again to this midnight world. Performers
report a "seasoning" occurs over time as they
internalize the simple lyricism, and, through
multiple performances, learn to let its organic
gestures relax and flow like intuitive, inner
moonlight.
"Victoria, lake of hope and lake of answers,
lake of promise, lake of plenty,
rolling down my chin like spicy, living oil, fragrant
with the taste of riches.
She was licking all my taste buds with the promise of
God's grace restored.
Numbered vast as Nile perch, flowed my giggles . . ." |
Translated into German by Dr. Frank
Heidlberger for its 2002 world premiere in
Aub, Germany, this original poem is an
excerpt (see endnote 8) which was specially
selected during the composition process to
accompany the spirit of the existing visionary
music title Serengeti Supper (alto saxophone
and sound track) (2002, BMP cat.65), and, to
loosely inform the texture and creative
choices commencing at that time within the
production of the 4 ½-minute sound track.
The original, long mystic poem about a search
for a reconciling message from God, serves
well as used in this piece -- a happier essay
about mankind's immersion within all creation.
"Where sleeps my daystar? Where sings my shadow?
Low bend my daydreams . . . dark falls the morn." |
These two lines above are reprinted in
the score Shadow's Pipe (2003, BMP cat.61)
excerpted from another of my works upon
which it is based. This flute solo contains selfarranged
music from Bamboo Skies [song No. 2
(new moon) from the song cycle Systole: Book I
(3 songs) for high voice and piano (BMP cat.
56)].... The original
text veils political, historical, and religious
themes too delicate to treat in any way other
than in metaphor. In the hands of a brilliant
flutist: wind, new moon, and mystery lie
within!
"Dust from Djurab drains the clouds
cracking corks and cradles;
proverbs wet and crimson moist rim the God hymns.
Sing the green things into cresting!
Ring the rights of nature's breastlings!" |
...The year before this I had
taken note of the word "toumai" and hoped to
use it as a title. I pulled it out of my files and
the poem above was created to decorate a
new, 3 ½-minute trumpet septet: TOUMAI -
Hope of Life (2002, BMP cat. 67).10 "Toumai"
(too-may) meaning "hope of life" is an
African word from regional Chad peoples
living near the Djurab desert. It is often given
as a name to babies born just before the dry
season. Like the poem written just for this
piece, the music evokes bravado, tender
fragility, the yearning for survival, and the
duality of our destinies. A sacred reading is
also offered within: "The desert and the parched
land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and
blossom," The Holy Bible (NIV), the Book of
Isaiah, the first line from Chapter 35.
"Squeeze my soul between your
dreams and press the music of ancient
flowers," a paraphrased excerpt from my
unpublished poem Ginger Orchids (May 2000)
decorates the 6-minute, 3-movement alto and
tenor saxophone duet: Yellowstone Blush --
a wedding remembrance (2004, BMP cat.81). Descriptive titles of the individual
movements and subsections: I -- Paris (Joyful
Promises); II -- Vermillion (Sweet Labors); III
-- West Yellowstone (Vows); ending with a
rounded, closing reprise (Joyful Promises);
create a custom story-line specifically
meaningful to the gift couple. However, the
poetic inscription along with the title is
enough to settle an expectation of gentle
dialogue.
Finally, a completely pre-existing,
original 4-stanza poem SACRED STREAM
IV: Meditations by the River Euphrates written in
Ireland (April, 1999), becomes an integral
unsounded element of one of the many
programmatic strata within the 6-minute
work: Anchored in Perath: an apocalypse
(graphical score for organ, 2006, BMP cat. 88).
I end here with its recurring, dark foreboding:
"Abram left them in their tents . . . "
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(Eight footnotes relating to the above have been deleted in the online version.)
But here are a couple footnotes without precursors but with resource excerpts:
* A statement about my philosophy of the mandate of high art to yet satisfy basic narrative and certain entertainment properties if ound on page 36 of the South Central Music Bulletin IV/1 (Fall 2005) www.txstate.edu/scmb
* Catalog numbers are from the Buckthorn Music Press catalog listing. My work is represented by Buckthorn Studios and published by Buckthorn Music Press (an ASCAP World Member Publisher and a 2006 elected member of the Music Publishers Association of the United States - www.mpa.org More information and work updates are located at www.buckthornstudios.com
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Concert Review: "To Be or Not to Be"
Honolulu Symphony, January 2006
by Jerré Tanner
Contemporary composers face a dilemma --
whether to sequester themselves in some ivycovered
tower in order to create their works solely
as their heart and mind directs, or throw
themselves into the thick of commerce and hire
out their talents to the highest bidder, letting the
basic decisions be made by the holder of the
purse.
This clash of aesthetics was enacted in the most
recent Honolulu Symphony pair of subscription
concerts on January 6 and 8, 2006. As part of its
"East Meets West" continuing series, the
Honolulu Symphony, conducted by Naoto
Otomo, gave the world premiere of Donald Reid
Womack's "After" (a concerto for shakuhachi,
koto and orchestra) and the United States
premiere of Shigeaki Saegusa's "Cantata Tengai"
for child soprano, four-part male chorus and
orchestra. Otomo is one of Japan's finest young
conductors and has directed leading European
and American orchestras as well as recording
extensively, primarily for Sony.
These performances were in observance of the
fifth anniversary of the Ehime Maru accident. On
February 9, 2001 the U.S. Navy submarine
Greenville was conducting maneuvers for visiting
congressmen in international waters offshore
from Pearl Harbor when it surfaced under the
Japanese fishing/training vessel Ehime Maru
killing nine crew members including four teenage
apprentices. The tragic incident changed many
lives irretrievably. Feelings in Japan run strong to
this day.
Womack's "After" followed a performance of the
overture to Mozart's "The Magic Flute." At
approximately 40 minutes long "After" is a major
musical statement. Womack, head of the Music
Department at the University of Hawaii, describes
his score as a tribute to the nine victims of the
Ehime Maru collision and their surviving families.
The number "9" is a chief compositional devise
generating a nine-note principal theme, nine
repetitions of a rhythm or tone, 9th chords, chords
of nine tones and an overall structure of nine
sections. In some cases this numerology works
exceedingly well as when nine spine-chilling
percussion strokes begin the work or, about half
way through, when the whole orchestra comes
climactically together on a major chord only to
have it melt disconcertingly into a nine-tone
chord. In other cases the numerology works to
the overall detriment of the music, contributing to
a sense of the piece being over long and tedious.
The soloists -- Reiko Kimura, koto and Seizan
Sakata, shakuhachi -- were superb, mastering the
technical difficulties of their parts while at the
same time conveying layer upon layer of feeling,
especially in their several solo passages. Nowhere
was this more evident than at the very end of the
work, after all the orchestral paroxysms were
over, when the two soloists exchanged fragments
of the theme against a quiet night sky of high
string harmonics. It was an indelible picture of
two souls, together, yet separated by the chasms
of their grief. Unfortunately, the effect was
spoiled by going on too long.
The musicians of the Honolulu Symphony met
the challenges of their parts with expertise and
dedication. The string section in particular put
forth a Herculean effort to create all the special
effects called for in the score. Conductor Otomo
was in complete command of the music, never
failing to cue entrances in spite of tempo changes
at nearly every measure.
"After" contains some beautiful and emotionally
charged passages, conveying to a remarkable
degree the overall feeling of mourning. These
successes bring into sharp contrast the work's
failures. Reflecting the contemporary composer's
dilemma: should one follow one's initial creative
instincts and let the work stand as is; or should
one tighten up the score, reworking it to be more
approachable?
These questions lead directly into "Cantata
Tengai," the work performed on the second half
of the program. Composer Saegusa has written
extensively for films and occupies much the same
position in Japan as John Williams in the United
States. He was commissioned to compose
"Tengai -- the Prayer of a Free Person" by the
widow of Akio Morita, founder and CEO of
Sony, in honor of her late husband. It was given
its premiere in Tokyo in 2000 and recorded by
Sony Records. The text by Masahiko Shimada is
highly imagistic and noun-rich, as is characteristic
of the Japanese language. I am told it defies
translation into English which I suspect is true.
Certainly, the translation provided in the
Symphony program is little help in understanding
the text and how it fits the music. Bilingual
friends tell me the Japanese original is beautifully
rhapsodic and is to the musical setting like hand
in glove. My mind wondered off in fantasies of
"the Asian Century" in which European and
American choruses were as adroit in singing
Japanese, Chinese and Korean texts as Latin,
Italian, German, et al.
The 100-voice Roppongi Men's Chorus came to
Honolulu to participate in the Ehime Maru
memorial observances and were joined by the
men from the Honolulu Symphony Chorus for
the "Tengai" finale. Saegusa was a co-founder of
the Roppongi (in 1999) and arranged "Tengai"
(originally for mixed chorus) for men's chorus.
They have consequently given many
performances in Asia, Europe and most recently
in Havana, Cuba. I prefer the men's chorus
version to the mixed chorus since the
predominantly homophonic setting of the text is
more sonorous with the similarly colored male
voices. The child soprano part was sung with
considerable confidence and heart-warming
charm by 12 year old Takaaki Ozawa.
Saegusa's compositional style is highly eclectic,
ranging from Gounod and Puccini to Andrew
Lloyd Webber. Passages of soaring originality and
invention bump elbows with others a bit too close
to their derivation for comfort. Like many film
composers Saegusa is extraordinarily adapt at
catching the mood of a passing moment yet not
so good at creating a tight and effective overall
musical structure. Movement four, for instance,
begins with a menacing march-like ostinato for
snare drum which is picked up by the baritones
and basses, building to a fever-pitch of tension
with impressive passages for the brass. Rather
than coming to a concerted choral/orchestral
crashing climax, fulfilling the expectations of the
material, the music abruptly ends on a fermata,
short pause, and then proceeds on with a geargrinding
introduction of new, unrelated material.
Perhaps the most successfully structured
movement is No. 6 which has love for its subject.
Here, all the musical themes are lyrical and
romantic, interweaving the main theme from the
last movement with the chorus singing of Caesar
and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, and others
whose love will be "carried beyond the other
shore" where they will "live again."
At last, we arrive at the finale with ears rather
wearied by the incessant homophonic intoning of
the text, yearning for a sublime resolution to all
the obtuse questions raised in earlier movements.
Instead, we are given an easy-answer, crowdpleasing
hit-tune finale straight out of the most
hackneyed Broadway musical. One can practically
see the cast advancing to the footlights to deliver,
with considerable gusto, the final theme sung in
unison, repeated over and over with increasingly
heavy orchestration. The audience loved it and
instantly jumped to their feet to deliver a standing
ovation.
So what do we learn in listening to the Womack
and Saegusa to help resolve the dilemma of the
contemporary composer? I, personally, am
pleased to have heard these two ambitious scores
performed together within the memorial context
of this concert. It would be gratifying to hear
these works again if the one were less remote and
austere and the other had more musical integrity.
Composers of other epochs have managed to
combine fidelity to one's art with serving the
needs of their audiences. I am confident
composers in our age can successfully find a way
to serve both masters, too.
To read the entire article, Join Living Music and
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Return to Index.
"Three Questions Before the First Night"
Joan Tower speaks to Carson Cooman
about her work Chamber Dance
(photo by Noah Sheldon)
Joan Tower (b. 1938) is one of America's
most widely performed living composers
of orchestral and instrumental music. She
began her active musical career as pianist,
serving as a member of the Da Capo
Chamber Players from 1969 through
1984. In 1985, her composing career took
off dramatically after she became
composer-in-residence for the St. Louis
Symphony. Since that time, she has
fulfilled commissions for major orchestras
and instrumental ensembles throughout
the United States. She won the
Grawemeyer Award in 1990 for her work
Silver Ladders and was inducted into the
American Academy of Arts and Letters in
1998. Her work has been released on
countless recordings and many of her
instrumental works have entered the
standard repertory of their instruments.
Tower has been a faculty member at Bard
College since 1972, where she is currently
the Asher Edelman Professor of Music.
She is composer-in-residence with the
Orchestra of St. Luke's and has held
numerous residencies with festivals,
universities, and other American
ensembles.
Most recently, Joan Tower was the first
composer chosen for the ambitious new
"Ford Made in America" commissioning
program, a collaboration of the American
Symphony Orchestra League and Meet
the Composer. In October 2005, the
Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra will
present the world premiere of Tower's 15
minute orchestral piece. The work will go
on for performances by orchestras in
every state in the Union during the 2005-
06 season. This is the first project of its
kind to involve smaller budget orchestras
as commissioning agents of a new work
by a major composer.
On 6 May 2006, the Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra of New York City premiered
her newly commissioned work Chamber
Dance at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY,
USA. The concert also includes Bach's
Orchestral Suite No. 1, BWV 1066 and
pianist Leon Fleischer playing
Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat,
"Emperor." The Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra is a "conductor-less" and
entirely self-governing ensemble. It is one
of the largest ensembles of its kind in the
world.
CC: Orpheus is a rather large conductor-less
ensemble -- and your music often has a number of
of meter changes and textural issues for which a
conductor is very useful. How did the aspect of a
conductor-less ensemble impact the writing of this
work?
JT: I call it Chamber Dance because I really
think of Orpheus as a large chamber
group. I was in the world of chamber
music for a long time (and really still am),
and to me chamber music is a totally
different animal from the orchestra -- in
terms of how the music is learned, how
much time is spent, and what the
interaction between the players is. In
chamber music you have to listen to each
other in a way that you don't in an
orchestra. In the orchestra you certainly
do have to listen, but you don't have to
"talk about it" in the same way or even
"agree" about it. You have to agree on
intonation and the basics of playing
together, but it's not like you decide how
much time you're going to spend on each
part or what the repertoire is going to be.
Those are discussions and decisions which
an individual orchestra player wouldn't
make.
With chamber music the whole group
collectively and each individual player
thinks about everything from the ground
up -- the burden is on the players.
So since I was in chamber music for so
long and had my own group, DeCapo
Chamber Players, I’m very aware of the
distinction of between chamber and
orchestra.
CC: On the subject of conducting, you've recently
been doing more conducting yourself. Is this a
growing interest of yours? Do you conduct
primarily your own work?
JT:
I'm sort of a "curious musician." Sort
of like Yo-Yo [Ma], though not quite as
flexible as he is! I like the idea of going
into music from all sides. Just being a
performer and a composer, as I was, is
already on two sides which, in our society
today, is a challenge because most
performers will not compose, and a lot of
composers don't actually perform. That is
a big problem in our century that these
things got split up so much!
Because I had followed a lot of
conductors around and watched them
conduct my music, I was curious why
certain orchestras responded in certain
ways whereas other ones did not. It was a
mystifying thing in terms of the
"chemistry" between orchestra and
conductor and I could notice how much it
changed when either conductor or
orchestra changed.
I thought that if I tried conducting myself,
maybe I'd understand that relationship
more. So, somebody offered an orchestra
to me and I thought I'd give it a shot. I
learned so much in that process.
I originally started an orchestra at Bard
(where I teach) and I thought I'd learn the
repertoire that way with the group, but in
the end it proved on to be too difficult to
keep together, and the players weren't
always good enough to handle the music.
So, I went on to bigger and better
orchestras and originally I did think I
would try conducting other music as well.
I was invited to Alaska to conduct one of
their large orchestras and they said they I
could pick my own entire program. I must
have been insane. I did pick all pieces that
I loved. Because there was a soloist, I had
to choose a concerto from a list of
options and so I picked Prokofiev's Piano
Concerto No. 3 which was a big mistake. I
love the piece but I learned the orchestra
part really well and I didn't really learn the
piano part. The soloist was "rubato-ing"
all over the place and he knew this piece
like the back of his hand having just
recorded it and such. But, I couldn't
follow him at all. That proved to be a
disaster.
The other pieces I did -- the Hary Janos
Suite of Kodaly, Barber's Adagio for Strings,
my own piece Tambor and Bartok's
Rumanian Dances went much better. But
the Prokofiev was WAY over my head.
So, from that point, I said to myself,
"You're not experienced enough to do
other repertoire. You should just focus on
your own music."
So, I've conducted many of my own
pieces (whenever asked) in the following
years -- with the exception of my hardest
ones, which are beyond me in that regard.
CC: Some of your recent and upcoming projects
have been pieces in genres which are new for you --
such as a recent brass quintet for the American
Brass Quintet or a choral work (your first time
writing for voices) for the Young People's Chorus
of New York City. What has this process been
like, agreeing to work in some of these genres in
which you never have before? I know, in
particularly, that for years you said you'd never
write for voice.
JT: Well, when Francisco Núñez of the
Children's Chorus of New York asked me
for a children's choir piece I thought I
could do something for that combination
without being "typical vocal." I figured I
could use percussion and get imaginative
and have them making sounds and things
that don't come from the "typical vocal
world." So I got excited about that.
I've always had these issues with
combinations and things. Years ago,
guitarist Sharon Isbin called me up. I'd
never heard of her and asked me to write
a piece for her and flutist Carol Wincenc
(who at that time I also didn't know) and I
firmly said "No."
And she said, "Why??"
I said that I didn't like the combination
and flute or guitar and I didn't know
anything about the guitar. She told me
that was no problem since "no
composers" really know about the guitar
before writing for it. She told me to come
over to her house and she'd show things.
So, I felt guilty and thought I should at
least do that. Well, when she played me
Carol's flute playing, I said "This person
can really, really play" and then Sharon
herself played and I decided -- "You know
what, I should just better do this." The
resulting piece is a study in "avoidance,"
however, of the two instruments. It starts
out with a long guitar solo and then a long
flute solo and then 4 minutes into the 8
minute piece I said to myself, "Joan, you
are going to have to put them together,
you know." And so what do I have them
do? Unisons!
Return to Index.
Members' News
Members of the Living Music Foundation are
encouraged to send news of their activities to the
editor for inclusion in this section of the journal.
Two recent concerti by Daniel Adams were
premiered at the University of South Florida
(USF) Center for Visual and Performing Arts in
Tampa. Concerto for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble
was premiered by the USF Percussion Ensemble,
conducted by Robert McCormick, on March 6.
The solo marimba part was performed by
University of South Florida student percussionist
Beran Harp. On March 7, Robert McCormick
performed the solo timpani part for Concerto for
Timpani, Percussion, and Winds, premiered by the
USF Wind Ensemble under the direction of
William Wiedrich.
On March 10, Adams received a premiere
performance of Ambivalence Recalled for flute solo
on a concert presented at the joint conference of
the South Central Chapter of the College Music
Society (CMS) and the Texas Chapter of the
National Association of Composers, USA
(NACUSA), held at Texas State University, San
Marcos. The solo was performed by guest artist
Danilo Mezzadri. Also performed at the
CMS/NACUSA conference was Adams's
Embracing Personal History for violin solo on March
9. The solo violinist was Texas State University
Faculty artist Paula Bird.
Daniel Adams presented a research paper entitled
"Pre-Composition Sketches-One Composer's
Approach" at the joint conference of the South
Central Chapter of the College Music Society
(CMS) and the Texas Chapter of the National
Association of Composers, USA (NACUSA) on
March 9.
On February 10, Adams's composition Between
Stillness and Motion for piano solo, was performed
by Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi at the Region VI
Conference of Society of Composers, Inc. held at
Rice University in Houston, Texas.
On March 4 Shadow on Mist for flute and
percussion ensemble was broadcast on "The
Power of Percussion" as part of the "Works for
Me" series on Radio Hong Kong hosted by
Christopher Coleman. Shadow on Mist is recorded
on the Capstone Records and is performed by
Kim McCormick, flute and the McCormick
Percussion Ensemble, conducted by Robert
McCormick.
Thomas D. Brosh performed his Peace for Piano:
To R.D.H. (2006) at the Memorial Concert for
Roger Hannay on April 9 at the University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Brosh served on the
school's theory and composition faculty from
1972-1980, and retired from the Community
College of Aurora (Colorado) in 2001. His
composition archive is located at the American
Music Research Center, University of Colorado-
Boulder.
Albany Records released "Aires de Sefarad" on
February 28, 2006. It is a cycle of 46 works based
on 500 yeard old Spanish songs, written by Jorge
Liderman for the violin and guitar ensemble
Duo46. The American premeire was performed at
the Osher Marin JCC in San Raphael, California
on February 6, 2006. Selections from the cycle
will be performed at all of Duo46's concerts
during the 2006-2007 season.
Two recent releases from
Living Artist Recordings
Vol. 10: Semantemes
featuring music by Jeremy Beck, Carson Cooman,
Dorothy Hindman, Ed Robertson, and Erich Stem
order from dwightwinenger.net/discpage.htm
Vol. 11: A Still Subtler Spirit
music of Monroe Golden
order from dwightwinenger.net/discpage.htm
or from CDemusic.org or Amazon.com
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online edition
INDEX:
- Late-breaking news that arrived between issues.
Hard-copy synopses:
- Latest issue: "Understanding Akin Euba's Wakar Duru: Studies in African Pianism Nos. I-III" by Godwin Sadoh (Vol.21 #1, Spring 2006)
- Vol.20 #2:, Fall 2005, "R. Murray Schafer" by Gordon Rumson
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From here on occasional links may result in your jumping to "the edge of the internet." Deleted pages may be obtained by the incurably curious by request of the webmaster.
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- Vol. 20 #1, spring 2005, "The Creative Experience of a Nigerian Composer" by Godwin Sadoh, Joshua Uzoigwe issue of LMJ...
- Vol. 19 #2, spring/summer 2004, "George Walker's Visit to Miles College" by Phillip Ratliff.
- Vol.19 #1, fall/winter 2003, "Getting High" by Greg D'Alessio, Pop/Corn issue of Living Music...
- Volume 18, Number 2: Beyond Words, spring 2003, Edwin C. Robertson issue of Living Music... "Text setting"
- Volume 18, Number 1, fall, 2002, David Del Tredici issue of Living Music... "One Composer's Way"
- Volume17, Number 4, spring, 2002, Lukas Foss issue of Living Music... "Music of a Chameleon" by Phillip Ratliff
- Volume 17, Number 3b, fall, 2001, "No New Format" by Rusty Banks
- Volume 17, Number 3, spring, 1999, Aaron Rabushka issue of Living Music...
- Volume 17, Number 2, winter, 1999, Rodney Oakes issue of Living Music...
- Volume 17, Number 1, fall, 1999, Paul Rudy issue of Living Music...
- Volume 16, Number 4, summer, 1999, Ben Johnston issue of Living Music...
- Volume 16, Number 3, spring, 1999, Pat Long issue of Living Music...
- Volume 16, Number 2, winter, 1998, Charles Norman Mason issue of Living Music...
- Volume 16, Number 1, fall, 1998, Modern Opera issue of Living Music...
- Volume 15, Number 4, summer, 1998, Mickie D. Willis issue of Living Music...
- Volume 15, Number 3, spring, 1998, Rusty and Christy Banks issue of Living Music...
- Volume 15, Number 2, winter, 1997, Haubenstock-Ramati issue of Living Music...
- Volume 15, Number 1, fall, 1997, LaDONNA SMITH issue of Living Music...
- Volume 14, Number 4, summer, 1997, Pauline Oliveros issue of Living Music...
- Volume 14,Number 3, spring, 1997, P.Q. Phan issue of Living Music...
- Volume 14,Number 2, winter, 1996, Dorothy Hindman issue of Living Music...
- Volume 14, Number 1, fall, 1996, Computer Research In Music issue of Living Music...
- Volume 13, Number 4, summer, 1996, Craig Hultgren issue of Living Music...
Back issues are available at reasonable cost back to Vol. 1, #1, fall 1983.
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LIVING MUSIC
Volume 21, No.1
copyright 2006
Charles Norman Mason
(Executive Director) cmason@bsc.edu
ISSN: 8775-092X
P.O. Box 549033, Birmingham, AL 35254
http:dwightwinenger.net/
Editor: Carson Cooman
Submission Guidelines:
Living Music is seeking lucid prose on topics pertaining to contemporary music. Articles should range in lenght from 1000 to 2000 words. LM is also seeking reviews of concerts, scores, and recordings and commentaries on competitions, recording opportunities, and residencies. To send submissions or for information contact Carson Cooman: 386 Oakdale Drive, Rochester, NY 14618-1131; carson @carsoncooman.com
Living Music is published twice yearly by Living Music Foundation, Inc.
Living Artist Recordings is owned by Living Music Foundation. Inquiries regarding LMF recording series should
be sent to Charles Mason (cmason@bsc.edu).
Executive Director Charles Norman Mason
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Board of Directors
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Greg D'Alessio
David Del Tredici
Orlando J. Garcia
Dorothy Hindman
Syd Hodkinson | |
Craig Hultgren
Ladislav Kubik
Dennis Kam
Hye Kyung Lee
David Liptak
Tom Lopez | |
Pauline Oliveros
Bruce Reiprich
Andrew Rindfleisch
Gregg Smith
Augusta Read Thomas
David Vayo
Olly Wilson
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New Releases from Living Artist Recordings
 Volume 6 Like Shining The Gregg Smith Singers
Volume 7 All About Time dennis KAM (Bergonzi String Quartet, Margaret Donaghue Flavin, Alan Ngim, Amy Tarantino)
Volume 10 Semantemes (works by Jeremy Beck, Carson Cooman, Dorothy Hindman, Edward Robertson, Erich Stem)
Volume 11 A Still Subtler Spirit (works of Monroe Golden)
All volumes of Living Artist Recordings are available on Amazon.com, CDemusic, and Living Music Foundation.
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08/01/06