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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    89 views9 pages

    Rorem ChamberMusicMagazine 2008

    Uploaded by

    sendra0285
    Rorem_ChamberMusicMagazine_2008

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    eterno rey Rorem at PREVIEW: THE 2009 CMA NATIONAL CONFERENCE Der Aaa EL WL OR LD Fe eed ea eae Neda atagt AL LS a an invitation to rethink the matter. By FRANK J.OTERI cnowned for his cornucopia of are R tong (or nf ded date), Ned Rorem is also admired for his prose—his eandiddiaties from over a halFcennury ago remain popular. The composer has also been significandly acknowledged in the operatic and sym phonic worlds. Our Town, Rorems 2006 opera, has received prise wherever ic has been staged —in more than a dozen ities to date—and his numerous orchescral wwotks—one of which, Air Muzic, earned him a Puliwer—have been turning up on concert programs these days, a well as on a series of recordings from Naxos. Rorems chamber music, howeves, remains among contemporery musics besckepe secrets, Although individval works have been championed over che yeats by the Beaux Arts Tro, the Chamber “Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Guameri, Emerson and Ying quartets, very litle of the composer’ impressive output for ensembles—Five string quar- tecs plus more than fifty works for other combinations—gets programmed, and his chamber music in. general has few advocates among hardcore new-music specialists. While most of the ensemble works are readily available in prine (main ly from Boosey & Hawes, but also from Peters, Peerclasical, and ECS), only a small fraction have been recorded com- mercially recorded; of chose that have been, many are out of print. ‘Why the neglect? Dung the heyday of modernism, Rorem's music was dis- ‘missed, not entirely accurately, az old- fashioned; more recently, the composer has been claimed by the neo-Romantice as both forefather and elder statesman— another mischaraccerization. While his music is usually cuneful as well as unapologetically ronal (key signarures abound), Rorem is no Romantic. Insisting that sound cannor communicate content, he revels in music's unavoidably abstract nature, His compositions, usually cers, are often spiked with iconoclastic ges- tures: unresolved dissonances and even the occasional rwelve-tone row, bizare timbral combinations, aphoristic short movements, movements in which only some members of the ensemble perform, and completely exposed single parte (sometimes piano part will consist of « series of single notes in only one hand for long stretches). Rorem admittedly has 2 penchant for waltes, but he also explores strange meters and odd polyrhythins. In some works, insistent repetition, as well Eee Nan ss passages of near stasis, might even give the impression thae Roem is a proto- post-minimalist or at least a fellow tavele, In other instances, he might be mistaken for a partisan of polyscylstic posemod- emnism, Buc ultimacely, like a true American maverick, Ned Rorem has er- sted a body of music that defies easy car cgorization. “Ned's music hat slvays seemed to me to reflec the very best of American values in its honesy, its direct- ness, its avoidance of any pretense ot affectation,” says Ying Quartet frst violin- ist Timothy Ying. “He seems to manage to aloiays be true to himself, vo rust his fown instincts and inruition—and in chis ‘way heshas achieved a voice that is both ‘original and emotionally compeling,” Eqvstve StrinG Quarters AND ‘Mustc ror Two Pranists Rorem’s frse string quartet is a student work dating from 1949; ithas never been ublished and is, according ro gj composer shed forever in a another opus-minus-ones.” However, String Quartet no, 2 [Peerclasical], a Fourmovement work from the following year, is formidable. A neoclassical (yet slightly impressionistic) composition, it’s very much in the vein of mid 20th-centu- ry composers like David Diamond, Vincent Persichert, and Quincy Porter, ‘whose works in this idiom are only recently being re-evaluated. The most structurally and thematically conventional of Rorems quartets, no. 2 has four helty movements and bristles wich rigorous motivie devel opment. Ir was created dusing the com- posers neatly two-year sojourn in ‘Morocco, an extremely fuiefl composi- tional period that also yielded his Sonata for Violin and Piano and the Dance Suite for Two Pianos. Never commercially recorded, che work was performed this fall by the NYC-based Voxare Quartet as part of & Bargemusic Rorem retrospective smarking the composers 85th birthday More than four decades elapsed beoween String Quarter no. 2 and String Quarter no, 3. A five-movement work, the laser is among the most cerebral of the composer's output. The opening Chaconne features 2 cwelve-tone row played over and over again by the scond Violin in an extremely high register, but 10 other pat is dodecaphonic. The other instruments enter with radically differing susical gestores—mueh like « quart by Eliot: Carter excepe chat, inthis case, the aver with many 27 “In their heyday, the modernists dismi Later, the neo-Romantics claimed him as ed Rorem as old- ashioned. a forefather or elder statesman. But Rorem is no Romantic. His compositions, usually terse, are often spiked with iconoclastic gestures.” gestures are repeating motives. And despite some tender passages (such as the gorgeous Sarabande following an intense scherzo or “Epitaph,” che hyrnlike fourth movement), the music is predomi- rnancly curbulent. Premiered by the Guatnesi String Quartet in 1991, and later recorded by the Mendelssohn String Quartet for Newport Classics, the chind siting quarter is 2 work whose overall effec is light-years away from the sound world mose people associate with Ned Rorem. String Quartet no. 4 synthesizes che approaches ofthe two preceding quartets, but from a structural standpoine ic is something else entitely. Composed just bee yeuts aftr is predecessor, itis 2 cok lection of ten miniatures. In this work, orem must have wrestled with his asses sion that music is incapable of represent- ing anything, Individual move inally named for paintings by Picasso, were lacer given. descriptive tiles. There’ che spike, predominantly 7/8 opening “Ugly and Relentless’ (originally "Minocaut), “Absolutely Serce” (originally “Sil Life), in which one of the violins maincains an ‘off-che-beat minimalist riff throughout, ot the concluding “Infinieely Tender” (“Death of Harlequin’), in which arioso-like pas- sages concrast with poverfl, harmonically dense, yet tonal chorales. The Emerson Suing Quartet, which premicred end recorded no. 4, continues to use Rorers original vtles whenever the work is pro- grammed, as has the Fry Sering Quart (nits 2004 recording, Roce’ most recent string quaret also has an evocative verbal tle. United State: nt, orig- 28 wovensesioecannen soo Seven Viewpoint for Sering Quartet is made up of shore moveraents; with the exception ofthe finale, alae less than dhree minutes long. Spisted dances are juxeaposed with more pensive music, though the contrasts are not as exseme as in previous quartet. Weiewen in 2001, United. Scaes was pre- miered at New York Citys Symphony Space in 2003 by the Ying Quartet, which has alto recorded it on its 2007 CD, United States: LifeMusic 2 Like the string quartes, Rorents corpus for co pianos ean be divided berween very early works and pieces from the last 20 years. The five-movement Dance Suite (1949), writen mosely in Fes, conjures up the charming sound world of a contem- porancous Double Piano Concerto by Rorem’ friend and mentor Paul Bowles. ‘The central movement, 2 daredevil raran- tela, in which the owo pianists must have complete mind meld, is particularly ‘exciting, The Sicilienne [Peerclasical, from a year lates, is much in the same vein. On the other hand, Six Variations (1995) is an excursion into concentrated music development, yet it maintains excitement throughout. The final vari tion—2 dinying cascade of off kiher rhythms (all in 7)—is a compositional tour-de-force, Rorem’s only work for piano fourchands is For Shirley (1989), 2 two-minuce walez created as a birthday present for his lifelong friend Shirley Rhoads Perle, pianise wife of composer George Pere Oruer Duos anv Tr10s ‘The aforementioned Sonata for Violin and Piano (1948-9) (Peters), written ‘when Rorem was 25, fearures a tantalizing dedication: “For Edward Albee (and also Bessie Smith).” Like the second string quartet, it is in four movements end somewhat conventional in strucure (two hifi, fase outer movements with a dance and much slower music in. beeween them). The opening movement isa fre netic Allegro, ostensibly in G minor although expanded and hardly triadic, swith ehyehms—passages with such peeu- liar time signanutes as 2/1 and 3/1— co smatch, A short and relatively srzightfor- ward waltz allows, in which the piano and violin engage in quas-imitative coun- tezpoint. Next isa somber, hymolike pas fia chat Rozem describes a ‘a funeral.” ‘The Finale brings things back to the realm of the living with an energetic dance chat wanders through bunch of keys, uli- mately ending up in E-flat_major. Unfortunately, the work has never been commercially recorded. ‘When he was in his late 40s, Rorer com- posed two highly virwosic and complemen- tary violinand-piano works: Day Music (1971) and Nighe Music (1972). Each has ‘ight sections and i nearly a hal hous long. Day bristles with aggression much of che time; Nigh, while somewhat gnaly,is also intovereed and mysterious. Rorems most recent violin/piano work, the much shorter, bur similarly challenging Aurion Mui (1996), was composed forthe International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. It ‘opens with an exrended cadenza for the vo- lin alone before the piano enters metronom- ically this keeps the violins subsequent ‘useranees in check, bu just barely. ‘Ac the other exteme ofthe string rei ter is Nocturne, for double bass and piano (2007), a three-minuce work in which the bassist pleys a soaring melody from its lowest ¢o highest registers, as the pianist maintains a steady flow of eighth notes ‘Nocturne was premiered last year at the Smithsonian by the Basso Moderno Duo. Rorem has aso composed four works for cello and piano. The ealiest, Jn Memory af My Feelings (1950), was written in Fes. The title, raken fiom poem by Frank O'Hara, also checkily references a com- ment by Paul Hindemith, whose musical philosophy resonates with Rorems: "The reactions music evokes are not feelings, br they are the images, memories of fee! ings.” Rorem later re-arranged Memory for eleven instruments and included it 38 cone of his Eleven Studi: for Eleven Player He did not return to che cllo/piano com- bination until che Tlnee Siow Pieces of OREM, einea 1980 1978, and then agsin in his almost Messiaen-like Dances (1984). Rorem’s very latest chamber composition, A Litle Fantasy (2008), is a chapsodic, 21-meas- uce wale that's barely a minute long. One of four pieces commissioned by cellist Joshue Roman and pianist Evelyn Luest as a contemporary response to Schumann’ Opus 73 Fontasisricke, ie makes for an amiable encore piece. Says Luest, who premiered ic with Roman ealier this yea: “Ltold Ned thar i isa litle jewel Rorem has composed generously for piano and solo winds. The most substan- tive is An Oboe Book (1999), an enchane- 1g. 19-minute oboe-and- piano work, whose nine movements are inspired by various numeric schemes, Four Colors 2003) for car- inet and. piano, which Thomas Piesey and Judith Olson premiered at Weill in 2003, is four cwo- minute miniures: "Red," predominantly in 7, is withthe dlariner and piano forging an equal partnership: more straight- forward and even-tem- pered, “White” relegates the piano to an accompa- nists role. “Blue” is sonorous melody starred by the clarinet unseeom- panied, with the piano quiedy waking in, one hand at time, and wafe- ing our again. In “Orange,” the concluding brisk wale, the partners are once again on equal footing, eading arpeggiar- ed figurations thac cul nate in 2 bravura flourish. Four Prayers (2006), whose movements are laconicaly designated “Firs,” “Second,” “Third,” and “Fourth,” offers a similar interplay between flute and piano. In “Firs,” the piano merely intones block chords over the Hutc’s melody, but “Second” isa piano extra gama. “Thiel” maincains a fast, of-bal- ance quintuple meter throughout. The calm final prayer is the most nearly hymn like, albeit in walz-vime, Each of the seven brief movements of eff delightful Pini on the Mame (1983), for al sax0- pphone and piano, is @ wale. Crier and Whippers (2000), a single, fve-minue movement for trumpet and piano, is a showcase piece commissioned by the Internacional Trumpet Guild, ‘Among Rorem’s earliest duo composi- tions is the ravishingly beautiful Mounsain Song (Peerclssscal), which dates back to 1948. Allegedly based on a Kentuelg folk tune, although Rozem has never given precise dewils, the three- minute composition was originally wrie ten as background music for a play in which the melody was performed by cel- lis Seymour Barab (In published form, ic is scored alteracely for violin, Bute, of oboe with piane) Rocem has also com posed 2 pair of 20-minute duos for flute with other instruments. The Book of Hours (1975), evoking a medieval prayer book, is his take on the classic combina- tion of ute and harps whereas Romeo and Juliet (197) paits the fute with another Frequent chamber music partner, the gui tar Both are assemblages of vignettes. Rorems most substantial chamber work. involving the flue is the 1960 Tiio for Flute, Cello, and Piano (Peter), in which the flutes fequent flourishes might give listeners the impression thas the work is a corso for a concervo, Composed at Yaddo in June and July of 1960, the works movements—thee relatively slow ones and a fast finale—are given only tempo 29 indications, but contain much poetry. End of Summer (1985), one ofthe rare Rorem compositions with several coms mercial recordings availble, is 2 chree- ‘movement work for violin, clarinet and piano, Thanks ro the commissioning efforts of the Verdehr Tri, for whom work was written, the instrumental com bination is now a chamber music regular. ‘The opening, sprawling Capriccio, like Autsonn Mase, begs with a long, furious violin cadenza before the cariner and piano enter with manic, synchronous, rapid-fire sixteenth notes; each instru- ‘ment then goes on its separate path, peti- iy joining in duos along the way. “Pancayy” in which Rorem asks the play- ext to sound “like falling leaves, from beginning 0 end,” moves From relative stillness to muscular virtuosity. The con- cluding Mazurka, in Rorems beloved triple meter, i a wild romp. Pas de Tis (2002)—a rio in six movements for ‘oboe, violin, and piano that has yet ro be recorded—opens with a single unaccom- panied line on che piano before the other instruments enter in surprising unison. A more staring unison, featuring all duce players at full volume, opens the second ‘movement, which is frenetic and volatile throughout. Two waltzes follow, then“a sultry Cantabile, in which the violin and 30 wovinasnoecennen 2208 oboe never play at the same time. The conclusion is another zomp, which Rorem inseruct the players to play “Fst as Hell.” ‘The premiere of the work, atthe Saratoga Performing Ars Center, featured compos- ex Lowell Licbermana ac the piano Rorens solo composition for the classic piano stio combination, Spring Music (1990), which the Beaux Arts Trio pre- riered at Carnegie Hell in 1991, is nother shovrease in which each pati pant gets moments of glory. Nearly hal am-hour long and eas in five movements, the work has 2 wide variery of moods, although according o Rorem ic “wishes to reflec insofar as non-voca! music reflects anything) the season of optimism.” In 2006, Rorem composed another tro, the brief Lellay for ewo violins and piano, swhich—in keeping with its name—ispre- dominantly soothing Lancer ENseMnurs Rorem’s sole work for piane quartet, Yesterday, Taday and Tomorrow (2008), ce- ated for the Ravinia Festivals centennial season, alternates extremely lush textures— at the onset the piano is instructed co use the pedal “like a spider web againse which the strings weave their canes’—with propulsive figurations, at one point oscil lacing berween eight-and seven-best cycles, ‘While Rorem has never composed some thing for the classic Piertot configuration (ute, clasine, piano trio), Nine Episoder or Four Players (2001) lacks only the Nuce. “The work—joindy commissioned by a nationwide consortium made up of Contrasts Quartet, Pacific Serenades, Soli ‘Chamber Ensemble, and Music in the Park Series—belances turbulence and wistful- ness, "Closing Pages,” the figal section, is both nostalgic and ethereal, evoking Messaen’s Quarter for the End of Time, the most famous worl with the same instru ‘mentation. “The piece has been a huge success, and we are often requested to play ig” repores Evelyne Luest, whose New York-based Contrasts Quartet premiered and subsequently recorded the work ‘With Brighe Mic (1987), Rotem more than imakes up for having let ous the flute in Nine Episodes. Bright Music is «vis cerally ehiling collection of five move- iments for the somewhat unusual quintet of luxe, cwo violins, ello, and piano, and was created expresiy for forces at the Bridgchampron Chamber Music Festival Marya Martin, Ida and Ani Kavafian, Fred Sherry, and André-Michel Schub. It ‘may seem preposterous to claim that this work shares an afinity with the Bang-on- e-Can aesthetie, yer the insistent repeti- tions of dissonances and sub-impositions of three, four, five» six, and seven-beat cycles are undeniably akin to he sound ‘world associated with BoaC’s “post-mini- imalist” crew. The overall effec calls 0 ‘mind work of another composer branded 1 post-minimalist, Michael Torke ‘orem recurned to the instrumentation of Bright Music in The Unguestioned “Answer (2003), also writen for Bridge- hampton. A magical work cast in @ single 10-minute movement, it is an ironic response tothe tile of Leonard Bersecis’s book The Unanswered Question (iself bor- rowed from Ivess composition ofthe same name) and ends with an instruction for the players co hold the final fermata “forever Regrettably, Rotem has never composed ‘wind quincee, but he has compoted for the brass equivalent. The fun-filled 990 by —Brast Diversions was commissioned in 4 consortium of six ensemble Ring, the American Brass Quintet: the Anapois, Chesnut and Tower quntets and Sarurday Bras. The wots exuberance contrasts starly with the composer's much eater brass octet, Solemn Prelude (1973), a tworminute work fist per- formed by members ofthe Metropolitan Opera Orchesim Another brief brass piece, Fanfare and Flurish (1988), organ against we trumpets and ewo trom bones. Iewas premiered at Alice Tully Hall in a performance by Anthony Newman under the auspices of the Chamber Music Seciety of Lincoln Center Another unusual chamber music com bination is the harpsichord, oboe, cello and percussion ensemble chosen by Rorem far his Lovers: A Narrative in Ten Scenes (1964), The work, whose title according to Rorem is meant vo evoke episodes in the day of che life of a young couple, uses the harpsichord to great effect in completely contemporary —manic qu well as in extrzordinary dialogues with vibraphone and timpani (great sounding of course j-minimalist ostinatos, as combisiations chat were inimaginable in the Baroque era). T genesis to American harpsi- chordist Sylvia Marlowe, a tireless new- sic crusader who was also the driving force smmissioning of Elliott Carter's famed Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Harpsichord (1952). The pre- iere of Lovers, at what was then still called Camegie Recital Hell, feat cother luminaries, coo: Ronald Roseman continued on page 73 FIVE ROREM RECORDINGS Sr ee On oe cn ae eee een} eee ee ast oct aC ea pleces have only been recorded on compilations. Perhaps this torso of a Cee Ran cM ee eect ee ee Cee athe

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