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| First Presbyterian, Lakeland |
This week was a big week for all of us here in the Department
of Music at Southeastern. It started with the first concert of our season, the
faculty gala.
This time around, the gala was built around the concept
music of the Americas and my colleagues provided works ranging from Canada to the
Caribbean. I was particularly pleased by the variety of works spanning opera arias, chamber music (including a work for snare drum and computer), and jazz. A favorite aspect of this concert for me was being introduced to
the music of Srul Irving Glick. I am copying the program and a few remarks shared during the gala at the end of this post.
I also enjoyed getting back into thinking about a canon of
American keyboard works that could serve as an alternative to the traditional European
canon that most of us continue to promulgate. I am not looking to displace that
canon, but I am interested in providing a somewhat parallel set of experiences
developed on our shores that raises awareness of how things have evolved here.
There are several points that are on my mind today
regarding that alternative canon.
1. It’s lacking in significant Baroque-era works. That
should not come as a surprise as we didn’t get the country started quite early
enough. Even after Bach and others were done writing in a heavily contrapuntal style in Europe, we were
mostly just starting to get a bit of musical infrastructure in place. By the
time that was a little bit up and running, early Classical music was on the
scene. Some composers had come across the ocean with those new ideas while others already here
were operating with older models suggesting a compositional mindset that almost had
more in common with Medieval procedures than those of the Baroque or Classical periods.
At that time, Alexander Reinagle was writing in an early
classical style informed by what was idiomatic on harpsichord and fortepiano.
His dances and variations can provide a sense of airiness similar to what a
Handel suite or Mozart variations might contribute to a European-based recital.
2. It seems that the early American repertoire is much more
engaged with British material than the mainstream European music that has
survived in the standard repertoire. While Scottish songs of Haydn or Beethoven
are occasionally performed, the keyboardist playing early American music will
be frequently confronted with sets of reels, variations on fiddle tunes, and references
to British military triumphs.
3. As one moves toward the repertoire of the 20th
century, Afro-Cuban influences become more and more important. Beginning with
Gottschalk’s musical souvenirs of Havana and continuing with the crossover of those ideas into ragtime, Latin rhythms become a part of the fundamental
vocabulary of music in the United States. In some ways, our music might be a
whole lot better integrated than our nation.
Jefferson’s March - Alexander Reinagle (1756-1809)
The Willow Song - Douglas Moore (1893-1969)
Ricordanza - George
Rochberg (1918-2005)
Stop Speaking - Andy Akiho (b. 1979)
Intermission
Caprice: Sui Moi! - Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869)
Monica’s Waltz - Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007)
Suite Hebraique no. 6 - Srul Irving Glick (1934-2002)
St. Thomas - Sonny Rollins (b. 1930)
Who is an American? Where is an American? When is an American?
These three increasingly strange sounding questions remind us
that the American experience differs significantly depending upon one’s
culture, location, and moment in time. The music of this year’s faculty gala
has been chosen to move us across such boundaries of geography, history, and
ethnicity so as to hear, as it were, America singing.
We begin in the early days of the United States with a march
composed for our third president. Then, Dr. Braamse will join me for an aria
from the 1950s that is strongly suggestive of folk music, particularly British
folk music which shaped the sound of American popular music in the 1800s. Our
third work is described by its composer as a “commentary” on the opening passage of a Beethoven cello sonata
and leads us to recollect the Germanic roots of American classical music.
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More and more, we find ourselves collaborating with machines.
And these machines seem to be taking on a life of their own. But it is a life
that we gave them. We are about to hear a work that explores that very relationship.
A snare drum over there and a “digital storyteller” over here are going to have
a conversation. That has always been the ideal of chamber music: a
conversation. So the concept of this piece is tried and true, but some of the sounds
are new and reflect the age of machines in which we are living.
At yesterday’s rehearsal, I checked the volume level with a
decibel meter and I can assure you that what you are about hear will never be
louder than 90 decibels and will generally not be much over 80 decibels. That
means that the sounds bouncing around the room will not be much louder than a
rather noisy car driving down the street. This performance will also rarely be significantly
louder than it is at its beginning. I tell you that so can relax and not
be worried that it will suddenly get much louder. However, the sounds will continue
at a fairly intense level for a while. So those with hearing aids or those with
sensitive ears who are sitting directly in front of the amplifier might want to
make some little adjustments.
Mr. Blume is doing a great service by performing a work like
this right here on our concert series. While this work might seem a bit
abstract or odd to some of us, it is representative of the huge repertoire of
electro-acoustic music that has been created since the advent of the tape
recorder. And, like any work of art, “Stop Speaking” is open to a range of
interpretations. So you should feel free to find it off-putting, or witty, or
maybe even poignant.
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A New Orleans native, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, was the first
American pianist to achieve acclaim in Europe. In addition to his time there,
he went on numerous tours performing in the United States and in Latin America.
His many experiences abroad are expressed in works like the one you just
heard which combines a Chopin-like flare for the keyboard with the rhythms
Gottschalk heard in the music of Cuba.
Now we turn to another aria from the mid-20th, century
this time from Menotti’s The Medium.
The character Monica is singing to, and on behalf of, a mute boy named Toby
who works as a servant in her home. Monica is expressing their affection for
each other. After this aria, Mrs. Gardiner and
I will share a beautiful work by the prolific Canadian composer, Srul Glick
who is well known for his contributions to concert music and to the Jewish
liturgical repertoire.
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Our final selection this evening is a great example of sounds
of music that journey through time and space to create a sense of identity in
our hemisphere. The tune, St. Thomas, is thought to have its origins in an
English tune that first appeared in print in the 1770s. Transplanted to the Caribbean,
in was transformed into a nursery song. Finally, through the “interpretation”
of Sonny Rollins it has become a jazz classic.
