APRIL 15, 2012 - 2 PM

Slam Ahead                                                                                 Don Davis

 

in the blue glen                                                                                       David Evan Thomas

           Lento-Allergro energico

           Presto e leggero

           Malinconico-Tempo giusto

 

Ternion Sonata No. 1                                                                              Paul Gibson

            I. Forgetting the Words

          II. So sad, so strange, the days that are no more

         III. DT Variations in a Tasty Rondo Shell

 

INTERMISSION

 

There Is Always Something to Do (for Morelle)

Bruce Broughton

               Moderately fast

               Slow

                Very fast                    

 

Deuxieme Sonate

            pour flute, alto et harpe                                                                  Claude Debussy

                        Pastorale

                        Interlude

                        Finale

 

Tri Chairde (Three Friends)                                                                 Ian Krouse

 

 

PROGRAM  NOTES

 

Don Davis (1957 - )

    Slam Ahead was commissioned by The Debussy Trio in 2002 and premiered in Santa Monica, CA. This is the second work written for the Trio by Davis, and appears on its latest recording, Look Ahead, on the Klavier label.

    Davis has enjoyed a successful and widely varied musical career, not only as a seminal and prolific composer of contemporary orchestral and chamber works for the concert stage, but also as a versatile dramatic composer and conductor of film and television music. Recent film credits include the Matrix Trilogy.

  His most recent work, a full length three act opera Río de Sangre, was premiered in October, 2010 at the Florentine Opera Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The full production included 10 principals with a 40-voice choir and an 11-piece stage ensemble, accompanied by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra conducted by Joseph Rescigno.                   

Awards and honors have come from the ICA/Taper Foundation International Gaudeamus Musicweek, B.M.I.,  A.S.C.A.P. Foundation, and eight nominations and two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Dramatic Television Series.

 

David Evan Thomas (1958 - )

       The Debussy Trio performed the Canadian premier of in the blue glen at the 2011 World Harp Congress in Vancouver, BC.  That performance, along with this on the Casasanta Foundation Series, is sponsored in part by the American Composers Forum through its Encore Program, supporting repeat performances of new works.

        The composer writes,“in the blue glen begins meditatively, with two melodic lines animated by the pulsing harp. A sonata movement ensues with varied repeat, development and full-throated climax. A scherzo allows the melody instruments a moment's play before taking off downstream. The ‘trio’ begins, à la Haydn, as a rustic duo. In da capo, the various elements combine in superimposed meters. The melancholy third movement allows for expressive solos, duos and trios, as well as several fountains. The climax is less substance than feeling, less idea than song ending in detachment, but proceeds without pause to the finale as the harp introduces a simple, rocking tune, beginning with the interval of a falling fourth.”

            Born in Rochester, NY, Thomas studied at Northwestern University and the Eastman School. He received the PhD from the University of Minnesota studying with Dominick Argento.     His music was also performed at the 2002 World Harp Congress and the 2010 American Harp Society Convention. His harp works are published by Fatrock Ink and Falls House.

 

Paul Gibson (1952 - )

            Ternion Sonata No. 1 is Gibson’s second major commission from The Debussy Trio and is funded by a generous grant from Virginia Ambrosini and C. Richard Neu of Los Angeles.  The first commission, Ritual Dance of the Divine Trinity, appears on the Trio’s latest recording, Look Ahead, available on the Klavier label. The composer writes: “Ternion Sonata No. 1 ('ternion' means group of three) – written expressly for the Debussy Trio – focuses on a different musical element in each movement, giving me three new ways of writing to explore. The first uses a very few short riffs, combined and re-combined in umpteen ways. The second is a conversation between the flute and the viola, over two alternating, unrelated chords arpeggiated in the harp. The final movement is, as titled, a rondo, in which the most important element is the rhythm. My hope is that each listener will be drawn in in their own way, and be left with a smile at the end."

            His first collection of sacred music, A Mass of Life, was released on CD and cassette by G.I.A.  A 1200 voice choir sang his hymn arrangements for Pope Paul's visit to Los Angeles.   His several chamber works with harp are published by Fatrock Ink Music Publishers of  Los Angeles.

            Born in Sacramento, CA, Gibson holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Mount St. Mary's College, and a Master of Arts in Music Composition from California State University, Northridge.

   INTERMISSION

                                            

Bruce Broughton (1945 - )

            There Is Always Something to Do (for Morelle) is Broughton’s second major commission from The Debussy Trio and is funded by a generous grant from Morelle and Norman Levine of Los Angeles.  The world premiere by The Debussy Trio, took place at the 2011 World Harp Congress in Vancouver, BC.  The first, Tyvek Wood, was premiered by the Trio at the 7th WHC in Prague. The Trio’s recording of the latter won “best pick” from Gramophone Magazine of London, UK.

            One of the most versatile composers working today, Bruce Broughton writes in every medium, from theatrical releases and TV feature films to the concert stage and computer games. With over 20 Emmy nominations, Broughton has received a record 10, most recently for HBO's Warm Springs.

            An accomplished composer of concert music, Broughton has conducted and recorded numerous original works, including "Modular Music," composed for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.  Other commissions have come from the Chicago, Seattle and National Symphonies, plus a variety of compositions, such as a piccolo concerto; a tuba concerto; several solo works for winds; numerous chamber works – and the list goes on.                        

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

             Deuxieme Sonate pour flute, alto, et harpe was composed during the summer of 1915.  In 1909, Debussy had been diagnosed as having cancer, and the condition was terminal.  Debussy fled his Paris home to a seaside retreat where he could "once again, think in musical terms, which I had not been able to do over the last year.  Accordingly, I write like a mad man, or one who is condemned to die the next morning."  The first public performance of this Sonata was given March 9, 1917.  After hearing the work he said, "It's terribly sad, and I don't know whether one ought to laugh at it or cry.  Perhaps both?"

            The advanced harmonies and modal inflections coupled with seamless, shifting rhythms and fragmented melodic thoughts conspire to remove the listener from an obvious emotional engagement. 

            The spirit of the opening Pastorale pervades the entire work.  In the Interlude, the ever-shifting tempos and moods range from the most open optimism to an almost hopeless longing.  The Finale begins with a driving rhythm, and near the end of the movement the Sonata's opening Pastorale theme returns.  Debussy uses bold harmonies, modality with occasional hints of atonality and polytonality.                                                                                                                                            

Ian Krouse (1956- )

            Tri Chairde was written in 1993 especially for The Debussy Trio.  Mr. Krouse’s compositions have been performed around the world at major concert halls including Lincoln Center in New York and Wigmore Hall in London.  He has received numerous awards including a DramaLogue Award for “Best Music for a Theatrical Production,” a BMI Award, a Chicago International Film Festival Award, a Gaudeamus Festival Award, and “Best Record of the Year” from Stereo Review. 

            Mr. Krouse has received commissions from such organizations as Meet the Composer and the National Endowment for the Arts.  His Thamár y Amñon, commissioned for The Debussy Trio, was premiered at the 1991 Festival of New American Music. Currently, he is Professor of Music Composition at UCLA. 

            The New York Times has found Mr. Krouse's music to be “imaginative and virtuosic.”  The Los Angeles Times has described it as “inventive and fresh” while European reviewers have called it “astonishing, beautiful, colorful and seductive.”