The Passion of Scrooge, or A
Christmas Carol
Innova.mu
Jon
Deak was born in Hammond, Indiana on April 27, 1943. He grew up in an artistic environment. His father and mother
were sculptors and painters; he himself has worked in sculpture. But music seized his attention; he
studied double bass and composition at Oberlin, Juilliard, the Conservatory of
Santa Cecilia in Rome, and the University of Illinois. The greatest influence on his work has
come from Salvatore Martirano and John Cage and from the Soho performance art
movement of the late 1960s and early 70s.
Since 1970, Deak himself has been a member of the double bass section of
the New York Philharmonic. Spending
much of his professional life as a performer has no doubt contributed to his
interest in what is known as “performance art” — a creation
that involves more than simply the notes on the page, that comes alive only in
the person of the executants.
Of
course, all music is really a performance art: the printed score is not the
work, but only a blueprint of it.
But Jon Deak’s works, many of which have been performed by the 20th
Century Consort, are performance scores in a different sense; the work has a
visual and theatrical element that transcends the customary relationship of
pitch and rhythm. They are a kind
of “Story Theater,” to borrow the name of a theatrical performing
company of the 1970s that produced elaborate versions of fairy tales in which
actors began by narrating (as outsiders observing the story), then gradually
became the characters they had been describing. Similarly, in Jon Deak’s many “concert
dramas” (the term he has come to prefer for this kind of work), there can
be soloists who both narrate and enact the story, and the instrumentalists
themselves take part in various ways, both by word and sound.
On several occasions Deak has turned to an old story-whether folktale or, as here, a work of literary fiction. Other examples in his output include “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Bremen Town Musicians,” and “Lucy and the Count” (based on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”). All partly make use of speech rhythm for the music. The words of the tale are turned into music, which sometimes takes over the storytelling entirely and sometimes supplies the background to declamation. The instrumentalists evoke words “woven into the music as a sound event.” As the composer has explained, he is sometimes “more concerned with the sound event than with the meaning of the words.”
A
Christmas Carol is the longest of
these musical narratives. It also
took the longest time in composition.
The idea for the project first arose in 1986, partly through the
mediation of Christopher Kendall, but was not finished then. Deak states: “Then Jack and Linda
Hoeschler approached Christopher Kendall and me about completing this
project. It turned out to be a big
piece — and they have been very patient! As I worked further on it, my point of view changed. I started adapting the original
libretto, which was by Isaiah Sheffer, and as I continued to work on the piece,
I made more and more changes from the first version, so now the libretto is
essentially by me, though it retains some of Isaiah’s work, and of course
we both based what we did on the Dickens story [1843]. The piece turned out to be a work for
baritone and chamber ensemble because I felt that it was best to have just one
person up there. I think it works
out perfectly that way because, in this story, all the characters come out of
Scrooge’s head — the whole drama takes place within his head. If we had other characters singing at
Scrooge it would be didactic: society putting pressure on him to reform. But this way it is internal, depicting
his own struggle. That’s why
I changed the title to something that sounds rather Dickensian in style:
‘The Passion of Scrooge, or A Christmas Carol’.”
The
piece is cast in two acts. During
the first we are introduced to Scrooge and his departed partner Marley, who
comes as the first Christmas Eve ghost to warn Scrooge that he must change his
grasping, greedy ways. (Though the
instrumentalists in the ensemble become various people, the baritone is both
Scrooge and Marley, who at this stage of the story represent a single vice,
avarice, in two different bodies.
The second act will introduce the three ghost of Christmas — past,
present, and future — who help Scrooge experience his passion and
accomplish his transformation.
Notes: c. 1998 by Steven
Ledbetter. All rights reserved.
Roughly
the first five minutes of the piece as it now stands were composed in 1986, the
next ten minutes in 1996, and the remainder of the score in 1997. The music of Scrooge and Marley, those
outcasts from human warmth and expression, operates with tone rows, or segments
of tone rows, while the remaining characters (and, gradually, Scrooge himself)
are more tonal, even romantic in character. Scrooge is constantly testing new self-images, and his music
is constantly changing, though it is built out of a half-dozen different
motives, some of them interrelated.”
The circumstances surrounding the first performance on December 6,
1997, at the Hirshhorn Museum were extraordinary; for one thing, finishing the
work in time was proving to be an agony.
I’d been giving the score piecemeal to Bill Sharp and Christopher
Kendall over the course of several months, but due to several unforeseen
reasons, they never actually got the complete score until (incredibly) four
days before the concert! Bill was
up literally all night for the sixty hours preceding the performance. In
addition, I was a real pest, badgering him, questioning with him, working out
ideas about how the characters should be conceived, changing notes, tempi,
dynamics, hand gestures, facial expressions, and dissolving into confused
babbling. Bill and Christopher
were unbelievably calm and supportive throughout, often turning my wild
suggestions into something much more effective than I could have
conceived.
I was also a pain-in-the-neck to the performers, since, as the
storyteller says at the very beginning: “…and all you musicians are
going to play parts in the story.”
Well, I took that seriously. But to expect musicians to embody roles in
a story without resorting to costumes, props or fancy (amateurish) gestures is
a lot to ask, yet I was never disappointed. At times the musicians had to react with vocal wind,
insidious whispering, actual words, outright laughter or even – singing
“God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” as if they were roistering
carolers. Indeed, the very opening
sound of the entire drama is an intake of human breath sounding perhaps like an
ancient wine or fog lifting – my sonic equivalent of a stage curtain
rising.
In addition to playing the motives of the various characters, each
musician needs to, as I say, embody them, often imitating human speech on the
instrument in a technique I refer to as “Sprechspiel,” or
“Speak-playing.” Sara,
the flutist, plays such roles as a woman in the London street, echoes of the
lost fiancé of Scrooge’s youth, as well as aspects of Scrooge
himself. Loren, on clarinet, is a
little boy outside Scrooge’s window on Christmas morning and, on his bass
clarinet, Scrooge’s darker feelings. Ted’s “horn-of-plenty” embodies the Ghost
of Christmas Present; Dotian’s harp, that of Christmas Past, — and
the baritone soloist actually converses with these characters. David Salness with his violin plays a
gentleman soliciting charity for the poor, Scrooge’s nephew, as well as
aspects of Tiny Tim. Daniel
Foster’s viola is Bob Cratchit; David Hardy’s cello, the apparition
of Marley; Robery Oppelt enacts Scrooge’s depression with particular
vividness on the double bass. Tom
Jones, the Consort’s percussionist, is a one-man stage set and
sound-effects man, with imaginary scenery. He even provides the parrot “squawk” for
Robinson Crusoe. David
Salness’s violin later becomes Scrooge’s magical (no other word for
it!) ascent from a mean depressed old man to a magnificently reborn soul on
Christmas Morning. That we were
able to capture this particular moment of performance artistry on this
recording will probably remain one of the great joys of my life. It is the crux of the entire work and,
I admit, my favorite part.
But back to the first performance… Here we have a sleepless
Bill Sharp imbued with the responsibility of carrying all this drama on his
shoulders. And there we have
myself, the tardy composer, whispering suggestions to him and to Christopher
right up to 10 minutes before the concert. Finally, I settled back in the audience, with my daughter
Selena sitting in my lap. Next to
me were Christopher’s wife Susan and, a few seats away, Jack and Linda
Hoeschler, Inge Cadle and Bill and Nancy Foster, all of them so helpful at
crucial points along the way.
Notably absent was Nancy Foster and Christopher Kendall’s wonderful
mother Catherine, who had passed away days before. We dedicated the first performance to her. In any case, to say we were all nervous
would have been an immense understatement. But, as Christopher started the overture, I could hear that
things were already sparkling. And as Bill Sharp took his breath for his very
first entrance, my jaw began to drop: I could tell immediately that he had done
it! He was completely in character, right on pitch, and remained in mastery
until the very last note. How did
he (and they) do it? Who knows?
I’ve never been so amazed at a performance, and so glad I’d become
a composer.
The Washington Post seemed to agree about the success saying:
"Deak's thorough retelling of 'A Christmas
Carol' is a marvel of musical ingenuity...it was one of the most vivid and
memorable concerts I have attended this year.”
"Deak has taken up the story of Scrooge
with zest, vigor and the kind of narrative skill that has won him a substantial
and devoted audience. It was, as
Deak’s music usually is, technically brilliant and a lot of fun."
"William Sharp rose to the role of Scrooge
with magnificent zest and skill."
I did revise the work somewhat, also adding a second violin for
subsequent performances. Then an
Aaron Copland Fund grant enabled us to record the work and Curt Wittig, already
our engineer, became a co-producer.
As sound designer, Curt is the one responsible for the final sound on
this recording, and working with him and with Christopher became just as
extraordinary for me as it had been with the performers. In fact, Curt has been a performer in a
sense as well. The Surround Sound
he created is an awesome new experience for me. His pride is obvious in bringing every aspect of the work to
its best realization while retaining the reality of the musicians’
performances. The numerous
“sound effects” (part of the music, really), engineered from
acoustic sources because, as Curt says, “Electronically generated effects
just aren’t as much fun.”
…And in the end, what matters most? For Scrooge’s Redemption
and Rebirth to have lasting effect, it’s got to be fun, too!
Redemption is so precious.
As Tiny Tim says:
“God bless us, God bless us everyone!”
– Jon Deak
RECORDING SCROOGE
The Passion of Scrooge was conceived for concert performance. It
isn't a staged work in the sense of employing sets, lights and costumes, and
its many characters are all played by a single actor/singer. But when done in
front of an audience it contains so many visual elements that help carry the
story along, that it was an interesting challenge coming up with a way to
translate it into a medium relying on the purely auditory equivalent of the
visual dimension. It clearly wasn't a work that could be recorded directly to
stereo as we have always done before, but one that needed a different approach.
We recorded the orchestra on its own set of five tracks in
Surround Sound, and William Sharp on an additional stereo pair belonging
entirely to him. This required him to do his recorded performance not from the
stage as he had done for the concerts, but from out in the hall facing the
stage in order to keep the instruments out of his microphones. Thus, when he
changed character (which he does in performance without benefit of splicing or
dubbing!), we could create back in the studio his own "stage" in
which he could be freely moved in space, first from the front-and-center
storyteller who introduces the piece, and then into several other characters in
dialogue with one another. These include Scrooge himself, of course; Scrooge's
nephew; a supplicant who visits
the office on Christmas Eve soliciting donations for the poor, all the way to a
trio of gravediggers — not to mention Marley, of course, who has plenty
to say — plus a few other miscellaneous "walk-on" parts
including the voice of a parrot!
The result, through a lot of automated computer audio mixing, has
become in the present recording a modern version of an old-fashioned radio
play, in which (in addition to several custom-recorded sound effects to
supplement those done by our percussionist in the concert performances)
we were able to
employ a variety of specially programmed reverberation effects for both the
orchestra and the spoken and sung parts. These were all added entirely in the
studio for the purpose of replacing the visual cues and dimensionality on which
the progress of the work's narrative depends. We think it worked pretty well,
and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making this
recording.
- Curt Wittig
The Passion of Scrooge
Or, A Christmas Carol.
By Jon Deak
Commissioned by Jack and
Linda Hoeschler in honor of Inge Cadle and in memory of Don D. Cadle.
ACT I
1. Introduction
Narrator: A Christmas – (ahem) A
Christmas Carol! By Charles Dickens.
Patience. It’s
about…well, it’s a ghost story of Christmas. And you’re all going to help me
play the parts, (indicating musicians).
Musicians: (Oh! Wow!)
Narrator: Once upon a time, of all the
good days of the year, on Christmas Eve:
Nephew: And a Merry Christmas to you, my
good sir.
(Merry Christmas!)
Nephew: And to you Madam, the very best wishes to you and your
family.
(Thank you!)
Nephew: Yes, a fine holiday it is,
I’m sure. [Enter Scrooge]
Hello, Uncle. A…a Merry Christmas to…to y-
Scrooge: Bah Humbug!
Narrator: [mocking Scrooge’s
speech] Scrooge…Scroooooge!
Hee, hee, hee…Scrooge! A
squeezing, wrenching, grasping; a scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!
Scrooge: Brr!
Narrator: The cold within him froze, nipped, shriveled. [becoming unruly] Brrr! Brrr! Brrr!
Scrooge: Silence!
Narrator: No warmth could warm him, no
wind that blew was better than he, no man nor woman nor child would greet him,
and even blind men’s dogs would pull away as if to say: No eye at all is
better than an evil eye. But what
did Scrooge care? Bah! It was the very thing he liked! (Heh heh heh…)
Nephew: Now ,Uncle, do come dine with us
tomorrow.
Scrooge: Bah! I’ll see you in that
extremity first!
Nephew: But Uncle – the
children…
Scrooge: Why did you get married?
Nephew: I-I-I fell in love.
Scrooge: You fell in looove? Good afternoon!
Nephew: But Uncle – what reason have you to be dismal? You’re rich enough.
Scrooge: What reason have you to be merry? Ha-ha-ha- You’re poor enough. Good afternoon!
Nephew: Very well then, Uncle. Still
– I wish you a Merry Chri-
Scrooge: Good afternoon! Good Afternoon! Good Afternoon! Bah!
Nephew: Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas…
Scrooge: Out! Upon Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas, Bah! I’ll retire to Bedlam…
Carolers: [from a distance]
God rest ye, merry gentlemen, let nothing you dis-
Scrooge: OUT! (Now what???) Yes?
Charity Gentleman: Eh-The firm of
Scrooge and Marley’s, I believe?
Scrooge: State your business.
(I’m suspicious already.)
Gentleman: The charity – the poor
people…that is, some of us are… what shall we put you down for,
sir?
Scrooge: Put me down for – NOTHING!
Gentleman: (But, but sir, - I…)
Scrooge: Are there no poorhouses? No
workhouses? No prisons?
Gentleman: (Well, uh- yes, but…)
Scrooge: Well, uh- yes, but…
NOTHING!! Good afternoon!
Gentleman: (But,…)
Scrooge: Good afternoon!…And as
for you, Bob Cratchit, stop that shivering. Come here!
Cratchit: (If…)
Scrooge: Stop that sniveling!
You’ll want all day tomorrow, I suppose.
Cratchit: (If quite convenient.)
Scrooge: Stop that blasted sniveling!
It’s not ‘convenient’ and it’s not fair!
Cratchit: (It’s for the children
on Christmas.)
Scrooge: Oh, it’s for the
children, eh?
Cratchit: (T-Tiny Tim’s not well
– and I…)
Scrooge: Ohh.. Tiny Tim’s not well
then, is he?
Cratchit:
(It’s only once a year, sir…)
Scrooge: It’s only once a year,
you say? A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of
December!
Cratchit: (Oh, thank you, sir…)
Scrooge: Thank me not! Only be here all
the earlier on the next day, or you’ll find yourself without employment!
Cratchit: (Eh, - A merry
Christmas… Sir…)
Scrooge: Bah! Lunatics! (Brrr!) Time to close the shop and go home.
Scrooge: [unintelligibly] Away, I say, and say again, and say again, and say,
they’re all parasitic, muffin-headed, soft in the brain, and they
won’t know the value of a good day’s work. So there! (Hmmm…what was her
name? Ehh. It matters little…what is it she said? …matters little.)
Hmm…Humbug. Home at last. Light so dim. What’s this on the door-knocker? AAAAAH! Marley’s face! Jacob Marley, my business partner – DEAD these seven years. Marley…hmm. (Bah) It’s just a door-knocker. Just the imagination… Heh, heh. Humbug. Heh, heh. Nothing over here. Nothing over there….nothing. Heh, heh. Oh well, off to bed.
[Enters bedroom. Hears chain and
swinging bells]
Scrooge: What’s going on?
[Enter Ghost of Jacob Marley]
Aaaah! Jacob! But you’re dead! Yes! Yes, you may be something I just ate; a disorder of the stomach… an undigested bit of beef… a fragment of an underdone potato – Yes, that’s it! Ha-ha-ha! There’s more of gravy than of grave about you. Ha-ha-ha…that wasn’t funny, was it? That chain you wear, Jacob….tell me why.
Marley: I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard. But is its pattern strange to you? Or
would you know the weight and length of the strong coil you bear! It is a far
more ponderous chain!
Scrooge: It is? Jacob, speak comfort to me, I implore you!
Marley: I have none to give. I
cannot rest. My spirit –
Mark me! In life my spirit never
walked beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole, oh woe! – and
now it is condemned to do so after death, and witness what it might have shared
on earth turned to happiness!
Scrooge: Jacob! No more I pray you – STOP!
Marley: Oh captive bound and
double-ironed take heed, and know no space of regret can make amends for a
life’s opportunity misused!
Yet such was I. Ahh! Yet such
was I!
Scrooge: But Jacob – You were
always a good man of business, Jacob!
Marley: Business? Business? Ahhh! My
business. Mercy was my business!
Charity, benevolence, kindness…love. Have mercy, the beauty of all life were all my business! The
dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my
business!
Marley: Hear me! My time is nearly gone!
Scrooge: I will Jacob, (though I would
rather not).
Marley: Hear me, Ebenezer! I am here tonight to warn you that you
have yet one more chance of escaping my fate. You will be haunted by three spirits.
Scrooge: I think I’d rather
not…but don’t go!
Marley: Expect the first tomorrow at the
toll of one. Expect the second on
the next night at the same hour. Expect the third upon the next night at the
stroke of twelve. Take heed and
remember what has passed here.
Scrooge: But Jacob, couldn’t we
just… now here did he go? Where? The window? Yes! Oh God! The air all filled with phantoms! And
all moaning in despair.”
Voices: [voices overlapping] A scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner. But what does Scrooge care? It’s only once a year, sir. It’s for the poor, the
charity. Mercy! Charity!
Kindness!…were all, all my business!
Scrooge: STOP! No more!
Voices: Scrooge! Take
heed! Hear us, Ebenezer!
Scrooge: No more. Too much. To bed. Ahhhh!!
7. Introduction
Scrooge: Huh!? What!? Who’s there?…no one. No…no! What’s going on? No one’s here, just me alone. Nothing’s come, after all! No one.
Voices: Ebenee—zer.
Scrooge: Something is here!
8. [Bell tolls one] Are you
the spirit, then, whose coming was foretold to me?
Ghost/Harp: (I am)
Scrooge: Who, and what, are you? You seem like a child (yet not so like
a child) as like an old man. Such
a clear, bright jet of light springs from the crown of your head.
9. Spirit, if you are indeed, the ghost of Christmas Past, is it long
past?
Ghost/Harp: (Your past.)
Scrooge: My past… But spirit,
where are you taking me? But the weather and the hour are not suited to
pedestrian purposes. The window?
Ah! I am a mortal and liable to fall! [in amazement]….
10.
Passed through the
wall…Good Heaven! I was bred
in this place. I was a boy here! The path! I remember every gate, every post,
every tree! Hello there Dick Wilkins!
Hello Sally, Edward, helloooooo!- Spirit, they don’t see us. Oh, but there’s the market-town,
and the old school house deserted.
Except for one small boy, solitary boy, neglected boy, lost his mother,
rejected by his father. There he
is (I am?) alone at school. What’s
that you’re reading, little boy?
Why its Ali Baba! And The
Gate of Damascus! And The
Sultan’s Groom, turned upside
down by the genii and it served him right! (Th’old scoundrel!!) –
And, what’s this? Oh!
It’s Robin Crusoe!
“Squawk!” And there’s the parrot! [imitating squawking
parrot] “where have you been, Robin Crusoe?”
Yes….where have you been? [aside] You know, the man thought he was dreaming…but he
wasn’t.
I wish…but it’s too late now.
Spirit,
let us see another Christmas. Were
all so bleak as this?
11.
Ah! My sister,
little Fan. Quite a woman, little
Fan, yes, and with a boy of her own…look at him. She died soon after …and the boy
–
Scrooge: (Why-) My nephew…no! He came to see me just this morning! And I threw him out. I wish – but it’s too late now. Spirit! Show me no more!
12.
A fair young girl,
in tears. I remember what she said
to me, spirit. She said,
“It matters little. To you, very little. Another idol has displaced me; a golden idol. I have seen your nobler self fall away to the master passion: Gain. You care not for a dowerless girl. You care not for a dowerless girl who loves you. May you be happy in the life that you have chosen.”
And then we parted.
Spirit!
Remove me from this place! Haunt me no longer! I cannot bear it! I extinguish
your light –THUS!” [falls asleep]
14.
Scrooge: Wonder of wonders! Might you be the ghost of Christmas Present?
Ghost/Horn: (I am)
Scrooge: You are a giant of a fellow with a horn of plenty! What’s that! No, I have never seen your like before! No, never! Why, have you many brothers, spirit? Yes, many brothers.
Ghost/Horn: (More than 1999 brothers)
Scrooge: Nineteen-hundred and ninety-nine brothers? Hmm…a tremendous family to provide for! Spirit! Lead me where you will.
15. Look,
spirit! It’s the home of Bob
Cratchit, my clerk! A wretched hovel, but brave in merriment! [instruments gossiping] Oh! Spirit! They’re talking badly of me. Oh, but look! And here’s Bob Cratchit himself! With Tiny Tim and his
little crutch. Look how the
children crowd around Cratchit; hugging, clutching, searching his pockets for
presents. Presents? There are no presents. On his salary? Well, my books, my balances, my profits…my
business. Tiny Tim. See how Cratchit holds his little
withered body close to him as if he feared… Spirit, tell me if Tiny Tim
will live! No, spirit! Say he will
be spared! Say it! Ahhhh! Spirit!
Say it’s not too late, I beg you! No! Don’t go! Don’t leave
me like this!
[Bell tolls]
Scrooge: Who’s there? Where are we going? Spirit — if spirit you are, Ghost of the Future, what is this? Barren, lifeless…answer me! Why am I shivering so? Spirit, I fear you most of all.
17. Who are these people? I know them not.”
Two Gravediggers:
-Oo was ‘e then?
-Don’t
care. ‘Oo was he? Now
‘e’s there.
-Looks
rich, that’s sure!
-Me
thinks, rather poor. Haw! No one
even came to ‘is fun’ral!
-Not
a soul?
-None!
They’re glad he’s dead.
-How
so?
-They
made ‘im rich, but still owed ‘im money! Haw!
Scrooge: Spirit! What man are they talking about?
Gravediggers:
-But
they fixed ‘im, Jack. They took d’ fun’ral clothes right off
his back!
Scrooge: Spirit! Who is
that man who lies there dead? Dare I lift this shroud? [afraid to lift it, then distracted] Now
where?
Minister: Let us remember Tiny Tim, as
he would have blessed us. Tiny
Tim, thy essence was from God.
18. The Passion
Scrooge: Spirit, speak! Are these the things that will be- or may be only? A church-yard..why do you point to that tombstone? Who is this man who died so scorned and hated? Answer me! Spirit, I’m afraid! Men’s courses foreshadow certain ends, yes, but if the courses be departed from, the ends will change! Say it is thus, Spirit, say it! I see it! I see the name upon the tombstone…it is my own. But Spirit, why show me this, if I am beyond all hope? Assure me that I might change these shadows by an altered life! I will honor the spirit of Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will honor the past, the present and the future! Spirit! Mercy! Have Mercy! No it’s too late, I know, too late…
Scrooge: What? Where am
I? Spirit? That’s not a spirit – that’s
my bedpost! And it’s
morning! And I’m not dead!
Ha! Nor is Tiny Tim, I’ll
wager! The shadows of things that
would be, may be dispelled, I know it!
Oh, what a morning! What a
morning! Ha ha ha!
What
morning!? Ah! The window! Oh, boy – BOY! Yes YOU, my lad! Over here! What morning is it?
Yes! My fine fellow, what’s
today?”
Boy: Oh, it’s Christmas Day!
Scrooge: Of course! Whoop! Hallo! I
haven’t missed it! The
spirits have done it all in one night!
Whoop! I’ll buy a
goose for Cratchit! And I’ll
raise his salary! He won’t
know what to do! I’ll
provide for Tiny Tim as a second father.
I’ll surprise my nephew!
I feel quite like a baby!
Ha ha ha! May this be the
father of a long line of laughs!
Let them laugh at my change!
My own heart laughs at it!
And a Merry Christmas to you, Madam!
[gossiping, mocking]: Such a change in th’ old man…
Narrator: And in the words of our dear
Tiny Tim: God bless us! God bless us, every one!
Baritone William Sharp is a
consummate artist possessing the rare combination of vocal beauty, sensitivity
and charisma. Praised by The New York Times as a "sensitive and subtle
singer" who is able to evoke "the special character of every song
that he sings," Mr. Sharp has earned a reputation as a singer of great
versatility and continues to garner critical acclaim for his work in concert,
recital, opera and recordings.
Mr. Sharp has appeared
throughout the United States with major orchestras and music festivals. In
recent seasons he has performed with the New York Philharmonic, St. Louis
Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and
the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He is a frequent participant in Lincoln
Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Colorado Music Festival
and the Marlboro Music Festival. Mr. Sharp also enjoys his work in the
performance of baroque and pre-baroque music. He has made numerous appearances
with the Bach Aria Group, the Boston Handel and Haydn Society and the Maryland
Handel Festival.
A highly respected and
sought-after recording artist, William Sharp was nominated for a 1989 Grammy
award for Best Classical Vocal Performance for his recording featuring the
works of American composers such as Virgil Thomson and Lee Hoiby on the New
World Records label. Mr. Sharp can also be heard on the 1990 Grammy
award-winning world premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein's Arias and
Barcarolles on the Koch International
label.
"Does
any audience in the nation enjoy such excellent new music, presented with such
talent and care, as do the subscribers of the 20th Century Consort?" wrote
Mark Adamo in The Washington Post.
"The choice of music and the performances were brilliant"
observed another Post review. Critics in the Nation’s capital praise the
Consort for "inspired performance", describing programs as
"larger than life", "exhilarating", "perfectly
balanced" and "consorting with greatness". In tandem with the regular critical
acclaim are the 20th Century Consort’s full houses season after season at
the Smithsonian Institution, "playing, as they always do, a program
carefully thought out and performed with virtuosity." Also in the Post: "Contemporary composers could wish
no more eloquent advocacy than from this fine band of musicians."
Founded in 1975,
the 20th Century Consort was established as resident ensemble for contemporary
music at the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
Garden in 1978. In its annual
series at the Hirshhorn, the Consort presents finely balanced concerts
frequently related to the museum’s exhibitions, featuring music by living
composers — often world premieres — along with 20th century
classics. In 1990 the Consort was
awarded the Smithsonian Institution’s Smithson Medal in honor of their
long, successful association.
Under the
direction of its founder and conductor, Christopher Kendall, the
Consort’s artists include principal players from the National Symphony
Orchestra, along with other prominent chamber musicians from Washington, D.C.
and elsewhere. Christopher Kendall is also founder and lutenist of the Folger
Consort, early music ensemble-in-residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library
since 1978, was Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony from 1887-1992,
Director of the Music Division and Tanglewood Institute of the Boston
University School for the Arts from 1993-1996, and since 1996 has been Director
of the School of Music at the University of Maryland
In the first
years of its Smithsonian residency, the Consort made its New York debut at
Alice Tully Hall, performed at Spoleto USA, and mounted special large-scale
concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 1984 the Consort received
an Emmy Award for its nationwide PBS television broadcast of an all-Copland
concert from the Library of Congress. The Consort has performed at the Kennedy
Center Friedheim Awards and the Washington Area Music Awards, at the Library of
Congress and in staged performances of important 20th century music-theatre
works. The 20th Century
Consort’s national appearances have included concerts and workshops at
many colleges and universities. In the last several years the Consort has
presented mini-residencies of readings and recording of student compositions at
the University of Maryland School of Music. It has performed numerous concerts
free to the public at the Washington National Cathedral, and in January, 2000,
collaborated with the Folger Consort at the Cathedral in a critically acclaimed
concert hailing the new millennium. The ensemble’s recordings can be
heard on the innova,
Delos, Nonesuch, Centaur, ASV, CRI and Smithsonian Collection labels.
"THE PASSION
OF SCROOGE or, A Christmas Carol"
by Jon Deak
William Sharp,
baritone
The 20th Century
Consort
Christopher
Kendall, Director
Personnel:
William Sharp,
baritone
Christopher
Kendall, conductor
Sara Stern, flute
Loren Kitt,
clarinet
Edwin Thayer,
French horn
Dotian Levalier,
harp
Thomas Jones,
percussion
David Salness,
Marissa Regni, violins
Daniel Foster,
viola
David Hardy,
cello
Robert Oppelt,
contrabass
Produced by Jon
Deak, Christopher Kendall and Curt Wittig
Engineer and
Sound Designer: Curt Wittig
Surround reverb
by Lexicon 960L, programmed by David Moulton
Original sound
effects by David E. Greenspan, with Michael Gales, Ian
Corbett and Thom
Paulson
Additional
effects provided by Yves Albert Feder Productions
Photo of
Christopher Kendall: Mary Noble Ours
Executive Producer (innova), Layout: Philip Blackburn
3-D Artwork: Preston Wright
Text editor: Fred Langenfeld
The recording was supported in part by the Copland Fund for Music Recording Grant.
NOTE
The stereograms in this
booklet were made using Bryce 3D and Poser software. They are modern interpretations of some of the scenes in the
Dickens story, employing an optical phenomenon first seen at the Crystal Palace
in 1851. To view the images in
three dimensions (without need of the traditional stereoscope apparatus), hold
the page about 14 inches from your face, cross your eyes so that the right eye
looks at the left image, and the left eye at the right. A third image will appear in the
middle; stare at this while focusing at infinity. Relax. At a
certain dramatic moment your brain will interpret the scene as having depth
and, as a visual analogue to the Surround Sound technology and the spiritual
planes, you will have entered Scrooge’s world for a moment.
See www.innovaRecordings.com
to explore these scenes in Quicktime Virtual Reality.
This performance
was recorded and mixed in a form of Surround Sound specially tailored for music
reproduction, additionally adapted for drawing the listener more fully into the
drama when played on home theater systems capable of surround reproduction through
five loudspeakers: Left, center and right speakers in the front and two more in
the back, ideally arranged as a stereo pair and facing forward, high enough so
that all five loudspeakers can "see" one another unobstructed by
furniture or other listeners.
When played on
stereo systems, its five channels mix together for normal reproduction on two
loudspeakers.