Etudes

Theresa McCollough

New American Piano Music

Innova.mu

Etudes David Rakowski

1. BAM!

BAM! was composed in 1991 for Karen Harvey, a young pianist in the Boston area. The title comes from a reminder to herself which Karen had written over a sforzando chord in another Rakowski piece. A perpetual motion tour de force, BAM! begins with the same dyad with which E-Machines, another Rakowski piece written for Harvey, ended. This is used as an occasional (and humorously effective) interruption to a continuous stream of sixteenth notes played at a ferociously fast tempo. The score is marked Pipistrello in uscita dal inferno, the closest approximation of "like a bat out of hell," with which the composer could come up.

2. Nocturnal

Nocturnal is the third etude, and was written in October of 1991 for Lyn Reyna, who had premiered the first etude at Stanford. It is an etude on slow repeated notes (which follow the same pitch sequence as the first etude) that was meant to evoke the sort of sadness one feels in new England in fall after the leaves have all fallen, the days are getting shorter, and winter is just around the corner.

3. Close Enough for Jazz

My eighth etude was written for a concert in June 1996 at the American Academy in Rome, where it was premiered by Sandra Sprecher. This etude is based around a 7-beat ostinato which is usually fixed in place, but sometimes wanders into terra incognita. There is no jazz in the piece, except perhaps some rhythmic gestures that could be construed as "jazzy," and some pretty obvious jazz chords near the end.

David Rakowski studied at New England Conservatory, Princeton and Tanglewood with Babbitt, Berio, Ceely, Lansky and Westergaard. He teaches at Brandeis and is former faculty of Stanford, Columbia, and Harvard. He has received the Rome Prize and NEA and Guggenheim fellowships, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Persistent Memory, commissioned by Orpheus. He has also been commissioned by Speculum Musicae, Parnassus, "The President's Own" US Marine Band, the Fromm and Koussevitzky foundations, Network for New Music, and the Riverside Symphony, among others. His music has been performed worldwide and is published by C.F. Peters and recorded on CRI.

4. Prelude and Fugue XIII Henry Martin

The Preludes and Fugues are a collection of pieces written in homage to J.S. Bach and the Well-Tempered Clavier. Praeludium et Fuga XIII — A Slow Drag (Gb Major) is a unique work in the collection. Whereas the other preludes and fugues follow the single-piece format of the Well-Tempered Clavier, my idea in the Gb Major was to combine the prelude and fugue into one work.

I've long been an admirer of the classic ragtime compositions of Scott Joplin, James Scott, and Joseph Lamb. My earlier Fuga XI (F Major) contained moments that were patterned after classic ragtime. I decided to expand on this idea and write Praeludium et Fuga XIII entirely in ragtime form. There is a twist, however: at the Trio, or C section of the rag, I introduce the fugue.

The four-bar introduction, and A and B sections of Praeludium et Fuga XIII are conventional: the A strain is repeated; the B strain begins on the dominant-seventh chord of the principal key, like so many of the classic rags. At the C section, the piece again follows classic form by modulation to the subdominant as the fugue enters. The subject features ragtime syncopation, while the countersubject is a staccato eighth-note figure comprising a compound melody that expands as a wedge.

Development of the fugue follows through the C section. At one point, for example, the subject and countersubject appear in inversion. The C section builds to a climactic moment where the fugue is stated in the left hand while the theme of the prelude enters in the right hand. At the conclusion of the Trio, the introduction and B strain are repeated, followed by a bravura coda.

Henry Martin is Associate Professor of Music at Rutgers University. With a Ph. D. from Princeton University and degrees from the University of Michigan and Oberlin Conservatory, he has pursued a dual career as a composer-pianist and as a music theorist specializing in jazz and the Western tonal tradition. His Preludes and Fugues won the Barlow Endowment International Composition Competition in 1998 and the National Composers Competition sponsored by the League of Composers - International Society for Contemporary Music in 1991. He recently completed solo piano commissions for the San Antonio International Piano Competition and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

5-7. Vernacular Dances Charles Griffin

Composers can only express their perception of the world through the filter of their own experience, and since my earliest musical experiences revolved around singing and drumming, I often incorporate in my writing elements of popular and/or world music that are most compelling to me, within the context of continuing a concert music tradition. Written in February 1996, Vernacular Dances is a three-movement work that comes from this impulse. The first movement blends jazz and latinesque motor rhythms with melodic material loosely derived from Webern's Variations for Piano, Op. 27, Mvt. 2. The second movement is gentle and arioso, orchestrally conceived. The third contrasts blues and Cuban rhythms with a middle section that creates a musical arch of a Germanic/Schenkerian-inspired angst-ridden rut.

Charles Griffin’s works have been performed throughout the U.S. and in Canada, and Europe in such venues as Merkin and Weill Recital Halls in NYC and Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center. He has received grants from ASCAP, Meet the Composer, Queens Council on the Arts and New Dramatists. He was chosen to participate in the American Composers Forum’s 2001 Orchestral Reading Project, and the Dale Warland Singers’ 2001 New Choral Music Commissioning Program. Recent commissions have come from Ethos Percussion Group, Piedmont Choirs, the Goliard Ensemble (for a collaboration with visual artist Karen Fitzgerald), The Lark Ascending with the Lyric Arts Trio, and from pianist Marc Peloquin. His music can be heard on the web at <www.mp3.com/charlesgriffin>.

8-10. Sonata No. 2 for Piano, Op. 121 Tomas Svoboda

The 2nd Piano Sonata was completed in 1985 and premiered by Svoboda January 1986 at Grinnell College, Iowa. While this 3-movement work basically follows the classical sonata form, the key relation in this complex ternary structure is uncommon, rather fresh and unexpected. The brief introduction of the Sonata opens swiftly with a characteristic motivic element which is fragmented in the principal theme. When the main theme returns in the recapitulation, it sounds harmonically a half step higher to underline the lightness and carefree mood of this playful thematic material. After a second theme is introduced and repeated, a transition occurs using chromatic modulation in such a way that the Coda section ends quietly in the original key of the 1st movement.

The melancholic, but relentless 2nd movement is characterized by a rhythmic ostinato that is derived from a short piano piece composed in 1978, entitled Meditation, found in Vol. III of Svoboda's 4-volume Children's Treasure Box piano series. Here the movement is quite extended to fully express the majestic inner voices of a 6-part chorale surrounded by a light, staccato motion of outer voices.

The third movement (finale) is in a typical rondo form that challenges the pianist to play the refrain (rondo theme) in a precise, fast and syncopated rhythm. The movement is highly tense in nature, the effect accomplished through the use of irregular phrases and the occasional changing of metrical beats. After the "slow episode" reminding the listener of the melancholy mood of the 2nd movement, the Coda brings the Sonata to a robust and energetic ending.

Born in Paris, December 6, 1939, Tomas Svoboda is a renowned American composer of Czech heritage and, since 1970, Professor of Music at Portland State University in Oregon. Worldwide, there are to date over 1000 performances of Svoboda's music, including nearly 400 symphonic performances, many by major orchestras in Philadelphia, Cleveland, San Francisco, Monte Carlo and others. His numerous awards include a 1992 Oregon Governor's Award for the Arts. His catalog of over 160 works includes six symphonies, two cantatas, two piano concertos, marimba and violin concerto, two string quartets and numerous chamber works in different media.

11-13. Sonata for Piano Alex Shapiro

My 1999 Sonata for Piano is a three movement work written in the structural tradition of many classical sonatas. Throughout the piece, an emphasis is placed on the motivic development of strong melodies and rhythms. The first movement, Moderato, explores two themes that are first developed independently and ultimately are interwoven as two parts of a whole. A set of jazz harmonies are subtly implied against more angular melodic lines. The second movement, Lento; Andante, takes the listener on an emotional, dreamlike journey that leads to a passionate outburst, and the final movement, Scherzo, is just that — an impish romp through bitonality that ends with a laugh.

Alex Shapiro was born in New York City in 1962 and educated at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, where she studied composition with Ursula Mamlok and John Corigliano. She is a recipient of the 2000 Artists Fellowship Award from The California Arts Council, and her works are heard regularly in concerts across the U.S. and abroad. Alex resides in Malibu, Ca. and frequently updates her website, <www.alexshapiro.org> with concert information and audio clips of her works.

14. Sandhill Crane (Migration Variations) Steve Heitzeg

Commissioned by Susanne Son, Sandhill Crane is a work that celebrates the beauty of the Sandhill Crane. Revered in many cultures, the crane is often a symbol of renewal, longevity and peace. Opening with the migratory theme, a set of seven variations follows, each depicting either the actual migration of the Sandhill Crane or paying tribute to a particular composer or nature writer.

Theme (Migratory)

Migration Variation 1 (in memory of Rachel Carson)

A rhythmically energetic and declamatory variation symbolizing Rachel Carson's struggle and fight to ban DDT as outlined in her ecological tome Silent Spring.

Migration Variation 2: Night in the Wetlands (in memory of Olivier Messiaen)

An elegy for the composer who brilliantly interwove birdsong into his music.

Migration Variation 3: Cranes at Dawn

The sound of birds taking flight: here the pianist is called upon to lightly tap and press down on the keys as if to play, but without actually activating the strings.

Migration Variation 4: Platte River Waltz

Known for their ballet-like mating dance, cranes are evoked in this dance of life.

Migration Variation 5: in memory of Aaron Copland

Elegiac open chords for Copland's musical depiction of open spaces and freedom.

Migration Variation 6: in memory of John Cage

Eight seconds of silence introduce this variation, followed by tranquil and delicate chords.

Migration Variation 7: Great Migration Ritual

Marked 'wild and mysterious,' this variation consists only of the pitches B (for bird) and C (for crane) played in the extreme upper register of the piano.

Emmy Award-winning composer Steve Heitzeg is known for his music written in celebration of the natural world with lyrical scores frequently including naturally-found instruments, such as stones, bones and shells. Heitzeg has composed scores for the Minnesota Orchestra’s award-winning children’s video On the Day You Were Born and for the public television documentary Death of the Dream: Farmhouses in the Heartland (innova 533). Addressing social and environmental justice issues, Heitzeg’s works include Voice of the Everglades, Endangered and Aqua (Hommage à Jacques-Yves Cousteau). His music has been performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Chanticleer, among others. earthworks: music in honor of nature (innova 514), his debut recording, was released in 1998. Heitzeg lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

15-17. Strains and Restraints Elizabeth Pizer

Completed in 1984, Strains and Restraints is built upon recurring lyrical motifs that undergo subtle melodic, harmonic, and dynamic transformations. An unaffected naturalness characterizes this work. The three movements are thematically related, with the opening material serving as a source for melodic and harmonic ideas throughout the composition. Melodic lines are formed through an additive process; a short fragment is presented and then gradually expanded until it becomes a full-blown phrase in subsequent restatements. This "stop-and-begin-again" aspect perhaps offers a clue to the title of this work. Strains and Restraints received a first prize in the 1994 biennial composition contest sponsored by the National League of Pen Women.

Elizabeth Hayden Pizer's (b. 1954) compositions have been performed and broadcast throughout the U.S. and overseas, received numerous awards and prizes, and are also available on the North/South Recordings and MMC Recordings labels. Performers have included the Dayton Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Slovak Radio Symphony, Riverside Symphony, North/South Consonance, Gregg Smith Singers, and pianists Teresa McCollough and Max Lifchitz. From 1982-1993, Pizer served as Chairperson of the International League of Women Composers; in 1983, was cited by NACUSA for her broadcast work promoting living composers; and her articles and reviews have been published in various journals and CD booklets.

Note from the performer:

This program is the culmination of a project that began when I submitted a "call for scores" through the American Music Center. That call resulted in over 300 submissions from talented composers across the United States. My goal in choosing these pieces was to find music that I felt made a strong program of diverse piano styles that would be accessible to many different kinds of audiences; to bring living American piano music to a new community of listeners. I am indebted to the composers who are represented on this program for sharing their music with me. They are all extremely gifted musicians and I am honored to play their music. My thanks also to my colleagues and the many students who have listened to this program and offered their kind suggestions and ideas. Last, but not least, my thanks and love to my family and friends for putting up with me (as they always do during these times). -Teresa McCollough

Teresa McCollough has performed as a solo recitalist and guest with orchestra and noted chamber groups throughout the United States and Europe. She is particularily well-known for her performance of new music and has premiered works by such noted composers as Lou Harrison, Frederic Rzewski and George Crumb, among others. Dr. McCollough is Associate Professor of Music at Santa Clara University.

Memory," commissioned by Orpheus. He has also been commissioned by Speculum Musicae, Parnassus, "The President's Own" US Marine Band, the Fromm and Koussevitzky Foundations, Network for New Music, and the Riverside Symphony, among others. His music has been performed worldwide and is published by C.F. Peters and recorded on CRI.

for Contemporary Music in 1991. He recently completed solo piano commissions for the San Antonio International Piano Competition and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

abroad. Alex resides in Malibu, Ca. and frequently updates her website, www.alexshapiro.org with concert information and audio clips of her works.

Alex's 1999 "Sonata for Piano" is a three movement work written in the structural tradition of many classical sonatas. Throughout the piece, an emphasis is placed on the motivic development of strong melodies and rhythms. The first movement, Moderato, explores two themes that are first developed independently and ultimately are interwoven as two parts of a whole. A set of jazz harmonies are subtly implied against more angular melodic lines. The second movement, Lento; Andante, takes the listener on an emotional, dreamlike journey that leads to a passionate outburst, and the final movement, Scherzo, is just that-- an impish romp through bitonality that ends with a laugh.

Emmy Award-winning composer Steve Heitzeg is known for his music written in celebration of the natural world with lyrical scores frequently including naturally-found instruments, such as stones, bones and shells. Heitzeg has composed scores for the Minnesota Orchestra’s award-winning children’s video On the Day You Were Born and for the public television documentary Death of the Dream: Farmhouses in the Heartland. Addressing social and environmental justice issues, Heitzeg’s works include Voice of the Everglades, Endangered and Aqua (Hommage à Jacques-Yves Cousteau). His music has been performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Chanticleer, among others. earthworks: music in honor of nature, his debut recording, was released in April 1998. Heitzeg lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

published in various journals and CD booklets.

[email protected]

Recording engineer:Don Ososke

Editing and remastering: Tom Carr at The Music Annex

Producer: Michael Boyd

Recording engineer: Don Ososke

Editing and remastering: Tom Carr at The Music Annex

Producer: Michael Boyd

Executive Producer, Graphic Design: Philip Blackburn

Etudes: David Rakowski

1. BAM! (1991): etude on swirls of notes 3:11

2. Nocturnal (1991): etude on slow repeated notes 4:43

3. Close Enough for Jazz (1995): ostinato etude 2:35

4. Prelude and Fugue XIII — A Slow Drag (1996) 5:59 Henry Martin

Vernacular Dances (1996) Charles Griffin

5. I. Andante moderato 4:28

6. II. Meditatively, con rubato molto 3:26

7. III. Aggressive 4:36

Sonata No.2, Op.121 (1985) Tomas Svoboda

8. Allegro moderato 4:17

9. Andante meditativo 3:51

10. Allegro vivace 5:32

Sonata for Piano (1999) Alex Shapiro

11. Moderato 5:28

12. Lento; Andante 8:27

13. Scherzo 1:41

14. Sandhill Crane (Migration Variations) (1998) 7:51 Steve Heitzeg

Strains and Restraints (1984) Elizabeth Pizer

15. I. Bittersweet 2:39

16. II. Ethereal/Melancholy 1:56

17. III. Playful/With Innocence/Gentle 2:10