Jeremy Beck Wave (innova 612) State of the Union (1992) for orchestra I. March of the Politicians 03:01 II. Lullaby (for an urban child) 02:49 III. Revels 02:54 Sinfonietta (2000) for string orchestra I. Allegro furioso 04:25 II. Grave 02:51 III. Allegretto 04:27 IV. Moderato 04:43 Death of a Little Girl with Doves (1998) for soprano and orchestra In Paris I. 10:46 II. 03:23 In the Asylum III. 10:48 IV. 06:09 total time 57:06 Rayanne Dupuis, soprano Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Kirk Trevor, conductor *** Jeremy Beck is a very fine composer whose work is full of vitality, optimism and beauty. He has a compositional technique which permits him to express his musical thoughts clearly and in a way which is instantly communicative. Each work on this recording gives the listener the feeling that Beck is a composer whose music is accessible without compromising musical standards. His music challenges but is never threatening. The performances are enthusiastic, accurate and make one wish to get increasingly more acquainted with the music of this outstanding American composer. - Samuel Adler *** State of the Union was composed in 1992 in New Haven, Connecticut. This work was written in response to then-President H.W. George Bush's "State of the Union" Address to Congress in January of that year. In contrast to Bush's characterization that all was well with the nation, the three movements of the orchestral suite depict elements of a country in crisis, a domestic crisis which has continued through to the present time. "March of the Politicians" contrasts strict march-like rhythms with wild swirls of sound, representative of the incessant arguing and lack of forward motion that still exists in Washington today. "Lullaby (for an urban child)" is meant to be an uncomfortable lullaby, one which reflects the distress of children growing up in a society rife with violence and abuse. Finally, "Revels" is a false celebration of current times, where the dance-like music frequently is interrupted by ideas from the first two movements. State of the Union has been read by the Yale Philharmonia (1992), the Chicago Civic Orchestra (1994) and the Plymouth Music Series in Minneapolis (1994). It was premiered by Rebecca Burkhardt and the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra at the University of Northern Iowa in 1996. Other performances have been presented by the Iowa State University Orchestra (1997) and the Miami University (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra (1998). *** Sinfonietta for string orchestra is in four movements. These four movements are then paired in a non-linear fashion. The opening Allegro furioso is interrupted by a brief Allegretto, which acts more as an interlude to the fast music than as a complete contrasting section. This more graceful music is, in fact, a foreshadowing of the third movement, and is more fully developed when it returns at that time. The second movement, Grave, is in the character of a hymn or a spiritual - the music from this movement will return towards the end of the last movement, both as a reminiscence, and as a part of a summary and closing of the entire work. As well, brief gestures from the opening movement attempt to break in to the final closing bars, but the energy from these gestures is not enough to rouse the music at the end, which soon disappears in a tonal haze of floating harmonies. Sinfonietta was composed in Yorba Linda, California, from the Fall of 1999 to the Spring of 2000. It was premiered by the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra under Scott Yoo on 28 September 2001 in Troy, New York. *** Death of a Little Girl with Doves for soprano and orchestra is an operatic soliloquy, based on the life of the French sculptor Camille Claudel (1864-1943). Claudel was an accomplished and celebrated sculptor in late-19th century Paris, where she was known as the talented and original young apprentice to Auguste Rodin. In addition to her own powerful work, Claudel assisted on many of Rodin's most famous sculptures, including his La Porte d'enfer (The Gates of Hell). Claudel and the much-older Rodin later became lovers, and their breakup precipitated Claudel's own "fall from grace" and the terrible mental and physical anguish which followed. After ten years of intense creative activity as an independent young woman, she was committed to the psychiatric hospital at Ville-Evrard against her will in 1913. After thirty years of seclusion, Claudel died in 1943, in the asylum of Montdevergues, near Avignon. Hers is a story of love, Art, innocence betrayed and the tragedy of a young woman's persecution for being imaginative and independent during a time when such characteristics were viewed as inappropriate and dangerous for women. Cacountala (The Abandonment) [1888; 1905] is one of Claudel's most sensuous works. As in another of her pieces from this time, La Valse (The Waltz) [1905], two figures are realized as one, as an interconnected spirit. In La Valse, the spirit is fluid, swirling in passionate motion, while in Cacountala, the dance is over, and the spirit finds itself dissolving. One cannot help but draw parallels from Claudel's art to her life, and to experience some of her work as metaphors for her triumphs, struggle and pain. I have found the music for my piece in this spirit, and have retained it as the central emotional image throughout this symphonic rhapsody. Death of a Little Girl with Doves is in two parts, subtitled "In Paris" and "In the Asylum." Each of these two parts is then also divided into two movements. The music and text often move rapidly through different moods and time frames, reflecting the instability of Claudel's life, and its ultimate dissolution. This composition is a fantasy. It was inspired by the life of Camille Claudel; however, the depictions of the characters who appear in it are fictional, as are many of the events described. The overall title of the work is taken from the title of one of Camille Claudel's own paintings, the painting to which she refers in movements one and four. Death of a Little Girl with Doves was composed from May to December 1998 for Leslie Morgan, soprano, and the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra (Iowa). The short score and text were drafted in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and the full score was finished in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The work was premiered by Leslie Morgan and the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra with Jack Graham as Acting Music Director on 5 February 1999. It is dedicated, with love, to Christine Ehrick. (c) 2004 by Jeremy Beck *** Jeremy Beck (b. 1960) has an extensive catalogue of works for varying orchestral, chamber and vocal forces. His opera "The Biddle Boys and Mrs. Soffel" was named by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as one of the Top Ten Cultural Events in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the year 2001. Another of his operas, "The Highway", was presented by New York City Opera as a part of that company's Showcasing American Composers series in May of 2000. Beck has earned awards, grants and honors from the American Composers Orchestra, California Arts Council, the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Composers Forum, Kentucky Foundation for Women, Millay Colony for the Arts (NY), Meet the Composer, Wellesley Composers Conference, Oregon Bach Festival, Iowa Arts Council and the American Music Center. Recordings of his music may be heard on the Capstone, ERM, Vienna Modern Masters, New Ariel and Living Artist labels. Beck holds degrees from the Yale University School of Music (D.M.A., M.M.A.), Duke University (M.A.) and the Mannes College of Music (B.Sci.), where his teachers included Lukas Foss, Stephen Jaffe, David Loeb, Martin Bresnick and Jacob Druckman. Formerly tenured on the faculties of California State University, Fullerton and the University of Northern Iowa, Beck is currently based in Louisville, Kentucky. More information about his music may be found at www.beckmusic.org Rayanne Dupuis (soprano) is a former member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio and has appeared in many roles with that company. Diverse in the scope of her abilities and interests, Ms. Dupuis has sung traditional roles, performed demanding 20th-century repertoire as well as given world premieres of new works with such companies and presenters as Seattle Opera, the Edmonton Opera Association, the Banff Centre, l'Opera Theatre de Besancon, l'Opera de Nantes, l'Opera Theatre de Metz, Aberdeen International Festival and l'Opera de Montpellier in Athens, Greece. Her repertoire includes the title role in Berg's Lulu, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, La voix humaine and Blanche in Dialogues des carmelites, to name but a few. Her other recordings include a Soupir Edition release of new music with l'Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Now based in Paris, Ms. Dupuis holds a doctoral degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and has also studied at Yale University and the University of Toronto. Kirk Trevor (conductor) trained at London's Guildhall School of Music where he graduated cum laude in cello performance and conducting. He came to the U.S. on a Fulbright Exchange Grant, which led to such positions as Associate Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony, the Exxon Arts Endowment Conductor with the Dallas Symphony and Principle Conductor of the Knoxville Symphony. In 1994, he was named Chief Conductor of the Martinu Philharmonic in Zlin (Czech Republic) and has recorded with that group for Koch, Albany, Fatra, Crystal and Carlton Classics. In 2000, Trevor forged a new relationship with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava, and is now Principal Guest Conductor, leading that orchestra in subscription programs and recordings of new music. In the U.S., he is also the Music Director of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and the Missouri Symphony. *** Recorded 25-28 May 2003 in Studio One of Slovensky rozhlas (Slovak Radio) Bratislava, Slovak Republic Producer Emil Niznansky Sound engineer Hubert Geschwandtner Assistant for MusicInternational Terrance McCracken Photo credits Stephen Driver (Jeremy Beck) J. Kriegsmann (Rayanne Dupuis) CD Design Route 8 - A Design Firm innova Director Philip Blackburn Director of Artist and Product Chris Strouth innova Assistant Chris Campbell The recording of this CD was partially supported by a University of Louisville (Kentucky) Intramural Research Incentive Grant. The composition of Sinfonietta was supported, in part, by a California Arts Council Artists Fellowship and a Summer Stipend Award from California State University, Fullerton. The composition of Death of a Little Girl with Doves was made possible by a commission from the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra (Iowa) with additional financial support from the Margaret Jory Fairbank Copying Assistance Program of the American Music Center and the University of Northern Iowa Graduate College. I owe a special debt to Susan Loftus-Munnik for her help in initiating the original commission. In addition to the wonderful musicianship of Leslie Morgan, Jack Graham and the members of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, the premiere of this work would not have been possible without the preparatory coaching and piano accompaniment of Marleta Matheson. Also, I could not have completed the final score as quickly as I did without the attentive help of my copy assistants, Joshua Reznicow and Seth Mulvihill. All compositions are published by Ashmere Music (BMI). Scores and parts are available on a rental basis from The Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music, The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1116, tel (215) 686-5313. Study scores may be purchased directly from the composer. For further information: www.beckmusic.org Innova is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and by an endowment from the McKnight Foundation. *** Death of a Little Girl with Doves a symphonic rhapsody for soprano and orchestra music and text by Jeremy Beck based on the life of Camille Claudel In Paris I. I share these thoughts only with you My despair and anger, only with you Please, I beg you, don't tell anyone - Don't tell Maman, she would be so angry with me! Please, I beg of you... Dear Paul, dear brother! Thanks for your letter No, I am fine Those people are liars! Who told you I'm broke, and living in rags? My room is a studio, of course it's a mess! I'm a sculptor - what do they expect? That I should clean after cutting stone? Who are they to judge me? Silly fools and gossips! Jealous women - Frightened men. Afraid of a woman who dares to be free! Afraid of passion! Afraid of me! Who are they to judge this life that I have chosen? A glorious life! Shaping the clay, feeling the earth in my hands... The joy of holding clay in one's hands... caressing the earth And this other soul, Working with me, passionate artist! He understands, Like no one has ever understood! Oh, Paul! He's a good man, a great man - Don't call me foolish! Don't call me young! I'm already twenty-two! So what if he's older? So what if he's married? We work together, that's all! I'm learning so much, so much from this Master, this passionate artist - Rodin! Ssh! Quiet! Ssh! Quiet! Keep this all to yourself Useless to speak out Better to act under cover Don't show my letter to anyone Beware of how they bribe you Don't mention any names Otherwise they'll threaten me Ssh! Quiet! Be quiet! Not a word... It is so pretty here, out in the country, at this estate - I went for a walk in the gardens, such lovely flowers! If you are good enough to come, We shall be in paradise! I've thought about your latest work; I want you here to talk about it. And I've been painting - I can't wait to show you! Each night I go to bed naked pretending that you are there but when I wake up it's not the same thing... Rodin...Rodin...Rodin... Rodin! Rodin! That devil! He cannot be trusted, and he cannot be stopped! He steals from me! They all do! They use me - They have no ideas - nothing new! Ssh! Quiet! Keep this all to yourself Useless to act under cover That devil! Raping my imagination! Getting rich from my work! They all make money! Millions of francs! The scoundrel takes advantage of us, of me, of you, and makes himself quite a little bundle. And when I fight against him, he uses you and Maman to whip me (spoken) "I am like a cabbage that is gnawed on by caterpillars As soon as I grow another leaf, they eat it." Ssh! Quiet! Millions of francs for the caster, millions for the merchants, millions for the dealers Millions of francs for the Master, Millions of francs, millions of francs, millions of francs, millions of francs, millions of francs - II. "It is March 10, 1913; another Monday in Paris. Two men force their way into Camille Claudel's studio, and bodily take her away by car. Unknown to Camille, it was her brother Paul - esteemed writer, poet and diplomat - who applied for the medical certificate, authorizing her internment in the asylum at Ville-Evrard." Dear Paul, It's illegal! Criminal! I've been kidnapped - and I know by whom! That devil, Rodin - He wants his fame untarnished by me! When I am out, once I am free revenge will be mine! Justice is no use - What one needs is a pistol, The only argument. I have to stop him! Paul, help me Have me released - I must get out! I know you will help me, But please don't tell Maman... Dear Paul! Thanks for your letter - Once I am out, I'll get back to work! I have a lot of ideas Here are some sketches See? Three people listening to another behind a screen I call it: "The Gossipers!" Here is another group of three: A young girl huddled on a bench and crying while her parents look on, astonished. "La Faute"..."The Mistake"... In the Asylum III. "Monsieur: I am taking the liberty of sending you the enclosed letter which I am sending to my daughter Camille Claudel. It is an answer to her letters in which she accuses us of a lot of things to which we are strangers, that is why my letter is so harsh. In your last health bulletin, you told me that her persecution complex had diminished, and that she could be let out of your establishment on a trial basis. According to the letters I have received from her, I see that her ideas have not changed. Her state of mind is always the same, always believing herself to be the victim of everything which is not in the slightest bit true. It is she who has been her own executioner. It is impossible to believe she has a healthy mind and that she can behave reasonably, no more so now than when she first entered the home for mental patients in which, no longer able to cope with her incoherencies, we had to place her ten years ago. If she were to leave you, she would begin again immediately, I am certain, and would cause us the biggest problems. One cannot allow freedom to those who suffer from a persecution complex without grave danger because once back in their own surroundings, they would quickly resume old ideas." "Dear daughter, Your last letter is before my eyes and I can't imagine that you can write such horrors to your mother. God alone knows what I will have suffered on account of my children! How dare you accuse me of poisoning your father! You know as well as I do that he was nearly 90 years old when he left us! How terribly he suffered, when he learned the truth about your relations with that monster Rodin, and the disgraceful comedy you performed for us on your visits. And I, I was naive enough to invite the "Great Man," along with his wife and you, his concubine! While you played the sweet innocent and were living with him as a kept woman. I hardly dare write the words that come to mind! Let's stop here, shall we? Your letter is nothing but a mass of slanders, each more odious than the next. - I send you a kiss." Dear Maman, It has been so cold; I am numb. These hands, which drew life from clay and from stone, now shake, I can barely hold a pen... I haven't been warm all winter. Tell me, how is Paul? Where is he now? Mother, please come see me Mother, please forgive. I'm frightened and lonely I miss you and Paul... You treat me so harshly, your letters, so cold If you could only see conditions here Perhaps you'd be moved I still am your daughter. You don't forgive me for being an artist You don't forgive me for once being young... For my freedom, for passion, For Rodin! Life was once a swirling wave of hope and light. Please don't forget your little sculptor daughter Please don't forget; Forgive... (small laugh) Mother, your daughter is in prison - don't forget! In prison with lunatics who yell all day, spitting, making faces! No place for me! I was praying you would help me, but unhappily I see now you have always let yourself be manipulated by those who wish me harm. They had only one thing in mind, those people: Get me out of Paris, grab my work, make themselves rich without any trouble! And leading them all, Rodin! Since the imagination, emotion, the new, are part of a fine mind, those thick brains need someone else to explore, to feel! All of this comes from Rodin - Still jealous! He keeps me in his clutches from behind the Gates of Hell! You say, God has mercy on the afflicted, God is good! Let's talk about your God! A God who lets an innocent woman rot away in an asylum! Forgotten! Abandoned! Where is your God? Where is God? IV. I share these thoughts only with you My despair and anger, only with you Dear Paul, dear brother! Thanks for your letter No, I am fine Those people are cruel - who cares what they say about me? Gossips! Idiots! You know what I do, when something unpleasant happens? I take my hammer and I crush a statue! A lot of executions have taken place! You should see the pile of rubble! It's a grand human sacrifice! Where - are you? I am waiting for the visit you promised last summer - I know - Paris is so far away... At this holiday time, I always think about Mother - I never saw her again, not since the day you sent me here. I remember her eyes, filled with sadness (spoken) "I am thinking about the beautiful portrait I did of her in the shade of our beautiful garden. I remember a spirit of resignation over her face..." It's been twenty-four years since Rodin and the dealers sent me away, condemning me to a place where they themselves should be! Especially, Rodin! They want me to die, forgotten, in rags! An artist without any defense - How could you believe their lies about me? How could you be fooled? Ah, Rodin! I knew you would come! I knew you would keep your promise! Do you like it? This painting? It's new! I'm not quite finished, still thinking of adding flowers, some flowers - (he kisses her neck, she smiles) (spoken) "Stop it! That tickles!" Do you like it? This painting? I know, it's not finished, But can you feel how peaceful it is? The doves surround her, protect the young girl... Their wings caress, with tenderness... Yes - I know, the colors are dark. No, she's not sleeping. (spoken) Hmm? I call it "Death of a Little Girl with Doves." text (c) 2001 by Jeremy Beck