Jane Antonia Cornish

Continuum

Performed by Decoda

Innova 923

1. Nocturne I 8:07

Performed by Hamilton Berry, Caitlin Sullivan, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Claire Bryant.

2. Nocturne II 5:36

Performed by Hamilton Berry, Caitlin Sullivan, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Claire Bryant.

3. Nocturne III 5:28

Performed by Hamilton Berry, Caitlin Sullivan, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Claire Bryant.

4. Continuum I 7:25

Performed by Owen Dalby, Claire Bryant, Caitlin Sullivan, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Yves Dharamraj, Kris Saebo.

5. Continuum II 6:19

Performed by Owen Dalby, Anna Elashvili, Claire Bryant, Caitlin Sullivan,

Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Yves Dharamraj, Kris Saebo.

6. Portrait 8:06

Performed by Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir

7.Tides 11:44

Performed by Owen Dalby, Anna Elashvili, Claire Bryant, Caitlin Sullivan, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Yves Dharamraj, Kris Saebo.

Total running time: 52 minutes, 45 seconds

Three Nocturnes for Cello Quartet

An arresting sensation of space acts as the point of engagement in Three Nocturnes for cello quartet. The ordinal position of the Nocturnes follow a sequential path that leads to total emotional glaciation. From beauteous longing to unrestrained isolation and ecstatic abandon, these three pieces traverse a dialogic narrative that is both contemplative and impassioned. This is made all the more fervent by the employ of a homogenous ensemble: a quartet of cellos. The collective ensemble carries a communal, impassioned gravity that can be shared between the tutti ensemble, or expressed just as powerfully through a single solo voice.

Continuum I and II for Two Violins, Four Cellos, and Bass Guitar

The album’s eponymous work explores recurring material in two guises, Continuum I and II, and is scored for a septet of strings and bass guitar. A quasi "lament bass”— for the modern age, perhaps— is threaded between the two movements, a salient feature of both works, which tethers the piece into one unified artistic response. The essence of the Continuum pieces is that of unbroken recurrences. In Continuum I fields of sonic contrast are unified by the reappearance of material developed on a motivic and textural level, while sonorous passages of diatonic harmonic stasis provide the foundation for a violin solo of altitudinous beauty. Continuum II features two solo violins in close configuration, the solo line now moving to the cello, with the recurring chorale-like passage appearing once again in the lower strings. The addition of bass guitar grounds the ensemble in a way that has not yet been explored and unveils, once again, the composer’s particularly remarkable understanding of instrumental sonorities.

Portrait for Cello Solo

Cast in a single movement, Portrait is impactful in its brevity and blooming depth. A soliloquy for cello solo, the unbound nature of this work is paradoxically exemplified through the sole use of arpeggiated motives and tertian constructs. Allusions to previously examined themes of space and memory are acted upon through a solitary lens. On the verge of total emotional breakout, the bipartite structure of the work affirms the highly moving individualism of Portrait, as the piece fades into the distance, irresolute.

Tides Two Violins, Four Cellos, and Bass Guitar

The composer’s cabalistic connection to the sea is the quintessence of Tides. Having spent many childhood summers in the Scottish Highlands, her deep connection with this region can be heard in the contemplative introspection and agrarian expanse of the work. Tides culminates in a hauntingly beautiful unresolved conclusion. Where the listener is left with an intimately balanced sense of floating nostalgia and isolated melancholy. The cyclic nature of oceanic tides as a metaphor for humanity is central to this work and the album as a whole.

Brett Banducci

Jane Antonia Cornish bio

Jane Antonia Cornish is a British Academy Award winning composer who grew up in England and lives in New York City. Her debut chamber music album, Duende was described by American Record Guide as "a program of bold, thoughtful, mesmerizing chamber music", while Classical-Modern Music Review called the album "captivating". Fanfare Magazine wrote: "[Cornish] creates an emotionally moving and powerful sound world where a few musical gestures coalesce into striking and powerful statements."

Jane has written music for both the concert hall and films. She recently scored the drama Fireflies in the Garden, which stars Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds and Willem Dafoe. She has orchestrated the films Kung Fu Panda, Horton Hears A Who and Hancock, Once Upon A Dream for the Disney movie, Maleficent and the title song for the Tim Burton film, Big Eyes.

She has received a Special Distinction from the ASCAP Foundation's Rudolf Nissim Prize jury for her orchestral tone poem, Symphony, a Danish Academy Award nomination and a Movie Music UK award for her score to Island of Lost Souls. Jane has been nominated for Breakthrough Composer of the Year by the International Film Music Critics Association, and in 2005 she was honored by the UK Film Council with a Breakthrough Brit in Hollywood award.

Jane Antonia Cornish studied composition at The Royal Northern College of Music with Anthony Gilbert, where she was made a Major Scholar. She received the Royal Northern College of Music Composition Prize and was a recipient of the Associated Board's Most Outstanding Scholar of the Year award. She went on to complete her postgraduate degree at the Royal College of Music, London.

http://www.janeantoniacornish.com

Decoda bio

Decoda is a New York City- based chamber ensemble comprised of virtuoso musicians, entrepreneurs, and passionate advocates of the arts. Decoda’s innovative performances and projects with partners around the world, are designed to engage with society, educate the next generation, and inspire a new entrepreneurial model for today’s artists.

The artists of Decoda first collaborated with one another in the renowned Ensemble ACJW fellowship program, created by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, and they now extend that relationship as an Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall. Since its inception in 2011, Decoda’s projects have reached audiences in schools, hospitals and prisons as well as in prominent concert halls across the globe. For more information, visit www.decodamusic.org

Credits

Cover photograph by Polly Antonia Barrowman

Photograph of Decoda by Caroline Bittencourt.

Photograph of Jane Antonia Cornish by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco.

Liner notes by Brett Banducci

Recorded at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Engineer in Charge: Rob Macomber.

Assistant Engineer: Jelli Dorman

Mixing Engineer: James T. Hill

Mastering Engineer: Dan Hersch

Publishing: Dollybird Music

Special thanks: Jazz at Lincoln Center, Brad Balliett, Betsie Becker, Ben Toht, Jared Varava, Leonardo Mascaro, Janet & Gordon Cornish and Anna King.