NATACHA DIELS: “Second Nightmare for KIKU” (2013, 2022)
Dedicated to Kiku Enomoto-Diels
Fairytales for performers:
Descent into the nightmare's urn
Heads bobble as assistants churn
a cup of fulsome wholesome song—
the terror near the end forgotten
Wistful falling delicate screech
Possess the nightmare's careful essence!
A troubled unison assistants find—
deeper through the nightmare reach.
The lady learns each gesture slowly
absorbs and tears the notes asunder
Shortly she will be abandoned
to the nightmare's terrific thunder.
JOHN HARBISON: Sonata for Viola and Piano (2018)
Sonata for Viola and Piano (2018) is in six brief movements, spanning less than 15 minutes of performance time. The six-movement premise—each shorter and less developed than its predecessor—was present from the first thoughts about the piece.
The idea for the Sonata came from Sally Chisholm, violist of the Pro Arte Quartet and Germain Prevost Professor of Music at the Mead Witter School of Music in Madison, Wisconsin. I am deeply grateful to the anonymous commissioner, a dear friend of many years, whose generosity offered a bridge on which to cross into a new decade in the tenor register.
—John Harbison, composer
CAROLYN BORCHERDING: “The Awakening World is Dark” (2022)
Awakening to new concepts, identities, and knowledge is a transformative process, one which can shake our sense of self, our societies, our values, our world, to the core. This transformation can be violent. It can lead to greater restrictions, greater freedoms, or simply a tighter grip on the status quo. Change in the awakening world depends greatly on the extent to which we are willing to examine and redefine ourselves, the individual. Like that of our current reality, the outcome of this piece is unclear, leaving the question open as to whether or not the violent reverberations instigated by the viola lead to a changed future or a repetition of the past.
—Carolyn Borcherding, composer
WILLYN WHITING: “Pastorale” (2022)
To many the Viola in movement two of Antonio Vivaldi’s Spring is simply imitating the sound of the goat-herd’s dog barking. This is not just any dog, however, but an idealized dog, one that exists only in memory or perhaps doesn’t exist at all... Its [the viola's] bassline portraying something of the dog’s faithfulness to its master. In this way Vivaldi not only zoomorphizes the Violist but anthropomorphizes the dog... In Pastorale (2022) I try to articulate how this movement not only describes a human-animal relationship but power dynamics between people…
—Willyn Whiting, composer
Pastorale
By Antonio Vivaldi (1725)
Translated by Armad D’Angour (2019)
E quindi sul fiorito ameno prato
On the flower-strewn meadow,
Al caro mormorio di fronde e piante
with leafy branches rustling overhead,
Dorme 'l Caprar col fido can' à lato.
the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.
STEPHEN RYAN JACKSON: “You once told me that memory is choice, but if you were God, you'd know it's a flood” (2022)
This piece takes inspiration from the novel "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" by Ocean Vuong. A confessional letter to his mother, whose understanding of the English language is limited, "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" is about processing and articulating difficult memories, rather than about direct communication. This piece is my own version of that concept.
—Stephen Ryan Jackson, composer
DREW FARRAR: “...but this is so cruel.” (2022)
The title of “...but this is so cruel.” comes from a quote by Anneliese Michel, a German woman who underwent nearly 70 exorcisms in the mid to late 1970s. The piece is inspired by recordings of the exorcisms and engages with themes of isolation and agency.
—Drew Farrar, composer
EUN YOUNG LEE: “Ari Ari (Arirang)” (2013, 2022)
Ari Ari is composer Eun Yun Lee's modern interpretation of the famous Korean folksong, "Arirang." "Arirang" has come to symbolize the strength of Korea as it has come to represent the struggle of independence from Japan following WWII, as well as hope for the reunification of the Koreas. Ari Ari was composed for the Annual Sejong Music Competition in Chicago, IL for young musicians.
