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MI e FA (1990-1991)
Nicolas Roussakis:
"MI e FA, a set of five pianoforte pieces, were composed in 1990-1991. Their name, of course, derives from two of the seven solfège syllables put into practice by the eleventh century monk, Guido di Arezzo. However, MI and FA are also the names of my two cats, my constant companions for many years.
"These five pieces are linked in the following fashion: pieces I and IV are both ... rhythmically free, like instrumental recitatives. Their pitches are derived exclusively from the overtone series to the 22nd and 21st partial, respectively, on Mi (E) and Fa (F). These pitches are not pure overtones, but are taken to their nearest approximation on the equally tempered, chromatic scale available on the pianoforte. Pieces II and V are fast-paced, measured, and their pitches are disposed symmetrically around the horizontal axis Mi (E) and Fa (F) at the center of the keyboard. Piece II is in 7/8 time, a meter common in Greek folk music. Piece V is in 12/8 time. [...]
"Piece III stands alone in the set and has no direct relation to the pitches E and F; it does, however, have a lot to do with cats. It is a paraphrase of Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata XXX, K. 30, L. 499, nicknamed 'La Fuga del Gatto' ('The Cat's Fugue') ... The unusual subject of Scarlatti's fugue was apparently created by his cat, who jumped onto the keyboard of the harpsichord, stepping on G, B-flat, E-flat, F#, B-flat, and C#. Scarlatti continued with the subject with a codetta in G minor and then completed the fugue in a perfectly correct and musical fashion ... This 'essercizio' proceeds from the cat's notes to musical devices unimaginable within the confines of eighteenth-century music theory ... Nevertheless, it retains certain characteristics of the Scarlatti original: the 6/8 meter, ... the appearance of the recapitulation at m. 199, the final coda which is very similar to the original, and a total of 152 measures in both versions."
The music of Nicolas Roussakis (1934-1994) draws upon folk and mythological elements of his Greek heritage as well as twelve-tone and serial techniques. Born in Athens, Greece, Roussakis spent his early years in Estonia, Italy, and Switzerland. After becoming a United States citizen at the age of 21, he studied at Columbia University in New York, where his teachers included Henry Cowell, Otto Luening, and Vladimir Ussachevsky. In 1961 he received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Hamburg and Darmstadt, Germany with Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, György Ligeti, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. He then returned to the United States and spent time at at several artists' colonies including MacDowell, Yaddo, and Ossabaw.
Roussakis' teaching career began at Columbia University (1968-1977) and continued at Rutgers University in New Jersey until his death. He was an active arts administrator during this time, serving for many years as president or director of the American Composers Alliance, Composers Recordings, Inc. (CRI), Group for Contemporary Music, and the American Composers Orchestra, which he co-founded in 1976 with Francis Thorne, Dennis Russell Davies, and Paul Lustig Dunkel.
Pianist Xun Pan studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China, Syracuse University in New York, and Rutgers University in New Jersey. He has been a major prizewinner in several international competitions including the 1990 Pyong-Yang International Festival Piano Competition in North Korea. Formerly an assistant professor at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, Pan is currently head of the piano department at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music. He regularly performs as a solo pianist and with the Newstead Trio.
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