 |
Harp Suite (1952-1977)
| composer |
Lou Harrison (1917-2003) |
| performers |
David Tanenbaum, guitar
William Winant, tuned water bowls, finger cymbals, sistra
Scott Evans, tuned water bowls, drums
Joel Davel, drums |
| publisher |
C. F. Peters, HBP, Salvi (BMI) |
| label |
New Albion Records 055http://www.newalbion.com
|
| duration |
15:22 |
Lou Harrison's Harp Suite consists of seven short harp or guitar pieces written over the course of 25 years (here arranged for guitar). The pieces take their inspiration from two sources: melodic modes from different countries, and the composer's friends and colleagues. Of the suite the composer writes:
"The Serenade (1952) was written as part of a private letter to Frank Wigglesworth, who was studying guitar in Rome at the time.
"Avalokiteshvara (1964) is the Buddha of compassion, who vowed to save all beings. The piece is in the Korean mode called 'The Delightful'.
"Music for Bill and Me (1996-1997) is for the composer's longtime companion William Colvig.
"Jahla (to pleasure Leopold Stokowski on his 90th birthday, 1972) is in mixolydian mode. The transcription moves the key from C to D but, as in the other transcriptions, changes no notes. Jahla is India's answer to the Alberti bass. The tones of the drone note are played between the notes of the melody, thus producing a perpetuum mobile.
"This transcription of Sonata in Ishartum lowers the pitch by a fifth. The Ishartum mode is the 'white key' mode on E, the essential flamenco mode, and is first found on a tuning tablet from the 18th century BC.
"Beverly's Troubadour Piece is another party piece, written when several of us one night in 1967 in Aptos [California] composed pieces for our friend Beverly Bellows to play on a new troubadour harp, which Bill [Colvig] and I had just acquired.
"A Waltz for Evelyn Hinrichsen was written in 1977 for a publishing project of C. F. Peters, 'The Waltz Project', which takes the form of an homage to a remarkable woman and friend who used to help me as a music librarian when we were both young at Mills College and who is now the thoughtful, generous, and endearing matriarch of the publishing house of C. F. Peters Edition."
Lou Harrison (1917-2003) is known for an eclectic body of work which features diverse systems of intonation, traditional Asian instruments, and a combination of Eastern and Western musical styles.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Harrison initially studied in San Francisco in 1935 with Henry Cowell, who introduced him to the music of Charles Ives as well as Native American and early Californian culture. As a dance accompanist for Mills College in Oakland, Harrison met John Cage, with whom he arranged percussion concerts in 1941; a year later he studied with Arnold Schoenberg at the University of California, Los Angeles. Harrison lived in New York City from 1943 to 1951, where he wrote for a number of periodicals and conducted the premiere of Ives' Third Symphony (1904-1911), for which Ives received the Pulitzer Prize (but gave the prize money to Harrison and composer John Becker).
Towards the end of his stay in New York, Harrison began to work with just intonation, inspired by the publication of Harry Partch's Genesis of a Music in 1949. He held residencies at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina (1951-1952) before permanently settling in Aptos, California. In the 1960's Harrison received grants allowing him to travel to Korea and Taiwan, where he studied Korean court music with Lee Hye-Ku and Chinese classical music with Liang Tsai-Ping.
At various points in his career, Harrison made a living as a florist, record clerk, poet, dancer, critic, music copyist, calligraphist, painter, playwright, teacher, and instrument builder. He held academic positions at the University of Hawaii, San Jose State University, Stanford University, and other schools until finally joining the faculty of Mills College in 1980. With partner William Colvig he built many non-Western and folk instruments, including two gamelans in just intonation which remain in use at San Jose State University and Mills College. Harrison's music has been recorded on many labels including Albany, Bridge, CRI, Crystal, Koch International Classics, Mode, Music & Arts, New Albion, New World, and Phoenix.
related websites
http://www2.hmc.edu/~alves/harrisonbio.html
Guitarist David Tanenbaum made his debut at the age of 16 and has since performed in recitals and with orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, the former Soviet Union, China, and Japan. He has been a guest soloist with symphonies in Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver, as well as the London Sinfonietta, Germany's ORF Orchester, and the Joffrey Ballet. Numerous festivals have also featured him as a guitar soloist, including those of Bath, Luzern, Frankfurt, and Barcelona. As a chamber musician, he has toured extensively with Steve Reich and Musicians and appeared with the Kronos and Shanghai Quartets, among others. Tanenbaum has recorded for several major labels as well as Ars Musici, Audiofon, Innova, Neuma, New Albion and Rhino. He has also published transcriptions of guitar music and written a series of three critical books on guitar etudes. Tanenbaum is currently Chairman of the Guitar Department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and lives in Berkeley. In 1989, he served as president of the Second American Classical Guitar Congress, for which he commissioned five new scores, including a work for 100 guitars entitled Rosewood by composer Henry Brant.
William Winant has collaborated with a wide variety of artists including Anthony Braxton, Keith Jarrett, Kronos Quartet, Joan LaBarbara, Yo-Yo Ma and Mark Morris Dance Group, Mr. Bungle, Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, Sonic Youth, Steve Reich and Musicians, Cecil Taylor, Iannis Xenakis, and Frank Zappa. Composers who have written works for him include John Cage, Lou Harrison, Alvin Lucier, Gordon Mumma, Terry Riley, Wadada Leo Smith, and John Zorn. Winant is principal percussionist for the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and John Zorn Ensemble, and has also performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and at many festivals and recitals worldwide. He has made over 100 recordings on labels including Avant, Centaur, Music & Arts, Musicmasters, New Albion, and Tzadik. He is currently on faculty at the University of California at Berkeley and Santa Cruz, and is artist-in-residence at Mills College in Oakland, California with the Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio.
Perucussionist Joel Davel specializes in marimba, ethnic instruments and electronic percussion. He studied with Rich Holly and Robert Chappell at Northern Illinois University and with William Winant at Mills College. He has performed with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Paul Dresher Ensemble, Kaila Flexer and Third Ear, and Amy X Neuburg and Men.
related websites
http://www.davidtanenbaum.com
http://www.williamwinant.com
http://www.isproductions.com/joel
| |
