program notes
OPENING by Philip Glass
“Opening” is the first piece in Glassworks, a chamber music work of six movements by Philip Glass. Following his larger-scale concert and stage works, it was Glass's successful attempt to create a more pop-oriented "Walkman-suitable" work, with considerably shorter and more accessible pieces written for the recording studio.
Philip Glass has said “Glassworks was intended to introduce my music to a more general audience than had been familiar with it up to then.”
The LP and cassette were released in 1982, each with its own separate mix: the record album intended for home listening and the tape for personal cassette players. The headphone-specific mix, previously only available on cassette, was reissued digitally 2016.
"Opening" uses triplet eighth notes, over duple eighth notes, over whole notes in 4/4. Formally it consists of three groups of four measure phrases of three to four chords repeated four times each, ABC:||ABC, which then merges with the next movement.
~5 minutes
ACCUMULATION OF PURPOSE by David Little
Ride
Accumulation of Purpose
Accumulation of Purpose was commissioned for the Bicentennial of the State of Mississippi and written for Bruce Levingston. It is dedicated to the spirit of non-violent direct action so vital to the success of the Freedom Rides, and to the bravery of the Freedom Riders themselves, who in their courage, changed the course of history.
~5 minutes
A HUDSON CYCLE by Nico Muhly
Hudson Cycle was written as a wedding gift for two friends. This is music of longing and anticipation; losing a beautiful place, approaching a beloved person. The primary rhythmic figure, a restless polyrhythm of two beats in the right hand for every three in the left, should recall the onward rush of the titular river.
~5 minutes
FIVE INVENTIONS by James Johnston
Step Counter
Tilted Clock
Topspin
Push & Pull
Jump Rope
I wrote these pieces in 2006 for my friend Elaine Hou who premiered them that year. The pieces all involve certain processes in the way the material is developed, primarily in melodic and rhythmic rotations.
~10 minutes
NIGHT PSALM by Eve Beglarian
The melody of the piece is based on a chant found in a late sixteenth century antiphoner from Augsberg Cathedral in Germany. It is not known why this book would have been made so late, given the liturgical politics involved.
Night Psalm was inspired by Psalm 77, particularly verse 20:
“Your way was through the sea,
your path, through the mighty waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.”
~10 minutes
ETUDES by Marc Mellits
Medieval Induction
Defensive Chili
Etude No. 1: Medieval Induction embodies overlapping strata of rhythm, layering and combining, forming a unified rapid firing whole that represents the best of all elements that started its formation.
Etude No. 2: Defensive Chili
”Writing music for me always starts with a seed, usually one chord, or one sound. An entire composition will then be built from this one starting point. “Etude No. 2: Defensive Chili” has an opening chord in the right hand which is this germinating seed. Thus, the entire composition is built from this opening sound. All of the harmonic structures and melodic material are derived from this initial sound, always keeping motivic cohesion in the work. Therefore, the opening chord dictates all the musical material throughout the work. It is turned upside down, on it’s side and arpeggiated, dismantled and recombined to form melodic material, and stretched out to form an overall harmonic scheme. Repetitive motivic patterns spanning across this harmonic landscape are all built from this same seed.
One can go to a competitive chili cook-off and taste many different chilis which are all built from the same building blocks. Mine would be defensive.” ~MM
~6 minutes