April 28-30, 2023

MASON BATES
LIQUID INTERFACE

DIVE IN!
Mason Bates (1977- ) is an American composer from the United States who has risen to prominence as an inventive artist whose music has an uncanny ability to connect with many different kinds of audiences. Liquid Interface was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra and premiered in 2007. It is dedicated to Bates' former composition instructor John Corigliano.

RESOURCES:

Second movement of Liquid Interface, recorded by San Francisco Symphony

Mason Bates on Liquid Interface and two other large orchestral works recorded by San Francisco Symphony: The B Sides and Alternative Energy

HIGHLIGHTS:
Mason Bates often draws on his experience as a DJ to create electronic sounds which integrate into the overall sound of the orchestra as well as leading the instruments of the orchestra into new kinds of sound production.

Liquid Interface uses a large orchestra which includes a percussion section of: vibraphone, chimes, marimba, suspended cymbal, bass drum, ride cymbal, bowed crotales, xylophone, splash cymbal, tamtam, glockenspiel, harmonicas, bongos, castanets, sizzle cymbal, 6 crystal glasses filled with water for different pitches, triangle, drum set, washboard, wind machine, and piano. The electronica is also part of the percussion section and is operated with extreme precision via laptop.

Liquid Interface is in four movements and represents water in many forms, beginning with ice and heating up with each movement until it evaporates. Glaciers Calving opens with recorded sounds of glaciers breaking into the Antarctic. Scherzo Liquido features electronic and orchestral sounds of water droplets and swirls. In Crescent City we remember the destructive force of water and especially as it affected New Orleans. Finally with On the Wansee, we find ourselves in an imagined lazy, humid, water covered world.

A typical performance of Liquid Interface lasts about 23 minutes.

Enjoy listening!
Sergei rachmaninoff
Rhapsody on a theme of paganini

DIVE IN!
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was a Russian composer who lived in exile from 1917, much of it in the US. He composed many large scale works including several still wildly popular concertos for piano and orchestra. He wrote Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in Switzerland during the summer of 1934. Rachmaninoff premiered it himself at the piano that same November in Baltimore with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. They subsequently recorded it together on December 24. NO HOLIDAY VACATION FOR YOU!!

RESOURCES:

A beautiful archival recording of Artur Rubinstein playing the famous 18th variation, with the Chicago Symphony led by Fritz Reiner

A deliciously nerdy deep dive into the American influences in the Rhapsody from ToneBase featuring Jackie Parker and Garrick Ohlsson

Bill Murray's bazillionth "first" piano lesson scene from Groundhog Day

HIGHLIGHTS:
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is a like a mega meta variation! Rachmaninoff conceptualized this work as a set of 24 variations, on the 24th Caprice by Nicolo Paganini, which is itself a set of variations on a theme. So. Much. Variation.

The Rhapsody is also a concerto for piano and orchestra. Even though it is played in one continuous 23ish minute piece, it is structured in three sections like a traditional concerto would be: fast (variations 1-10), slow (variations 11-18), and fast again (variations 19-24).

The 18th variation is hyper romantic and so popular that it has been extracted for use in pop songs, movies, TV shows and other applications. Two famous examples of this are the 1980 film "Somewhere in Time" starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, and the 1993 instant classic "Groundhog Day" featuring Bill Murray learning to play piano on the same day over and over and over again until he has mastered the Paganini/Rachmaninoff theme enough to impress Andie MacDowell in a dance club with a whole band backing him up.

Rachmaninoff joked that the 18th variation was for his publisher, since he knew it would be popular. He also nicknamed the 24th variation the "creme de menthe" variation after he adopted a practice of drinking a glass prior to each performance as a way to steady his nerves for it.

It is not possible to consider this piece being written in any other time than the era of Modernism in the height of the Jazz age. The rhythms, the urgency, and the recurring use of the Dies Irae theme suggest Rachmaninoff was very comfortable incorporating elements of innovation in this new age alongside the anxieties produced by the very same human culture.

NERD ASSIGNMENTS!

Start with a Conversation:
A concerto is a type of musical form that creates dialogue and drama between a single instrument or small group of instruments, and a much larger group of instruments. What exactly is dialogue? How is dialogue made? Think about constructing a brief dialogue between two people. What can you do to alter this dialogue so that one participant becomes a whole group of people? What are some examples of this type of dialogue you can think of in your every day life? [call and response in pep rallies, a religious service, etc.]

Add the Variation element:
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is a concerto, and also a set of variations. Building on your conversation exploration above, try making a variation on the "Telephone" game. Instead of passing a whispered phrase from ear to ear, go ahead and speak a phrase aloud but make small variations of the phrase from person to person. Try to keep enough elements of the original phrase intact while varying it in ever more interesting or extreme ways. Make it fun! Say it out or order or backwards or filled with synonyms/antonyms. Pronounce it with different emphasis. Add interpretive dance! Does the original phrase remind you of something else? Find a way to thread it into the original phrase. Rachmaninoff heard the Paganini theme and recognized how it could lend itself to include the Catholic liturgical "Dies Irae" plainchant tune.

Try an Activity!
Go ahead and dive down that internet rabbit hole! Listen to at least three different recordings of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for comparison and contrast. How do you find the interpretation of different soloists and orchestras affect the overall piece of music? What specific things do you notice? Do you have any favorite interpretations or moments? What draws you toward some and/or turns you away from others?

Listening for dialogue and interpretation
Listen to the performance live and again via recording if possible. Try to listen carefully for musical dialogue and dramatic interpretive elements in this composition. How did the conversation and comparison/contrast activities help you to better engage as a listener?
Valerie coleman
Seven o'clock shout

DIVE IN!
Valerie Coleman (1970- ) is an American composer from the United States. Although Coleman is an accomplished flutist who created the successful international performing woodwind quintet Imani Winds, she has turned more of her attention toward composition in recent years. Coleman composed Seven O'Clock Shout in 2020 at the request of the Philadelphia Orchestra as a response to the pandemic.

RESOURCES:

Philadephia Orchestra's online recording of Seven O'Clock Shout, made during the distanced time of the pandemic.

Valerie Coleman, being interviewed about Seven O'Clock Shout

HIGHLIGHTS:
Coleman composed Seven O'Clock Shout in the spring of 2020 at the request of the Philadelphia Orchestra as a response to the pandemic and specifically to be recorded individually for editing together into a single video while everyone was separated and home. She was given just 2 weeks to compose it!

Seven O'Clock Shout got its title from the nightly celebration of life, community, and sacrifice/service that spontaneously occurred in so many places around the world, with people opening their windows to shout and bang on pots and pans.

About Seven O'Clock Shout ,Coleman notes her use of ostinato (a type of rhythmic groove) and says "I like to write music that gives permission to people to dance as they play it." Coleman also incorporates call and response, an inspirational anthem on solidarity, lush sounds to represent nature reclaiming its space, and even the cheering and clanging from the orchestra members and a spirited cowbell solo.

Seven O'Clock Shout is just under 6 minutes long and is an uplifting take on what we were all experiencing together while apart.

Consider and Discuss:
Valerie Coleman is a performing musician as well as a composer. She was asked to write music for fellow musicians who, like her, were in a period of forced hiatus from gathering to perform - even with technology due to streaming limitations. How do you think this might have affected her compositional choices? Her music could've taken a much more somber tone but instead celebrated communication, service, and resilience. As you listen to Seven O'Clock Shout what elements in Valerie Coleman's composition stand out to you as examples of this? What are you specifically drawn to in this music and why? As you think back to 2020 how do you find the expressions in Seven O'Clock Shout aligning or not with your lived experience during that time.
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
SYMPHONY #4, "ITALIAN"

DIVE IN!
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847 ) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist in the early Romantic era. He was also brother to composer and pianist Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and grandson of influential Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Felix composed his Symphony #4, "Italian" in 1833 after a tour of Europe he took in 1829-31. You can see a 100% totally authentic portrait of Mendelssohn on this vacation decked out in his hipster best, complete with film camera. ;)
The "Italian" Symphony is one of Felix Mendelssohn's most famous compositions. Enjoy listening!

RESOURCES:

In honor of the Valerie Coleman work on the program, enjoy this Frankfurt Radio Symphony recording made during the "safely together" time of the pandemic for streaming broadcast.