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SOLLICITUDO
According to the Oxford Latin Dictionary, the word sollicitudo is initially defined as “disquiet of mind, anxiety, uneasiness”. This work is a representation centered around this concept, especially that of anxiety.
Composed during a difficult time for the composer, this piece simply reflects in music that fragment of time before sleep, where anxiety takes over the mind, not allowing it to rest. From apparent stillness, the mind moving to a frustrated state of agitation, alternating those two phases with occasional periods of despair. The structure is no more than a reflection of this idea, divided in the following way:
A – B (anticipation) – C – D – B’ – A
Phases of calmness correspond to sections A, captured in long chords played with ricochet movements and a superimposed melody, all at a slow tempo. Phases of agitation are identified by two different sections: B and C. Both sections share a fast tempo and frequent accents but are differentiated by the varied rhythms and a wide range of timbres in section C. Lastly, a calmness which eventually twists into despair is identified by D, in which section, like in a cadenza the viola develops a monologue with the simple accompaniment of pedals, dialoguing later with the violoncello.
In this way, the composer uses the music as a sort of catharsis to free himself of this angst.
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SURFACE TENSION
I am often inspired by the fleeting moments of consciousness as I fall asleep, a space that lies between the real and the surreal, between waking and dreaming. As I lay in bed one evening, I began to imagine a glass of water, filled to the brim, with the water rising slightly over the top, surface tension preventing it from spilling over. I picked up the glass and began to toss it up and down, yet the water remained intact, held together by a strange force. I then pulled the water out of the glass with my fingers and tossed the droplets into the air. As if in slow motion, some droplets fell to the ground and bounced like metal beads, others shattered like fragile glass, some fell upward and outward toward the ceiling and the walls, and yet others simply floated perpetually in midair, refusing to fall at all. In writing Surface Tension, I wanted to capture the imagery and surreality of this dream, stretching time, objects, and spaces in the same way that was possible only in that dream-space.
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KANGO
I composed Kango for the occasion of “Prize laureates Concert” in my music university. It has been a long time, since I wanted to collaborated with my close friend and fabulous artist, violinist – Katarzyna Pielech.. This concert occurred to be an ideal opportunity to come it true. It was a special piece for me because I wanted to try describe my friend in a musical way. I tried to capture her character and subjective view of her essence. I decide that on the one hand the piece should be very expressive, full of passionate energy, dynamism. On the other hand delicate, subtle and ethereal. Katarzyna loves to dance, so the second inspiration for me was this artistic discipline. I asserted that tango is a dance which energetically suits me the most as an second inspiration for this piece. I did not want to write tango for the violin, but the piece which has a little bit of tango flow and atmosphere. The soul of piece are profiles of dynamic, very often instant changes from ff to pp etc. and accents. They build expression of the piece which oscillates between intense, vital and delicate. Kango is a short piece which at the same time requires virtuosity and musicality of performer.
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IGNIS FATUUS
Ignis Fatuus is a pale, ghostly green light commonly seen in marshes and around graveyards. An often-misunderstood natural phenomenon, it has a reputation as an ill omen or a dark creature in both Chinese and Japanese folklores. This piece aims to capture the elusive, flickering nature as well as the fearing, fickle connotations of an ignis fatuus by utilizing the myriads of colors that can be drawn from a string quartet.
Capable of producing the most uniform texture or the most diverse of timbral effects at the same time, the string quartet is a prime vehicle to convey musically the fickle character of the natural phenomenon that I seek to experiment with different parametrical foci. This piece is a musical depiction of the sudden appearance and disappearance of ghostly lights with a palette of gradually transformed and ‘distorted’ instrumental and harmonic colors reminiscent of the shifts between existence and non-existence. The varied textural and timbral designs seek to engender the air of mysticism, elusiveness, if not playfulness of an ignis fatuus.
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OLBERS DANCE
IN THE DARK
At night step outside and, weather permitting, take a look at the brightly lit backbone in the sky. On a clear night your observations made of the night sky can be every bit as profound as Einstein’s or Kepler’s. The fact that the night sky is dark, and not as bright as the burning star at the center of our solar system tells us the most fundamental thing about our universe. The catch in Olber’s paradox is that it is impossible for the universe to be infinitely large because if it were there would not be a dark sky at night, due to every point in our line of sight being taken up by the forever existing light of a star, whether near or far, similar to the way you not be able catch sight of the landscape which sits just beyond a dense forest of trees stretching out for miles and miles.
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UNQUIET
Unquiet is a piece that pits the chastity and refinement inherent to the string quartet medium against an animalistic ferocity and break-neck pace. It is like the ramblings of a once-eloquent madman, whose orderly world is now unrecognizable. Haunting the piece is a feeling of desperation, and a push toward physical and emotional exhaustion. Facets of traditional tonal music are contorted into grotesque caricatures, wailing over motoric rhythms that lurch the piece forward.
The piece can be divided into three parts. The first part obsesses over a small collection of pitches, a mumbling interspersed with moments of violent outbursts and relenting delicacy. The first part collapses into the second, a dream landscape where memories coalesce briefly in space before dispelling into the air. Out of the ether arises a chorale, plodding forward, pushing through the pain of moving forward. This gives way to the third section, a ghost of the first. Little by little, this section gains in momentum until it explodes at the conclusion.
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CHANCE
Chance was originally the last movement of a 4-movement string quartet, however this movement was composed first. The revisions done in 2007 were executed to make this movement stand alone from the others. Serving as a fast finale to a work in which each movement recycles 4 main themes, the idea behind Chance was inspired by Bernard Herrmann’s music to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The title of this movement was originally Chants because of the primal, savage nature of the work. After the revision, because the piece was drastically shortened, I decided to rename the piece using a homophone. Chance was premiered in Jordan Hall by the Laurel String Quartet – a quartet of students at New England Conservatory, and was also featured in the “Listen Local” series of the Providence String Quartet for their 2007 – 2008 season. It has also been performed by the Eppes String Quartet in Tallahassee (as part of the FSU New Music Festival 2009) and Miami, Florida, the Apple Hill Chamber Players in New Hampshire, the Playground Ensemble in Denver, Colorado (as winner of their 2nd Annual Colorado Composers Competition), the Orchestra Unleashed in North Hollywood, California (as part of their Mirrors of the Soul concert), and the Zukofsky Quartet at Symphony Space in New York City, as part of the American Composers Alliance Summer Festival of New Music 2009.
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LUX
Lux (Light) is movement three of my first string quartet, Iter Animae (Journey of the Soul). As a whole, the string quartet depicts a transformation from dark to light. The final movement, Lux, is intended to be a celebration of life. The work is full of harmonics, which depict the ethereal nature of light, and is largely based on two simple melodies. The piece begins with the first and second violins sounding the first melody piecemeal and in canon, then moves through a transitionary phase via the second rising melody. The second use of the melody is in a darker mode and is followed by a section composed almost entirely of natural harmonics . The climax of the piece features a layering of both melodies - the first melody in the first violin and second in the viola.
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SELECTIVE
DEFROSTING
As the title suggests, selective defrosting progresses from a frozen stasis to vigorous activity, one instrument at a time. Much of the motion in the violins and viola is reactionary to some sort of inflammatory gesture by the cello, all of which culminates in a wild scherzo-like section. However, unable to shake the original impetus for the piece, the music returns to the quiet, meditative character present at the outset, though in a new harmonic context. Finally, the music refreezes and becomes entrenched in its static repose, much like a layer of ice would form and then thicken on the surface of a lake.
selective defrosting was written in memory of Tom Shelor.
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A SOUL STILL YEARNS
A Soul Still Yearns for string quartet was commissioned and performed by the renowned Miró Quartet at the Templeton Symposium (Utopia Theatre) in October 2009. The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work hosted the function, which was entitled “Holocaust Survivors: Stories of Resilience.”
“As long as in the heart, within,
A Jewish soul still yearns,
And onward, towards the end of the east,
An eye still gazes toward Zion
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.”
The powerful lyrics of “Hatikvah,” the national anthem of Israel, served as the foundation on which A Soul Still Yearns was built upon. Rather than focus on the unsettling horrors of the Holocaust, I chose instead to highlight the resiliency and “the hope” (coincidently the direct translation of “Hatikvah”) of the survivors. That these incredible men and women could experience and witness such evil and, yet, still have faith in humanity was immensely inspiring to me.
Thus, I had hoped to convey such faith and similar sentiment, emulating the endurance of the survivors, through musical imagery.
A Soul Still Yearns, again, is almost exclusively built upon the melody of “Hatikvah.” The fragmentation of this melody (a recurring 6-note motif, for example) gradually gives way to the “big reveal” of the single-movement work for string quartet: a four-part chorale, undeniably, of the Israeli national anthem.
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FULL ANTHOLOGY
Click the names to the left to view and download the individual scores, or click above to download the complete 2013 PARMA Recordings Anthology of Music.
All public performances of these works must be reported to the appropriate Performing Rights Organization (ASCAP/BMI/SESAC) under the corresponding “PRO Tracking ID,” which can be found below and on all score cover pages. All rights to compositions remain with the composers.
To support the composers to the fullest extent, please report all performances to the appropriate PRO. Additionally, contact us at press@parmarecordings.com for performance or press inquiries, and keep us informed of any plans to perform works from this Anthology to have your event promoted by PARMA.
Download Full Anthology
SOLLICITUDO
SURFACE TENSION
KANGO
IGNIS FATUUS
OLBERS DANCE IN THE DARK
UNQUIET
CHANCE
LUX
SELECTIVE DEFROSTING
A SOUL STILL YEARNS
FULL ANTHOLOGY