1999-2007 - Music-USA.org

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PROGRAM NOTES -- Compiled an Edited by Max Lifchitz
Mary Jeanne van Appledorn wak educated at the Eastman School of Music where her mentors included
composers Bernard Rogers and Alan ~ovhankss. Her oeuvre includes works for orchestra, band, chamber and choral
ensembles, solo instruments and electro-acoustic Imeans. Her compositions are published by among others, Arsis Press, Carl
Fischer, Gaudia Publications and Oxford ~nivkrsit~ Press. They are available on the Capstone, CRS, Century, Crest,
Northeastern, NortWSouth. Opus One and ~ienna Modern Masters record labels. Her works have been performed throughout
the Europe, Japan and the US in concerts sponsoded by the Inoue Chamber Ensemble, NortWSouth Consonance, the Society
of Composers, the Women Band Directors ~ajional Association and the National Association of Composers, USA. A
recipient of annual ASCAP Awards since 1980, Dr. van Appledorn is the Paul Wtfield Horn Professor of Music at Texas
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Tech University. She provided the following program note for her work:
~ncantations, a four movement work f6r oboe and piano was commissioned by Amy Anderson for the 1998
International Double Reed Society Conference. In Memoriam is an intense musical statement reflective of the emotion
experienced in the loss of a loved one. This is expressed at times by quarter-tones or multipohonics sounded against prolonged
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vertical structures in the piano. Bacchanal suggests a Roman Festival honoring Bacchus with its frenzied dancing, singing and
revelry. The dancing oboe lines are accompanikd by ever-moving rhythms and arpeggio figures in the piano. Ambience
introduces a mesmeric event for 'the listener id which the oboe has very active melodic lines rising against ambient
"sostenuto" effects in the piano. Ritual expressks energetic ceremonial concepts by the oboe against the constant triplet
division of the quadruple eighth-note beat in the $iano.
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Based in Arlington, MA Kenneth Girard received his B.M. (1977) and M.M. with Honors (1979) degrees in
composition from The New England conservatody of Music in Boston. He has produced a significant body of work including
a symphony, a work for piano and orchestra, a biolin concerto, numerous works for various chamber ensembles and solo
pieces, in addition to a variety of works in progre!ss (among which are several symphonic pieces, chamber works, and a string
quartet). Mr. Girard's music has been performed do critical acclaim in the United States and Canada. Concerning his work, the
composer writes:
"My Suite for Piano, Op. 20 was begun in July of 1995 and completed in June of 1998, although the 4th
movement of the work was originally begun in1 1993 as the 2nd movement of an unfinished second harpsichord sonata. It
consists of seven relatively short movements with a total duration of approximately 10 minutes. The work is conceived
primarily melodically/polyphonically and its landuage is that of free-pantonality.
The first movement begins quietly with a shbrt section of 3-voice polyphony culminating in a loud arpeggio. The second
movement is in sharp contrast to the texture and ideas of the first. It is virtuosic and begins with three string, clarion chords.
Movement 3 is homophonic, commencing with1 the repetition of a single pitch that emerges into a progression of chords
which expands the range outward, and conveys a quality of inevitability building to a loud climax. The fourth and central
movement of the suite is a 4-voice motet. This ~dngest movement ~roiects . ., an im~elline character as voices enter in. de~art.
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and return while progressing in a relatively simple rhythmic texture. Movement 5 is a single melody that traverses much of
the range of the instrument. The action is fast, brief (a total of nine measures), and toccata-like conveying - - a sense of urgency - -
that alternates with an occasional lyrical sweep. I~ sharp contrast, the sixth movement begins quietly. Its texture is that of a
two-part invention in which the two voices are bcupied in a very lyrical and expressive dialogue. The seventh and final
movement unfolds in a serene manner via a slowly ascending arpeggio that transforms into polyphonic areas of ever-
' increasing intensity and impassioned declarnatiod which attain fruition in a series of robust arpeggiations."
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Jeremy Beck (b. 1960) holds degrees in composition from Yale University, Duke University and the Mannes College
of Music. His catalog includes a number of litekary compositions. Three such works are Black Water, a monodrama for
soprano and piano (from the novel by Joyce ~&ol Oates), Death of a Little Girl with Dove, for soprano and orchestra
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(inspired by the life of sculptor Camille Claudel) and Laughter in Jencho, a chamber opera based on the final confrontation at
Ruby Ridge between white supremacists and ~edekal agents. Dr. Beck has received awards and fellowships from the American
Composers Orchestra, American Music Center, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Millay Colony for the Arts, Mary Duke Biddle
Foundation, Wellesley Composers Conference, O!egon Bach Festival, American Music Center and the American Council of
Teachers of Russian. He has published articles Ad reviews in "Notes" (Music Library Association), "Essays in American
Music" (Garland Press) and "Composer USA", an!d has taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and Herzen University (St.
Petersburg. Russia) and the Kopeyia-Bloomfield school (Ghana) His music may be heard on the ERM, CRS, heng hau, and
Living Artist labels. Currently, he is teaching at Fhatham College in Pittsburgh, PA.
Dr. Beck provided the following information for his piece:
" Since the cello was my first instrument, my sonatas for 'cello and piano are becoming touchstones for my work and
reflect my evolution as a composer. I've given 4 subtitle to this sonata: "Moon." As well, each of the three movements