WITH HEARTFELT THANKS TO ALL WHO HELPED TO MAKE THIS ALBUM POSSIBLE
John Haag and the Pro Musicis Foundation, Sibyl Mierley, Central Pennsylvania Community Foundation, Rodney McDaniel, Carol Whitcomb, Dr. Norman Solomon, Ian and Elizabeth MacCallum, Carl and Kathy Woodward, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, and of course special thanks to our families.
With deep appreciation for the whole recording team and their artistry: Lewis Pesacov, Benjamin Maas, Lurssen Mastering and Sean McLaughlin for the preparation of the Bösendorfer 214 and Hamburg Steinway D pianos.
Our gratitude to the composers, David Lang, Gabriela Lena Frank and Timo Andres for their generous collaboration and especially to Timo and Gabriela for granting us permission to release the premiere recordings of their respective works.
And finally, many thanks to William Kinderman, Christopher Cerrone, and Gabriela Lena Frank for their thoughtful and engaging contributions to our liner notes.
LATIN ventus wind
FRENCH vent wind
FRENCH е`venter expose to air
FRENCH е`vent
A vent is an opening, and ‘to vent’ is to express a strong emotion. Vent also means wind – the life force of sound on the flute. As the title of this album, Vent captures the energy and spirit of all the works we have recorded here.
Schubert’s Variations on “Trockne Blumen” (dried flowers) explore the morbid, the grotesque, and the ecstatic through a contemplative virtuosity that finds an unlikely echo in David Lang’s Vent (1990), Gabriela Lena Frank’s Five Andean Improvisations (2019), and Timo Andres’ Steady Gaze (2017). With Schubert reveling in the liminal and fantastic world of dreams, love, and death, the Prokofiev Sonata mirrors a totally different set of qualities in the newer works— the sweet devotion in the Andres, the expansive landscapes of the Frank, and the insistent drive of the Lang. The three brilliant contemporary works for flute and piano cast new light on two pillars of the repertoire by Schubert and Prokofiev.
— Catherine Gregory and David Kaplan
Christopher Cerrone on David Lang’s Vent
David Lang is both a mentor and a friend of mine, and I’ve been immersed in his music for many years, but my first experience with his work was finding a copy of Vent in the Manhattan School of Music library as an undergraduate.
I remember looking at the score (written in Lang’s rather ornate calligraphy) and thinking about how simple and effective the piece is. Almost all of the piano part is on a single staff. And in its simplicity, it has one goal: Make two instruments one.
In the opening section of the work, the piano is transformed from a percussive instrument into a sustaining one with a quick tremolo, played in unison with the flute. Following this, Lang uses the piano to solve a fundamental problem of the flute: it’s played by a human who needs to breathe. The flutist plays a series of trills accompanied by a long breath every 5 or so bars; Lang gives the trill to the piano to create a “breathless” texture (incidentally, another work for winds by Lang has the title Breathless). Finally, in the slow section of the work, it is the flute that merges with the piano by sustaining its legato line; to give the piano the ability to breathe. After all this, the opening section of the work returns to close the work out gently.
Vent is notable as one of the earliest examples of Lang’s mature style—a bridge from his early experiments into a post-minimalism all his own — where instrumental color plays an equally important role as rhythm and pitches.
William Kinderman on Franz Schubert’s Variations on “Trockne Blumen”, D. 802
Franz Schubert’s remarkable Introduction and Variations on “Trockne Blumen” (“Withered Flowers”) D. 802 offer a singular example of his brilliant instrumental development of a distinctive vocal theme. Unlike his slow-movement variations on “Der Wanderer” (Schmidt von Lübeck) in the Wanderer Fantasy or on “Der Tod und das Mädchen” (“Death and the Maiden”) (Matthias Claudius) in the D minor String Quartet, the character of these Variations for Flute and Piano on “Trockne Blumen” depart strikingly in character from the eighteenth song of Schubert’s Schöne Müllerin cycle. Because of its negation of the tragedy of the weary wanderer of the song cycle, the astute critic Donald Tovey deplored these variations on the pathos-laden original Lied as a “bad thing to do.”
Yet Schubert admirably exploits the latent character of this song in his variations. He begins by recapturing the “withered” environment of the song—with its funeral long-short-short rhythm—linked to the beloved’s embrace of the fateful color green in the Müllerin cycle marking her preference for the hunter over the dejected young wanderer. Like those fantastically bejeweled skeletons of early Christian martyrs in some European Catholic churches, Schubert’s unfolding variations then transcend the tragedy: if Schubert’s wanderer ultimately experiences suicide in the cool depths of the stream, this outcome symbolizes a redeeming embrace of nature in the closing E-major lullaby, as the stream protects the boy from the ravages of real life. For Schubert too, shortcomings of real life—his own sadly premature
death at the age of thirty-one —were transcended through his enduring artistic achievement, including this ravishing set of transformations of a somber theme. Like those “withered flowers,” watered by the wanderer’s tears in the grave, this music springs exuberantly to life. In the words of the song, the little flowers reemerge to bloom again: “Come out, come out/May has arrived, winter is over.”
–WK
Gabriela Lena Frank on Five Andean
Improvisations
Five Andean Improvisations, for flute and piano, are musings inspired by highland Peruvian/Bolivian musical motifs. The first movement, Quena, is written as if for the traditional quena flute that bears a similarity to the Japanese shakuhachi. The second movement, Ritmos del altiplano, when the piano enters for the first time, uses a simple one-two rhythm in the piano part decorated by ornamentation and florid lines. This is followed by the third movement, Pinkillo, inspired by the light silvery small flute of the same name. Chuta follows, a bright rendition of one of the most recognized motifs of the Andes, the chuta motif with its proliferation of repeated notes. The finale, Sombras, is a short tone poem of the islands of Lake Titicaca, where the stars are so bright they cast eerie and brilliant shadows, even at night.
— GLF
–CC
David Kaplan on Timo Andres’ Steady Gaze
Timo composed Steady Gaze in 2017, as a musical wedding gift for us. In his own words, the piece “is a catalogue of hundreds of different ways— from offhand to effusive—of saying the same thing,” which both describes its musical process, as well as something fundamental about the nature of enduring relationships. Like an oil still-life of fruit, earthenware, linen, and pewter, Steady Gaze draws the listener close to reveal an intimate and domestic emotional world. A repeating chord progression establishes the comfort of the everyday, as countless micro-variations of brush stroke give the music a tactile dimension, and the sinewy flute part weaves its way in and around the piano. Rhythmically, the piece captures the unplanned informality of private life, as the two instruments phase in and out of synchrony—sometimes in scintillating canon, and sometimes limpidly daydreaming in loose parallel.
Numerous threads connect Steady Gaze to the rest of the album—Timo often cites Schubert as a foundational influence, and the lilting harmonies of his piece remind us of certain Impromptus, while the persistent drone of a single rhythmic motive calls to mind any number of Schubert’s other works, including the Trockne Blumen Variations on this disc. Prokofiev is also a palpable influence on Timo, which one hears especially in the brighter side of Steady Gaze’s chiaroscuro. David Lang was one of Timo’s mentors at Yale, and so we are very glad this is the first time their works are featured together on a single album; both Vent and Steady Gaze capture something both intimate and universal.
Catherine Gregory on Prokofiev’s Flute Sonata in D major, Op. 94
I have long imagined this iconic Sonata opening a window onto a wide, wintery vista. Written against the backdrop of the Second World War in 1942-43, the work seems to me to show Prokofiev expressing a certain nostalgia for a lost homeland ravaged by conflict and trauma. Throughout the piece’s four movements, luminous harmonies shine through martial, driving rhythms. The expansive and haunting melody of the first movement darts between light and shadows, while the snare drum of battle permeates the middle section; in the Scherzo, we experience the composer’s sardonic sense of humor before the blues infused ruminations of the Andante. The final movement of the piece, like a fast sleigh ride through a steppe, is driving but noble. The flute and piano lines each revel in the competitive fun of trading melodic and rhythmic material, pushing the structure of the sonata to its expressive and dynamic limits. Prokofiev’s flute sonata is rightly a pillar of the repertoire– its symphonic scale, vast palette of color, and emotional breadth ennoble the flute. As a versatile protagonist, the flute is at times wistful and melancholic, at others playful and muscular, but always reaching beyond the instrument’s familiar vernacular.
–CRG
—
DK
The duo of Australian flutist Catherine Gregory and American pianist David Kaplan has performed together since 2014, including at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, as guest rectialists for the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, and most recently at the Við Djúpið Festival in Iceland. They have performed live on WFMT Chicago as part of the Dame Myra Hess Series, as well as on WQXR New York as part of the late Bob Sherman’s Young Artists Showcase. Their recital programs creatively intertwine repertoire from the Baroque to the present day, with several pieces being written especially for them, including Timo Andres’ Steady Gaze (featured on this disc), and a new major work commissioned from Christopher Cerrone in the 2024-25 season. Both passionate about connecting directly with communities through music, they often perform together as CoreArtists of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, which aims to build a “more compassionate and connected world” through chamber music.
Individually, they each enjoy dynamic portfolio careers as soloists, ensemble players, teaching artists, and creative collaborators. Both artists have been frequently cited by The New York Times, which has praised Catherine’s playing as “magically mysterious,” and David as “excellent and adventurous”.
Catherine and David, in addition to playing as a duo, have also been married since 2017, and reside in Los Angeles. Outside of music, they enjoy cooking, hiking, and attending art museums together.
Catherine Gregory is the winner of the 2018 Pro Musicis International Award, and has given recitals and chamber music performances at Carnegie Hall, Caramoor, with the Chamber Music Societies of Philadelphia and Lincoln Center, Camerata Pacifica, and the Southern Cross Soloists. She has toured internationally with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and has played numerous cycles as guest principal flute with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Catherine’s current project, Just Breathe, embodies her creative spirit as a commissioner of new music and artist citizen: it is both a performance of new commissions from leading composers such as Clarice Assad, Viet Cuong, and Juhi Bansal, as well as a series of interactive performance workshops for cancer patients, providers and caregivers that explore the intersection of breath and music. She serves on the faculties of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and The
Colburn School, and has given masterclasses and residencies at top music schools all over the world, including The Tianjin Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Catherine graduated with first-class honors from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University (Australia) as a student of Gerhard Mallon, and came to the United States in 2009 as a Fulbright Scholar to pursue her Artist Diploma with Alberto Almarza and Jeanne Baxtresser at Carnegie Mellon University. She is also an alumna of Ensemble Connect, the innovative post-graduate fellowship of Juilliard and Carnegie Hall. Catherine plays on a Nagahara flute. catherinegregory.com
David Kaplan has consistently drawn critical acclaim for creative programs that interweave classical and contemporary repertoire, often with newly commissioned works. He has given recitals at the Ravinia Festival, Washington’s National Gallery, Strathmore, and New York’s Carnegie and Merkin Halls. Kaplan’s New Dances of the League of David, mixing Schumann with 16 new works, was cited in the “Best Classical Music of 2015” by The New York Times. His Quasi una Fantasia project pairs commissions from Anthony Cheung, Christopher Cerrone, and Andrea Casarrubios with works from Couperin to Beethoven to Saariaho, all linked by improvised preludes and transitions. Kaplan has previously recorded for Naxos and Marquis Records, as
well as for Nonesuch as part of his longstanding duo with pianist/composer Timo Andres. As concerto soloist, he has appeared at the Barbican Centre with the Britten Sinfonia and Das Sinfonie Orchester Berlin in the Philharmonie, and in 2024 makes debuts with the Symphony Orchestras of Hawaii and San Antonio. Kaplan serves as Assistant Professor and Inaugural Shapiro Family Chair in Piano Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where he has taught since 2016. A native of New York City, Kaplan began piano studies with Miyoko Lotto. He earned his Bachelor of Arts at UCLA, studying with Walter Ponce, and then completed MM and DMA degrees at the Yale School of Music, where he was a student of Claude Frank. Kaplan also studied conducting with Lutz Köhler at the University of Arts in Berlin, under the auspices of a Fulbright Fellowship. David is proud to be a Yamaha/Bösendorfer Artist.
davidkaplanpiano.com
© 2023 • BSTC-0190 • brightshiny.ninja • All rights reserved Unauthorized replication & distribution prohibited
Produced by Lewis Pesacov. Engineered by Lewis Pesacov and Benjamin Maas. Mastered by Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering, Los Angeles, CA. Bösendorfer 214 and Hamburg Steinway D pianos prepared by Sean McLaughlin.
Recorded at Evelyn & Ostin Music Center, Recording Studio, UCLA
Herb
Alpert School
of
Music,
Los
Angeles, CA, September 13, 14 & 15, 2022. Published by Red Poppy (1), Barenreiter (2-10), Schirmer (11-15), Andres & Sons Bakery (16), Boosey & Hawkes (17-20). Cover art and design by Haeg
Design. Photos by Dario Acosta.
