Acknowledgements BENEFACTORS The activities of C4 are funded, in large part, by grants and generous contributions. We wish to thank and acknowledge: For their major support: The David and Minnie Berk Foundation, Inc. Dodger Properties Nan Bases Michael David & Lauren Mitchell Tracy & Stanley Shopkorn Yale School of Music alumniVentures Program
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And for their contributions: Ian Moss Clarence & Sally Baum Ruth Mueller-Maerki Francine Belkind Michael & Roberta Nassau Jennifer Borum Rochelle & Bernard Natt Timothy Brown Marjorie Naughton Nancy & Lee Corbin Elizabeth Vardin Newman Zachary Cummings Julianne Parolisi Orianne Yin Dutka Raymond Penn Hugh & Kathryn Eddy Warren Prince Carol Garner & Martin Geller Barry Putterman Martha Garner-Duhe Amy Fonda Sara Eileen & Arthur Hirsh Ann & Richard Sarnoff Linnéa Johnson Mina Seeman John Kander Larry & Pat Siegel Sheldon Klenetsky Alan Silverman Tania J. León Carol Spencer Jodi & Stephen Leone Ellen Stafford-Sigg Stanley Lieblein Daniel & Susan Stearns Patricia Lutz Kenneth & Jean Telljohann Elizabeth Marker Deborah Teplow Dan Martin & Michael Biello Mary Tsimenoglou Edward & Rose Mermelstein Richard Walker Peter & Christine Metz Jessica & Markus Wichser Jon Minikes & Susan Backstrom
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SPECIAL THANKS We also wish to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the following organizations and individuals for their support and assistance: The Church of St. Luke in the Fields David Shuler St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church Douglas Keilitz
C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective
“Unveiling”
C4: THE CHORAL COMPOSER/CONDUCTOR COLLECTIVE Sopranos Franny Geller Magdalen Kadel Karen Siegel Martha Sullivan Melissa Wozniak
Altos Johanna Bronk Karen Goldfeder Elizabeth Marker Mavis Pan
Tenors Christopher Baum Jonathan David Joseph Rubinstein
Basses Daniel Andor Hayes Biggs Timothy Brown David Harris
Thursday, 3 March 2011, St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church, New York, NY Saturday, 5 March 2011, The Church of St. Luke in the Fields, New York, NY
Martha Sullivan (b. 1964)
O Adonai (2006) Frances Geller, Magdalen Kadel and Martha Sullivan, soloists Christopher Baum, conductor
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C4, the world’s first Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, is a unique vocal ensemble in New York City dedicated to performing music written in the last twenty-five years. A collaborative project of its singing members, it functions not only as a presenting ensemble in its own right, with a three-program, six-concert season, but also as an ongoing workshop and recital chorus for the emerging composers and conductors who form the core of the group. It is, as far as we know, the first ensemble of its kind.
2010 COMMISSIONING COMPETITION FINALIST Ave Maria – Pater Noster (2010)† Christopher Baum, conductor
Carlos Micháns (b. 1950)
2010 COMMISSIONING COMPETITION RUNNER-UP Be Music, Night (2010)† Timothy Brown, conductor
Matt Van Brink (b. 1978)
2010 COMMISSIONING COMPETITION FINALIST Lorem Ipsum (2010)† Karen Siegel, conductor
Jordan Nobles (b. 1969)
Please visit our website, www.c4ensemble.org.
We hope to see you at our next concert:
“The Hounds of Spring”
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Featuring the world premieres of new works by C4 composers Hayes Biggs, Jonathan David, Karen Goldfeder, Joseph Rubinstein and Martha Sullivan, along with music by Nicholas Maw, Olli Kortekangas, George Tsontakis and others. Thursday, 2 June 2011, 8:00 p.m. Church for All Nations, 417 W. 57th Street, New York, NY, 10019 Saturday, 4 June 2011, 4:00 p.m. (please note the special time) Norwegian Seamen’s Church, 317 E. 52nd Street, New York, NY, 10022
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Die erste Elegie (1993) David Harris, conductor
Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928)
TEN-MINUTE INTERMISSION
† World premiere
Program Notes & Texts Cantate Domino (1997) Christopher Baum, conductor
Hayes Biggs (b. 1957)
What Was Told, That (2007/2010)‡ David Harris, conductor
Karen Goldfeder (b. 1962)
O Adonai “O Adonai” is one of the seven great “O” antiphons of Advent, each one a call to the Messiah to come into a world desperately in need of his presence. They are old, being texts from the medieval Catholic church; later, versified, they became “Veni Emanuel”, the Latin hymn we know as “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” This setting of “O Adonai” has little to do with the hymn. Rather, I chose to follow Arvo Part’s model by using the German translation of the antiphons and imposing deliberate constraints on the music: None of my “O” antiphons use any accidentals outside of their key (three sharps) except for final cadences. “O Adonai” also keeps a steady 10/8 meter and uses three soprano soloists in close canon, in a nod to Steve Reich’s “Tehillim”. I am grateful to C4 for giving it such a committed performance. — Martha Sullivan
particular. The melody used for the Pater Noster is actually an old Indian tune, sung to words expressing an all encompassing feeling of communion. Because I didn’t get a translation of the original prayer, I simply adapted the words of the Pater Noster to it and modified the melody as needed. It is sung by every voice in turn, or divided between two voices, the other parts providing a contrapunctual background. Only towards the end all voices join to sing the melody one last time in a rich and compact A-Major harmony, followed by a surprisingly modulating Amen but soon returning to the original key. — Carlos Micháns CARLOS MICHÁNS is a Dutch composer of Argentine origin. He has lived in Holland since 1982. His works (from solo pieces to large compositions for choir and orchestra) are published in Amsterdam by Muziek Centrum Nederland (Donemus). Micháns is also a writer, having published poetry, short stories, novels and a series of essays on Argentine history. Since 1995 he is in charge of Podium Neerlandés, a program of Radio Nederland (the Dutch international broadcast) for Latin American audiences featuring recordings made in Holland’s major concert halls. www.carlosmichans.nl
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2010 COMMISSIONING COMPETITION WINNER Sublunary (2010)† Daniel Andor, conductor
Matthew Brown (b. 1978)
2010 COMMISSIONING COMPETITION FINALIST New Year’s Day (2010)† Martha Sullivan, conductor
Allen W. Menton (b. 1964)
Lovesongs (2001-2004)§ Lovesong I Lovesong II Lovesong III Christopher Baum, conductor
Torbjørn Dyrud (b. 1974)
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This concert is the culmination of the first C4 Commissioning Competition, made possible by grants from the David and Minnie Berk Foundation and the Yale School of Music alumniVentures Program. Over two hundred composers from around the world submitted scores to the competition, and an anonymous first round of judging by members of the C4 board of directors yielded twenty-two semifinalists. James Bassi, Clara Longstreth and Steven Stucky then anonymously selected five finalists who were all commissioned to compose new works for C4. After the new compositions were complete, the same three judges chose the first and second-place winners. Prizes of $2,000 for first-place, $800 for second place, and $400 for each honorable mention have been awarded. We are pleased to present the premieres of these five works this evening.
O Adonai, der Herr und Führer des Hauses Israel, im flammenden Dornbusch du dem Mose erschienen, und hast ihm auf dem Berg das Gesetz gegeben: O komm und befreie uns mit deinem starken Arm. O Lord and leader of the house of Israel, In the flaming bush you appeared to Moses, And on the mountain gave to him the law: Come and free us with your strong arm. Latin antiphon, 5th century or older
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Ave Maria – Pater Noster
† World premiere
§ U.S. premiere
‡ World premiere of SATB version
“Ave Maria - Pater Noster” is not meant as liturgical music. Is is religious only because of the texts used. Otherwise, the message is universal and goes far beyond any belief in
Ave Maria Ave Maria, gratia plena: Dominus tecum, Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen. Hail mary, full of grace, The Lord is with you: Blessed are you among women, And blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Medieval Roman Catholic antiphon Pater Noster Pater noster, qui es in caelis: sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie. Et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen. Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13
arrangements are published by Schott Music and Tenuto Publications. Van Brink studied at Indiana University and Boston University, where he earned a doctorate. mattvanbrink.com Be music, night, That her sleep may go Where angels have their pale tall choirs Be a hand, sea, That her dreams may watch Thy guidesman touching the green flesh of the world Be a voice, sky, That her beauties may be counted And the stars will tilt their quiet faces Into the mirror of her loveliness Be a road, earth, That her walking may take thee Where the towns of heaven lift their breathing spires O be a world and a throne, God, That her living may find its weather And the souls of ancient bells in a child’s book Shall lead her into Thy wondrous house Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972)
century, to provide a ‘filler text’ during typesetting. Where text is visible in a document, people tend to focus on the textual content rather than upon overall presentation. Because it is ‘nonsense text’ publishers use Lorem Ipsum when displaying a typeface or design elements and page layout in order to direct the focus to the publication style and not the text itself. I am using it here for the same reason. Rather than focusing on the meaning of the words I wish to draw your attention to the sound of the words. The sound of the human voice itself.—Jordan Nobles Known for creating music filled with an “unearthly beauty” (Mondomagazine) that makes listeners want to “close (their) eyes and transcend into a cloud of music” (Discorder Magazine), JORDAN NOBLES has emerged as one of Canada’s finest composers. Jordan writes music that envelops the listener in sound. Known for his commitment to spatial music, he often takes performers and audiences away from traditional concert experiences. Whether surrounding audiences with ten flutes, filling museums with live musicians on multiple floors, or inviting players to move across the stage during performances, Jordan adds an extra, and often emotional, level of conversation to musical thought. His multiple awards and commissions have led to more than seventyfive new works. From solo instrumentalists to symphony orchestras, chamber choirs to percussion quartets, musicians from around the world have embraced his music. Recently his music has been released on Germany’s SPEKTRAL label, won First Prize in the Vancouver Bach Choir’s National Competition for Large Choirs, and been premiered in Toronto, New York, Belgium, Edmonton, Vancouver, Fredericton, Calgary, Windsor, Halifax and Lima, Peru. Jordan’s music has been heard throughout North America and Europe at such festivals as the Bang On A Can Summer Music Festival, Sound Symposium, Vancouver
New Music Festival, Toronto (new music) Marathon, and the X Avant Festival. Canada’s leading orchestras, choirs, chamber ensembles and soloists regularly perform his works, as do groups as diverse as the New York Miniaturist Ensemble, Cologne’s Kammerchor CONSONO and New York’s Flexible Orchestra. www.jordannobles.com
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Be Music, Night
Certain prayers read like beautiful poems as much as paeans to God. In his love poems, Kenneth Patchen invokes God through a surprising variety of images. Patchen did not seem to be a religious man, yet his work is sprinkled with this Godly imagery. And it is putty for his lyrical expressions of love. — Matt Van Brink MATT VAN BRINK is a composer, lyricist, pianist and accordionist living in New York City. Van Brink is piano faculty and composer at Concordia Conservatory (Bronxville, NY), which has commissioned and given the premieres of many new works of chamber music and musical theater for its student performers. He has also been commissioned by Schott Music, Collage New Music, New York Youth Symphony, Celebrity Series of Boston, and Lara St. John, and his compositions and
c4ensemble.org Lorem Ipsum
I have always found voices singing words in a language I do not understand to be haunting and beautiful. Perhaps because I am paying more attention to the sound of the voice itself and not trying to follow the meaning of the poetry. When I compose for voice I usually use only vowels sounds or vocalize but recently have found that limiting. So I went off in search of a text with all of the timbral richness of speech but without an overt meaning. And then I found, in my computer already, the Lorem Ipsum text. The Lorem Ipsum text is a commonly used series of fragmented Latin words that has been used, possibly since the sixteenth
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisici elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. [...] sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt molit anim id est laborum Meaningless quasi-Latin text, derived from a passage in Cicero’s De finibus bonorum et malorum
Die erste Elegie
My youthful encounter with the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke turned out to be quite a discovery, not only in literary terms but also for the development of my world view. I still associate it strongly with the mysticism surrounding the ruins of post-war Vienna. It was there that I composed my Fünf Sonette an Orpheus, and two years later in Cologne I started writing the song cycle Die Liebenden to Rilke’s texts. From that time onwards I continued to carry with me -- both mentally and in my suitcase -- the Duino Elegies, Rilke’s seminal work. Over the years I would take it out, finding myself particularly drawn to the first elegy, whose angel figure took on the role of a personal ‘animus’. Only as recently as 1993, however, when the international choral body ‘Europa Cantat’ wanted to commission a large-scale choral work for me, did I feel that the time had come to set the angel elegy. It had evidently matured in my subconscious in the interim, since the process of composing the work was swift, eager and fluently self-assured.
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The basic pitch material is derived from four triads which together form a twelvetone row. The way this material is applied, however, stands in considerable contrast to methods usually used for atonal music. In consequence, the tone of the work is mellow even at its most dramatic; poetic, yet expressive. — Einojuhani Rautavaara (trans. Andrew Bentley) EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA was born in Helsinki and studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and the Juilliard School in New York where he was taught by Vincent Persichetti. He also took lessons from Roger Sessions and Aaron Copland at Tanglewood. Rautavaara served as a nontenured teacher at the Sibelius Academy from 1957 to 1959, music archivist of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from 1959 to 1961, rector of the Käpylä Music Institute in Helsinki from 1965 to 1966, tenured teacher at the Sibelius Academy from 1966 to 1976, artist professor (appointed by the Arts Council of Finland) from 1971 to 1976, and professor of composition at the Sibelius Academy from 1976 to 1990. Rautavaara is a prolific composer and has written in a variety of forms and styles. He experimented with serial techniques in his early career but left them behind in the 1960s and even his serial works are not obviously serial. His compositions include eight symphonies, several concertos, choral works, sonatas for various instruments, string quartets and other chamber music, and a number of biographical operas including Vincent (1986–1987, based on the life of Vincent van Gogh), Aleksis Kivi (1995–1996) and Rasputin (2001–2003).
Die erste Elegie The First Elegy Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen? und gesetzt selbst, es nähme einer mich plötzlich ans Herz: ich verginge von seinem stärkeren Dasein. Denn das Schöne ist nichts als des Schrecklichen Anfang, den wir noch grade ertragen, und wir bewundern es so, weil es gelassen verschmäht, uns zu zerstören. Ein jeder Engel ist schrecklich. Who among the host of angels would hear me, were I to cry out? And serenely yet, were one of them to clasp me to his bosom, would I be lost to his stronger presence? The beautiful is but the start of the terrifying, still endurable as such, and we admire it, for it refrains from destroying us. Each and every angel is terrifying. Ach, wen vermögen wir denn zu brauchen? Engel nicht, Menschen nicht, und die findigen Tiere merken es schon, dass wir nicht sehr verlässlich zu Haus sind in der gedeuteten Welt. Es bleibt uns vielleicht irgend ein Baum an dem Abhang, dass wir ihn täglich wiedersähen; es bleibt uns die Straße von gestern Alas, to whom should we turn in our need? Not the angels then, nor men either, and canny animals soon realise that we are not so comfortable in the world, nor knowledgable of it.
There only remains a tree on the slope, perhaps, which we encounter daily, again and again, and the street of yesterday. O und die Nacht, die Nacht, wenn der Wind voller Weltraum uns am Angesicht zehrt –, wem bliebe sie nicht, die ersehnte, sanft enttäuschende, welche dem einzelnen Herzen mühsam bevorsteht. Ah, and the night, when the wind which fills the firmament rushes against the face. Whom would it leave untouched, that hankered-after wind, gentle yet treacherous, which painfully chafes the lonely heart? Ja, die Frühlinge brauchten dich wohl. Es muteten manche Sterne dir zu, dass du sie spürtest. Es hob sich eine Woge heran im Vergangenen, oder da du vorüberkamst am geöffneten Fenster, gab eine Geige sich hin. Indeed, it is only the spring which has use for you. Those many stars beckon you to seek them out. Or the wave which swelled up from the past, or when you passed by an open window: a violin was heard to surrender. Stimmen, Stimmen. Höre, mein Herz, wie sonst nur Heilige hörten: dass sie der riesige Ruf aufhob vom Boden Es rauscht jetzt von jenen jungen Toten zu dir. Sounds, sounds. Hear, my heart, as only holy ones may hear: they it was whom the gargantuan cry wrenched up from the bedrock. A whine reaches you, emanating from the young dead.
Freilich ist es seltsam, die Erde nicht mehr zu bewohnen, kaum erlernte Gebräuche nicht mehr zu üben, Rosen, und andern eigens versprechenden Dingen nicht die Bedeutung menschlicher Zukunft zu geben; und selbst den eigenen Namen wegzulassen wie ein zerbrochenes Spielzeug, und alles lose im Raume flattern zu sehen. Certainly it is strange that you no longer inhabit the earth, that you have forsaken the customs you adopted only yesterday: Neither to, roses nor other tokens of promise can be assigned the meaning of man’s future; nor can you cast off your name like a broken toy, to see everything flutter loosely in space. Aber Lebendige machen alle den Fehler, dass sie zu stark unterscheiden. Engel (sagt man) wüssten oft nicht, ob sie unter Lebenden gehn oder Toten. Die ewige Strömung reißt durch beide Bereiche alle Alter immer mit sich und übertönt sie in beiden. But all living things fall foul of making too forceful a severance. The angels (so it is said) do not often know whether it is the dead or the living among whom they pass. The eternal stream flows through both domains, sucking everything with it, drowning all in its roar. Ist die Sage umsonst, dass einst in der Klage um Linos wagende erste Musik dürre Erstarrung durchdrang; dass erst im erschrockenen Raum, dem ein beinah göttlicher Jüngling
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plötzlich für immer enttrat, das Leere in jene Schwingung geriet, die uns jetzt hinreißt und tröstet und hilft. Is it a wasted tale, the one which tells that when complaint was raised against Linos, it was music which boldly attempted to penetrate the congealed matter? Music was first into that bewildered room from which the almost godly youth had suddenly stepped into eternity, to find himself drained by the same vibrations which now appeal to us, support us, give us nourishment. Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) Translated by Andrew Bentley
editorial placement of a question mark after the third appearance of the word “novum,” which is sung by the altos and immediately followed by the sopranos, both using the ambiguous interval of a tritone. So—what’s new?— Hayes Biggs Cantate Domino canticum novum: Cantate Domino omnis terra. Sing to the Lord a new song: Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Cantate Domino, et benedicite nomini ejus, Annuntiate de die in diem salutare ejus. Sing to the Lord and bless his name, Delcare his salvation from day to day. Annuntiate inter gentes gloriam ejus, Annuntiate in omnia populia mirabilia ejus. Declare his glory among the nations, Declare his wonders among all people. Psalm 96:1-3
pomegranate flower blush like a human face, that is being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put the eloquence in language, that’s happening here. The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude, chewing a piece of sugarcane, in love with the one to whom every that belongs! Jalulu’l-din Rumi (1207-1273) Translated by Coleman Barks
Greek astronomy, and refers to that part of the cosmos situated between the earth and the moon, and made up of the four classical elements: earth, air, water, and fire. In the poem, two quarreling lovers share an epiphany during a symbolic lunar eclipse they witness together, which goes unnoticed by others in the city. In my setting, voices often move in strict contrary motion, symbolic of the lovers at odds. Voices often “eclipse” each other as well, in which parts pass above and below a central held pitch. There is a wordless interlude toward the middle of the piece, meant to depict where the fleeting eclipse takes place in the narrative. — Matthew Brown A native of Southern California, MATTHEW BROWN completed his masters and doctoral studies in music composition at the USC Thornton School of Music, where he studied with Morten Lauridsen, Frank Ticheli, Donald Crockett, Frederick Lesemann, Randy Newman, and Tamar Diesendruck. His awards include the 2003 Hans J. Salter Endowed Music Award, the 2007 Jimmy McHugh Composition Prize, the 2007 VocalEssence Welcome Christmas! Carol Contest, and the 2010 VocalEssence Essentially Choral Commission. His works have been performed throughout the United States and internationally, by groups such as VocalEssence, the Antioch Chamber Ensemble, the Young New Yorker’s Chorus, the Cincinnati Boychoir, the Los Angeles Gay Men’s Chorus, Midnight Winds, the USC Chamber Choir, the Los Robles Master Chorale, the De Angelis Vocal Ensemble, the USC Thornton Symphony, and the C4 Ensemble. He currently sings with many professional Los Angeles groups, including the L.A. Master Chorale, the L.A. Chamber Singers & Cappella, and the De Angelis Vocal Ensemble. Two of his recent choral works are featured on recent VocalEssence CDs released on the Gothic label: Behold this Heavenly Night and Gratitude, Gravy & Garrison. www.mattbrowncomposer.com
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Cantate Domino
This note will likely take more time to read than the piece takes to perform, but here goes. Cantate Domino was completed on the eve of Pentecost Sunday 1997, and presented to Dr. David Hurd in thanksgiving for his twelve years as Director of Music at All Saints Church in New York City. It is a very short, lively and good-humored piece based on the first three verses of Psalm 96. The work received its first performance at Society of Composers, Inc. 1998 National Conference at Indiana University on April 16, 1998, by the Concord Ensemble and has since been performed by the choir of the Church of the Holy Apostles under the direction of David Hurd. The conflict between “new” as opposed to “old” songs is set forth at the piece’s outset: after a very diatonic sounding opening tune, split between the sopranos and altos, the other notes of the chromatic scale show up to crash the party in fairly short order, forming considerably less tonally-oriented if somewhat jazzy harmonies. The one injoke for those who can see the score is my
What Was Told, That
These performances mark the premiere of this SATB version of What Was Told, That, originally commissioned and premiered by New York Treble Singers for SSAA in 2008. Coleman Barks’ translation of Rumi’s love poem invokes the hardwired rhythmic undercurrent of romance. — Karen Goldfeder
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What was said to the rose that made it open was said to me here in my chest. What was told the cypress that made it strong and straight, what was whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made sugarcane sweet, whatever was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in Turkestan that makes them so handsome, whatever lets the
Sublunary
Most composers immediately turn to the public domain in their search for a text to set to music, mostly so that they don’t have to go searching—perhaps in vain—for permission to use a text that is still under copyright. I am no exception, although for this commission my initial search came up empty. For whatever reason, poems written in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries just didn’t jive this time for me; I felt needed something more contemporary in order to write a piece that was more connected to the present time in which I live. Archaic language is fine sometimes, but I wanted something more direct and relatable to today. I found the poetry of A. E. Stallings on the website poetryfoundation.org and was immediately and powerfully drawn to it. I emailed her and received a gracious response granting me permission to set her poem. Her words have an innate musicality to them, follow traditional forms, combine contemporary settings with many allusions to Classicism (Stallings lives in Athens with her family), and evoke potent, universal emotions with a great tenderness, intimacy, and immediacy. This combination of new and old fascinates me, and has informed much of my work as a composer. The “sublunary sphere” is a concept from
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New Year’s Day Mid-sentence, we remembered the eclipse, Arguing home through our scant patch of park Still warm with barrel wine, when none too soon We checked the hour by glancing at the moon, Unphased at first by that old ruined marble Looming like a monument over the hill, So brimmed with light it seemed about to spill, Then, there! We watched the thin edge disappear— The obvious stole over us like awe, That it was our own silhouette we saw, Slow perhaps to us moon-gazing here (Reaching for each other’s fingertips) But sweeping like a wing across that stark Alien surface at the speed of dark. The crickets stirred from winter sleep to warble Something out of time, confused and brief, The roosting birds sang out in disbelief, The neighborhood’s stray dogs began to bark. And then the moon was gone, and in its place, A dim red planet hung just out of reach, As real as a bitter orange or ripened peach In the penumbra of a tree. At last We rose and strolled at a reflective pace Past the taverna crammed with light and smoke And people drinking, laughing at a joke, Unaware that anything had passed Outside in the night where we delayed Sheltering in the shadow we had made. A.E. Stallings (b. 1968)
In setting the poem by my friend Justin Quinn, I tried to evoke the spareness of the winter landscape, the energetic motion of ice-skating, and the sense of wonder that comes with being a new parent. — Allen W. Menton The music of ALLEN W. MENTON reflects his wide-ranging interests. His compositions show the influence of a diverse range of genres and styles, including Medieval Arts Nova, Renaissance polyphony, early American hymnody, the music of India and the Middle East, and contemporary pop and film music. His orchestra works have been performed by youth, school, and community ensembles, including Interlochen, Idylwild, and the Colburn School. The Irvine Classical Players toured France in 2008 with his most recent work for string orchestra. His collaborations with professional chamber ensembles (including the Grammy-nominated Eaken Piano Trio) have resulted in numerous premieres, and several professional recordings are in the works. He also collaborates regularly on dance and theatre projects, most notably with the Nouveau Chamber Ballet of Fullerton, California. As a dedicated and innovative teacher, Menton is currently head of composition and music theory at CSU San Bernardino. He has also served on the faculties of UCLA, Pomona College, and CSU Long Beach. He holds advanced degrees in Music Composition and Comparative Literature from Stanford, Cornell, USC, and most recently UCLA. To hear more of his music, please visit his website. www.allenmenton.com
Wheatley, he was a founding editor of the Irish poetry magazine Metre. His translations of the Czech poet Petr Borkovec, From the Interior, appeared in 2008 from Seren. He also lectures at the Department of English, Pedagogical Faculty of the University of Western Bohemia, and is a contributing editor of Contemporary Poetry Review. His poetry has appeared in the Yale Review, TLS, Poetry Review, Irish Times, The New Yorker, Poetry Ireland Review, and the Irish Review, among others.
– not such much in the sense of referring to a specific key, but in the sense that it employs triadic material. The music builds up to moments of ecstasy which are never permitted to linger but which are driven on by an underlying sense of urgency. Lovesongs was commissioned by Ginnungagap, a Norwegian chamber chorus specializing in “new and exciting choral music”, and was first performed by that group during the Oslo International Church Festival in March 2004. In that same year, the work received the Norwegian Performing Right Society (TONO)’s annual prize for best composition in the category of vocal music. — Adapted from notes by Andrew Smith TORBJØRN DYRUD studied composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music from 1995-96 and from 1996-2000 he studied church music at the same institution. In conjunction with the latter course he studied counterpoint and composition with Trond H.F. Kverno and had private lessons in composition from Asbjørn Schaathun. Dyrud’s output consists mainly of works for choir a cappella. Dyrud graduated from the diploma course in choral conducting at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm after having studied with Anders Eby for two years. He was the onductor of Ginnungagap from the group’s inception until 2001. He has worked with the Oslo Philharmonic Choir, the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, and the Swedish Radio Choir. He is currently conductor of the Oslo Chamber Choir and the vocal ensemble Cor.
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JUSTIN QUINN was born in Dublin and educated there at Trinity College. He is currently on the faculty of the Charles University in Prague, where he lives with his wife and two young sons. He is the author of four books of poetry, most recently Waves & Trees (Gallery, 2006). With David
From The Months 1 Not a sound across the land when I step off the shore onto the frozen band of the river clamped like ore. A clean break. The light is sharp and cold and new. The houses dwindle from sight, the cars are far and few. And as I skate and veer out to the small island, saddled on my shoulders riding the troughs and rollers is a child, tiny and silent, carried over from last year.
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Justin Quinn (b. 1968)
Lovesongs This setting of three excerpts from the Song of Songs captures the sensuousness and longing in the biblical poem of love. The love between a man and a woman, as expressed in the poem, is often understood as a symbol of man’s love for God, and Dyrud represents these two “levels” of love by using two different languages simultaneously – English to represent human, physical and tangible love, and Latin to represent the divine and mystical love of God. Dyrud’s setting is basically tonal
Lovesong I I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. Ego flos campi et lilium convallium. As the lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters. Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. Sicut malus inter ligna silvarum, sic dilectus meus inter filios. Sub umbra illius, quem desideraveram, sedi, et fructus eius dulcis gutturi meo. Song of Songs 2:1-3
Awake, O north wind; and come, though south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. Surge, aquilo, et veni, auster; perfla hortum meum, et fluant aromata illius. Song of Songs 4:12-16
C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective Daniel Andor started started playing piano at four and studied composition and piano at The Purcell School of Music, London. His compositions won a number of awards and have been performed internationally, and he was featured by the Society for the Promotion of New Music during 20002002. As he felt drawn to making music with others, he took up trombone and conducting. Orchestral conducting kept him busy during his years at the University of Cambridge, where he lingered vigorously until he received his PhD in physics in 2005.
the opportunity to live and compose in Copland’s home in upstate New York for five weeks in the summer of 2002. Since 1992 he has been on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. His Symphonia brevis, commissioned by the Riverside Symphony, received its premiere under the direction of George Rothman in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on February 12, 2010. Biggs is currently composing a song cycle on religious poetry, Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, for soprano Susan Narucki. In December of 2006 his String Quartet: O Sapientia/Steal Away (2004) was given its premiere at New York City’s Merkin Concert Hall by the Avalon String Quartet as part of the 2006-2007 season of the Washington Square Contemporary Music Society; it was recorded by the Avalon String Quartet in 2008, and was recently released on Albany Records. Biggs’s music is published by C. F. Peters Corporation, APNM (Association for the Promotion of New Music) and Margun Music, Inc. www.hayesbiggs.com
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Lovesong II A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Hortus conclusus, soror mea, sponsa, hortus conclusus, fons signatus; Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Propagines tuae paradisus malorum punicorum cum optimis fructibus, cypri cum nardo. Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: Nardus et crocus, fistula et cinnamomum cum universis lignis turiferis, myrrha et aloe cum omnibus primis unguentis. A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Fons hortorum, puteus aquarum viventium, quae fluunt impetu de Libano.
Lovesong III Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Pone me ut signaculum super cor tuum, ut signaculum super brachium tuum, quia fortis est ut mors dilectio, dura sicut infernus aemulatio; lampades eius lampades ignis atque flammae divinae. Song of Songs 8:6
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In addition to conducting, singing and occasionally composing for C4, Christopher Baum is the Music Director of the Manhattan Wind Ensemble, a member of the musical staff of New Music New York, an Associate Conductor of Columbia Summer Winds, and the tenor section leader at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Chelsea. He is also active as a classical guitarist. Chris received his BA in Classical Guitar from San Jose State University and his MM in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Denver. www.christopherbaum.com
Johanna Bronk is an avid singer of choral and solo works. In addition to C4, Johanna currently sings in three other vocal ensembles: Polyhymnia early music ensemble, Choral Chameleon, and St. Bartholomew’s choir, where she was featured as alto soloist in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Bach’s Mass in A Major. Since living in New York, Johanna has had the pleasure of performing in the choral concert series at St. Ignatius Loyola under the baton of Kent Tritle, Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra’s Learner and Lowe concert, New York City Ballet’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bleecker Street Opera’s production of Rigoletto, and Park Avenue Synagogues’ High Holiday Quartet. In 2009 Johanna graduated with a degree in vocal performance from Oberlin
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Hayes Biggs was born in Huntsville, Alabama and raised in Helena, Arkansas. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from Columbia University. His teachers included Don Freund, Mario Davidovsky, Jack Beeson, Fred Lerdahl and Donald Erb. Biggs has been a fellow in composition at the Composers Conference and Chamber Music Center at Wellesley, at the Tanglewood Music Center, at Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Millay Colony for the Arts and at the MacDowell Colony. Among his honors are a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, as well as the 2001 Aaron Copland Award, which afforded him
Conservatory, where she studied with Kendra Colton. Featured performances at Oberlin include “Architecture” in MarcAntoine Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants, performed also at the 2009 Boston Early Music Festival, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Ayre, performed in concert with puppets. When not on stage, Johanna can be seen biking across bridges, harvesting kale, or watching yeast ferment.
in the Shoreline Community Chorale’s 2010 composition competition; and the west coast debut of Fantasy on Medieval Carols by the Mountainside Master Chorale (CA). Upcoming commissions include a 9/11 memorial piece for NYC’s Central City Chorus (Dec., 2011); a new Stabat Mater for Carroll College (Umbria, June, 2012); Gitchee Gumee, a song for baritone Daniel Neer and harp (early 2012); and a new work for saxophonist David Wozniak. The Hounds of Spring, an extended work for chorus and electric guitar, will be premiered by C4 in June 2011. David’s choral music has also been performed by the Princeton Singers, the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus, Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble, and the New York Treble Singers, among many others. He has served as Composer-in-Residence for The Greenwich Village Singers and Music Director for the chamber chorus, Howl! His music has received awards from ASCAP, the Americas Vocal Ensemble, and the Global Network of Conservatories. A graduate of Wesleyan University, he studied composition with John Bavicchi and Don McDonnell at the Berklee College of Music. He is published by Oxford University Press. His music is also available through his website. www.jonathandavidmusic.com
2008 Bang On a Can Summer Marathon with Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Stimmung, as a member of Toby Twining Music. When not rehearsing or performing, Franny studies environmental biology at Queens College and imitates birdsong over beer. Karen Goldfeder has sung with ensembles from Musica Sacra to The Screaming Headless Torsos in genres spanning jazz, oratorio, new music, free improvisation, early music, folk, opera, musical theatre, and R&B. She has performed and recorded with New York Virtuoso Singers, Voices of Ascension, New York Treble Singers, the Bard Festival Chorale, and the Gregg Smith Singers. Her contemporary opera credits include John Adams’s Death of Klinghoffer at Brooklyn Academy of Music and Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny Songspiel at Merkin Hall with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. Oratorio and early music solos appearances include the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, the Stravinsky Mass, and the Pergolesi Stabat Mater. Her jazz resume includes appearances with Bobby McFerrin, Jay Clayton, Julian Priester, Jeff Watts, Benny Green, Patrick Zimmerli, Frank London, Dave Fiuczynski, and Abbey Lincoln and with her own band at festivals including Vancouver Jazz, Bumbershoot in Seattle, and the Edinburgh Fringe. Her compositions and arrangements have been performed by the New York Treble Singers, the Marble Collegiate Church Sanctuary Choir, the Choir of St. Francis of Assisi, Kiitos: a vocal quartet, and The Todd Reynolds String Quartet. She recently completed music for the short film Letters Home, directed by Melissa Hacker.
The Brearley Singers, a member of C4 the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective and a teacher with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy and the Collegiate School. He is also an active theater musician, having worked with the Brooklyn Theater Arts Project in the fall of 2009 and as music director and orchestrator for the premiere of Carly and Chad HowardÕs Hansel and Gretel: An Indie-Folk Musical with the Sparrowtree Theater Company. He has six recordings available on iTunes and CDBaby. www.davidharrismusic.net
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Timothy Brown has been a choral music professional for over 25 years, directing and singing with high school, church, community, and chamber choirs. As a composer, Tim focused for a time on music for the theatre. His Curious George toured nationally for over ten years. His songs have been showcased at the the BMI Workshop, the Laurie Beechman Theatre, the Donnell Library Songbook and – most recently – in A Trace of Love, a complete concert of his songs at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. On the classical side, Tim worked toward a masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music with Nils Vigeland and studied further with J. Mark Stambaugh and John Corigliano. His Epitaph (Songs on Poems of Dorothy Parker) was recorded by Metropolitan Opera mezzo Theadora Hanslowe. With C4, Tim’s piece for choir and tape Drip Dream was premiered in May 2010. Tim has also led C4 as a conductor including premiere performances of Joseph Rubinstein’s How She Went To Ireland and Jocelyn Hagen’s Ophelia. Tim’s church music includes Christ Our Passover and Eloi, Lama Sabbachtani, both commissioned through and premiered by the choir and instrumentalists of The Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York.
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Composer Jonathan David has been described as “an important emerging musical voice” in the worlds of choral music, musictheatre, and art song. Recent premieres include Even in Darkness by the Juilliard Pre-College Chorus; Evening Song, a finalist
Frances Geller is a boy soprano in a dress and an aspiring ornithologist. A choral addict since childhood, she has passed through such ensembles as Trinity Wall Street Choir, St. Bartholomew’s Choir, the Pharos Music Project, Canticum Novum Singers, and Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble, with whom she appears on two recent releases: Lisa Bielawa’s A Handful of World and Yumiko Matsuoka’s To Every Thing There is a Season. She is currently a member of the Bach Vespers Choir at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, and of Guildsingers, a quartet devoted to Medieval music. Franny has also pulled a couple of musical all-nighters, once for the New York premiere of John Tavener’s Veil of the Temple, and again to close the
Magdalen Kadel sang for many years in the Girls’ Choir and in the Choir of Men and Boys at Trinity Episcopal Church, Princeton, where she served as head girl under the direction of John Bertalot. She received her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, where she was enrolled in the Institute for Early Music, studying voice with Paul Elliott. She has had singing engagements with the New York based contemporary music group Alarm Will Sound. She enjoys living in New York City, where she is soprano section leader at Holy Apostles Episcopal Church, directed by David Hurd.
Elizabeth Marker is an accomplished musician who has devoted the major portion of her career to the advancement of choral music. She holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance from Boston University where she studied with Mary Davenport and coached with Alan Rodgers. She has sung with many notable choral groups including Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the Russian Chamber Chorus and Cantori New York. In 1987, Elizabeth was invited to sing with the Oregon Repertory Singers representing the United States at the 26th Choral Singing Festival in Kärnten, Austria, where the group won both the Folk and Classical Repertoire competitions. Elizabeth performed in many Robert Shaw Choral Workshops at Carnegie Hall and was a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. She has served as section
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David Harris is a freelance conductor, composer, singer and instrumentalist. His compositions range from large-scale choral works to songs and instrumental pieces. He is artistic director of the New World Music Festival, music director for the Columbia University Glee Club and
leader at The Church of the Good Shepherd (Episcopal) and been a member of the professional choir at St. Ignatius of Antioch (Episcopal). As a soloist, Elizabeth can be heard on two recordings: My Heart is Ready, music of Yuri Yukechev (Russian Chamber Chorus), and, as the Mother of Iseut, in Le vin herbé by Frank Martin (I Cantori di New York).
jazz originals and arrangements, chamber music, and solo instrumental and vocal works across the United States, Europe and Asia. She was the composer-in-residence and choir director at Emanuel Presbyterian Church in New York for two years, where she premiered numerous new works with the choir and chamber orchestra. Recently, the Kiev Philharmonic Symphony recorded her choral work, A Christmas Carol, under the ERM label, available on Amazon.com and by other major distributors. Her debut Jazz CD On My Way Home features her own unique compositions and are distributed widely through CD Baby. In addition to Ms. Pan’s musical life, she is a graduate from at Westminster Theological Seminary with a M.A degree in Urban Ministry. www.cdbaby.com/cd/MavisPan
Evening Division and vocal instruction with Lavinia Bertotti and Claudine Ansermet at the Fondazione Italiana di Musica Antica in Urbino, Italy. Her works have been commissioned by the Manhattan Choral Ensemble, Trio Eos, and the Matrix Music Collaborators, and performed by the new music ensemble Cygnus. Currently, Karen is a PhD candidate in composition at the CUNY Graduate Center, where she studies with Tania León and was awarded the 2009 Robert Starer Award for composition. She is working on a dissertation on timbral transformations in the vocal music of Kaija Saariaho. www.karensiegel.com
however, is unique, in that its members’ interests and experience are at least as eclectic as her own. Melissa Wozniak is currently working as an intern in the education department of New York City Opera while she works on her thesis for her M.M. in Music History and Literature from the University of Southern Mississippi. Her thesis topic concerns modern settings of Emily Dickinson poetry. In addition to teaching Music Appreciation in Mississippi, she appeared as a soprano soloist in Bach’s Magnificat, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, and Derr’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly. Melissa has performed with the Southern Chorale, the Southern Mississippi Chamber Singers, and the Hattiesburg (MS) Civic Chorale The Meistersingers, as well as the USM Vocal Jazz Ensemble. In 2005 Melissa earned a B.M.E. in Music Education from SUNY Fredonia. Onstage performances include L’Orfeo (Fury), and choral roles in I Pagliacci, The Merry Widow, L’Elisir d’Amore, and Candide. Last year Melissa was the recipient of both the DAAD Intensive Language Course Grant which enabled her to live and study in Berlin for 8 weeks, and the Sigma Alpha Iota Professional Development Grant, which provided assistance for three weeks of musicological study in Vienna with her mentor Edward Hafer. Melissa’s past voice teachers include J. Taylor Hightower, Kimberley Davis and Margaret Kuhl. She is a member of the American Musicological Society and Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity. She is now living and teaching on Long Island with her husband David, a saxophonist.
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Mavis Pan was born in Taiwan where she began piano lessons at the age of four, attending the Stella Matutina Girls School, where she was enrolled in the prestigious Specialized Music program. Ms. Pan received rigorous training in piano, voice, music theory and ear training until the family immigrated to America when Ms. Pan was seventeen, relocating to New Jersey. There she studied privately with Sherry Fan, performed with the high school big band and choir groups and won Best Accompanist in 1996’s High School Choral Festival competition. Upon her high school graduation she gave a debut solo piano recital at Westminster College of the Arts at Rider University. As an undergraduate, majoring in jazz piano performance at New York University, Ms. Pan studied jazz piano with Don Freeman, Frank Kimbrough and Peter Malinverni, classical piano with Fabio Gardenal, and voice with Ann Phillips. She sang with the five-time Gammy Award winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, and continued her studies at Columbia University, where she studied conducting and voice with Dino Anagnost and earned a Master’s Degree in Music & Music Education. Ms. Pan was a finalist of the YPMP-CACA piano competition and has performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center’s New York State Theater and Alice Tully Hall, and performed in the Opening Night Gala of the Asian Nights celebration at Shea Stadium in 2004. A composer, pianist, conductor, vocalist, and dancer, Ms. Pan has written and performed her own choral originals,
Joseph Rubinstein sings tenor in C4. He is a passionate supporter of contemporary music and has been involved in many premieres of pieces by young and emerging composers. A composer himself, his works have been featured at festivals such as the Bowdoin International Music Festival and The Yale Summer Festival at Norfolk, and by groups including the Columbia University Bach Society, the International Vocal Arts Workshop, and WorldMuse. Upcoming projects include a new work for C4’s June concert cycle, and a newly commissioned work for the Young New Yorkers Chorus. He graduated with a BA in Music from Columbia University in 2008, and currently works on composer and new music promotion for a major music publisher.
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Karen Siegel grew up harmonizing doowop tunes with her family, and went on to study voice, piano, cello, and eventually composition. She holds a Master’s degree in Composition from NYU, where she studied with Marc Antonio Consoli, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Yale. Additional studies include coursework with Conrad Cummings at the Juilliard
Martha Sullivan’s music has been praised as “vibrant” and “a singer’s favorite”. She has been commissioned by the Dale Warland Singers, the Gregg Smith Singers, the Esoterics and numerous others, in cities as far-flung as Tokyo, Reno, Dallas, Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, and Zurich. She has received several Meet the Composer grants for her work with Gregg Smith and recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts for her work with the Esoterics. She was a medalist in the Sorel Medallion competition in 2009, in which Voices of Ascension premiered her music at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall, and she won the Dale Warland Singers’ Choral Ventures competition in its final year (2003). She has never studied composition formally, but she has studied voice with such notable divas as Phyllis Curtin and Lili Chookasian, at Boston University and Yale. She has sung and recorded premieres by such innovators as Toby Twining and John Zorn, so she’s been heard on WNYC’s “New Sounds” a number of times; she has also appeared on New York City Opera’s VOX program of new operas twice, in Gordon Beeferman’s The Rat Land. She has sung with numerous ensembles in New York and elsewhere, under conductors such as Sarah Caldwell, Robert Shaw, and James Levine. Singing with C4,
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