NOTES
Aaron Jay Kernis A Dance of Life painting: Edvard Munch, 1900 music: Aaron Jay Kernis, 2010 I chose to focus on the emotional turbulence at its core of this rich and ghostly painting, pairing contrasts of chromatic whirling and stillness which surge upward from wispy strands of melody to extremes of expression and speed. The piece was a commission from the Vestfold Festival in Sweden and was premiered in July 2010 by violinist Henning Kraggerud alongside the Munch painting at the Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum in Tønsberg, Sweden. – Aaron Jay Kernis
Chris Rogerson Lullaby: no bad dreams 2009 When I was a child, I was often afraid of bedtime. Part of this was the darkness, part of it was the knowledge that with darkness came sleep, and with sleep, dreams. Some of those dreams would be nightmares. And when I would have these nightmares, I would wake up in the middle of the night and run to my parents’ room. Being a very practical child, I approached my parents about the problem and we worked something out to solve it. Each night before bed, they would come to my door.
They would say, “No bad dreams?” and I would respond, “No bad dreams.” And then again: “No bad dreams?” “No bad dreams.” Finally, they’d say, “Good night,” I’d say “Good night,” and then we’d each say it one more time. Of course this was pretty tedious so we all spoke quickly. But on many occasions, it soothed me, and I had sleep with no dreams or only good ones. This work for violin and piano recalls those memories of my childhood before bedtime. The opening section is very calm and serene, but it soon gives way to a more playful middle section (perhaps a reflection of the nights on which I had too much sugar). This section leads into the climax of the piece, which harks back to the opening, but now the beginning material is more troubled and anguished, a foreshadowing of the potential nightmares to come. These conflicts are quieted in the ending, but there remains a tinge of darkness as the piece descends into sleep and the magical world of dreams. -Chris Rogerson, November 2009