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composer	Salvatore Martirano (1927-1995)
performers	Donald Smith, singer Thomas Howell, flute Ronald Dewar, tenor saxophone Morgan Powell, trombone John Garvey, viola Thomas Fredrickson, bass Charles Braugham, percussion Rick Kvistad, percussion Salvatore Martirano, conductor
publisher	Sal-Mar Construction (ASCAP)
label	New World Records 80535http://www.newworldrecords.org
duration	11:40

about the music

Inspired by and written for singer Donald Smith, Ballad is divided into three sections (Too, Medley, and Blues) and uses fragments of seven popular songs from the 1940's.

Salvatore Martirano:

"The singer improvises within set limits upon 'I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town,' 'You Are Too Beautiful,' 'They Say [That Falling in Love Is] Wonderful,' and so on. In the background, meanwhile, a small combo plays an accompaniment that is serial in construction. [...] The score encourages liberties with timbre, microtonal fluctuations of pitch, variety of vibratos, use of mutes, subtle changes in amplitude, variety of attacks, etc."

about the composer		back to top

Salvatore Martirano (1927-1995) devoted much of his career to developing and working with electronic composing/performing systems, primarily the Sal-Mar Construction (completed in 1971) and its successor the yahaSALmaMAC. In addition to the electroacoustic works created with these systems, Martirano composed a number of acoustic and mixed-media pieces using a variety of styles and techniques including jazz and popular music, serialism, and musique concrète.

Born in Yonkers, New York, Martirano studied composition with Herbert Elwell at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, Bernard Rogers at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and Luigi Dallapiccola at the Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, Italy. He taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1963 until his death in 1995; during this time he also had residencies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Australia, IRCAM in Paris, France, and the California Institute of the Arts.

Martirano's compositions have been performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, and by orchestras including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and Vienna Philharmonic. Among his many grants and awards are those from the Ford and Guggenheim Foundations, Fulbright Program, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Prix de Rome. He received commissions from the Fromm and Koussevitzky Foundations, 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Arts Committee, and Cleveland Chamber Symphony, among others.

Martirano's music has been recorded on the Albany, Advance, Centaur, CRI, Einstein, GM, Heliodor, Neuma, New World, and Polydor labels.

about the performers		back to top

Singer and instrumentalist Donald Smith initially studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he performed in a number of jazz groups on piano, organ, flute, and voice. In 1972 he joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in New York City; since then he has toured extensively in the United States, Europe, and Japan, performing and recording with artists including Cecil and Dee Dee Bridgewater, Benny Carter, Von and Chico Freeman, Dizzy Gillespie, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Oliver Lake, Jackie McLean, David Murray, Archie Shepp, Leon Thomas, and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Big Band. He has accompanied on piano vocalists Gloria Lynne and Fontella Bass, and served as lead vocalist and flutist for Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes for five years.