 |
Nocturnal (1961/1968)
| composers |
Edgard Varèse (1883-1965)
Chou Wen-chung (b. 1923) |
| performers |
Ariel Bybee, mezzo-soprano
Bass Ensemble of the University-Civic Chorale
Utah Symphony
Maurice Abravanel, conductor |
| publisher |
Hendon Music (BMI) |
| label |
Vanguard Classics 4031
|
| duration |
10:46 |
Chou Wen-chung:
"Nocturnal, Varèse's last work, was commissioned by and dedicated to the Koussevitzky Music Foundation. The text includes words and phrases from House of Incest by Anaïs Nin and syllables devised by Varèse. Composed in the early months of 1961 for a Composer's Showcase concert in his honor, it was never completed. But the unfinished work was given its world premiere at the Composer's Showcase concert in Town Hall, New York, on May 1, 1961. [...]
"After Varèse's death, it was felt that the importance of Nocturnal, in relation to his art and thought, demanded a version more conducive to further performance, for the original portion ends too soon and too abruptly. It was decided the 'performance version' start with the original portion, fully edited, incorporating Varèse's indicated changes and additions, and that a continuing portion be added to provide formal balance and to include some of Varèse's sketched ideas not employed in the original production.
"In completing the score ... two principles were followed: (1) continuation of some of Varèse's principal material of the original portion, following suggestions in his cryptic notes; (2) addition of new material from the few more elaborate sketches found, so as to illustrate more fully his ideas for this work and his concepts in the use of vocal sounds. All the details, whenever not specified in the sketches, are worked out according to the original portion or other sketches in which similar situations are found. The original portion ends with the words, 'dark, dark, dark, asleep, asleep,' sung by the soprano. This is clearly indicated in the published score. The added portion is purposely kept to the minimum length possible, just enough to include all suitable additional material and to provide structural coherence.
"Nocturnal is a world of sounds remembered and imagined, conjuring up sights and moods now personal, now Dantesque, now enigmatic. Perhaps one should not read too much into a composer's choice of words, but how, knowing Varèse's unique career, could one resist wondering about the line, 'I rise, I always rise after crucifixion'? What about the mocking, threatening, babbling emanations from the chorus, often directed to sound 'as if from underground' and 'harsh'? Then there are the sounds remembered -- the liquid beat on the wood block, the shrill whistling of the winds, the tenacious shimmering of the strings -- the insistent sound of a mass of shuffling feet, the flourishes of drum beats, the sudden crashing outbursts. A phantasmagorical world? Yes, but as real as Varèse's own life."
Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) is considered a pioneer in contemporary music, producing a series of works innovative in their use of percussion, complexity of rhythm, and form independent of harmonic or thematic focus. He composed two of the first major works with sounds on tape: Déserts (1954) and Poème électronique (1957-1958).
Varèse was born in Paris in 1883, and moved with his family to Turin, Italy ten years later. He began his musical studies in 1900, against the wishes of his father, who intended for him a career in business. Three years later, he left for Paris to attend the Schola Cantorum, where he studied with Albert Roussel, Charles Bordes, and Vincent d'Indy; he later joined the composition class of Charles-Marie Widor at the Paris Conservatoire. Between 1907 and 1915, when he left for the United States, Varèse came to know a number of composers including Ferruccio Busoni, Richard Strauss, Erik Satie, and Claude Debussy, to whom he introduced the works of Arnold Schoenberg.
In the United States, Varèse was associated with, but never fully accepted, the Dada movement of Marcel Duchamp and Frances Picabia. He made his conducting debut in 1917 with Berlioz's Requiem, and went on to direct concerts of new music in Ohio and with his own orchestra, the New Symphony Orchestra. With Carlos Salzedo he co-founded in 1921 the International Composers' Guild, organizing performances of chamber pieces by Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Berg, Webern, Ruggles, Cowell, and many others. After another stay in Paris (1928-1933), Varèse returned to the US, taught classes in composition and orchestration in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and travelled to Los Angeles to interest film producers in his idea of "organized sound." Back in New York City, he founded the Greater New York Chorus to perform choral music of the Renaissance and Baroque, and continued to lecture at Columbia University and other schools.
In 1953 Varèse was given an Ampex tape recorder by an anonymous donor. This gift allowed him to realize many works in progress and to focus his energies on the electronic medium. Varèse achieved much renown in his final years, as recordings of his works were made by Pierre Boulez and Robert Craft, performances became more frequent, and he received such honors as the Brandeis University Creative Arts Award (1962) and the first Koussevitzky International Recording Award (1963).
The music of Chinese-American composer and teacher Chou Wen-chung (b. 1923) fuses traditional Chinese elements with Western musical techniques. He has written of his aesthetic:
"One must search beyond the procedures of a musical practice, discern its original aesthetic commitments, and trace how its tradition has evolved. If one is blessed with a cross-cultural heritage, one must then regard it as a privilege and obligation to commit the search in both practices."
Chou was born in Yantai, Shantung Province, China, and came to the United States in 1946 to study architecture at Yale University. Shortly thereafter he enrolled at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, and studied music with Carl McKinley and Nicolas Slonimsky. Upon relocating to New York in 1949, he became Edgard Varèse's apprentice, assisting with music editing in exchange for composition lessons. Chou became the executor of Varèse's musical estate, preparing new editions of his music, reconstructing works based on sketches, and completing the unfinished work Nocturnal (1961/1973).
Between 1952-1954 Chou did his graduate work at Columbia University in New York City under composer Otto Luening, also serving as assistant to Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky at the newly-created Electronic Music Center. He joined the faculty of Columbia in 1964 and later founded the Center for United States-China Arts Exchange (1978) and Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music (1984), both of which he directed for many years. Chou's work at Columbia led to the creation of the first courses of Chinese and Asian music in the US, and provided the opportunity for many Chinese composers to study and work in the United States. He retired from Columbia in 1991.
From 1971 to 1975 Chou served as president of the record label CRI (Composers Recordings, Inc); his music is recorded on the Albany, CRI, Crystal, Telarc, and New World labels, and has been performed by orchestras and ensembles in the US, Europe, Japan, and China. Two retrospective concerts of his work were held in New York City in 1989 and 1993. He has received grants from the Guggenheim, Koussevitzky, and Rockefeller Foundations, the Cincinnati Award for Excellence, and the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the government of France.
related websites
http://www.chouwenchung.org
Mezzo-soprano Ariel Bybee first performed with the Utah Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Opera before joining the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she performed for nearly two decades. Among the roles she has sung at the Met are Annio in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Nichlausse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. Bybee has also performed with the Washington DC Opera, Vienna Philharmonic, Tanglewood Music Theatre, New York City Ballet, and at the Ravinia Festival in Illinois and Sofia Music Weeks in Bulgaria. She can be heard singing the role of Flora in Franco Zeffirelli's film of La Traviata. Bybee is currently artist-in-residence at the University of Nebraska School of Music.
Founded in 1940, the Utah Symphony Orchestra became recognized as a leading ensemble through the efforts of Maurice Abravanel, its music director from 1947 to 1979. During his tenure, the ensemble made first recordings of works by Varèse, Milhaud, Gottschalk, Honegger, and Satie, as well as the first complete cycle of Mahler symphonies. The orchestra has continued its commitment to modern music under the direction of Joseph Silverstein (1983-1998) and Keith Lockhart (1998-present) with premieres and recordings of works from the United States. Recordings of the Utah Symphony can be found on the Allegretto, Angel, Intaglio, London, MCA Classics, Vanguard Classics, and Vox Box labels.
related websites
http://www.unl.edu/music/faculty/Bybee.html
http://www.utahsymphony.org
| |
