Informationen zu "John Alexander sonata in three movements Double Bass & Piano"
Verlag: Recital Music
Verlagsnummer: RM563
EAN: 9790570455638
ISMN: M-57045-563-8
Beschreibung
John Alexander writes: 'It's been a long time in the making, some of the
material for 'sonata in three movements' had begun to take shape over a
6-month period around 45 years ago. I was then writing a viola sonata at the
end of my time studying composition with Edmund Rubbra at the Guildhall
School of Music & Drama, London. That work was not composed for anyone in
particular, was never spoken of as something to be performed and was put away
unfinished. I came across it again five years ago and decided that, with a
lot of work, it could adapt well to become a sonata for double bass and
piano, something I'd wanted to do for a while. But I did nothing about this
endeavour for another 3½ years or so. Then, I started working hard on this
projected composition, re-shaping, discarding, re-inventing and extending
this 'sonata in three movements' into its present completed form, a
summation, perhaps, of my path to date as a composer. The whole composition
is in memory of Edmund Rubbra (1901-86), a kind, thoughtful teacher and a
very fine composer ? if you're not aware of his music, I recommend you listen
to his 4th Symphony. Unusually, for a piece of mine, the 'sonata in three
movements' has no programmatic narrative or any extra-musical concept behind
it. All its ideas and deliberations belong firmly in the domain of just
music. The opening 4-note motif articulated by the bass appears in many
guises and transformations throughout, helping to bind the three movements ?
each of which has a distinctive character and mood ? into a cohesive whole.
The first movement is full of majestic passion, rhythmic drama and
contrasting changing dispositions. It is with friendship and sincere
gratitude that I am pleased to dedicate this opening
(exposition/development/recapitulation) to David Heyes, always generous with
his time and valuable guidance. The second movement has winsome, yearning
attributes of slow, meandering lyricism and mellow counterpoint. It is with
delight that I warmly dedicate this middle component to both Thierry Barbé
and Dan Styffe. The third movement has a touch of Latinate warmth and flair
running through its contrapuntal dance-like verve and melodic contours via
its intense driving rhythm. After so many premieres of my work that have
been given by Marco Antonio Quiñones Martinez and Patricia Miravete Mora in
Mexico, I am happy to affectionately dedicate this finale to them. One last
analytic note I'd like to include, is to contrast the very opening low octave
F sharp, sounded by the piano, with the concluding low octave C, also sounded
by the piano but at the very end of this piece. Harmonically speaking, the
one is as far as you can be from the other: a tri-tone (augmented 4th) apart.
Traditionally, it could be assumed that a sonata might finish in the same
tonality with which it began. I wanted to go against that assumption in this
particular work, in an attempt to signify ? given the above history ? how far
I had travelled compositionally.' 'US PREMIERE: Double bassist Michael
Cameron and pianist Evan Mitchell premiered the new double bass sonata by
John Alexander (b.1942) on 7 June 2017 at 5.00pm in Nabenhauer Recital Hall
on the campus of Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, USA. In his opening
remarks, Cameron described the piece as 'romantic' with a 'short dip into
modernism' and referred to its English flair, knowingly, perhaps with air
quotes, due to the subjective nature of such characterisations. After one
piece scheduled for this programme fell through, Cameron remarked that he was
relieved to discover that this piece was completed and could be prepared in
time for the convention. The piece never outstays its welcome at the tempi
heard in this performance. The first movement, marked Moderato maestoso e
appasionato, has a rhapsodic initial arco episode, which is followed by a
plummy pizzicato section in the middle register. This dichotomy reprises
throughout the entire piece in a call-and-response, cross-rhythmic vein. An
arco section follows in which the bass accentuates upper partial tones, such
as sevenths and ninths, lending an impressionistic air to the underlying
harmony. An episode in the lower, then upper registers provides a nice
contrast, then the neo-romantic mode returns, and the movement ends with a
final tremolo flourish. The second movement, Adagio cantabile espressivo,
begins with a broad and slow but brief piano introduction. We hear the bass
in a plaintive cantilena style in perhaps a nostalgic, even bitter-sweet mode
in the upper register. After a call-and-response pizzicato reference back to
the first movement, the bass sings again, this time in the middle register,
adding to the melancholy air before ending softly on a high note. The bass
begins the final Allegro not in a speedy way in the present performance, but
rather light and quicksilver, and understated in a way that is perhaps
respectful of the piano partnership. In turn, a repeated piano figure sets up
the bassist both to sing and to alternate with pizzicato figurations. A
humorous adjacent harmonic semitone in the middle register got a chuckle out
of me before a more singing section found a temporary rhythmic cadence to
rest. Following another alternation of higher melodic cantilena and pizzicato
figures, we hear short bow strokes in the upper register, creating a dry
effect as a contrast to the singing sections. Shortly after the repeated
piano figure returns, so does the tremolando figure and a satisfying
conclusion. Well done, Michael and Evan!' [Chris Clark] John Alexander was
born in West Sussex in 1942 and began to compose at the age of 20. At the
time he discovered a fascination for art, literature, dance, architecture and
sculpture and these topics, along with mathematics, have continued to have a
bearing on his work. He studied composition with Edmund Rubbra at the
Guildhall School of Music in London, and later with Jonathan Harvey and Peter
Wiegold at the University of Sussex. John Alexander has never been a
prolific composer, but an impressive and growing body of work reflects a rare
eye for detail and structure - each work beautifully crafted and reworked
until every inflection, detail and nuance is perfect. Probably best described
as a miniaturist, he writes in a fluent, independent and strongly personal
style with an intense desire to create music which communicates to both
performer and audience alike. In 1999 John Alexander won the 1st BIBF
Composition Contest and was invited to be a judge for several BIBF
competitions. He was a featured composer at Bass-Fest 2001, was an spnm
short-listed composer for three years, and was Composer-in-residence at the
2004 Rotterdam Conservatoire Double Bass Weekend, Bass-Fest 2006 and 2007
Wells Double Bass Weekend. His works have been performed and broadcast
throughout the world and he was written an impressive and unique body of work
for double bass.
