Performances of works by Freidlin and Chiti

Among the many performances of Musik Fabrik works this, Jan Freidlin's "MonoOpera" for solo violin was performed by G. Gurevich at Beit - Barbur in Tel Aviv on March 13, 2010 .

On March 25th, the Trio A.Do.Re performed Gian Paolo Chiti's Kinamama for two flutes and piano at the State Library of Nova Gorica in Slovenia.

Other past and upcoming performances may be found in our Concert Schedule.

Three Choral works by Carson Cooman on texts by Elizabeth Kirschner

Three choral works by Carson
Cooman on texts by Elizabeth
Kirschner have just been published by Musik Fabrik.

• A Difficult Miracle (Op. 861) (2010) (14 min) was written
  for Anne Watson Born and the Sanctuary Choir of the First Unitarian
  Society in Newton, Massachusetts and is scored for SATB Chorus,
  Soprano and Baritone Soloists, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Piano


• In the Midst of Wild Being (Op. 745) (2007) (10 min)
  was commissioned by the King's Chapel Concert Series, Heinrich Christensen,
  director, and Choral Arts New England in memory of Daniel Pinkham
  (1923-2006)and is scored for SATB Chorus, Horn, and Harp


• The Litany of Light (Op. 737) (2007) (13 min) was commissioned
  by The Memorial Church at Harvard University in celebration of its
  75th anniversary (1932-2007) and dedicated to the Harvard University
  Choir, Edward Elwyn Jones, Gund University Organist and Choirmaster.
  The work is scored for SATB Choir, Baritone and Soprano Soloists,
  Brass Quintet, Timpani, and Organ. The work may be heard at the
  composer's
  website.

All of these works are available from our vocal
music catalog.

Article in "La France Musicale" about Ali Ben Sou Alle

I recently came across another article about Ali Ben Sou Alle in the French National Libraries Gallica collection. This is a review of a concert that the saxophonist and composer did in Paris in 1864. Both of the works mentioned in this article are (or will shortly be) published by Musik Fabrik and available in our Saxophone Music catalog.

De Rerum Natura for narrator and Orchestra by Thérèse Brenet

Musik Fabrik has just published Thérèse Brenet's De Rerum Natura for Orchestra (2(pic)222/4330/Timp/2perc/hp/pn/strings)with narrator The work is in five movements and lasts eleven minutes. From the composer's notes for the work :

De Rerum Natura a was inspired by a passage by Lucretius, a long and ample phrase, which is divided into five sequences to illustrate the five movements of this piece for orchestra.

I. When, looking upwards, we meditate on the celestial spaces of this vast World et the fixed stars which shine in the ether and when our thoughts are drawn to the paths of the Moon and the Sun...
II. ...then, an anguish which had been hidden in our heart by other worries, is awoken...
III. ...Would there not, just in front of us, the gods who with an infinite power cause the varied movement of the white stars? Given up to doubt by the ignorance of causes, the spirit wonders if there was a beginning, a birth of the World.
IV. ...if there must be en end, and when the ramparts of the World must accept the weariness of this troublesome movement...
V. ...or rather if, given an eternal existence by the gods, they may continue their paths in the infinity of Time and thus defy the effort of the immense duration.
(Lucrce, De rerum natura. V. 1204-1216)

The work begins with three trumpets whose melodies, which sometimes use quarter-tones, make an oblique reference to the purity of Gregorian chant which rises and falls and seems to represent the poet’s invitation to turn our eyes towards the sky.

Then an aleatoric sequence is superimposed on the trumpets et while this unorganised passage could shock, it seemed that this technique evoked perfectly the movements of the stars, the complex network of paths of the different solar sphères. Against this aleatoric background, the trumpets appear two more times, which reminds of the poet’s thoughts and his emotion on contemplating the infinite.

In the second movement, which avoids all notion of development, Thérèse Brenet sought an extreme concision, which seeks to create a dramatic tension and the sense of the poet’s anguish. The massed strings and winds seem to attract and repulse with a great violence. Each effort, each crescendo gives a sense of collision and collapse of the musical materail in an eternal violent rocking .

In the score of the third piece, the author gave the following indication for the strings : "Consider that the written pitches are approximate and avoid as much as possible the impression of a diatonic system One should try to mimic the inflictions of the spoken or screamed voice, playing with the heavy and rough character that one can obtain with the double-stops ».
Superimposed on this rough and acid sound in the strings, are dry, accented chords in the brass. The two elements are progressively brought to a crescendo which is not completely realized.

The fourth movement , which is very dark in character, is made up of a single chord in the strings which is repeated in order to take on a full texture. The oboes attempt to announce a theme which cannot be quite distinguished out of the dense string texture. The condensed, static and meditative nature creates a feeling of suspension which prepares the last movement.

The fifth movement uses a rocking motif in which the massed brass and strings, each with its own incompatible rhythm, seems to crash together and to each impose its proper movement in an eternal process. The idea of eternity is central to this work. Ordinarily, works have an ending. This one does not, as a symbolic means of expressing this eternal movement by the author. The final bar is omitted from the score and the last few measure are combined in a repeated sequence which can be played without end, with a diminuendo in which one will never completely realise the final limits.,

In this same movement, the expression sempre crescendo is used a number of times. Of course, there comes a moment in which it is no longer possible, except for perhaps the percussion instruments, to play louder, but one can give the illusion of a crescendo by the obsessive repetition, the growing tension et the oppressive character without having to increase the true amount of decibles. In this manner, the instruments will be able to go to the limits of their possibilities and then maintain this level, so that one will have the impression at each measure that the orchestra is playing as loudly as possible and that the next measure will create the illusion that it is indeed louder.

In this work, the composer wanted to establish a parallel between Lucretius‘ revolutionary ideas about the Latin language and her own work in building her individual musical language. Apart from Lucretius’ poetic breath and expression, Lucretius tries to resolve what he perceives as the poor quality of his native language - patrii sermonais egestas - especially compared to the rich vocabulary of Greek by trying to create new words and new combinations of words. He uses a system in which different non-grammatically correct ordering of words are used to create new ideas or images. This process may be compared to the musical idea of separating certain sounds which may naturally attract. While this notion is completely natural in a tonal system, it is perhaps less apparent when used in an atonal texture.

"That which perhaps characterises best the poetry of Lecretius is the admirable sensation of the Infinite which he evokes many times with weight...He is never as great as when he brings us into the mysterious regions outside of all limits when he breaks down the « walls of the world » and in the shining of a pure light, contemplates from afar both our miserable World and also the Infinite Space of the Cosmos.".
Henri Clouard. Lucrèce De la Nature des Choses, introduction, p. 10.

The score is available for sale in our score catalog. The orchestral parts are on rental.

Leguerney's Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano published

Musik Fabrik is pleased to announce the publication of Jacques Leguerney's Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano.

This Trio was composed in 1928, but not performed until December 3, 1932. The respected French musicians Hortense de Sampigny (violinist) and Jacques Serres (cellist) gave its first and, as far as we know, only performance along with Leguerney’s friend and mentor, Therese Cahen, at the piano. The concert including this work was organized by the SMI at the concert hall of the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris. A review, in the Journal des débats, speaks of the influence of [Cesar] Franck, of Maurice Ravel and of Spanish dances.

The work is part of Mary Dibbern's ongoing work on Leguerney's unpublished music and will continue with the forthcoming publication of the Fantaisie en Sol mineur for solo piano. Many other works in currently in preparation.

The work is available in our String Music catalog.