SKU: PR.111402890

ISBN 9781491134672. UPC: 680160685264.

What� �??s in a name? While the title is French for â??Eight Flower Songs,â? the texts are all in English. The poemsâ?? flowers metaphorically evoke fragrance, love and loss, life and death, rebirth and regrowth. Perhaps the texture and beauty of Gordonâ??s music are themselves French. The 20-minute song cycle draws on poems from Wordsworth to Dorothy Parker, as well as from contemporary poets including the composer himself.
When So-Chung Shinn came to me with the idea of commissioning a song cycle with her spectacular husband Tony Lee, she had in mind something having to do with flowers. Tony had asked her what she wanted for her birthday, and she said she wanted to be behind the creating of a new work. Lucky me, I was the recipient of the commission. So-Chung sent me a little description of all the flowers she loves, but I had to take the idea and create a narrative in my head.It is always a matter of pleasing the commissioner, yet coming up with something you can get behind and hear music for as well. I already knew I wanted to use my â??Tulipsâ? poem which is really about the arc of a relationship as represented through the life span of the Tulips, and, in many ways, disappointment; and Dorothy Parkerâ??s â??One Perfect Rose,â? which is wry, bitter, cynical, and funny, in a way only Dorothy Parker can so pithily express.I thought of Jane Kenyonâ??s exquisite â??Peonies at Dusk,â? because knowing she died so young (46) of leukemia, the poem has such a particular resonance, almost humanizing the Peonies, casting the moon as a sentient being, illustrating so beautifully how connected everything is, alive here, and revolving around these exquisite blossoms. Then, I remembered her husband Donald Hallâ??s poem â??Her Garden,â? which he wrote after Jane died, his grief intermingled with his inability to care for what she had created, to keep alive what so represented her aliveness, broken as he was, and I felt I already had a story.I found the Wordsworth, because it felt like pure joy to me, but also, if each of the songs has a color in my head, â??The Daffodilsâ? is pure yellow and a good place to start. My partner Kevin and I live on a lake, and every year, the first Daffodils, the shock of yellows, the oranges, the blinding whites, after the long snowy winters, sing of the newness that is about to enfold us in its green miraculousness.At first, the cycle ended with the Langston Hughes poem â??Cycle,â? or â??New Flowers,â? because it was lovely, and about rebirth, which is obviously optimistic, and apt, but then, my friend Telmo Dos Santos, a wonderful Canadian poet whom I met at Banff, sent me his poem â??Afterlife With Lilacs,â? having no idea what I was working on. I felt I had to add it because it is so dazzling, and it immediately felt like the missing link. Finally, there were unfortunately rights issues, namely, we could not, no how, get in touch with the Langston Hughes Estate, after so many happy collaborations.After almost a yearâ??s frustration, I wrote my own text, â??Play, Orpheus,â? which ended up being fortuitous, because the first time I met So-Chung, she entered the room and the most exquisite scent of Lillies of the Valley, Muguet de Bois, filled the room. I went right over to her and rudely put my nose to her neck, for the intoxication of the scent. So â??Play, Orpheusâ? is for So-Chung, to remind us of the precious treasures of this world flowers remind us of. Everything and everyone lives and dies, lives and dies. Death and resurrection.And of course, this is music, this is song, so the inclusion of the God of music, Orpheus, seems apt. Huit Chansons de Fleurs is really about what flowers represent, their radiance, their flickering impermanence, the way they are used to celebrate, as well as to mourn...... and of course, their fragrance. Their fragrance.Ricky Ian GordonJuly 28, 2021.

SKU: BR.EB-8990

He re you will find the concerto R (A Portrait for Piano and Orchestra).

ISBN 9790004187197. 9 x 12 inches.

A Musical Portrait In 2012 Nicola Campogrande received a rather singular commission when a total stranger asked him to compose a musical portrait of his fiancee. The man knew exactly what he wanted: a concerto for piano and orchestra. After some reflection, Campogrande realised that he would be able to paint with music. It would never be possible, of course, to recognise the shape of the woman's face or the colour of her hair, but the score could evoke the way in which she occupied space and time, and the different movements of the composition would be like the faces on a rotating prism. Campogrande thus accepted the commission and the stranger sent him a few photos of his fiancee, spoke to him about her and, finally, introduced him to her. This is how R (A portrait for piano and orchestra) was born, first performed in April 2013 by Lilya Zilberstein with the Orchestra Verdi in Milan. Subsequently, following other performances and a TV documentary, a number of different pianists asked Campogrande to write a version for solo piano. Hence Nudo emerged, a piece that would be very similar to R , were it not for the fact that, as the title suggests, the pianist is naked, without orchestral clothing. Information on Nudo on the composer's website Audio recording of Nudo (YouTube) Un portrait musical En 2012, Nicola Campogrande s'est vu proposer une commission fort singuliere ; un parfait etranger lui demandait de composer le portrait musical de sa compagne. L'homme savait exactement ce qu'il voulait : un concert pour piano et orchestre. Apres quelques hesitations, Campogrande s'est rendu compte qu'il pouvait se servir de la musique comme d'un pinceau. Bien entendu, il ne serait jamais possible de reconnaitre la forme du visage de la femme ou la couleur de ses cheveux, mais la partition pourrait evoquer la facon dont elle se deplacait dans l'espace et dans le temps, et les differents mouvements de la piece seraient comme les figures d'un prisme en rotation. Campogrande a donc accepte la commission ; l'etranger lui a envoye des photos de sa compagne, il lui a parle d'elle, avant de les faire se rencontrer personnellement. Ainsi est ne R (Un portrait pour piano et orchestre) , interprete pour la premiere fois en avril 2013 par Lilya Zilberstein et l'orchestre Verdi de Milan. D'autres executions ont suivi, ainsi qu'un documentaire televise, apres quoi plusieurs pianistes ont prie Campogrande d'ecrire une version pour piano seul. C'est ainsi que Nudo a vu le jour : un << nu >> tres semblable au premier portrait, si ce n'est que le piano s'y trouve, comme le suggere le titre, depouille de son vetement orchestral. Ritrarre con la musica Nel 2012 Nicola Campogrande ha ricevuto la piu singolare delle commissioni, quando un perfetto sconosciuto gli ha chiesto di comporre il ritratto musicale della sUrauffuhrung fidanzata. L'uomo sapeva esattemente cio che voleva: un concerto per pianoforte e orchestra. Dopo qualche esitazione, Campogrande si e reso conto di poter dipingere con la musica; certo, non sarebbe stato possibile riconoscere la forma del viso della donna o il colore dei suoi capelli, ma la partitura avrebbe evocato il modo nel quale lei si muoveva nello spazio e nel tempo, e i vari movimenti del brano sarebbero stati come le facce di un prisma in rotazione. Campogrande ha dunque accettato la commissione e lo sconosciuto gli ha mandato alcune foto della sUrauffuhrung fidanzata, gli ha parlato di lei e, alla fine, gliela ha presentata personalmente. E cosi nato cosi R (Un ritratto per pianoforte e orchestra ), eseguito per la prima volta nell'aprile 2013 da Lilya Zilberstein insieme all'Orchestra Verdi di Milano.In seguito, dopo altre esecuzioni e un documentario tv, diversi pianisti hanno chiesto a Campogrande di preparare una versione per pianoforte solo. E stato cosi che ha preso forma Nudo , un brano del tutto simile a R tranne per il fatto che, come suggerisce il titolo, il pianista e nudo, senza un abito orchestrale. 'Nudo' is a scintillating work that paints a vivid and fascinating sequence of musical portraits of its subject. And the Breitkopf score is simply superb. (www.pianodao.com).