Program Notes, Texts, and Bios

Bernhard Lang DW 16: songbook I on texts by Bob Dylan, Peter Hammill, Amon Düül 2, Dieter Sperl, and Robert Creeley

The head is the organ of exchange but the heart is the amorous organ of repetition. Gilles Deleuze

There must be some way out of here. Bob Dylan

As with the work on the second half of this evening’s program, Ted Hearne’s Katrina Ballads, Bernhard Lang’s DW 16: songbook I sets preexisting texts both familiar and obscure in new musical contexts. The “DW” of the title is from Differenz/Wiederholung, a reference to the ideas of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze introduced in his highly influential work Difference and Repetition.

Bernhard Lang writes:

The texts are pop songs connected to much of my personal history; All Along the Watchtower is a kind of life philosophy in brief; Ophelia, a great love poem; Burning Sister, an LSD vision.

All of this preexisting material is smashed by means of Abulafia, a cutup scrambler program. The traces of the textual fragments are to me splinters of a mirror, reflecting the original as a multiplicity. The texts by Dieter Sperl and Robert Creeley appear to me to find their rightful place in the immediate proximity of this kind of poetry, texts that are already in themselves songs or lead directly to them.

“Damaged beats” — scratch loops of rock and jazz patterns — function as a backdrop to the voice.

Bernhard Lang was born in 1957 in Linz, and studied with Andrej Dobrowolski and Hermann Markus Pressl in Graz. His international breakthrough was achieved with the series of compositions Differenz/Wiederholung. This series now contains about twenty compositions for various forces, works which in a musical sense revolve around the eponymous book by the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. The composer has also produced three works of music theater drawing with some deliberation on non-linear compositional techniques. Das Theater der Wiederholungen was premiered in 2003 at the festival “steirischer herbst” in Graz, I Hate Mozart at the Mozart Festival Vienna in 2006, and Der Alte vom Berge at the Schwetzingen Festival in 2007. Lang’s works use repetitive loop-type patterns and relate strongly to current tendencies in improvised music. He is also trained as a jazz musician and for some years now has performed regularly on a laptop along with other Viennese electronic music specialists such as Christian Fennesz, dieb13, and Christof Kurzmann.

Bios

Aliana de la Guardia (soprano & actor): Educated at The Conservatory, she is the general manager and soprano for Guerilla Opera, where credits include: Heart of a Dog (Dog), No Exit (Estelle), We Are Sons (June Jackson), Rumpelstiltskin (Title), and Say It Ain’t So, Joe (Sarah Palin(2)/Diane Sawyer). Other credits include: La Traviata (Flora) with Granite State Opera, L’Enfant et les Sortilége (La Princesse) with Metro West Opera, Carmen (Frasquita) with Operesque Classical Concerts (NYC), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena), Rape of Lucretia (Female Chorus), With Blood, With Ink (Countess de Paredes), and Akhnaten (Meretaten). New music works by: Berio, Birtwistle, Gorecki, Harvey, Kurtág, Sciarrino, Webern, and many local composers with the Ludovico Ensemble, Firebird Ensemble, White Rabbit, and The Boston Conservatory New Music Festival. Upcoming: Candide (Paquette) with Cape Cod Opera (2012); Schönberg’s Book of the Hanging Gardens with Ludovico Ensemble (2011-2012); and guest staring on ABC’s Body of Proof. www.alianadelaguardia.com

Orlando Cela’s career as flutist and conductor has taken him all over the world. He started playing flute at a very early age in his native Venezuela. He pursued flute studies at DePauw University under the tutelage of Anne Reynolds, as well as classical improvisation with Eric Edberg. He also studied in Vienna with Barbara Gisler-Haase, professor at the Hochschule for Musik und Darstellende Kunst, before moving to Boston, where he studied with Paula Robison at the New Conservatory. At NEC, Orlando also earned a double masters degree in wind ensemble and choral conducting in one year, studying under Tamara Brooks. He has performed in masterclasses with Raymond Guiot, Shigenori Kudo, Alain Marion and Trevor Wye in Quebec's "Le Domain Forget" and the Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas, Venezuela, among others. Orlando is a member of Music at Eden’s Edge, the music director of Willow Flute Ensemble, and the music director of the Governor's School of North Carolina. He has served as faculty in UMass Dartmouth, SUNY Fredonia and College of the Holy Cross. Orlando’s recordings can be found in iTunes, CDBaby and Amazon, and include music from all genres and time periods.

As a saxophonist, conductor, composer, arranger and educator, Eric Hewitt enjoys an active and diverse musical career that has taken him throughout the world. Based in Boston, MA, he is the chair of The Boston Conservatory woodwind department and is the music director and conductor of The Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble, Sinfonietta and New Music Festival. From 2005–2010, Hewitt was also music director and conductor of White Rabbit, an avant-garde ensemble-in-residence at Harvard University with the Harvard Group for New Music. He also serves as Music Director of the Charles River Wind Ensemble in Watertown, MA. He has guest conducted Dinosaur Annex on the FROMM concerts at Harvard, Armed Forces Music School Wind Ensemble in Virginia Beach, Alea III, the New England Conservatory (NEC) Contemporary Ensemble, NEC’s Jordan Winds, the Firebird New Music Ensemble of Boston, Brandeis New Music and the Harvard Group for New Music. In May of 2007, Hewitt made his operatic debut conducting the premiere of Eric Chasalow’s multimedia opera The Puzzle Master at Brandeis University. In addition to his domestic activities, he has presented performances in Ireland and the UK, , Belgium, , , Canada, , Venezuela, and Cuba.

Hewitt is a founding member of the Yesaroun’ Duo (with percussionist Samuel Z. Solomon) and the Radnofsky Saxophone Quartet. Hewitt holds two degrees from the New England Conservatory, a B.M. in saxophone performance (2001) with Kenneth Radnofsky and an M.M. in conducting (2003) with Charles Peltz, both with a distinction in performance and academic honors. From NEC he has also received the George W. Chadwick Medal as the single outstanding undergraduate candidate, the Medal as the single outstanding graduate candidate, the Toujee Alumni Award and the Award for commitment to the music of our time. In 2009, Hewitt was named Outstanding Music Faculty by The Boston Conservatory Student Government Association. After a four year, live-in apprenticeship under Gunther Schuller, he and his family now reside in Medford, MA.

Brian Simalchik is primarily a composer with roots in minimalism, rock n’ roll and the American experimental tradition. He received the 2010 Hubbard Hutchinson Memorial Fellowship in Music from Williams College, where he studied with David Kechley and Ileana Perez-Velazquez. He's currently pursuing a Master’s degree in composition at The Hartt School, where he co-directs the Composers Ensemble and studies composition with Robert Carl. As a pianist, he gave the American premiere of Kyle Gann’s Sunken City: Concerto for and Winds in 2008. DW 16: songbook I texts 1. the watchtower (Bob Dylan) TE TE TE TE TETEa TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TEa TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TEa TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TEa TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TEa TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TE E TTEa TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TEa TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TEa TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TEa TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TE TEa must be must bemust be must bemust be must bemust be must bemust be must be some way some way some way some way iev mossome way some way s s s s s s s some way said the Jo kerto the Thiefsaid the Jo kerto the Thiefsaid the Jo kerto the Thiefsaid the Jo kerto the Thief out of here out of here out of here out of here out of here out ofout of here out of here said the jo ker to the thiefsaid the jo ker to the thiefsaid the jo ker to the thiefsaid the jo ker to the thief there is so much con fu sionthere is so much con fu sionthere is so much con fu sionthere is so much con fu sionthere is so much con fu sionthere is so much con fu sion

I can get I can get I can get I can get I can get I can get I can get no no no no no no re lief

No rea No rea No rea rea son rea son rea son rea son rea rea rea rea rea rea rea rea rea rea son to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to get ex ci tedto get ex ci tedto get ex ci tedto get ex ci tedto get ex ci tedto get ex ci tedto get ex ci ted the thiefthe thiefthe thiefthe thiefthe thief he kind lyspokespokespokespokespokespokespoke there are ma ny ma ny ma ny ma ny ma ny ma ny here a mong us who feel who feel who feel who feel who feel who feel who feel who feel who feel thatlife is just alife is just alife is just alife is just alife is just alife is just alife is just alife is just a

Jo ke

3. count 2 4 (Dieter Sperl) count to four count to five be fore they're quite born with vi o lent nosebleeds a wa ter pis tol is wor king on an old ruined wall a gain and a gain se conds go through my head go through my headin my sep tem ber in my oc to ber the t v a ppear ance of a don key twelve days have passed per haps ten ten ten ten days ten days ten days a way o ver a fence o ver a me tal fence an a ven ue on which ma ny black hor ses are run ning ma ny black hor ses are run ning run ning run ning run ning o ver a me tal fence o ver a me tal fence ma ny black hor ses are run ning black hor ses are run ning time of rain with the wa ter time of flow ers with the woo den steps which lead up to the street with the whee zing a twit ching of the eye breaks out of the eye a man is ly ing stripped to the waist on a woo den bench it's march out side or a pril much too cold still or much too much too cold still or may be hind the church spi re the church spi re the church spi re there's on ly a light breeze light breeze light breeze if you ap proach him he won't no tice ma ny clouds clouds clouds clouds aremo ving a cross a clear sky a clear sky a clear sky a clear sky a clear sky a with out in di ca ting a ny di rec tion there are im a ges of a lit tle town on a day like this you don't need to no tice a ny thing go bare foot o ver the mea dow go bare foot a cat lies la zi ly on the warm wall of the church with its feet stretched out why do you want to sleep why do you want to sleep why do you want to sleep you can't feel a ny me mo ry in your hands and so in the end you don't hit a ny birds what so ever

4. burning sister (Amon Düül 2) The the oneWho made the she was the was the came wal king Down there her blood her blood her blood her blood say she was the say she was the came how lingOn has ty pantOn has ty pant On has ty pant On has ty pant On has ty pant floor She sud den ly Down there ondown the rain she was kissed her she was kissed her one Who stole the fly ing high erfly ing high erThe say you was Down there on the wa ter front Down there on the wa ter frontThe peo ple stand The peo ple stand The peo ple stand sis ter to trialsis ter to trialsis ter to trialsis ter to trialtrialtrial says she was thesays she was thecame how ling on hasty panton hasty panton hasty panton hasty panton hasty pant floor she sud den lydown there ondown the rain she was kissed hershe was kissed herone who stole theflying higherflying higher

The say you wasDown there on the water frontDown there on the water frontThe people stand The people stand The people stand sis ter to trialsis ter to trialsis ter to trialsis ter to trial trial trial

Cut t t t t t tingCut t t t t t tingstand there wai ting

To the rail way trackTo the rail way trackTo the rail way trackandmadehandMy daugh ter

Soon Down there on face from her made the neigh bour's stood a lonestood a lonestood stood

Shut eyes tur ningShut eyes tur ningShut eyes tur ningShut eyes

Her say she signs were fly ing rain turn life he was how ling On her blonde his gol den cut the whole night he gold The priest came po liteWe face white Her lungs their hyp no tic lifetheir hyp no tic lifetheir hyp no tic life to a rail way stand there kissed peo ple there in the stand ba bies The wit ness poin ted Down there on versed in law turn in to blackturn in to black They sis ter to trial Cut ting the chim ney

And the ho ly stole the be gold The way home

Down voice of neigh bour's ba biesThe drip on tied her was the one Who the sea They the her smile

On the is her way the face the fi reHer signs said this are wai ting

To see hyp no tic lifeTo see hyp no tic lifeTo see hyp no tic lifehyp no tic lifeTo see hyp no tic lifeTo see hyp no tic lifeTo see To see hyp hyp hyp hyp no tic lifeTo see hyp no tic lifeTo see hyp no tic lifehyp no tic lifetri al Cut ting politehyp no tic life

We al ways re pea ting the has ty face al ways re pea tingthe floor She sud den ly in the the fi real ways re pea ting