Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble

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�� Oberlin Contemporary �� Music Ensemble �� Timothy Weiss, conductor �� Darrett Adkins, cello �� Saturday, December 13, 2014, 2:00 p.m. �� Gartner Auditorium, the Cleveland Museum of Art ��

�� Program �� Dérive 1 (1984) Pierre Boulez �� (b. 1925) �� Yuri Popowycz, violin • Aaron Wolff, cello �� Hannah Hammel, flute • Jesse McCandless, clarinet �� Marika Yasuda, piano • Benjamin Rempel, vibraphone �� Cortege (2007) Sir Harrison Birtwistle (b. 1934) �� Candy Chang, flute • Timothy Daniels, oboe �� Jeremy Reynolds, clarinet • Benjamin Roidl-Ward, bassoon �� Emily Rapson, horn • Jacob Flaschen, trumpet Alexander Melzer, bass trumpet • Carson Fratus, percussion �� Yuri Popowycz, Rebecca Telford-Marx, violin �� Natalia Badziak, viola • Chava Appiah, cello Christopher Ammirati, bass • Silei Ge, piano �� Concerto for Cello and 10 Players (1980) Richard Wernick attempt to reconcile with the past: it denied not only tonality, but (b. 1934) musical forms based on the tonal system, and the traditional hierar- Entrada chy of melody and harmony. Passacaglia In 1946, the year Boulez composed his first significant works, he read for the first time the poetry of the French surrealist René Char. Darrett Adkins, cello The experience was decisive: Timothy Daniels, oboe • Alejandro Dergal, bass clarinet It often happens that the discoveries crucial to one’s own defini- Benjamin Roidl-Ward, bassoon/contrabassoon tive character catch one unawares, taking one’s breath away; Emily Rapson, horn • Jacob Flaschen, trumpet they cause irreparable havoc—needed and even longed for at the Daniel Murphy, trombone same time as they lash out at you…Without paying much atten- Hunter Brown, percussion • Caitlin Mehrtens, harp tion, you gaze idly at some poems on the page of a newspaper, Yuri Popowycz, violin • Christopher Ammirati, bass and suddenly you recognize yourself: there, in front of you, this illuminating paragraph seems simultaneously to take possession of you and to increase your potential, your grasp, and your power Fabian Fuertes, personnel & operations manager beyond anything you had dreamed possible. Michael Roest, librarian Reading Char struck Boulez like a thunderbolt, as did his discovery of paintings by Paul Klee around the same time: “I was PROGRAM NOTES absolutely fascinated by the power of his invention—and many things crumbled to dust at a single stroke.” Boulez developed instant, Dérive 1 (1984) lifelong attractions to both men’s work. Despite his initial fame as a by Pierre Boulez (b. Montbrison, France, 1925) radical and a firebrand, Boulez ultimately joined the distinguished tradition of important composer-conductors—a select club of musi- Instrumentation: violin, cello, flute, clarinet, piano, and vibraphone. cians as dissimilar as Bach and Wagner—who establish careers as The mid-1940s were a tabula rasa for composers—a blank page on performers and write significant compositions behind closed doors. which to begin a new kind of music for a radically new age. When Boulez’s output—some thirty works, a few of which are already land- the Second World War came to an end, Pierre Boulez was twenty marks—resembles one sizeable extended family, an idea most closely years old and on the verge of completing his formal musical educa- anticipated, perhaps, by Mahler’s interrelated songs and symphonies. tion. At the time Boulez believed that a complete break from the Each of Boulez’s scores is a component in a magnum opus in prog- past was not only necessary but, as the world was beginning to ress. “The different works that I write,” he once said, “are basically rebuild itself and to consider the lessons of history, it was in fact no more than different facets of a single central work, with a central possible. “In 1945 and 1946,” he later wrote, “nothing was ready and concept.” An idea in one piece often grows into another composition everything remained to be done: it was our privilege to make the altogether, as works continually evolve and are expanded, amplified, discoveries and also to find ourselves faced with nothing—which may and revised over time. “As long as my ideas have not exhausted have its difficulties but also has many advantages.” The explorations every possibility of proliferation, they stay in my mind,” he has said. of Boulez and his fellow adventurers laid the foundation of a new Each of Boulez’s works is so exquisitely designed that Dominique language (“chosen afresh for ourselves,” as he put it) that made no Jameux, in her 1990 biography, calls the composer an “orderly

4 5 anarchist” rather than an outright revolutionary, although he has tion of the soloists in front position. There is always an overlap in been called that—and not always fondly—as well. the form of a short duet between the “old” and the “new” soloists, Dérive 1 is a short sextet, written the year after Carter’s Triple as one soloist provides an energetic impulse to which, then, an Duo and scored for virtually the same pairs of instruments. The title organic response will be given. One of the solo episodes features an suggests “drift,” as well as the sense of derivation, in this case, from instrument rarely heard by itself, namely the bass trumpet, playing Boulez’s Messagesquisse, which is based on a musical cryptogram long-held notes and short, repeated rhythms. Additional solo lines made from the letters in Paul Sacher’s last name; it is the generating of importance are marked by the instruction for the players to stand idea behind this music as well. Throughout Dérive 1, the piano silently in their original locations. In general, each instrumental solo pro- holds the notes of its lowest octave (with the help of the middle duces a kind of “ripple effect” such as when a pebble is thrown into pedal), providing a resonating backdrop for the delicate and trans- the pond, resulting in waves that reverberate through the structural parent sonic adventures of the other instruments. “pond” of the piece. —Phillip Huscher —Peter Laki

Cortege Concerto for Cello and 10 Players (1980) by Sir Harrison Birtwistle (b. Accrington, UK, 1934) by Richard Wernick (b. Boston, 1934)

Instrumentation: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, bass Instrumentation: solo cello, oboe, bass clarinet, bassoon (doubling trumpet, piano, bass drum, 2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass. contrabassoon), horn, trumpet, trombone, harp, percussion, violin, and double bass. Sir Harrison Birtwistle, who celebrated his 80th birthday this year, has been at the forefront of the international music scene for de- Richard Wernick, who also turned 80 this year, taught composition cades; the Grawemeyer Award (1987) is but one of the many honors for many years at the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently he has received. His nine-day residency at Oberlin in May 2005 is served as new music advisor for the Philadelphia Orchestra. The remembered by those who were there as a musical event of the first recipient of the 1977 Pulitzer Prize and many other awards, he has magnitude. At one of the three all-Birtwistle concerts during that composed a large catalog of works that have been performed residency, Timothy Weiss and the CME performed Ritual Fragments, and recorded by some of the best musicians in the country. In his a composition from 1990 written for the London Sinfonietta in Concerto for Cello and 10 Players, an advanced harmonic idiom is memory of Michael Vyner, the Sinfonietta’s founding manager who combined with some highly demanding instrumental writing. As had died of AIDS the year before. In 2007 Birtwistle completely critic John Rockwell noted in a 1984 review in the New York Times, rewrote this work under the new title Cortege. The first performance “highly chromatic, aggressive, fast passages alternate with slower, of this new incarnation was given by the London Sinfonietta at the quieter material that is consonant and serene.” re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall on June 11, 2007. The two-movement work, which has a spectacular cadenza Birtwistle has long been known for his highly innovative ap- towards the end of the second movement, was written with support proach to musical theatre. Even his works not written for the stage from the National Endowment for the Arts. The premiere was given often have a certain theatrical element to them. In Cortege, as in by cellist Barbara Haffner and the Twentieth Century Consort under its predecessor, the players take turns as soloists, moving to the the direction of Christopher Kendall, at the Hirshhorn Museum in front and then back to their regular seats as the next soloist comes Washington, D.C., on February 1, 1981. forward. The dramatic form of the piece derives from the alterna- —Peter Laki

6 7 ABOUT THE ARTISTS addition, he gave the first New York performance of Luciano Berio’s sequenza XIV, which he recorded for release on Naxos’s complete se- Cellist Darrett Adkins is one of the foremost cellists of his genera- quenzas collection, the first such recording. His 2012 release, Oberlin tion, making important contributions as soloist, chamber musician, Music CD Hypersuite 2, features Bach’s Second Suite, incorporated recording artist, and teacher. His critically acclaimed performances into a recital of contemporary solo pieces by Carter, Sessions, Golijov, of contemporary music have inspired critics to call him “stunning,” Nordheim, and Verdie. “intensely involving,” “heroic” (New York Times), and “fiery” (Boston From 1997 until 2002, Adkins was a member of Flux, a string Globe). His appetite to bridge the world between the established quartet dedicated to cutting-edge music. They appeared in major tradition and the avant-garde enables him to explore repertoire in festivals in New York, Melbourne (Australia), Southern California almost every genre—from the classical cannon to the contemporary (Ojai), and Oslo. During his tenure with the quartet, he participated frontier. in numerous first performances, including the first complete live Adkins’ New York debut of Samuel Barber’s Concerto, with Per performance of Morton Feldman’s monumental Quartet II, lasting Brevig conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall a continuous 6 hours. The recording on Mode records was released in 1999, prompted Strings magazine to call him “an adventurous in 2001. In 2011, Adkins joined the Lion’s Gate Trio, which enjoys a champion of contemporary music.” His 2002 Aspen debut was residency at the Hartt School of Music and an active performing and made with just three days notice when he performed Pierre Boulez’s recording schedule, and in 2014 released its most recent recording of Messagesquisse with James Conlon conducting. In the summer trios by Ravel, Ives, and Rebecca Clarke on Centaur. of 2002, Adkins was the ‘Cellist of Honor’ at the Rio de Janeiro In addition to the Mode label, Adkins has recorded for the Naxos, International Cello Encounter, where he gave master classes, recitals, RCA, Tzadik, Koch, MMC, Arsis, Boston, and CRI labels, and his re- and concerto performances. King Harald of Norway attended his cording of duos by Ravel, Kodály, and Roger Sessions is available on Oslo debut, and he maintains a special relationship with Norwegian Engine Company Records. He can also be heard on a SONY Classical music and musicians. In 2013 he participated in the New York pre- recording of Jay Greenberg’s quintet performed with the Juilliard mier of Messiaen’s Concerto for Four Instruments at Carnegie Hall String Quartet. Adkins became a faculty member at the Juilliard with the New York Youth Symphony, after performing the same work School in 2002, and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the with the Aspen Festival Orchestra in 2012. Aspen Music Festival and School in 2003. Adkins has premiered many important works for cello. His Adkins holds degrees from Oberlin, Rice, and the Juilliard School. 2013 recording of Philip Cashian’s Cello Concerto (with the Oberlin He is originally from Tacoma, Washington, and now lives in Westlake, Contemporary Ensemble) was chosen by the Sunday Times (London) Ohio, with his wife and four children. as one of the top ten CDs of 2013. In 2011, he gave the first New York performance of Arne Nordheim’s concerto, Tenebrae, in Alice Conductor Timothy Weiss has gained critical acclaim for his perfor- Tully Hall, and in 2007 the first American performance of Rolf mances and brave, adventurous programming throughout the United Wallin’s concerto, Grund, at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. He gave States and abroad. the American premiere of Donatoni’s cello concerto at Tanglewood, Since 2005, he has served as music director for the Newark where he also performed Birtwistle’s Meridian. He has given the Granville Symphony Orchestra near Columbus, Ohio. He remains world premiere of concertos by Philip Cashian and Andrew Mead active as a guest conductor and has appeared recently with the with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, and Jeffrey Melbourne Symphony in Australia, the BBC Scottish Symphony in Mumford’s cello concerto with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. In Glasgow, Scotland, and the Britten Sinfonia in London.

8 9 Weiss is committed to exploring the probing connections within and between pieces in his performances and searching for similari- ties of�� voice between different composers from seemingly different �� genres,�� periods, and backgrounds. Accordingly, his programs often present rare and revealing juxtapositions, offering a broad range of �� works from the minimalists to the maximalists, from the old to the �� new,�� and from the mainstream to the unheard of. His repertoire in �� contemporary music is vast and fearless, including masterworks, �� very�� recent compositions, and an impressive number of premieres �� and commissions. Recently, he was the recipient of the Adventurous �� Programming�� Award from the American Symphony Orchestra �� League. �� In his 23 years as music director of the Oberlin Contemporary �� Music�� Ensemble, he has brought the group to a level of artistry and �� virtuosity in performance that rivals the finest new music groups. �� After�� a concert with the ensemble in Carnegie Hall, Anthony Aibel �� wrote�� in a review, “under the direction of Timothy Weiss [the ensem- �� ble] presented unbelievably polished, superb performances—impec- �� cable performances—of extremely challenging recent music…Their �� level of preparation eclipses the highest standard…Each work on �� the program�� had something vital to say, something profound, and �� [Weiss] was able to communicate the music’s message with vitality �� and insight, despite its extreme difficulty and somewhat foreign lan- �� guage.�� Weiss conducted with economy of gesture—never over con- �� ducting, never distracting from the music…the performance…cohered �� like one instrument with perfection thanks to the expert preparation �� by Timothy Weiss.” �� As a committed educator, he is professor of conducting and �� chair of the Division of Conducting and Ensembles at the Oberlin �� Conservatory of Music, where he helped create and mentored the �� ensembles�� eighth blackbird and ICE. Weiss holds degrees from the �� Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, Northwestern University, �� and the University of Michigan. �� We are gathering feedback on various events the �� museum offers. By taking a few minutes after this event �� to fill out a survey, you are ensuring we will continue to �� provide world-class experiences to all of our visitors. ��

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