New World Serenade WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY1623 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. Sinfonietta of Riverdale Byron Adams Oliver Caplan 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 ||| ||| TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643 WORKS BY ALBANY RECORDS U.K. Mark Mandarano, conductor Ellen Taaffe Zwilich BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD ||| TEL: 01539 824008 | | | © 2016 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. Columbia University Wind Ensemble, Brookline Orchestra, Juventas New Music Ensemble and El The Composers Sistema Somerville, among others. Accolades include a Special Citation for the American Prize in Orchestral Byron Adams Composition (2015), Veridian Symphony Composers Competition (2014), Somerville Arts Council (2014, Byron Adams (b. 1955) is a composer and musicologist. In 2007, he was 2013), Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (2013, 2011), Fifth House Ensemble Young Composer Competition appointed scholar-in-residence for the Bard Music Festival, and edited the Grand Prize (2010) and six ASCAP Plus Awards (2008-13). Mr. Caplan (b. 1982) was raised in the Bronx, volume Edward Elgar and His World. In addition, Adams has been a Visiting New York. He studied Music and Geography at Dartmouth College (B.A. 2004) and Composition at the Boston Fellow for the Institute of Musical Research, School of Advanced Studies, of the Conservatory (M.M. 2006). His composition teachers include Dalit Warshaw, Dana Brayton and Charles University of London, and is an Associate Editor of The Musical Quarterly. Dodge. Mr. Caplan resides in Medford, Massachusetts. Adams’s music has been performed at the “Warsaw Autumn” International Festival of Contemporary Music, the Leith Hill Festival in England, the Conservatoire Américain in John Corigliano Fontainebleau, France (where he taught in the summer of 1992), and the Armenian Philharmonic. In 2011, The American John Corigliano continues to add to one of the richest, most unusual, The Philharmonia Orchestra performed his Midsummer Music under the baton of Peter Oundjian. In 2013, and most widely celebrated bodies of work any composer has created over the violist Nokathula Ngwenyama premiered Adams’s Sonata for Viola and Piano and his Serenade for nine last forty years. Corigliano’s numerous scores—including three symphonies and instruments was performed that same year at the San Francisco Conservatory. In 2014, the male voice eight concerti among over one hundred chamber, vocal, choral, and orchestral ensemble Cantus sang the premiere of Eventide, which they featured on their annual Thanksgiving Day works—have been performed and recorded by many of the most prominent broadcast over NPR. Also in 2014, Julie Albers performed the for cello with Grant Cooper and the orchestras, soloists, and chamber musicians in the world. Recent scores include West Virginia Symphony; in November of that year, pianists Alexander Peskanov and Rafal Lewandowski The Red Violin (2005), developed from the score to the François Girard’s film, which won Corigliano the premiered his Trittico at Bargemusic in New York. Oscar in 1999; Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan (2000), which won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Composition in 2008; and Symphony No. 2 (2001: Pulitzer Prize in Music.) Other important Oliver Caplan scores include String Quartet (1995: Grammy Award, Best Contemporary Composition); Symphony No. 1 With memorable melodies and colorful interplay, composer Oliver Caplan’s music (1991: Grawemeyer and Grammy Awards); and the opera The Ghosts of Versailles (Metropolitan Opera expresses a deeply felt romanticism. His compositions capture the ephemeral: commission, 1991). One of the few living composers to have a string quartet named for him, Corigliano serves in his music, the geographies of people, places, and ideas intertwine to become on the composition faculty at the of Music and holds the position of Distinguished Professor tales of transformation. Mr. Caplan’s music has been presented by the Nebraska of Music at Lehman College, City University of New York, which has established a scholarship in his name; Chamber Players, North/South Consonance, Trio Veritas and Schola Cantorum of for the past fourteen years he and his partner, the composer-librettist Mark Adamo, have divided their time Boston. He has been commissioned by the Bronx Arts Ensemble, Bella Piano Trio, between Manhattan and Kent Cliffs, New York. Walter Piston Born 20 January 1894 in Rockland, Maine, Walter Piston was recognized in his The Music lifetime as the ultimate musical craftsman, producing a body of orchestral and Byron Adams: Serenade for Nine Instruments chamber work distinguished by its quintessential neo-classic qualities of clarity For many years, I wanted to compose an homage to the great Czech-American composer , who and proportion. Also a noted educator, Piston taught at Harvard from 1926 to was my composition teacher at . I hesitated for a long time, as I was unsure what musical 1960 and wrote three significant music textbooks: Harmony (1941), Counterpoint form such an homage might take. The confluence of a commission from Mark Mandarano for the Sinfonietta (1947), and Orchestration (1955). Among Piston’s many noted students were of Riverdale and Professor Husa’s ninetieth birthday in 2011 provided the key that unlocked the portal to Elliott Carter, Leonard Bernstein, and . Among Piston’s many awards and honors were three sustained invention. I have sought to honor Husa by paying an affectionate tribute to his music in particular New York Music Critic’s Circle Awards for his Symphony No. 2, Viola Concerto, and String Quartet No. 5, two and Czech music in general. Finally, I sought to create a piece filled with lyricism, charm, and gentle wit but Pulitzers, and eight honorary doctorates. He was elected to the American Institute and Academy of Arts and leavened by an occasional touch of melancholy. Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A recent series of recordings has precipitated a —Byron Adams revival of interest in Piston’s work. Oliver Caplan: Lunastella Fuga Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Commissioned by the Sinfonietta of Riverdale, Oliver Caplan’s Lunastella Fuga was composed during the dog As the 21st century dawns and the musical offerings of the world are more varied days of summer — nights spent gazing at the stars and wandering New Hampshire woodlands aglow in the than ever before, few composers have emerged with the unique personality of otherworldly light of a blue moon. Large constellations catch the eye first — Orion, Ursa Major, Aquarius — Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. Her music is widely known because it is performed, recorded, but their constituent triangles and squares are echoed infinitely, a giant fractal, incessantly permeating the broadcast, and above all, listened to and liked by all sorts of audiences the world firmament. We are drawn to the art of mimicry, and for composers, the fugue is its playground. Fugue is a over. Like the great masters of bygone times, Zwilich produces music “with compositional technique built on a melodic theme, first introduced in a single voice (in this piece, the cellos) fingerprints,” music that is immediately recognized as the product of a particular and then spiraled throughout the other voices of the ensemble. The theme thrusts forward, transforming as American composer who combines craft and inspiration in reflecting her optimistic and humanistic spirit in it weaves amid the voices — augmented, diminished, transposed to other pitches, and so on. The fugue her compositions. Zwilich is the recipient of numerous prizes and honors, including the 1983 Pulitzer Prize in theme seems to be heard everywhere, an astral echo of music in the air. Music, the Arturo Toscanini Music Critics Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, four Grammy nominations, and, —Oliver Caplan among other distinctions, she has been elected to the Florida Artists Hall of Fame and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1995, she was named to the first Composer’s Chair in the history of Carnegie Hall, and she was designated Musical America’s Composer of the Year in 1999. John Corigliano: Snapshot: Circa 1909 Walter Piston: Divertimento for Nine Instruments When the Elements Quartet asked me to write a piece inspired Although some of Walter Piston’s music can be unsettling — especially during the dark times of the World by a photograph, I immediately thought of one I have had since War II — his Divertimento of 1946 shows a lighter side in a three-movement work of classical proportions I was a child. It was taken in Greenwich Village in my grandparents’ that bristles with modern energy. The first movement sways with insouciant panache as mixed meters Sullivan Street apartment. A photographer came to do a group and uneven accents nudge the music in humorous and delightful directions. The Tranquillo movement is a shot of my grandparents, whom I never met, and their six children. deeply contemplative lament with a seamless command of counterpoint worthy of Bach. The sinuous viola After taking that picture, the photographer was coaxed into doing and oboe lines suggest a wide array of harmonic colors that are gradually painted more broadly by the rest a shot of my father and his brother Peter performing on violin of the ensemble, reaching a profound center of gravity in sustained forte passages. As this dies away, the and guitar. The picture has never ceased to move me. My father plaintive oboe and viola melodies return and come to rest. The final march features a parade of characters, looked about eight years old, wearing knickers and earnestly starting with the bold opening motto followed by a duet between the mercurial bassoon and the contrabass bowing his violin, while my uncle, then a teenager, held a guitar played col legno. Scurrying string lines and whooping wind parts grapple with each other until, in the end, in an aristocratic position and stared at the camera. the unison motto has the final word. The premiere performance of the Divertimento was given in New York, In the short quartet inspired by the photo, the second conducted by Dmitri Mitropoulos. violin plays a nostalgic melody, while the other strings pluck their —Mark Mandarano instruments in a guitar-like manner. This solo is obviously the boy violinist singing through his instrument. After the melody is completed, however, the first violin enters, muted, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Prologue and Variations in the very highest register. In my mind, he was playing the dream that my eight-year-old father must have Prologue and Variations for string orchestra was commissioned by the Chattanooga Symphony and premiered had — of performing roulades and high, virtuosic, musing passages that were still impossible for him to in 1984. The Prologue begins slowly (Andante misterioso), accelerates to a faster tempo then returns to master. This young violinist grew into a great soloist — my father, John Corigliano, concertmaster of the New the original tempo, ending expectantly, but with a pause separating the Prologue from the Variations. The York Philharmonic for over a quarter century. He, as an adult, performed the concerti and solos that as a child Variation movement, which is considerably longer than the Prologue, consists of four sections of contrasting he could only imagine. The two violins, boy and dream, join together at the end as the guitar sounds play on. speed and character: Allegro, Lento, Presto, Tempo Primo, all based on some aspect of the Prologue. These The Elements Quartet gave the premiere performance of Snapshot in 2003. The arrangement for string are not variations in the classical sense, because each develops a different aspect of the prologue rather orchestra was premiered in Spain in June 2011 and the Sinfonietta of Riverdale gave the U.S. premiere a few than maintaining its structure. When the original music returns in the last variation, it is richer in sound and months later. implication but no less mysterious as it fades into silence. In using the word “prologue,” I meant to suggest —John Corigliano a dramatic analogy, because, in a way, the function of the Prologue in this work is to introduce “characters” (musical ideas), some of which are drawn rather fully, while others are only suggested. It is in the Variations that the “drama” unfolds. —Ellen Taaffe Zwilich The Performers Mark Mandarano enjoys an international career The Sinfonietta of Riverdale is a as a conductor. He conducted two new works distinctive ensemble — large enough with the New York City Opera in 2009 and has to perform chamber symphonies and served as principal guest conductor of the Moscow small enough that each of its world- Chamber Orchestra. He has conducted performances class musicians is a featured soloist. at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and other important With a repertoire that extends from venues in the U. S. and abroad. Staff positions Bach to the present day, its reputation include those with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, for fine musicianship and stimulating the American Symphony Orchestra and the Bard programming has been recognized by Festival. He has led performances with the Los the public and the press. (“Off-the- Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, New hook fabulous,” Time Out New York; Jersey Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Nürnberger Symphoniker and the Ural Philharmonic. He has “Some Big Music in Little Riverdale,” The New York Daily News. “High culture has flowed northward into the worked with conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Christoph von Dohnányi, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir Bronx,” The New Yorker; “led by a world-class conductor, along with internationally-recognized musicians,” Roger Norrington, Valery Gergiev, Leon Botstein, Osmo Vänskä, Paul Dunkel and Leonard Slatkin. An advocate Riverdale Press) The ensemble has performed the music of world-renowned composers many of whom of the music of living composers, he has conducted world premieres and performances of works by Karel have attended its concerts; in addition, it has commissioned works from leading young composers, including Husa, Esa-Pekka Salonen, , Melinda Wagner, Libby Larsen, David Bruce, Nico Muhly, and Roger Zare, David Bruce, Alan Fletcher, Byron Adams, Christopher Byars, Randall Bauer and Oliver Caplan. others. His association with Slatkin led to Maestro Mandarano conducting the National Symphony Orchestra The Sinfonietta has released two recordings on Arabesque one featuring music of French composers and the at the Kennedy Center. Mandarano holds degrees from Cornell University and the Peabody Conservatory of other, the music of Bach and Wagner, with mezzo-soprano Theodora Hanslowe. The Sinfonietta was founded Music, and is the Director of Instrumental Music at Macalaster College in Saint Paul, MN. in 2008 by Artistic Director and Conductor Mark Mandarano. Acknowledgments Musicians

| (John Corigliano) (Oliver Caplan & (Walter Piston & Byron Adams) Co-Produced, recorded and mastered by David Merrill Ellen Taafe Zwilich) John Corigliano’s Snapshot: Circa 1909 recorded by Joe Patrych Sinfonietta of Riverdale VIOLIN 1 VIOLIN 1 Min Young Kim, concertmaster VIOLIN 1 Susie Park Board of Directors John Corigliano’s Snapshot: Circa 1909 published by G. Schirmer; Angelia Cho Aaron Boyd, concertmaster Holly Makin, Chair VIOLIN 2 Walter Piston’s Divertimento for Nine Instruments published by Pauline Kim Angelia Cho Mark Mandarano, President Anna Elashvili Associated Music Publishers (Hal Leonard); Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Hannah Min Krzysztof Kuznik Jianying Hu, Treasurer Prologue and Variations published by Merion Music, Inc. (Theodore Christina McGann VIOLA Robert Heisler VIOLIN 2 Presser); Byron Adams’ Serenade for Nine Instruments is published Jessica Thompson Wilhelmina Smith Sophia Kessinger, principal VIOLIN 2 by Ione Press, Inc., a division of ECS Publishing. Oliver Caplan’s Maria Conti Ellen Payne, principal CELLO Lunastella Fuga is available direct from the composer. Beth D. Jacob, Founding Chair Kristi Helberg Keats Dieffenbach Alexis Gerlach Alison Brown, Past Chair Alisa Wyrick Marta Krechkovsky Bass The production of this recording was funded in part by The Bald | Hannah Min Brian Ellingsen Eagle Foundation for the Arts: Anoush Bograhty, Frank Bruno, Phil VIOLA Devorris, Bardia Mesbah, Ari Nachmanoff, Jeffrey Ohl, Matthew Danielle Farina, principal VIOLA FLUTE Sanderson, Brian Siff & Ted Whetstone, directors. Kathryn Lockwood Robert Meyer, principal Lance Suzuki Robert Meyer Brenton Caldwell OBOE William Frampton All performances took place at Riverdale Temple: Corigliano CELLO Arthur Sato (Piston) (10/10/11); Caplan & Zwilich (10/28/12); Piston & Adams (6/2/14) James Wilson, principal CELLO CLARINET Kajsa William-Olsson Alexis Gerlach, principal Ben Fingland (Adams) Cover Image: Photo credits: Brian Snow BASS Romie de Guise-Langlois Church, Frederic Edwin (1826-1900). Aurora Borealis, 1865. Byron Adams: M. Mullins Kajsa William-Olsson Lisa Dowling (Piston) Oil on canvas, 56 1/8 x 83 1/2 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum Oliver Caplan: Stu Rosner BASS Photo Credit: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/ John Corigliano: J. Henry Fair BASSOON Lisa Dowling, principal Art Resource, NY Mark Mandarano: David Turner Brad Balliett Doug Balliett Sinfonietta of Riverdale: Joe Zizzo HORN Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Ray Stanyard Laura Weiner Ne w Worl d Byron Adams

Serenade for Nine Instruments Serenade 1 Allegro amabile [6:30] 2 Ballade: Andante moderato e teneramente [6:48] TROY1623 3 Intermezzo: Allegretto grazioso ma un poco scherzando [2:21] Adams 4 Finale: Allegro giocoso [5:20] Oliver Caplan ||| 5 Lunastella Fuga [6:53] Caplan John Corigliano ||| Corigliano 6 Snapshot: Circa 1909 [5:49] Walter Piston Zwilich ||| |||

Divertimento for Nine Instruments Piston 7 Allegro [3:59]

Piston [ ] ||| 8 Tranquillo 7:25 ||| New World Serenade 9 Vivo [3:10] Zwilich Sinfonietta of Riverdale Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Corigliano ||| Mark Mandarano, conductor Prologue and Variations | | 10 Prologue: Andante misterioso [4:10] Variations: Allegro, Lento, Presto, Tempo I - Andante misterioso [9:35] Caplan 11 |||

Total Time = 62:52

Live Recordings Adams TROY1623

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Serenade 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643 ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD TEL: 01539 824008 Worl d © 2016 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. Ne w