benjamin sabey winter shore

WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY1560 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643 ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD The Arditti Quartet TEL: 01539 824008 Hilary Demske + Dominic Donato + Emmanuel Feldman © 2015 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. Laura Frautschi + Pablo Gómez + Efrain Guigui + Jean Kopperud Reiko Manabe + Tara O’Connor + Christopher Oldfather + Felix Olschofka This album is dedicated to those without whose support and inspiration Much of Sabey’s musical personality springs from a kind of exaltation of embellishment this music would not exist: my parents, Mel and Sandy Sabey, and my into the latent structure of which I spoke. Indeed, sometimes one hears Sabey almost magically transfiguring the evanescence of ornamentation into a sense of solidity. Twinges of ecstasy first teacher, Lois Sollenberger. distill into an architecture of sonic bliss. It is as if the cornices of a house had evolved into its I also wish to express my deep gratitude to my wife Patty for her foundation. One hears this especially in Ecstatic Aspen, which, while it superficially evokes loyal support. echoes of romantic pianisms, begins with the medieval conceit of long drones, voices flitting —Benjamin Sabey above them, giving the listener a layering and stratification of time worlds. As the work proceeds, one discovers (as in many of Sabey’s pieces) a kaleidoscope, whose concatenations are at once rhapsodic, full of whimsical slippage, yet intensely logical. It is the architecture of the natural world—Sabey’s chief inspiration—in which everything the music grows or erupts, and also decays and hardens. Yet that ever-changing architecture seems, Hearing Benjamin Sabey’s music, one senses that he is, to use Toru Takemitsu’s lovely to our human scale of temporal perception, to be stable—at least until it undergoes some phrase, “confronting silence.” One cannot predict what any confrontation will entail, of punctuation of its seeming equilibrium (to borrow from Stephen Jay Gould’s phrase about course. Confrontations take many forms: encounter, challenge, transaction, even embrace. evolution). The punctuations in Sabey’s music strike me as gentle, nudging, rarely cataclysmic. The mystery of Sabey’s music is in not knowing which form the confrontation will take. (And in that they arguably reflect the personal temperament of their maker.). The nature that Historically, composers use counterpoint, an interlacing of voices, to throw a net around Sabey looks to for inspiration is not the one of geologic upheaval, but of shaking leaves, silence. One hears it in Sabey’s music, too—though transformed. His counterpoint seems flapping wings, rippling water, and gusty winds. indeed a curious sort of monody: not the weaving of disparate lines into a strong fabric, Sabey’s Owl, to take one example, is a creature of paradox, of flight yet not-flight, of but the evisceration of solitary gestures into their component parts. Visual analogues come brooding that unfolds into aerodynamics. The swooping opening develops into different time to mind. Sometimes we experience in his counterpoint a prism, breaking light into discrete frames of descent. The sliding tones seem to dive, then settle and forage. And yet something colors. Sometimes it is a microscope, whose power of magnification keeps being increased. in the overall design of the work seems more Apollonian, than Dionysian, despite the flurrying Sometimes an x-ray, in which the bones beneath the surface become visible. of its surface. Similarly, Ecstatic Aspen bespeaks that same sort of dual character, florid but Such gestures seem to leap from the imagery of the titles: Owl, Phoenix, Arc Flicker, always bending to intellectual constraints—or vice versa. Whenever a triad attempts to emerge, Ecstatic Aspen, Winter Shore, and Espejismo (Spanish for “mirage” or “illusion”). There a rogue pitch asserts itself. If a piece could portray gentle recalcitrance, it would be this one. is no sense of formalism, of merely sounding or resounding shapes for their own sake. One need not mention, I suppose, the virtuosity on which all this and other sonic Yet the sound is almost fiercely controlled by what we might call an imposed functionality, scurrying in this collection must rely. Sabey teaches us lessons about the micro-potentialities although one that rarely rises to the surface. It feels submerged just beneath a flickering of even the most portable handheld machines—flute, guitar, etc.—that never lapse into technical surface. Still, the language of each work has its distinct dialect, which, like all strongly self-gratification. There are even passages of quasi-exoticism—from flamenco to snake regional dialects, subverts the “rules” (of grammar, syntax, conjugation, etc.) to fluid, charming. But virtuosity as eloquence remains the chief lesson in Sabey’s soloistic writing. colorful idiomatic expressivity. “Merely” linguistic structure submits to sonorous personality. Still, it is in the subsuming of individual showiness into collaborative effort where instrument itself, the computer responds to increased energy from the performer with Sabey’s language deepens, I believe. I speak of the distinctly three-dimensional Winter Shore, commensurate energy. Hereby I attempt to engage the listener with palpable physical which sonically inspects and inventories the plots and subplots of the drama of cold ocean causality, the perception of which becomes enhanced as the performer gives free rein to confronting land. Full of friction and ghostly incantations, this work deploys one haunting their rigorously honed performance intuition. gesture after the next, but with, again, an ineluctable logic. Still, what one notices most in it —Benjamin Sabey might be the “sociology” of the work, in which instrumental voices play out small contests and negotiations, ending with a tentative withdrawal of all players into a muteness that is pitched somewhere between grudging and resolved. The ending of this work confronts silence in the most overt way. the composer Yet Sabey’s voice—a truly distinctive one—resonates well beyond the ostensible Benjamin Sabey is a composer of chamber, live computer interactive “ending” of each piece. The messages it pronounces are so incandescent and beguiling, even and orchestral music. His music has been performed by the Arditti unnerving at times, that one hesitates to begin the next listening without a spell—I use the , Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, the La Jolla Symphony word advisedly—of introspection. directed by Steven Schick, Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the New —Michael Hicks York New Music Ensemble, the Antares Ensemble and members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the New Millennium Ensemble, Red Fish Blue Fish and the Talujon Percussion Quartet. He is the recipient of two Barlow Endowment Commissions Phoenix and the Royaumont Prize of Domaine Forget, which included a put it concisely when he wrote, “One beats the drum, then hears the sound… residency at the Royaumont Abbey north of Paris. To play is the thing.” The sensuous experience of relating to and even vicariously participating Benjamin Sabey has taught composition, theory and electronic music at San in the physical energy required by the performer to produce the sound certainly forms a key Francisco State University, the University of San Diego and San Diego City College. component in the perception of music. A problem often arises in electronic music, however, Sabey holds a PhD from the University of California, San Diego where he studied primarily when there are no instantiating events, only disembodied sounds produced without effort. with . He has also studied composition with , Chaya The lack of observable causality in most electronic music creates a perceptual distance that Czernowin, and Michael Hicks, as well as computer music with Miller I feel can dissuade the listener from relating to and investing in the sound. Puckette and psycho-acoustics with Richard Moore. He has been a fellow of numerous Through a program I developed in Max/MSP, Phoenix places the performer in complete conferences including Aspen, Wellesley, Domaine Forget and June in Buffalo. and observable control of live signal processing. This control is exercised not through sliders or switches or a third party sitting motionlessly behind a laptop, but through the normal playing of their traditional instrument. In a process analogous to the playing of the physical the performers The Arditti Quartet (, Ashot Sarkissjan violins, Ralf Ehlers viola, Lucas Fels cello) enjoys a worldwide reputation for their spirited and technically refined interpretations of contemporary and earlier 20th century music. Many hundreds of string quartets and other chamber works have been written for the ensemble since its foundation by first violinist Irvine Arditti in 1974. Many of these works have left a permanent mark on 20th century repertoire and have given the Arditti Quartet a firm place in music history. World premieres of quartets by composers such as Ades, Andriessen, Aperghis, Birtwistle, Britten, Cage, Carter, Denisov, Dillon, Dufourt, Dusapin, Fedele, Ferneyhough, Francesconi, Gubaidulina, Guerrero, Harvey, Hosokawa, Kagel, Kurtag, Lachenmann, Ligeti, Maderna, Manoury, Nancarrow, Reynolds, Rihm, Scelsi, Sciarrino, Stockhausen and Xenakis and hundreds more show the wide range of music in the Arditti Quartet’s repertoire. The Arditti Quartet has won the Deutsche Schallplatten Preis several times and the Gramophone Award for the best recording of contemporary music in 1999 and 2002. In 2004 they were awarded the Coup de Coeur prize by the Academie Charles Cros in France for their exceptional contribution to the dissemination of contemporary music. The prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Prize was awarded to them in 1999 for ‘lifetime achievement’ in music. Hilary Demske is a native of Dallas, Texas. She holds a Doctorate in performance from the University of Michigan, a Master of Music from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music degree from The Peabody Conservatory of Music. She also studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, Germany (the Munich Conservatory), where she won the highest graduate honor, the Meisterklasse Diploma in performance. Her principal teachers include Julian Martin, Logan Skelton, Margarita Höhenrieder, and Sam Wong. Hilary’s album Henry Martin: Selected Piano Music on Albany Records has received widespread critical acclaim. American Record Guide described it as full of “splendid panache and assurance,” Deseret News wrote that she is “a pianist of rare technical finesse

PAGE 2 FROM SCORE OF ECSTATIC ASPEN and musicality,” and Fanfare noted that “a composer couldn’t ask for more committed or convincing performances.” A Steinway Artist, Hilary is currently an Associate Professor and Director of Piano Studies at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Dominic Donato enjoys being a percussion soloist, chamber musician, composer and Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Iceland and in several cities in Mexico. In 2012 he received the teacher. He has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia as a soloist and “Interpreters with relevant Career” grant from Mexico’s National Fund for the Arts. He is member of the Talujon Percussion Quartet, DoublePlay Percussion Duo and the Newband/ pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of California at San Diego. Harry Partch Ensemble and was staff percussionist for the Composers Conference at Wellesley Considered one of the great maestros of the 20th century and genius of musical College for more than 20 years. In 2007 Dominic was selected by Meet the Composer as one interpretation due to his ability to place each work in its proper stylistic and interpretative of eight Soloist Champions in honor of his continuing commitment to new music and the solo context and with a repertoire encompassing the entire symphonic literature from the percussion repertoire. Dr. Donato is Head of the Percussion Department and Artistic Director seventeenth century to the present, Efrain Guigui was a special favorite among composers of Contemporary Ensembles at the Conservatory of Music, Purchase College, SUNY. who looked to him for performances of their works. A winner of the prestigious Alice Ditson Hailed by John Williams, Grammy award winning composer and conductor as “an Award from Columbia University (Conductor’s Pulitzer) for his contribution to the performance outstanding cellist and truly dedicated artist,” American cellist Emmanuel Feldman has emerged of new music, Guigui premiered more 2,500 new compositions in New York City’s Town Hall, as one of the most innovative and expressive cellists of his generation. Known for his intense soulful Carnegie Hall, at Lincoln Center, Composers’ Forums and as Music Director of the Composers playing and a broad range of repertoire and styles, he enjoys a career as a soloist, chamber Conference in Wellesley College. musician, recording artist, champion of new music and educator performing at concert halls and A graduate of The Juilliard School and former student of Nadia Boulanger in France, festivals throughout Europe and North America. Mr. Feldman is on the cello faculty at New England clarinetist Jean Kopperud has toured the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, China, Conservatory, Tufts University, the Heifetz International Institute and Killington Music Festival. the Caribbean and Australia as concert soloist and chamber musician. She performs with Violinist Laura Frautschi has established a reputation as a versatile musician with a The New York New Music Ensemble, Omega, Ensemble 21, Washington Square Chamber strong commitment to contemporary as well as classical repertoire. She regularly performs Players and University at Buffalo’s Sinfonietta. She has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Asia, and collaborates Bridge Records, CRI, Albany Records, Mode, G M Recording, Koch, Musical Heritage, New frequently with living composers. She has given world premieres of violin concerti by leading World Records and Centaur Records. Kopperud is also a performer on the cutting edge of American composers Lee Hyla and Augusta Read Thomas. the Music-Theater genre. National acclaim for her presentations of ’s She is a concertmaster of the New York City Opera Orchestra, and has toured Harlekin, the demanding performance work for dancing clarinetist, resulted in her Avery Fisher internationally as a concertmaster of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Frautschi’s Hall debut presented by the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Kopperud is a tenured Professor of extensive discography ranges from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Festival Strings Lucerne Music at the University at Buffalo. and Lee Hyla’s Violin Concerto with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, to twentieth- Born in Tokyo, Reiko Manabe is a flute player who has devoted herself to contemporary century chamber works by Bernard Rands, Chen Yi, and Margaret Brouwer. music. In 2006 she won the First Prize at the Kyogaku VII (The 7th Contemporary Music Original, distinctive, and unconventional, Pablo Gómez’s guitar is one of the most Performance Competition founded by Japan Society for Contemporary Music), and received remarkable sounds of today’s music scene. His repertoire includes solo guitar; electro- the 16th Asahi Contemporary Music Award. As a performer and an improviser, Dr. Manabe acoustic music; duets with vocalist, percussion, and violin; and concerts with chamber has appeared in the United States, France, England, Germany, Singapore, South Korea and ensembles and orchestras. This a musical diversity that has taken him to performances in Japan. . She holds an MFA degree from California Institute of the Arts. In 2008 She completed concerts in the United States, Sweden, France, London, Germany, Austria, Spain, Canada, a DMA in Contemporary Music Performance at the University of California, San Diego. Ms. Manabe is a Tokyo-based active performer of the music of this century. She is a member Since 2011, he leads the Ensemble du Monde in New York City as their Concertmaster. and the director of the new music ensemble “mmm...” that has explored and introduced Dr. Olschofka is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of North Texas in music brought from all over the world to Tokyo. Denton, Texas, and Director of the UNT Summer String Institute. Flutist Tara Helen O’Connor is a charismatic performer sought after for her unusual artistic depth, brilliant technique and colorful tone in music of every era. Tara is a member of the innovative woodwind quintet Windscape, a founding member of the 1995 Naumburg acknowledgments Award winning New Millennium Ensemble, and the flute soloist of the world renowned Bach Owl: recorded by Josef Kucera at Studio A, UCSD; Aria Group. A 2001 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, she also received two Grammy edited and mastered by Robert Kostlan; nominations in January of. Tara has recorded for Deutsche Gramophon, EMI Classics, Arcadia, CRI, Koch, and Bridge Records. She was the first wind player to be chosen to Ecstatic Aspen: recorded, edited and mastered by Sergei Kvitko participate in the Society of Lincoln Centers Chamber Music Society Two at Blue Griffin Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan; program for emerging artists. Phoenix: recorded, edited and mastered by Benjamin Sabey Pianist Christopher Oldfather has devoted himself to the performance of contemporary at the home of Felix Olschofka in Denton, Texas; music for more than 20 years. He has participated in innumerable world premiere performances, featuring every possible combination of instruments, in cities all over America. Espejismo: recorded by Robert Kostlan at UCSD; He has been a member of Collage New Music since 1979 and New York City’s Parnassus edited and mastered by Benjamin Sabey; since 1997. He also performs with the Met Chamber Ensemble and is keyboard chair of the Arc Flicker: recorded, edited and mastered by Taishi Taruoka American Composers Orchestra. He is widely known for his expertise on the harpsichord at Genonsha Studio 246 in Tokyo; and is one of the leading interpreters of contemporary works for that instrument. As a soloist Winter Shore: recorded in Jewett Auditorium, Boston; Mr. Oldfather has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, and edited and mastered by Robert Kostlan; Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt, Germany. He has collaborated with the conductor Robert Craft additional mastering provided by Robert Kostlan and can be heard on several of his recordings. His recording of ’s violin-piano Duo with Robert Mann was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1990. All works available from Benjamin Sabey German-born violinist Felix Olschofka has toured as soloist, concertmaster and chamber musician throughout Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. He holds the Cover photo by Ruben Redondo: Used by permission; All rights reserved first prize in the German Music Competition in 1992 and the second prize in the International https://www.flickr.com/photos/rubenredon/ Chamber Music Competition “Charles Hennen” in 1993. A proponent of contemporary music, he frequently presents the premieres of new works for violin and is founding member of Photo of the bird (Chimney Swift) by Christopher Adler (www.christopheradler.com) SWARMIUS. He holds Bachelor and Master degrees from the Music Conservatory “Hanns Used by permission. Eisler” in Berlin, Germany, a Performance Certificate from Indiana University, Bloomington, Photo of Benjamin Sabey by Zach Andrews: All rights reserved and a Doctorate from the University of California San Diego. https://www.flickr.com/photos/zachandrews/ benjamin sabey winter shore

benjamin sabey 1 Owl [11:12] Arditti Quartet

2 Ecstatic Aspen [9:03] Hilary Demske, piano

3 Phoenix [12:50] Felix Olschofka, violin with interactive electronics

4 Espejismo [12:49 ] Pablo Gomez, guitar with interactive electronics

[ ] TROY1560 5 Arc Flicker 10:11 Reiko Manabe, flute

6 Winter Shore* [11:51] Tara O’Conor, flute Jean Kopperud, clarinet

Christopher Oldfather, piano TROY1560 Dominic Donato, percussion Laura Frautschi, violin

Emmanuel Feldman, cello Efrain Guigui, conductor Total Time = 67:58 *live performance

WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY1560 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. 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 © 2015 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. benjamin sabey winter shore