Miller Theatre at Columbia University 2013-14 | 25th Anniversary Season

Bach, Revisited Saariaho + Bach

Thursday, February 6, 8:00 p.m. Please note that photography and the use of recording devices are not permitted. Remember to turn off all cellular phones and pagers before tonight’s performance begins. Miller Theatre is wheelchair accessible. Large print programs are available upon request. For more information or to arrange accommodations, please call 212-854-7799. Miller Theatre at Columbia University 2013-14 | 25th Anniversary Season

Bach, Revisited Saariaho + Bach

Jennifer Koh, violin Jean-Baptiste Barrière, electronics Thursday, February 6, 8:00 p.m.

Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 J. S. Bach (1685-1750) I. Allemanda II. Corrente III. Sarabanda IV. Giga V. Ciaccona

Frises (2011) U. S. premiere Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952) I. Frise jaune II. Frise des fleurs III. Pavage IV. Frise grise

INTERMISSION

Frises (2011) Saariaho

Onstage discussion with Kaija Saariaho, , and Melissa Smey

This program runs approximately one hour and forty-five minutes, including intermission. About the Program

Frises Notes by Kaija Saariaho

Frises (Friezes) was born of violinist Richard Schmoucler’s request, who told me his idea of combining different works around Bach’s second partita for solo violin, particu- larly in relation to the last part, the Chaconne. He asked me to compose a piece to be performed after Bach’s Chaconne and start it with the note that ends the movement, the D.

My piece, which I wrote in 2011, has four parts. I focused in each of them on the idea of one historical ostinato variation form, using as starting-point carillon, passacaglia, ground bass and chaconne. There are four variations around a theme, a harmonic pro- cess or other musical parameter.

To expand the ideas and possibilities of the instrument, I added an electronic dimen- sion to the work. According to its character, each part has a different processing. In general, and in accordance with the score, prepared sound materials are set off by the musician during the piece. These materials are completed by real-time transformations of the violin sounds.

My aim in composing this piece was to create a rich work for violin with four very dif- ferent and independent parts. The first part, Frise jaune (Yellow Frieze), is a prelude, a flexible improvisation around a constant D, colored by harmonics and the electronic part consisting of bell sounds. This part is also inspired by the idea of carillon, a con- tinuous melodic variation.

The second part, Frise de fleurs (Frieze of Flowers), is based on a harmony created on a ground bass. Sequences of successive chords are gradually enriched before opening to achieve a more free and lyrical development.

The third part, Pavage (Paving), is inspired by transformations of a source material by a mathematical process where a frieze is a filling of a line or a band by a geometric figure without holes or overflow, as in paving. But I do not work in the sense of perfect symmetry – as with the cobblestones of a patterned ground – rather to create continual metamorphosis, in the sprit of some M. C. Escher’s images, though less consistently.

The last part, Frise grise (Gray Frieze), is like a strange procession, solemn, fragile, but at the same time resolved. The idea of passacaglia is here realized with slow triplets, the constant accompaniment of the left hand pizzicati on three strings, while the melody is evolving on the fourth, which is not part of the accompaniment. The thematic material evolves, descending slowly from E, the highest string, to G, the lowest. The music finally reaches the initial D, double-stopped, restoring us to the beginning.

The titles are inspired by the mathematical ideas mentioned above but also by Odilon Redon’s painted friezes, which I saw recently in an exhibition dedicated to his work – especially the Yellow Frieze, Frieze of Flowers, and Gray Frieze.

Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 Notes by Paul Griffiths

Bach may still have been fresh from school, and in his first job, as a violinist at the ducal court in Weimar, when he set about writing a set of six solo pieces for violin, possibly for himself to perform. (We have the word of his son Carl Phillip Emanuel – though much later, of course – that he played the instrument “cleanly and penetratingly.”) He was at Weimar for only a few months, during which he turned eighteen, before he was off to a better position, but the stay was long enough for him to learn from a senior musician, Johann Paul von Westhoff, who had published a dozen partitas for solo violin twenty years before.

No doubt Bach fiddled over the years with what he had written, before making a fair copy in 1720, when he was at Cöthen. This manuscript survives, complete with its title page, on which we can read his inscription: “Sei Solo,” then “Violino senza Basso accompagnato,” then, with the tantalizing suggestion that there could have been more, “Libro Primo,” followed by a signature and date. The six solos were published in 1802, but it was not until Joseph Joachim took them up, several decades later, that they en- tered the concert repertory.

Unlike the six solo pieces for cello, which Bach almost certainly also brought to final form during his time at Cöthen, the violin solos include sonatas in alternation with

About the Program partitas. Both have a basic scheme of four movements, slow-fast-slow-fast, those of the partitas being dances of the usual kind, moving to the dominant in their first halves and then balancingly back to the tonic. To these the D minor work makes an immense addition.

Its first two dances start with a hiccough: the same note off the beat and on. Virtually monophonic, a wandering line, the allemande moves through scale patterns that are reinterpreted in triple time in the courante. They are reinterpreted again in the grave sarabande, and once more in the gigue, which is lively, but seems to know there is more to come, as indeed there is.

The rhythm now heaving into view is once more that of the sarabande: slow, heavy, triple. But this is a dance also of another kind, on a repeating four-bar theme that descends from D to A, ready to make a rising cadence back to D: the inexorably circling, purposefully driving bass of the chaconne. Sixty-four times it comes, on through a mid- dle section in the major (variations 34-52), all the time supporting counterpoint that implies up to seven simultaneous lines, until finally the voices spiral into the keynote. Brahms (one of several composers to adapt the work, in his case for piano left hand) had this to say: “If I were to imagine that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.” Playing for around a quarter of an hour, the movement provides a momentous finale. About the Artists

Kaija Saariaho is a prominent member season when she won the International of a group of Finnish composers and Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the performers who are now, in mid- Concert Artists Guild Competition, and career, making a worldwide impact. the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ms. Koh She studied composition in , has been heard with leading orchestras Freiburg, and Paris, where she has lived and conductors worldwide. Also a prolific since 1982. Her studies and research recitalist, she appears frequently at at IRCAM have had a major influence major music centers and festivals. She on her music and her characteristically is dedicated to performing the violin luxuriant and mysterious textures are repertoire of all eras from traditional often created by combining live music to contemporary, believing that the and electronics. Although much of her past and present form a continuum. catalogue comprises chamber works, The exploration of Bach’s music and its from the mid-nineties she has turned influence in today’s musical landscape increasingly to larger forces and broader has played an important role in Ms. Koh’s structures, such as the operas L’Amour artistic journey. In 2009 she debuted de loin, , and Emilie and “Bach and Beyond” a three-recital series the oratorio . She that explores the history of the solo was composer-in-residence for Carnegie violin repertoire from Bach’s Sonatas Hall’s 2011-12 season. Miller Theatre and Partitas to works by modern day previously presented a Composer Portrait composers and new commissions; she of Saariaho’s music in the 2009-10 season, frequently performs all six Sonatas and opened its 2010-11 season with the U.S. Partitas in a single concert; and last premiere of her ballet Maa, and produced season she launched “Two x Four” with a Touring Composer Portrait of her work her former teacher from the Curtis School at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Music, violinist Jaime Laredo – a in Boston in the 2011-12 season. project that pairs Bach’s Double Violin Concerto with newly commissioned Jennifer Koh is recognized for her double concerti. Highlights of Ms. Koh’s intense, commanding performances, 2013/14 season include “Bach and delivered with dazzling virtuosity and Beyond” recitals worldwide, “Two x Four” technical assurance. Since the 1994-95 concerts with the Los Angeles Chamber

About the Artists Orchestra, Einstein in Philip Glass’s 100 Objects to Represent the World by Einstein on the Beach in Los Angeles and Peter Greenaway, which premiered at the Berlin, the New York premiere of Jennifer in 1997. Barrière has Higdon’s The Singing Rooms with the New also composed the music of several virtual York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, and reality and interactive installations by her Munich Philharmonic debut. Ms. Koh Maurice Benayoun, including Worldskin regularly records for the Cedille label. Her (Prix Ars Electronica 1998). He developed recording featuring works from her first Reality Checks, a cycle of installations and “Bach and Beyond” recital was chosen as performances questioning the concept of one of the best recordings of 2012 by the identity in the digital age. He directed the New York Times. Her most recent album CD-ROM, Prisma: The Musical Universe “Signs, Games & Messages” with pianist of Kaija Saariaho (Grand Prix Multimédia Shai Wosner was released in October Charles Cros 2000), and regularly realizes 2013. Ms. Koh’s relationship with Miller visual concerts of Saariaho’s music, Theatre began more than a decade ago; including her opera L’Amour de loin, notable performances include Composer performed in Berlin and Paris in 2006 by Portraits of John Zorn (2001), György and Deutsches Symphonie Ligeti (2005), and Kaija Saariaho (2009), Orchester Berlin. He directed visuals for as well as a performance of Bach’s Double concert versions of operas such as Olivier Concerto with violinist Jaime Laredo in Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise with 2013. She has performed Bach’s solo violin Kent Nagano and Orchestre Symphonique works both in Miller’s free Lunchtime de Montréal (which won the 24th Grand Concerts (2009) and in a marathon recital Prix du Conseil des arts of Montréal), and presented by Miller at the American with Myung Whun Chung and Orchestre Academy of Arts and Letters in 2011. Philharmonique de Radio-France in 2008; and Alban Berg’s Wozzeck with Esa-Pekka Jean-Baptiste Barrière was born in Salonen and the Philharmonia of London Paris in 1958. His studies included music, in 2009. During the 2011–2012 academic art history, philosophy, and mathematical year, he was a Visiting Professor in the logic. In 1998, he joined IRCAM in Paris, music department of Columbia and this directing Musical Research, Education, year he is the Composer-in-Residence and Production; he left in 1998 to for the music department’s Computer concentrate on personal projects focusing Music Center. At Miller Theatre, on the interaction between music and Barrière’s work was featured in a Pop-Up image. His piece Chréode (1983) won the concert titled “The Birth of Electronic Prix de la Musique Numérique of the Music” and will be further explored in an Concours International of Bourges in upcoming Composer Portrait concert and 1983 (CD ). He composed the music concurrent multimedia installation, both of several multimedia shows, including in March 2014. About Miller Theatre

Miller Theatre at Columbia University is the leading presenter of new music in New York City and one of the most vital forces nationwide for innovative programming. In partnership with Columbia University School of the Arts, Miller is dedicated to producing and presenting unique events, with a focus on contemporary and early music, jazz, opera, and multimedia performances. Founded in 1988, Miller has helped launch the careers of myriad composers and ensembles over the past 25 years, serving as an incubator for emerging artists and a champion of those not yet well known in the United States. A three-time recipient of the ASCAP/ Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming, Miller Theatre continues to meet the high expectations set forth by its founders—to present innovative programs, support the development of new work, and connect creative artists with adventurous audiences.

25th Anniversary Committee Columbia University School of the Arts Regula Aregger Eric Johnson Carol Becker Dean of Faculty Mercedes I. Armillas Fred Lerdahl Jana Hart Wright Dean of Academic Administration Rima Ayas George Lewis Paul D. Carter Philip V. Mindlin Columbia University Trustees Mary Sharp Cronson* Linda Nochlin William V. Campbell Co-Chair Stephanie French* Margo Viscusi* Jonathan D. Schiller Co-Chair Marcella Tarozzi Goldsmith Marian M. Warden A’Lelia Bundles Vice Chair Maureen Gupta Cecille Wasserman* Mark E. Kingdon Vice Chair Karen Hagberg Elke Weber Esta Stecher Vice Chair Mark Jackson Rolando T. Acosta * Miller Theatre Advisory Board member Armen A. Avanessians Lee C. Bollinger President of the University Miller Theatre Staff Lisa Carnoy Melissa Smey Executive Director Kenneth Forde Charlotte Levitt Director of Marketing and Outreach Noam Gottesman Beth Silvestrini Associate Director of Artistic and Production Administration Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr. Brenna St. George Jones Director of Production James Harden James Hirschfeld Business Manager Benjamin Horowitz Megan Harrold Audience Services Manager Ann F. Kaplan Bryan Logan Production Coordinator Jonathan Lavine Nora Sørena Casey Marketing and Communications Associate Charles Li Rhiannon McClintock Executive Assistant Paul J. Maddon Aleba & Co. Public Relations Vikram Pandit The Heads of State Graphic Design Michael B. Rothfeld Claire Shipman Kyriakos Tsakopoulos Steinway is the official piano of Miller Theatre Faye Wattleton About Miller Theatre Thanks to Our Donors Miller Theatre acknowledges with deep appreciation and gratitude the following organizations, individuals, and government agencies whose extraordinary support makes our programming possible.

$25,000 and above Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts Dow Jones Foundation Ernst Von Siemens Foundation

$10,000 - $24,999 William V. Campbell Gerry H. F. Lenfest The Evelyn Sharp Foundation The Aaron Copland Fund for Music National Endowment for the Arts Margo and Anthony Viscusi Mary Sharp Cronson New York State Council on the Arts The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation $5,000 - $9,999 The Amphion Foundation CLC Kramer Foundation Craig Silverstein French American Cultural Exchange Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation at Columbia University $1,000 - $4,999 Paul D. Carter Karen Hagberg and Mark Jackson Peter Pohly Hester Diamond Donella and David Held Christopher Rothko R. H. Rackstraw Downes Elizabeth and Dean Kehler Cecille Wasserman Claude Ghez Roger Lehecka Elke Weber and Eric Johnson Marcella Tarozzi Goldsmith Philip Mindlin Anonymous Christine and Thomas Griesa Linda Nochlin Carol Avery Haber/ Haber Family Jeanine and Roland Plottel Charitable Fund Jessie and Charles Price

$500 - $999 Oliver Allen Mary and Gordon Gould Mark Ptashne Regula Aregger Marian M. Warden Fund of the Foundation James Sharp Mercedes Armillas for Enhancing Communities Timothy Shepard and Andra Georges ASCAP Maureen Gupta J. P. Sullivan Rima Ayas John Kander Cia Toscanini Barbara Batcheler Mark Kempson and Janet Greenberg Kathryn Yatrakis Elaine S. Bernstein Frederick Peters Janet Waterhouse

$100 - $499 Gail and James Addiss June O. Goldberg Gerald McGee Qais Al-Awqati, M.D. Lauren and Jack Gorman Bannon and Barnabas McHenry Edward Albee Richard Gray Rolf Meyershon Florence Tatischeff Amzallag James P. Hanbury Susan Narucki Roger Bagnall Bernard Hoffer Susan and Sheldon Nash Stephen Blum Alan Houston and Lisa DeLange Mary Pinkowitz Jim Boorstein Frank Immler and Andrew Tunnick Carol Robbins Adam and Eileen Boxer Burton Kassell Lisa Rubin Elizabeth and Ralph Brown Rebecca Kennison Mariam Said Jim Buckley L. Wilson Kidd, Jr. Eliisa Salmi-Saslaw Kerrie Buitrage Nikki Kowalski Mary Salpukas Richard Carrick and Nomi Levy-Carrick Daniel Lee James Schamus and Nancy Kricorian Ginger Chinn Barbara and Kenneth Leish Elliot Schwartz Jennifer Choi Arthur S. Leonard Anita Shapolsky Gregory Cokorinos Stephen Leventis Leila Shakour and Michael Thorne Noah Creshevsky Richard H. Levy and Lorraine Gallard Karlan and Gary Sick Kristine DelFausse Peter C. Lincoln Paul Sperry David Demnitz Helen Little Gilbert Spitzer and Janet Glaser Spitzer Randy Ezratty Sarah Lowengard Rand Steiger and Rebecca Jo Plant Peter and Joan Faber Anthony and Caroline Lukaszewski Peter Strauss Stephanie French Lawrence Madison Jim Strawhorn Marc Gilman Marc Maltz as of Jan. 17 Coming Up Jean-Baptiste Barrière

Jean-Baptiste Barrière is a key figure in . A native Parisian, he led the city’s electronic-music mecca IRCAM for more than 15 years. A Portrait concert, special performance, and concurrent exhibition offer curious listeners an opportunity to fully explore the composer’s multifaceted artistic pursuits this March.

Special Exhibit: The Garden of Dreams Monday, March 24 – Saturday, March 29 East Gallery, Maison Française Mon – Fri, noon to 5 p.m. & Sat., noon to 8 p.m. FREE This interactive multimedia installation by Jean-Baptiste Barrière is an exploration of the ephemeral world of dreams. The work incorporates visitor-created recordings, submitted both online and in special booths at the two exhibition sites: Columbia Uni- versity’s Maison Française in New York, and the Musée Gadagne in Lyon, France.

Special Performance: Distant Mirrors Saturday, March 29, 1 p.m. Miller Theatre at Columbia University FREE This concert performance – an extension of the concurrent exhibition – features a real- time international collaboration between flutist Camilla Hoitenga, in Lyons, France, and flutist Margaret Lancaster, who will play live on the Miller Theatre stage.

Composer Portraits Concert Saturday, March 29, 8 p.m. Miller Theatre at Columbia University Tickets: $25 - $30 Jean-Baptiste Barrière’s piece Chréode is recognized as a seminal work in the history of . Many of his more recent works entail live manipulation of both audio and video. This concert in Miller’s acclaimed new-music series Composer Portraits includes premiere performance of three pieces, one of which was previously given an early reading in the more informal onstage Pop-Up series. Upcoming Events

Tuesday, February 11, 6:00 p.m. POP-UP CONCERT Ensemble Signal

Saturday, February 22, 8:00 p.m. COMPOSER PORTRAITS Roger Reynolds Irvine Arditti, violin Ensemble Signal Brad Lubman, conductor

Saturday, March 1, 8:00 p.m. JAZZ Miguel Zenón Quartet

Tuesday, March 4, 6:00 p.m. POP-UP CONCERT Ekmeles

Saturday, March 8, 8:00 p.m. EARLY MUSIC Stile Antico: The Phoneix Rising Church of St. Mary the Virgin

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