May 2nd, 2007
Roger Bourland: Arias for cello and piano (1989)
THREE ARIAS FOR CELLO AND PIANO
1. Cl’Airea (for Paul Reale and Claire Rydell)
2. Mount Shasta (For Mark Carlson and Charlie Swigart)
3. In Paris (for John Hall)
Ronald Leonard, cello
Antoinette Perry, piano
David Cloud, recording engineer
Schoenberg Auditorium
[Photo: © 2005 Roger Bourland "J 196"]
May 2nd, 2007 at 10:14 am
Roger -
Good work! Did you happen to look at Brahms as your model? I just hear the influence of late Brahms - eg. In the second piece, the syncopated chords (not sure but they sounded voiced as Brahms loves - an octave with a third to the lower or upper note) accompanying the slightly baroque, passionate lines (I don’t mean Baroque in its musical sense more as in fantastical). Also the descants and imitation were well done.
My favorite was the first selection as the piano’s opening melodic motif had a harmonic stasis reminiscent a little of Satie. This in combination with the lovely cello line made it especially attrative. I urge you to expand this into a sonata — the opening piano motif in diminuition and the cello providing a cantus firmus (derived from the melody) as underpinning would be material for a great fast movement.
Question — for all three pieces you seemed to keep the cello mostly in its lower to mid registers and the tempi did not contrast too much. Was there a reason for this?
May 2nd, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Lovely, HEY! #1 has some of that major/minor swivel I find so interesting, and very Satie. Maybe more Villa-Lobos to me, maybe… I would agree with Roger, that the wonderful dynamics of the piano makes the cello seem a little flat-footed, but this could be a recording anomaly, I suppose. All in all, sweet. I love short forms, must be my ADD. Like pop music, if you can’t say it in three minutes, why bother?
May 4th, 2007 at 7:30 am
These are really beautiful written and beautifully performed. Are they published? I know a few cellists who would certainly enjoy playing them.
May 4th, 2007 at 8:08 am
CS: no, Brahms was not a model, consciously. The three pieces were all composed at different times for different instrumentations. I just collected them together as they seemed to be similar moods. As tempting as it might be, I’m going to resist making this into a sontata. I’m not a big fan of “updating” old pieces. I think I’ll write a new one someday. Thanks!
PK: I’ll never forget driving down the street one day and listening to Villa Lobos and a certain passage flew by and SHIT! that’s where I got that passage from. Oops.
Elaine: thank you! Yes, the pieces are available from Yelton Rhodes Music.