2021 / PIANO
WATERCOLOR, COLORED PENCIL + GRAPHITE ON PAPER

“Hand-drawn, hand-painted, and hand-notated with watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite, HALO SCOPE is a solo piano piece in eight movements. I began crafting the rainbow arcs in January 2020. At first, they were simply shapes, just rainbows, but the piece’s themes emerged naturally as children across the world, amidst the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, drew rainbows to hang in their windows as symbols and beacons of hope, bravery, optimism, and unity. HALO SCOPE became a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit and the cultivation of peace in times of uncertainty as we brave the fear we feel, stepping into the unknown, together with hope for a brighter tomorrow.”

HALO SCOPE I

Recorded August 16, 2022
PianoForte, Chicago
Juan Bautista Plaza (1898-1965)

Arrangement by Raimundo Pineda, from his introduction:

"Curruchá is one of the most well-known popular pieces of Juan Bautista Plaza, musicologist, pedagogue, composer and intellectual Venezuelan. It is a joropo with a very humorous lyrics that has been versioned by many artists and has become a key part of the Venezuelan national repertoire. On this occasion I made the arrangement for flute choir. I begin with a brief introduction that contains only a few motives of the elements of the work, somewhat to mislead the listener. When the joropo appears, he does it little by little until the whole orchestra shows his virtuosity in long staccato phrases. Towards the end he derives a modulating Bachian divertimento that seeks to take the listener to the extreme. However the main theme reappears putting everything in its place. It is a bright piece, with a lot of sparkle and very humorous."

Ensemble 126

Juan Bautista Plaza: Curruchá, arr. Raimundo Pineda

Recorded at PianoForte, Chicago
August 16, 2022

PROGRAM NOTES:
Wadi Qadisha | قادیشا وادي (”Holy Valley” in Aramaic) is inspired by the otherworldly beauty of the eponymous UNESCO World Heritage Site in Lebanon. The Holy Valley is near the Forest of
the Cedars of Lebanon, also known as the Cedars of God. The piece includes extended techniques that I have previously employed, namely in my solo flute piece, Miniatures from Phoenicia.

The texture of Wadi Qadisha | قادیشا وادي is made up of a collection of various composed Lebanese folksongs superimposed on top of each other. The melodies operate at various speeds, creating a temporal counterpoint in addition to the melodic one. The various time-layers represent the longevity and historical depth of the Holy Valley.

As such, the music will be imprinted with melodic content derived from the land of the Holy Valley. If we accept that culture is inseparable from its geography, then my piece is made from the matter of the Holy Valley.

Wadi Qadisha was commissioned by Ensemble 126 and premiered at the National Flute Association Convention in Chicago, Illinois on August 11, 2022.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER:
Sami Seif is a Lebanese composer, music theorist, and pianist. His music is inspired by the aesthetics, philosophies, paradigms, and poetry of his Middle-Eastern heritage. His work has been described as “very tasteful and flavorful” with “beautiful, sensitive writing!” (Webster University Young Composers Competition). His latest musical concerns center around the phenomenology of time and of differing degrees of focus.

Seif completed his BM, double-majoring in composition and music theory at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied composition with Keith Fitch, piano with Gerardo Teissonnière, and music theory with Alan Reese. At CIM, he earned the Donald Erb prize in composition and the Beth Pearce Nelson award in music theory. Starting in the fall of 2022, he will be pursuing his doctoral studies at the CUNY Graduate Center. https://www.samiseif.com

Photo: Evan Williams via Wikimedia Commons

Sami Seif: Wadi Qadisha (قادیشا وادي)

Recorded at PianoForte, Chicago
August 16, 2022

A Lovely Story (EXCERPT 2: Ending) by Anže Rozman (b. 1989)
Video of this performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r452nUhsbfs

In a single extended movement, A Lovely Story fills the flute ensemble with gentle impressionistic sounds and dances, with frequent tempo and meter changes in Rozman's signature style. Written for the 2013 Slovenian Piccolo Festival (Jezersko, Slovenia).

Photo: Willem Troost (1684-1752), Fantasy Rhine landscape with castle town. Public domain.

Anže Rozman: A Lovely Story (Excerpt 2: Ending)

Recorded at PianoForte, Chicago
August 16, 2022

A Lovely Story (EXCERPT 1: Intro) by Anže Rozman (b. 1989)
Video of this performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMyYUqxA5vU

In a single extended movement, A Lovely Story fills the flute ensemble with gentle impressionistic sounds and dances, with frequent tempo and meter changes in Rozman's signature style. Written for the 2013 Slovenian Piccolo Festival (Jezersko, Slovenia).

Photo: Willem Troost (1684-1752), Fantasy Rhine landscape with castle town. Public domain.

Anže Rozman: A Lovely Story (Excerpt 1: Intro)

Recorded at PianoForte, Chicago
August 16, 2022

Riad Mohammed Al Sunbati (1906-1981)
Arranged by Ahmed Al Ghanem (https://www.youtube.com/@AhmedAlGhanem)
Longa Reyad (Farah Faza)

Video of this performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfNZ029vxKw

Riad Al Sunbati was a 20th-century Egyptian composer and musician, considered an icon of Egyptian music. One of his most famous instrumental compositions is "longa reyad" (also known as "longa sultani yigah", also appearing as Longa Riyad or Longa Riad) which is considered to be the most famous Arabic longa which was played by many western and Turkish orchestras and oudists.

Photo: Riad Al Subati as a young man, www.oud.gr.

Riad Al Sunbati: Longa Reyad (Farah Faza), arr. Ahmed Al Ghanem

Linthicum-Blackhorse - My Kind-hearted Boy for Flute Quartet and Piano (or Harp)

Robert Nathaniel Dett - Adagio Cantabile from 'Cinnamon Grove' for Flute Choir (arr. Alan Berquist)

Recorded February 8, 2019
John Hadden, recording engineer

From the publisher:
Valerie Coleman’s Danza de la Mariposa is a rhythmic, melodic tone poem, giving the listener a tour of South America. Inspired by the various species of butterflies inhabiting the continent, this work is full of rich color, with butterflies dancing and weaving in syncopated rhythms while alternating between the feel of 3 over 4 throughout. Its slower sections pay homage to the beautiful and sorrowful sounds in the style of Yaravi, a Peruvian lament song. The melodies and rhythm eventually evolve into the spirit and syncopation of Argentinean concert tango, and the conclusion returns to the feel of Yaravi.

Valerie Coleman: Danza de la Mariposa

Commissioned and premiered by the Pittsburgh Symphony's Gretchen Van Hoesen in 2006.

1-Meditation

2-Caprice

California flutist Alan Berquist performs and teaches in the SF Bay Area. He is the Lecturer in Flute at California State University, Stanislaus. Degrees from Florida State University (DM, BM), University of Wisconsin-Madison (MM), and Carnegie Mellon University (Performance Certificate). His primary teachers include Eva Amsler, Alberto Almarza, Stephanie Jutt, and Amy Likar.

Valerie Coleman: Danza de la Mariposa

Alan Berquist, flute

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