Composed by Tom Nazziola
Performed by:
Wade Culbreath - Marimba
Tom Nazzioa - Djembe
Mastered by William Weisbach
Engineered by Wade Culbreath and Tom Nazziola

Created by Grammy®-nominated composer Tom Nazziola, “Immovable Do” (pronounced "dough") features a soaring, relentless marimba pattern (almost etude-like), which is joined by an equally aggressive and supportive djembe part - both exploring different accents and phrases governed by elements of African and Indian music. The “tongue-in-cheek” title refers to the anchoring of harmony by a recurring low “C” or “Do” (as used in solfege). The stable repetition of C eventually makes its way to C# (still considered “Do” in the solfege system) allowing for a shift in harmonic perspective thanks to a play on words and pitch license (if you will).

Immovable Do

The Odyssey of a Seafarer(2023) for string quartet

Nocturne

Color Of Loneliness- Schumann Des Abends

On her Navona Records release PERSONAE, pianist Beth Levin presents works from Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), Anders Eliasson (1947-2013), and Robert Schumann (1810-1856) that highlight each composer’s unique voice and style. Praised by Jeremy Eichler of the New York Times for her “boldly inflected readings and impressive ability to convey emotion without exhibition,” Levin animates the personalities of each composer with aplomb, passion, and elegance.

Chopin’s Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 35 (1839), featuring the well-known funeral march of the third movement, opens with stormy arpeggiations and moves into calmer and lyrical moments, closing with the unremitting whirlwind of unison notes during the finale. Eliasson, considered one of the great twentieth-century composers, heavily influenced by jazz, Bach, and the legacy of Western music culture, creates an unpredictable organic unity in his Disegno No. 2 (1987). The piece is characterized by self-organized harmonic mobility, rhythmic vitality, and the complete absence of schematic development, emblematic of Eliasson’s writing. Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6 (1837) is one of his most personal works, in which the composer incorporates his passionate love for Clara Wieck, anxieties, longings, visions, dreams, and fantasies. This intimate character piece progresses with sudden changes in mood and Schumann’s unconventional approach to tonality and rhythm. 

Levin’s performances refreshingly showcase three unique yet relatable figures in the Western music tradition, three voices which have shaped our understanding of the piano repertoire, humanity, and art. Her warm technique and “rare percussive audacity” (Richard Brody, The New Yorker) allows each note and phrase to stand out as a deep expression of each composer’s experience.

Levin - Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor- I. Grave - Doppio movimento - Personae

Live recording of the 3rd movement of "Widows of the Living and of the Dead", concerto for Gaita and orchestra, commissioned by Cristina Pato with support from New Music USA.

Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Cristina Pato, gaita, conducted by Andrew Grams

Watch on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL00AA0816C9DACAFC&v=5kJWJwT47gM

Widows of the Living and of the Dead, 3rd movement

Senior recital: Bolcom 1

Wald is a piece of chamber music for harp, violin, violoncello, doublebase and piano describing the sphere of a natural forest in high montains.

Wald (2015/2019). Fsg2. live at Kammermusikprojekt Transdanube

Wald is a chamber music piece for harp, violin, violoncello, doublebase and piano describing the sphere of a natural forest in high montains.

Wald (2015/2019). Fsg2. Studio

The first version of this music I invented as a young man, 30 years later it was revised by asking every bar what he finally wanted to be. The music presented here was played by Antara Quartet recorded in the 6th of May 2018 in Leopoldmuseum, Vienna / Austria.

Streichquintett 1981. rev 2011. live

Hailed by the press as “...a burning torch for the next century ..stunning ..superb” (The New Music Connoisseur, New York), “…melodicism and rhythmic buoyancy” (The New York Times), “…astonishingly virtuosic” (Soundboard Magazine), the music of Octavio Vazquez has been performed throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, and broadcast by radio and TV stations such as PBS, PRX, New York's WQXR, and Spanish, Russian and Chinese national networks. He has also collaborated with Grammy Award winner Cristina Pato as an arranger, orchestrator and producer. A winner of numerous national and international prizes, recent recognition includes I-Park Foundation and MacDowell Fellowships. Professor Vazquez teaches at Nazareth College School of Music in Rochester, NY, where he directs the composition program.

Widows of the Living and of the Dead, 3rd movement

Composer Octavio Vazquez

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