Program note:
"The Pit" is an opera that follows a lost man who at the outset of each act, climbs up from a pit to arrive at three different versions of reality. The first, is the back streets of a city at night, the second is a circus of robots, and the third, is the halls of the overlords, the powerful creatures pulling the strings of reality.

The music of the overture prefaces the first act, and is tragic in tone. There are three main parts, the climbing music, the city music, and the return of the opening clarinet theme. It opens with the clarinet presenting a fragmented melody that is extended and developed for the first large section of the overture. The second section is ushered in by the basses and represents the city. It has a pulsing sardonic quality. The strings are tense and the woodwinds laugh. Jokes are told in the clarinet and bassoon. This gives way to a tragic theme led by the low brass. After a brief pause, the work ends with a return to the opening clarinet material accompanied by the first violins.

Overture to "The Pit"
Daniel Zajicek, composer
Houston Civic Symphony
Brian Runnels, conductor

Friday, November 15, 2024 - Houston Christian University

Overture to The Pit

Daniel Zajicek is a composer and video artist. Most interested in beauty and the bizarre, his musical output consists of solo, chamber, choral, electronic, video, installation, operatic, orchestral, and theater music. Performances of his music have taken place throughout the United States, the Czech Republic, and the Far East-most notably at the International Computer Music Conference, the SEAMUS national conference, Diverse Works Flikerlounge, Society of Composers Inc., Imagine II, Florida Electro-acoustic Music Festival, Most Significant Bytes, Lewis University Bytes concert series, the NewTown Pasadena/SCREAM Sounding Images program, MusicAcoustic 2005: Mix (Beijing), the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Musica Nova, and the Mckinney Repertory Theater. He has been the recipient of the Bertha Mallard Scolarship for Music Composition, the Richard and Candice Faulk Composition Scholarship, the Merrill Ellis Memorial Composition Scholarship, and as a pianist, Daniel was given a scholarship from the National Federation of Music Clubs. Additional honors for his music have come from the Missouri State Music Teachers National Association, the National Guild of Piano Teachers, and ASCAP.
 
Video works by Daniel have been shown at Newtown’s Pop-Up films, Diverse Works Flickerlounge, 4D DREAM-a-thon, Sounding Images, and Most Significant Bytes, among others. His video Self Portrait is released on the first installment of Buffet DVD (buffetdvd.com).
 
Daniel holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (BM Composition & BM Piano Performance), the University of North Texas (MM Composition), and Rice University (DMA Composition). He has taught music technology and music theory at Rice University, The Art Institute of Houston, and Collin County Community College. While at the University of North Texas, he served as audio/visual specialist for the College of Music and helped oversee the construction and operation of the College of Music Computer Lab Recording Studio.

Overture to The Pit

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