The Chase

GardBlades Audio Logo Rock Version

City Of Technology

In Prayer takes its text from a moment of heightened drama in the Old Testament in which Miriam is suddenly struck with a fatal sickness. In desperation, Miriam’s brother Moses pleads to God with a humble, one-sentence prayer for healing, reciting the phrase, in Hebrew, “el na refa na la” (please God, heal her). I decided to set this text in three different ways in order to explore a myriad of approaches one might take to appeal to God at such an urgent moment. The outer movements (I. with devotion, III. with resolve) are more solemn and ritualistic, calling God forth with reverence and respect. The middle movement (II. with impatience), on the other hand, is agitated, frustrated, and cynical, riddled with desperation and disbelief.

In Prayer can be performed as a duo for singer (orig. mezzo) and violist, where the singer plays a scordatura guitar laid flat, and the violist plays a kick drum. In Prayer can also be performed as a quartet for singer, violist, guitarist, and percussionist. Contact aaron.i.levin@gmail.com for more information.

Elana Bell – voice
Brian Isaacs – viola
Matiss Cudars – guitar
Makana Medeiros – percussion

In Prayer: III. with resolve – for voice, viola, guitar, and percussion

Performance by Albert Steinberger.

Note: The world of classical music is a lot like a video game. When first learning music, you start at level one. As the music becomes more and more challenging, you eventually level up. Winning a competition or an audition is akin to conquering a final level boss. In the virtual world of video games, losing often means losing a life. The stakes of performance are different, but the feeling of loss is equally disappointing. Such disappointments, however, serve as motivation for further improvement. In pairing violin virtuosity with video game violence, Videogame Vespers examines the ambition we have as artists, demands of performance, the pain of failure, and the fleeting pleasure of achievement.

Videogame Vespers – for violin & tape

I’ve recently become intrigued by a rather remarkable quality of aspen trees.  Aspens typically grow not as individual trees, but in clone colonies.  These colonies spread by sending out root suckers.  Each of the trees in a colony is interconnected by a single, intricate root system; even the largest grove of aspens is made up not of many trees, but of one single, living organism.

This piece seeks to capture, in a sense, this unique quality of aspen trees.  The piece doesn’t follow any specific program; rather, I began with a few simple ideas that seemed reminiscent of the nature of aspen trees, and allowed those ideas to spread and develop.

This piece was commissioned by the Brigham Young University Chamber Orchestra, directed by Kory Katseanes, through the Barlow Student Composition Award, and was premiered on March 31, 2016, in the De Jong Concert Hall in Provo, UT.

Aspen

David A Jones

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