Just A Thought - James Grant, Arr. Tim Beringer

Song Sparrow, Oxtongue Lake

Waltz for Betz (1999) is a gentle, passionate ballad - Erik Satie by way of Henry Mancini - originally composed for solo piano as a musical Valentine's Day card, then later arranged as a recital piece for viola and piano, and ultimately as a work for viola solo with string quartet, string quintet, or string orchestra accompaniment.  Versions are available that feature virtually every orchestral and band instrument in the solo role.



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WALTZ FOR BETZ  |  clarinet and string quintet

(For now, a passable Finale-generated audio file.)


Purchase score+parts

HOMAGE  |  tuba quartet

    In the nineteenth century, composers embraced an emerging single-movement form as an alternative to what had been the dominant orchestral expression of the time, the multi-movement symphony.  This one-movement form, called the “symphonic poem” or “tone poem” (the term preferred by R. Strauss), is descriptive, or “programmatic” in nature and often uses as its inspiration the non-musical creative narrative of another artist.

    The works of photographer Elizabeth Siegfried caught my attention in the spring of 1998, when I viewed a collection of her platinum prints on exhibition in Baltimore.  Each photograph drew me into a space where visual balance and proportion merged effortlessly with deeply personal, meditative, and at times unsettling content.  Moved by the quiet intensity of her images, I asked Ms. Siegfried if she would allow me to compose a symphonic work based on a selection of her photographs; she agreed.

    Symphonic Poem No. 1: Release is inspired by 23 platinum prints that make up a body of work Siegfried calls LifeLines.  Unlike Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (after drawings and water colors by Victor Hartmann), and Respighi’s Trittico Boticelliano (after three paintings by Boticelli), Release is not literal in its approach to interpreting its source of inspiration; that is, the music does not attempt to “translate” Siegfried’s images into their exact musical counterparts.  Instead, Release (which takes its name from the final image in the LifeLines sequence) seeks to absorb the content of the complete visual narrative and re-express it in musical terms.

    The images in LifeLines, viewed in sequence, address the complex issues of aging and the passage of time; how we, like all elements of creation, swim in a constantly evolving sea of overlapping cycles: as one expression of life concludes its cycle of emergence, development, decay, and release, another expression of life begins.

    Release responds to that eternal ebb and flow, that counterpoint of overlapping life cycles; and to the emotional and spiritual journey we each face as we pass through life’s stages.  Underlying tension searches for resolution and sings of longing and vulnerability.  Increasing anxiety erupts into stubborn defiance. Cathartic transformation holds the promise of gradual understanding and eventual peace; and the final process of letting go makes way for new life and new dreams.  Our own release approaches, motions to us, embraces us like the ocean.  And we, too, must let go.

    Symphonic Poem No. 1: Release is dedicated to my father, David, whose own gentle release on December 4, 2000, is remembered in this music. 


Symphonic Poem No. 1: Release | orchestra

James Grant's Endgame recorded by the Crane School of Music Tuba-Euphonium Quartet in Potsdam, NY, April 2015.

Christopher Hotaling & Ethan Cypress, euphoniums
Brent Nichols and David Mercedes, tubas

Crane Tuba/Euphonium Quartet

James Grant- Endgame (Quartet)

Featuring Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Pops Orchestra, Sinfonia Australis, West Australian Symphony, Yvonne Kenny, David Hobson, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Sean Ruanne, Gregory Moore, Kate Ceberano, Emma Pask and James Morrison.

WALTZ FOR BETZ | clarinet and string quintet

JamesGrantMusic

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