Movement 3: Day and Night (1937) and Waterfall (1961) 

The third movement moves from Escher’s Day and Night into Waterfall to create a symmetrical conclusion to Escher Keys. Beginning in the sky of the first image, the listener moves back and forth, side to side between viewing the white birds and black birds, neither of which visually can be seen at the same time. Moving into the patterned, chess-like view of the fields, the viewer is confronted with two opposing rivers. Wooden timbres comprise much of the timbre pallet. Day and Night is the only woodcut I selected to be included in this piece. All the other pieces are lithographs. As the opposing rivers move into the cities, the listener shifts from Day and Night into Waterfall, which continues with fluid flowing movement from the opposing rivers. Like the first movement, the soloist in this movement retains its more traditional relationship with the orchestra interjecting his statements often to have the orchestra respond with atmospheric tessellations. After building back up solid pillars of the castle-like structure, defying logic, the middle section of this movement deconstructs from birds into missiles. The mysterious Shepard tones return over the war zone to conclude with the over blowing airy texture of the opening and perpetual motion of the rising harmonic series.

Escher Keys Mvt 3

Movement 2: Three Worlds (1955) 

The second movement reflects a less conversational relationship between the soloist and the orchestra. The timbre and dialogue is more subtle and introspective. There is great room for the soloist to interpret his perception of the artwork in the movement. This movement begins submerged under water, in the underworld. Gradually climbing through the reflected branches the second section of this movement moves into bird song. Starting out with a Messiaen-inspired bird song, the music moves to a deep cormorant call (native to Louisiana), a brief cry from a white-throated sparrow and general songbird calls all layer to create an otherworldly pallet. The descent of the leaves falling takes the listener back into the world below thus merging the three perspectives: the world above, below and on the surface.

Escher Keys Mvt 2

Movement 1: Ascending and Descending (1960) 

Mapped by register, irregular rhythmic patterns, endlessly rising canons and forever loops, the first movement is the longest of the concerto drawing on a traditional soloist/ensemble relationship. Starting with a dirge-like march reflecting the monotony of the circling monks, the piece shifts abruptly to the working activity of the monks with no practical purpose. With some variation, this pattern continues until the middle section of the piece, which descends to the second tier of Escher’s artwork; this section is focused on contemplation, reflecting out and the solemn arches representing the endless process of finite. Slowly descending to the third tier with Shepard tones in the background sounding as if the lines are moving upwards and downwards simultaneously, a familiar canon by Bach appears before returning to the forever loops. The movement ends with the figure looking outwards, monochromatic, as if a descent into nothing. Like Escher’s piece, this movement grapples with double meaning and contradiction.

Escher Keys Mvt 1

While recording the Brood X cicadas one particularly loud day in Baltimore, one intrepid cicada landed directly on my microphone and took a solo!

Brood X Cicada: Solo Edition (field recording)

Having a blast writing for Amy Williams' Interludes Project which she will be bringing to LSU in February.  Thanks to the Cage Trust for this awesome virtual instrument which is helping me expand my imagination on this masterpiece.  Having SO. MUCH. FUN.

Interlude Influenza teaser -- test opening

My song for the only only president of the USA in my lifetime who has proven through action and ethic his care for the wellbeing of the American people as a whole.

spearman's absynthe

Bully Greed

This piece is an arrangement of the Bach chorale "O Haupt voll blut und wunden" for bass clarinet, bassoon, and piano. Performed by Amy Advocat, Chris Watford, and Aaron Likness.

Abraham Lincoln's Mystic Chords Of Memory: chorale prelude #1

A rescore of a horror scene from the 2006 film, "The Abandoned"

Recorded by the Budapest Art Orchestra at the East Connection Recording studio in Budapest, Hungary.

Peter Pejtsik, conductor
Miklós Lukács, sound engineer

Eye See You

Nicolas Lira, tenor sax

Program Notes

This brief work, for tenor sax and fixed media, is in response to a call for works by my friend and saxophonist, Nicolas Lira. Nicolas posted the call on social media during the Spring 2020 Covid-19 shelter-in-place order. 72” duration was the only criteria. The specific duration reflects the often repeated (yet rarely heeded) PSA that six feet of space between individuals is needed to stop the spread of the virus.

The piece is influenced by the role global communication, especially social media, plays in our daily lives as we come to grips with this global pandemic. The shape and trajectory of the piece mirrors exponential graphs that chart the spread of the Coronavirus. A meme that references social distancing in relation to sound waves influenced harmonic content.

Performance Notes

The work is originally for tenor sax and fixed media. However, the piece may be performed with or without the fixed media part. The version in C may be performed by any instrument.

Curve for tenor saxophone and fixed media

Shimmer (2016) for harpsichord and live electronics was inspired by several paintings in the Nelson’s 2016 spring exhibition, Reflecting Class in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer commissioned by the Nelson Atkins with a premiere performance by Alison DeSimone and Patrick Chan.

Specifically, the piece addresses themes of wealth and portraiture.  Drawing on musical ideas of Baroque composers including Torelli, Corelli and Sweelinck, I built my piece around a Chaconne – as Alex Ross describes ”a sexy swirling dance” which quickly spread across Europe, becoming popular in both elite courts and in the general population. The chaconne is a Spanish variation over short harmonic progression often involving a repetitive bass line in slow triple meter.  Similar to the 12-bar blues, the chaconne is always leaning towards the second beat, creating anticipation.  

Like the paintings from the era, vividly evoking sensory experiences, musically I tried to emphasize passing threads of melodic ideas, full of suspension and ornamentation.  Gesture is an important aspect to Shimmer.  The manipulation of small blocks of sound is a baroque technique that continues throughout contemporary music.  The function of light is most striking throughout this exhibition.  While Shimmer is inspired by many paintings in the exhibit, the following to works resonated with me.

Shimmer

Dedicated to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Hollyn Slykhuis, trumpet.
 
Written in 2019, "Free to Be" focuses on the landmark case, Weinberger v. Weisenfeld (1975). This case opened a new legal door for women in the U.S. Spearheaded by the voice of Ginsburg, "Free to Be" combines the words of many strong, empowered women who have achieved things people said could never be done due to gender biases and the traditional patriarchy. The trumpet joins these empowered voices, mimicking the syllabic rhythm of important phrases, such as Ginsburg’s title phrase “free to be.” I am grateful for the voices of the women included in this piece (Chimamanda Adichie, Angela Davis, Mo’ne Davis, Janet Guthrie, Nancy Lieberman, Megan Rapinoe, Sally Ride, and Malala Yousafzi) and to the many others who continue to promote equal rights for women. May RBG and her strong, tenacious spirit live on through their voices.

Free To Be - dedicated to Justice Ginsburg

Composer Mara Gibson is originally from Charlottesville, VA, graduated from Bennington College and completed her Ph.D. at SUNY Buffalo. She also attended London College of Music as well as L’École des Beaux-Arts in Fontainebleau, France and the International Music Institute at Darmstadt, Germany. She has earned grants and honors from the American Composer’s Forum; the Banff Center; Louisiana Division of the Arts; Arts KC; the Banff Centre; Meet the Composer; the Kansas Arts Commission National Endowment for the Arts; the International Bass Society; ASCAP, the John Hendrick Memorial Foundation; Virginia Center for the Arts; and Yale University. Recently, she enjoyed a residency at the MacDowell Colony and was awarded an ATLAS grant (32K) through the Louisiana Board of Regents for her bassoon concerto (2021). Internationally renowned ensembles and soloists perform her music throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Australia, Asia, and Europe.  Dr. Gibson has also had performances of her works at prestigious festivals and universities around the country and the world, most notably Mostly Modern Festival (New York), the Bowling Green New Music Festival (Ohio), Amici Della Musica (Udine, Italy), University of Melbourne (Australia), Thailand International Composition Festival (performances in multiple consecutive years), Reaktorhallen (Stockholm, Sweden), Daegu International Computer Music Festival (Korea) and the Beijing Modern Music Festival. 

Gibson’s music has been described as “shocking, gripping and thought-provoking… conjuring a flurry of emotions” (PARMA recordings).   She is a regular cross-disciplinary collaborator, having worked with choreographers, visual artists, writers, film makers and musicians.  In 2015, Gibson released her first portrait CD, ArtIfacts, with her second recording, Sky-born, following in November 2017 through Navona/Parma Recordings.  The later presents works including Blackbird, which feature Cascade Quartet. The music draws inspiration from a variety of artistic mediums: “haunting and epic with visceral energy.” As Gramophone magazine describes, “repertoire on this recording was mostly inspired by poetry and paintings.  What binds these pieces are Gibson’s concise handling of musical materials and her spectrum of sonic approaches. Sky-born displays a compelling contemporary voice with a restless imagination, able to morph other forms of artistic expression into daring, musical odysseys.”

In August 2017, Gibson was selected as the first-annual commissioned composer for the Baroque on Beaver Orchestra led by Robert Nordling. The ensemble showcased her chamber orchestra piece, Secret Sky, music inspired by the bird migration patterns on the island. Collaboration is integral to Gibson’s process; whether through her music, collaborations or teaching, she hopes to achieve a relationship between the macro and micro. In 2019, Gibson premiered four new works White Ash, The Clockmaker’s Doll, Four Modes and Mirror, Mirror and traveled to Athens, Greece to record Secret Sky with the Athens Philharmonic Orchestra which was selected to be included on a compilation CD released by Navona in 2020 (Prisma IV).  Additionally, Secret Sky was included in the 10th annual season opener by the Chicago Composers Orchestra and a newly arranged version was included by LSU Symphonic Winds.  In 2020-21, Mara’s work was dedicated to her large-scale new bassoon concerto Escher Keys inspired by the work of M.C. Escher; “bassoonists will be thrilled to hear such imaginative new rep for the first time, as it represents a substantial new addition to the repertoire for the bassoon; it is highly inventive and profound.” (50 International Double Reed Society – IDRS, volume 44). The collaboration was declared a finalist for the American Prize. Additionally, as a part of this video premiere she presented Galatea’s Dream, a staged song cycle where “each song gains its haunting presence through an existential twist. A chilling atmosphere hangs over the performance, and Gibson’s music abstractly engages the three narratives, accentuating their mood of existential isolation, as felt by women.” (Fanfare Magazine).  In 2023, she released the film version of the song cycle.  Her most recent work incorporates extra-musical materials into vocal and instrumental performance and integrates increasingly challenging subject matter with effective (and often unusual) instrumental and vocal delivery styles; these techniques extend performance practice and portray strong emotional content that defines the heart of her overall concept — the arc of the musical and theatrical development.

Prior to LSU, Dr. Gibson taught as an Associate Teaching Professor at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance for over ten years, where she was founder of the UMKC Composition Workshop, co-director/founder of ArtSounds, and coordinated undergraduate composition.  She joined Louisiana State University as an Associate Professor of Composition.  She is now area coordinator with tenure and founded the Constantinides New Music Ensemble who had their debut performance at Carnegie Hall in April of 2022.  Since her arrival at LSU, the composition studio has more than doubled in size. Mara was awarded a sabbatical (fall 2023) when she began her first opera with Ann McCutchan (libretto) inspired by Lee Smith's novel “The Devil's Dream,” presumed to be roughly based on the country music powerhouse Carter family. Last fall, Mara composed at the prestigious Moulin a Nef in Auvillar, France.  Her 3rd portrait album was released fall 2024 including four new pieces composed since 2021 alongside Escher Keys.

Shimmer

Mara Gibson

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