Performed by the Bozeman Symphony, conducted by Norman Huynh

Learn more at http://scottleemusic.net

The Fire Beneath

A collection of my recordings of many of my favorite easy listening rock tunes from the 60's and 70's.

Dream A Little Dream of Me - Elizabeth on Vocals

Conrad Tao - piano

"there is no sleep so deep" takes its title from Samuel Beckett’s play "Footfalls."  The play consists primarily of an old woman obsessively pacing up and down the stage.  M, the protagonist, stops occasionally to recount a monologue of her slow withdrawal from life, and of her anguished attempts at self-assertion.  As the work progresses, she becomes increasingly more bent and more obscured in darkness, finally disappearing in the end.

The script of "Footfalls" opens with M calling to her mother.  When a voice offstage responds, M inquires if she was asleep.  “Deep asleep.  I heard you in my deep sleep.  There is no sleep so deep I would not hear you there.” I found that exchange very beautiful and it resonated with me long afterwards. 

"there is no sleep so deep" for piano engages with the text, imagery, and stage directions of "Footfalls" on various levels.  The most evident parallels are in the textures:  the driving sixteenth-note passages echo M’s obsessive footsteps, and the resonant repeated-note figures recall her counting to herself as she walks to and fro “one, two, three…” Harmonic and rhythmic ciphers derived from Beckett’s text operate beneath the surface of "there is no sleep so deep," but essentially the motivation behind the music is my grief over the death of my grandmother, Constance Dubose Jones, who passed away at the age of ninety-five last year.  This work is a tombeau for her and a reflection on my own emotional struggles with death and loss. 

"there is no sleep so deep" was written for Conrad Tao's residency at Duke University in March of 2016.

Sound Engineering credit Rick Nelson.

Photo Credit Nate Carpenter

there is no sleep so deep

Zlatomir Fung, cello
Janice Carissa, piano

Recorded at Skillman Studios in Brooklyn, mixed by Ted Moore in Chicago

Program note: Prelude is a duo for cello and piano that was written to precede attacca into the Brahms e minor cello sonata without pause (though it may also be performed alone) and is affectionately written for and dedicated to Zlatomir Fung and Tengku Irfan.

Prelude

Live performance at Oberlin 2.26.19
Oberlin New Music Ensemble
Conducted by Tim Weiss at the Oberlin Conservatory Warner Hall

Lyric Rivera, fulte/alto flute/piccolo
T. Colton Potter, oboe/English horn
Caleb Rose, clarinet I
Alex Abreu, clarinet II
Brian Geise, bassoon/contrabassoon
Nicholas Ginsburg, horn
Sam Friedman, trumpet
Evelyn Proffit, trombone
Carson Fratus, percussion I
Eli Geruschat, percussion  II
Amanda Lubin, piano
Esther Roestan, violin I
Simone Hammet-Lynch, violin II
Corley Friesen-Johnson, viola
Luka Stefanovic, cello
Matthew Frerck, contrabass

About the work:

In Spanish there are two verbs for the English verb “to be”, one is ser (to be) and the other one is estar (to be). The difference between the two is the quality of permanence: estar is a transitory state, an accidental element of being, while ser is permanent, ex. I am (ser) a human being, I am (estar) tired. The Spanish word esencia (essence) is descriptive of the ser verb form, the true nature of anything, not accidental or illusory (Merrian-Webster).

I find myself thinking about this a lot in times of change. Living in another country demands an immense effort for adaptation, in which one of the dangers -and almost unavoidable stage- is the feeling of losing oneself. Being at a distance with all the elements that made me myself: my culture, my family, my mother language, made me value all the small-things, those moments, places, persons that have now became lucid memories that I jealously treasure. And, aren’t we all just memories? Those instants that we chose to keep at the surface, and even the ones that remain deep inside, hidden, they shape our being, our feelings, our responses, they become our essence.

Esencia - Oberlin New Music Ensemble, conducted by Tim Weiss

Those who may be interested in seeing video documentation of this piece can do so here:
https://youtu.be/IEkX5UdHtNA?t=1 
Seven performers:
1 - any hammered dulcimer (cimbalom in this recording)
2 - tabletop 6-string acoustic guitar
3 - electric lap guitar
4 - tabletop 6-string electric guitar with whammy bar and nut extender
5 - tabletop 6-string baritone electric guitar with whammy bar and nut extender
6 - tabletop 7-string electric guitar and amplified piano played inside
7 - live processing and mixing

Sound Icon + Gleb Kanasevich
Play it loud, at the very edge of comfortable.

Found Objects (2018-19)

performed by the Tanglewood Music Center Fellows
at Seiji Ozawa Hall in Lenox, MA
14 July 2019

Nathan Aspinall - Conductor

Johanna Gruskin - Flute
Matthew Griffith - Bass Clarinet
Julianne Mulvey - Basson/Contrabassoon
Esteban Garcia - Horn
Ole Heiland - Tuba
Jonathon Wisner, David Riccobono - Percussion
Shelley Ng - Piano
Evan Bish - Double Bass

asestarse (2018, rev. 2019) | for 9 players

ONE FOOT IN THE DARK for Viola, Cello, Piano Trio

Live Performance on August 4, 2019
Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood Music Center

Performed by:
Sam Pederson, Viola
Sonia Mantell, Cello
Christine Wu, Piano

© 2019 Harriet Steinke

2019-08-04 1000AM SUN CD1

One Foot in the Dark (for viola, cello and piano) / Live at Tanglewood Music Center

Performed by Elise Kuder, Anna Takeda, Mike Kelley, and Rupert Anthony Thompson

String Quartet

for clarinet trio
B-flat Clarinet: Amy Advocat
Violin: Lilit Hartunian
Piano: John McDonald

there is no sleep so deep

Sid Richardson

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