Oboe Sonata (2014)

Sonata for English Horn and Piano (2008)

Jennifer Z. Berg, English horn
Teddy Niedermaier, piano
live in recital, Bloomington, IN, April 4, 2009

This four-movement sonata was commissioned by Hidden Valley Music Seminars in Carmel Valley, CA, and premiered by Thomas Stacy (ret., New York Philharmonic) and the composer in August 2008. Taking the pastoral and lyrical nature of the English horn as a starting point, the sonata explores the virtuosic, dynamic, and gritty qualities of the instrument. All four movements feature reflective, exciting, and darkly tinged music in turn.

Sonata for English Horn and Piano (2008)

Princess Bari was completed in November 2017, for inclusion in my solo piano recitals in Chicago in February 2018. This is a narrative suite lasting 25 minutes total, telling the Korean shamanic legend of Princess Bari in 11 short movements. In terms of musical structure, I was inspired by Schumann’s great piano sets (i.e. Davidsbündlertänze or Carnaval) and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, wherein each movement depicts a scene, a character, or an emotional state. Each movement in Princess Bari is 2 minutes or shorter, except for “Bari’s Journey” (4-5 minutes), the only movement to also borrow and develop ideas from several of the other movements. 

So who is Bari? She is the “abandoned princess,” the rejected seventh daughter of great King Ogu and Lady Kildae. Ogu had no sons and only daughters. When Bari was born, he was enraged at his inability to generate a male heir. He ordered the newborn Bari to be placed in a chest and drowned in the sea. The legendary Dragon King, unable to tolerate such injustice, saved the chest and delivered it to shore, where Bari was rescued and adopted by monks. The monks cared for Bari, who grew up to be talented and intelligent. Once she was old enough to consider her own roots, Bari asked the monks who her parents really were. One replied, “Your father is the spirit of the bamboo and your mother is the paulownia.”

One day the King’s servant visited the monks in desperate search for the King’s long-lost daughter. The King was now sick, and the only cure for his wretched illness was an enchanted elixir that could only be obtained by a blood relative. Bari’s six older sisters had already refused the arduous journey to the distant, mythic land where the elixir might be found. Bari returned to the palace and immediately agreed to take the journey. On her way, she ventured through the underworld, married a celestial being, accomplished great labors, and after seven years returned to her father with the potent elixir, thus saving him. 

Through this, Bari became a goddess and the hearer of death rites, so that her story is invoked by shamans during burial ceremonies. She was a national hero and a model of filial piety, risking everything to save the father who had once abandoned her. In another sense, however, she is a fiercely independent, modern protagonist who determines her own fate.

Princess Bari, narrative suite for solo piano (2017)

Teddy Niedermaier's "Three Korean Minyo" for solo piano, performed by Teddy at Roosevelt University's Ganz Hall in March 2015. The movement titles are:

1. Milyang Arirang ("Arirang of Milyang")
2. Parangsae ("Bluebird, bluebird")
3. Gunbam Taryung ("Song of the Roasted Chestnuts")

Three Korean Minyo for solo piano (2014)

Upon This Rock is a work for chamber orchestra (17 musicians). It was commissioned and premiered by the Indiana University New Music Ensemble, Roger Kalia, conductor.

Upon This Rock for chamber orchestra (2009)

This large work was composed for Robert Walters, English hornist of the Cleveland Orchestra and faculty at Oberlin. A fantastic musician, Robert asked for a long "journey" through music. This piece unfolds in four large sections (introduction, slow, fast, slow).

Morning Star for English horn and string quartet (2011)

This is a short lullaby for piano, composed for my new nephew on his birthday, Dec 2, 2014. Recorded in my office :)

Lullaby (2014)

Teddy Niedermaier's "Three Korean Minyo" for solo piano, performed by Teddy at Roosevelt University's Ganz Hall in March 2015. The movement titles are:

1. Milyang Arirang ("Arirang of Milyang")
2. Parangsae ("Bluebird, bluebird")
3. Gunbam Taryung ("Song of the Roasted Chestnuts")

Three Korean Minyo: 3. Gunbam Taryung

Three Korean Minyo: 2. Parangsae

Three Korean Minyo: 1. Milyang Arirang

Oboe Sonata (2014)
Anna Velzo, oboe
Teddy Niedermaier, piano
live recording, March 15, 2017, Roosevelt University, Chicago

Oboe Sonata (2014) I. Moderato semplice - Allegro

Oboe Sonata (2014) II. Andante cantabile

Oboe Sonata (2014) III. Molto allegro

New York Classical Players
Madeline Fayette, cello
Dongmin Kim, conductor

Concertino on Themes of Haydn, commissioned by NYCP (2016)

1. Allegretto (00:07)
2. Largo: cantabile e mesto (07:14)
3. Menuetto (17:28)
4. Presto (20:14)

This work was inspired by Haydn's late String Quartet in D Major, op. 76, no. 5; I preserved all of the main themes from the Haydn, while adding new material and re-engineering the piece from the perspective of the cello soloist.

Premiered Feb 17-19, 2017, in New York and New Jersey. Beautiful video here:
https://youtu.be/qUEMvhcd1o8

Concertino On Themes Of Haydn For Cello And Strings (Madeline Fayette Cello) (2016)

DM Recital 4/4/09

IV. Finale

III. With devotion

II. Scherzo

I. Pastorale

Princess Bari- XI. Apotheosis Of Bari

Princess Bari- X. King Ogu Is Healed

Princess Bari- IX. Bari's Journey

Princess Bari- VIII. King Ogu Pleads For Bari's Return

Princess Bari- VII. "...your Mother Is The Paulownia..."

Princess Bari- VI. The Intelligent Young Girl

Princess Bari- IV. The Monks Rescue Bari

Princess Bari- III. Bari Is Drowned In The Sea

Princess Bari- II. King Ogu's Anger

Princess Bari- I. Birth Of Bari

teddycomposer.com
Composer, pianist, educator
Senior Budget Analyst, University of Colorado Boulder
University of Chicago Booth School of Business, MBA candidate 2021

Teddy Niedermaier

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