Lots of positive energy in this movement.

Themes from the first two movements are developed with the energy rising.

Contrabassoon Concerto (2022) Mov. III

As I often do, when rewriting my concertos, in the first movement, I removed instruments. In this piece, specifically saved for later were woodwinds, brass and percussion.

My initial concept for this work was polytonal, at times bordering on atonal. As I lived with the material, it was increasingly clear that these intense sounds were best saved for special moments. As a result, the work as a whole became increasingly tonal. 

One of the reasons that I love composing, is that it surprises me. I am reminded of the advice to take a "wonder walk." The advice suggests going any place at all, even someplace you know well... then imagining, that you are a young child seeing everything for the first time, grateful for all the "wonders."

That in turn reminds me of the saying that gratitude brings happiness.

Contrabassoon Concerto (2022) Mov. I

To keep the deep sound of the contrabassoon fresh, I pair it with a variety of other instruments from all sections of the orchestra. 

This second movement is about the lyrical idea presented by the soloist in a duet with oboe at the outset. Passions arise. 

For decades, I have been interested in the occasional use of chords based on intervals other than thirds. This movement uses some of those powerful harmonies.

Contrabassoon Concerto (2022) Mov. II

Recorded Live at The Jazz Standard, 2009
Annmarie Errico, vocals
Davis Whitfield, piano
Luca Rosenfeld, bass
Evan Sherman, drums
Tune by Lerner & Loewe

Jazz Standard 11.1.09

Almost Like Being in Love

Metropolis, Fritz Lang
Music by Bill Stevens from the album Movie Music
Spoken Word Narration using Narakeet, an AI text to speech program

From the movie Metropolis, Third Movement: Intermezzo

3. Intermezzo          (Zwischenspiel) 

Heute erzähle ich Ihnen die Legende vom Bau des Turmbaus zu Babel.

Kommen! Lasst uns einen Turm bauen, dessen Gipfel bis zu den Sternen reicht!

Und auf dem Höhepunkt des Turms werden wir schreiben:
Groß ist die Welt und ihr Schöpfer!
Und groß ist der Mensch!

Aber diejenigen, die sich den Turmbau zu Babel ausgedacht hatten, konnten den Turmbau zu Babel nicht bauen.

Die Aufgabe war zu groß. Also zahlten sie den Lohn an Außenstehende.

Aber die Hände, die den Turmbau zu Babel bauten, wussten nichts von dem Traum, von dem der Kopf, der ihn erdacht hatte, geträumt hatte.

Die Lobeshymnen eines Mannes wurden zum Fluch anderer.

Es wurde die gleiche Sprache gesprochen, aber diese Männer verstanden sich nicht.

Groß ist die Welt und ihr Schöpfer und groß ist der Mensch
Für Kopf und Hände ist ein Mediator erforderlich.
Der Mittler zwischen Kopf und Händen muss das Herz sein.

Im Dom sieht Freder, wie ein Mönch an der Kanzel predigt.

„Wahrlich, ich sage euch: Die Tage, von denen die Apokalypse spricht, rücken näher!“

Die Hand des Mönchs zeigt auf die Bibel, in der geschrieben steht:

„Und ich sah eine Frau auf einem scharlachroten Tier sitzen, das voller lästerlicher Namen war und sieben Köpfe und zehn Hörner hatte.

Und die Frau war in Purpur und Scharlach gekleidet und hatte einen goldenen Kelch in ihrer Hand.

Und auf ihrer Stirn war ein Name geschrieben, ein Geheimnis:

Babylon die Große, die Mutter der Abscheulichkeiten der Erde.

Und ich sah die Frau, betrunken vom Blut der Heiligen.

Wahrlich, ich sage euch: Die Tage, von denen die Apokalypse spricht, nähern sich.

Alle sieben Todsünden, in ihrem Namen.

Der Tod überkommt die Stadt.


3: Intermezzo

Today I shall tell you the legend of the construction of the tower of Babel. 

Come! Let us build a tower whose zenith shall reach unto the stars! 
And at the tower's zenith we shall write: 

Great is the world and its Maker! 
And great is Man! 

But those who had conceived of the Tower of Babel could not build the Tower of Babel. 

The task was too great. So they paid wages to outside hands.

But the hands that built the Tower of Babel knew nothing of the dream of which the head that had conceived it had been fantasising. 

The hymns of praise of one man became the curses of others. 
The same language was spoken, but these men did not understand one another.

Great is the world and its Maker and great is Man 

Head and Hands require a Mediator. 

The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart.
In the cathedral, Freder witnesses a monk at the pulpit who preaches.

"Verily, I say unto you: the days of which the Apocalypse speaks draw nigh!" 

The monk's hand points to the Bible, in which it is written: 

"And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, having a golden cup in her hand. 

And upon her forehead was a name written, a mystery: 
Babylon the Great, the Mother of Abominations of the Earth. 

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the Saints." 
Verily, I say unto you: the days of which the Apocalypse speaks draw nigh.

All Seven Deadly Sins, on her behalf.

Death overtakes the City.

Intermezzo

Andrew Field-Pickering, commonly referred to as Maxmillion Dunbar or Max D, is in control of the decks for Truancy Volume 53. He is one half of the Future Times, the label responsible for some of dreamiest and tastefully retrospective music of the last few years. Coming from a background rooted in punk music, Pickering began his journey in high school through bands. At the same time his curiosity led him to delve deeper for the source material of the hip-hop songs he heard which brought disco and DJ culture to his attention. Musically, he’s part of Beautiful Swimmers with Ari Goldman, the lyrical front man of Food For Animals and on his own he’s behind the layered and synth-drenched music of Maxmillion Dunbar. 

Read more: http://truantsblog.com/?p=22738

Truancy Volume 53: Maxmillion Dunbar

That Silent Language: 

his words stand like guards
at the chapel of white dawns

asking me:
not to remember
that our mothers
like our grandmothers
bore hopes
hopes which
would have had turned
in their turn
to tumors
sublimated
through
stifled, silenced years
muted against all nature
words veiled in cursive
through the push and pull of all things
dare ask me again:
not to remember
knowing
it’s not the land that would make her sick
it’s not the land that would save her

Alice Z Jones is a British-Jamaican artist from London currently based in Berlin. A multi-media artist drawing from both a European tradition and the traditions of black and Caribbean Diasporas - negotiating lost histories,
imposed histories, institutional invisibility and mis/representation with languages of resistance and repair.
*
Commissioned by Aerial and The Quietus.
*
Part of Aerial: Sounds & Words in the Lake District. 
View the full programme at: www.aerialfestival.com.

Alice Z Jones: That Silent Language (Part 1)

Bill Stevens has been driven by a quote he attributes to Miles Davis, “I have to change”, but he will be the first to tell you that his music is embedded in a deep understanding of history brought to the present and beyond. He is always thinking about the process of creation, finding the new, pushing boundaries both in his playing and especially in his compositions where he has always looked to follow the voice inside of him toward his own spiritual path throughout a life in music. 

Although Bill’s current music is based in sound and color through electro-ambient sound settings that often utilize spoken word, fine art inspiration and field recordings, he also has a robust back catalog of straight ahead Jazz, modal Jazz in an ECM style with an emphasis on Impressionistic harmony and Romantic based melodies, free Jazz and avant-chromatic funk.

It has been a journey with many accomplishments (signed by iti Records, grants from the Seattle Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Humanities, conference speaker and guest performer in Norway and Australia to name a few), but there have been challenges on the path as well (years of overcoming a distinct fear of performing, a break from the exhaustion of maintaining a career in music that turned into a six year sabbatical to a debilitating almost career ending bout with bells palsey that affected his ability to play the trumpet. Bill refers to his sound on the horn today as a ‘fragile beauty’). But Bill’s middle class upbringing in Syracuse, NY taught him the value of hard work, that anything worth caring about as much as he cares about his music is worth fighting for. It was out of these trials that Bill began to commit toward sharing his love of music with a younger generation in the New York City public schools. Bill has worked to inspire and provide his students with creative experiences through his love of music, performance and composition.

Bill wants his fans to know how important they are to him. He always ends his newsletter by saying, “Thank you for being the most important part of my music”. For Bill this is not just a slogan, but his mantra. He genuinely cares about the lives of the people who listen to his music by often saying that his mission each time he performs or each time someone listens to his music at home is to transport them away from their daily grind, to have them momentarily forget about their job, issues at home, whatever the case may be to find a moment of relaxation and inner peace transforming them through instrumental abstract concepts as a fuel to empower and enlighten.

Intermezzo

Bill Stevens Music

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