Congress for the International Alliance for Women in Music
Flagstaff, AZ
September 2011
Review of Concert 8: September 17, by Suzanne Knosp
I had the privilege of attending the eighth concert on Saturday, September 17, 3:15 p.m., at the High Country Conference Center. The concert was titled "In Motion: New and Ancient Sounds for the Piano from the 20th to 21st Centuries" and originally featured six works performed by three women and one man. Unfortunately, Brian Lockard was unable to perform Marcela Pavia's Temple Bell.
The concert opened with Six Preludes, Op. 15 (1922) by Marion Bauer. Becky Billock was in command at the piano throughout this work, which she performed from memory. The first prelude, "Quietly," is for left hand alone and is filled with a lyricism and a sense of yearning, with shades of jazz harmonies in the accompaniment figures. In the second prelude, "Allegretto grazioso," Bauer again provides us with that hint of jazz with the flavor of a lyrical waltz that dances back and forth between major and minor harmonies. Prelude no. 3, "Very Fast," is just that. Billock's hands scampered the full range of the keyboard faster than a tarantella on a blistering Arizona highway. The use of melodic parallelism between the right and left hand melody provided many dramatic moments. In no. 4, "Vigoroso," Bauer explores primitive harmonies with lyrical melodies in contrast to the "vigorous" parts. To my ear, there were "Debussy-esque" moments in the texture and melody. Strong octave passages and flashy glissandos lead the listener to a slam-bang ending. Prelude no. 5, "With Deep Feeling," began with a single-note ostinato in the left hand and dotted rhythms in the right hand melody. As Billock added the inner voices and ringing, unresolved diminished chords, the listener felt a sense of passion and longing. The final prelude, "Exuberantly, passionately," reminded me of Rachmaninov and Chopin, at times, and was full of joy.
The three Preludes of Pace, by an up and coming nineteen-year-old composer, Molly Joyce, are titled, "Medium Piano," "Fast Piano," "Slow Piano." "Medium Piano" begins with a slow, dark, haunting melody and continues with jazz rhythms and gestures. Joyce fully explores the sonorities of the bass register in this work. The mood changes to something angst ridden and ferocious; as a listener, I felt spent. A return to the opening material, which eventually fades to peacefulness, gives the audience a moment to recover before "Fast Piano." In this second movement, in a meter of five, the ostinato is interrupted by scales, trills, and octave tremolos. Wild leaps in the left hand and speedy two-hand octave passages bring us once again to an unresolved end. In "Slow Piano," we hear bell-like chimes in the opening and the surprise of major chords. Once more, Joyce explores the deep sonority and suspensions of the bass register. The music is haunting and mysterious with insistent repetitions--the repeated bell motif and contrasts between the extremes of piano and forte. The aural painting continues to unfold and seems to express drama, harshness, pain, doom, and a funereal atmosphere. I am reminded of Copland's Piano Variations at times with the extremes in dynamics, the extraordinary variety of color, and the seeming simplicity of single lines in the right and left hands. The piece finally resolves all three movements with major chords and a last rich sonority in the bass. Of course, Billock's extraordinary interpretation and performance made it possible to enjoy and understand these wonderful works.
Jer-Mae G. Astolfi performed Free and Unticketed by Stacey Barelos and Toccata II by Betty Wishart. In the program notes, Barelos states that some elements of the work sound like "the music of other composers." As a listener, I responded to hearing musical forms such as the polka and waltz, and moments reminiscent of children's songs, and I was taken on a journey of tension and susupension. Astolfi executed numerous special keyboard effects brilliantly. In Toccata II, Wishart begins in t he lower register of t he piano and the right and left hands play leapfrog up and down the full range of the instrument. The insistency of the toccata is relieved at times by large chords.
The world premiere of Petite Suite by Kanako Okamoto, was performed by Christina Eide of Glendale Community College. The music is based on a haiku by Basho Matsuo: Old Pond/ a frog jumping in / sounds of water. The performer's engaging interpretation enabled the listener to imagine clear images of a pond in the quiet of a foggy forest morning. We see the willows slowly dripping water into the pond. A singel bird resting on a branch. A single frog leaping. The water disturbed; then stillness.
I had the privilege of attending the eighth concert on Saturday, September 17, 3:15 p.m., at the High Country Conference Center. The concert was titled "In Motion: New and Ancient Sounds for the Piano from the 20th to 21st Centuries" and originally featured six works performed by three women and one man. Unfortunately, Brian Lockard was unable to perform Marcela Pavia's Temple Bell.
The concert opened with Six Preludes, Op. 15 (1922) by Marion Bauer. Becky Billock was in command at the piano throughout this work, which she performed from memory. The first prelude, "Quietly," is for left hand alone and is filled with a lyricism and a sense of yearning, with shades of jazz harmonies in the accompaniment figures. In the second prelude, "Allegretto grazioso," Bauer again provides us with that hint of jazz with the flavor of a lyrical waltz that dances back and forth between major and minor harmonies. Prelude no. 3, "Very Fast," is just that. Billock's hands scampered the full range of the keyboard faster than a tarantella on a blistering Arizona highway. The use of melodic parallelism between the right and left hand melody provided many dramatic moments. In no. 4, "Vigoroso," Bauer explores primitive harmonies with lyrical melodies in contrast to the "vigorous" parts. To my ear, there were "Debussy-esque" moments in the texture and melody. Strong octave passages and flashy glissandos lead the listener to a slam-bang ending. Prelude no. 5, "With Deep Feeling," began with a single-note ostinato in the left hand and dotted rhythms in the right hand melody. As Billock added the inner voices and ringing, unresolved diminished chords, the listener felt a sense of passion and longing. The final prelude, "Exuberantly, passionately," reminded me of Rachmaninov and Chopin, at times, and was full of joy.
The three Preludes of Pace, by an up and coming nineteen-year-old composer, Molly Joyce, are titled, "Medium Piano," "Fast Piano," "Slow Piano." "Medium Piano" begins with a slow, dark, haunting melody and continues with jazz rhythms and gestures. Joyce fully explores the sonorities of the bass register in this work. The mood changes to something angst ridden and ferocious; as a listener, I felt spent. A return to the opening material, which eventually fades to peacefulness, gives the audience a moment to recover before "Fast Piano." In this second movement, in a meter of five, the ostinato is interrupted by scales, trills, and octave tremolos. Wild leaps in the left hand and speedy two-hand octave passages bring us once again to an unresolved end. In "Slow Piano," we hear bell-like chimes in the opening and the surprise of major chords. Once more, Joyce explores the deep sonority and suspensions of the bass register. The music is haunting and mysterious with insistent repetitions--the repeated bell motif and contrasts between the extremes of piano and forte. The aural painting continues to unfold and seems to express drama, harshness, pain, doom, and a funereal atmosphere. I am reminded of Copland's Piano Variations at times with the extremes in dynamics, the extraordinary variety of color, and the seeming simplicity of single lines in the right and left hands. The piece finally resolves all three movements with major chords and a last rich sonority in the bass. Of course, Billock's extraordinary interpretation and performance made it possible to enjoy and understand these wonderful works.
Jer-Mae G. Astolfi performed Free and Unticketed by Stacey Barelos and Toccata II by Betty Wishart. In the program notes, Barelos states that some elements of the work sound like "the music of other composers." As a listener, I responded to hearing musical forms such as the polka and waltz, and moments reminiscent of children's songs, and I was taken on a journey of tension and susupension. Astolfi executed numerous special keyboard effects brilliantly. In Toccata II, Wishart begins in t he lower register of t he piano and the right and left hands play leapfrog up and down the full range of the instrument. The insistency of the toccata is relieved at times by large chords.
The world premiere of Petite Suite by Kanako Okamoto, was performed by Christina Eide of Glendale Community College. The music is based on a haiku by Basho Matsuo: Old Pond/ a frog jumping in / sounds of water. The performer's engaging interpretation enabled the listener to imagine clear images of a pond in the quiet of a foggy forest morning. We see the willows slowly dripping water into the pond. A singel bird resting on a branch. A single frog leaping. The water disturbed; then stillness.