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The Music of
Anthony G. Holland
Concerto for Violin
Concerto for Piccolo
New England Poems
Pohádka a Variace
Intensity 51.5+
Three Pieces for
Solo Guitar
Anthony G. Holland
Born in 1955 in Cleveland, Ohio, Anthony Holland began composing at age 10, winning an award for his first orchestral composition at age 17. He attended the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio and received the Bachelor of Music degree in 1978 with concentrations in composition and vocal performance. From 1978-82 Holland was a scholarship student at The Cleveland Institute of Music and Case-Western Reserve University in Cleveland, graduating with a Master of Music degree in composition, another Master of Music degree in music theory and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in composition. Holland's composition teachers have included Walter Winzenburger, Loris Chobanian, Donald Erb, and Eugene O'Brien as well as master classes with Olivier Messiaen, Joseph Schwantner, John Cage, Karel Husa, Robert Hall Lewis, Hale Smith, and Leslie Bassett.
Since 1982 Holland has been a Professor of Music at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Director of the electronic music and recording studios at Skidmore College, Holland also serves as Skidmore's orchestral conductor and in 1990 made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in the world premiere performance of his work Sun Flight for orchestra and "roving" flute ensemble which was commissioned by the El Camino Symphony of Palo Alto, California. Holland's works have been performed live and broadcast on radio across the United States, South America, western and eastern Europe and in Asia. His works are published by Southern Music and Cimarron Music. In 1991, Albany Records released a compact disc of his work Three Poems Without Words which has received international critical acclaim. Holland has won numerous awards and grants including several from Meet The Composer, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the W.M. Keck Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York Council on the Arts, the Bourge International Electronic Music Festival, Mills College, James-Madison University and Skidmore College.
Concerto for Piccolo
Concerto for Piccolo was composed in 1982 to serve as a vehicle for a virtuoso piccolo player and to demonstrate that the piccolo could be used as an expressive solo instrument.
Pohádka a Variace
Pohádka a Variace was commissioned by the famed Czech violinist Bohumil Smejkal, and given its premiere in the Spring of 1997 in the Czech and Slovak Republics. Pohádka is the Czech word for "Fairy Tale." The piece is deceptively challenging to play, particularly in the variation that emphasizes nearly continuous Paganini-like double stop harmonics.
Three Pieces for Solo Guitar
The Three Pieces for Solo Guitar were composed for my Skidmore colleague, Joel Brown and were first performed in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1987. It was this collaboration with Joel that inspired me to write my trio Three Poems Without Words (Albany Records, "Five Premieres" TROY086).
Intensity 51.5+
Intensity 51.5+ is a light-hearted reference to Varese's Density 21.5. My original sketch was 51.5 measures in length. The pianist chooses how many times to repeat certain measures, hence the "+" sign.
New England Poems
New England Poems was commissioned by Sandy Schwoebel, long-time editor of The Flutist Quarterly, for performance at the National Flute Association Convention in Boston in 1993. Each movement is named after the author and work from which the narration is derived.
Concerto for Violin
Concerto for Violin was commissioned and premiered by the great Czech violin virtuoso Frantisek Novotny to inaugurate his first American concert tour of the United States in 1995-96. I first met Novotny during a guest conducting appearance in the Czech Republic in 1991 and an immediate synergy was felt between the two of us. His playing is inspirational for me.
Anthony Holland
The Artists
Joel Brown, Artist-In-Residence at Skidmore College, is a versatile guitarist whose performances have been included on the Albany Records, Dorian and Telarc labels. He has appeared throughout the United States and Europe with many orchestras including the London Symphony and Boston Pops. His 1997 performance at Carnegie Hall led to engagements with such luminaries as Dawn Upshaw and Frederika von Stade. Brown tours and records regularly with Crofut and Brubeck and has appeared on national television and radio broadcasts throughout the United States.
Pola Baytelman is currently an Artist-In-Residence at Skidmore College. She has performed with the Chilean Symphony, Boston Pops, Albany and Schenectady Symphony Orchestras. A noted performer and author, her book on the piano music of Albéniz is published by Harmonie Park Press.
Bohumil Smejkal, currently Dean of the Janácek Academy of Music in Brno, Czech Republic, has won many awards for his solo and chamber music performances. From 1973-93 he was the "Primarius" of the internationally renowned Janácek String Quartet, and as a member of that group performed hundreds of concerts in over 26 different countries around the world. He has made hundreds of recordings for radio, television and record companies around the globe and is a featured teacher at master classes throughout Europe, Japan, England and the United States. He is now performing with the international Pearl Piano Trio.
Norman Thibodeau, flutist and composer, received Master of Music degrees in Flute Performance and Music History from Peabody Conservatory. He has performed with the Albany Symphony, St. Cecilia Orchestra, Capitol Chamber Artists, Foundation for Baroque Music and numerous other ensembles in the northeast including performances aired on National Public Radio's Performance Today. He is active as a flute teacher and free-lance in the Albany, New York area.
Danielle Bruce is from Stow, Massachusetts and has studied with Paul Pitts and Mark Foster. She is active in the Upstate New York region as a free-lance percussionist performing as a jazz and classical artist.
The Baldwin-Wallace Symphony Orchestra has appeared at several national music conferences under the baton of Dwight Oltman. Members of the orchestra have also performed at the Kennedy Center with the Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival. Guest conductors of the orchestra have included composers Luciano Berio, Witold Lutoslawski, Gunther Schuller, Lukas Foss, and Karel Husa. Alumni of the orchestra have secured jobs in leading professional orchestras such as Cleveland, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Cincinnati, Detroit, Montreal, and the Metropolitan Opera.
Dwight Oltman, Baldwin-Wallace College Professor of Conducting, is equally at home in the modern and classical repertoire. He is Music Director and Conductor for one of the most prestigious and longest running Bach Festivals in the United States today: the Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival, and as such has established himself as one of America's leading interpreters of the music of J.S. Bach. In 1982, the Baldwin-Wallace Festival, under Oltman's baton, presented two concerts in the Kennedy Center's invitational "Festival of Festivals" series, and in 1983 he conducted a Public Broadcasting Service telecast of Bach's St. Matthew Passion seen on 116 stations. Professor Oltman is also Music Director of the Cleveland San Jose Ballet and has conducted hundreds of performances throughout the United States and in Europe. During his twenty years as Founding Music Director of the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, his leadership developed one of America's premiere chamber groups. His guest conducting appearances have included many American orchestras and taken him to Canada, Russia, France, Germany, Scotland and the Czech Republic.
Frantisek Novotny, Professor of Violin at the Janácek Academy, is one of the greatest violin virtuosi from the Czech Republic. He has distinguished himself as a performer of remarkable artistic achievement. Making his home in Brno, the Czech Republic's second largest city, he is the primary soloist with over a dozen orchestras throughout the Czech and Slovak Republics. Winner of numerous international awards for his solo performances, including the Prague Spring Festival and the Paganini Competition, his concert touring activities have been extensive and have included the Czech and Slovak Republics, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Cuba, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Japan and the United States. He has been hailed by critics as a "born virtuoso" and continues to astound audiences with his breathtaking performances of the most difficult works in the violin repertoire. He performs regularly with the Czech Philharmonic, and is a featured soloist with orchestras throughout the world.
Post production and digital mastering on Sonic Solutions® by the composer in the Skidmore College Irwin Recording Studios.
I would like to thank all the performers for their dedication to creating such fine recordings of my compositions. I especially want to acknowledge Dwight Oltman, The Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music, Gordon Thompson of the Music Department at Skidmore College, and the Filene Music Foundation for their generous assistance and support of this production.
Scores and parts for works on this recording can be obtained from Anthony Holland, Skidmore College, Music Department,
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.
Concerto for Piccolo is a recording of a live performance. Pohádka a Variace was recorded and mastered in the Czech Republic by Audio Studio TVOX in April, 1997, Frantisek Necas, recording engineer. Three Pieces for Solo Guitar and New England Poems were recorded April, 1997 at Skidmore College. Intensity 51.5+ was recorded in 1995 at Skidmore College. Concerto for Violin is a recording of a live performance at Baldwin-Wallace College in November, 1996.
Photo of Anthony G. Holland by Adriana Markovská.
Cover Art: "Secret Spring Tendrils" by Jeffrey Elgin, Professor of Art, Skidmore College
Anthony G. Holland
Concerto for Piccolo
Allegro Misterioso (5:33)
Rhapsodie Raccontando (4:28)
Allegro Robusto (6:18)
Peter Markovsky, piccolo
Orchestre d'Artiste
Anthony G. Holland, conductor
live performance
Pohádka a Variace,
A Fairy Tale & Variations for Two Violins (8:17)
Bohumil Smejkal & Frantisek Novotny, violins
Three Pieces for Solo Guitar
Pensativo (3:28)
Echoes of a Master: Hommage a Segovia (3:14)
Rapido y Intenso (3:14)
Joel Brown, guitar
Intensity 51.5+ (from Suite for Solo Piano) (:59)
Pola Baytelman, piano
New England Poems for Flute,
Percussion & Narrator
Thoreau: "Walden" (3:23)
Emerson: "Nature" (3:27)
Walt Whitman: "Leaves of Grass" (4:45)
Norman Thibodeau, flute
Danielle Bruce, percussion
Anthony G. Holland, narrator
Concerto for Violin
Allegro Gioioso (7:59)
Adagio Lamentoso (6:38)
Scherzo (8:42)
Frantisek Novotny, violin
Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory Symphony Orchestra
Dwight Oltman, conductor
live performance
TOTAL TIME = 71:31
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