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All of the works on this disc are from the late 1970's and early 1980's. They reflect my interest then in combining the energy of vernacular music (pop and jazz), with the structural and linguistic possibilities of contemporary classical music, and all of this refracted through the sonic possibilities suggested by the current nascent world of electronic music. While some of the works presented are solely electronic, and others are for acoustic instruments alone, my interest was in the cross fertilization that can occur between these genres.
String Quartet No. 1 is a short work in five movments with all movements being played without pause. Any composer approaching this medium is sure to study the works of Beethoven, Bartok, Crumb, Penderecki, Lutoslawski, and Brown. Perhaps their accumulative voices serve as an undercurrent to this work. At the same time, the unique voice of this piece is in its informal combining of different perspectives, in its quick alternation of the macabre and frightening, to the quiet and serene. The full resources of the instruments are used, as the strings are bowed, plucked, and scraped, and the bodies of the instruments are rapped and tapped as well, and the bow is used both normally and with the wood striking or being slid across the strings.
Shtay is a simple, short study. During its brief expanse it defines a clear shape, which is described by contour and dynamics. The shape is simply that of starting at a beginning point, in this case a single sustained pitch, followed by an opening and filling up, and then ultimately a return to a similar musical point as the beginning. Namely, in the first part of the piece, dynamics get louder, the registral space that is used gets wider, and the rate of musical events gets faster. The reverse process occurs in the latter part of the piece. The title is taken from the middle of the work, where certain sounds have the qualities of speech, perhaps words spoken backwards.
Sand II was completed in 1978 and is scored for two flutes, clarinet, two percussion players, two pianos, and mezzo-soprano. The work is in seven movements, six of which include poems chosen from Gary Snyder's book of poetry and essays, Regarding Wave, and an instrumental interlude. With the exception of the first, all of the movements are played without pause.
Snyder's poetry reflects numerous influences. These include, most strongly, the environmental and cultural attributes of the West Coast and Japan, the result of his having lived in both areas for long periods of time. The poetic images are concise and clear, reminiscent of the Japanese haiku. The relationship to subject seems casual and easy-going, very much a reflection of the West Coast scene of the 60's, and thus the tone of these poems seems to be the result of the blending of an artful, and vernacular, approach to language.
The music reflects this combination of various influences in its musical language. There are reflections of post-serial music in the domains of pitch and gesture; of the French School in the sensuousness of the sound quality; and the Blues, particularly in the area of rhythm, and the sound quality of vocal production frequently asked for. The notation of the printed music, which combines both standard and spatial notation, allows for a more playful sense of improvisation than would be available from standard notation alone.
—when will be sand again.
blowing sand drifting sand—
Oregon sheltering in a shed of
driftwood, naked, kelp whip
“driving sand sends swallows flying—”
shirakawa. “white river” sand.
what they rake out at Ryôan-ji;
clean crumbled creek-washed rotted granite
—I went there once to check the prices
black-burnt workers spade it thru a flume
“all the grains of the sands of the sea.”
walkt your valleys and your hills;
They pass by a pond of water-lily
and lotusses, a pond with a legend,
Fingers deep in the earth search
Roots, pull them out; feel through;
Line of brow, purst mouth
whole flesh is wrappt around,
shows its power and place
in the grace of your glance
unfolds into fuzz on the leaf.
All Poems by Gary Snyder, from his book Regarding Wave. ©1970 by Gary Snyder. Used with the permission of the publisher, New Directions Publishing Corporation.
Miles Mix takes its title from the great jazz trumpeter and composer, Miles Davis. Many of the sources (or in current terminology, “samples”) are taken from a few of his albums from around 1973-5, as well as a few from the guitarist John McLaughlin and Weather Report. Other purely electronically-produced sounds were created on the custom Arp Synthesizer in the Yale Electronic Music Studio.
The piece is in two clearly defined sections. The first is very rambunctious, skittering, and aggressive. The second is very meditative, soft where the first is hard, yet with a hint of unease about it.
The first section is initiated with a “marker sound” (heavy head echo), that is heard throughout this section. It defines a Fibonacci number series (in this case expressed in seconds) that is becoming successively shorter in duration. All musical events are of lengths directly related to the series. The effect is that of the acceleration of time.
The second section, twice as long as the first, is concerned with the process of filtering. Drifting in during the end of the first section, it provides an extensive foil and release to that section's almost manic energy. A new marker (a distorted McLaughlin lick) is also heard here defining successively longer periods related to the Fibonacci series. The effect is that of the deceleration of time.
There is also a strong visual image that governs the structure of this piece. A diver jumps off a high cliff into a body of water. As he approaches impact his speed becomes exponentially greater. At impact itself, speed suddenly moves to slow motion, and the dive is now only a distant memory.
Rivalries (for small orchestra) is, as the title suggests, a somewhat zealous, almost aggressive work. It pits the individual sub-groups of the orchestra against each other and is concerned with their breakdown and recombination, and their ultimate union at the conclusion of the work. The music is characterized by busy and intricately shifting textures, a propulsive rhythmic sense, and a pervasive free jazz flavor, whose center is the “jazz trio” of soprano saxophone, piano, and bass.
The work is in four movements, played without pause. The first movement presents the materials of the work in an episodic manner, highlighting the normative sub-groups of the orchestra. The pattern of tension-release that occurs throughout the work is established here.
The second movement is formed of a succession of instrumental solos and duets, particularly featuring the flute and soprano saxophone. It culminates in a rhythmic unison of two sixteenth notes followed by a sixteenth rest, played by the entire orchestra, a rhythmic motive initially heard in the first movement, and to be heard often in the fourth.
The third movement, slow and subdued, is based on a motive found in the first movement played by the soprano saxophone. Here the motive is expanded to produce a long color melody (klangfarbenmelodie), providing a brief and quiet respite, and acting as a bridge into the fourth movement.
The fourth movement is developmental, and allows for a fuller and richer interaction of materials already heard. The movement culminates in a grand climax, followed by a brief coda suggestive of the opening of the work.
Daniel Asia, Composer In Residence with the Phoenix Symphony under the auspices of the Meet The Composer Orchestral Residencies Program, was born in Seattle, Washington in 1953. He has been the recipient of the most competitive grants and fellowships in music including a Meet The Composer/Reader's Digest Commission, United Kingdom Fulbright Arts Award Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, four NEA Composers Grants, a M.B. Rockefeller Grant, McDowell Colony and Tanglewood Fellowships, ASCAP and BMI composition prizes, and a DAAD Fellowship for study in the Federal Republic of Germany. Rivalries, for orchestra, was a semi-finalist in the Friedheim Competition of the Kennedy Center in 1986.
The composer's major orchestral works include At the Far Edge, Black Light, two song cycles, a trumpet concerto, and four symphonies. He has also written extensively for chamber ensembles and solo performers.
Working with many renowned soloists, ensembles, and orchestras, Mr. Asia has been commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Symphony Orchestra/Syde Family, Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra, Koussevitsky Music Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, D'Addario Foundation for the Performing Arts, Domus, Oberlin Woodwind Quintet, Musical Elements, Benjamin Verdery/guitar, André Michel-Schub/piano, Jonathan Shames/piano, John Shirley-Quirk and Sara Watkins/baritone and oboe, and Robert Dick/flute.
In recent years, Mr. Asia's music has also been performed by the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Aspen Festival Chamber Orchestra, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, and numerous chamber ensembles. His music has been played throughout the United States, and in major venues of New York including Carnegie Hall and Recital Hall, 92nd Street Y, Merkin Hall, the Great Hall at Cooper Union, and those of London including Queen Elizabeth Hall (South Bank), St. John's, Smith Square, and Wigmore Hall. His works have been recorded in London for the BBC by the BBC Singers and Lontano.
After receiving his B.A. degree from Hampshire College, where he studied music and European History, Mr. Asia attended the Yale School of Music, receiving the Master of Music degree. His major teachers include Jacob Druckman, Stephen Albert, Gunther Schuller, Isang Yun, Arthur Weisberg, Bruce MacCombie, Ron Perera, and Randall McClellan.
Mr. Asia is also the founder and present Co-Music Director of the New York-based contemporary ensemble Musical Elements. The Ensemble has performed in all the major halls of New York and was in residence at the 92nd Street Y, 1986-9. Musical Elements records for Composers Recordings, Inc.
Assistant Professor of Contemporary Music and Wind Ensemble at the Oberlin Conservatory from 1981-6, Mr. Asia resided in London from 1986-8 working under the auspices of a U.K. Fulbright Arts Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is presently Associate Professor of Composition, and head of the Composition Department, at The University of Arizona, Tucson. Married to Carolee T. Asia, Mr. Asia and his wife are the parents of three children.
Symphony No. 2 and Symphony No. 3 performed by the Phoenix Symphony and conducted by Maestro James Sedares, can be heard on New World Records (80447-2). PLUM-Dream Sequence II appears on the Attacca label performed by Robert Dick, flutes (BABEL 9158-1).
Mary Feinsinger, a graduate of The Juilliard School and of Barnard College, is a cross-over singer who has performed in a wide variety of musical styles: opera, oratorio, contemporary classical music, pop/jazz, klezmer, and heavy metal rock.
Critics of such papers as the New York Times have hailed her as “an artist of star quality,” a “gifted and effortless singer and actress,” an “exquisite singer” with a voice that is “big, rich and versatile,” and “radiantly rich.” Her classical performances have been described as “brilliantly coordinated,” “marvelously focused and natural,” “perfect jewels” and “tours de force.” As an original member of the noted contemporary music group Musical Elements, and guest artist with such groups as Speculum Musicae, she performed around the country in such pieces as Berio's Circles; Ravel's Chansons Madécasses, Crumb's Night of the Four Moons and Ancient Voices of Children, and numerous premieres.
In the past few years, her interests have led her increasingly into the pop and jazz field. She has devoted much time to commercial and studio work, performing wtih many New York jazz and pop musicians. She has been seen often in New York in such jazz/cabaret spots as Nells, The Ballroom, St. Peter's Jazz Church, The Winter Garden, The Village Gate, and for two straight years, at the West End Gate.
As the vocalist for the acclaimed six piece contemporary klezmer jazz band The West End Klezmorim, she has appeared with such performers as Valerie Capers, Jon Faddis, Ray Barretlo, Milt Ninton, Lou Jacoby, and Shiler and Meana. Critics have said that her performances with the group “rival the best of the Yiddish Theatre in its heyday,” and was described in Newsday as “the world's greatest Yiddish scat singer.”
Mary Feinsinger has had over a decade's experience teaching voice, specializing in contemporary popular voice and piano styling. Her students include many performers in shows and acts on Broadway and in Europe, and major recording artists. She is currently on the jazz faculty of The Mannes College of Music in New York. Ms. Feinsinger studied piano at Juilliard and at The Aspen Festival and is currently on the accompanying staff at Juilliard.
Miles Mix (1976) and Shtay (1975) were realized in the Yale Electronic Music Studio. Miles Mix was first performed October 18, 1976 in Sprague Hall, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Shtay was first performed April 23, 1978 at #1 Sheridan Square, New York, New York. Publisher: Dan Asia Music, BMI
String Quartet No. 1 (1975) was first performed December 6, 1976 in Sprague Hall, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, and subsequently recorded there by Eugene Kimball. The Rymour quartet were the performers. They include Donald Zimmer, violin I; Jeffrey Cox, violin II; Jeffrey Showell, viola; Fern Glass, cello. Publisher: Merion Music (Theodore Presser), BMI
Sand II (1977-78) was first performed by Musical Elements October 27, 1979, at Carnegie Recital Hall, New York, New York with Mary Feinsinger, mezzo-soprano, and Dan Asia, conductor. The work was recorded by Reconnaissance, Eugene O'Brien, Music Director, Mary Feinsinger, mezzo-soprano, and Dan Asia, conductor, at Warner Concert Hall, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio by Thomas W. Bethel in December 1982. Among its numerous performances, it was performed by Endymion Ensemble and Linda Hirst at St John's, Smith Square, London, England. Publisher: Merion Music (Theodore Presser), BMI
Rivalries (1979-80) was first performed March 28, 1982 by the Oberlin Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Dan Asia, Music Director, in Finney Chapel, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. The work was recorded by the same performers in Warner Concert Hall, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio by Thomas W. Bethel. Subsequent performers have included, among others, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Aspen Music Festival Chamber Orchestra, both under the direction of the composer. Publisher: Merion Music (Theodore Presser), BMI
Remastering: Wiley Ross in the Recording Studio of the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Noise reduction/final mastering: Digisonics, Los Angeles, California.
This recording is partially supported by the Author Support Fund of the University of Arizona and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Cover illustration by Roseanne DiSanto, DiSanto Design
P.O. Box 5011, Albany, NY 12205
Tel: 518.453.2203 FAX: 518.453.2205
Box 12, Warton, Carnforth, Lancashire LA5 9PD
Tel: 0524 735873 FAX: 0524 736448
String Quartet No. 1 (12:34)
Sand II for Mezzo-Soprano & Chamber Ensemble (19:22)
Reconnaissance • Mary Feinsinger, mezzo-soprano
Oberlin Contemporary Chamber Ensemble
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