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Marc-Antonio Consoli
ODEFONIA (1976) (23:51)1I(10:49)
2II(6:24)
3III(6:37)
American Composers OrchestraGunther Schuller, conductor
PENSIERI SOSPESI (1997) (20:12)4I(5:48)
5II(7:49)
6III(6:32)
ONIX Nuevo Ensemble de Mexico:Alejandro Escuer, flute; Baltazar Chavarr'a, clarinet; Julia Dinerschtein, violin; Omar Hernandez-Hidalgo, viola; Marta Fontes, cello; Mauricio, N‡der, pianoCarlos Miguel Prieto, conductor
AFTERIMAGES (1982) (22:35)7IOctober Lights Refrain(7:35)
8IIElegaic Lullaby(7:42)
9IIIDream at the End of Joy Tract Road7:17)
The Louisville OrchestraLawrence Leighton Smith, conductorTotal Playing Time: 66:53Consoli is a virtuoso of orchestral sounds, and ODEFONIA could be described as a virtuoso concerto for orchestra”. Though the title means “symphonic poem” the work is in three movements, with each movement structurally related to the classic concerto. Thus, the architecture rests on the sonorities and instrumental combinations, rather than on classical “themes.” Consoli often layers the groups, sometimes having one layer disintegrate as another emerges from the background.
After a raucous opening outburst from the wind, brass and percussion instruments, the four solo cellos and two basses begin to sing out softly, in sustained calm lines marked “Lux Aeterna,” a quote from Consoli's choral work of that title. This begins a long crescendo rising two octaves, while the winds, brass and percussion whisper fragments of the opening material, until another raucous outburst is reached. The strings soar in unison as the wind and brass introduce seven chords punctuating this climactic passage. The two ideas unite and transform in a thoroughly organic way throughout the movement, ending with the seven chords loudly crying out. The second movement has a similar contrast of instrumental choirs against one another. It is a slow and tranquil setting, but with an underlying tension that prepares for the third movement which follows without pause. Parts of the arco string passages in this movement are quotes from Italian folk songs. The third movement has a highly dramatic and explosive chord idea that appears as a kind of ritornello, used throughout to separate various contrasting sections. The movement's rhythmic and harmonic tension builds to the final moments as the work comes to an explosive end with the seven chords heard in the first movement.
PENSIERI SOSPESI was written for the ONIX Nuevo Ensemble de Mexico. The title (“suspended thoughts”),refers to the rich images from the composer's youth. Images which were frozen or suspended in his memory bank. Ideas and emotions become activated, in part through his ongoing adoption of Sicilian folk songs into his compositions. These elements act as bridges for the composer to travel back to this suspended time zones, and reconnect with his past.
The first movement of Pensieri Sospesi contains a four-note motive, which is derived from a nursery rhyme tune, one that the composer sang as a child. The fragment is spun off across the movement in all possible combinations, manipulations and extensions of itself, until the movement balloons and explodes at the close. While the second movement is free of “authentic” folk music, it is not free from the composer's own brand of folk elements, which permeate throughout. The third movement, like the first, makes use of a short quote from an actual song. Similarly, this fragment is tossed around the movement, until it reaches a saturation point, culminating into an all-out coda. The outer movements have more than folk materials in common, for they also share a rhythmic idea as well, which is mostly carried out by the piano. Thus the rhythmic motives and role of the piano act as a unifying structural factors in both movements.
AFTERIMAGES was written on commission from the Koussevitsky Music Foundation at the Library of Congress, and was premiered by the New York Philharmonic in June 1983. The work was begun in the early part of 1982 and completed that summer at the MacDowell Colony, New Hampshire.
The title of the three movements have passionate and romantic overtones that relate to the composer's personal life experiences during the period of the composition. October Lights Refrain is a moody movement that alternates between quiet, introspective sections and aggressive angry ones. The title grew out of an observation noted by the composer one night, as the moon's light fell upon a tree, that cast a shadow through the bedroom window and onto the bedroom floor. The interplay between the light and darkness gave rise to the music's moods. Elegiac Lullaby mourns not the passing of life, but the dashed hopes for a new one.
It begins with pitch bending and short glissandi in the winds and brass. Next we hear soft harmonic clusters in the strings, slowly swirling around, while glittering sounds of bells and other metal instruments join in, accompanying French horns in the distance quoting from a Bellini song. It is atmospheric and lullaby like, to be sure. The music moves on, changing to an aggressive angry tone before returning to the lullaby. central segment follows leading to the aggressive part again, which builds to a large crescendo. In triple fortissimo and in unison, the orchestra briefly outlines the Bellini song. The movement ends quietly and on an elegiac note. In the third and last movement, Dream at the End of Joy Tract Road, the composer takes the anger and pathos of the previous two movements and turns them into a positive joyful song. Two simple melodic lines which appear always together throughout the movement, interlocking in question and answer, make up the basic materials for the movement.MARC-ANTONIO CONSOLI was born in Italy and came to the United States when he was fifteen years old. Music was an integral part of his paternal family. His grandfather had been a respected local amateur musician and organist at one of the town's three churches, having his ten children as the choir. Consoli began his formal music studies in his early twenties, and went on to earn the Doctor of Music Arts from Yale University. While at Yale he founded, coached and conducted the Yale Players for New Music. The ensemble performed a variety of 20th century works of different styles. This was a formative experience which helped mold and shape his early creative years. Tracing his musical growth and development, we find that from early on, Consoli strived to achieve a clear personal musical style. After an obligatory serial phase, he spent two years in Poland on a Fulbright Fellowship, soaking up what the Polish music scene had to offer at the time. During the mid-seventies, he began to look back to his Italian heritage and its folk songs in particular. Hence, we find an unfolding of emotions through the adoption of folk materials in his music. Mr. Consoli's musical aesthetic is concerned with dense sonorities that result from layers of tonal centers, meters (if any are used) and contrapuntal lines of irregular lengths. The thickness of the textures shift from section to section according to the passage and structure of the music. The objective is to create a kind of floating lyricism on top of a band of complex harmonic and rhythmic strata.
Mr. Consoli has received numerous awards including two Guggenheim Memorial Fellowships, three National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Among the recording awards he has received, the Ditson Foundation, the Jerome Foundation and the Louisville Orchestra. Other prizes that he has won include the International Symphonic Competition of Monaco; Concorso Internazionale di Trieste, Italy; the Omaha Competition for Orchestra and Soloist. He has been commissioned by major ensembles, foundations and festivals, including the Steirischer Herbst Festival, Austria; Festival Internationale d'Arte Contemporaine, France; the Fromm and Koussevitzky Foundations. His music has been performed at the Gaudeamus Music Week in Holland; the Fromm Festival, Tanglewood, USA; the ISCM Festivals in Finland and Belgium. He has been performed also by the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Baltimore, Louisville, Nashville, the American Composers Orchestras, and many others.
strong>ONIX Nuevo Ensemble de Mexico is a unique group in Mexico devoted to contemporary music. Its flexible instrumentation (winds, strings, piano, percussion, harp, brass, guitar, electronics) allows composers to explore diverse timbral and contrasting resources. The members of the ensemble share in the commitment to perform new music and in their goal to propitiate and foster highly crafted forms of musical expression that have defined the twentieth century and that will influence the music of the twenty-first century. Founded in July, 1996, ONIX has already been the recipient of Fondo National para la Cultura y las Artes Award.AMERICAN COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA was founded in 1975 by composers Francis Thorne and Nicolas Roussakis, conductor Dennis Russell Davies, and assistant conductor Paul Dunkel. For many seasons it held an annual subscription series at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall before moving to Carnagie Hall. More than 200 composers have had works performed by the ACO including many world premieres each season. The orchestra made numerous early recordings for CRI and in more recent years has recorded for Argo, Point, Music Masters and Nonesuch.
THE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA has long been known as one of America's most daring symphony It's commitment to contemporary works dates to the 1950s when the Louisville Orchestra Commissioning Project was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and resulted in more than 100 new scores by composers from America and the world. Many of these works were recorded by the orchestra on its own label First Edition Records and several have been licensed to CRI (and other labels) for reissue on CD.
PENSIERI SOSPESI: Engineered by Eliseo Fernadez Bolland. Alejandro Colinas, assistant engineer. Edited by Paul Furedi.afterimages: From Louisville First Edition Recordings LS-783-784.Engineer: Andrew Kazdin. Licensed courtesy the Louisville Orchestra, Inc.Publishing: Afterimages and Odefonia: Margun Music Inc.; Pensieri Sospesi: Rinaldo Music Press. (BMI)Cover Art: Marc-Antonio ConsoliCRI Production Manager: Allison Wolf Interior graphic design: Gwen Deelyhic design: Gwen Deely Publish
America's premier new music label, Composers Recordingsri Sospesi: Rinaldo Music Press. (BMI)America's premier new music label, Composers Recordings, Inc/CRI is a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation, founded in 1954 and dedicated to the discovery, distribution and preservation of the finest in contemporary music representing the diverse inspirations of American culture. CRI's general operations and recorded projects are supported by a coalition of private foundations, universities and individuals. Executive Director: Joseph R. Dalton This compact disc has been made possible through the generous support of the AARON COPLAND FUND FOR MUSIC, the ALICE M. DITSON FUND.
ODEFONIA: From CRI SD 384. Produced by Carter Harman. Recorded by David Hancock, May 24, 1978 at St. Peters Church, NYC. Original recording made possible by grants from American Composers Orchestra, the Jerome Foundation and the American Academy of Arts
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