|
Paul Freeman Introduces. . .
Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Paul Freeman, Music Director
Adolphus Hailstork Sonata da Chiesa
This work was composed on commission from the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia for its string orchestra. It was premiered there in 1992 under the direction of Hazel Cheilek. The Sonata da Chiesa (Church Sonata) reflects the composer's fascination with cathedrals, particularly the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany, New York where he was a chorister as a child. The titles of the movements, which reflect the mood of the music, are as follows: Exaltation, O Great Mystery, Adoration, Jubilation, O Lamb Of God, Grant Us Thy Peace, Exaltation.
The recipient of a Doctorate in Music from the University of Michigan, Adolphus Hailstork has written numerous works for chorus, solo voice, chamber ensemble, band and orchestra. He has received a large number of awards and commissions and is currently a professor at Norfolk State University in Virginia.
Jiri Gemrot American Overture
This work was written for Maestro Paul Freeman and the CNSO and premiered in Prague in 1996. Gemrot's language utilizes twentieth century elements, though it is his aim to fuse styles uniting past and present. His music might best be described as being aligned with neoclassicism. In his compositions, as in the American Overture, he often employs sonata form in an unconventional manner, regarding it as a principle of evolution and contrast.
Jiri Gemrot was born in Prague into a family of musicians. His works, which have been performed in Europe, North and South America, Japan and Korea, include those for orchestra, concertos, chamber music, vocal and film music. Gemrot is convinced of a need to bridge the gap between the composer and the audience. He has frequently dedicated works to musicians who have inspired him. He holds an official position in the Union of Czech Composers and Concert Artists and is a producer for many of the CNSO recordings.
Richard Felciano Symphony for String Orchestra
The Symphony for String Orchestra was composed for the Orquestra Filamonica de la Cuidad de Mexico, which gave the premiere performance in February 1994. The work is based on the slow unfolding, over three movements, of a single harmony, the four central pitches of which are identical to those of a melody from the slow movement of Mozart's A Major Piano Concerto, a melody which emerges in canon in the second movement as well. The core of the third movement, in which the strings imitate drums, is based on African rhythms.
A native of California, Richard Felciano has received awards and commissions from the French and Italian governments, the American Academy of Arts & Letters, the City of Berlin, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Ford, Rockefeller, Fromm, and Guggenheim Foundations. His music has been performed widely in music festivals throughout the world. A Professor of Music at the University of California, Berkeley, he is founder of the Center for New Music & Audio Technologies (CNMAT).
Mark D. Petering Overture Celebration
The Overture Celebration is taken from a larger work (the finale of his First Symphony). The composer uses the tone palette of the orchestra as an artist would in making bold splashes of color in a painting. The work was commissioned by the PieperPower Foundation.
Mark Petering has received a number of awards from several organizations, including ASCAP, the National Federation of Music Clubs and the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts. His music has been performed by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, and has been featured twice at the Washington Island Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin. The Tomten and the Fox and more — New Classical Music for Children by Mark Petering has been released by Zebrina Records and has received critical acclaim for its unique approach to introducing contemporary music to young people. Its featured orchestral composition is popular with parents, teachers and children at education and family concerts.
David N. Baker Images of Childhood
Images of Childhood is one of only a handful of compositions I have written in the last 20 years which was not written on commission. I thought it would be fun to write a piece about my memories of growing up in the Indianapolis of the late 1930s and early 1940s, and Images of Childhood was the result. As with most of my music, while the titles of the work and its movements are programmatic, there was no attempt to connect them to specific events, people, or things; rather, the piece was inspired and driven by fleeting memories, shifting impressions and the nostalgia of carefree times, childhood friends, and a nurturing environment. The listener is encouraged to engage in his or her own reveries.
David Nathaniel Baker, Jr. is a native of Indianapolis and currently holds the position of Distinguished Professor of Music and Chairman of the Jazz Department at Indiana University. He has received numerous honors and awards including the 1973 Pulitzer Prize nomination, 1979 Grammy Award nomination, lifetime achievement award as a trombonist by Down Beat magazine, and in 1994 was the third inductee into their Jazz Hall of Fame. Having been commissioned by more than 500 individuals and ensembles, his compositions tally over 2,000 in number and range from jazz to film music to classical scores.
Paul Freeman has distinguished himself as one of the world's pre-eminent conductors. Much in demand, he has conducted over 100 orchestras in 28 different countries including the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and major orchestras in London, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Berlin. Maestro Freeman has served as the Music Director of Canada's Victoria Symphony, Principal Guest Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic and Associate Conductor of the Detroit and Dallas Symphony Orchestras. He is currently Music Director of the renowned Chicago Sinfonietta and simultaneously serves as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Prague. With over 200 recordings to his credit, he has won numerous awards for his unique interpretations of the classical, romantic, and modern repertoire. Dr. Freeman, who studied on a U.S. Fulbright Grant at the Hochschule in Berlin, holds a Ph.D. degree from the Eastman School of Music and LH.D. degrees from Dominican University and Loyola University.
Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Since the Czech Republic's bloodless "Velvet Revolution" of 1989, the country has been riding a rapid wave of democratization, which has affected the music industry as well. Orchestras in order to survive must concern themselves with the procurement of foreign funds through recording contracts and overseas performances. These developments have necessitated the need for higher performance standards.
Out of this chaotic scene Jan Hasenöhrl, an outstanding solo trumpet player, sensed the acute need to reshape the Czech orchestral scene and, in 1993, invited the top musicians from Prague's major orchestras to form a new orchestra, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra gave its first concert, conducted by Vladimir Valek, in November 1993 in Prague's Rudolfinum Dvorak Hall. In 1994 the Czech music world's national treasure, Zdenek Kosler, was named chief conductor. The first recording was made at the beginning of April 1994. Maestro Kosler died in August 1995.
In January 1996 the brilliant American Conductor and Music Director of the Chicago Sinfonietta, Paul Freeman was appointed Music Director and Chief Conductor. Under Maestro Freeman's leadership, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra has shown stunning development. Already he has made over 45 compact discs with the orchestra and has toured Italy and Great Britain. So successful was the November 1997 United Kingdom tour of 19 concerts under Paul Freeman and Libor Pesek that IMG Concert Management has recently signed a 5-year contract to tour the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Europe, Asia, and America. Through its many recordings, concerts and television productions it is fast becoming one of the most important ensembles in the Czech Republic.
Artistic Director: Paul Freeman
Executive Producer: Joan Yarbrough
Recorded: Sept. 1996 - Sept. 2000
ICNRecording Studios, Prague
Cover Art: Charla Freeman Puryear
Paul Freeman Introduces. . .
1 Sonata da Chiesa [19:20]
2 American Overture [7:06]
Symphony for String Orchestra
6 Overture Celebration [6:14]
8 Lazy Summer Days [5:27]
9 Follow the Leader [4:52]
Czech National Symphony Orchestra
|
