WalkerArt~enter

MinnesotaComposersForum andThe DaleWarlandChamberSingers

Walker Art Center presents

Minnesota Composers Forumand The Dale Warland Chamber Singers

Dale Warland. conductor

8pmThursday, 19 September 1985Walker Art Center Auditorium

Three Songs from Hebrew PoetrySteve Barnett

1. The Poet2. Epitaph: For A Wife3. The Sun

The Seventh Healing Song of JohnJoseph (Blue)James DeMars

Jan Weller, flute

The Stone of SisyphusTyler Kaiser

Daniel K. Sturm, guitar

Peppercorn SongsEric Stokes

Jerry Rubino, piano

intermission

Le Campane di LeopardiYehuda Yannay

Echo. in AmberC. James Sheppard

prelude, Apparition 1 (counterpoint)interlude

prelude, Apparition 2 (organ point)postlude

James Sheppard, electronic valve instrument,delay, pre-recorded electronic tape

ChicagoLloyd Ultan

Jerry Rubino, piano

Program Notes

The Three Songs from Hebrew Poetrywere a result of my being chosen to write aworkto be performed by the 1982 MinnesotaAll-State Choir, co-commissioned by theMinnesota American Choral DirectorsAssociation and the Minnesota MusicEducators Association. Having never studiedHebrew poetry during my ten years of HebrewSchool, Iwas excited to discover The Penguin

Book of Hebrew Verse, which covers therichness of Hebrew poetry from the Biblethrough the 20th century. The three poems Ichose and translated are reproduced belowand are qu ite self-explanatory. Suffice it to say~ Iwas struck with the timelessness of eachl--""dm as it addresses the creative artist'sdilemma, marital relations, and pure joy of life.

Steve Barnett graduated summa cum laudefrom the University of Minnesota in MusicTheory and Composition, and attendedEastman School of Music, studying advancedjazz composition and arranging. After leavingthe University, Steve was Assistant CreativeDirector at Sound 80 Recording Studios forfour years. Now Creative Director of BarnettMusic Productions, Steve is also beginning histwenty-first year aschoir director at B'nai EmetSynagogue, produces Sf. Paul SundayMorning for National Public Radio, and isresident composer/arranger/conductor forNPR's A Prairie Home Companion show.Steve's current projects include his fourth yearas the McKnight albums producer for theMinnesota Composers Forum; thecomposition of a viola concerto for TamasStrasser (Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra) andthe St. Paul Jewish Community CenterOrchestra; as well as a new jazz work to be~iered as part of the commemoration of. new Music Building at the University ofMinnesota.

The Seventh Healing Song of JohnJoseph (SIue}fo rfl ute and pre-recorded tapewas commissioned by Arizona StateUniversity for Eric Hoover. Writing for aninstrument and tape recorder provided anopportunity to enjoy a magical world ofmanipulated acoustic sound and to thus createa dialogue with the supernatural. Anyoneliving in the Southwest soon recognizes theimpact of the Native American culture and islikely to notice its shared traditions with theFar East. The mantra is similar to the repetitivecolor imagery (usually red or blue) of theNavaho "horse songs" and ceremonialdrums, as well as mandala designs, arecommon to both cultures. The "Healing Song"is an artifact of my fascination with thesepre-Buddhist pioneers and with thoseindividuals who practice the mystical art ofhealing.

James DeMars is a native Minnesotan. In,-., he received a doctorate in theory andc...uposltlon from the University of Minnesotawhere he studied with Dominick Argento andEric Stokes. From 1977-81 he served asMusical Director and pianist with Zeitgeist,and in 1981 he joined the faculty of Arizona

State University, where he teaches theory,composition and acoustics. He is currentlyMusic Director and pianist with TOS, aperforming arts ensemble.

The Stone of SisyphusMany aspects of existence appear asagonizingly futile actions and events. Themyth of Sisyphus presents this futility ascyclic; for a brief time it appears our stoneshave reached a goal, yet our hopes roll downthe hill to do it all again. Looking into thedespair of this realization Albert Camuscommented on his own essay "The Myth ofSisyphus" as follows: "Although 'the Myth ofSisyphus' poses mortal problems, it sumsitself up for me as a lucid invitation to live andto create, in the very midst of the desert."Looking into this despair is also whatstimulated me to choose the title of thiscomposition during its creation. The structureshows the cyclic nature of the myth by beinga chain of variations of a theme which is notpresented-though the three principal notesofthis theme should be apparent, their risingintervals representing hope and the ascent.Similarly climbing and descending lines are torepresentthe path ofthe stone and Sisyphus.

Tyler Kaiser was born in Duluth, Minnesotaand spent most of his life there. He attendedSt. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota fortwo years, where he studied music theory andcomposition with Janet Gilbert and ArthurCampbell. At the College of St. Scholastica inDuluth, Mr. Kaiser studied guitar andcomposition with Daniel K. Sturm, laterassuming the position of Associate Professorof Guitar for the '84-85 academic year. As acomposer Mr. Kaiser has been the recipient ofgrants and awards from the MinnesotaFederation of Music Clubs, the St. LouisCounty Heritage and Arts Center, theMinnesota Composers Forum, and theArrowhead Regional Arts Council.

Peppercorn Songs were composed on acommission from the First Unitarian Societyof Minneapolis with funds provided by theCharles Sigmund Memorial Fund for Music.The text comes from writings that firstappeared in the Smithsonian magazine,concerning the history of pepper and its usesfor cooking and medicinal purposes.

Eric Stokes was born in Haddon Heights,New Jersey, and was educated at LawrenceCollege, the New England Conservatory ofMusic and the University of Minnesota, wherehe now teaches in the School of Music. Amonghis many works are those commissioned forthe Minnesota Orchestra, the Minnesota

Opera Company, the London Sinfonietta, theSt. Paul Chamber Orchestra, PlymouthCongregational Church, the Cabrilla Festival,Walker Art Center, and New Music America.

Campane di Leopardi (Leopardi's Bells)I~ a setting of an excerpt from the poem LeRicordanze (Memories) by the Italian poetGiacomo Leopardi (1798-1837). The text, sungin Italian, translates as follows:... The tolling of the hour is carried by the

windFrom the town-belfry. It was the sound thatcomforted me,As I remember, during those terrifying nightsOf boyhood, when I lay awake in my darkroom,Filled with fright, longing for the dawn ...

The work is accompanied by a Bb-F drone,played on tuned wine glasses, representingthe "Emptiness of Night." The pairs of chordsequences count the hours of the night innumbers and go through the lines ofthe text.This work was commissioned by the choralsociety Madrigal Ars Viva in Santos, Brazil andwas premiered by the composer in 1980. In1984, this work was a finalist in a NationalCompetition of Contemporary Choral Music inAmerica at Bowdoin College.

,huda Vannay is pursuing an internationalcareer as a composer. He holds a doctoratefrom the University of Illinois and degreesfrom Brandeis University and the RubinAcademy of Music in Tel-Aviv. He serves onthe faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he established theprominent Music From Almost Yesterdayseries and conducted more than two hundredfirst Milwaukee performances and numerousworld premieres. This summer he touredWestern Europe and presented concerts of hismusic in Denmark, Belgium and Germany.During 1985-86 he will serve as guestprofessor at the University of Texas at Dallas.His works are recorded on the CRI, Advanceand Levana labels.

Echo, in Amberwas written for the World asMirror national conference on narcissism heldin Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1983. Themusic appeared on a festive concert ofpremieres composed especially for theconference. Essentially solo music written forthe Steiner Electronic Valve Instrument, (EVI)

composition also employs a delay unit (for""no) and pre-recorded audio tracks of EVImusic (for counterpoint and accompaniment).The Steiner EVI is a monophonic, analogsynthesizer designed for performers with abackground in valved, brass instruments.

C. James Sheppard received training incomposition under a fellowship with PhilipBezanson at the University of Massachussetts(M.M. 1968) and with Richard Hervig andDonald Martin Jenni atthe University of Iowa(Ph.D. 1975) where he was a composition andperforming fellow with the Center for NewMusic. He has received several awards for hiscompositions which have been performed inthe United States and Europe. Mr. Sheppardis currently a member of the music faculty atMiami University (Ohio) where he teachescomposition and directs both the electronicmusic studio and the ensemble for new music.

ChicagoThe vivid, strong, brusque images of CarlSandburg's poem were the initial attractingfeature of the text to the composer. Theyprovided an effective portrayal of the big citywith its diversity of personalities and kinds ofhuman experiences, and offered thecomposer the opportunity to explore a widerange of vocal and piano interaction andexpression. The piece is unabashedly tonaland tends to section itselfto complement theflow of the text and its changing moods. Thedemanding piano writing is designed to addboth strength and a sense of continuousdriving motion that one should associate witha vital growing city. The primary concern ofthe composer was to capture the poeticrepresentations of Sandburg and tocomplement them with a suitable musicalsetting. The composition was completed afteran exchange of correspondence between thecomposer and poet and brought to final formwith the poet's encouragement.

Chicago

They tell me you are wicked and I believethem, for I have seen your painted womenunder the gas lamps luring the farm boys.

And they tell me you are crooked and I answer:Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman killand go free to kill again.

Andtheytell me you are brutal and my replyis: On the faces of women and children Ihave seen the marks of wanton hunger.

And having answered so I turn once more tothose who sneer at this my city, and I givethem back the sneer and say to them:

Come and show me another city lifted headsinging so proud to be alive and coarse andstrong and cunning.

Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of pilingjob on job, here is a tall bold slugger setvivid against the little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action,cunning as a savage pitted against thewilderness,Bareheaded,

~~~oveling,. Wrecking,

Planning,Building, breaking, rebuilding,

Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth,laughing with white teeth,Under the terrible burden of destiny laughingas a young man laughs, Laughing even as anignorant fighter laughs who has never.lost a battle,Bragging and laughing that under his wrist isthe pulse, and under his ribs the heart ofthe people,

Laughing!Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling

laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating,proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker,Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads andFreight Handler to the Nation.

-Carl Sandburg

Lloyd Ultan has been the Director of theUniversity of Minnesota School of Music since1975. He was founder and first chairman ofthe music department at Dickinson College,

lisle, (PA), and served as Guest ProfessorComposition and Theory at the Royal

College of Music, London, and as guestlecturer at Cambridge University. Mr. Ultanhas received numerous commissions,performances, grants and fellowshipsthroughout his career, bringing him in contactwith such ensembles as The Tokyo StringQuartet, Pro Arte String Quartet and TheCharlie Byrd Trio.

The Dale Warland Chamber Singers are aprofessional choral ensemble with anextensive repertoire of standard a cappellamusic representing a broad variety of styles.Established by Dr. Dale Warland in 1972, theDale Warland Singers begin their fourteenthseason in 1985 with plans for performances atOrchestra Hall, the Ordway Music Theatre, andvarious regional concerts in the UpperMidwest. In March of 1985 the Singerstraveled to Germany to perform concerts inStuttgart, with the Stuttgart Radio SymphonyOrchestra, and Frankfurt, with the FrankfurtRadio Symphony Orchestra. Regularly heard

~ Minnesota Public Radio, National Publicdio, and American Public Radio broadcasts,

me Singers have also performed with theSaint Paul Chamber Orchestra and theMinnesota Orchestra. The Dale WarlandChamber Singers have made significantcontributions to twentieth century music

through numerous performances ofcontemporary literature and the ensemble'sinvolvement in world premiere performancesand commissions of works by localcomposers. Once such commission will bepremiered November 9, at Macalester Collegewhen the Singers perform Our Sisters:Requiem, by Michael J. Aubart.

Dale Warland, Music Director of The DaleWarland Chamber Singers, is on leave ofabsence this season from his position asProfessor of Music at Macalester College in St.Paul. Mr. Warland has distinguished himselfas a composer and arranger, and was awardedan Individual Artist Grant by the MinnesotaState Arts Board in 1981 to work with RobertShaw, the Music Director of the AtlantaSymphony Orchestra. He has guest conductedthe Swedish Radio Choir (Stockholm), theDanish Radio Choir (Copenhagen), andtraveled to England in 1983to research Englishchoral literature under a Bush FoundationAward. Dr. Warland frequently serves as guestconductor and lecturer for various groupsthroughout the U.S., is a member of theRecording Panel of the National Endowmentfor the Arts, and has served as Co-Cha irpersonof the NEA Choral Panel.

For their support of the programs of the MinnesotaComposers Forum we would like to thank:

Andersen Foundation; American Society of Composers,Authors and Publishers; Bush Foundation; Deluxe CheckPrinters; Doherty, Rumble & Butler; Dorsey & Whitney;First Bank System Foundation; General Mills; MaryLivingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation; Mr.and Mrs. R.D. Hulings; International Multifoods; InvestorsDiversified Services; Jerome Foundation; Dr. & Mrs.Arthur Kaemmer; Knox Lumber; Mrs. George M. Lowry;Mrs. Russell T. Lund; McKnight Foundation; McNeelyFoundation; Minneapolis Foundation; Minnesota Miningand Manufacturing; Northwest Area Foundation;Norwest Foundation; Rahr Malting Foundation; MargaretRivers Fund; St. Paul Companies; St. Paul Foundation;Tennant Company; James R.Thorpe Foundation; ValsparCorporation; Wenger Corporation; Carl A. WeyerhaeuserTrust; with special thanks to individual contributors.

This concert has been made possible in part by a grantprovided by the Minnesota State Arts Board through anappropriation by the Minnesota Legislature, and withgrants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Minnesota Composers Forum is the recipient of aMcKnight Foundation Award administered by theMinnesota State Arts Board.

The Minnesota Composers Forum is supported in part bythe United Arts Fund.

The Minnesota Composers Forum is the recipient of agrant from the Dayton Hudson Foundation, made possiblethrough the contributions of B. Dalton Bookseller,Sherman A. Swenson, Chairman and CEO; Dayton's,Thomas E. Payne, President; Target Stores, BruceAllbright, Chairman and CEO.