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Price: $14.95
Composed and Produced by: David Heckendorn
Recording Engineer: William Kinslow
Recorded at: Studio K, New York City (1997) |
“Fantasy for Violin and Piano” played by Joyce Hammann and myself offers you, the listener, a peek into another time. eo-classical music means that music which reflects musical thought which is classic in its form in its preponderance of tonality, in its reliance on emotional nuance for its temperament.
Originally a one movement piano sonata, this fantasy is well expressed as a violin duo. Two main themes present themselves with a transition section developed as an episode later in the piece. The slow brooding sentiment of the first theme in a minor key offers more questions than answers and although the second theme in A Major offers a sweetly sung answer it suggests an underlying nostalgia and sadness that ultimately suggests still more questions. The recapitulation and the coda help to allow one to consider musical possibilities and the final resolution to G Major, happily, puts a positive bent on an unknown future.
“Quintessence” is a haunting artifact from another era. The most truly neo-classical of all my pieces, this Clarinet Quintet unfolds in through-composed, modified Sonata Form. Somewhat like a mini-concerto for Clarinet and Strings, however, the individual string parts suggest more of an equal distribution of lead roles as in a String Quartet.A composer is a percentage of his influences and a percentage of his individuality. I enjoy when I hear Brahms, Bruckner, or Berg visit my work. Very tuneful and dance-like containing: an unusual march, a proper minuet, a ballad, an atonal waltz, a tango, and a clarinet and cello cadenza. The Clarinet part is challenging on several levels. Certainly the craftsmanship of Dennis Joseph allows this piece a very respectable maiden voyage. “Quintessence” has not yet received its world premiere on stage. I patiently await the arrival of that opportunity.
Lanston Hughes, in 1967 shortly before his death, collected his personal favorite poems. Included in this collection is The Negro Speaks of Rivers. This poem inspired me to compose a symphonic tone poem for orchestra. In it I attempt to reflect my emotional and spiritual life as it responds to the poem. I included seven other poems later as a result of playing this piece for my friend Richard Dreyfuss. He felt the piece had an extremely powerful quality that could be enhance by the speaking of more poetry throughout the performance of the work. The piece as a symphonic tone poem is far more abstract but it does still convey the emotional canvas of the poetry.
* to listen to this piece with the narration included both in its orchestral form and in the commissioned chamber setting click the bar marked RIVERS on this web site.
“Alto Saxophone Concerto” as performed by the Compatriot Symphony Orchestra, Gerry Niewood - soloist. Gerry Niewood is comfortable in a multitude of musical situations. He is a consummate musician who has distinguished himself as an intelligent interpreter of classical music, an inspired jazz musician and a soloist in both these genres with masterful taste and expertise. I was delighted to have Gerry premiere this concerto on the stage of the Wheatley School in Old Westbury on June 21, 1996.
The concerto begins with an introduction which will appear later in the third movement as the second of this piece’s alto saxophone cadenzas. The musical material is here expressed as one tone cluster of sound after another. This introduction is probably the most atonal, non-melodic, most abstract section of the entire work.
The tarantella dance theme that follows suggests something folksy in nature as does the contrasting Gaelic Waltz next to appear.
*This piece has been set to dance in the Ballet “The Butterfly And The Moth”. Choreographed by my daughter Elizabeth Heckendorn and given its premiere in 2002 at the Wheatley School in Old Westbury, New York.
Episodes of sporadic atonality juxtaposed against thematic content postpone yet another return to the Tarantella theme. The first cadenza for the saxophone serves to separate movement I from movement II. Movement II begins with a gentle, plaintive melody expanding until theme two introduces a more dramatic course. A recapitulation of theme one leads to another dramatic episode but relaxes, finally, to a calm state of being.
The final movement begins much like an overture to an Opera. This is not surprising since it originally served as exactly that. I had begun composing an Opera called “A Woman’s Revenge” about twenty years ago. Never having completed the work I did however use the principal themes from that opera to create this third movement. The aria that appears in the heart of this movement can be heard as the vocal “Vida” on my “Come Rain Or Come Shine” CD. This last movement returns to the Tarantella theme from the first movement just after the saxophone gives rise to his second cadenza.
I conducted the Compatriot Orchestra for the premiere of this work in 1996 and for this recording in 1997. Among the very fine musicians in this forty-five piece orchestra is today’s 1st Trumpet player from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, David Krauss. I am proud to say that David was a band student of mine at the Wheatley School in the late 1980’s.
This CD ends with “Postlude” for solo Piano played by myself. This brief composition (1:48) is reminiscent of impressionistic music of Debussy and Ravel.
The Compatriot Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Heckendorn
David Brandom: Flute
Bill Kinslow: Clarinet
David Krauss: Trumpet
Alexander Simionesco: Violin
Cady Finlayson: Violin
Denise Cridge: Viola
Debbie Sepe: Cello
Jared Egan: Bass
Steve Finkelstein: African Percussion
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