David Bruce - Composer

Two new pieces

I finished two new pieces in recent months, both of which will have to wait till next year for their premieres. The first is Laughter Through Tears, a concerto commissioned by and written for Giora Feidman (actually a double concerto with violin solo along with the string orchestra). After a bit of too-ing and fro-ing Giora tells me he's scheduled the premiere of this piece for next March at the lovely looking Prinzregententheater in Munich (see above). The performance will feature the Russian Chamber Philharmonic conducted by Juri Gilbo.

Also completed earlier this week is my flute/harp/viola trio for San Diego's Art of Elan series. I'm particularly pleased with this rather delicate series of four 'nocturnes' which I've called The Eye of Night. No date has been decided yet for the premiere, but hopefully it will be next season at some point. With a bit of luck and good timing, a first trip to California beckons!

Tango in Iford

At the premiere of Saudades with Chroma in the atmospheric grounds of Iford Manor near Bath.

Saudades in Bath and Berkamsted

My tango-inspired piece Saudades made its first transition from abstract page to vibrating air yesterday at the hands of the always splendid Chroma. There are two performances coming up, in Ilford Manor in Bath on 25th June (now sold out I understand) and also at the Quaker Meeting House in Berkhamsted on July 11th, details of which can be found on the flier below.

Read about Saudades and the Borges poems and ideas that inspired it here

Parallel bars and pummel horses

Here's a short interview with clarinettist Todd Palmer courtesy of WDAV Classical Public Radio in which he compares playing Gumboots to riding a pummel horse, doing the uneven parallel bars, and other olympic disciplines...

and here is Todd and the St Lawrence String Quartet 'sticking the landing' at Spoleto last week (in the last two dances of Gumboots):

Raising the roof

It sounds like the St Lawrence Quartet and Todd Palmer really blasted the roof off with their performances of Gumboots at Spoleto a few days ago. Check this out from the Charleston City Paper:

The second [Gumboots] ended, their listeners leaped to their feet, screaming and shouting, like they'd been blown out of aircraft ejection seats. So much for the misguided notion that you can't please a crowd with modern music. This one should be required listening for anybody who's afraid of the music of today.

A quote for the c.v. if ever I saw one! (there is another review of the concert here)

A shame I couldn't be there, but I was busy sojourning with friends and family in the heel of Italy (and experiencing the joys of Ryanair - the airline with a banknote where its heart should be).

The next Gumboots performance is with my old friends at Ensemble ACJW (about whom more exciting news shortly) at the end of July, in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival in Germany.

Speaking of old friends, Chroma will be premiering a new piece later this month. I will post a bit more about that later this week after popping to see them rehearse in the dear old Union Chapel.

Indian melodies, Indian ornaments

Ornaments are one of the many things that fascinate me about music from outside the Western tradition. Indeed, outside of early music circles, the use of ornaments in classical music is largely limited to grace notes, trills and perhaps the occasional mordent. If you write anything more 'advanced' than that in a new piece there is a good chance it will get overlooked, or played wrong - indeed even mordents often get a 'do you mean..' response from players.

Compare that to say the Indian tradition where there is literally the concept that you never play a note 'as is', the pitch is always on the move, pretty much every note has some kind of embellishment. And any Indian musician will know (and have a name for) each of the myriad types of ornament, and be aware of the subtlest of differences, the speed of vibrato, how that speed accelerates, the type of staccato the embellishment ends with etc etc.

I don't have any desire to imitate Indian music, but I do long to find ways to expand the expressive capabilites of my music by accessing some of these ways of playing. I find them a far richer and more interesting area to explore than, say, quarter tones, or developing some new tuning system. So many of them are tantalisingly beautiful, not that difficult once you get the hang of things, and offer so much to add to our 'straight' way of playing in the Classical world.

One resource I have found quite useful in this regard is called Indian Melodies for Violin by Candida Connolly, published by Schott

It goes through some of the standard ornaments, and crucially, includes a CD so you can listen in and get a sense of them in practice.

I think my use of 'folk' ornaments has been gradually expanding over the years as I find ways to notate and use them that Western players can deal with. One of the problems of course is that our instruments are different and often designed specifically to play the 'pure' note itself, and not the subtle shades in between. Take the flute for example, an Indian Bansuri flute:

there are no keys, allowing the fingers to roll on and off the hole to bend the pitch. That's just not possible on a keyed Western flute. But you can bend the pitch with the mouth, so some of the effect may be possible.

I'm currently writing a piece commissioned by the San Diego-based Art of Elan series, for flute, violin and harp. Although it's only a small aspect of the piece, I'm hoping to integrate some of the more Indian-style ornaments for the first time. I've arranged to get together with the fantastic flautist Alex Housego who, having spent some of his childhood in India, is familiar with and plays both Indian bansuri flute and the traditional Western flute. My plan is to write the ornaments I want to, check them over with Alex, and then get him to record them on a Western flute so I can give the San Diego players a better idea of what I'm after. It's an experiment, but hopefully should yield some really interesting results.

Spoleto 2010

A busy writing time for me at the moment, but I'm delighted that the month of May brings three performances at the 2010 Spoleto USA 2010 Festival of Gumboots by the group John Adams recently called "my favorite of all groups" - the St Lawrence String Quartet. It's now 18 months or so since the quartet premiered Gumboots at Carnegie's Zankel Hall; and the piece has since had a thrilling life of its own with performances on three continents. But in its heart and indeed its inspiration it belongs to Todd Palmer at the St Lawrences. Only a shame I can't be there!

Tears, Puffes and Bums on Seats

I was going to draw attention to Metropolis Ensemble's forthcoming concert which features my new recorder+string quartet arrangements of Dowland pieces, Tears, Puffes, Jumps and Galliards; but according to their website it seems to be already sold out.

Last time I was in New York I had a long chat (naturally featuring more bottles of wine than people present) with Andrew Cyr about Metropolis's approach to audience building. These guys have a truly diverse and engaged audience, they invariably sell out their concerts, despite the fact that the majority of what they offer is contemporary music. Andrew confirmed that it takes a lot of thought and effort, but what his group shows is that it really is possible, there is no crisis in classical music, given the right leadership. It's encouraging that people are beginning to take note of Metropolis's work now. It has the future written all over it.

The art of bowing

From my post over at the CompositionToday blog:

I still find it a quiet source of pride how few composers are ready for that moment in the spotlight, we emerge tramp-like and awkward - the epitomy of uncool, uncommercial - we come on stage in our un-ironed jackets, or with a sock still stuck in one trouser leg. Then we scurry across the stage as quick as we can, not knowing where to put ourselves, and take an awkward bow. There's an interesting paradox in the way so many composers are so unnatural on the stage: we spend our entire lives trying to create something that is after all intended for performance 'on the stage'. We are aware of the finest, subtlest details of how certain effects in our music will come across - we can subdue an entire crowd, get them laughing or crying with our notes; and yet when we have to present ourselves in person on the stage we are likely as not to stumble on the steps before we even get there...

Joana Carneiro; Ghent; John Adams in cartoon

Yesterday I went over to Paris to meet up with my friend the wonderful soprano Jessica Rivera who was singing - with her usual effortless grace and expressivity - in John Adams's gobsmackingly beautiful opera A Flowering Tree, conducted by the incredible force of nature that is Joana Carneiro. I'd heard lots of great things about this young conductor who was Esa Pekka Salonen's assistant at LA Phil and recently took over the reins at the Berkeley Symphony, but nothing prepared me for what she's really like. I don't think I've ever experienced such power and energy combined with nuance and control from a conductor. She's an amazing life force and is without any question in my mind destined for the absolute peak of the profession. An amazing concert all round.

And tomorrow I'm back on L'Eurostar. This Tuesday sees the Belgian premiere of Gumboots performed by Eddy Vanoosthuyse and members of the Brussels Philharmonic in the historic city of Gent (or Ghent depending on your preference).

Speaking of John Adams, I was the book shop the other day and saw a kids introduction to classical music. Alongside Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, to my delight the book included this page:

"John Adams is the odd one out in this book. Why? Because he's still alive!"

The book by the way is Naxos's My First Classical Music Book.

Tallis: If ye love me arrangement

The day before my last trip to NYC Andrew Cyr from Metropolis Ensemble told me he was putting together a benefit concert for Haiti and would I like to contribute something new. Andrew's plan was to have smaller groups of players performing, but then bring them together for one piece (mine) at the end. I basically had less than 24 hours to put something together, but I didn't want to let Andrew down - but what on earth to do. The fact that it was a Valentine's Day event was a pretty important signpost, and after rapidly rejecting a few ideas I remembered a beautiful choral peice by Thomas Tallis that I had come across a few weeks before, called 'If Ye Love Me' - the title was appropriate! The text and the music spoke not just of love but of comfort, and these seemed entirely the right role given the event.

So with a little super-fast editing, arrangement was made, score and parts were created and I hopped on the plane to New York. Unfortunately because my flights were already booked I couldn't adjust them to stay a few more days to see the concert, but Metropolis do such an amazing job of filming and archiving all their events that the lovely video that has just come through captures the event tremendously well.

Oh and in case you were wondering what's going on in the opening violin solo, I instruct the violinist (the incredible Kristin Lee) to serenade the audience moving around between phrases.

The concert raised over $6,000 for the cause.

Repeat Performances

As any composer will tell you, a premiere is an honour, but a far greater one is to have a second or third performance. It's not just the fact that someone has liked your work enough to do it again, it's also your own mental state, which is completely different once the anxieties of the premiere are out of the way. It's a different experience altogether - at a premiere the slightest variation away from your mental image of the piece causes convulsions of panic - whether the difference is caused by the performer or by your own mistake - and in fact, working out whether the problem is yours or the performer's is one of the chief causes of stress. But on a repeat performance that stress is reduced by a hyperbolic amount. And as time goes on if you're lucky enough to have still further performances, it reduces pretty much to zero. Indeed, you often hear older composers talking or reacting to their own work as if they were pieces by some other, long-gone composer, which in a sense I suppose they are.

Well all this is by way of pointing out that two of my recent pieces have entered into the blissful phase of life whereupon the number of performances they have received can no longer be counted on one hand; indeed, Gumboots, my Clarinet Quintet, will soon have had more than the total number of digits of any kind a person has. Forthcoming performances include later this month in the beautiful town of Gent in Belgium by Eddy Vanoosthuyse, clarinet, soloists of the Brussels Philharmonic; by ACJW on tour in Europe, and a repeat performance by the St Lawrence Quartet with Todd Palmer at the Spoleto Festival. The other piece is my solo harp piece Caja de Musica, which, thanks to the love and nurturing offered it by the indefatigable Bridget Kibbey is now approaching its 10th performance since its premiere last year. This month she plays it over in California, and later in May in John Zorn's The Stone in NYC.

On a separate note, I attended the John Adams concert at the Barbican a few days, where, alongside the European premiere of City Noir and other delights, there was a wonderfully foot-stomping performance of the Stravinsky Concerto for piano and winds by pianist Jeremy Denk. Jeremy has the most fabulous, if slightly too infrequently updated blog - he doesn't post often, but when he does they are most splendid.

Update

The Sacramento Bee has a nice write up on Bridget and her forthcoming performances.

Musical Times articles

Some of my old articles from The Musical Times have come to light, so I thought I would post them here in case they are of use to anyone.

	Source and Sorcery - a look at Stravinsky's The Fairy's Kiss
	The Manic Mechanic - The Music of Conlon Nancarrow
	Challenging the System - Birtwistle's Panic
	The Tongue Free - George Benjamin's Three Inventions

New Music Box/ Counterstream Interview

During my recent trip to NYC I spent the snowy morning dubbed by the media as 'snowmageddon' in the warm cocoa company of Frank J Oteri from American Music Center, recording an interview for their New Music Box site. The interview features extracts of Gumboots, A Bird in Your Ear and Groanbox and Frank offers a (very flattering) take on my career state-side in the accompanying article.

In the studio

Giora Feidman and members of the Gershwin String Quartet in the studio in Germany, recording a new CD which includes some arrangements I did for them. This will be my first commercially released CD.

Spreading the love

Metropolis Ensemble performing David Bruce's arrangement of 'If ye love me' by Thomas Tallis at Sunday's concert.

Many congratulations to Metropolis Ensemble on garnering their first New York Times review for Sunday's Benefit concert and on raising over $6500 for Partners in Health, a nonprofit organization that provides medical care in Haiti.

Love letter to Haiti

My friends at Metropolis Ensemble are pulling out all the stops to organise a fantastic Valentine's Day concert in aid of Haiti (Partners In Health), at Le Poisson Rouge this Sunday, Feb 14th 7pm. 20+ of New York's finest young classical musicians will be playing a whole range of music, including harpist Bridget Kibbey performing a movement from Caja de Musica.

At conductor Andrew Cyr's request, I've also made a brand new arrangement to close the concert, of Tallis's gorgeous If Ye Love Me featuring all the performers who are coming. The text speaks of both love and comfort and I can think of little more comforting than an amazing collection of musicians getting together to give a bit of love back to the world.

Academy of friends

Ensemble ACJW has the most amazing collection of the nicest people and the finest musicians around. I had a great time on my residency at Skidmore with them, and then clarinettist Sarah Beaty and the ACJW quartet topped it all off by giving a really remarkable performance of Gumboots on Friday. The first part in particular sounded spectacular in the fine new Zankel Hall, and I'm sure it's only going to grow and be even better in both the forthcoming concert at Weill Hall on Tuesday (details here N.B. 7.30pm start), and at performances in Europe later in the year.

Here's a nice picture of me and the gang right after the performance in Saratoga:

And here's a very cool promotional video that Carnegie Hall organised for my concert on Tuesday at Weill Hall, featuring shots of us rehearsing the piece up in Skidmore College.

Skidmore reborn

We're up in Skidmore College, Saratoga in upstate New York for a performance of Gumboots tomorrow night with the fabulous players of Carnegie's ACJW. Today we had our first rehearsal in the amazing new Arthur Zankel Hall here and the results are stunning - a beautiful hall and a rich, resonant acoustic. We have the tremendous privilege and honour of giving the first ever concert in the hall.

Carnegie Interview

Next week I'm off to the US again for some performances of Gumboots with Ensemble ACJW. In preparation for the performances, which include one at Carnegie's Weill Hall on the 9th Feb, Carnegie Hall have reposted on their Sound Insights blog an interview I did with them about the piece and some of the thought-processes that helped create it.

Carnegie Interview

Tickets for the concert

Update
Carnegie's Jeremy Geffen has also posted a nice interview discussing both Gumboots and the other pieces on the program:
http://soundinsights.carnegiehall.org/2010/01/soundbyte-ensemble-acjw.html