Best of Together Again: Episode 1

Wednesday, August 25, 2021
WCLV 104.9 FM – Cleveland Ovations
8:00PM

Program

PAUL WIANCKO | American Haiku
performed June 9, 2021

Dimitri Murrath, viola
Zlatomir Fung, cello


HELEN GRIME | Aviary Sketches (after Joseph Cornell)
performed June 19, 2021

Alexi Kenney, violin
Dimitri Murrath, viola
Oliver Herbert, cello


ANDREJ CARBARKAPA | Sonata for Four Clarinets
performed June 11, 2021

Franklin Cohen, clarinet
Benjamin Chen, clarinet
Amitai Vardi, clarinet
Hugh Shihao Zhu, clarinet


BÉLA BARTÓK | Selected Duos for Two Violins
performed June 12, 2021

Itamar Zorman, violin
Diana Cohen, violin


FOLK SONGS from around the World
performed June 12, 2021

Amanda Powell, soprano
Dane Johansen, cello
Franklin Cohen, clarinet
Shai Wosner, piano


Thoughts About the Music

Paul Wiancko – American Haiku

It could be said that Paul Wiancko’s fascination with haiku runs in the family. His father, while working as a filmmaker in Japan, became fascinated with the Haiku form, and believed that no Haiku had ever been accurately translated into English. The 5-7-5 syllabic meter was, in his eyes, too simplistic for the deeply emotional nature of authentic Japanese Haiku in which each character could have multiple meanings. A single Japanese Haiku could be a treatise on life itself. After seeking to write a book translating Haiku, Wiancko senior met Wiancko’s mother, a Japanese woman who helped him in the process of translating the poetry. Later, growing up in California, Paul Wiancko’s Japanese American heritage became increasingly important to him as he grew both as a man and musician. Wiancko was enchanted with traditional Appalachian music as well as Japanese folk music. His American Haiku is an attempt to reconcile these vastly different esthetics: an effortless fusion of the broad earthiness that is Appalachian music, with the tender, sparse rhythms of Japanese folk song. What he found is that these two seemingly disparate styles blend together seamlessly. Both draw their roots from the natural world. American Haiku offers it’s listener an elegant rapprochement of two cultures all the while delving into the emotional depths of the three-part Haiku in its three movements: I. Far away, II. In Transit, III. Home. Each movement brings with it percussive rhythms coupled with rich, spacious chords recalling vast, rugged mountain ranges over intricate plucky melodies. The blending of viola and cello also play a crucial role in the composition’s harmoniousness, with the cello and viola overlapping in range and texture allowing the viola to weave poignant melodies over the cello’s foundation. In many ways, American Haiku is a treatise on the life of Wiancko and his journey into his own roots, showing that the universal language of music is perhaps the clearest way to translate the depths of Haiku. ©2021 Nicole Martin

Helen Grime – Aviary Sketches (after Joseph Cornell)

Helen Grime is a Scottish composer who began her career at just 12 years old, creating a variety of different works often centered around visual art. Her work Aviary Sketches was composed after the work of Joseph Cornell, a reclusive shadow box collage artist whose works showcased tiny glimpses into the aviary world. Many of Cornell’s works centered around nature, specifically birds. In Aviary Sketches, Grime composed the trio in movements based on specific works by the artist. Therefore, each movement is strikingly different, each containing its own miniature world. The movements cater to the ensemble in entirely different ways, with the first movement featuring two distinct characters as groups of themes gradually shifting against one another. Recalling Ravel’s “Oiseaux Triste”, which Ravel described as “birds lost in the torpor of a very dark forest during the hottest hours of summer”, the piece contains rapidly moving lines amidst a poignant melody. The second movement, “Aviary: Parrot Music Box” is more mechanical in nature, with plucky cello lines that begin to spread throughout the whole ensemble before they diminish in length until one single note remains. The next movement features captivating solo viola lines that are interrupted by the fluttering of cello and violin. These two characters converge in a flurry of sound until the viola takes the lead once again. The fourth movement is a rush of energy, with hushed ethereal backgrounds being overtaken by billowing squalls across the ensemble, gaining suspense until a final release of tension. The fifth and final movement, “Toward the Blue Peninsula”, features a psalm-like melody that is interrupted by what can only be described as flourishing, energetic songbird lines that furiously weave amongst one another as they lead up to a passionate climax. The piece comes to a close with a whispering contemplative end. ©2021 Nicole Martin

Andrej Carbarkapa – Sonata for Four Clarinets

Serbian clarinetist Andrej Carbarkapa (an-dray cha-bar-kapa), born and educated in Belgrade, joined the faculty of the city’s music school “Davorin Jenko” in 2000 and has since become one of the country’s leading teachers and composers for his instrument. In 2003, Cabarkapa’s students and other local artists founded the Nevsky Clarinet Quartet, which has won awards in Serbian music competitions and appeared internationally. Cabarkapa composed his Sonata for Four Clarinets for the Nevsky Quartet, which has performed it in concert and on Serbian radio and television. The Sonata won an award in the Birmingham (England) Composers’ Competition. ©2013 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

Béla Bartók – Selected Duos for Two Violins

While Hindemith’s educational contributions lay mainly in his teaching of composition and music theory, Bartok dedicated much more of his time to educating children. His 44 duos for two violins emerged as a way to educate beginning violin students on rhythms and harmonies, levitating simple Hungarian and Slovak folk melodies to prominent art music. Usually known for his harmonically intricate compositions, these Bartok duos are the stripped-back, fundamental grounds from which he grew, showcasing the dissonant yet innocent beauty of folk music. ©2021 Nicole Martin

Folk Songs from Around the World

I. Sede Sedenkya (Traditional Bulgarian song from the Shop region)

I learned this fabulous piece at a community singing retreat–a woman from Bulgaria taught this song. When I asked her about the traditional nasal and forward singing of Bulgarian women, she said, “in my country, women’s voices are not often heard so when we sing, you better believe you are going to hear us!” – Amanda Powell

Sede sedenkya shto sede
pa poi de da se raz turya
Koi sbrata koi spobrata tima
Sirota Zanka, snikoga
 
Eta go Gencha ot vrata
Pa vati Zanku za ruku
Pa vodi, vodi, ta doma
E te ti male otmena
 
Na tatu meka postelya
Na makya bela premena
Na bratu voda studena
Na mene bulka zasmena
 
The women and the girls were together at the “working bee”
At the end of the gathering, they gossiped about all the boys and who was dating who.
“Zanka has no one, poor Zanka.”
 
Suddenly, Gencha comes through the door and grabs Zanka by her hand!
Then, he took her home to meet his family.
“I brought someone to replace you, mom” He said.
 
(Gencha says)
“For my father –soft blankets.”
“For my mother—white clothing.”
“For my brother—cold water.”
“For me, a smiling bride.”
 

II. To Yasemi (Traditional Cypriot)

To Yasemi stin porta sou, yasemi mou
O, Irtha na to klathepso, Ox jiavri mou
Ke nomise I mana sou, yasemi mou
O, pos irtha na se klepso, Ox jiavri mou
To yasemi stin porta sou, yasemi mou
O, mouskolo oun I strates, Ox jiavri mou
 
The jasmine at your doorway, my jasmine flower,
I came to prune it, oh my yavrum*
And your mother thought, my jasmine flower,
That I had come to steal you away, my love
The jasmine outside your door, my jasmine flower
O, the fragrance is entrancing to all who pass by, my love

*(Yavrum is a Turkish word meaning my beautiful love.)
 

III. Lamma Bada Muwashah (Arabic folk song)

Lamma bada yatathanna
Hubbi jamalu fatanna
Amru ma bi-laHza asarna
Ghusnun thana Hina mal
Waadi wa ya Hirati
Men yaraheemo shakwati
Fil hub min lawaati
Illa maliku el jamal

Aman!
 

When I saw my love sway,
His beauty amazed us
Something in a moment captivated us
Like a branch bending gracefully
Oh my fate, and the reason for my perplexity
Who could be the one to alleviate my suffering?
In love and suffering,
Except the Maker of beauty.
Have Mercy!
 
IV. Echoes from the Valley (Traditional UK/American)

O Shenandoah, I long to see you.
Away, you rolling river.
O Shenandoah, I long to hear you.
Away, I’m bound away, ‘cross the wide Missouri.
 
‘Tis seven long years since last I saw you,
Away, you rolling river.
And still I feel I never left you.
Away, I’m bound away, ‘cross the wide Missouri.
 
The water is wide, I can’t cross oe’r
and neither have I wings to fly.
Give me a boat that can carry two,
and both shall row, my love and I.
 
There is a ship that sails the sea,
She’s loaded deep, as deep can be
but not as deep as the love I’m in,
I know not if I sink or swim.
 
V. Sephardic Songs (Traditional Ladino)

La Prima Vez “The First Time” (Text: Traditional Sephardic)

La prima vez que te vidí,
De tus ojos me ‘namorí.
La prima vez que te vidí,
De tus ojos me ‘namorí.
 
D’akel momento te amí,
Fin a la tomba te amaré.
 
Aserkate, mi querida,
Salvadora de mi vida.
Aserkate, mi querida,
Salvadora de mi vida.
 
Deskubrite y avlame
Secretos de tu vida.
 
La prima vez que te vidí,
De tus ojos me ‘namorí.
La prima vez que te vidí,
De tus ojos me ‘namorí.
 
The first time I saw you
I fell in love with your eyes.
The first time I saw you
I fell in love with your eyes.
 
From that moment on I loved you,
And I will love you until I die.
 
Come closer my beloved,
Savior of my life,
Come closer my beloved,
Savior of my life.
 
Reveal to me, tell me
Of the secrets of your life.
 
The first time I saw you,
I fell in love with your eyes.
The first time I saw you
I fell in love with your eyes.

 
Los Gayos Empezan a Cantar “The Roosters Begin to Sing”

Los gayos empezan a cantar
Ya es la ora d’alevantar
Non esperemos el sol y el día
 
En muestra chica colonía
 
En montes altos vamos ir
Alegres días a vivir
Fondaremos la cazica
Muestra suerte chica
 
The roosters begin to sing.
It is the hour to wake
But we don’t wait for the sun nor the day
 
In our little colony.
 
To high mountains we shall go
To live our days happily.
We will build a little house.
It will be our little piece of luck.

©2021 Nicole Martin


All musical selections are subject to change without notice.