Chiaroscuro
VIDEO
LunART performers: Paran Amirinazari (violin), Marie Pauls (viola), Trace Johnson (cello), Iva Ugrcic (flute), Bethany Schultz (clarinet), Midori Samson (bassoon), Andrea Hixon (oboe) & Satoko Hayami (piano)
Video and audio by Microtone Media
YEAR COMPOSED
2019
COMMISSIONER
Rembrandt Chamber Musicians in celebration of their 30th Anniversary.
ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-42359-chiaroscuro.html
PROGRAM NOTES
In honor of the Rembrandt Chamber Musicians' 30th Anniversary season, the ensemble commissioned me to compose a celebratory work. In searching for a suitable topic, I delved into chiaroscuro, a favorite painting technique of the ensemble’s namesake. This Italian term is comprised of two words: chiaro, which translates to light/clear, and scuro, which means dark/shadow. Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) produced highly dramatic paintings using this technique, which provided him with a means of giving his paintings the impression of depth by strategically placing a ray of light on his subjects, leaving the rest of the picture in darkness. In Chiaroscuro, the musicians will emerge from darkness to joyously dance in beams of light.
-S.G.
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HELIOS • 4’30” • 2 tpts/flugelhorns, hn, tbn, tba
PROGRAM NOTES
In Greek mythology, Helios was the god of the sun. His head wreathed in light, he daily drove a chariot drawn by four horses (in some tales, the horses are winged; in others, they are made of fire) across the sky. At the end of each day’s journey, he slept in a golden boat that carried him on the Okeanos River (a fresh water stream that encircled the flat earth) back to his rising place. The cyclic journey of Helios is depicted in this short work for brass quintet. The first half is fast-paced and very energetic, while the second half is slow and serene, representing day and night.
-S.G.