Student Composer Shines
by
Lyn Bronson
Alex Overington
California Summer Music
continued its series of student recitals Thursday evening in Keck Auditorium at
the Stevenson School on a drizzly, foggy evening in the fog capital of the
world — Pebble Beach, California. Actually, the weather conditions were most
appropriate for the premiere of a new piece by student composer, Alex
Overington, entitled, “Under the brown fog of a winter dawn” (the title
comes from T.S. Elliot’s “The Wasteland”), which is scored for six violas. The
composer has the following to say about his new piece:
“My piece is inspired both by the perpetual
state of fog engulfing the CSM campus and by my newfound pity for violists. When
I first arrived in Carmel, I was taken aback by an overwhelming sense of
misplacement — as though Pebble
Beach had been uprooted and inserted into the
center of a large hovering cloud, suspended miles above the earth. Soon after my
arrival, I met a group of six violists from the New England Conservatory and
discussed with them my intentions to write about the less-than-cheery weather.
We soon came to the conclusion that there could be no more depressing ensemble
than that made up entirely of violas! Actually, I feel the viola is a
marvelously beautiful instrument and it is a shame there is isn’t more music
written for it.
So I began sketching a viola double trio — two
groups of three violas. I knew that the piece would have to be slow, if not
tediously slow, to get my point across. Thus the whole piece, which is about
eight minutes long, is just one measure played very, very slowly. There is no
meter whatsoever. Although each note written has a suggested duration, the
players and their instincts ultimately dictate the rhythmic flow of the piece.
Thus, the performers are given lots of freedom. There are even passages where
the rhythm and pitch are indeterminate, thus being essentially improvisation.
While the structure of the piece is entirely
modern and experimental, the harmonic structure is quite the opposite. The
vertical harmony is derived from an old Jerome Kern tune called “A Fine
Romance,” from the 1936 Fred Astaire film, “Swing Time.” Thus, the piece
provides a glimpse into the past as well as an innovative new method in
organizing musical structure. In the end, the piece proves to be quite haunting
and I feel as though I accomplished what I set out to do.”
Wow, is
that articulate, or what! Here we have a young composer, Alex Overington, who
subsequently proved to us on this occasion that he is as gifted penning notes as
he is penning words. As it turns out, he needed to have no pity for the splendid
young violists, Molly Gebrian, Kyle Miller, Karen Hopkins, Eran Sykes,
Isabella Mensz and Kayleigh Miller who became co-conspirators in the
performance of his piece, since their improvisations (and their disciplined
mastery of their instruments) were impressive.
Overington managed to depict the oppressiveness of our perpetual fog through an
almost perpetual droning sound as each of the violas took turns drawing out long
tones, but interspersing the drone with intensely and imaginatively improvised
musical ideas. I am sure that Jerome Kern’s “Swing Time” was in there, but since
I am not familiar with the tune, I am afraid I didn’t recognize it.
One of
the tests of the effectiveness of a piece of music is how well it holds our
attention and pulls us into the music itself. By this standard, Overington’s
piece was quite successful, especially the wonderful drawn-out ending where the
persistent drone began to fade away so gradually that we found ourselves holding
our breath. This is a work that had a powerful cumulative effect, and we say
“bravo” to Overington, for he has convinced us that he has something to say, and
he has the skill and imagination to say it effectively.
Robert
Kealhofer, Patty Chao & Amos Chon
Beginning
the evening’s concert was a performance by violinist Robert Kealhofer,
cellist Amos Chon and pianist Patty Chao of Mozart’s Piano Trio in
B-flat Major, K.502. This trio was written in the last few years of Mozart’s
brief life and is rich with musical ideas that are at times pleasantly operatic,
and at others troubled and disturbed with brief incursions into minor keys.
Obviously Mozart intended the piano part for himself, so pianist Chao was very
busy during the entire work — she played with precision and impressive
intensity, plus a lovely legato and cantabile in the slow movement. We have been
observing Kealhofer at CSM for many years and observed not only that he has
grown in size, but that he has grown in musical maturity and continues to
demonstrate that he can play with considerable authority and charm. Although
cellist Chon had a relatively minor role in this work, he had a brief, but
important, solo in the slow movement that was impressive.
Maria
Myrick, Jessica Hsueh & Emily Candaux
Quite a
surprise on the program was the Phantasie in C Minor, by Frank Bridge, a
composer whose works dropped off the radar into total obscurity for over fifty
years, but are now being rediscovered. This work is scored for piano trio and
was performed on this occasion by violinist Maria Myrick, cellist
Emily Candaux and pianist Jessica Hsueh. Bridge was always considered
a better string player than a pianist, so I was surprised at how effective the
piano part is in this piece, and it was played very beautifully by Hsueh.
Violinist Myrick gave us a strong and masterful performance and cellist Candaux
spun out some lovely melodies with a fine sense of romantic ardor.
Gabrielle
Peng, Zoe Lu & Nathan Haley
The
concert ended with an exciting performance of Dvořák’s “Dumky” Trio performed by
violinist Gabrielle Peng, cellist Nathan Haley and pianist Zoe
Lu. A striking duet between Peng and Haley introduced us to the lovely sound
of cellist Haley, who at age 14, plays well in advance of his years. 15-year-old
Peng is no slouch either, for she plays with passion and impressive mastery. The
Poco Adagio movement was gorgeous, and all the wild Gypsy melodies
brought a smile to many a face in the audience. Zoe Lu, 14, had a big part in
this trio, for she was playing almost constantly, and her part had her chasing
all over the keyboard. She was terrific!
