Discography/Listening
featured works:
On the Nature of Love (Violin Concerto No.1).
On the Nature of Harmony (Violin Concerto No.2).
On the Nature of Peace (Violin Concerto No.3).
Performed by:
Third Angle New Music Ensemble
Ron Blessinger & Denise Huizenga, violin soloists
Pacific Rim Gamelan
Robert Kyr & Jeffrey Peyton, conductors
Published by:
New Albion Records
notes:
This recording presents a trilogy of violin concerti with titles beginning, "On the Nature of..." The concerti explore the archetypal themes of love (No. 1), harmony (No. 2), and peace (No. 3). In each work, the violin soloist is an adventurer who sets out on a journey of discovery that is filled with challenges and surprises. The music of each concerto is a spiritual landscape that encompasses an array of thoughts and feelings ranging from the lyricism of the reflective music in the first concerto, to the boisterous energy of the finale of the second, to the balance of musical elements at the end of the third. [Excerpt from the liner notes.]
The Passion According to Four Evangelists
featured works:
The Passion According to Four Evangelists.
Performed by:
Carole Haber, soprano; Gloria Raymond, mezzo-soprano; William Hite, tenor; David Murray, baritone; Back Bay Chorale, Beverly Taylor, director
Published by:
New Albion Records
notes:
For the modern reader, the word "passion" suggests strong emotion or sexual desire. However, the word derives from Latin -- passio -- and even more distantly, from Greek -- pascho, pathos, pathema -- meaning "to suffer." In this latter sense, it relates to "the passion" -- the gospel narrative of Jesus' suffering and death on the cross as told by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament.
The challenge of composing a passion in the twentieth century is considerable given the fact that there is no sizable contemporary repertoire in this genre and hence, no prospective models -- only two "recent" works come to mind: Krzysztof Penderecki's St. Luke Passion (1963-65) and Arvo Part's Passio (1973). In these modern passions, as well as those by Bach and other baroque composers, the story is narrated by a singe figure, one of the four evangelists. From the beginning, I decided to take a different path in terms of storytelling and musical dramatization. In writing the text, I began with the Revised Standard version of the gospels, and after interweaving the four stories together, I set about the task of "editing" the entire text. I distilled the stories into a poetic form which has been created, not as literature, but as a text to be set to music.
In The Passion According to Four Evangelists I intend every note to be heard simply and directly -- I hope that the power of the story is felt through the starkness and clarity of the musical expression. I am not interested in reflecting trends or fads (the latest "-isms") or relying on historical references -- rather, for each scene, I have strived to compose music which proceeds from the inner core of the narrative. I have tried to convey only the essential -- no more, no less. Beyond that, that story speaks for itself. [Excerpt from the liner notes.]
featured works:
Threefold Vision.
Songs of the Shining Wind.
Unseen Rain.
Performed by:
Ensemble Project Ars Nova
Laurie Monahan, soprano; Michael Collver, countertenor;
John Fleagle, tenor; Shira Kammen, vielle; Crawford Young, lute
Back Bay Chorale
Beverly Taylor, conductor
Published by:
New Albion Records
notes:
"Unseen Rain" was commissioned by the Chase Foundation in celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Longy School of Music (Cambridge, Massachusetts). Even before choosing the texts, I decided to compose a work for many more singers than instrumentalists, which would include as many members of the Longy community as possible. I wanted the vocalists to dominate the attention of the listeners and to be the dramatic focus of the work.
The Chase Foundation also specified that the texts were to be "in celebration of music" and must not be too somber or grim in general tone. Early in my search, it became clear that the twentieth century would probably not yield poetic texts of this nature. I wanted to find epigrammatic, haiku-like texts which were filled with simple words and direct images. Fortunately, I found some beautiful translations of Rumi's quatrains (short poems of four lines each) and after reading at least 500 of them, I set about the task of creating a celebratory musical drama from the general collection.
The work fell into three parts: in the first, "The Prophet's Quatrains," the countertenor is a prophet beseeching the community (the chorus) to remain awake throughout the night in order to fully experience the joys of music; in the second, "The Lovers' Quatrains," the soprano and tenor are lovers rejoicing in the similarities between love and music; and in the third, "A Communal Affirmation," the prophet and the lovers join the chorus to proclaim the spiritual power of music ("Listen to the unstruck sounds, and what sifts through that music..."). The title of the work is an image taken from one of Rumi's quatrains - it relates to the end of the piece, when what has been hidden (unseen/unheard) finally becomes apparent. The Persian word for "Unseen Rain" also refers to "grace". [Excerpt from the liner notes.]
featured works:
Love As a Child
Performed by:
Tapestry (vocal ensemble)
Laurie Monahan, director
Published by:
MDG Records
notes:
Tapestry weaves together a mix of tales, music and poetry to reveal the many faces of a woman, ranging from 12th century nun Hildegard von Bingen to 16th century Irish pirate Grace O’Malley to 20th century Russian poet Anna Akmatova. Music by Robert Kyr and other contemporary composers, as well as music by female troubadours, traditional songs, and lullabies, all of which round out this fascinating portrait of a woman.
The Fourth River: The Millennium Revealed
featured works:
The Fourth River
Dance of Life
Performed by:
Tapestry (vocal ensemble)
Laurie Monahan, director
Published by:
Telarc
notes:
Music by Hildegard von Bingen, Robert Kyr, and others, including Hebrew chant, Bulgarian folksong, and medieval chant and polyphony.
Celestial Light: Music of Hildegard von Bingen and Robert Kyr
featured works:
From The Circling Wheel.
No. 1, Song to the Creator
No. 2, Song of the Virgin to her Son
No. 3, Song to the Virgin
Performed by:
Tapestry (vocal ensemble)
Laurie Monahan, director
Published by:
Telarc
notes:
Chants by Hildegard von Bingen, and a motet cycle by Robert Kyr on three of her texts that she did not set to music (or the manuscripts were lost).
Strange Attractors: New American Music For Piano
featured works:
White Tigers.
Performed by:
Patricia Goodson, piano
Published by:
Albany Records
notes:
White Tigers is based on a legend found in Maxine Hong Kingston's novel The Woman Warrior in which a young girl learns the ways of a warrior in part by emulating a white tiger -- the wildest, most mysterious beast in the jungle -- and goes on to liberate her people from oppression. The piece's musical drama divides into two sections, each of which begins quietly and intensifies to a climax: the first, an explosion of glissandi; the second, a triumphant chorale.
[Excerpt from the liner notes.]
featured works:
Lament for the UnNamed.
Performed by:
Michael Collver, countertenor
Published by:
CDFreedom
notes:
A captivating collection of laments for solo voice from the Medieval to the Modern era. Features music by Robert Kyr, Guillaume de Machaut, Leonard Bernstein and others.