Senior Recital Program for Jason Haaheim
Friday, March 9th,
2001, 7:30 p.m., Björling Recital Hall
Gustavus Adolphus College,
St. Peter, MN
Invention No. 8 in F major (BWV 779) trans. J. Haaheim
- Jason Haaheim, marimba; Arno Merkle, ‘cello -
- Jason Haaheim, timpani; Jessica Franken, piano -
- Jason Haaheim, marimba -
Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra (1992) Ney Rosauro (1952— )
I.
Saudação (Greeting)
II.
Lamento (Lament)
III.
Dança (Dance)
IV.
Despedida (Farewell)
- Jason Haaheim, marimba; Jessica Franken, piano -
-
Misti Koop, saxophone; Patrick Wright, guitar;
Jessica Franken, piano; Candice
Cosens, bass;
Jason Haaheim, drums -
- Jason Haaheim, marimba; John Juhl, Cory Quammen, Jonathan Gray, percussion -
(1893-1970)
- Jason Haaheim,
xylophone; Jonathan Gray, Laura
Johnson, Nate Orpen, Cory Quammen,
Greg Rischmiller, marimbas; John Juhl,
percussion –
[Program Notes for senior recital, Jason Haaheim]
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Clavier-Büchlein
is the source of the C major and F major inventions. Music historians currently believe that Bach composed all 15 Inventions during lessons given to his
son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. While
Johann Sebastian states that the Inventions
are didactic works intended to “show how to compose good inventions and develop
them well…and to acquire a taste for the elements of composition,” their
stature in the world of keyboard music rests upon the genius and precision with
which they were composed. Each Invention is a gem containing limitless
opportunities for musical treatment.
My choice to transcribe this
baroque keyboard work for marimba is unique;
moreover, creating a duet for marimba and ‘cello from a solo invention
deviates from orthodox keyboard tradition.
However, if a transcription is justified when performed with appropriate
faithfulness to the original version, Bach defined a liberal precedent of this
“faithfulness” by routinely transcribing his own music. In “Bach the Borrower,” Norman Carrel shows
that Bach regularly transcribed his keyboard compositions to solo instruments
and cantatas. (The Fugue in Suite No. 3 for solo
violin BWV 1005 is a prime example of this practice). Further, by transcribing his own solo
keyboard works to vocal cantatas, Bach set a precedent justifying creation of
two or more parts from one. Clearly,
Bach did not find fault in composing the multi-part Cantata 21 Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis from the solo
Fugue of Prelude and Fugue BWV
541. This evidence, therefore, grants
certain liberties when transcribing and interpreting Bach’s keyboard
works. Additionally, creating duets out
of the inherently contrapuntal C major and F major Inventions heightens the interplay between the voices and
accentuates elements of the counterpoint not normally heard when played by two
hands.
As a final point of interest,
Bach wrote his keyboard music for the Klavier. At that time in music history, “Klavier” could mean organ, harpsichord,
or even an early pianoforte. With such
a range of instruments, the results of a given performance of a Bach invention
could be radically different—the harpsichord and organ are disparate
instruments in terms of tone color and fundamental sound. However, the marimba’s tone is very similar
to that of an organ, whereas the harpsichord, with its plucking mechanism,
produces a vastly different sound.
Leigh Howard Stevens, commonly accepted as the world’s greatest
classical marimbist, states that “there are several facets of the marimba’s
tone...that make it an ideal ‘neo-baroque’ instrument. In particular, the ring time of the bars and
the clarity of articulation.” From a strictly
acoustical viewpoint, performing Bach’s organ music on the marimba barely
deviates from convention—the two instruments share similar waveforms. Moreover, a Bach keyboard transcription
provides the competent marimbist a range of expression, dynamic sensitivity,
and articulation unachievable on conventional organs or harpsichords.
Anthony Cirone has served as percussionist with the San Francisco
Symphony and Professor of Music at San Jose State University since 1965. Cirone is a prolific composer with over 60
published titles. The Sonata #1 for Timpani and Piano serves
as a dynamic conversation between the two instruments. Principal rhythmic motives are stated in 4/4
time, but are later developed in complex 5/8, 7/8, and 3/8 meters. Cirone explores the numerous sonorities of
the timpani, calling for a range of mallet types to affect the brightness of
the instrument’s tone. Timpani pitch
slurs occur in a transition between themes.
At times, harsh piano riffs collide with bombastic timpani figures. Mid-piece, this tension is subdued as the
timpani maintains a persistent mixed-meter pulse under the piano’s complex
harmonies. The end of a furious cadenza
heralds the return of the principal theme;
timpani and piano both state several syncopated variations of the theme
before it dissolves as a final pianissimo phrase.
Evelyn Glennie is a contemporary performing phenomenon in today’s
music world. She was the first (and
still is) the only full-time solo classical percussionist. She has performed with virtually all of the
world's finest orchestras and is one of the top international concert
soloists. Her husband, Greg Malcangi,
remarks, “what takes Evelyn a step beyond the ranks of the elite is that she
combines superb technical abilities, a profound appreciation of the visual
elements of percussion, and astonishing musicality to create performances of
such stunning vitality that they almost constitute a new type of
performance.” Involved in nearly every
area of music, Glennie has composed chorales that “express spiritual
feelings…while displaying a pleasantly relaxed dimension of the
instrument.” Glennie writes that “Giles is dedicated to a friend who was
tragically killed in a climbing accident.…
[It is] in chorale style and takes full advantage of the unique
resonance of the marimba.” Throughout
the work, a simple tune is introduced and subsequently developed through
multiple voices. Highly idiomatic, the
melodic voices harness the full, rich timbres characteristic to the upper range
of the marimba while the lower-octave voices sing with organ-like sonority.
Ney Rosauro is a renowned composer and performer in the
contemporary percussion world. Born in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1952, Rosauro began his musical studies playing the
guitar and double bass, eventually transitioning to percussion. Having studied composition at the Universidade de Brasilia, Rosauro’s
prodigious output has secured his position as a composer of foundational
percussion works. His compositions are
critically acclaimed and widely performed;
based on Brazilian folk songs, rhythms, and jazz motifs, Rosauro’s Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra has
become one of the most-performed marimba concertos of the last fifty years.
The four movements of the Concerto outline a simple story: greeting, lament, dance, and farewell. In this regard, Rosauro’s music is quite
programmatic. Within this four movement
framework, elements of the music delineate a definite series of events. Rosauro remarks that the “Saudação [greeting] is a rondo whose
principal theme of irregular bar lengths imposes a restless character to the
whole movement.” One possible musical
scenario unfolds with this restless greeting:
two people meet each other for the first time (perhaps in a peasant
village, or a quiet jungle path?). The
scoring for marimba demands precise articulation achieved through staccato
mallet strokes; this creates a thick
“wooden sound” natural to a bucolic environment. Folk song motifs heighten the air of rusticity. Jazz harmony intercedes, and a quickened
tempo lends a cool pulse to the initial greeting. As these two musical themes interact, the two people become
better acquainted. The greeting is
over; now the listener witnesses a
lament. Proud and firm, each melodic
character shares stories of sadness and loss.
Tragedy takes several forms: now
a lullaby, now a chattering descant stated by the marimba. With this sharing comes closeness. The dance of friendship begins. Lighthearted and energetic, the two
characters again emerge as contrasting thematic material: one prefers a graceful folk melody in 4/4
time, while the other demands a robust fugue between all voices of the marimba
and piano. Once stated, each engage in
the brisk steps of a diabolically chromatic waltz. As the dance concludes, the two realize it is time to bid
farewell. Recalling their memories
together in a nostalgic cadenza, they part in friendship with blithe words and
a spectacular flourish.
In his youth, Chick Corea enjoyed a very musical home
environment. Such cultivated talents
led to professional engagements in the Latin bands of Mongo Santamaria and
Willie Bobo from 1962 to 1963. The
influence of this Latin style pervades Corea’s work; Spain is an example of
this influence. 1968 marked Corea’s
entrance into the realm of fusion, joining Miles Davis on several ground-breaking
albums. Corea’s new brand of electric
piano playing became integral to the fusion sound. After leaving Davis’s group, Corea formed the band “Return to
Forever” in 1971. This group focused on
Latin-influenced fusion featuring the vocalist Flora Purim and percussionist
Airto Moreiro. It is this period of
creative output that engendered Spain. A tune of elusive rhythms and unexpected
form, its catchy riffs soon made it a standard in jazz repertoire. Today Corea performs with John Patiucci
(bass) and Dave Weckl (drums) in a group that “challenges the extremes of
virtuosity, mixing passages of complex arrangement with solos in the fusion
style.”
Minoru Miki was born in Tokushima, Japan in 1930. He graduated from Tokyo National University
of Music as a composition major and currently serves as Director of the Japan
Federation of Composers. Of Marimba Spiritual, the composer writes,
“this piece was composed from 1983 to the beginning of 1984, keeping in mind
the acute period of starvation and famine in Africa which was occurring at that
time. The piece is composed in an
organic fashion, with the first half of the piece as a static requiem and the
last part a lively resurrection. The
title is an expression of the total process.”
To accomplish this, Miki employs three groups of percussion instruments
in addition to the marimba: metal,
wood, and skin drums. Rhythmic
interaction is intense; Miki states
that “the rhythm patterns for the second part are taken from the festival
drumming of the Chichibu area northwest of Tokyo.” During the resurrection, the drums drive the music with ferocious
intensity. Throughout the piece,
pentatonic modes and harsh dissonances assault the western-trained ear, but
these lend idyllic and illuminated beauty to moments of consonance and
resolution. The piece thrives on motifs
of diametric opposition: consonance and
dissonance, light and dark, yin and yang, good and evil…all of these concepts
which form the tenets of eastern philosophy are clearly reflected in Miki’s
music. Remarkable, however, is the
theme of death and resurrection inherent to this work—a theme foundational in
western Christian thought. Marimba Spiritual exists as a confluence
of world philosophies; it is a profound
musical statement. Inspired by tragedy and loss, Marimba Spiritual is a piece of music that carries emotions common
to all nations and peoples.
George Hamilton Green was one of the greatest xylophone virtuosos
of the early twentieth century. Born in
Omaha, Nebraska on May 23, 1893, Green was a piano prodigy by the age of
four. He then began studying the
xylophone. At age eleven, Green was
already being called “the world’s greatest xylophonist” by music critics throughout
the country. Growing up during
ragtime’s heyday, Green single-handedly brought the xylophone into the realm of
popular ragtime music. However, his
renown was not solely derived from dazzlingly precise technique and style—he
possessed commanding abilities as an improviser, qualities which set him apart
from all of his contemporaries. In a
1915 review, The United Musician
states: “He has begun where every other
xylophone player left off. His touch,
his attack, his technique, and his powers of interpretation in the rendition of
his solos are far different than other performers’. To say his work is marvelous and wonderful would not fully
express it.”
Green originally published Log Cabin Blues as a xylophone solo with
piano accompaniment. Recent renewed
interest in the works of this phenomenal impresario prompted NEXUS’s Bob Becker
to arrange the work for solo xylophone and marimba ensemble, with ragtime toys
and rhythmic accompaniments added where appropriate.
~program notes by Jason Haaheim
Jason Haaheim is a senior physics and music double major at Gustavus Adolphus College. He is a 1997 graduate of Chaska High School, Minnesota. Jason has studied percussion with Bob Adney since 1995, and has performed with the 1996-97 Minnesota All-State Orchestra, the Greater Twin Cities’ Youth Symphony, and as principal percussionist with the 2000 and 2001 CBDNA Intercollegiate Honor Bands. A 1999-2000 Gustavus Concerto Competition winner, Jason performed Ney Rosauro's Concerto for Marimba with the Gustavus Orchestra for the 2000 Spring Concert. Holding both the Jussi Björling Music Scholarship and the research based Partners Scholarship, Jason is actively involved in both the music and physics departments at Gustavus. He presented two papers at the 2001 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Lexington, Kentucky, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa (Minnesota chapter), Pi Kappa Lambda (National Honors Music Fraternity), and the Guild of St. Ansgar (Gustavus Honors Society). Jason is president of the Gustavus Band and vice president of the Gustavus Orchestra for 2000-2001, and is a member of these organizations, the Gustavus Percussion Ensemble, and the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band (in which he received the International Association of Jazz Educators award for outstanding musicianship). Upon graduation, Jason intends to pursue a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of California—Santa Barbara.