March 29, 2004

Date March 29, 2004

Time: 7:00 pm

Location: London, England

Venue: Purcell Room

WORLD PREMIERE

Breath In a Ram’s Horn (2003)
for chamber ensemble and tenor

&

Sacred Songs (2003)
version for flute, cello, piano, soprano

Lontano

Odaline de la Martinez, Music Director

Daniel Asia, Odaline de la Martinez, conductors

Robert Swensen, tenor; Carmen Pelton, soprano

Purcell Room
London

____________________________

Breath in a Ram’s Horn (1996)

for high voice and piano

Duration 12 Minutes

Commissioned by Paul Sperry

Performances

FEBRUARY 1997
TUCSON, AZ
WORLD PREMIERE
Paul Sperry, tenor; Tannis Gibson, piano
Crowder Hall
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

Program Notes

Breath in a Ram’s Horn is a song cycle of five poems. They range from the sublime to the mundane, from the sacred to the profane.

The texts are by the writer/poet Paul Pines. He and I first met at the MacDowell Colony, an artist’s retreat in Peterborough, New Hampshire. We became close friends, partly as the result of a shared ferocity brought to the game of table tennis. I requested books of poetry. I have so far written five works based on his writings.

His poems seem to bring together very disparate worlds, uniting a wealth of emotional perspectives. The imagery ranges from Ecclesiastes to the Blues, stating something universal that is culled from the simple and earthy. At the core of the work is man’s uneasy place in the universe; that of a curious bystander to his own inner world, living in a physical world he also hardly understands. How these interior and exterior worlds meet and interact is the enigma at the center of these poems. However it is an enigma that is often imbued with a wry and delicate sense of humor.

The poems in this cycle are imbued with images of family and Judaism, and their intertwining. One finds memories of the poet’s father, mother, and grandfather; memories of prayer shawls, phalacteries, praying; imagery of the high holydays, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and the power of recollection; and a reflection on Job and David. And just like the lives of these two Biblical characters, the poems are not pretty or easy, but rather filled with the difficulties and anguish of a life as it is really lived.

for guitar, soprano, flute, and cello

view printer version

guitar, soprano, flute, cello

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Sacred Songs (2003)

version for flute, cello, piano, soprano

for guitar, soprano, flute, and cello

view printer version

guitar, soprano, flute, cello

Duration 14 Minutes

Movements

1. Oseh Shalom

2. Shiru Ladonai

Recording

Album Title

Daniel Asia: Songs From The Page Of Swords

Label

Summit Records [product id: DCD257]

Sound File

Shiru Ladonai

Commissioned by

the D’Addario Music Foundation for Benjamin Verdery, guitar

Performances

APRIL 1991
LOS ANGELES, CA

MARCH 1991
NEW YORK, NY
St. John of the Divine
New York, NY

FEBRUARY 1991
HARTFORD, CT

JULY 1990
SYRACUSE, NY

THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1989
WINSTON-SALEM, NC
2nd American Guitar Congress
WORLD PREMIERE
Program Notes

Sacred Songs is a two movement work based on sacred hebrew/aramaic texts. The first movement is based on the final line from the Kaddish prayer, the traditional prayer which sanctifies the name of God. The second movement is based on Psalm 96, “Sing a New Song to the Lord”. The complete text of the first movement is “He who creates peace in his celestial heights, may he create peace for us and for all Israel.” In this setting, the voice repeats this texts a number of times, almost as a member of the overall musical fabric. At each repetition, the musical phrases are reordered. Also, on each repeat, the surrounding music in the instruments is reassigned from one instrument to another. Thus, while the music changes sonority, it remains essentially the same. The goal was to create a sense of stasis, of an oscillating, peaceful nature.

The second movement is strophic, meaning that the initial chorus is repeated throughout the movement. The music is both folk-like and dance-like, although giving way at certain moments to reverential awe. In this movement the vocal part comes clearly to the fore, and leads the musical activity. The instrumental music is of a generally bravura nature, emphasizing the ebullient quality of the text.
Sacred Songs was commissioned by the D’Addario Foundation for Benjamin Verdery, guitar. The first performance took place June 15, 1989, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as part of the 2nd American Guitar Congress. The performers were Benjamin Verdery/ guitar, Rie Schmidt/ flute, Carmen Pelton/ soprano, and Christopher Finckel/ cello.

Below are the complete texts.

Sacred Songs: Texts/Psalm 96

1) Osa sha’lom bem’ro’mov, hoo ya’a’sa sha’lom a’la’nu v’al kol yesrael (v’em’roo amen).

He who creates peace in his celestial heights, may he create peace for us and for all Israel (and say, Amen).

2) She’roo la’do’nai sher cha’dash, she’roo la’do’nai kol ha’a’retz. She’roo la’do’nai bar’choo sh’mo, bas’roo me’yom l’yom ye’shoo’a’te. Sap’roo va’goy’em k’vodo, b’chol ha’a’mem nef’l’otav. Ke ga’dol a’do’nai oom’who’lal m’od, y’no’ra who al kol e’lo’hem. Ke kol e’lo’hay ha’a’mem e’le’lem, v’a’do’nai sha’may’em asa. Hod v’hadar l’fanav, oz v’tef’eret b’mek’da’sho. Ha’voo la’do’nai mesh’p’chot a’mem, ha’voo l’adonai k’vod v’oz. Ha’voo la’do’nai k’vod sh’mo, sa’oo men’cha oo’vo’oo l’chatz’ro’tav. Hesh’ta’cha’voo l’adonai b’hadrat kodesh; cheloo mepanav kol ha’aretz. Emroo vagoyem adonai malach, af tekon tavel bal temot; yaden amem b’ma’sha’rem. Yes’me’choo ha’sha’ma’yem v’tagal ha’aretz; yer’am ha’yam oom’lo’o. Ya’a’loz sa’di v’chol a’sher bo; az y’ran’noo kol a’tza ya’ar. Lef’na a’do’nai ke’va lesh’pot ha’a’retz; yesh’pot ta’vel ba’tze’dek, v’a’mem be’e’moo’na’to.

Sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name; announce his salvation from day to day. Recount his glory among the nations, his wonders–among the peoples. For great is the Lord and highly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols; but the Lord made the heavens. Grandeur and majesty are before him; glory and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and majesty. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in holy array; tremble before him, all the earth. Say among the nations; “The Lord is King!” The world is so established that it cannot be shaken; he rules the peoples justly. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea and all its fulness roar praise. Let the field exult and all that is therein; let all the trees of the forest sing before the Lord who comes, who comes to rule the earth. He will rule the world with righteousness, and the peoples–with his truth.

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