Darby Music

Any and all are welcome to attend my final project doctoral recital!

The concert will feature five quartets for two pianos and two percussion that I commissioned from University of Illinois graduate composers.

Date and time:
Tuesday, December 7, 7:30pm

Location:
University of Illinois, Smith Memorial Hall, Recital Hall

Admission is free.

The program:
"Dogma", by Jake Rundall
"Antiphony", by Tsai-Yun Huang
"Versus", by Brad Decker
"Gestural Trajectory", by Kyong Mee Choi
"Unseen Origin", by Ed Martin

Here are the program notes - comments on the pieces - provided by each composer:

This piece is a commentary and reflection on the idea and problem of dogma in the world today. In our world, there are people with a wide variety of beliefs on all aspects of life, from politics and economics, to music and art, and also religion, and morality. People come into conflict with each other as countries, societies, and individuals, and even within themselves, and such conflict seems to arise fundamentally from differences in belief. However, it often seems that these conflicts are perpetuated by the rigidity with which we cling to our beliefs rather than by the particular substance of them.

It is useful to have beliefs - clearly we cannot function day-to-day without some set of basic tenets. And action ought to be principled, or at least conscientious. But when we close our minds to other ideas, our own beliefs can become harmful. If we allow our beliefs to dictate our every action and thought, we become paralyzed by our own dogma.

- Jake Rundall

The piece “Antiphony” was written in 2004, commissioned by the percussionist Sean Darby. I was intrigued by the instrumentation and the idea that each, piano and percussion sections, are doubled. Thus their roles can be acoustically and spatially mirrored. In order to achieve a mirroring effect, I included keyboard instruments in the percussion parts. Pianos are used in such a way as to reflect their percussive potentials. The instruments' four independent roles at some points merge together and then diverge disparately while constantly echoing one another in terms of their gestures and timbres. One example is at the end when pianos produce a timbrel echo to mirror the percussion's metal vs. keyboard/skin colors.

- Tsai-Yun Huang

Versus, for percussion, vibraphone, piano and celesta, superimposes four different strands of music over its ten-minute length. Each strand has particular characteristics: Two strive to accumulate density in either sonority (vertical accumulation) or gesture (horizontal accumulation), while the other two are concerned with maintaining stasis in either sonority or gesture. These opposing strands are passed from player to player, creating duos and trios of disparate material. Unison antiphons periodically interrupt this process to provide contrast.

- Brad Decker

As the title indicates, this piece is based on the gestural motion from drawings that are inserted in the score. Composer created each drawing as a compositional tool and experimented the possible interaction between the image and sound. It starts with non-pitch percussion along with an inside of piano sonority, and gradually moves to pitch-oriented instrument while piano plays keyboard. When marimba and vibraphone takes a turn to perform a more pitch-oriented part, piano also takes a turn either to play inside and keyboard. As an arch form, toward the end this piece follows a similar pattern of the beginning besides the different instrumentation. The main focus of this piece is to create a gestural movement between the image and sound, which can cohesively become one art form.

- Kyong Mee Choi

Unseen Origin (2005) for two pianos and two mallet percussion was only several weeks prior to my first son Owen’s birth. The excitement and trepidation I experienced in anticipation of such an awesome, life-changing event naturally led me to contemplate meaning and what is truly important in my own life. In this work, I create a musical metaphor for this search through the use of a core progression of six chords. Figuratively, I treat this progression as the meaning being sought, the goal being pursued, and enlightenment achieved through contemplation. The entire work consists of a musical journey in which the progression is gradually, though never obviously, revealed. At times the music focuses on only one chord, while at other points the progression is expanded by transformations between the chords. A second source of inspiration is the music of composer Magnus Lindberg, whose work with harmonic progressions is the topic of my doctoral dissertation. Unseen Origin was composed for percussionist Sean Darby for a recital featuring new works for two pianists and two percussionists.

- Ed Martin

After completing my course work for my doctorate I began working on various projects toward completion of the degree, including solo recitals, preparing for and taking my preliminary written exam and oral defense, and working on the final project.

The final project consists of a paper and a performance, covering the music listed above, and will conclude with a final exam (an oral defense) the day after the concert, in which I meet with the professors on my committee and respond to their questions and comments regarding the paper and the performance. Chances are I'll end up making a revision(s) to the paper, it seems to be a fairly common occurrence for this kind of project. Following the final revision of the paper, I will have completed all requirements for my doctorate. Although my project will have been completed in Fall, 2010, the actual commencement (hooding) ceremony is a Spring only event, so my graduation will occur this coming Spring, 2011.