BOX
Box combines a wealth of disparate musical materials, with periodic nods
toward the medieval world, occasional succumbing to minimalistic tendencies,
and ofttimes rampant not-very-classical harmonic progressions, not to mention
a requisite Bach cello suite quotation, for I considered it mandatory to
include something of Bach's in Box. Whether the music is ever entirely
inside or outside the box is debatable, but for me, and I'm pretty sure
for Tarab, it all swirls together and becomes its own little container
of fun.
- Randall Bauer
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TARAB
Tarab was commissioned for the Tarab Cello Ensemble by its founder, Florent
Renard-Payen. In three large sections, the work was conceived as a
concertino for two cello quartets. Tarab is one of my most experimental
pieces of recent years. Here I combine my interest in using high-ratio
polyrhythms to articulate the background phrase structure with a new
emphasis on working with a large harmonic vocabulary. The two quartets
begin by sharing similar characteristics. By the second section the
quartets operate entirely in opposition; while one quartet plays slowly
and expressively, the other plays resolute and dance-like music. The
antiphonal call-and-response between the two quartets reaches its climax
at the end of the second section, where all eight cellos play one phrase
in unison. In the third section each cello plays a short cadenza. Little
by little these solos form duets, then trios, and, finally, the initial
quartet juxtaposition is reestablished. The overall shape of the work
is one of growing tension, catharsis, and resolution leading the listener-it
is hoped-to a state of ecstasy, or 'tarab'.
- Larry Thomas Bell
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THE THINGS LEFT UNSAID
In relationships people often imply things without having to say them
aloud. This can lead to a deeper understanding of ones background and
intent, thus bringing both parties closer together. However it can also
lead to confusion and misunderstanding between both parties, pushing
the two further apart. It was with both these thoughts in mind that I
wrote
“The Things Left unsaid” for the members of Tarab, with whom
I’ve had the great pleasure of working with for the past eight
years.
- Caleb Burhans
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PERSIST
Persist is a work of unyielding extremes; its music often comprised of
sustained pitches, resolute chords, and rapid passagework. The ensemble
itself is divided into two groups: trio and quintet. In many instances
the trio acts as soloist, but the groups work together as well. The Piece
begins with fixed pitches being played by the trio that quickly develop
in scope and activity. The quintet, providing a bit of a background, begins
with repeated pitches of a spacious and random nature. This music progresses
to a frenzied state and gives way to passagework instigated by the trio.
A moment of relative calm is presented before the work erupts in a section
dominated by quadruple stops and various commentary by both groups. A section
of sustained pitches that follows gives way to a middle section of softer
and more gentle music, although lingering on familiar harmonies. The final
section of the work calls for additional rapid passagework before the music
begins to corrupt itself and break apart. Persist was commissioned by and
is dedicated to Florent Renard-Payen and the Tarab Cello Ensemble.
- Garrett Byrnes
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COG
Cog is a piece in which a timbrally homogeneous ensemble is asked to become
even more homogeneous by having each cellist play the same kind of material.
It's a study in teamwork, in making a whole greater than the sum of its
parts. There is very little in the way of a traditional "melody-and-accompaniment"
hierarchy here- when players have "solos" they are quickly echoed
by other members of the ensemble and then subsumed by the texture. My interest
in writing this piece came from my fascination with the way machines make
music.
- Dennis DeSantis
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BEGUINE AGAIN
In January 2005 at Stetson University, the TARAB Cello Ensemble performed
a new music concert that was superb and exhilarating. To the audience’s
dismay, the ensemble had no encore prepared (do any exist?). I
later found out that the group was comprised of recent Eastman School
of Music graduates, many whom I had conducted during the end of my academic
tenure in Rochester. I was struck by the ensemble’s determination
to remain together to make music and, with their blessings,
set out to rectify this omission in their repertoire.
Beguine Again is a Latin-American “echo” consisting
of three choruses (the third becomes a little mixed up – as if
the dancers momentarily part ways…) plus a Coda, and is roughly
four minutes in duration. The piece was stolen – and extended – from
an excerpt of my 12-year-old PARLOR PIECES (1993); the score was completed
in May 2005 in Ormond-by-the-Sea, Florida.
- Sydney Hodkinson
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CANTILENA
In October of 1998 I had the good fortune to have Richard Aaron, professor of
cello at the Cleveland Institute of Music, coach a piano trio I had written,
which was being premiered on a Cleveland Composers Guild concert. After the concert,
Mr. Aaron asked me to write something for an awful lot of cellos, and even though
I had been planning another project, this one sounded like much more fun. In
composing Cantilena, I enjoyed being able to make use of the cello's great range,
which allowed me more freedom than usually would be the case in writing for eight
instruments of the same kind. The cello is indeed a versatile voice in other
ways as well; from innocent lyricism to misterioso, growling to aggression. In
Cantilena, I have made use of these personalities and more. The work has two
main alternating ideas: a legato triple meter theme with a swaying accompaniment,
and a more driving line which is heard over a ostinato in 5/8 - 6/8 time. The
cellists are put through their paces with regards to rhythm, often playing in
three against four, and occasionally even four against five.
- Margaret Griebling-Haigh
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BROKEN CRIES
When I had begun thinking about music for eight cellos, I imagined a kind
of music that was filled with hesitation. Pauses and silences break the
flow of sounds, as a voiced cry is sometimes broken by a breath or,perhaps,
a sudden thought.The music is in one movement with three sections. The
first, called breathing...., is slow and deliberate, with many breaks of
sound. The second, called singing...., moves in a more continuous way.
Two lead cellos alternate melodic figures in a "call and response," as
the rest of the ensemble divides into a support for one or the other. In
the third section, letting go...., the hesitations are nearly gone, and
the music dances. A brief, reflective Coda concludes the piece.
Most of the composition of Broken Cries took place during the summer months
of 2001, and the piece was finished in early December. It was written for
the Tarab Cello Ensemble.
- David Liptak
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THEY ATE CELLOS
Sometimes poetry inspires; sometimes painting; other times it could be
a bad movie or salad. This may or may not have any bearing whatsoever on
my music or anything I might say to anyone at anytime. However, I do find
the following excerpt filled with a tinge of logic, wisdom, and not a little
perspicacity:
"...flames of phantasmagorical allegory
whereby surreptitiously they ate cellos
seething joyous rapture
for a brioche would make their day..."
From the poem "Double Click" by Jens Gullmar. Excerpt reprinted
with kind permission Casey & Lowe Publications.
Without the wonderful Tarab Cello Ensemble and the enthusiasm and devotion
of its magnificent players, They Ate Cellos would not exist. I had been
thinking about issues of sonority, issues of ensembles of similar instruments
as opposed to mixed ensembles, and felt that perhaps the time was right
for me to compose something along those lines. I was then, coincidentally
approached by the newly formed Tarab Cello Ensemble, and asked if I'd like
to write them a piece. The timing could not have been better. Not only
were my compositional thoughts ready and waiting for a project like this,
but I also admire the members of the ensemble and that always increases
the joy of composing.
- Bradley Lubman
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LOVER CALLS
Attracted to the inherent sensuality of several cellos playing together
and the fine musicianship of the performers, I was thrilled to write Lover
Calls for Florent Renard-Payen and the Tarab Cello Ensemble. Although the
composition of the piece took a particularly long time, with many sojourns
in the quiet of Connecticut to stimulate the process, the piece itself
has a tight, confident character, rising from a quiet, sensual beginning
and falling back again from a more buoyant middle. Each particular passage,
as it were, yearns and calls out in a different manner, sometimes delicately,
sometimes tinged with melancholy. Unlike most other works that use soloists
or deconstruct the ensemble, the body of cellos must play as one entity,
reflecting, perhaps, a view primarily from a single source as in a first-person
narration. By using the word narration, I do not mean to suggest a story
line, for the music evokes rather than consciously depicts.
- Gregory Mertl
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0AR IN WATER
Oar in water – favourite example of how circumstance can affect
the perception of an object, and make it seem other than it is.
“The same object seems to us bent or straight, according to whether
we see it in or out of water.” (Plato, Republic X. 602c)
-The Oxford Companion to Philosophy „ Oxford University press,
1995
Ideas, or the context in which they are found, always transform in Oar
in Water, sometimes very little and other times so much so that the origins
of the idea are almost completely obscured. In a different world, the
ideas refract, bend, explode, shift, solidify, melt, disintegrate. Oar
in Water was written for the Tarab Cello Ensemble.
- Joe Michaels
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VENAE
Venae is the latin word for veins. I attempted to achieve a very graphic
sense of sound in this piece, and most of the movement is driven by the
two veining structures of the Earth's plants: monocotyledon (fanning),
and dicotyledon (branching). The seating of the ensemble refers to the
second pattern, and creates a hierarchy for introduction of materials.
- Chris Murray
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WARP 9
The Tarab Cello Ensemble boldly goes where no cello octet has gone before
in its performances of Samuel Pellman's Warp 9. In this piece
the live sounds of the eight cellos are accompanied by digitally manipulated
clones of cello sounds previously recorded by Florent Renard-Payen, founder
of the Tarab crew. These digital manifestations of cello sounds
weave throughout the texture of the piece, like specters of sounds from
other dimensions. A well-trained Tarab landing party presented
the premiere performance of this piece in April 2004 in Wellin Hall at
Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, on Earth, a class M planet noted for its
brutal politics and exquisite art forms.
WARP 8
Warp 8 is the "saucer separation" version of Samuel Pellman's
Warp 9 for cello octet. In this version, the members of the
octet proceed under impulse power, and all attention is directed to the
relentless rhythm of the interlocking string motives and the majestic quartal
harmony formations.
- Sam Pellman
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HALLUCINATING ACCORDION
This work is one of a series of works called African Alchemies. These are
based on (idiosyncratic) analyses of the musical grammar of various genres
of African music. They reflect an attempt to Africanize Western music instead
of Westernize African music. So, just as Africans have done (to great effect)
with various “Western” musical instruments, these instruments
are treated as if they were “African” instruments -- a Buganda
xylophone, a Sotho accordion, a Xhosa voice, a Shona mbira, a Zulu guitar.
The movements should be played without break. The first movement (once
called
"Enchanters of Grief") is based on single-stringed bow music
of the San people of the Kalahari in southern Africa. The cello is plucked
in ternary groups as two-beated patterns run agilely along. This basic
mechanism issues a constantly shifting quality of echo that recalls the
sound of distant drumming. The second movement, (once called “A Prayer-Wheel
to Suck Water from Nowhere”) is patterned after the time-transcending
music of mbira dza vadzimu of Zimbabwe. Although there are no actual quotations,
the interlocking contrapuntal threads are built on the cross-penetrating
harmonic symmetries of the music of the Shona mbira: a circular space that
returns upon us. The third movement (once called " After the Bow Song")
is an interlude for solo cello casually imitating an African singing style
associated with the uhadi bow from the Eastern Cape. The fourth movement
begins with the mere beating of time and then conjures the spirit of high
tempo accordion music once more, this time as it intersects with the sound
of African guitar music (notably the interlacing counterpoint of maskanda
from Kwazulu Natal). The joyful cross-rhythmic polyphony of the opening
is offset by an extended dance section in near-unison, which morphs finally
into the final section, a lyrical ‘song of chords’ that recalls,
in slower motion, the suspended patterns of the second movement: the song
of an exile seeking recollections of home; a gamboling gamut and gammon
of associations; seeking to remember the color of fire?
- Martin Scherzinger
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BLIZZARD IN PARADISE
When I was asked to write this work for eight cellos by the Library of
Congress for the Kindler Foundation, the project immediately resonated
with my interests. The cello is my favorite instrument; I have always featured
it in my orchestral or chamber music compositions. (If I could do life
all over I would want to play the cello!) I was delighted at the prospect
but having written so much music for cello, I wanted to find a "new
sound world" that was completely honest and personal yet also one
that would push my development as a composer.
Most of my cello works are lyrical, cantabile, passionate, and bold adventures.
(I love the bow arm!) But the score of Blizzard in Paradise contains a
great deal of pizzicato tremolos and some Bartok pizzicato. For the first
four minutes, all the cellos play only pizzicato, alternating between rhythmic-unison
and rhythmically-disparate sections. This results in a wonderful sound
like rain on the windowpane during a blizzard. The opening section ("Paradise")
explores long lines, mellifluous writing, and colorful sonorities.
Blizzard in Paradise shows off all eight cellists evenly, both in technical
difficulty (the work generally explores the higher registers of the instrument)
as well as in the lyrical sections.
- Augusta Read Thomas
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SISINA'S RESERVOIR
Sisina's Reservoir derives its title form Baudelaire's poem, Sisina, about
an angel who, despite her aggressive and warlike nature is extremely tender
and sympathetic. To quote
...Sisina's like that--except the wild girl
Has a soul as loving as it is incensed,
And her courage, roused by cannonfire and drums,
Will yet relent to passionate appeal,
And her incandescent heart still keeps,
For the deserving, a reservoir of tears.
The piece itself is composed of two antiphonal groups of four cellos, each
group consisting of a soloist and three accompanying cellos. The soloists
play out a sad and bitter drama, united at the beginning by a single melody,
but gradually becoming more estranged as the piece goes on, until finally,
they are complete strangers, The other cellos, meanwhile, play nothing
but natural harmonics throughout, serving as the reservoir of tears. I
imagined these accompanying cellos as weeping for the two soloists; in
a way, I believe we all hope that, in some of our darker moments, someone
is weeping for us. Sisina's Reservoir is affectionately dedicated to the
Tarab Cello Ensemble.
- Aaron Travers
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A CAPPELLA
A Cappella is a short, intimate piece, probably best heard from within
the ensemble, where the subtle details of each instrument are transparent,
summing up to a meditative, immersive whole. Inspired both by the sheer
beauty of the sound of a cappella vocal ensembles (which is surely exceeded
by the sheer beauty of eight cellos!) and by the abstract textures of some
electronic music. A Cappella begins where an earlier piece of mine, Counterfeit
Curio, finishes, belaboring possibilities that were at first inaccessible.
A Cappella was composed for the Tarab Cello Ensemble in January 2003.
- Dan Trueman
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