Program    The Violent Rain's Mambo [listen]                             Matthew Bruemmer Hannah Threlkeld, flute; Abbey Klaus, oboe; Ricky Smith, clarinet; Jeff Moore, horn; Jake Prentice, bassoon …And the Fire and the Rose Are One  [listen]                 Nathan Courtright Zackary Reaves, 'cello Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano   [listen]                    Guido Arcella Diez II. Mopish III. Chau Juan Flores, oboe; Jake Prentice, bassoon; Manuel Corbacho, piano Thanksgiving Square   [listen]                                            Michael Nesuda Michael Nesuda, acoustic-electric guitar Prayer of Saint Francis    [listen]                                    Ellen Taylor Seldin Rebecca Thompson, soprano; Tiffany Freeman, alto; Ryan Cole, tenor; Alvin Trotman, bass; Elena Zyl, piano

[For more information about Composition Studies at SMU]

SMU Composition Faculty: Robert Frank, Kevin Hanlon, Simon Sargon, & Xi, Wang

2011-2012 Student Composition Recital Committee:
Sungok Cho, President
Nathan Courtright & Guido Arcella Diez, Co-Vice Presidents

Stage Management: Syrlane Moura de Albuquerque

Cover Design: Armando Aguirre

Program Notes
(by the composers)

The Violent Rain’s Mambo (2011)
This fast moving, dance-like piece hoping to engage every audience member. The piece focuses on the nuances of each instrument to create effects and sounds of a storm. The mambo style of the piece creates the dance element of a storm or a light rain. The piece goes through three connected movements including the introduction of the rain mambo, the light rain turning into a heavy storm, and then a combination of the motives and sounds to create a "waltzbo" at the end.

Matthew is a first-year undergraduate student studying with Robert Frank.

…And the Fire and the Rose are One (2011)
…And the Fire and the Rose Are One is inspired by the poem Little Gidding, the fourth poem in T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. Little Gidding is filled with desperation and haunting but written so beautifully that one wonders whether they are reading something optimistic or pessimistic. The work ends with the statement “…and the fire and the rose are one.” This statement represents the dichotomy but also synthesis of emotion felt within the work and it is this sentiment that this piece draws upon. It is hoped that the listener hears moments of fire and moments of roses within this piece, but in the end is left to ponder which is which.

Nathan is a first-year graduate student studying with Robert Frank.

Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano (2011)
II. "Mopish" is a dance that features the hemiola (3 beats in a 2-beat meter) and contrasting materials between the instruments. The piano serves as the protagonist between the contrasting episodes. The oboe opens with the main theme and the piece ends with the same melody this time played by the bassoon.

III. "Chau" has a fast tempo, a variety of Latin themes, and very changeful textures throughout the piece. "Chau" means "bye" in Spanish.

Guido is a second year undergraduate student studying with Robert Frank.

Thanksgiving Square (2007; rev. 2009, 2011 for guitar)

The downtown area of Dallas, Texas features its own “underground” — a system of walkways that range from busy subterranean plazas to eerily intimate corridors, sometimes dipping down into relative darkness but at other times resurfacing for glimpses of the world outside.  It was at one of these surface points that I discovered Thanksgiving Square: a fancifully sculpted world of its own, with yet another walkway guiding urban explorers over running water to a chapel built in concrete spirals.  Over time I shared this place of respite with friends and loved ones, and eventually it began to serve as a motif for the meaningful relationships in my life… 

I began working on this piece by merging intuitive and formulaic writing — namely, through the partial use of Pascal’s triangle, in which the numbers on each level are the sums of their “parents” on the level above.  I looked to these number relationships as a rough guide to the phrase lengths of melodic ideas in my introduction, while still deciding on the pitches by intuitive means.  This approach helped me with my musical storytelling at the outset of the piece, making it easier for me to spin a melodic tale in expanding threads of dialogue; then, having set this foundation, I discarded the mathematical construct and let intuition take over.
As with many of my pieces, Thanksgiving Square crosses a number of stylistic boundaries, touching upon fusions of jazz and modern classical writing in its harmonies and rhythms alike...

Michael is a continuing graduate student studying with Kevin Hanlon.

Prayer of Saint Francis (2011)

This piece was originally intended for a non-professional church choir.  Because the sentiments and thoughts expressed are universal truths, it can be sung in almost any setting.  Scored for Soprano, Alto, Tenor & Bass, it can also be sung with any combination of singers, as well as with a full choir.

Text:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;  to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.