INSTRUMENT LIST

Flute/Alto Flute
Oboe
Clarinet in B flat
Bassoon

Horn in F
Trumpet in B flat

Percussion
(Timpani and Bass Drum set up next to each other, Glockenspiel with brass mallet, Vibraphone with bows and working motor,
2 superball mallets that are fairly new, Toms 10″, 12″ 14″, and 16″, Suspended Cymbal)

Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Violoncello
Double Bass

PROGRAM NOTE

When Orpheus contacted me about this commission, wondering if it could have a French theme, I immediately thought of the trips I have taken over the years to various spots in France. Soon after, I got booked to perform in a three-week festival there, which allowed me to plan a summer where for the first time I would be living abroad in a particular country for more than just a week or so. The experience was life-changing, especially since I was writing the piece there while being directly inspired by the different people and environments around me. From this experience, Cartes Postales was born – a series of musical “postcards” from French locales that could not be more different.

The piece is in three movements:

Paris, je t’aime
A jovial and bustling movement that captures everything I love about Paris – the excitement of being there, the nightlife, the chaos, the quiet, and the daily glitter of the Eiffel Tower for short bursts at the top of each evening hour.

Chapelle Sainte-Catherine du Port (Auvillar)
This is the name of a 14th century Chapel I performed in one summer in the small Medieval town of Auvillar during the very first festival I attended as a composer about 10 years ago. Full of crumbling frescoes, it was known as a regular stop for sailors along the Garonne river, who before leaving for a long voyage would come and seek solace before their uncertain journey. The bassoon solo towards the end is a variation of Guillaume de Machaut’s “Je vivroie liement” (I should live a happy life), followed by the strings answering with a nostalgia for moments that are only meant for their time and place: both ones you wish you could leave behind, and ones you yearn to experience again.

La Côte Sauvage (The Wild Coast)
I spent the most time this summer either in the Breton seaside town of Quiberon, or on the island of Belle Île for the Lyrique en Mer Festival. Part of the area referred to as the Côte Sauvage, in these parts the weather can change on a dime and even I (being raised on Long Island as a person who can’t be far from the sea for too long) was deeply impressed by how wild the coastline and the waves can be there. In my quest to have Orpheus sound even mightier than they already are, I did all I could to sonically channel both the ferocity of the coast and the joy of being at sea in this part of the world. Also featured is a variation of the Breton folk song “Le Semeur” (The Sower) in the trumpet, a tune that simultaneously captures the work ethic and unique Celtic heritage of the area. Just as here in the United States, many people from different places and backgrounds came together to be woven into both the history and the art of a given place – and that is a great thing.