8th September 2007 4:30pm

David Mason

Piano recital

contemporary music and Schillinger techniques

DOWNLOADS AVAILABLE FROM THE LINKS PAGE

M. Rosas Cobian

6 Arden Bagatelles and Addenda (2003/04)

 

Rosalie Coopman

Hiraku (2007)

C'est Tout (2007)

 

Jeremy Arden

Infinite Sets And Double Binds (1999)

6 ARDEN BAGATELLES and addenda
[For piano, 2003/04]

I composed these short piano pieces as a 40th birthday present for my friend and fellow composer, Jeremy Arden.

Knowing that occasionally he finds solace by sitting at the piano, I wrote pieces from which he could randomly choose, have a look and maybe even attempt to play! thus, these six pieces do not together form a structured body; these are self-contained vignettes, bagatelles, which toy with a few ideas and images, some carried to a conclusion, others merely a possibility. In order to be completely authentic to my friend’s musical imprint I played with some of the Schillinger ideas that I know have fascinated him for many years but exactly which ones and what I did with them I haven’t the faintest idea!

M. Rosas Cobian was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1953. He studied and worked professionally throughout the American continent, where he experienced various cultural environments, and was involved in what is loosely termed fusion music and worked as a recording artist and arranger for CBS Argentina. His works are regularly performed and broadcast internationally and he is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards including the 2nd European Competition for Composition, Bourges, and the prestigious Prix Ars Electronica in 1992 and 1993. Besides orchestral, chamber and electroacoustic music, he also composes music for experimental films, dance and theatre, which stems from a deep held belief in multi-media, collaborative and inter-disciplinary projects. Since 1979 he lives and works in London.

Besides his compositional projects, he was a Director of the Sonic Arts Network and is currently a Director of the SPNM (Society for the Promotion of New Music). He has curated many events including the Liverpool Music Weekend at the Tate Liverpool, 2 concerts at the last Barbican event with the Stockhausen weekend and the 60th Anniversary concert (for the SPNM) at the Wapping Hydroelectric Powerhouse. At present, he is embarked on completing a series of works for CD release.

Hiraku
[For piano, 2007]

Hiraku is inspired by Japan and its gardens. The atmosphere of peace and the occasional movements of birds inform this music.

C'est Tout
[For piano, 2007]

C'est Tout: a brief gesture of joy and pleasure.

Rosalie Coopman has composed music for numerous television documentaries and library music discs. Her concert music includes a song scena based on Jean Cocteau's L'aigle a deux Tetes; Chamber music for piano, wind, strings and percussion and a considerable amount of music for solo piano. Here output also includes groups of songs and settings of Verlaine, Robert frost, Dylan Thomas and Yeats.

Infinite Sets And Double Binds
[For piano, 1999]

Infinite Sets And Double Binds is a term that describes the circumstances of human relationships where communications are so full of emotional confusions that people drive one another mad! The title and its vast implications attracted me because it resonates with my intuitions about how important it is to explore the maximum contrast of emotional intensity. I held on to this idea when composing, and believe that it freed me from inhibition stemming from my awareness of the vast and brilliant repertoire already existing for the piano, a potentially crushing presence for any composer. I began to work on ISDB because of the sea at Cornwall. The first and last movements of ISDB convey, I hope, the spirit of liquid motion. Water leads naturally to air, earth and fire, in other words, the classical elements, which are eternal and most importantly real and in motion. To anyone who knows the Schillinger System of Musical Composition, the score of ISDB bears the signposts of its methods. Part 7, for example, owes much of its crystalline wholeness to the effect of symmetry, involution and power series.

Jeremy Arden has worked as a composer in a wide variety of fields including film, theatre and concert music. He enjoys collaborating with artists in different mediums while pursuing a daring individual mode of expression. His music is full of contrast: rhythmic energy is complimented by a delicate lyricism and ironic wit. His work embraces a huge range of sound colour, fluently combining traditional instrumental forces with electroacoustic sound. Arden’s work includes music for Theatre de Complicite's production of Durrenmatt's The Visit at the National Theatre. Concierto Barroco, a new music theatre piece based on a novel by Carpentier for the Teresa Carino Opera house in Caracas. 'Out of here’, a full length dance piece for Candoco dance company, which was described as 'panoramic' and 'breathtaking' by the critics and been toured internationally. Arden's opera, Victory Over the Sun, based on a Russian Futurist play by Klebnikhov was performed at the Barbican Pit theatre. His opera Columbia, a multimedia docu-opera about the space-shuttle disaster, was commissioned by the Arts council and Battersea Arts Centre and premiered at the BAC in London in 2004. Edition HH publishes Jeremy Arden’s music.


David Mason was born in Wigan and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Gordon Green. He has also studied with Sir William Glock and Charles Rosen.
Since leaving the RNCM he has led an unusually varied career, as pianist and also singing teacher. He has played throughout Europe as soloist, accompanist and chamber-music player, not only on the modern piano, but also playing the harpsichord and fortepiano. He has played at important festivals including Aldeburgh, Huddersfield and Spitalfield. In Madrid, Mason directs two early music groups: Ensemble Clásico de Madrid, and Medio Concertato. He gives regular courses at the University of Salamanca in voice and Baroque Music interpretation. He has also contributed to the Cambridge Companion to Singing and Opera Now magazine writing articles on historical singing styles. On the modern piano, Mason has concentrated on contemporary music giving a large number of premieres, including works by Jonathan Harvey, Michael Finnissy and Judith Weir. He has made many recordings for the BBC, and for various commercial labels, as soloist, and also as partner to Jane Manning, their recordings of Messiaen being particularly acclaimed.



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The Schillinger School of Music is grateful for the support of Rosalie Coopman.