Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Let me begin by confirming the August 7, 2016, performance of Quiltings at the Fresno Art Museum at 3:30 pm in the Bonner Auditorium of the Fresno Art Museum. It’s happening as part of a Special Enrichment Program from 2 – 5 PM at the museum at 2233 N. First Street, Fresno, California. The art work, particularly the fiber art exhibition with which this is connected, is stunning, and I am eager to hear the opening panel discussion on Fiber as Medium! Hope to see you there!
With that out of the way, let’s briefly enjoy two new works that have recently come to me. Both are delightful late (or is it early?) Christmas presents! One is a stunning set of variations for piano on “Good King Wenceslas” by Michigan composer Richard Cerchia; the other is a splendid and rare setting of the Benedictus hymn from Luke 1:68-75 by North Carolinian Ricky Gessler.
Cerchia’s Adalbert Variations have a colorful history. They arose out of a simple scene change for a play where Cerchia served as music director. I will let him explain the title:
When the story teller tried to sing “Good King Wenceslas” the other characters interrupted saying they thought the name was Adalbert. “That’s the way Ma always used to sing it!” and they exit the scene singing “Good King A-Dal-Bert looked out….” I was asked to write scene change music to follow this, so naturally I went to the Christmas carol, “Good King Wenceslas”. .The original music comprised basically the first page of this present piece.[1]
Cerchia goes on to explain how very little of the music was used for the show, but it got hold of him and “made him” write the colorful theme and ten variations! The humor of Cerchia’s explanations is beautifully mirrored in the music, in which the modal quartal harmonies of Hindemith meet the jaunty tone colorings and rhythms of Copland and explore every nook and cranny of this equally funny Christmas carol. Surprisingly, the result is a seriously challenging, twelve-minute work for piano solo wonderfully presented by pianist Susan Morton.
As a composer, I have been in that delightful place of being drawn in by inspiration, and I salute Cerchia for being willing to be “used” by this carol and his minute-long scene-change music to create this wonderful fantasy/variations. All joking and laughing aside, this is a stunning addition to the solo repertoire that could be welcome in any piano recital, especially around Christmastime!
A Benediction by Ricky Gessler is a different kind of gift. A delightful setting of the Benedictus hymn of Luke 1:68-75, in which the priest Zacharias blesses God for keeping His promises as his wife Elizabeth welcomes son John the Baptist into the world. The gift is especially for women’s choirs, however, since there is such a dearth of good Christmas music for them. As Gessler mentions, the delightful influence of Benjamin Britten permeates this joyous setting throughout.
You may listen to Cerchia’s work at least temporarily through this website:
http://williamvollinger.com/audio/Cerchia2.mp3
My hope is that Cerchia will soon add the Adalbert Variations to his website at http://cerchiamusic.com/compositions.php.
Gessler has graciously provided score and recording of his work at http://www.societyofcomposers.org/members/JosephGessler/ where they appear right on the page. Both of these Christmas gifts deserve to be opened early!
[1] Program notes for Adalbert Variations, by Richard Cerchia, from an e-mail circulated by William Vollinger for the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers, June 26, 2016