Batya MacAdam-Somer, violin and voice
Todd Moellenberg, piano
David Medine, live sound
Jessica Flores, lighting design

Saturday, March 16th, 2013
3 PM, Conrad Prebys Experimental Theater

lied/lied, Nicholas Deyoe (1981- )

Partita No. 1 in b minor, J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

...de la Terre, Kaija Saariaho (1952- )

Second Violin Sonata, Charles Ives (1874-1954)

lied/lied: set 1 (2013)
sit/stare/silently bored
it's the electric chair in my stomach/but it just oozes out, whimpering/so disappointing/ heads cracked on the concrete/lying for days/smells like success
breathe innnnnn/hold it!
interlude 1

Partita No. 1 in b minor, BWV 1002 (1720)

Allemanda- Double
Corrente- Double
(Presto) Sarabande- Double
Tempo di Bourree- Double

lied/lied: set 2 (2013)
the only Texan to be accepted into Disney's Young Musician Symphony Orchestra at age 9
turn it off/swallow it/don't tell anyone
interlude 3
proud and shy about the attention
don't think too much about it/remember, practice makes perfect/and practicing is for losers/no one likes a suck up

...de la Terre (1991)

lied/lied: set 3 (2013)
proud and shy about the attention
attached to her box violin...rejected her first real violin...when it was presented to her
interlude 2
flew to Chicago...masterclass...many people she knew there...other violinists who felt that they...instead of her...it made her feel bad....she froze...she was twelve years old sit/stare/silently bored

Second Violin Sonata (1917)

Autumn
In the barn
The Revival

Notes:

Nicholas Deyoe graduated from UCSD in 2012 with a Ph.D. in composition and now lives in Los Angeles. He is a friend and someone that I have enjoyed collaborating with in the past. For me, Nick's music, like Nick himself, has a unique flair for the dramatic. When performing a Nick composition I often feel that I am exposing areas of vulnerability in myself/my instrument so that the balance of sincerity and play is always coming into question. With lied/lied, these aspects are framed around the delivery of text in conjunction with playing the violin. lied/lied is not only the newest piece on the concert but also the work I have had the least amount of time with. It is exciting in that sense to present something so fresh and undeveloped, and where the text is often dark I also hope to bring out lighter qualities of the piece- the humor and (sometimes) casual virtuosity of Nick's writing, and the silliness I sometimes feel in repeating my own thoughts.

In contrast to this new work is J.S. Bach's Partita no. 1 in b minor, which comes out of the traditional violin repertory. The b minor Partita is unique in its use of double movements, variations on the four dance forms Allemanda, Corrente, Sarabande, and Tempo di Bourrée. The doubles themselves are substantial, making the piece of considerable length with a total of eight movements. It is, in my experience, the least performed of the Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin- perhaps because of its daunting size. The sonority of b minor on the violin (lacking an open string for the tonic note) lends the Partita a distinct timbrel quality, to my ears glassy and sometimes veiled. When trying to draw out the sound,
the muted resonance can result in a grittiness that I don't hear in, for example, the d minor Partita. The dark sonority of b minor allows this Partita the most introverted and private character of the Six Sonatas and Partitas.

Kaija Saariaho is a Finnish composer whose work is widely performed. ...de la Terre is actually the third movement of Saariaho's first staged work, the ballet Maa. Both titles refer to the Earth, to land and ground. To me...de la Terre evokes a landscape where the viewpoint imperceptibly changes from foreground to background while shapes emerge and disappear. These events can be heard as gestural rather than functioning within a traditional formal/narrative structure. My initial approach with ...de la Terre was to find a desired sound/ shape for each gesture. What was pointed out to me by my teacher was that in doing
this, I was approximating Saariaho's writing. By shifting my focus to the realization of the actions so carefully detailed (instead of going for a specific sounding result), I am experiencing the music more, particularly the subtle motion that is constantly occurring. This is important to me as I want to emphasize the relationship of the motion in the music to the idea of ballet and movement in general. There is also the connection back to land and its development over time: the life, say, of mountains and rocks. In my mind, Saariaho's music is an ode to this existence, an animism of the Earth itself.

Charles Ives is now considered a major influence on American composition/experimental music. During his lifetime, however, his radical compositional ideas kept his music from being taken seriously by the classical music community. After graduating from college, Ives realized that he wanted to compose music his way, rather than conform to the norms of the era; and so he chose not to pursue a career as a composer and instead became a successful life insurance salesman. This decision to have a career outside of music while continuing to compose is relevant for me in that it stands in contrast to the ideal of the highly specialized professional classical musician that pervades the practice today. His status as an amateur composer afforded him a certain amount of freedom to make composition decisions and the result is music that is a splendid mixture of the bizarre, fun, reverent, and kind (amongst many other things). Ives is known for integrating borrowed material into his music; American folk tunes and hymns are quite prevalent in The Second Violin Sonata. But for me, it is his melodic writing that is most striking. Melodic moments in the Second Violin Sonata sometimes occur at unexpected points; even after working on this piece for months, I am still caught off guard by these moments of sudden solace and I am continually moved by their depth and beauty.

THANK YOU: David, Todd, and Jessica for all of your awesome hard work and for making this concert happen; Nick! You created a fascinating piece. It's been wonderful to get a chance to collaborate with you on this; János and Päivikki- I am so grateful for your continued guidance and support; Stephanie- it is an honor to have your cupcakes at my recital; To the Harar crew, for providing delicious food. Leslie, Leah, Meghann, Piper, and The Clints- for listening!; To my family, for always being so wonderful and supportive; Peter and Linda, it's always a pleasure to see you and means so much that you are here; To Anthony, John, Chandra, and Victoria- for being on my doctoral committee; to all who are a part of the Music Department at UCSD- I've learned so much from being around you; and to everyone for coming to this recital. Your presence is very much appreciated!