Program:
I. c60
II. bitumen
III. ethanol (cadenza)
IV. diesel
Scoring: 2Fl(II=picc), 2ob(II=corA), 2Cl(I=Ebcl II=bcl),
2asax(II=bsax), 2bn(II=cbn),hn,tr,tn,timp,2perc (I. Glock.,
Crot., Vibes, Xylo., Mar., Chimes, BD, SD, 2 Bongos, 3 Sus.
Cym., Tam-tam, Auto coil, Anvil, Whip, Rute, 3 Wblks., 5
Temple blocks. II. Glock., Crot., Vibes, Chimes, Bell tree,
2 Bongos, Conga, 5 toms, Rototoms (F-G), Small SD, SD, Kick
Drum, BD, 3 Sus. Cym., Tam-tam, Sm. Chinese Gong, Auto coil,
2 Brake drums, Large Cowbell (unpitched), 4 Wdblks, Large
Castinet, Tamb., Ratchet, Whip, 2 Large cardboard tubes,
Washboard, Large Wooden box), pf(cel,synth), solo elvc (processed
and amplified), 2vnI, 2vnII, 2va, 2vc, cb (with c ext.)
Duration: 35 mins.
Premiere:
9.November.2001
Finney Chapel
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Kivie Cahn-Lipman - electric violoncello
Stefan Tcherepnin - electronics
Tim Weiss - conductor
Program notes:
Traditionally speaking, the soloist acts as
the hero of the concerto who, during the course of the piece,
battles with the orchestra and eventually is triumphant
in their conquest, whereby the concerto comes to an end.
Historically, this is especially true of 19th century music
where a piece, and in this case a concerto, is seen as the
philosophical and also allegorical struggle between Man
and Nature. The struggle, most often portrayed through
the agon brings the soloist one more step closer to conquering
nature yet again.
In a lot of ways, my piece is very similar
to this approach, the ‘cello acts as the hero and overall,
the piece is about a struggle between two opposing forces.
However, where Fuel differs from this allegory, is that
the hero does not win the agon, and if we assume that the
cello is representative of Man, then Man, becomes so unnatural
in the course of trying to change its surroundings, that
Nature becomes unnatural too leaving nature no other choice
then to stamp the hero right out of existence.
On the literal level, Fuel is about a
metamorphosis of material, structurally, harmonically and
orchestrationally. The ‘cello initiates the changes
while the orchestra tries to keep up, constantly trying
to pull the ‘cello back in to the comfortable and organic
language it sets up in C60. The orchestra acts as the “fuel”
to the ‘cello, feeding it and nurturing it until the
cello becomes aware of its own existence. It is here
that the transformation takes place: the ‘cello slowly
becomes increasingly dissonant and distorted by use of processing
the signal of the cello through effects and begins to move
away from the original pitch material into a more chromatic/microtonal
environment. The ‘cello attempts to fuel the orchestra,
but does not succeed.
I began composing Fuel in May 2000 with
the original impetus being a quote from Orwell’s 1984:
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot
stamping on a human face ? forever.” This quote
pointed me into the direction of killing off the hero at
the end of my piece and subsequently set up the entire structure
of the piece. I finished the first version of the
piece in September 2000 and re-orchestrated it over the
summer of 2001. The piece was eventually completed
in Oberlin on October 27th 2001, complete with a new 2nd
movement. Although the piece was completed out of
order, the piece contains most of the music making I have
been interested in over the past few years, mainly motoric
and virtuosic lines and slow, timeless “sospeso”
landscapes. It also gave me the opportunity to create
this (in a sense) custom-designed concerto for Kivie, who
is one of my best friends and who has played almost all
of the music I have written in Oberlin, and has been the
biggest supporter of my work.
Concerning the titles of the movements
C60 is a molecule made up of 60 atoms of carbon, which forms
a spherical-like structure similar to a soccer ball.
It is commonly referred to as Buckminsterfullerine or, Buckyballs.
Carbon, the simplest of all atoms, is the basis of all life
forms. Bitumen is a mixture of tarlike hydrocarbons
derived from petroleum. Black or brown, it varies from viscous
to solid; the solid form is usually called asphalt.
Ethanol, is an organic compound, most important of the alcohols.
Produced by fermentation, it is the intoxicating ingredient
in alcoholic beverages. Moderate amounts depress the inhibitory
activities of the brain, and so appear to stimulate the
mind. Diesel is an internal-combustion engine in which
air is compressed to a temperature sufficiently high to
ignite fuel injected into the cylinder, where combustion
and expansion activate a piston. It converts the chemical
energy stored in the fuel into mechanical energy, which
can be used to power large trucks, locomotives, ships, small
electric-power generators, and some automobiles. Compared
to other internal-combustion engines, diesel engines are
expensive and heavy and produce more air pollution, noise,
and vibration.
Fuel was written for ‘cellist, Kivie Cahn-Lipman
in 2000-01 and is dedicated to Kivie, Lewis Nielson, Wally Scharold and
Tim Weiss.
Vin Calianno
Nov. 2001
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