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Market & Performance Gallery
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FELT | Striking Works for Solo Piano
FELT | Striking Works for Solo Piano
Matthew Durrant
Rachel Lee Guthrie
Amir Zaheri
Richard Pressley
Byron Petty
Ron Nagorcka
Robert A. Baker
Classical
NV5987
Release Date: February 10, 2015YouTube Sampler | Amazon | iTunes | ClassicsOnline | Spotify
Karolina Rojahn, J. Bradley Baker, Robert A. Baker
FELT, a compilation for solo piano offered by Navona Records, presents an array of techniques and themes to illustrate the piano’s dexterous capacity for limitless expression and tonal colors.
In Three Excursions for Piano, Matthew Durrant explores various angles of contemporary composition – 12-tone rows, bitonality and modality, and repetition and rhythmic propulsion. Rachel Lee Guthrie’s Winter is an impressionistic piece inspired by the sublimity of mid-western winter landscapes, depicting the imagery of northern winds blowing across the countryside and gently falling snow blanketing the chilling earth. In Prelude to the Holy Dark, Amir Zaheri illustrates the idea of welcoming a return to the time before electricity, while expressing the angst and frustration found in the act of regression. Written for the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth, in memoriam by Richard Pressley focuses on the struggle and ultimate collapse of the musical material toward an elusive goal. The two-movement work by Byron Petty, Propuntal Displays, references the standard teaching literature of J.S. Bach, displaying episodes of increasing difficulty and counterpoint techniques. Anything by Ron Nagorcka is a work refined by ear rather than theory, developing from a random application of notes in a rhythmic structure. Robert A. Baker presents two works, Nor gates of steel so strong, but Time decays?, a line from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 65 which Baker considers to “appropriately reflect a near exact narrative of the musical discourse” and Valence I, whose meaning is left to the interpretation of the listener.
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Catalog of Compositions
BYRON W. PETTY
Recent Selected Compositions
2003 – 2011
{Piano, Organ, Solo & Chamber, Orchestral}
Download/View New Catalog in PDF format
Piano:
2010:
To My Yamaha for Piano Solo (3:40) $5.00
2009:
Connecting for Solo Piano (4:00) $5.00
2006:
Clay Bodies for Two Pianos (6:00) 2 parts / $12.00
Captive Dreams for Solo Piano (1991-2006) $10.00
(A compilation of short piano pieces of moderate difficulty in various styles composed for students and special occasions).
2005:
Intangibles for Piano Solo (3:45) $5.00
2004:
Prelude & Fugue for Piano Solo (5:00) $6.00
2003:
Retrospectives for Piano Solo * (4:00) $6.00
Mystery Nocturne for Piano Solo * (3:00) $5.00Organ:
2009:
Actionable Impulses (3:00) $6.00
2004:
Prelude & Postlude (4:50) $6.00Solo & Chamber
2011
—on quiet days for Two Flutes free
By the Minute for Solo Flute (2:20) $3.00
Gofu No Uta for cello & piano (4:00) $10:00
From Grapes Come Wine for Flugelhorn & Piano (4:30) $10.002010:
Moorings III for solo flute free
Symposium for oboe, clarinet, & bassoon (7:00) $10.00
Organica for solo viola (5:00) $6.00
Chosen Moments for Woodwind Quintet (8:00) $20.002009:
Nucleation for Violin, Viola, & Cello (6:30) $12.00
Opening Vistas for Flute & Cello (4:00) $6.00
Truckers in the ditch for soprano & flute (1:40) $4.00
Atlanta Express for oboe, violin, viola, cello, & piano (4:40) $12.00
Stories to Impress & Charm for Flute & Clarinet (5:00) $6.00
Announcement for Solo Horn (1:10) $3.00
Quaint Notions for French Horn & Piano (7:00) $8.00
Music on the Waters for Soprano, Flute, & Piano (text: Lord Byron) (5:15) $8.00
Casual Notes for Two Flutes (5:25) $6.002008:
Six Preludes & Etudes for Solo Flute (18:00) $12.00
Abbreviations for Solo Cello (3:05) $5.00
Three Mentions for Violin, Viola, & Cello (1:30) $4.00
Distant Actions for Flute, Violin, & Cello* (7:00) $12.00
Upon Reflections for Solo Guitar (6:30) $6.00
Sun Patches for Flute & Guitar (6:40) $6.00
A Clear Path for Flute & Piano (2:40) $4.00
Bright Spots for Flute Quartet (4:30) $10.00
Smiling Valleys for two French horns & Piano (3:00) $7.00
Ohio Wandering for Soprano, Flute, & Piano (6:30) $12.00
Ohio Adventures for Various Combinations of Fifes and Drums (6:30) $8.00
Phantom Encounters for French horn & Piano (7:30) $10.00
Descending Phrases for Solo Trombone (4:30) $5.002007:
21.6 for Solo Flute (3:30) $5.00
Slight Angles for Two Flutes (3:30) $6.00
Minutes for Brass Quintet (5:00) $10.00
Small Incisions for Clarinet & French horn (8:00) (2 copies) $12.00
Distractions for Flute & Piano* (6:00) $8.002006:
Moorings II for Solo Flute * (5:00) Free
Nights When Stars Are Red for Flute & Piano (4:00) $6.00
Shared Spaces for Alto Saxophone & Piano (3:00) $6.00
Spell for 2 Flutes, 2 Clarinets, & Piano (2:00) $5.00
Under a Spell for Flute, Clarinet, & Piano (6:30) $10.00
A General Disturbance for Flute, Cello, & Piano* (5:30) $10.00
String Quartet # 1 (Lost Thoughts) (9:30) (Sc & Pts.) $18.00
Serenade for 2 Clarinets, Bassoon, Trumpet, Violin, Viola, Cello (6:30) (Sc&Pts.) $20.00
*(Mythical Moments Version II – the flute part for A General Disturbance is transcribed for violin and the two trios combined as one work.) (9:10) $15.002005:
Antler Dance for Solo Clarinet (4:00) $5.00
Expressions for Flute & Guitar (12:00) $15.00
Misdemeanors for Flute & Clarinet * (5:30) $6.00
Ushering the Spirit for Violin and Piano (5:00) $6.00
Beyond Supervision for Clarinet & Trumpet (8:30) $12.00
Designs for French Horn & Guitar (6:00) $8.00
Traveler’s Tales for Violin, Clarinet, & Piano * (6:00) $12.00
Mythical Moments for Violin, Cello, & Piano (4:00) $10..002004:
Three for Thee for Flute & Piano * (11:30) $16.00
Launchings for Trumpet & Organ (6:30) $8.00
Fire Henge for Flute & Organ (7:30) $10.00
Expansions for Flute, Clarinet, & Contrabass (9:30) (Sc.&Pts.) $12.002003:
Passages for Oboe, French horn, & Bassoon (5:15) (Sc.&Pts.) $8.00
Ach! How to be! for Voice, Violin, & Clarinet (8:40) (Sc.&Pts.) $12.00
Simple Visions for 2 Flutes (4:00) $5.00
Trio for (3) Flutes (3:00) $5.00
Mysteries of the Orchard for Solo Flute * (3:00) $4.00
Mysteries of the Orchard for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Piano, & Prepared CD * (7:40) (Pts.&CD) $8.00Orchestra: (full purchase prices)
2008:
Majestic Passage Overture for Orchestra (4:00) (Sc. & Pts.) $100.00
Nocturne for Orchestra (6:00) (Sc. & Pts.) $125.002006:
Moon Shadows for Small Orchestra (2:30) (Sc.&Pts.) $50.002005:
Crowd Control for Orchestra (5:40) (Sc.&Pts.) $150.002004:
The Flute of Night of Never for Orchestra (13:24) (Sc.&Pts.) $200.002003:
Gestures from the Bridge for Orchestra (6:30) (Sc.&Pts.) $100.00Vintage Selections
1990 – 1999
{Piano, Harpsichord, Voice, Solo & Chamber, Orchestral}
Piano:
1995
Propuntal Displays for Solo Piano (7:22) $12.00
Grand Sonatina for Solo Piano (12:00) $10.00Harpsichord:
1993:
Three Pressings for Harpsichord (6:00) $$8.00Voice:
1996:
Wondrous Life for Tenor & Piano (3:30) $5.00
1994:
So Fold Thyself, My Dearest for Mezzo Soprano & Piano (4:50) $6.00
1993:
Then Lightly for Soprano & Piano (3:30) $4.00
From Above for Soprano & Piano (1:50) $3.00Solo & Chamber Music:
1999:
Into the Sun, Sea, & Moon for Oboe, Clarinet, & Bassoon (2:30) (Sc.&Pts.) $5.00
Celebration for Oboe, Clarinet, & Bassoon (7:45) (Sc.&Pts.) $8.00
1997:
Voice of the Ephors for Brass Quintet (8:30) (Sc.&Pts.) $15.00
Triettes for Oboe, Clarinet, & Bassoon (5:50) (Sc.&Pts.) $10.00
Glenteenassig Rhapsody for Clarinet & Piano (3:30) $5.00
1994:
Introduction and Souvenir for Soprano Saxophone & Piano (7:45) $12.00
1992:
Reminiscence for Flute & Piano (4:40) $8.00
1991:
Trio for Flute, Oboe, & Piano (6:30) $10.00Orchestra:
1999:
Glenteenasig Sketches for Orchestra (8:50) (Sc.&Pts.) $150.00
Before it happens — for Clarinet & Small Orchestra (6:15) Sc.&Pts.) $100.001997:
Rokudan / Arranged for Koto and Orchestra (8:30) (Sc.&Pts.) $125.00
Stirrings for String Orchestra (6:45) (Sc.&Pts.) $75.00
______________________________________________________________________________ORDER FORM
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City/State/Zip_______________________________________________________________________________
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Allow 10 days for delivery
Mail order form with check to:
Byron W. Petty
c/o Music Department
Washington & Lee University
Lexington, VA 24450
(Allow 7-14 days for delivery)Compositions marked with an asterisk (*) are available on two CDs titled Traveler’s Tales & Tendrils
Available CDs by Petty at Amazon.com, i-tunes, i-phone, PARMA, ardoclassicalartmusic.com, etc
“Traveler’s Tales” Recent Compositions (2003-2006) Capstone CPS58776
“Tendrils” Navona Records NV5833 / Naxos distribution
(Place this disc in your computer to access Ehhanced Content, including study scores, program notes, bios, etc.)Byron W. Petty – flutist, pianist, composer, conductor / Lecturer in Music at Washington & Lee University, VA
General Inquiries / Commissions: pettyb@wlu.eduByron W. Petty
Selected Solo & Chamber Compositions with Flute
From the 2011 Catalog
2011
—on quiet days for Two Flutes (3:30) free
By the Minute for Solo Flute (2:20) $4.00
2010
Moorings III for Solo Flute (4:00) free
Chosen Moments for Woodwind Quintet (8:00) $20.00
2009
Opening Vistas for Flute & Cello (4:00) $6.00
Truckers in the ditch! for Soprano & Flute (1:40) $4.00
Stories to Impress & Charm for Flute & Clarinet (5:00) $6.00
Music on the Waters for Soprano, Flute & Piano (5:15) $8.00
Casual Notes for Two Flutes (5:25) $8.00
2008
Six Preludes & Etudes for Solo Flute (18:00) $12.00
Distant Actions for Flute, Violin, & Cello* (8:00) $12.00
Sun Patches for Flute & Guitar (6:40) $8.00
A Clear Path for Flute & Piano (2:40) $5:00
Bright Spots for Flute Quartet (4:30) $12.00
Ohio Wandering for Soprano, Flute, & Piano (6:30) $12.00
Ohio Adventures for Various Combinations of Fifes and Drums (6:15) $8.00
2007
21.6 for Solo Flute (3:30) $5.00
Slight Angles for Two Flutes (3:30) $6.00
Distractions for Flute & Piano* (6:00) $10.00
2006
Moorings II for Solo Flute* (5:00) free
Under a Spell for Flute, Clarinet, & Piano (6:30) $10.00
A General Disturbance for Flute, Cello, & Piano* (6:15) $10.00
2005
Expressions for Flute & Guitar* (12:00) $15.00
Misdemeanors for Flute & Clarinet* (5:30) $8.00
2004
Three for Thee for Flute & Piano* (11:30) $16.00
Fire Henge for Flute & Organ (7:30) $10.00
2003
Simple Visions for 2 Flutes (4:00) $5.00
Mysteries of the Orchard for Solo Flute* (3:00) $5.00
Mysteries of the Orchard for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Piano, & Prepared CD* (7:40) (Pts.&CD) $10.00
1992
Reminiscence for Flute & Piano (4:40) $8.00ORDER FORM
Name_________________________________________________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip_______________________________________________________________________________
Item(s)
_______________________________________________Price___________Quantity_______Subtotal___________
__________________________________________________/________________/_____________/___________ ___
__________________________________________________/_________________/_____________/______________
Total________________
Mail order form with check to:
Byron W. Petty
c/o Music Department
Washington & Lee University
Lexington, VA 24450
(Allow 7-14 days for delivery)Compositions marked with an asterisk (*) are available on two CDs titled Traveler’s Tales & Tendrils
Available CDs by Petty at Amazon.com, i-tunes, i-phone, PARMA, ardoclassicalartmusic.com, etc
“Traveler’s Tales” Recent Compositions (2003-2006) Capstone CPS58776
“Tendrils” Navona Records NV5833 / Naxos distribution
(Place this disc in your computer to access Ehhanced Content, including study scores, program notes, bios, etc.)Byron W. Petty – flutist, pianist, composer, conductor / Lecturer in Music at Washington & Lee University, VA
General Inquiries / Commissions: pettyb@wlu.edu -
WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO THAT PIANO? NAVONA RECORDS COLLECTIONS | 5 CD SET
From Navona Records comes an exciting new CD bundle of five previous releases featuring the piano at its most prepared and extended. WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO THAT PIANO? features composers and artists dedicated to finding the most adventurous and compelling sounds that the piano has to offer. Opening with SONATAS AND INTERLUDES IN A LANDSCAPE, composed by John Cage, the virtual godfather of prepared piano, and performed by the virtuosic Kate Boyd, this CD bundle contains one of the most eclectic collections of solo piano music a listener will ever encounter.
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Rhapsody for Armenia
In Memoriam
This recording of “Rhapsody for Armenia” by Byron W. Pettyis dedicated to memory of Dr. Eduard Danielyan (1944-2017), who served as the Editor in Chief of “Fundamental Armenology,” and the Head of the Department of Ancient History at the National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia.
This composition, written at the request of Dr. Danielyan, combines Armenian musical elements woven into Western contemporary style music.
This recording project was made possible by support from the Music Department of Washington and Lee University and Mr. Graham Spice, recording engineer.
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CLEMENTI GRAND | Shuko Watanabe
CLEMENTI GRAND | Shuko Watanabe
Shuko Watanabe
Timothy Gaylard
Classical
NV5966
YouTube Sampler | Amazon | iTunes | ClassicsOnline | Spotify | Rdio | Naxos Music LibraryShuko Watanabe, piano
Timothy Gaylard, piano
Byron W. Petty, wooden fluteWhat must it feel like to play an instrument that is one of seven known to exist in the world and is two hundred years old? Pianists Shuko Watanabe and Timothy Gaylard know this feeling, playing works written by Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) on a Clementi grand fortepiano in pieces on the Navona Records release, CLEMENTI GRAND.
The Clementi grand featured on this album was a gift by Dr. Lawrence Smith and his wife Ganelle to the Department of Music at Washington & Lee University in Lexington VA, and celebrates the bicentennial of its production this year. Some of Clementi’s most well-known pieces as well as some lesser-known works are presented, including four preludes from Musical Character Pieces, two of his didactic sonatinas, the famous Sonata in B-flat that Clementi played in Vienna at a contest with Mozart in 1781, two symphonic-sounding four-handed duets, and a rondo for keyboard and flute, featuring flutist Byron W. Petty. Watanabe and Gaylard honor this Clementi grand fortepiano with energy and enthusiasm.
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TENDRILS | Petty, Stewart, Homans
TENDRILS
Byron Petty
Robert Stewart
Peter Homans
Classical
NV5833Amazon | iTunes | Spotify | Naxos Music Library
Lisa Hennessy, flute; Emmanuel Feldman, cello; Karolina Rojahn, piano
Charles Sherba, violin; Byron Petty, flute; Shuko Watanabe, piano
Beverly Morgan, mezzo soprano
Dinosaur Annex: Cyrus Vance, violin; Anne Black, viola
Michael Curry, cello; Donald Berman, piano
The Virtuoso Strings: Christopher Kendall, conductor
The compositions of Byron Petty, Peter Homans, and Robert Stewart draw from a wide variety of influences, from Haydn to the Second Viennese School and Brahms to Stravinsky. Tendrils showcases the influences and skills of these three composers and highlights their ability to remain classical while utilizing modern concepts such as rotation, continuous development, and lyricism. -
Traveler’s Tales | Byron Petty
Traveler’s Tales has been “OFFICIALLY” re-released (June 6th, 2012) as an mp3 download on Ravello Records under PARMA at Amazon.com.
Click to listen to individual tracks
Purchase associated compositions
The youtube video showcases track 5 titled: Misdemeanors.
Traveler’s Tales by Byron W. Petty, Chris Magee, Roger Quigley, Shuko Watanabe, Wallace Easter was originally released in June of 2007 of Capstone Records and is soon to be released with Navon
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Jonathan Chapman Cook
Composed by Byron Petty. Performed by Jonathan Chapman Cook, February 2014 in Wilson Hall at the Lenfest Center for the Arts at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA. Recording engineer: Graham Spice. Jonathan Cook also played “Quarks and Leptons” on Distinguished Alumni Series, Western Michigan University on November 02, 2013.
Pianist and composer Jonathan Chapman Cook (b. 1984), a native of Michigan and current resident of Lexington, Virginia, will presented a diverse and exciting recital featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s jovial Italian Concerto, two études by Frédéric Chopin, Cook’s piano étude, the magnificent and haunting Prelude, Chorale and Fugue by César Franck, Scarlatti’s Sonata in D, and Byron Petty’s Quarks/Leptons on October 4th, 2014.
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PnOVA | Martin Jones
Promotional video for PnOVA Recordings’ volume 2 CD of American Piano Music, performed by internationally acclaimed British pianist, Martin Jones. PnOVA Recordings is a division of Mahin Media LLC.
The video features a live concert performance of the compositions recorded on this CD, in addition to commentary from Martin Jones, Bruce Mahin and the five composers whose works are included on the CD.
The promotional video footage and audio was filmed/recorded by John A. Palmer of Visual Images Media, Inc. The editing was completed by Jennifer M. Barker of Visual Images Media, Inc.
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Gofu no Uta (Song of Protection) for Cello and Piano | Petty
“Gofu no Uta” may be loosely translate as “Song of Protection” with Uta as song and Gofu meaning a talisman or charm of good fortune.
Byron Petty’s wish is that through the performance of this piece, the collective feeling of concern and goodwill toward the Japanese people will provide a spiritual armor against future disasters. Gofu no Uta makes use of a broad range of styles derived both from the folk and court music genres of Japan.
Of course, being composed in the 21st century, there is a modern compositional approach to the source material.
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Upcoming Lectures & Performances
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Date: Thursday, March 26, 2020
Time: 8PM
Wilson Concert HallEvent: The University Orchestra will be joined by retiring Professor of Music Dr. Timothy Gaylard and his colleague of 30 years, Dr. Shuko Watanabe, to perform Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos in D Minor. In wishing a fond farewell to Dr. Gaylard, the orchestra will also perform Haydn’s Symphony No. 45, nicknamed the Farewell.
Tickets are not required.
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HKSNA (Historical Keyboard Society of North America) Annual Meeting at Greenville, SC, 4/26-4/29/2017
Ardo Duo will perform works by John Field & George Frederick Pinto at 5:30 PM session on Thursday, 4/27/2017 at Zen, Greenville, SC (https://zengreenville.com/), 924 S. Main Street, Greenville, SC.
Click for HKSNA Conference Schedule, Lodging, and Registration
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Guest Piano Recital: Jonathan Chapman Cook
Friday, April 28, 2017
Wilson Hall/Concert Hall
8:00 p.m.
Pianist Jonathan Chapman Cook will perform a set of four Beethoven sonatas: Op. 13, Op. 14 No 1, Op. 78 and Op. 81a. Cook has performed at the University of Michigan, W&L, The Garth Newel Music Center and on the Distinguished Alumni Recital Series at Western Michigan University.
No tickets are required.
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Reviews
Amazon and other reviews of Byron Petty and Shuko Watanabe offered CDs.-
If you remember the first time you could actually differentiate the variations of dark cherry and hazel nut with a light peach ‘memory’ when testing a new wine then this collection will not disappoint. The composers have found a level of presentation that balances subtlety with style and maturity. Happily, it is not the “in your face” modern style that is offputting to those who might be willing converts…a welcome change. Instead, this is a collection that is…well, easy on the ears. This is a threshold collection that will break through the barrier of old school and status quo to envelope a new audience. If you have not tried this type music before, it is like a very fine wine that is worth tasting over and over. Welcome to the next level. 5 stars in my book. Note: The “enhanced” CD is recommended for the scores, composer’s notes, photos and other extras.
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The compositions on this cleanly recorded CD, “tendrils,” include five by Byron Petty and an extended work each by Robert Stewart and Peter Homans, who is also represented by mezzo soprano Beverly Morgan’s clear a capella renditions of three short Italian songs. Performance of Stewart’s work is by The Virtuoso Strings ensemble, but otherwise, the recording’s instrumentation includes various combinations, flute, piano, cello, violin, viola, as well as solo piano. Petty, who has a broad musical perspective informed by a thorough grounding in classical (taking that term in the wide popular sense) repertoire and history, is fully conversant with the groundbreaking works and styles of 20th century composers, in the tradition of which his work stands as a continuation. In Petty’s compositions here, variably textured interlaced threads of tone and tempi are developed and organically meshed to form a satisfying musical unity. The works are fully modern. Petty’s occasionally playful titles (e.g., “A General Disturbance”) give a hint of the spirited quality of his works. Fresh, faceted and often fearlessly lyrical in parts, Petty’s compositions will gratify the attentive listener. In mutually good company with Petty’s compositions, the works by Homans and Stewart project the creative force of both. Homan’s “Bridges,” is alternately lilting and percussive. Stewart’s “Idyll” is both ethereal and strong. The CD of Tendrils contains some textual notes on the composers, scores of several of the compositions, and photos and videos of some of the performers. Bob Crawford (a visual artist with an avid interest in 20/21 century composition)
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Amazing variety of musical content in this CD of Clementi played on an actual Clementi. Shuko Watanabe starts off with a brisk, no-nonsense walk through Clementi’s musical landscape with his preludes. Then she executes Clementi’s classical form with F and D Sonatas. Timothy Gaylard’s performance of B-Flat Sonatas follows. The two performers then join to play Clementi’s famous duets. The last track brings in Byron Petty on Flute in a G-Major Sonata. Excellent performances by all three artists.
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Compiling this boxed set to document the history of post-20th-century piano must have been somewhat of a challenge for producer Bob Lord and Navona Records. But vexed they were not, judging by the results of What Are They Doing to That Piano? This boxed set of works for prepared piano shows how far ahead of the contemporary classical music game Lord and his label really are. It is only fitting then that this compilation begins at the beginning, with a stellar recording of the music that began it all: John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes. This cycle of pieces was written between 1946 and 1948, and together represents one of Cage’s major contributions to the music of the 20th century. This “prepared piano” cycle was created for an instrument invented out of necessity: unable to fit a percussion ensemble onstage to accompany a dance performance, Cage modified a piano to produce “a percussion ensemble controllable by one player.” Among modern pianists, Kate Boyd’s performance of Sonatas and Interludes remains a benchmark one, just as Greta Sultan’s recording of John Cage’s Études was before that. In Sonatas and Interludes, Cage exploits a wide array of sonorities, some bright and bell-like, others more delicate and subdued. Rhythmic motifs and patterns recur, producing an incantatory and hypnotic quality close to that produced by the gamelan, the percussion orchestras of Java and Bali. As Cage himself suggested, “control” was key. And Kate Boyd appears to have mastered the markings on Cage’s vertical score with cultured musicality and fastidious pianism. This performance replaces brute power with pellucid textures and a kaleidoscope of brilliant colours. Grinding motoric rhythms are superseded by an infinitely calibrated kinaesthetic sense of terrifying intensity. Transitions of tempo occur with the natural inevitability of a living, breathing organism. The precise dimensions and shapes of Cage’s structures appear in sharp focus. Such wizardry continues unabated into In a Landscape as Cage’s musical narratives, for all their wealth of detail, unfold with undistracted purpose. In all of this, Boyd’s dazzling virtuosity is never an end in itself but the servant of her vivid imagination. If Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes is the anthemic torchlight of the prepared piano, then Stephen Scott’s Ice & Fire is one of the most significant pieces in this ongoing relay of Olympian proportions. It is almost impossible to imagine the true extent of how tight a fit it must have been to accommodate ten players around the well of even a 9-foot grand piano. However, fit they not only did but also have brilliantly executed Scott’s music to a nicety. Afternoon of a Fire and Vocalise on “In a Silent Way” sit at opposite ends of the Scott-spectrum. The former work is framed around American Indigenous, music and the latter conjures the ghost of Miles Davis’ repertoire from the 1970s; a veritable Mecca for moderns. In these and the eight other pieces, the Bowed Piano Ensemble takes a leap, intellectually, musically and instinctually, as they match Stephen Scott’s invention and originality throughout. Sidney Bailin’s pieces 16-2-60-N-5 develop from beguiling, elegant threads, which are sewn together by his electronic manipulations with Karolina Rojahn’s arresting pianism, evoking stimulating mental pictures of mysterious narratives. And while Rojahn reappears with J. Bradley and Robert A. Baker to deploy an astonishing array of colours on Felt, Stephen Gosling breathes luminosity into Gheorghe Costinescu’s music on An Evolving Cycle to complete this glorious 5-disc set. More than that, though, these “new” works themselves deserve wider performance lives beyond this beautiful beginning provided them by Lord and Navona Records.
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Navona Records’s What Are They Doing to That Piano? is a collection of five previously released albums, packaged together. This release features composers and artists dedicated to finding the most adventurous and compelling sounds that the piano has to offer… A word of warning. If you’re looking for melodies; music to touch the soul and raise your spirits… then you won’t find any of that here. However, if you’re seeking musical experimentation then these 5 albums – 53 tracks (4 hr, 43 min, 46 sec) will deliver more than you could ever wish for. What Are They Doing to That Piano? opens with the album, Sonatas And Interludes In A Landscape, composed by John Cage and performed by the Kate Boyd. Over the course of 21 tracks (1 hr, 14 min, 47 sec) Cage pretty much takes the piano apart and puts it back together. Next up is Ice & Fire, which was first released in November 2013 and features six compositions by Stephen Scott for the Bowed Piano Ensemble, including ‘Afternoon of a Fire’, written for bowed piano and improvised Native American Flute in memory of a wildfire that occurred in his native Colorado. This is actually one of the collection’s high points, in so much as it actually has a melody you can warm to. The album also includes experimental works that interpret the concept of drones, a piece with five miniatures for bowed piano, and Scott’s first written piece for voice and bowed piano. Originally released on Ravello Records in May 2016, 16-2-60-N-5: Works for Electronics & Piano, by composer and pianist Sidney Bailin, shows how musical technique can exist solely to help him tell his secrets. A combination of piano and electro acoustic works, 16-2-60-N-5 transforms patterns and structures into a viscerally and emotionally gripping sound experience. Felt, a compilation for solo piano was first released in February 2015. It presents the works of a number of composers including Matthew Durrant and Byron Petty. With each composer comes a subtly different perception of what the piano is capable, a degree of variation that presents itself repeatedly in the kaleidoscopic collection of pieces included on this release. On An Evolving Cycle, Gheorghe Costinescu explores the manner in which keyboard idioms evolved from Baroque to 21st-Century contemporary, charting the evolution of form and technique with a deft control of style. As I said at the start of this review, it’s an album you’ll either embrace or be turned off by. Those that have a love of the piano will instantly fall in love with the rich and varied sounds that each composer manages to coax out of the humble piano.
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This entire contemporary classical compilation is enjoyable and well worth exploring. It’s evident that each piece was composed and played by a different artist, yet –somehow- a lovely tonality ties one track to the other. A lonely wisp of a note here, a counterpoint there and BAM you’re in the venue of amazing talent. Want a contemporary angle on classical music? Then, this is the collection.
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Not something you find every day–Clementi played on…Clementi! This “Clementi Fortepiano” is housed at Washington and Lee University, and has a fascinating history. Shuko Watanabe, Byron Petty and Timothy Gaylord are all highly accomplished musicians who present lively, spirited performances of Clementi’s works on this wonderful historic instrument. Whether or not they are fans of “historic instruments” vs “modern instruments”, all students of music should hear these works on the fortepiano. There is no coherent and effective way to perform 18th Century music even on modern instruments unless the musician has a concept of what the composer himself heard. And for everyone, hearing this wonderful music composed by this “Father of the Pianoforte” is a treat!
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September 19, 2014 …Your wonderful recording of Clementi on the period piano arrived in July in my mailbox at USC [University of Southern California]. At last I have caught up enough on school start-up duties to have a chance to listen to it. What a wonderful idea and what lovely performances! …I always talk about Clementi in my keyboard literature classes and I will welcome using your recording in my lectures. …I admire your work and will cherish this recording both professionally and personally. –Dr. Stewart Gordon Professor of Keyboard Studies Thorton Schoolof Music of the University of Southern California
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The previous review by 2b1 compares this modern collection to wine and his views are on-the-money. Just as a fine wine velvets the tongue with notes deep in flavors – Tendrils reaches out and wraps around you in a deliberate slowness. Tendrils refuses to be rushed, demands to be savored and tells a thoughtful story. While not classical, it is mature and very pleasing to hear. To quote from a recent story: “Life, I would say, is a orchestra absent its conductor; where gypsy notes and chords bellow out without concern of melody and form, but every once in a while, you will hear the song of the whippoorwill and in the moment of anticipated silence – as the last note trails off – all becomes beautiful and fresh. The once impoverished bohemians become prosperous and reverberate, `O, we are the wealthy here’. After all, we’re all vibrato notes, the fugue of human symphonic poem. Our chants intoxicate the night’s air and echoes to those who are silent enough to listen.” So select your finest wine or that bottle of Bowmore you’ve been saving, light up a Arturo Fuente Hemingway cigar, turn off the phones, dim the lights and enjoy the transcendent modern compositions of Pettty, Stewart and Homans.
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Biographies, Links & News
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Byron W. Petty Biography
Byron W. Petty, flutist, pianist, composer, and conductor, holds a B.M. degree in flute performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, studying with the renowned flutist Britton Johnson, and has taught at Roanoke College, VA and Southern Virginia University. He is currently a Lecturer in Music (flute) at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, where he has also taught courses in Composition and Musical Analysis as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music. Petty has performed as a flutist and concert/chamber pianist at many venues and universities in the Eastern U.S. and Japan. He has served as a judge for preliminary rounds of the International Bartok, Prokofiev, Kabalevsky Piano Competition held at Radford University, VA and for the Virginia Music Teachers Association Collegiate Piano Competition. Petty appears on several CDs performing on the modern flute and Baroque period 1-keyed boxwood traverse flute – available through PARMA Records, Navona and Ravello labels.
From 1995-2002, he was the co-founder and Conductor/Music Director of the Eurydice Community Orchestra of Roanoke, VA. As part of their 20th year Anniversary Celebration, he made a recent appearance with the orchestra conducting his wife, Dr. Shuko Watanabe-Petty in the Largo movement from Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
Petty has served as Composition Chair for the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the College Music Society (1996-1998) and as Independent Composer Representative on the National Executive Committee for the Society of Composers Inc. from 2000 through 2002. Petty was selected as the Virginia Music Teachers Association Commissioned Composer for 1995 and has received commissions from the K. & W. Group Inc, Olin Conservation Inc, Department of Geology of Virginia Poly-Technical Institute, the Toho Koto Society of Washington D.C., Elon University, NC, and the Rockbridge Community Orchestra of Lexington, VA.
Traveler’s Tales, a CD of recent chamber compositions by Petty (2003-2006) is available through Ravello/PARMA Records, Amzon.com, etc. as a download. An enhanced CD, Tendrils, was released in August 31 2010 on PARMA Records’ Navona label distributed by Naxos Records as a physical product and download. His Mythical Moments for piano trio from the Tendrils CD also appears as the first track on The PARMA SESSIONS: a compilation CD featuring pianist Karolina Rojahn available as a download. Another CD, FELT, Striking Works for solo piano on the Navona label includes Petty’s Propuntal Displays for piano – released in February, 2015. A performance of Petty’s Quarks and Leptons for solo piano, played by Johnathan Chapman Cook, is posted on You Tube. Petty’s Extractions for solo piano, performed by internationally acclaimed pianist Martin Jones, appears on the PnOVA label titled American Piano Music Series Volume 2 – released 10/2016. The score and a recording with pianist Shuko Watanabe of Rhapsody for Armenia for solo piano (2016) is scheduled to appear in the May 2017 issue of the government sponsored on-line journal “Fundamental Armeneology.”
Petty will be performing as a pianist April 2017 at the Historical Keyboard Society of North America annual conference, held at the Carolina Clavier Collection, Greenville, S.C.
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Dr. Shuko Watanabe Biography
Shuko Watanabe Petty earned BM and MM degrees in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music of Johns Hopkins University as a scholarship student of Lillian Freundlich and a DMA from the University of Maryland at College Park, where she studied with professors Stewart Gordon and Roy Hamlin Johnson.
Dr. Watanabe is frequently engaged as a soloist, chamber-music performer, and as a lecturer. She has appeared in Japan and throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Mid-West, and Southern United States, at nearly 40 colleges, universities and concert series. Her performances have been regularly broadcast on Public Radio, WVTF FM 89.1 and more recently at WMRA 90.7. She has been a featured soloist with the Elon University Orchestra, Eurydice Community Orchestra of Roanoke, and the Washington & Lee University Orchestra: her repertoire includes Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in D Major; Mozart’s Double Piano Concerto; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 & No. 3; and the Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.1. She also served as Director of Accompanying at Washington & Lee University from 1999-2012 and was a collaborative pianist for the “Con Spirito” Concert Series from 1992-2003. In demand as a lecturer on musical topics, especially those related to Japanese contemporary music, her article, “Japanese Music: An East-West Synthesis,” has been published in American Music Teacher, the official magazine of the Music Teachers National Association.
Celebrating W&L’s Clementi Grand Fortepiano’s 200th Anniversary (1814-2014), the recording, “Clementi Grand,” performed together with Dr. Timothy Gaylard was released in the summer of 2014, and is now available on Navona/Parma Recordings. Specializing in contemporary repertoire as a member of ARDO Duo and ARDO Consort, Watanabe appears on Traveler’s Tales on the Capstone Records label [reissued in 2012 on Ravello Records], and Tendrils, on Navona/Parma–distribution by NAXOS. All recordings are also available as MP3 downloads at Amazon and iTunes.
For 2016-17 Concert Season, Dr. Watanabe is engaged to perform programs of “Beethoven and Brahms” at Eastern Mennonite University and Sweet Briar College in September, “Piano Duo of Russian Composers” with her colleague, Dr. Timothy Gaylard, in October (Washington and Lee University), and Beethoven’s First Piano Concert in C Major (2nd Mvt.) with the Valley Chamber Orchestra at Hollins University. For spring of 2017, she will play in a faculty recital, solo piano music by Mendelssohn and Pinto in March (Washington and Lee University) and will appear at the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Composers’ League and the Historical Keyboard Society of North America.
Dr. Watanabe taught at Hollins University, Roanoke College, Southern Virginia University, and was on coaching staff for Princeton Chamber Music Play Week Virginia. She has been on the faculty at Washington and Lee University since 1991 and currently teaches courses in Applied Piano, Supervised Accompanying, Aural Skills I, II & III and Music Theory II.
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The Rockbridge Symphony closes season with notable “firsts”—the world premiere of Majestic Passage Overture by Byron Petty
The Rockbridge Symphony will close its season on May 12 with two notable “firsts”—the world premiere of Majestic Passage Overture by Byron Petty and a pre-concert preview of the evening’s program with the composer and conductor Mark Taylor. Both the talk (6:30 pm) and the concert (7:30 pm) with be held at the Lexington Presbyterian Church.
A multi-talented classical musician, Byron Petty is equally at home on the concert stage, in the recording studio and in front of a class. Currently a Lecturer in Music (flute) at Washington and Lee University, he holds a BM degree in flute performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. As half of the ARDO DUO, he has performed with his wife Dr. Shuko Watanabe (piano) throughout the Eastern U. S. and in Japan. Locally, he has made frequent appearances in chamber music programs on the Con Spirito Concert Series of Roanoke, VA. From 1995-2003, Petty was the Conductor/Music Director of the Eurydice Community Orchestra of Roanoke, VA and appeared as a guest conductor of the University-Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra in 2009. As a composer, Petty has released two CDs—Traveler’s Tales (2007) and Tendrils (2010)—and had his work premiered and performed throughout the Southeast, most recently at the University of Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, Counterpoint Concert Series (TN), Marshal University (WV), University of South Carolina at Columbia (SC), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and WVTF FM Public Radio Station Music Salon (VA). On April 25, the Muzika Piano Trio will premiere Petty’s Mythical Moments for violin, viola and piano at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee, WI.
Petty has been the recipient of numerous public and private commissions, but was especially pleased by the Rockbridge Symphony’s invitation. With the view from the Blue Ridge Mountains as his inspiration, he composed Majestic Passage Overture as a cheerful and lively evocation of the pioneers who looked westward from the summits. The Symphony will also perform the overture to Gaetano Donizetti’s opera The Daughter of the Regiment, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor (4th movement) and Ottorino Respighi’s Pines of Rome. The Rockbridge Junior Strings (Central Elementary) and the Rockbridge Youth Strings will join the Symphony’s string section for “Variations on a Well-known Sea Chantey” by Richard Stephan.
Tickets for the concert—priced at $10/adults, $5/students & children and $25/family—will be available at the door and in advance from Fine Arts in Rockbridge, Books and Co., Bierer’s Pharmacy and Artists in Cahoots. Ticket holders are invited to attend the pre-concert talk in LPC’s Brady Chapel (6:30-7 pm). The sanctuary doors will open at 7 pm for the concert.
About the Rockbridge Symphony: In addition to a love of playing, the 40+ adult and youth volunteer members share a commitment to providing the community with live classical music at affordable prices. To that end, they give three formal concerts a year, as well as participate in special fundraising events. They are always eager to recruit new members and are grateful for community support in the form of concert attendance and tax-deductible contributions. For more information, visit the Web site at Rockbridge Symphony
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8-keyed Wooden Flute Made by John Gallegher
Flutist and composer, Byron Petty, recently acquired a new 8-keyed wooden flute made by John Gallegher (Elkins, WV) after an circa 1835 Rudall and Rose English instrument. This instrument joins another recent purchase of a one-keyed Baroque Boxwood flute after a 1715 Naust made by Boaz Berney (Montreal, Canada). Though a composer of modern music, Petty’s interest extends to all periods of classical music. Plans are in the works for new CDs of Baroque and Romantic period music utilizing these instruments along with period keyboards played by Dr. Shuko Watanabe.
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Monsieur Delire Posts About Tendrils
Journal d’écoute / Listening Diary
2010-09-14
BYRON PETTY – ROBERT STEWART – PETER HOMANS / Tendrils (Navona Records)
Un joli disque de classique contemporain, pas particulièrement expérimental mais rondement mené. Robert Stewart (décédé en 1995) a été le professeur et le mentor des compositeurs Byron Petty et Peter Homans, d’où le choix de ces trois compositeurs pour Tendrils. “Idyll” (17 minutes) de Stewart pour ensemble à cordes offre un des moments forts du disque: une pièce complexe et engageante. De Homans je retiens les saisissantes “Three Italian Songs” (chantées par la mezzo-soprano Beverly Morgan). Et de Petty, je retiens “Distractions” pour flûte et piano (Petty lui-même et Shuko Watanabe), ainsi que le trio “A General Disturbance” pour flûte, violoncelle et piano – deux pièces très agréables, lyriques mais riches en surprises.
Translation: A pretty record of contemporary classical music, not particularly experimental but nicely done. Robert Stewart (who died in 1995) was a teacher and mentor to both composers Byron Petty and Peter Homans, hence the decision to bring all three’s music together on Tendrils. “Idyll” (17 minutes) for string ensemble by Stewart is one of the disc’s highlights: a complex and engaging piece. By Homans I’ll remember “Three Italian Songs” (sung by mezzo-soprano Beverly Morgan). And by Petty, my picks are “Distractions” for flute and piano (Petty and Shuko Watanabe), and “A General Disturbance” for flute, cello and piano – two highly enjoyable pieces, lyrical yet filled with surprises.
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Lenfest Center for the Arts Google Map
Driving Directions
From I-81:
Exit I-81 at exit 188b (Lexington).
The exit will put you on Route 60 west.
Continue on Route 60 west through Lexington.
Route 60 becomes Nelson Street in Lexington.
As you are about to leave Lexington, the Lenfest Center will be on your left and the parking garage will be on your right.From I-64:
Exit I-64 at the Lexington, Route 11 Exit.
Proceed south on Route 11 towards Lexington.
After crossing bridge, bear right to Downtown Lexington, business district.
Continue on Route 11 (Jefferson Street) to Route 60 (Nelson Street).
Turn right on to Route 60 west (Nelson Street)
Continue on Nelson Street. As you are about to leave Lexington, the Lenfest Center will be on your left and the parking garage will be on your right.Parking
The Washington and Lee parking garage, directly across Nelson Street from the Lenfest Center, is the primary parking area for the Lenfest Center and is available to you, free of charge, on the evenings when performances are presented at the Center.
Enter the parking garage from Washington Street directly off of Nelson Street (Rt. 60). After parking in the garage, use the elevator to go to level L. The level is marked “Lenfest Center for the Performing Arts”. The elevator will open at footbridge level allowing you to cross Nelson Street on the walkway above traffic.
The Lenfest Center appreciates your help and hopes your use of the parking garage will make your Lenfest experience safer and more enjoyable.
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Lenfest Center for the Arts Link
The Lenfest Center for the Arts, home of the Department of Theater, Dance, and Film Studies and the Department of Music and Art is a multi-use facility designed and equipped to accommodate a broad spectrum of the performing arts, including theater, musical theater, opera and operetta, choral and band music, dance and performance art in one energizing complex.
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W&L consort kicks off Gager Community Concert Series with Beethoven and Brahms
Sweet Briar College’s Janet Lowrey Gager Community Concert Series will get underway in the new academic year with a special performance by guests from Washington and Lee University.
“An Afternoon of Beethoven & Brahms with ARDO CONSORT” will be presented at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, in Memorial Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public.
The consort is composed of music faculty members from W&L with Leslie Nicholas playing clarinet, Julia Goudimova on violoncello, and Byron W. Petty and Shuko Watanabe on piano. The first half of the program features Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Andante favori” for Piano Solo and Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 11 for Piano, Clarinet and Violoncello.
The second half will open with Johannes Brahms’ “Andante” from Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 5 and conclude with his Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Violoncello in A Minor, Op. 114.
Petty and Watanabe, who are married, form the core of the consort. They founded it in 1980, soon after graduating from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University.
“Shuko and I are ARDO DUO,” says Petty, noting that “ardo” is an Italian word for “I burn.”
“It is frequently associated with passion and desire in the texts of madrigals by the early Baroque Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi. This heightened passion is what we wanted to express in our performances,” he explains.
“The consort aspect is a flexible roster of musicians who we feel share this motivation, usually performers we have known for many years.”
For classically trained Sweet Briar pianist Anna Billias, who is organizing the series this year, the concert program is one reason to look forward to the start of the 2016-2017 Gager lineup. Beethoven and Brahms in the hands of the ARDO CONSORT is all the more reason to plan a Sunday afternoon of classical music, she says.
“We are very fortunate to have musicians of this caliber joining us for this concert,” Billias said.
The Gager Community Concert series is made possible by the generous support of Forrest Gager, in memory of his wife Janet, who served as Sweet Briar’s director of public relations. The next performance will be held Nov. 6.
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Flutist premieres pieces at Marshall University
HUNTINGTON — Several pieces of music from flutist, conductor and composer Byron Petty made their world premiere Monday during a concert at Marshall University’s Smith Hall in Huntington.
Petty, a lecturer at Washington and Lee University, spent more than a year and a half composing the music for Monday night’s program titled “Casual Notes.” The 11-piece program was performed by Marshall University faculty as well as a handful of visiting performers.
Petty said the program is quite unique considering how he composed the pieces and who he composed them for.
“All of the pieces were specifically written for the performers who are performing them and for this concert,” Petty said. “That doesn’t happen very often.”
Marshall music professor Wendell Dobbs said special guest performers include classical guitarist Robert Trent from Radford University and French horn player Wallace Easter from Virginia Tech.
“There are some extraordinary individuals outside our institution, and we’re very happy to have them here,” said Dobbs, who played flute in the program.
Petty said he hopes the Marshall faculty will visit Washington and Lee to perform the concert again, but this time in Virginia.
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Shuko Watanabe | Julia Goudimova Earthquake, Tsunami Relief Fund-raising Concert
Washington and Lee’s departments of music and East Asian languages and literature will present a concert in Wilson Concert Hall at 5:30 p.m. today to raise funds for the victims of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Julia Goudimova, cello, and Shuko Watanabe, piano, members of the W&L music faculty, will present works by Bach and Beethoven as well as Japanese composers.
Goudimova was born in Moscow and has performed in recitals and chamber music concerts around the world. She now teaches cello privately as an adjunct at W&L and performs with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, University-Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra and Rockbridge Community Symphony Orchestra.
Watanabe received her early musical training in Japan, attending the Kunitachi School of Music under Noriko Kanayama as well as studying privately with the renowned Japanese pianist Shuku Iwasaki. She later studied at Peabody Conservatory of Music and earned a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Maryland at College Park. She is frequently engaged as a soloist, chamber-music performer and lecturer. She has appeared in Japan and throughout the United States. At W&L, she teaches courses in applied piano, aural skills (ear-training and sight-singing) and supervised accompanying, and is director of the accompanying program.
This free concert is open to all and will be followed by a reception of Japanese food donated by the Japanese community in Lexington. Donations will be collected or can be sent by May 23 to Dymph Alexander, c/o Music Department, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450. All donations will be sent to the Japanese Red Cross. Cash and check donations will be accepted. Please make out all checks to “Washington and Lee University (memo: Japanese Red Cross).”
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W&L Music Faculty Play Rare Clementi Grand Piano, Record CD
Only seven grand fortepianos built by Muzio Clementi, sometimes called the father of the piano, are known to have survived in the world—and one of them, restored to its former glory, now resides in the Department of Music at Washington and Lee University. Playing that treasured instrument, three faculty members have recorded a CD, “Clementi Grand: His Works, His Fortepiano” (Navona Records), to celebrate that piano’s 200th birthday.
Washington and Lee also owns an 1807 small square piano by Clementi that was more common, smaller, had fewer keys and was much less expensive. Most recordings on Clementi instruments have been made on such square pianos rather than on the rare grand fortepiano.
Muzio Clementi (1752–1832) was an Italian composer who was also a pianist, teacher, conductor, music publisher, editor and piano manufacturer. He was among the first to compose works expressly for the fortepiano.
W&L’s Clementi grand fortepiano is hand-carved, with brass inlay, 7′ 8″ in length. Its 1814 construction is confirmed by the serial number on the instrument. “We can’t identify the original owner, but from the decorativeness and elaborateness it must have been a very wealthy person,” said Timothy Gaylard, professor of music at W&L, who played on the recording.
The other faculty members on the recording are Shuko Watanabe, instructor of music, who played piano, and Byron Petty, lecturer in music, who played flute to piano accompaniment.
The main difference in the Clementi grand fortepiano is the shallowness of the touch, noted Gaylard. “This creates more of a challenge for the modern pianist to be able to control the dynamics, because the differences between the softs and louds are much more subtle,” he said.
“It’s close to the sound of the harpsichord,” added Watanabe.
The Clementi grand fortepiano was a gift from Dr. Lawrence Smith, W&L Class of 1958, and his wife, Ganelle, who purchased it from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1995. Dr. Smith, an amateur musician who collects musical instruments, had the instrument restored to its original state by re-covering the hammers, re-wiring the strings and re-decorating the elaborate cabinet. The Smiths then donated the piano to Washington and Lee to benefit students of music.
“It was very generous,” said Gaylard. “So many instruments in museums are seen but never heard. But this instrument will be used as a learning tool for students, so that when they play Mozart or music of the Classical or early Romantic period, they will know what the sound of the piano was at that time and have an idea of what the composer heard.”
The recording features only works by Clementi, including two piano duets for four hands played by Gaylard and Watanabe. “It’s really exciting,” said Gaylard, “because you get a better sense of the range of the instrument and a fuller sound when you have four hands playing instead of two.”
Gaylard also plays Clementi’s “Piano Sonata in B-flat Major,” which Clementi included in his famous 1781 piano duel with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in front of Emperor Joseph II. “The emperor was aware of Clementi’s fame at that time,” noted Gaylard, “and since the Italian pianist was a bit of a rival to Mozart, the emperor wanted to see them together. It’s interesting to note that the opening theme from the first movement of Clementi’s sonata is also the beginning of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute Overture,’ composed 10 years later.” There was no copyright law at that time and, as the CD’s liner notes state, no one knows whether this was a direct steal, a subliminal swipe or an underhanded compliment to Clementi.
Also included on the CD are the rarely recorded “Character Pieces,” in which Clementi donned the mantle of six of his contemporaries. Gaylard plays the two composed in the style of Mozart, and Watanabe plays the two pieces in the style of Haydn.
Watanabe also plays a set of sonatinas that Clementi wrote to help his students develop their skills. “Piano students usually play these pieces at some point in their training,” noted Watanabe. “It’s a great teaching tool for them to hear Clementi’s works on this instrument instead of on the modern piano.”
“Clementi Grand: His Works, His Fortepiano” is available at Navona Records.
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Clementi on Clementi: 200th Anniversary Concert
Timothy Gaylard and Shuko Watanabe, pianists
The Music Department at Washington and Lee University presents Clementi on Clementi, a 200th Anniversary Concert with piano works by Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) featuring pianists Timothy Gaylard and Shuko Watanbe on Sunday, September 15 at 3 p.m. in the Wilson Concert Hall. They will play two Piano Duets, Op. 3 No. 1 in C, and Op. 14 No. 3 in E-flat. They will also perform solo works including the Sonata in B-flat, Op. 24, No. 2, four Preludes, Op. 19, Nos. 1-2, 5-6 and two Sonatinas, Op. 36, Nos. 4 & 6. The concert is free and no tickets are required.
A beautiful Clementi Fortepiano of special and historical significance was given to the Music Department by Dr. R. Lawrence Smith, M.D. (class of 1958) and his wife, Mrs. Ganelle Smith. The piano is used as a teaching tool for our students of period music.
The fortepiano was built in 1813-1814 at the Clementi factory in London. Provenance is unknown until 1909, when Arnold Dolmetsch, working for the Chickering Company, stabilized the case, replaced the tuning pins and dampers, and substituted felt hammers for the original leathers. Prior to 1925, it was part of the musical instrument collection of a Mrs. Adrian Hoffman Joline in New York City. She gave her collection to Barnard College (the women’s part of Columbia University) in 1925, where it remained until acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1990. Dr. Smith purchased the instrument in 1995.
Ken Eschete of New Orleans has restored the instrument to the equivalency of the sound and touch it would have had when built, while leaving intact Dolmetsch’s structural changes. Strings were replaced and leather hammers re-installed. John Watson, Conservator of Musical Instruments for Colonial Williamsburg, was consultant in this work. Following the1996 restoration, a concert was presented by Prof. Robin Holtz Williams at Tulane University on September 24, 1996. In the program notes conservator Eschete commented on the craftsmanship of Joseph Hoy, “…it is hard to ignore the message Joseph Hoy is sending us through his workmanship. As conservators, one of our principle jobs is to gain knowledge about the technology of a period by studying the way objects were made. In this restoration, we were constantly challenged to match the workmanship of the original workers.”
Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) was born in Italy but, like other famous musicians, adopted England as his home. He was already highly regarded as a keyboardist, composer, teacher, and music publisher when in 1798 he bought a 45% interest in a failing piano manufactory in London, Longman & Broderip. The company went through several name changes, eventually becoming simply “Clementi & Co.” Clementi utilized his skill and reputation to market his instruments, especially to the aristocracy in Austria, Germany, and Russia, but probably had little to do with design or manufacturing. Following his death, the company’s name changed to that of the surviving partners, Collard and Collard, continuing as such until the factory and records burned in the 1930’s. Clementi’s pianos were considered of equivalent quality to Broadwood’s, and, prior to the establishment of a native piano industry in the 1830’s and 1840’s, were some of the most popular imported instruments in this country.
“Clementi Grand: His Works, His Fortepiano” is available at Navona Records.
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Byron Petty Lecturer, Applied Flute
Byron W. Petty, flutist, pianist, composer, and conductor, holds a B.M. degree in flute performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, studying with the renowned flutist Britton Johnson, and has taught at Roanoke College, VA and Southern Virginia University. He is currently a Lecturer in Music (flute) at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, where he has also taught courses in Composition and Musical Analysis as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music. Petty has performed as a flutist and concert/chamber pianist at many venues and universities in the Eastern U.S. and Japan. He has served as a judge for preliminary rounds of the International Bartok, Prokofiev, Kabalevsky Piano Competition held at Radford University, VA and as a judge for the Virginia Music Teachers Association Collegiate Piano Competition. Petty appears on several CDs performing on the modern flute and Baroque period 1-keyed boxwood traverse flute – available through PARMA Records, Navona and Ravello labels.
Petty has served as Composition Chair for the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the College Music Society (1996-1998) and as Independent Composer Representative on the National Executive Committee for the Society of Composers Inc. from 2000 through 2002. From 1995-2002, he was the Conductor/Music Director of the Eurydice Community Orchestra of Roanoke, VA. He was selected as the Virginia Music Teachers Association Commissioned Composer for 1995 and has received commissions from the K. & W. Group Inc, Olin Conservation Inc, Department of Geology of Virginia Poly-Technical Institute, the Toho Koto Society of Washington D.C., Elon University, NC, and the Rockbridge Community Orchestra of Lexington, VA. Traveler’s Tales, a CD of recent chamber compositions by Petty (2003-2006) is available through Ravello/PARMA Records, Amzon.com, etc. as a download. An enhanced CD, Tendrils, was released in August 31 2010 on PARMA Records’ Navona label distributed by Naxos Records as a physical product and download. His Mythical Moments for piano trio from the Tendrils CD also appears as the first track on The PARMA SESSIONS: a compilation CD featuring pianist Karolina Rojahn available as a download. Another CD, FELT, Striking Works for solo piano on the Navona label includes Petty’s Propuntal Displays for piano – released in February, 2015. Petty’s Extractions for solo piano, performed by internationally acclaimed pianist Martin Jones, will appear on a CD PnOVA label titled American Piano Music Series Volume 2 – release date August 1, 2016.
Byron Petty’s Tendrils CD can be found on Amazon.
Byron Petty’s FELT CD can be found on Amazon.
Byron Petty’s Traveler’s Tales CD can be found on Amazon. -
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Plaque of Appreciation from the Valley Chamber Orchestra
November 6, 2016: Dr. Shuko Watanabe and Byron Petty received a Plaque of Appreciation from the Valley Chamber Orchestra (VCO).
Incorporated in 1997 under the name of Eurydice Community Orchestra of Roanoke, the Valley Chamber Orchestra (VCO) provides amateur, professional, and student musicians of Southwest Virginia the opportunity to rehearse and perform orchestral music on a recreational basis for the pure enjoyment of music. The orchestra has been rehearsing and performing at Hollins University since 2003.
The Plague (see image) acknowledges Dr. Shuko Watanabe’s and Byron Petty’s efforts in creating and nurturing the gift of music to the Roanoke valley and surrounding areas.
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Byron Petty Invite to Sign in and Leave Comment
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Dr. Shuko Watanabe and Byron Petty | VCO 20th Anniversary
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Rhapsody for Armenia
In Memoriam
This recording of “Rhapsody for Armenia” by Byron W. Pettyis dedicated to memory of Dr. Eduard Danielyan (1944-2017), who served as the Editor in Chief of “Fundamental Armenology,” and the Head of the Department of Ancient History at the National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia.
This composition, written at the request of Dr. Danielyan, combines Armenian musical elements woven into Western contemporary style music.
This recording project was made possible by support from the Music Department of Washington and Lee University and Mr. Graham Spice, recording engineer.
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