jefferson friedman

Photo by Shervin Lainez.

The world-renowned JACK Quartet welcomes a fifth member this week at the Town Music season finale: acclaimed cellist Joshua Roman. With a program designed to conjure up vivid images and emotions, Roman and the quartet are using sound to paint pictures and tell stories that will linger in listeners’ minds. Perhaps the most evocative work on the program is a piece by Roman himself.

Photo by Hayley Young.

Roman, who leapt right into performing with the Seattle Symphony and around the world after studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music, began composing his own music in 2013. He was commissioned by Town Hall and Music Academy of the West to compose Tornado, a work that paints a portrait of the storms that were a fixture of his childhood in Oklahoma.

Tornado is also inspired by music traditions of the past: Roman quotes a theme from Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and alludes to works of the Baroque era which use virtuosity to evoke sensations of nature. In an ode to the untameable force of a tornado, Roman has left elements of the piece up to chance and performer interpretation by writing microtone smears and aleatoric parts.

The first half of the concert will feature John Zorn’s exhilarating Ouroboros and Jefferson Friedman’s Quintet, a musical manifestation of the grieving process. Amy Williams’ Richter Textures also appears on the first half of the program, each of its seven parts inspired by a different painting from German artist Gerhard Richter and each seeking to musically portray the complex textures his visual art is famous for.

In addition to Tornado, the second half will feature three Madrigali libro sesto from Don Carlo Gesualdo, arranged by Ari Streisfeld for strings. Gesualdo—an unstable and murderous 17th century composer—is known for chromatic harmonies and diverse emotional expressions that make his music sound modern to contemporary audiences. Because removing the voices meant removing the lyrics, Streisfeld employs different timbral techniques to convey the meaning and emotions of the text to the audience.

Second Inversion is thrilled to offer a LIVE concert broadcast of the performance this Thursday, May 10 at 7:30pm PT. Click here to stream the performance live from anywhere in the world!

Program:

Jefferson Friedman: Quintet (2013)
John Zorn: Ouroboros (2017)
Amy Williams: Richter Textures (2011)

Intermission

Carlo Gesualdo: Selections from Madrigali libro sesto, arranged by Ari Streisfeld
Lo parto, e non più dissi
Beltà, poi che t’assenti
Già piansi nel dolore

Joshua Roman: Tornado (2017)

Town Music presents JACK Quartet and Joshua Roman on Thursday, May 10 at 7:30pm at Seattle First Baptist Church. For tickets and additional information, click here.

Second Inversion hosts Rachele, Geoffrey, and Maggie S. each share a favorite selection from their Friday playlist! Tune in at the indicated times below to hear these pieces. In the meantime, you’ll hear other great new and unusual music from all corners of the classical genre 24/7!

1196413 Rudolf Escher’s chamber work Le tombeau de Ravel is a fascinating piece, one that looks gazes into the past and future at the same time. Escher utilizes the same antique dance forms that were Ravel’s vehicle of tribute in his Le tombeau de Couperin, and adds two airs and an enchanting hymn to round out the work. The inspiration for the work was a visit by Escher to Ravel’s former home, and the complex emotions of this visit are most directly portrayed in the first and longest movement, Pavane. There’s something about standing in an empty house, especially one that was once occupied by a great composer; it feels deserted and empty, and yet the air is somehow impossibly thick with the memories of the groundbreaking events that transpired there. The use of harpsichord and small chamber ensemble adds a nod to Ravel’s love of early music and an additional sense of intimacy to the work. – Geoffrey Larson

Tune in to Second Inversion around 1:30pm to hear this recording.

Jefferson Friedman: Glacier (on New Amsterdam records)
a1389738764_10 The album On In Love features 9 songs composed by Jefferson Friedman with lyrics and vocals by Craig Wedren accompanied by The American Contemporary Ensemble. I love this whole album because it pushes musical and textural extremes to their upper and lower limits, all the while fusing classical chamber music with singer-songerwritery pop. In the 9 minutes of “Glacier,” we embark on a slow journey beginning with a trance-like, ethereal, soulful ballad that slowly builds into a full-throttle, rock-n-roll breakdown on the final word, “go.” – Maggie Stapleton

“…And if by chance
you still don’t know

It’s time for me to go”

Tune in to Second Inversion around 5:50pm to hear this recording.

David Balakrishnan: Alex in A Major (recorded live at SI HQ)

Turtle Island Quartet 04-18-15 Did someone give Earl Scruggs a violin? Nope! That’s the sound of the Turtle Island Quartet mastering the art of the hoe-down. This version was recorded live right here at Second Inversion HQ, but you can also find it on their Grammy-nominated album “Confetti Man.” – Rachele Hales