Produced as part of the 30th anniversary celebration of the Jesselson/Fugo Duo, "Carolina Cellobration: New Music for Cello," includes works commissioned for the duo by six composers. The composers are current or emeritus faculty members of the School of Music at the University of South Carolina, where the duo is in residence. Composers Reginald Bain, Samuel Douglas, Gordon “Dick” Goodwin, Tayloe Harding, Bert Ligon and John Fitz Rogers each composed new work for cello and piano. The CD also includes three works for solo cello by composers Ben Boone, Ayala Kalus and Meira Warshauer, written for Dr. Jesselson or those associated with him. All the composers are from the Carolinas.
Jesselson/Fugo Duo
Robert Jesselson, cello
Charles Fugo, piano
Since their formation in 1981, the Jesselson/Fugo Duo has been delighting audiences with their impeccable ensemble playing and the rich literature for cello and piano. Included in their repertoire are the major sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Schubert, Boccherini, Valentini and Rachmaninoff, and other major works for cello and piano such as the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, Chopin Polonaise Brillante and Bruch Kol Nidre, as well as numerous virtuosic showpieces by Popper, Cassado, Nin, Paganini and others. With special emphasis on the Romantic repertoire, the duo also performs music by contemporary composers such as Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Barber, Carter and Messaien, as well as exploring less well-known composers of works for cello and piano, such as John Knowles Payne, Robert Fuchs and Jacob Avshalomov.
This CD celebrates the longevity of the Jesselson/Fugo Duo and adds to the existing body of literature for cello and piano.
Available for purchase
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/robertjesselson
https://www.cellos2go.com/music.php?musicid=4947
Track list (audio previews in side column)
| 1 Buffing the Gut | Benjamin Boone |
| Two Movement Sonata | Samuel O. Douglas |
| 2 Rondeau | |
| 3 Scherzo Canonico | |
| 4 Lilies | John Fitz Rogers |
| Frieze | Reginald Bain |
| 5 Molecular Presentation | |
| 6 Mosaic | |
| 7 Constructed Resonance | |
| 8 Identity | |
| 9 Lattice | |
| 10 Jump | |
| 11 Translation | |
| 12 In Memoriam (September 11, 2001) | Meira Warshauer |
| Yitzkor | Ayala Asherov-Kalus |
| 13 Allegro | |
| 14 Andante | |
| Dessau Dances | Gordon (Dick) Goodwin |
| 15 Promenade & Schottische | |
| 16 Waltz Across Texas | |
| 17 Promenade and Polka | |
| 18 Duet for Cello and Piano | Bert Ligon |
| At the Marion Opera House | Tayloe Harding |
| 19 On the Pink Tea | |
| 20 In the Courtroom/Jail | |
| 21 From the Firehouse |
Program Notes
Buffing the Gut (1995)
"Buffing the Gut"was commissioned in 1995 by Buffi Jacobs, then an undergraduate
student at the University of South Carolina studying cello with Robert Jesselson.
I was a doctoral Teaching Assistant, studying with Dick Goodwin, and Buffi was in
my Sight Singing class. One day she asked if I’d write a piece for her senior recital.
A relative would get that for her as a graduation gift, and so we sat down together
to explore ideas. I recall asking, “what do you like to do on cello when you are just
messing around and having fun?” Her eyes widened she played some “rock guitar licks”
that I then embellished and used in the piece. We had a fun time collaborating on
the first draft, which Dick helped me refine and Robert expertly edited. It is no
surprise that in addition to her professional “classical” career, Buffi has been a
long-time member of the acclaimed rock group, The Polyphonic Spree. My title was inspired
by Buffi’s name and the image of a cellist bowing so ferociously that the strings
on the cello smolder and appear buffed. I ask you to imagine a cellist alone in an
empty concert hall after a concert, playing for the sheer joy of playing.
Ben Boone
Two Movement Sonata (2011)
The first movement of the Sonata, Rondeau, begins as a five part rondo i.e. A, B,
A, C, A. That pattern is then repeated in ever shorter statements. The reduction in
the length of each part is roughly equivalent to the proportions of the Fibonacci
Series. This process continues to a point about four minutes and a few seconds into
the piece. Then it goes in reverse to expand each part to the end. The second movement,
Scherzo Canonico, recalls lines and textures from the first movement in a scherzo,
trio, scherzo form. The scherzos are round canons at the unison and the trio, a cancrizans
canon. The Sonata seeks to tell no story nor to reveal any deep spiritual truth.
It is a piece of abstract music. It is what it is. Here end the program notes for
a piece which has no program.
Samuel O. Douglas
Lilies (2011)
Lilies, as a flower, are thought to symbolize purity and a return to innocence. In
that spirit, “Lilies” is a reflective and gentle vocalise for cello and piano. The
work is in three, expansive sections. The opening features a long, lyrical cello line
over a slowly rocking bass in the piano. This gives way to a more restless, searching
middle section, which in turn leads back to an altered version of the original melodic
material, and a quiet, if somewhat mysterious, resolution. "Lilies" was commissioned
by the Jesselson/Fugo Duo in 2011, and is dedicated in memory of John McElyea.
John Fitz Rogers
Frieze (2011)
The German novelist and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) once said that
architecture is “frozen music.” In architecture, a frieze refers to a horizontal band
of decorative images found along the top of a wall that are typically a set of variations
on a single theme. Written for cellist Bob Jesselson and pianist Charles Fugo on the
thirtieth anniversary of the Jesselson/Fugo Duo, "Frieze" (2011)explores musical analogues
of mathematical frieze groups, symmetric line patterns on a two-dimensional surface that infinitely repeat in a
single direction. These types of patterns are mapped onto the pitch and time domains
to create the musical ideas that form the basis of the work. The titles of the seven
movements are double entendres, terms with very precise meanings in mathematical music
theory that have very different meanings outside of music. For example the second
movement, titled “Mosaic,” refers to a design made from small pieces of colored tile
or stone in art, whereas in twelve-tone music it refers to a way to partition the
aggregate into subsets.
Dr. Reginald Bain
In Memoriam (September 11, 2001)
I wrote these sketches while watching the horror of the attacks of September 11, 2001:
the collapse of the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon, the plane-crash
in Pennsylvania. I didn’t have a piece in mind, or consciously set out to write one.
But the sketches seemed to belong together, afterwards, and to fit the solo cello.*
It was my way of holding each other in our loss. It reflects my sadness, our collective
sadness – the loss of loved ones, looking for survivors, not finding. Hoping it isn’t
true, disbelief...it is true. The slow motion collapse of the towers – with that collapse,
all of our losses, our national sense of invulnerability gone…humility, interdependence,
prayer.
With love, Meira Warshauer
*Originally for solo cello. Subsequent versions for violin solo (commissioned by Gregory Harrington), violin and cello duo, violin and bass clarinet duo, clarinet solo, clarinet and bass clarinet duo, clarinet and cello duo (arr. By Suzanne Mueller). Also available for solo cello with string ensemble (9 players: 3 2 2 1 1) or string orchestra, and for solo cello with cello ensemble (6 celli, arranged by Mirel Iancovici). Published by Kol Meira Publications (ASCAP), 3526 Boundbrook Lane, Columbia, SC 29206, USA. http://meirawarshauer.com/ meira.warshauer@gmail.com
Yizkor (Remember) (2009)
Mourning can be both private and public. When we visit a grave or observe the anniversary
of a person's death, we generally do so in private. "Yizkor" (which is Hebrew for
"Remember") is a prayer for the public observance for the community of bereaved. These
two movements are the last two movements of a three movement work called "Yizkor."
I had written a one movement piece for cello solo by that name in 2001 after the horrific
events of 9/11.
The cello was the solo voice that cries, the solo voice that is heard no more. In
2009 I felt that the piece needed more, so I added the two movements included in this
album as further amplification of that feeling. These second and third movements of
"Yizkor" are included on this CD to reflect the afterthought, or aftershock, that
follows an emotional loss. The second movement depicts the frantic and frenetic feeling
that follows such a shock. That is why I used a figure of two sixteenth notes at the
beginning of every measure. The third movement has a descending legato melodic mirroring
an ascending line in the first movement. This last movement is the afterthought, and
the solemn feeling we have when remembering. With my background in composition combined
with film scoring, I tend to see music more as an underscore, be it to a film, or
to our lives. From my perspective as a songwriter I also feel strongly about the human
voice and the power of song. For more information about my music please visit www.AyalaAsherov.com
Ayala Asherov-Kalus
Dessau Dances (2011)
There is a famous German dance hall outside of Austin, Texas – well, really outside
of Pflugerville, TX to be more precise – that dates back to 1876. For decades Dessau
Hall hosted about every major traveling music act…from polka bands to the dance orchestras
of Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Guy Lombardo, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw and Stan Kenton,
to country artists like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams,
Ernest Tubb and Willie Nelson. Even Elvis Presley played there several times. Programs
were often broadcast over KTBC which was owned by then-Senator Lyndon Johnson and
his wife Lady Bird. I recall performing at Dessau Hall with different territory bands…and
remember that there was a big oak tree growing out of the dance floor and up through
the roof.
I thought that it would be fun to abstract rhythms from three popular dances that
we were always asked to play at Dessau Hall – a schottische, a waltz and a polka.
The evenings also featured promenades – little marches that would stop abruptly providing
a kind of musical chairs to identify the next dance partner. So I decided that "Dessau
Dances" needed a promenade theme to open the set and tie each of the movements together.
Gordon (Dick) Goodwin
Duet for Cello and Piano (2011)
Program notes in the classical music tradition provide historical and background information
on the piece, the composer, giving the audience tips for what to expect when listening
to the work. Program notes in the jazz world go like this: tell a bad joke or two,
remind people to tip the waitresses, and then count off the tune.
The duet is in three parts: "Radio in Frame," a transition, and "Vines." The piece is tonal in that the music is centered around key areas, but those key areas keep shifting. That search for the central key area may drive the piece. It borrows harmonic, melodic and formal language from jazz. Since the piece celebrates the thirty year partnership, both instruments share the accompaniment and melodic roles.
The cello begins the transition to "Vines," which the piano echoes, all pieces of
themes to be developed later. Vines climb and trail, are not as restricted to form,
with tendrils reaching out in any direction, but in the end, vines appear logical
and organic. Vines decides on the key of C minor in a funky waltz ostinato. It remains
a waltz, but often suggests other meters. The funky ostinato bass line returns a few
times, and toward the end, becomes the primary melodic line on top. The piano and
cello crescendo to an ending, the piano plays one last bell-like statement of the
transition theme before one last delicate chord that may suggest a new tendril growth
reaching out. Please enjoy, and don’t forget to tip your waitress.
Bert Ligon
At the Marion Opera House (2012)
The first performance presented by the Jesselson/Fugo Duo was in October 1981 in Marion,
S.C. at the Marion Opera House. Similar to other buildings of the age throughout S.C.
and the south built with the same moniker, this functional two story brick classical
revival structure in downtown Marion was more of a municipal activity center than
it was an opera house. As it did the year it opened in 1892, this facility has annually
hosted as many criminals as music performances, as many bakery and butcher shop customers
as operas, and served as many community citizens stricken by home fires as it has
patrons of theatre and visual art openings. While its modern manifestation is a civic
center where meetings and auditoria events are held, it has served a great variety
of common good capacities over the decades.
I was so struck by the analog between impact that the Jesselson/Fugo Duo has had on music audiences over their 30 year history and the impact that the Opera House as had on Marion County's citizens for 120 years, that I decided to let my impressions of the place impact and influence my own conception of the work these fellows asked me to write for them celebrating their 30th anniversary. So, each of the work's three movements has a very specific former public use of the Opera House as its title and inspiration.
For a number of years a very important civic event in Marion was held at the House
– The Pink Tea. It was at the pink tea that Marion selected its annual participants
who would be sent to represent the community at a debutante fashion event in New York
City. The first movement of my new duo for Bob and Charles is inspired by the formality
and etiquette for which this tea was locally famous. Early in the Opera House's history
a part of the main floor was devoted to an almost old-west-style courtroom and jail.
Persons accused of every conceivable crime were tried in this courtroom and many of
them served time in its long-gone jail cell behind the "bench." A lament for the Duo,
both laconic and sarcastic, is the a result of my imagining what such an occurrence
might have been like in this portion of the Opera House. Marioners tell me that the
firehouse that was also in a part of the ground floor saved many a burning building
in Marion in the early years of the 20th century, and what better way to capture the
madhouse of volunteers rushing to a town blaze from the old-fashioned fire station
than with a circus march. The Duo presents the march, complete with a few surprises,
to close the piece as its third movement.
Tayloe Harding