Performances at Wallingford Community Senior Center

Greetings!

This upcoming late spring/early summer, I'll be giving three performances at the Wallingford Community Senior Center:

http://wallingfordseniors.org/

The dates will be:

May 15th, Friday 11:30-1:00
June 6, Friday 11:30-1:00
June 19th, Friday 11:30-1:00

I'll be playing some soft popular music from the 40s-60s, open for requests and/or sing-alongs.

Cheers!

Compositions CV

Compositions by G Wallis:

2000:
-Ode to Grandpa (voice and piano)

2001:
-Overwhelm Me (pop song)
-A Simple Song (piano)
-Waltz in Eb (piano)

2002:
-Tuning Out (pop song)
-Shattered (pop song)
-Pearls (piano)

2003:
-Unspeakable Grace (pop song)
-You Can't (pop song)
-For Erin (piano)
-Anna, Dear (voice and piano)

2004:
-So Many Times (pop song)
-Lullaby, My Dear (voice and piano)
-Etude in 5/4 time (piano)
-Allan (piano)
-Into the West arrangement (piano, violin, two voices)

2005:
-Amazing (choir and piano, unfinished)
-3 Intermezzos (piano)
-Interlude (piano)
-5:29 am (piano)

2006:
-"With Feeling" (piano)
-Beauty Enthroned (piano)
-Dark Eyes (piano)
-L'arc En Ciel (violin and piano)
-Crater Lake (clarinet and harp)
-Winter Scene (flute, violin, cello, piano)
-Cannibal Fire (cello, oboe and trombone)

2007:
-PW (?) (piano)
-Romanzse (piano)
-Bluch Hurl (5 variations for piano)
-Grumpy Fugue (organ)

2008:
-From 'Maud' (voice and piano)
-Interlude (flute and bass)
-On 'Spring' (voice and piano)

2009:
-Wandering Waltz (piano)
-Orchestral arrangement of Grieg's 'The Butterfly'
-'Leisurely' (piano)
-'Pacato' (piano, duduk, cello)
-'Adagio' (piano)
-'Allegro/Vivace' (piano)

2010:
-Yes! The Young Sparrows (voice and piano)
-Loved One's Fan (voice and piano)
-'Lento' (piano)
-Four Seasonal Haiku (voice and piano)
-A Route of Evanescence (voice and piano)
-I Wish that it would Rain (voice and piano)

(2011-2012 nothing)

2013:
-Fifteen Inventions and Fugues (piano)
-Morning Ditty (piano)
-Ae Fond Kiss (voice and piano)
-Mauchlin Belles (voice and piano)
-Winter (voice and piano)
-No Worst, there is None (voice and piano)

2014:
-Deep (voice and piano)
-Facebook (pop song)
-Violin Sonatina (violin and piano)
-Tristesse (piano)
-Zetsubou kara Kibou he (piano)
-Spanish Flurry (piano)
-Tam O'Shanter (choir)
-Snow (choir)
-1 Corinth. 13 (choir)
-The Master (orchestral cue)
-Achil's Challenge:
   -Einsam (piano)
   -Cho-Cho Chan (piano)
   -Ame no Te ga Semutai (piano)
   -Hi no Ki (piano)
-Quietly Crying (piano)
-Five Little Dances (piano)
-Ditty for Erika (piano)

2015:
-The Faceless Doll (poem background piano)
-The King of Ylys (voice, harp, guitar, recorder, percussion)
-The King of Ylys (choir)
-Drinking Under the Moon (choir)
-Insecurity (pop song)
-Candle (pop song)
-Lullaby for Amelia (classical guitar)

2016:
-Pie Jesu (choir)
-Loop Experimental Track 1 (electronic)
-Orchestration Experiment 2 (orchestra)
-Salton Sea (orchestra, choir, synth)
-Synth Shit 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
-Synth Shit 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
-Synth Shit 3.1, 3.2
-In the Village Plaza (harp, flute, strings)
-Theme Suite Variation no. 1 (orchestra)
-Theme Suite Variation no. 2 (pop song)
-Theme Suite Variation no. 3 (solo piano)

2017:
-Bloodstones (piano and poem)
-Bees and Butterflies (violin duet)
-Con Sordino (violin duet)
-Bloodstones (string quartet)
-End theme for Jackie Poon video (marimba, shaker and strings)
-Soundtrack for "Retreat" (48 hour film festival) - 16 tracks for full orchestra
-Enigma Demos 1 & 2 (MIDI)
-Soundscape (original recordings by the composer)
-Soundtrack for "Murder Moon" (48 hour horror film festival) - 10 tracks for synths, choir, and orchestra
-Soundtrack for "Lean on Me" (40 minute independent film directed by David Fowler) - 10 tracks for strings, winds, brass, jazz band, 8-bit instruments, piano, solo voice and solo cello

2018:
-Good Friend (piano, clarinet, cello)
-For String Ensemble
-The Elephant and the Clown (wind sextet)
-Sonata for Piano Duet (3 mvts)
-Soundtrack for "Speed Date" (48 Hour Film Festival) - 10 tracks for full orchestra
-Soundtrack for "Mara" (48 Hour Horror film festival) - 10 tracks for synthesizer
-Soundtrack for "The New James Richards Book" (20 minute independent film directed by Bilal Young) - 7 tracks for synthesizer

2019:
-Soundtrack for "Before I Go", (15 minute independent film directed by Ruchi Loomba) for piano, harp and strings

Seattle Symphony, Jan 29th, Charles Ives' Fourth Symphony

As the concert ended, half of the audience leapt to their feet in an applause that lasted ten minutes, as Ludovic Morlot, beaming, came back onto stage for another bow, and the orchestra stood, victorious.  The other half of the audience could be found streaming out the front doors as fast as they could, shaking their heads and grimacing.

At the "ask the artist" talk afterwards in the main lobby of Benaroya Hall, Morlot was asked, "Why did you choose to bill both Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto and Charles Ive's Symphony 4 for the same concert?"  Morlot's answer was to the point: "Because I wanted you all to come!"

That impulsive billing decision succeeded in spades.  The next evening of the program, the house was completely sold-out, turning away dejected would-be audience at the box office.  I, being the unlucky usher that night who had to choose between the two above-mentioned magnificent pieces of art, went in for the second half, and got an earful of Ives.

To my utter surprise, I didn't hate it.  Actually, I can honestly say that the work appealed to my aesthetic values.

The entire work is a bipolar conglomeration of exceptional beauty and utter chaos.  Such chaos, in fact, that there has been a survival guide written for the orchestra by Thomas M. Brodhead.  It might also be mentioned, in passing, that although the work was completed in 1916, it was not performed until 1965.

Ives, who had a day job as a insurance salesman, has been called the "first American composer"--not by dint of nationality alone, but because he was the first to bring truly American elements of folk music together into formal composition.  This piece is littered with fragments of multiple folk songs, hymns, and American cultural phenomenon, often in blatant disregard of the others that happen to be playing at the same time.  In addition, the eerie timing of the work, on the crux of World War I, adds a chill to the otherwise innocently 20th century context.

A word must also be said about the orchestration of this piece.  In addition to the normal 20th century orchestral spread, an extra flute/piccolo has been added, more clarinets and bassoons than necessary, not one but three saxophones, two extra trumpets and a couple of cornets, 8 percussionists, two harps, and five keyboards, including two concert pianos, one for solo, one for four-hands, a celesta, an organ, and the obligatory upright piano--with random keys tuned at quarter tones.  Not to mention the chorus, of course, since their entrance is marked "preferably without chorus" (they sing anyway).  And to keep all this mess together, especially taking into account that there are two groups of instruments on opposite sides off-stage, Morlot decided to use four conductors, adding in a snarky aside to the audience in his introduction of the piece that as a result, there was a surplus of ego on stage as well.

So, what is it about this symphony that makes it actually enjoyable for some (albeit, hardly for everyone...)?  I believe it comes down to the craftsmanship that was poured into it.  As delicately balanced as Damocles sword, all of the melodic/harmonic elements, the pacing from climax to climax and beauty to chaos, and of course the orchestration, have been skillfully placed exactly where they have their greatest impact.  Nothing about it is haphazard or lazy.  It strings itself out, piece by piece, delivering the story without giving anything away.

The first movement begins by building an atmosphere that sounds like a quotation from every horror film ever made; with heavy piano and dark strings, and then a ghostly choir enters, singing a gentle hymn, in blissful unawareness of the harmonic significance of the rest of the orchestra.

The scherzo of a second movement, the 'comedy', spends its time dallying between slow, ghostly and at times hauntingly beautiful stretches of strings, the concert piano and light winds, interrupted with patches of brass, percussion, and many more pianos.  Thus, a series of climaxes lead up to a particularly poignant conclusion, as a solo violin plays its melancholy tune, and then four separate marching bands abruptly charge onto the scene, bombast the audience, and then collapse into silence.

A melancholy fugue based on a Christmas hymn, beginning in the celli, ushers in the third movement, lovely and actually tonal.  Almost completely scored for the strings, the movement also demands an organ, gloriously fulfilled at Benaroya Hall.

The final movement has more of the character of the second movement, with similar pendulum swinging through chaos and climax, yet it quotes the first and third movements as well, and closes with the choir, hauntingly beckoning in thoughts of the impending War.

I don't know if I will ever have a chance to hear this work again, but I can honestly say that I think the production put on by Morlot and the Seattle Symphony was outstanding.  The members of the orchestra seemed to be energized by the challenge of the music and exhilarated by the sound.  Their passion rolled over us, the audience, like a wave, drawing us into the dark world of Ives.

To be honest, I personally feel like this is the best performance I've experienced yet.

But we shall just have to wait for the Brahms Symphony 1 in June!

Five Little Dances

Quietly Crying

So..I'm in a bit of a rut, I have to admit, and I haven't been practicing for about a week.  But I managed to write this tonight, and I'm fairly happy with it, so here y'all go:

Ditty for Erika

Here's a little melody I wrote in 15 minutes while I was pondering a birthday gift for my friend Erika, who incidentally wants some semi-easy music to learn for piano.  The video quality is not great, but I don't think it's important to redo it, so I'll just make adjustments for the next video based on this one.

Seattle Symphony, Oct 2, '14, Korngold's Violin Concerto, Philippe Quint, soloist

Watch out, Ms. Hahn!

...would be a pretty catchy hook line, but for one, it's not terribly likely that the Violin Queen will be ousted from her crystalline throne any time soon, and for two, it's not very nice or fair since currently Hilary Hahn is suffering a hand injury, thus necessitating the switch last night to Philippe Quint.

It happened to be an accident that I was able to hear Mr. Quint tonight at all.  I decided to usher tonight for the chance to hear Dvořák's 9th Symphony--which naturally I could sing note for note from the recordings I've metaphorically worn thin from listening to them so many times--but this would have been my first live hearing of the Symphony, and if the ecstatic applause from the audience bears any parallel to the quality of the performance, I'm rather sorry I missed out on it.

But I ramble.

Anyway, I have heard Hilary Hahn's performance of the Korngold Concerto--which I like to affectionately refer to as "Korngold's Concerto for Singing Mice" due to the atmospheric demands of pitch from the soloist--on YouTube, where else.  It's a pretty thing, to be sure. But as with many works of art, there really is nothing like experiencing it live.

The melodic quality of the work is very ethereal, a little spacey, cuckoo, with wide leaps to non-harmonic tones left unresolved, fluid yet unpredictable.  It aches; it cajoles; it sulks. There is nothing random or out-of-place about it, however; in response to the need for a clear platform from which the violin needs to sing out in its aerial abode, the orchestra bows away quietly, gives room.  Everything is lush, yet clean, with richness and depth of timbre, dynamic contrast and range, but nothing distracting.  The violin sings out in all its required virtuosity.

Philippe Quint's performance was startlingly different from Hahn's virginally pure tone, meticulous planning, intense focus on a detailed idea.  It felt to me as though he was immersing himself in the moment, letting things happen. In the first couple of minutes in the first movement, I was impressed with his technique, but not particularly drawn in to his expression.  Yet the further into the piece he got, the more his focus intensified, and things just happened.  His balance with the orchestra was extraordinary.  He hung on the notes or let them fly.  His bow dove and pranced.  Although personally I feel that the timbre of the violin itself (the "Ruby" Stradivarius) didn't appeal to me, I enjoyed the expression of his strength and control.

In my heart, Hilary Hahn will always reign over the sounds of the violin I have locked in the vaults of my imagination...but change is always good, and I feel privileged to be able to hear this performance tonight by Mr. Quint.

http://www.philippequint.com/