Jay Reise, Composer

All works available from:

Theodore Presser Co./Merion Music

www.presser.com

                                                              Photo: Marina Garcia-Burgos

            To the Point CD on Audiophile Audition's

                    Best of the Year Discs for 2011

                               

Fine Reviews for The River Within on CD

The River Within (Concerto for Violin and Orchestra), premiered in 2008 by Maria Bachmann and Orchestra 2001 in Philadelphia’s Perelman Theater in the Kimmel Center, was released on CD by Innova Recordings in June and was greeted with excellent reviews. The concerto is presented on an album of orchestra music performed by Orchestra 2001 Philadelphia’s award-winning ensemble which specializes in music of the 20th and 21st centuries. The CD also features works by Jennifer Higdon, Andrew Rudin and Gunther Schuller. James Freeman conducts all the pieces except for Schuller’s Concerto da Camera which is led by the composer.

 

Orchestra 2001: To the Point

JENNIFER HIGDON: To the Point for string orchestra
ANDREW RUDIN: Canto di Ritorno (Concerto for Violin(1) and Small Orchestra)
GUNTHER SCHULLER(2): Concerto da Camera
ROMEO CASCARINO(3): Blades of Grass
JAY REISE: The River Within (Concerto for Violin(4) and Orchestra)

(1) Diane Monroe, violin
(3) Dorothy Freeman, English horn
(4) Maria Bachmann, violin
Orchestra 2001, James Freeman and (2) Gunther Schuller, conductors
Innova Recordings 745 (Distr. by Naxos)

“The most recent work here, Jay Reise’s The River Within – composed in 2008 for Orchestra 2001 and soloist Maria Bachmann – is also a violin concerto. One, in fact, that shares some affinity with Jennifer Higdon’s To the Point, its own “rhythmic polyphony” owing something to the hypnotic ‘foreign’ influences of jazz and the Carnatic music of southern India.

Composed for a Classical-sized orchestra, it adds spice to its formalist leanings by stripping the orchestral forces back to single winds and brass with the addition of piano (which operates as the default continuo) and a small selection of percussion instruments. The result is something both predictably spare and surprisingly lush, solo winds and brass proving slickly adept at providing astringently contrapuntal commentary on a solo violin line that, itself, soars into virtuosic reveries of 19th-century dimensions. Bachmann seems wholly inside the sinuous, labyrinthine twisting and turning of the music, the orchestral accompaniment delivering elegant framing and support.” - The Classical Review

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“This fascinating program concludes with “The River Within” by Jay Reise. This is a full three movement concerto for violin, taking its title from a passage in a novel from 1887 by J.K. Huysmans citing the inexorable flow of a river. In three movements – fast, slow, fast – the structure is pretty traditional. However, Reise describes his use of “ rhythmic polyphony”; some use of cells of rhythm derived from both Eastern music as well as jazz. This is a very exciting piece, easy to listen to and propulsive but not at all ‘ harsh’.

Reise has written many different works in all genres, including opera. He is presently a professor of composition at the University of Pennsylvania. Soloist Maria Bachmann performs the work with technical flourish and style throughout.” - Audiopfile Audition

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“The final work on the disc is The River Within (2008) a concerto for violin and orchestra by Jay Reise. Reise teaches at the University of Pennsylvannia and his music has been performed quite widely. The work is inspired from a 19th century novel by J.K. Huysmans. The piece is cast in three movements, designed in more traditional form. The primary difference here is Reise’s decision to use single (i.e., not paired) winds and brass causing more intriguing color combinations. What is interesting is that Reise does use his winds and brass combinations in clear lines that cut through and support the soloist very well. One of the techniques, described by the composer as “rhythmic polyphony,” takes rhythmic motives and develops them within a phrase essentially implying a cadence. Traditional harmonic and linear writing are on display as well which aid in the accessibility of what turns out to be a rather engaging work. The opening movement’s focus on rhythm, gives way to a slow central section whose opening measure are quite beautiful and continue to be so even as the tension builds underneath. The harmonic language here is most interesting to hear unfold. The final movement seems a blend of the rhythmic polyphony Reise mentions in his program note and the long linear solo writing that comments upon and essentially deconstructs and reworks these ideas. The movement is more a conversation between ensemble and soloists at times and the energy takes off and is reigned in repeatedly with a fine dramatic sense over the 9-minute playing time.” – Cinemusical

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“..The River Within, a fantastically vibrant piece by Jay Reise..” – Sequenza 21

 

RASPUTIN HAS FRENCH PREMIERE

Massy, France –- December 4, 2010 Rasputin, opera in two acts with music and libretto by the composer, had its French premiere December 4-5, 2010 to sold-out houses at the Opéra de Massy just outside Paris. The production was that of the Helikon Opera which staged the work in Moscow in 2008-09.

The stage director was Dmitry Bertman and Konstantine Chudovsky conducted the Orchestra de l’Opéra de Massy. Nikolai Galin sang the title role, Natalya Zagorinskaya sang the role of the Empress Alexandra, Nicolai Dorozhkin was Nicholas II and Vasily Efimov sang the chameleonic role of Rasputin's assassin Prince Felix Yusupov.

VIEW excerpts from RASPUTIN on YouTube

 See “Reviews” to your right →.

 Click "Rasputin" to your right → for a libretto.

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Lunahuaná Premieres in Philadelphia

Lunahuaná, an 8’ piece for percussion 2 players, was premiered at the Orchestra 2001 concerts November 6-7 at Trinity Church, Philadelphia and Lang Concert Hall, Swarthmore College. The two percussionists were William Kerrigan and David Nelson. Given the complexity of the rhythms and the large space separating the two performers, Orchestra 2001 Artistic Director James Freeman conducted – an option suggested in the score.

The theme of the concert was "Chinese Visions" and included works by Chinese-American composers Tan Dun and May-Tchi Chen as well as Scottish-American Jennifer Barker. All the works were clearly derived from or inspired by indigenous music.

Last year, on a trip to Ayacucho, a town located deep in the Peruvian highlands, I was struck by some music I heard which sounded for all-the-world like Peking Opera. Peru and China are both on the vast Pacific rim and many sounds, sights, and sensations in Ecuador, Peru and Chile echo those of China and Japan. So I was pleased that Lunahuaná was included on a program centered on "Chinese Visions".

Lunahuaná was inspired by a trip to the Peruvian village at the edge of the highlands in the summer of 2009 where I began the piece. The name comes from two Quechua words, RUNA: people; and HUANAC: chasten. RUNAHUANAC: that which makes people take warning. Lunahuaná is located at a permanent point where the threatening clouds and the sunshine-blue sky buttress up against each other. Raucous fiestas take place among the barely perceptible echoes of ancient civilizations and the ghosts of the conquistadors.

Percussion I plays the vibraphone along with a few cymbals and crotales or antique cymbals). Percussion II performs on tubular bells and marimba along with the “Battery” – a raucous group of non-pitched instruments prodded along by a persistent whistle suggesting a fiesta atmosphere with a buzzing crowd.

 

Lunahuaná – LISTEN

See “Reviews” to your right →.

 

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AUDIOCLIPS

See these titles under Works for audioclips:

Orchestra - The Selfish Giant

Instrumental - Concerto for Cello & 13 Instruments

Chamber Music - Lunahuaná

Piano - Six Pictures from 'The Devil in the Flesh'                        (6."The Madwoman on the Roof")

 

 

 

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