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Riley ‘in C’ JEROEN VAN VEEN PIANO & KEYBOARDS
Terry Riley Composer and performer Terry Riley is one of the founders of music’s Minimalist movement. His early works, notably In C (1964), pioneered a form in Western music based on structured interlocking repetitive patterns. The influence of Riley’s hypnotic, multi-layered, polymetric, brightly orchestrated Eastern-flavored improvisations and compositions is heard across the span of contemporary and popular music. Performers who have commissioned and/or played his works include: Kronos Quartet, Rova Saxophone Quartet, ARTE Quartet, Array Music, Zeitgeist, Steven Scott Bowed Piano Ensemble, John Zorn, Sarah Cahill, California E.A.R. Unit, guitarist David Tanenbaum, electric violinist Tracy Silverman, drummer George Marsh, bassist Bill Douglass, the Assad brothers, Crash Ensemble, Abel SteinbergWinant Trio, pianists Werner Bartschi and Gloria Cheng, Calder Quartet, Arditti Quartet, Amati Quartet, Alter Ego, Sounds Bazaar, Paul Dresher, singer Amelia Cuni, Bang-on-a-Can All Stars, and guitarist Gyan Riley. Born in Colfax (1935), California, Riley studied at Shasta College, San Francisco State University, and the San Francisco Conservatory before earning an MA in composition at the University of California, Berkeley, studying with Seymour Shifrin and Robert Erickson. At UC Berkeley, he met La Monte Young; together they worked with the dancer Anna Halprin. During a sojourn to Europe 1962-64, he collaborated with members of the Fluxus group, playwright Ken Dewey, and trumpeter Chet Baker, and was involved in street theater and happenings. In 1965 he moved to New York and joined La Monte Young’s “Theater of Eternal Music.” 1967 was the year of his first all-night concert at the Philadelphia College of Art and he began a collaboration with visual artist Robert Benson. An influential teacher was Pandit Pran Nath, a master of Indian classical voice; Riley appeared in concert with him as tampura, tabla and vocal accompanist for over 25 years. Riley continues to perform in concerts of his music and of Indian classical music, as well as conducting raga-singing seminars. He also appears in concerts with Indian sitarist Krishna Bhatt, saxophonist George Brooks, guitarist Gyan Riley and with virtuoso Italian bassist, Stefano Scodanibbio. 2
Riley joined the Mills College faculty in 1971. There he met David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet. Their long association led to 13 string quartets, the concerto The Sands (1990), the multimedia choral work commissioned by NASA, Sun Rings (2003), and The Cusp of Magic (2004) with pipa. The Kronos recording of his epic five-quartet cycle, Salome Dances for Peace was selected as the Classical album of the year by “USA Today” and was nominated for a Grammy. The Palmian Chord Ryddle, a concerto, was premiered in May 2012 by electric violinist Tracy Silverman and The Nashville Symphony led by conductor Giancarlo Guerrero. A subsequent performance occurred at Carnegie Hall. Recent works include Transylvanian Horn Courtship (2008) for string quartet doubling on Stroh instruments, Universal Bridge (2008) for pipe organ, the violin concerto Zephir (2009), and SwarAmant (2012) for violin, guitar, and tabla. Past commissions include: the orchestral Jade Palace (1991) for Carnegie Hall’s centennial celebration, premiered there by the Saint Louis Symphony and Leonard Slatkin; June Buddhas (1991) for chorus and orchestra, based on Jack Kerouac’s “Mexico City Blues,” commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation; the chamber vocal work What the River Said (1997) by the Norwich Festival; the piano piece in just intonation The Dream (1999) by the Kanagawa Foundation; the concerto for piano and electro-acoustic band Banana Humberto 2000 (2000) commissioned by Musical Traditions, Inc., the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and Emory University, and premiered and toured by Riley with the Paul Dresher Ensemble; Bruce’s Traveling Machine (2005) for cello and tape, commissioned by the artist Bruce Connor; The Heaven Ladder, Book 6 (Night Music) (2006) for piano 4-hands, commissioned by Sarah Cahill and premiered by Sarah Cahill and Joseph Kubera; Loops for Ancient-Giant-Nude-Hairy Warriors Racing Down the Slopes of Battle (2006) for the Crash Ensemble; the triple concerto SolTierraLuna (2007), cocommissioned by the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the New Century Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco. His music is published by Associated Music Publishers, Inc. 3
Instructions from the score ‘In C’ All performers play from the same page of 53 melodic patterns played in sequence. Any number of any kind of instruments can play. A group of about 35 is desired if possible but smaller or larger groups will work. If vocalist(s) join in they can use any vowel and consonant sounds they like. Patterns are to be played consecutively with each performer having the freedom to determine how many times he or she will repeat each pattern before moving on to the next. There is no fixed rule as to the number of repetitions a pattern may have, however, since performances normally average between 45 minutes and an hour and a half, it can be assumed that one would repeat each pattern from somewhere between 45 seconds and a minute and a half or longer. It is very important that performers listen very carefully to one another and this means occasionally to drop out and listen. As an ensemble, it is very desirable to play very softly as well as very loudly and to try to diminuendo and crescendo together. Each pattern can be played in unison or canonically in any alignment with itself or with its neighboring patterns. One of the joys of IN C is the interaction of the players in polyrhythmic combinations that spontaneously arise between patterns. Some quite fantastic shapes will arise and disintegrate as the group moves through the piece when it is properly played. It is important not to hurry from pattern to pattern but to stay on a pattern long enough to interlock with other patterns being played. As the performance progresses, performers should stay within 2 or 3 patterns of each other. It is important not to race too far ahead or to lag too far behind. The ensemble can be aided by the means of an eighth note pulse played on the high c’s of the piano or on a mallet instrument. It is also possible to use improvised percussion in strict rhythm (drum set, cymbals, bells, etc.), if it is carefully done and doesn’t overpower the ensemble. All performers must play strictly in rhythm and it is essential that everyone play each pattern carefully. It is advised to rehearse patterns in unison before attempting to play the piece, to determine that everyone is playing correctly. The tempo is left to the discretion of the performers, obviously not too slow, but not faster than performers can comfortably 4
play. It is important to think of patterns periodically so that when you are resting you are conscious of the larger periodic composite accents that are sounding, and when you re-enter you are aware of what effect your entrance will have on the music’s flow. The group should aim to merge into a unison at least once or twice during the performance. At the same time, if the players seem to be consistently too much in the same alignment of a pattern, they should try shifting their alignment by an eighth note or quarter note with what’s going on in the rest of the ensemble. It is OK to transpose patterns by an octave, especially to transpose up. Transposing down by octaves works best on the patterns containing notes of long durations. Augmentation of rhythmic values can also be effective. If for some reason a pattern can’t be played, the performer should omit it and go on. Instruments can be amplified if desired. Electronic keyboards are welcome also. On this recording I used 2 grand piano’s, 3 electric keyboards, clavichord, 4 synthesizers and some more instruments using the multitracking, double tracking or tracking method. This is a specific way of sound recording where I played and recorded the layers one by one. In modern pop songs, percussion and drums are often the first elements to be recorded. These are usually the rhythm leaders; musicians recording later tracks keep to the precise attack of the beat. The older version I recorded in 2006 (BC 8551, Minimal Piano Collection CD 09) was made using an ADAT multitracker. For this new and longer version I used the Tascam DP24. After 15 hours of playing (layer by layer) the result is here; hypnotic, a stretched out landscape of sounds and layers. One can hear already so many influences on Minimalism that were later used in music by Steve Reich and Philip Glass. © Jeroen van Veen
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Jeroen Van Veen “Dutch pianist and composer, Jeroen Van Veen, the leading exponent of minimalism today” Alan Swanson (Fanfare) “Jeroen Van Veen has for many years been a powerhouse in the piano world of the Netherlands and beyond” Dominy Clements (Musicweb-International) “The Maximal Minimalist Missionary” Raymond Tuttle (Fanfare) Jeroen Van Veen (1969) started playing the piano at the age of 7. He studied at the Utrecht Conservatory with Alwin Bär and Håkon Austbö. In 1993 he passed the Performing Artists’ Exam. Van Veen has played with orchestras conducted by Howard Williams (Adams), Peter Eötvös (Zimmermann), Neal Stulberg (Mozart & Bartok) and Robert Craft (Stravinsky). He has played recitals in Austria, Belgium, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Russia & the USA. Van Veen attended master classes with Claude Helffer, Roberto Szidon, Ivan Klánsky and Leonid Hambro. He was invited to several festivals; Reder Piano Festival (1988), Festival der Kunsten in Bad Gleichenberg (1992), Wien Modern (1993), Holland Dance Festival (1998) Lek Art Festival (1996-2007). Van Veen recorded for major Dutch Radio- and Television companies like AVRO, NOS, IKON, NCRV, TROS/Internet, WTBC-TV & Radio (Florida, U.S.A.) and Moscow Television. In 1992, Van Veen recorded his first CD as Piano duo Van Veen. In 1995 Piano duo Van Veen made their debut in the United States. They were prizewinners in 6
the prestigious 4th International Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition in Miami, Florida. After this achievement they toured the United States and Canada many times. The documentary “Two Pianos One Passion” (nominated with an Emmy Award 1996) documents them as a duo. The various compositions by Van Veen may be described as ‘Minimal Music’ with different faces, Crossovers to Jazz, Blues, Soundscape, Avant-Garde, Techno, Trance and Pop Music. His Minimal Preludes for piano, and his NLXL are some of his most played pieces worldwide. Currently Mr. Van Veen is director of Van Veen Productions, Chairman of the Simeon ten Holt Foundation, Pianomania Foundation and artistic director of several music festivals in Amsterdam, Culemborg, Utrecht and Veldhoven. He is also active as Overseas Artistic Director in the Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition based in Miami. Over the last 20 years Van Veen recorded more than 110 CD’s and 5 DVD’s for several labels (Mirasound, Koch, Naxos, Brilliant Classics) and his own label PIANO. The recording of Les Noces (Stravinsky) for Naxos was stated in the New York Times as “the best recording ever”. Van Veen is also praised for his productivity some say; ‘the man who records faster than his shadow’. www.jeroenvanveen.com www.vanveenproductions.com Recording: 3 and 4 February 2015, Studio 1, Van Veen Productions, Culemborg Produced by: Van Veen Productions for Brilliant Classics Executive Producer: Jeroen van Veen Engineered & Mastered by: Pianomania Microphones: DPA 2006A Piano: Yamaha C7, Yamaha P120, Yamaha P255, Roland FP 7F All works published by ©Associated Music Publishers, Inc. Software: Tascam DP24, Pro Tools, Sequoia Artist photo: Janey van Ierland Cover image: Jeroen van Veen, Lego Piano o & © 2015 Brilliant Classics
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