SEVEN
Commissioned byThomas Mesa andAstralArtists, SEVEN for solo cello (2020) is a tribute to the essential workers during the global COVID -19 pandemic, as well as to those who lost lives and suffered from the crisis.
My intention with this work was to create an experience in which two opposites coexist: solitude and resilience during isolation, and a sense of community and solidarity The piece ends with seven bell like sounds, alluding to NewYork's daily 7 PM tribute during the lockdown the moment when NewYorkers clapped from their windows, connecting with each other and expressing appreciation for those on the front lines
Andrea Casarrubios
Suite for Cello, Op. 72
The Bach suites provided a compositional model for Benjamin Britten's three suites for unaccompanied cello, but the inspiration was the characterful, commanding playing of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. In September 1960, Britten (1913 1976) attended the London premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's recent Cello Concerto No 1, in which Rostropovich the work's dedicatee - was the soloist The British composer and the Russian cellist struck up a rich and productive musical friendship, which was the direct source of five enduring works. Britten began work almost immediately on a Cello Sonata, which Rostropovich premiered the next summer at theAldeburgh Festival with Britten playing the piano part.ASymphony for Cello and Orchestra followed, Rostropovich playing the premiere in Moscow in 1964, with Britten conducting the Moscow Philharmonic That winter Britten began the first of his three Suites for unaccompanied cello; Rostropovich premiered it at the 1965Aldeburgh Festival.
Rostropovich was a commanding Bach player, and Britten's Suite is full of the techniques and textures developed in the Bach suites. Like the Bach suites, Britten's First Cello Suite is in six basic movements, although more in the manner of character pieces than pure dances Britten, however, uses an expansive, double-stopped Canto as a framing device. It opens the Suite and then returns after every two movements, a large scale version of the Baroque ritornello.
The first movement proper is a fugue, in the sort of implied counterpoint that Bach employed more often in his solo violin works than in his cello suites Athletic and mordantly witty, it fades away in harmonics like a musical Cheshire cat The long limbed, un metered Lamento develops an expressive theme oriented toward E, and then turns itself upside down and heads toward E flat; the ensuing tension between E and E flat as a tonal center is resolved only in the final bar
Each movement of the Suite leads directly into the next The brief, transposed Canto Secondo introduces the Serenata, an entirely plucked movement with the staggering swagger of drunken flamenco The Marcia also makes Spanish guitar references, to the tradition of pieces imitating holy day processionals. Here the cello similarly suggests the approach of a fife and drum corps, passages in harmonics alternating with rhythmic rapping on open strings with the wood of the bow, getting louder as the parade nears, then fading away as it passes
The chromatic tension and ambiguity of the CantoTerzo gives way to the Bordone (a term for drone strings) movement, anchored on a drone D throughout, with virtuosic figuration including left-hand pizzicato - above and below the drone.The Moto Perpetuo buzzes with dizzying energy, the flight of a bumblebee on steroids Britten gradually introduces phrases of the Canto, in its original shape and key, into this volatile mix, with a triple forte, semi tone stinger at the end.
Sonata in F Major, Op. 99
Brahms composed his second cello sonata during his productive summer of 1886. He concurrently completed the Violin Sonatas inAand D minor, the PianoTrio in C Minor, and a number of songs which were published in opp 105 and 106
One of his Viennese friends, Billroth, upon hearing the entire sonata, wrote to Brahms, “The beginning of the cello sonata is almost dangerous! But in what follows, you understand even more how to captivate through quiet beauty than through the passionate excitement of the opening You always know how to find the right way to the purely musical; the comfortable last movement offered reassurance after the excitement of the suffering impassioned youth, who, in the first movement, revealed his absolutely passionate love to the sympathetic and empathetic listeners ”
Another critic, Hanslick, reviewed, “In the cello sonata there is passion, fiery to the point of violence, sometimes defiantly challenging, sometimes painfully wailing. How boldly the first Allegro theme begins, how stormy the scherzo overflows! Nevertheless, the passion is softened to gentle sadness in theAdagio and ebbs away, reconciled, in the Finale But the pulse beat of the earlier movements continues to tremble afterwards, and pathos remains the decisive psychological characteristic of the whole piece ”
- Clive Brown, from the Preface to the Barenreiter edition
- John Henken, LosAngeles PhilharmonicAssociation's Director of PublicationsKomitas “It’s Spring”
Komitas Vartabed was anArmenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster and is considered the founder and preserver ofArmenian national music. He is recognized as one of the pioneers of ethnomusicology. Born in 1869, he was soon orphaned by his mother’s passing He was taken to Etchmiadzin,Armenia’s religious center, to receive seminary education and was ordained as a celibate priest. Since his natural talent for singing and music were noted from childhood, he was sent to European Universities to be trained in music Upon his return to Etchmiadzin, he used his Western education to transcribe over 3,000 pieces ofArmenian folk music he collected during his summers among the villages in the mountainous regions Sadly, only around 1,200 of these remain after the horrors of the Armenian Genenocide
At the start of the genocide inApril 1915, Komitas was arrested and deported to a prison camp by the Ottoman government. Due to unclear circumstances, he was released, but not without having witnessed indiscriminate cruelty and relentless massacre of otherArmenians by the Turks This drove his mental state, already fragile from the loss of his mother in infancy, to collapse into a severe case of PTSD.Though he survived the genocide, he spent his remaining years in a psychiatric clinic till he died in 1935
KaroonA(It’s Spring) is one of Komitas’most beloved folk arrangements.The lyrics translate:
It’s Spring, but it’s snowing
My beloved has become cold toward me
My love, let fear dry out
Let the wicked man’s tongue dry
The wind is blowing, cold, cold
My liver and lungs have frozen
My love, you took my dreams from me
You separated your love from me
Although this is a love song from a mountain village, embedded in it is the consciousness of mistreatment and persecution which has been theArmenians’experience since the Ottoman Empire’s rise in the 13th century. Spontaneous harassment and massacre were a regular reality for ethnic and religious minorities throughout the region, especially Christian minorities This song and the phrase, “It’s Spring but it’s snowing” has come to embody theArmenian experience and has become a sort of anthem which represents the genocide, which began in the Spring April, 1915 It continues to be relevant today asArmenians continue to suffer mistreatment.
Just two years ago, during the pandemic in September of 2020,Azerbaijan with the military support ofTurkey invaded the independentArmenian land ofArtsakh. What has now come to be referred to as the “44 Day War” ensued, during whichAzerbaijan committed documented war
crimes and the lives of 2,000 youngArmenian men were lost This tactic is not new The genocide was initiated a century ago while the globe was distracted by the First World War. In 2020, the world was distracted by the pandemic
Thankfully other countries are starting to recognizeArmenia’s legitimacy and stand in its defense Nancy Pelosi visitedArmenia’s capital,Yerevan, a few months ago to visit the Armenian Genocide memorial and stand in solidarity withArmenia and its history.The US Congress has voted to officially recognize the genocide, and the House of Representatives has adopted legislation calling for investigation intoAzerbaijani war crimes and demanding Baku’s release ofArmenian POWs. Members of congress have also demanded the Biden administration to confront Baku’s belligerence by cutting off U S military aid toAzerbaijan Russian peacekeepers have been deployed to guard the border’s security, and Russia has confirmedAzerbaijan’s breaching of the cease fire agreement.The European Parliament had a conference in September of this year to discuss the human rights violations of the 2020 war President of France, Emmanuel Macron, urged the UN Security council in September to address theArmenia crisis Secretary of State,Antony Blinken, called on IlhamAliyev president ofAzerbaijan to cease hostilities The bi partisan co chairs of the Congressional caucuses onArmenian Issues introduced a resolution condemningAzerbaijan’s unprovoked military attack onArmenia Iran has vowed to resist efforts to changeArmenian borders Congresswoman Jackie Speier introduced legislation condemningAzerbaijani war crimes againstArmenians.There are many more such examples.
Meanwhile the government ofTurkey continues to deny the genocide ever took place Recep Erdogan president ofTurkey at the victory parade inAzerbaijan after the 44 day war, proclaimed thatTurkey andTurkic speakingAzerbaijan are “One nation, two states ” Why did he refer to them in this way?Aside from their tied ethnic and linguistic roots, he said this because a tiny piece of land known asArmenia sits, geographically, in between them
Although a ceasefire has been brokered betweenAzerbaijan andArmenia with the mediation of France, Russia and the US,Azerbaijan continues to practice hostility in multiple ways Azerbaijani forces have blatantly violated the ceasefire numerous times by opening fire against Armenian military bases and civilian territories, and they continue to practice war crimes (such as the atrocious mutilation of a femaleArmenian soldier just 10 weeks ago) Hate speech and hate crimes are occurring against DiasporaArmenians in France, Canada andAmerica. Human Rights Watch confirmed that hundreds ofArmenian POW’s, five months after the end of the war, were still held and being subjected to physical and psychological torture
Azerbaijan displayed it’s xenophobia most blatantly by opening an outdoor museum after the 44 day war showcasing capturedArmenian military equipment, the helmets of fallenArmenian soldiers, and wax caricatures ofArmenian soldiers wounded, dead, or in chains.This demonstratesArmenophobic sentiment similar to WWII depictions of exaggerated features of Jews or Japanese This museum sparked outrage and condemnation fromArmenians and diplomats around the world.
Among all this and more,Azerbaijan continues to advance a massive misinformation campaign, always blamingArmenia for initiating. Why wouldArmenia, a tiny country of three million, instigate violence against resource and oil richAzerbaijan?Azerbaijan launches attacks against Armenia, and then turns and blamesAremenia for doing the exact same to them.
Armenians are builders, intellectuals, architects, poets, doctors, lawyers, theologians, and musicians.They are not militants.Armenians want to exist in peace and create. But there are enemies on both sides who would be happy to see them erased from the tiny plot of land they have left to live on It’s Spring, but it’s snowing
While it is heartening the world is finally starting to hearArmenians’cry for recognition and help, recent events show the danger is greater than ever Even for young diasporans who grew up in the comforts of the west, living through the 44 day war of 2020, even from abroad at a distance, awakens generational trauma they didn’t know they had It alerts them to the fact that the stories of their grandparents who survived the genocide are not simply stories from the pastblemishes on humanity which our race has since progressed forward and away from The same racism, hate and xenophobia which tried to exterminate their grandparents’generation is as alive, active and virulent as ever.This is whyArmenians are driven by an existential need to march for recognition and justice and raise their voices to promote their history, heritage and culture
It’s an honor to share one ofArmenia’s cultural treasures with you tonight Thank you for reading and listening
I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose history is ended, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, whose literature is unread, whose music is unheard, whose prayers are no longer uttered
Go ahead, destroy this race Let us say that it is again 1915 There is war in the world Destroy Armenia See if you can do it Send them from their homes into the desert Let them have neither bread nor water. Burn their houses and their churches. See if they will not sing and pray again See if the race will not live again when two of them meet in a beer parlor, twenty years after, and laugh, and speak in their tongue. Go ahead, see if you can do anything about it. Go ahead and try to destroy them. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia
Saroyan William