friday the 13th

over the years the undergraduate composition recital has been something that i avoid like the plague. i'm sure many of of you have not so fond memories of the dramas surrounding these recitals that were doomed before the downbeat. with that being said i'm proud to report that yesterday (friday the 13th, 2007) the very rare happened. Carl Stronach (pbe bassist) put together a superb undergraduate composition recital in which:


the musicians were well rehearsed
the musicians were paid
the composer performed in a variety of his pieces
there was no crying or yelling beforehand

and

he composed a wide variety of wonderful music

all of the pieces worked well (string trio, just intonation harpsichord solo, broken consort, percussion and organ duet) and had a real center to them.

i would even venture to say that these pieces are the first strong steps in developing his own voice (which is of course the goal for any undergrad recital) but i reality is so rare. most of the time the undergrad recital is a success if the students write decently playable/idiomatic music in an imitative style. it was obvious that carl's music is more than that. look forward to hearing his broken consort piece (anxiety on the eve of apocalypse) added to our repertoire in time for our may 20th gallery show.

congrats! bravo!