On April 8th, I had the pleasure of attending another one of UBC School of Music’s Composers Concerts at the Roy Barnett Recital Hall. Having attended a concert from this series a few weeks back, I had an idea of what to expect. While I noticed a few familiar names on the program from the previous composers concert I attended on March 18th, I also saw a completely new variety of performances.
The program included the Thunderbird Brass Quintet, comprised of trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba; a guitar quartet, a soprano duet, piano, violin duet, and more. Needless to say, the program included a wide array of instruments and ensembles.
One of my favourite pieces was performed by an alto vocalist, Roan Shankaruk, accompanied by Morten Yu on piano. The piece, titled Five Nocturnes (2019), was composed by Morton themselves and featured two parts: I.: The April Flower May Wither and V.: Bosom. Upon reading the title I was immediately reminded of Chopin’s Nocturnes that we studied in MUSC 326A, and the way they depict the image of ‘nighttime.’ I thought it was beautiful how different Nocturnes could depict different variations of the ‘night’ through tonality, rhythm, form, and other measures. I thought back to the nocturnes we studied in class and truly appreciated the careful and meticulous work that I imagine goes into composing pieces like this. Moreover, to see Morten Yu play the piece that they composed themselves was very enthralling. When studying many of the composers covered in MUSC326A, we often read about them performing their own pieces, but unfortunately this is an aspect of history we are never able to experience ourselves; we are only able to hear performances played by other (although talented nevertheless) musicians. With that in mind, I think it is truly fascinating to be able to witness a composer play their own work.
Another piece I enjoyed was 2 Songs (2019) composed by Ivan Salazar Gonzalez, including pieces I.: Suenos, Amor y Pan (Dreams Love and Bread) and II.: De Esta Piedra (From This Stone). It was performed by Roan Shankaruk, soprano, and Peter Krejar, piano.
The lyrics from Dream, Love and Bread (translated from Spanish) read:
The sun will return to your throat, to your forehead, to your chest before nightfall.
And how human will be the dream, love and bread.
There is no rush or demand, men do not finish/run out.
Today you are here and tomorrow here another like you will remain waiting
There is no rush or demand, men do not finish/run out.
I enjoyed the recurring theme of ‘night’ that was woven throughout the various performances. I later looked up the piece and found that the song was adapted by Gonzalez, with the lyrics originally written by poet Miguel Angel Asturias. I found that this musical reimagining of written poem was a common style of composition performed at UBC Composers Concerts. I think it is a beautiful way to create an additional layer of meaning to an existing work, as well as to merge various mediums of art together.