Eternal light [Online]

Artists:

• Sofia Soloviy, soprano
• Lilia Nikitchuk, alto
• Benjamin Loeb, conductor
• Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine

Program:

• R. A. Moulds. Égloga: el Sauce que se enamoró de la Caricia del Viento
• Trinity Lee. Verum Illuminat for voice, piano and strings
• Gary Kuo. In Remembrance
• G. B. Pergolesi. Stabat Mater for soprano, contralto and strings

R.A. Moulds.  Égloga: el Sauce que se enamoró de la Caricia del Viento

The first of my Leyendas Místicas began as the pastoral opening to Act 1 of my incomplete opera, The Miracles of Monsanvierge although the only part of Égloga that came from the abandoned opera is the opening pastoral theme in E Major for two clarinets and low strings. The following episodes, which wander through several keys and modes, always returning eventually to the opening melody, were newly composed for the piece. The key scheme, for instance, is calculatedly eccentric and even among the familiar melodies and chords which abound throughout there are some sly harmonic tweaks which adds interest and color to a landscape that is intended to be familiar to most listeners. I became interested in Spanish and Latin American music and literature, particularly that of the Argentine composer Carlos Guastavino. When I finished what was to be Égloga and was searching for a name, my head and ears were still full of the melancholy, the magic realism, and the beauty that inhabits so much Latin American art and music, and with the pastoral nature of the original opera in mind, the selection of the word “eclogue” (a classical poetic form, often a dialogue between two shepherds) was almost natural. With that in mind, I then cast about for two participants for the dialogue, and the romantic tone of the piece itself more or less dictated the complete title of the Mystic Legend. This is the Ukrainian Premiere.

R.A. Moulds

Gary Kuo. In Remembrance (1994)

This evening’s performance of IN REMEMBRANCE is a very special one for me.

It marks the Ukrainian premiere of one of my earliest works, written after the passing of my mother. I had moved to Los Angeles after graduate school to pursue a career in film and television when she died unexpectedly of cancer. Because I was just starting out, she never heard any of my concert music nor saw any of the films or programs for which I would later compose.

Tonight is also my first collaboration in decades with the gifted Benjamin Loeb, with whom I had the pleasure of working as a fellow high school student at Tanglewood. With myself on violin and Emmanuel Feldman on cello, our piano trio was featured several times that summer, and being given the opportunity to join forces once again, this time with the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine, has been a true blessing at this difficult time.

I am profoundly grateful to my childhood friend and the fine musicians of the orchestra that each of you is able to hear IN REMEMBRANCE. Thank you all for sharing this experience with me.

Gary Kuo