This song is called EZEKIEL and it's about aliens and shit...

for solo clarinet

duration app. 4 min.

 

Program Notes:

This piece is written for and with the assistance of Gabby Baffoni, and for the UMKC program CO(mp)LLABORATIONS.

So I was in Dubuque, Iowa with some fellow composers for a composition conference and we decided it would be nice to get out into the “scene” and find some local flavor. We ended up at a place called “The Silver Dollar” or something like that and found live, local music. Most of the singer/songwriters played their acoustic guitars and sang variations on what always sounds like the same song… You know, soft, imagery-ridden verses with a simple, louder, emotional chorus. Then, a duo of gentlemen blew our minds with a set of crazy originals. The title is taken verbatim from the introduction to one of their songs. I have not tried to recreate their sound, but merely their manic onstage personas and seemingly random transitions and effects. This piece is nothing more than a lot of fun and a chance to make the clarinet growl and pretend to be an alien…and shit.

Enjoy.

-Ryan Jesperson
10/21/2009

Performance Notes:

Accidentals apply throughout the measure, in the octave of occurrence, in the usual tradition.

The “growl” notes should be performed in the tradition of a saxophone growl. If this is not possible, any suitable alternative will suffice.

The aleatoric “screechy” sections should sound disjunct and crazy, as if the instrument has taken control of you!

The “Rock Out!” section should be swung slightly, with as much movement and invigorating noise as you want to bring to it.

This piece is more about theatrics than notes, so when in doubt, play the part. And if the performer would like to through in some spooky vocal effects, that’d be cool too.

The performer is encouraged to wear an alien costume if he/she has one sitting in a closet gathering dust, or maybe has a coupon for 50% off the rental price at a costume shop, or a spouse or uncle who is really, really, (like goes to conventions) is into any of the series with that start with the word “Star” who would let him/her borrow the costume for the performance…

The performer is encourage to remember the Alamo, and the lesson we learned.

At this point the performer should stop listening to the composer’s performance notes, as he has obviously had too much coffee and is having a bit of fun writing silly sentences…

Good luck!

This song is called EZEKIEL and it's about aliens and shit... was premiered by Gabby Baffoni on the Nov. 2nd CO(mp)LLABORATIONS concert.

Fall, 2012: Joseph Abad will premiere a new Saxophone Sonata.

Fall, 2012: Jordan Jacobson will perform fragments and memories in CT.

Spring-Summer, 2012: Jeux pour Jumeaux will be performed in San Francisco, CA.

Spring, 2012: Bobby Watson and the UMKC Big Band will premiere Rhapsody for Dean Moriarty in Kansas City, MO.

Spring, 2012: Ashly Evans will premiere Birdsongs in Houston, TX.

Spring, 2012: BA(da)SS will be performed by Ryan Ford in West Hartford, CT.

Spring, 2012: Jordan Jacobson will perform fragments and memories in CT.

Spring, 2012: Not Death, but Love will be premiered by Ineo Saxophone Quartet.

Spring, 2012: David Tayloe will perform A Page Out of Zen in CT.

May, 2012: The Invisible, Magic, Soccer Phone will be premiered in Middlefield, CT.

April, 2012: The UMKC Opera Dept. will perform portions of Songs from Behind the Curtain.

April, 2012: David Tayloe will premiere A Page Out of Zen in NY.

Feb. 17th, 2012: The 016 Ensemble will be perform Romanza for Alto Saxophone and Violin in Manchester, CT.

Dec. 3rd, 2011: Ryan defends his dessertation, Songs from Behind the Curtain at UMKC.

July 17th, 21st, 24th, 2011: Music Faculty from the Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival will perform ...and those seven dwarfs in a series of concerts in Western Maine.

June 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, 2011:Orphée Redux will be performed by Rhymes With Opera on their East Coast Tour (NYC, Baltimore, Hartford, Boston).

June 12th, 2011:Selection from Songs from Behind the Curtain will be performed at the John Duffy Composers Institute in Norfolk, VA.

May 13th, 2011: The Ineo Quartet will perform the 1st movement of Not Death, but Love on their Fischoff Competition program in South Bend, Indiana.

March 19th, 2011: The Ineo Saxophone Quartet will perform ...and love is fire... from Not Death, but Love at the NASA conference in West Point, NY.

Feb. 25th, 2011: I. Jest will be premiered by Robert Olson and the UMKC Orchestra in Kansas City, MO.

Feb. 14th, 2011: Hebdomas Squatinae will be performed at the Nebraska at Kearney New Music Festival.

EVENT HISTORY