Nancy King, soprano, Livia Sellin, violin, Rob Nathanson and Helmut Jasbar, guitars
Continuum (2022)
For soprano, violin, and two guitars 10 mins.
Continuum was commissioned by Rob Nathanson and premiered at the New Music at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, NC on March 1st, 2023. The ensemble, The Carolina Chamber Players, Rob Nathanson and Helmut Jasbar, guitars, Livia Sellin, violin, and soprano, Nancy King performing. On May 12th, The Carolina Chamber Players performed the European premiere in Vienna, Austria.
Commissioned by Robert and Mindy Nathanson
Tim Eddy's "Continuum" dramatizes the dehumanizing of fellow human beings through hate and the "fear that we are fed". He poetically suggests that the counter to that can be found in music where a divine connection between God and the human heart fosters a potent resilience and, that the symbol of a single, solitary woman playing a violin against the forces that we are all up against, is powerful".
Bookending the release are Neil compositions that deal in different ways with the normalization of violence and love's betrayal. Whereas Kara Jackson's words for Love Poem with a Knife satirically describe a woman trapped in an oppressive relationship, Tim Eddy's for Continuum considers both the dehumanization that hate and fear engenders and the power music has to counter it. There's much to like about the release. With no more than five players involved, the performances are genuinely chamber-like in character and intimate too. At the outset, Neil's Love Poem with a Knife receives an insightful reading from King, Nathanson, Sellin, and Jasbar, with the soprano emoting dramatically in response to Jackson's provocative text and the others engaging as deeply with the material. Flurries of guitar entwine with Sellin's plucks and bowings, and percussive knocks punctuate a seven-minute performance that's more than a little riveting. Textura.org
The poem by Tim Eddy si very powerful. The continuum ofthe title refers to, for example, the dangerous ground between loveand hate, peace and genocide. The dramatic text is matched bymusicthat is powerful and sometimes disturbing. It is a fine work, though far from easy listening. Soundboard
Nancy King, soprano, Livia Sellin, violin, Rob Nathanson and Helmut Jasbar, guitars
Love poem with a knife (2019)
For soprano, violin, and two guitars 7 mins.
Love poem with a knife was commissioned by Rob Nathanson and premiered at the New Music at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, NC on March 1st, 2023. The ensemble, The Carolina Chamber Players, Rob Nathanson and Helmut Jasbar, guitars, Livia Sellin, violin, and soprano, Nancy King performing. On May 12th, The Carolina Chamber Players performed the European premiere in Vienna, Austria.
Commissioned by Robert and Mindy Nathanson
Love poem with a knife, by Kara Jackson, speaks to the normalization of violence
in our world and the betrayal of love, man's greatest achievement and purpose. The author presents a biting satire of a woman trapped in a violent and oppressive relationship as the equivalent of "loving a knife". This dramatic setting combines elements of an operatic vignette, popular music, and the classical art song.
At the outset, Neil's Love Poem with a Knife receives an insightful reading from King, Nathanson, Sellin, and Jasbar, with the soprano emoting dramatically in response to Jackson's provocative text and the others engaging as deeply with the material. Flurries of guitar entwine with Sellin's plucks and bowings and percussive knocks punctuating a seven-minute performance that's more than a little riveting. Textura.org
By contrast, the first work on the disc, love poem with a knife, is essentially repulsive, perhaps intentionally so. Poems do not need to be Hallmark cards,
but theKara Jackson poem that forms the text of the song is thoroughly unattractive, as is the music. Soundboard
Out of Darkness Into Light (2017)
For soprano, violin, guitar, saxophone (soprano, tenor, baritone), bassoon/contrabassoon, digital acoustics 20 mins
Premiered March 30th, 2017 by the Pro Musica ensemble at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, NC
Commission by Robert and Mindy Nathanson
OUT OF DARKNESS INTO LIGHT is really a mystery play interpreting, through-composed and improvisational music, the beautiful prayer-like text Malgosia Sawczuk created following her remarkable restoration work in Chicago’s St. Stanislaus Kostka church. The church is located near Polonia triangle, which was the heart of the city’s vibrant Polish community when the cathedral opened in 1867, with the cornerstone of the present church building laid in 1877. Over the years, St. Stanislaus and Chicago’s Polish community have changed: the parish diminished in size, and the church and its magnificent art fell into disrepair. In 2011, St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish began a project of essential repair and restoration of the church building. Always fascinated by the church, I grew to know artist Malgosia Sawczuk – who operates the Art Objects conservation Lab with her husband – while she painstakingly restored the art of St. Stanislaus to its former glory, including the church’s extraordinary oil paintings on metal substrate which appear in the Stations of the cross, the sculpture, and the magnificent liturgical table. When asked what it’s like to be in the scaffolding so close to this great art, Sawczuk told me, “It’s like touching the silence in the perfect emptiness.” That sung to me; that’s what I do with music. Observing that restoration is an act of defiance against decay, and inspired by Sawczuk’s work, I collaborated with her to create Out of Darkness Into Light, which premiered in Chicago in April of 2015. This chamber version of the piece was directly inspired by this performance. I want to acknowledge the artistry of Tom Gullion and Josefien Stoppelenburg whose inspired solos I transcribed in my arrangement and honor the new interpreters of this music and their contribution to the spirit of renewal.
Purchase per performance license and receive a link to download files with performance instructions. $50
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Unusual but rewarding chamber music for open ears for the adventurously inquisitive, a 24- minute contemporary work for soprano, guitar, violin, saxophones, bassoon or contrabassoon, and “digital acoustics” is a welcome opportunity. Performed by an ensemble centered on singer Nancy Kingand guitarist RobertNathanson, trading as Duo Surenõ , Out of Darkness into Light by William Neil presents a text by Malgosia Sawczuk, in which the writer “hears” the words of her unborn child. The content is almost disturbing at times, but culminates in the triumph of birth. King is a commanding custodian of the vocal part, while Nathanson’s clear and fluent guitar lines, ranging from sparse ostinatos to bursts of chordal energy, provide the harmonic foundation. Neil’s music is challenging yet never without shape, the experience being both intense and uplifting.
Paul Fowles CLASSICAL GUITAR
Spiritual Adaptation to Higher Altitudes by William Neil is an ode to the spiritualism gained from rock climbing. The opening run demonstrates how fascinating the clarinet’s clarion register paired with undampened vibraphone can be. Overall, Neil achieves an excellent sense of space. Derek Emch, THE CLARINET
William Neil’s phantasmagorical Out of Darkness into Light, is a twenty-four-minute dramatic scena of operatic weight, if not length. (Neil was, for a time, composer-in-residence at the Chicago Lyric Opera.) The text is by art restorer Malgosia Sawczuk, who wrote it while working in a Chicago church, while pregnant. Trust me, the text is illuminating and powerful regarding both of these experiences. The Duo (Rob Nathanson, guitar and Nancy King, soprano, is joined by violinist Danijela Zezelj-Gualdi and by Laurent Estoppey on a variety of saxophones. Helena Kopchick Spencer on bassoons, and the composer on “digital acoustics.” As you can imagine, the range of sonic experiences is astounding but always illuminates the music and the drama. Soprano Nancy King is extraordinary. This is a work that cries out for performance whenever the musical forces and an open-minded audience can be found. -Al Kunze SOUNDBOARD
“The range of sonic experiences is astounding but always illuminates the music and the drama.” SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE.
"...beautiful sounds! A very effective piece!" GEORGE CRUMB
At the Edge of the Body’s Night (2008)
For soprano and guitar 24 mins.
Premiered in Honolulu, Hawaii, on NPR Hawaii, March 2008, Nancy King, soprano, Rob Nathanson, guitar.
Commissioned by Robert Nathanson.
At the Edge of the Body’s Night is a setting of Seven Poems by the late poet, Mark Strand. These poems intrigued me with their potent brevity and mysterious symbolism. I found in their riddle-like form a concise emotional message, ideal for creating short melodic themes and inspiring the magical relationship between voice and guitar.
Sleep and the Room (2008)
For soprano and guitar 14 mins.
Premiered in Honolulu, Hawaii on KJHF FM, Nancy King, soprano and Rob Nathanson, guitar.
Cabaret Songs (2002)
For soprano and piano 15 mins.
Premiered at the Temple Theatre, Viroqua, WI-Feb. 2003, Jennifer Ebner, soprano, William Grosvenor Neil, piano
My Cabaret Songs are an ongoing collection of songs that speak from the heart. I have sought out poems to interpret musically that really address the human condition. In Out of Danger, by James Fenton, the works have been woven into a complex fabric of emotion. Whatever Happened to Love in this World is a setting of lyrics composed by my son, Christoper Neil. My music seeks to illuminate these subtle nuances and bring power to their meaning. The harmonic coloring is rich and melodies are lyrical with an emotional power that I believe the vocalist can really embrace.
The Waters Are Shaking the Moon (1996)
For soprano and piano 40 mins.
Premiered on Live from WFMT Radio in Chicago, 1996, Barbara Ann Martin, soprano, David Schrader, piano
Commissioned by the Katherine A. Abelson Fund of the Lester Abelson Foundation
Twelve songs on poems by D.H. Lawrence
Lawrence, the celebrated poet who shocked the literary establishment of the 20 ‘s with his controversial novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover has written on the subject of love and relationships in much of his poetry and prose. I have been attracted to his ability to evoke the mysteries of love, unlocking some of the forbidden doors in the process. In The Waters are Shaking the Moon, I have selected poems that explore not only the relationship between lovers but relationships that Lawrence visited many times in his work: mother and son, father and son, man and nature, adult and child, man and mortality. WN
Límites (1979)
For mezzo soprano/flute 1/flute 2-picc./oboe/2 clarinets in Bb/bassoon/2 horns in F/2 trumpets in Bb/percussion/piano/violin I (8)/violin II (4)/viola(3)/violoncello (2)/double bass (1) 15 mins.
Premiered at the Cleveland Insitute of Music in June of 1977, Jean Strazdes, mezzo soprano.
Borges’ poem greatly impressed me with its dreamlike images and its rich reflections on the limitations that we face in our lives. The poem mirrors Borges’ own acceptance of his impending blindness. I sought to capture musically the vivid revelations found in each of the stanzas of the poem. The music centers around the note A 440 which tries dramatically to rise to B-flat but is unsuccessful until the very end of the work, underscoring the lines “space, time, and Borges now are leaving me.” (“Espacio y tiempo y Borges ya me dejan.”)
Professional orchestra parts rental $400
Discounted parts rental price for university, conservatory, and training orchestra performance $300
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