Click here for original radio program on 6 October 2011, Sveriges Radio, Mitt i Musiken.

Click here for original radio program on 5 September 2011 by Sten Sjöström, Sveriges Radio, Mitt i Musiken.

Translation:

Tranströmer’s poetry becomes opera for the first time

For the first time, the poet Tomas Tranströmer’s words are being made into an opera, titled drömseminarium/Dream Seminar – it is the composer Ellen Lindquist, of Swedish heritage, who has written the music and the day was in New York.

- There is such passion and inner significance to the poet’s words

But it is still in an unfinished form – the actual premiere will take place in a year or so, in Sweden. Last Thursday, in a small theater in Queens, New York, Dream Seminar was heard for the first time in its entirety, but as an unstaged concert reading, still in rehearsal form. It is an opera on a small scale, with eleven musicians and two singers (soprano Kathleen Flynn and bass Michael Douglas Jones). Michael believes that the poet’s poetry is perfect to make music with…

- …it’s prose that he writes, not so much rhyming… it has so much passion and internal message. I love singing it, says Michael Douglas Jones.

The idea for the opera started with him, in fact. When he appeared in an opera in Sweden a few years ago, he received a book of Tranströmer’s poetry, and was fascinated – he then invited composer Ellen Lindquist to translate the words into music, originally in the small format of a song cycle …

- As we started to choose poems together [for the song cycle], we realized that there were so very many rich and beautiful poems that we wanted to do something more, says Ellen Lindquist. The idea grew…

The work on the Dream Seminar has been going on for several years and is a interplay/interaction between the musicians and the composer. Much of the music is based on improvisations by all the artists which Ellen Lindquist then further developed and expanded. There are many composers who have worked with Tranströmer’s words, but this is the first time that his words form the foundation for an opera.

The music is unmistakably modern, sometimes atonal but almost always warm and lyrical. The eleven musicians have a very active role: they are definitely not in the orchestra pit, in either the literal or figurative sense, but are on stage and with their instruments they embody the various themes of the poet’s poetry. One of the musicians in the orchestra, and one of two Swedes, is flutist Malin Trast….

- It’s really exciting and great fun, but sometimes you have performance anxiety, you think maybe the musicians should stick to what they can do and not begin to act. It can feel very contrived and strange, but I guess that’s the challenge in this: finding the balance, not to do things that feel too contrived, but just to play and do what you can with your instrument.

Dream Seminar will now be further refined in preparation for next year’s fully-staged premiere.

Sten Sjöström in New York
sten.sjostrom @ sr.se

Listen: Somniloquy_19sept2010.mp3

Recording: The Thelema Trio: Ward De Vleeschhouwer, piano, Rik De Geyter, bass clarinet, Peter Verdonck, tenor and baritone saxophones (recorded live in Oirschot, the Netherlands, as part of the Vlierenhut Concert Series on 19 September 2010). Premiere performance.

Duration: ca. 7′

Composed: 2010

Somniloquy was written for The Thelema Trio. They premiered it 19 September 2010 as part of the Vlierenhut Concert Series, in Oirschot, the Netherlands.

‘Somniloquy’ means talking in one’s sleep…

Somniloquy was funded in part by the Composer Assistance Program of the American Music Center.

Somniloquy is published by Apple Mountain Music Press (ASCAP).

Félix Pastor and Michael Douglas Jones, Västerås Konserthus, Sweden. Photo by by Henny Linn Kjellberg.

drömseminarium (dream seminar) is a new piece of music-theater based on the texts of contemporary Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer and music of American composer Ellen Lindquist, produced by Companion Star, and developed collaboratively by an international company of musicians and artists.

drömseminarium creates an environment in which the spaces between the real and unreal elements of life are bridged, an important theme that appears throughout Tranströmer’s work. It is bilingual, mixing Tranströmer’s original Swedish with English translations (Robin Fulton). The cast of drömseminariumincludes two singer/actors and twelve instrumentalist/actors. A highly unique aspect of the piece is that all players, instrumentalists and singers alike, are characters in the piece, and also movers (with coaching from Swedish choreographer Helena Högberg). Set design by ceramic artist Henny Linn Kjellberg is a central element of the piece. Costume design is by Camille Assaf, and lighting design by Torkel Skjærven. Directed by Patrick Diamond. drömseminarium is a large-scale work, roughly 75 minutes in length, and is slated to premiere in September 2013 in Sweden and the United States.

Watch a video about the making of drömseminarium

Listen to music from drömseminarium:
Längre in:LI_ending.mp3

La%CC%88ngrein_jaga%CC%88rgenomlyst.mp3

Romanska Bågar: RomanskaBa%CC%8Agar.mp3

Listen to an interview with Ellen about drömseminarium: Ellen%20Lindquist%20Interview.mp3

Resources:

drömseminarium

Companion Star

YouTube

dream seminar Facebook page

Skogensemble grew out of a four-year collaborative opera project called drömseminarium, based on texts of Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer and music by American composer Ellen Lindquist. Throughout the development of the opera the synergy between the musicians grew, as did their desire to explore the music of the Nordic countries. This lead, in January 2010, to Skogensemble’s debut concert of Nordic new music in New York City.

The members of Skogensemble have performed together at The Gateway Theatre (New York), Stony Brook University (New York), Engsö Castle (Sweden), Wik Castle (Sweden), the Västerås Konserthus (Sweden), The Tenri Cultural Institute (New York), and Scandinavia House (New York).

Skogensemble performs repertoire ranging from large-scale multi-media work to the most intimate of chamber music pieces.

For more info please see Skogensemble’s website: www.skogensemble.org

Download Biography: Ellen Lindquist_bio.pdf, Ellen Lindquist_bio.doc
(last updated February 2010)

The music of Ellen Lindquist is performed regularly throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe (Sweden, England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria), and has also been performed in Cuba, South Korea, the Philippines, and South Africa. Discovery of unique sound-worlds through collaboration is central in much of Ellen’s work; several of her pieces are collaborative projects involving dance, theater, poetry, and performance art. Ellen’s work has been heard at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The United Nations, and The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (New York), The Västerås Konserthus (Sweden), and The Royal Northern College of Music (England). Past commissions range from solo and chamber pieces to choral and orchestral works. Currently, Ellen is working on a new piece for music-theatre produced by Companion Star, based on the work of Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer. With its international ensemble Companion Star has presented work-in-progress performances of drömseminarium (dreamseminar) in both Sweden and New York. (The premiere is slated for 2012 in Sweden.) drömseminarium has been featured on Swedish television, and on both American and Swedish radio. Grants to support Ellen’s work on the piece while living in Sweden include fellowships from the American-Scandinavian Foundation and the American Swedish Institute (the Malmberg Scholarship), and development funding from The New York State Council on the Arts. She has been invited for multiple residencies at the Visby International Centre for Composers (Sweden), the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), and the International Ceramic Research Center (Denmark; a collaboration with ceramic artist Henny Linn Kjellberg to develop porcelain percussion instruments), and has served as composer-in-residence at Mälardalen University (Sweden). Ellen has been invited to speak about her work live and in radio interviews in the US, Canada, Sweden, and Denmark. Her work is published by Marimba Productions, Inc., the Swedish Music Information Center, and Apple Mountain Music Press (ASCAP). Go Fish Music has released Thomas Burritt’s solo CD titled All Times Identical, with his recording of her solo marimba work Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky.

As a pianist, Ellen has performed as chamber musician and accompanist in the US, Canada, and Europe. She was a co-founder of the Musicians’ Alliance for Peace (MAP), and co-organized MAP’s annual Music for Peace Project, a global network of concerts for peace. During the years 2004-2007, 350 concerts dedicated to peace were performed in 30 countries. Ellen holds degrees from Middlebury College (BA in composition and piano performance) and Stony Brook University (MA and PhD in composition). She has recently served as visiting professor at the Gotland School of Music Composition in Sweden, and now lives in the Netherlands. She co-founded and serves as composer-in-residence for Skogensemble, an international chamber group that presents new music from the Nordic countries. A deep respect for and love of the natural world is reflected in her work.

Download Resumé: Ellen Lindquist_Resumé.pdf
(last updated February 2010)

Education

2008	Ph.D., Music Composition: Stony Brook University, New York
2002	M.A., Music Composition: Stony Brook University, New York Teachers: Daniel Weymouth, Daria Semegen, Sheila Silver
1993	B.A., magna cum laude, Music Composition and Piano: Middlebury College (Concentration: French)
1992	La Schola Cantorum (piano and cello); La Sorbonne (literature), Paris
1988-89	Centre de Practique Musicale D’Annecy (piano); Conservatoire National d’Annecy (solfège)

Selected Projects

(please see Catalogue of Works)

2011	Antipoduo (Sarah Oates, violin and Claire Edwards, percussion)
2010	Maranti Trio (string trio; the Netherlands)
2010	Zoca Duo (oboe and guitar; Spain)
2010	Thelema Trio (clarinets, saxophones, and piano; Belgium)
2006 - 2011	"drömseminarium" ("dreamseminar"), an evening-length work for music-theatre based on the poetry of Tomas Tranströmer, produced by Companion Star (New York). Premiere in Sweden and New York, 2011-2012 season.
2004	"Groundings" for alto saxophone, cello, and piano; commissioned by British trio Ephyra
2002	"I Dream’d in a Dream" for men’s chorus, violin, and piano; commissioned by the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus

Recordings and Publications

2011	Upcoming: The chamber music of Ellen Lindquist, Azica Records; Skogensemble.
2009	"Be Still, My Soul" (solo multi-percussion) published by Keyboard Percussion Publications
2006	"All Times Identical", Go Fish Records; Thomas Burritt, solo marimba (2006). "Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky."
2006	"Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky" (solo marimba) published by Keyboard Percussion Publications
1993- present	All other music of Ellen Lindquist published by Apple Mountain Music Press (ASCAP)

Selected Awards and Residencies

2010	Composition residency at the Visby International Centre for Composers, Gotland, Sweden
2009	Composition residency at the Visby International Centre for Composers, Gotland, Sweden (May)
2008	The American Swedish Institute’s Malmberg Scholarship: composition residency in Sweden (June-Dec.)
	Composition residency at the Visby International Centre for Composers, Gotland, Sweden (May)
2007	New York State Council on the Arts: grant for commission funding (through Companion Star, Inc.) (December)
	Artist-in-Residence, The International Ceramics Research Center: collaborative residency with ceramic artist Henny Linn Kjellberg, development of porcelain percussion instruments (July)
	American-Scandinavian Foundation grant: 4-month composition residency in Sweden (March-June)
	Composer-in-Residence, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden (March-June)
2005	The Ackerman Award for Excellence in Music: Stony Brook University
	Artist in Residence, The Banff Centre for the Arts: Banff, Alberta, Canada (January)

Selected Festivals and Concerts

2009	ISCM World Music Days 2009: "Nakoda" performed by Lars Linna, solo amplified alto flute (Visby, Sweden)
	"Drömseminarium", Västerås Konserthus; produced by Companion Star, Inc., presented by Västmanlandsmusiken. (Västerås, Sweden)
2008	Three Excursions performed at Carnegie Hall by the Brookfield East Chamber Orchestra (New York, NY)
	"Drömseminarium", Västerås Konserthus; produced by Companion Star, Inc., presented by Västmanlandsmusiken. (Västerås, Sweden)
2007	"Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky" performed by Thomas Burritt; Nancy Zeltzman Marimba Seminar
	"För levande och döda" (now "Drömseminarium"), Engsö Castle; produced by Companion Star, Inc., presented by Mälardalens University. (Västerås, Sweden)
2005-06	"Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky" performed by Thomas Burritt; Leigh Howard Stevens Marimba Seminar
2006	Transits: Voices out of Wilderness: "Romanska Bågar", "Groundings", and "Nakoda" on a concert of new works at The Tenri Cultural Institute (NYC)
	The Music for Peace Festival 2006: "I Dream’d in a Dream", "Nakoda", "Groundings" (Judson Memorial Church, NYC)
	Tour: Program of 8 works by Lindquist. (Port Jefferson, NY; Easton, CT; Stony Brook, NY)
2005	Cathedral of St. John the Divine Concert Series: "Groundings" performed by The Scarborough Trio (NYC)
2004	Premiere of "Groundings" by the British trio Ephyra at the Jacqueline DuPré Concert Hall (Oxford, England)

Teaching and other Professional Experience

2009	Invited to offer 2-day workshop about Companion Star’s improvisational development technique (Summer Music Academy, Mälardalens University, Västerås, Sweden)
2008	Visiting Professor, Gotlands Tonsättarskola (The Gotland School of Composition): harmony, fundamentals, analysis
2005- 2006	Instructor, Stony Brook University, New York: music analysis; music theory; private composition classes (3 semesters)
2004- 2006	Co-founder and organizer of the Music for Peace Project, a global concert series for peace (2/04, 4/05, 4/06)
1996- present	Guest composer at universities and art centers in the U.S., Canada, Sweden, and Denmark
1995- present	ASCAP: Composer member
1997- present	ASCAP: Music Publisher, d.b.a. Apple Mountain Music Press
1993- present	Freelance pianist, Piano teacher, Finale™ music copyist

Aanlanden

I. Ademen (Breathing)
III_Ademen_Aanlanden_Nieuwcuijk.mp3
II. Aarde (Earth)
II_Aarde_Aanlanden_Nieuwcuijk.mp3
III. Zweven (Hovering)
I_Zweven_Aanlanden_Nieuwcuijk.mp3
IV. Groen (Green)
IV_Groen_Aanlanden_Nieuwcuijk.mp3

Duration: ca. 15′

Composed: 2010

Aanlanden was written for Het Maranti Strijktrio. They premiered it 17 April 2010 at Lambertushoeve in Someren-Heide, the Netherlands, followed by performances at Abdij Marienkroon in Nieuwkuijk (presented by Stichting Honsoirde) and Podium Azijnfabriek in ’s-Hertogenbosch (presented by Stichting Vrienden Kamermuziek ’s-Hertogenbosch).

Aanlanden was funded by Fonds Podiumkunsten NL (Performing Arts Fund NL).

Aanlanden is published by Apple Mountain Music Press (ASCAP).

Program notes:

(English)
I feel that my pieces are ‘snapshots’. As with a person in a photo: the whole of that person’s experience is present with him or her, although the photo represents only a tiny window of time. Similarly, I feel that the whole of my experience informs every piece that I write. The piece itself is simply a snapshot of my life during a given period — that period of time during which the piece was written. A central part of that period of time, of course, is that I am working closely with the piece and the musicians involved. I consider the process of creating a new piece to have three fluid elements which interact with each other: the musicians, the instruments, and my own compositional voice. There is a magical point of balance between them: this is where the piece is born. Thus the piece becomes a kind of ‘snapshot’ of my life, viewed through the lens of this intersection between musicians/instruments/my compositional voice during a that period of time.

Aanlanden is no exception. It was written specifically for Anneloes, Tine and Marleen: the Maranti Strijktrio. If I had written it for another trio, it would have grown into a different piece. I had already seen the sparkle between them as they played—we first met in 2008 after their Brabanste Dag concert at ‘de Koffer’ in Heeze! This only grew during the two workshop sessions that we had while I was writing the piece. Their way of working together was easy, open, and warm. It’s been a pleasure to work with them.

Aanlanden is the title that I’ve chosen to give to this life-snapshot. It is my first work here in the Netherlands with Dutch (and Belgian) musicians. It’s about landing here in the Netherlands in a new life, and about working to sink my own roots into the soil here. Aanlanden is also full of gratefulness to all the people here who have been here to help soften my landing: Maridet, Gerard…Elke, Yosja, Kyryn…Thea…Walter. And many more. Anton…bedankt, met heel mijn hart.

(Nederlands)
Ik heb het gevoel dat mijn composities ‘snapshots’ zijn. Zoals met een persoon op een foto: het geheel van zijn levenservaring is erin aanwezig, hoewel de foto maar een enkel moment vastlegt. Op dezelfde wijze, heb ik het gevoel dat het geheel van mijn eigen levenservaring in elk van mijn composities zit. Een stuk zelf is gewoon een snapshot van mijn leven tijdens een bepaalde periode — de periode waarin het stuk gecomponeerd is. Een belangrijk deel van die periode is, natuurlijk, dat ik intensief met het stuk bezig ben en met de musici samenwerk.

Ik heb ervaren dat het maken van een nieuwe compositie drie vloeiende elementen heeft, die op elkaar inwerken: de musici, de instrumenten, en mijn eigen compositie-stem. Er bestaat tussen die drie een magisch evenwichtspunt: daar wordt het stuk geboren. In deze manier wordt het stuk een soort snapshot van mijn leven, zoals dat gezien is door de lens van deze samenkomst van musici-instrumenten-mijn stem, tijdens die periode in mijn leven.

Aanlanden is geen uitzondering. Het is speciaal voor het Maranti Strijktrio gecomponeerd — voor Anneloes, Tine, Marleen, en hun instrumenten. Als ik het zou hebben geschreven voor een ander strijktrio, zou het tot een totaal andere compositie zijn uitgegroeid. Ik heb voor het eerst de sprankeling tussen hen gezien terwijl zij speelden tijdens de Brabantse Dag in 2008 in Heeze. Deze sprankeling is nog sterker geworden tijdens onze twee workshopsessies voor Aanlanden. Hun manier van samenwerken is gemakkelijk, open, en warm. Ik heb met veel plezier met ze samengewerkt.

Aanlanden is de titel die ik gekozen heb voor deze ‘levens-snapshot’. Het is mijn eerste compositie hier in Nederland met Nederlandse (en Belgische) muzikanten. Het gaat over landen hier in Nederland, in een nieuw leven, en het gaat over “sinking my own roots into the soil here.” Aanlanden is ook vol van dankbaarheid voor alle mensen die hier waren om mijn landing zachter te maken: Maridet, Gerard… Elke, Dorothé, en kinderen… Thea… Walter… en veel anderen. Anton… bedankt, met heel mijn hart.

Laura Karney, oboe and English horn
Jacob Cordover, guitar

The premiere is planned for Fall 2012 in the Netherlands.

“Ellen Lindquists musik är genomgående utmärkt: spatiös, men också tät och innehållsrik.”
—Fredag 19 juni 2009, Johan Lif, Västmanlands Läns Tidning, Sverige

Full review (English translation below):
Johan Lif, Fredag 19 juni 2009, Västmanlands Läns Tidning
Musik, drömseminarium
Västerås Konserthus, Västerås, Sverige

English translation by Henny Linn Kjellberg:

Johan Lif, Fredag 19 juni 2009, Västmanlands Läns Tidning
Music-theatre review, drömseminarium
Västerås Concerthouse, Västerås, Sweden

Instead of presenting a completed production, the ensemble has let the audience follow their work’s creation through a series of open workshops over several years’ time.

drömseminarium will gradually become a chamber opera based on Tomas Tranströmer’s poems.

At the Concerthouse yesterday they presented a cohesive hour-long musical drama. How much of what we saw yesterday will be left when drömseminarium has its premiere in 2010, we don’t know.

The ensemble — with musicians mainly from USA but also from Sweden, Canada, Spain and France — is collectively trying and rejecting ideas during the creation workshops.

Since drömseminarium still is in creation it feels difficult, and also unfair, to write a regular review.

The dramatic elements yesterday were sometimes successful — as when the musicians and singers moved as a group in a low-key humorous choreography — and from time to time overly theatrical.

Songs alternate between Swedish and English in a way that is sometimes irritating, but also sometimes sets the words in an unexpected way.

Although the shape is changing it seems like the ensemble has found a tone and an interaction that functions, and that assures good things.

Ellen Lindquist’s music is consistently excellent: spacious, but also dense and rich. Particularly striking is the suggestive tone setting of the poem Further In, where long chords are played over the piano and marimba figures. Let us hope that this piece will stay for 2010.

also, for 2 clarinets

Listen: Zonnebloem_concert.mp3

Recording: Alicia Bennett, clarinet (recorded live in McCall, Idaho for the McCall Concert Series, September 14, 2008)

Duration: ca. 5′
Composed: 2008
Click here to see a sample page of Zonnebloem (solo clarinet).

Zonnebleom (Sunflower) was commissioned by Alicia Bennett, and is warmly dedicated to her. The multiphonics form the heart of the piece; all other pitch material evolved from them. The piece explores the richness of the tension between groundedness (roots) and the full expression of the sunflower’s bloom.

Alicia premiered Zonnebleom on September 11, 2008 in Caldwell, Idaho at the College of Idaho’s Langroise Recital Hall.

The duo version is a canon, and can be performed either by two clarinetists, or by a single clarinetist performing with a recording of him- or herself.

Published by Apple Mountain Music Press (ASCAP).

Johan Lif, 16 juni 2007, Västmanlands Läns Tidning
Musik, För levande och döda
Ellen Lindquist (musik), Tomas Tranströmer (poesi)
Engsö slott

För levande och döda beskrivs som en experimentell kammaropera, baserad på Tomas Tranströmers dikter. Och experimentell är den i åtminstone två avseenden: dels är musiken som sådan på många sätt icketraditionell, dels är arbetsprocessen öppen och kollektiv.

Det var alltså inget färdigt framförande av operan som gavs på Engsö slott igår, utan närmast en workshop inför publik, ett offentliggjort utdrag ur ensemblens gemensamma skissbok. Insprängda mellan två skrivna stycken, fanns en serie mer eller mindre strukturerade improvisationer. Dessa spelades in, för att sedan fungera som råmaterial när kompositören Ellen Lindquist fortsätter sitt arbete med operan.

Den som förväntat sig en sedvanlig konsertsituation blev alltså måhända något konfunderad igår. Operans regissör Pat Diamond beskrev länge och väl arbetssättet, dikterna lästes upp ett flertal gånger, både på engelska och på svenska. Longörerna var alltså ganska många. I gengäld var det fascinerande att betrakta hur musikerna och sångarna arbetade, hur de löste problem, fann kreativa utvägar, prövade sceniska lösningar.

När processen förvandlades till konstnärligt resultat blev det storartat. Det avslutande stycket Romanska bågar var böljande vackert, med ett fritt rytmiskt flöde, färgrik instrumentering och med melodier som gled in och ut i varandra i skimrande vågmönster. Sopranen Kathleen Flynn och basen Michael Douglas Jones sjöng med allvar, men utan onödig högtidlighet, och ensemblen spelade med känsla och precision.

För levande och döda kommer att uruppföras i Sverige 2009 – en händelse värd att vänta på.

—Johan Lif

English translation by Henny Linn Kjellberg:
Johan Lif, June 2007, Västmanlands Läns Tidning
Music-Theatre review, For the Living and the Dead
Ellen Lindquist (music), Tomas Tranströmer (poetry)
Engsö slott

For the Living and the Dead is described as an experimental chamber opera, based on a selection of Tomas Tranströmer’s poems. And experimental it is in at least two respects: first, the music is in many ways not traditional; second, the work process is open and collaborative.

It was therefore not a complete performance of the opera that was given at Engsö castle yesterday, but a work in progress, an extract from the ensemble’s common sketch book given to the public. Interspersed between two completed pieces from the opera was a series of smaller structured improvisations. These were played in order to function as raw material for the composer Ellen Lindquist to continue her work on the opera.

A classic concert situation became therefore maybe something altered yesterday. The opera’s director Pat Diamond described long and well the approach, the poems were read  both in English and in Swedish- Dull therefore in the majority. On the other hand, it was captivating to see how the musicians and singers worked, how they solved problems, found creative resources, examined scenic ideas.

When the process was changed to the artistic the results became magnificent. The final piece, Romanska Bågar, was billowing and beautiful, with a free rhythmic flow, richly-coloured instrumentation, and melodies that slid in and out of each other in shimmering balance. Soprano Kathleen Flynn and bass Michael Douglas Jones sang with seriousness, but without unnecessary pomposity, and the ensemble played with feeling and precision.

For the Living and the Dead will be premiered in Sweden in 2009 — an event worth the wait.

—Johan Lif

Listen: RomanskaBa%CC%8Agar.mp3

Recording: Companion Star ensemble (Engsö Castle, Västmanland, Sweden, June 15, 2007)

Duration: ca. 9′
Composed: 2006
Click here to see sample score pages of Romanska Bågar.

Romanska Bågar, from my chamber opera drömseminarium, stands alone as a concert piece. It was first premiered at New York’s Tenri Institute in May 2006, and has since been performed in December 2006, January 2007, June 2007, June 2008, June 2009, and January 2010. This recording is from Companion Star’s June 2007 work-in-progress performance, which closed the music and poetry festival at Engsö Castle (near Västerås, Sweden) on June 15, 2007. Romanska Bågar is the first music that was completed for drömseminarium, and is the result the organic and multi-disciplinary process that we, as Companion Star, have developed.

Romanska Bågar
Inne i den väldiga romanska kyrkan trängdes turisterna i halvmörkret.
Valv gapande bakom valv och ingen överblick.
Några ljuslågor fladdrade.
En ångel utan ansikte omfamnade mig
och viskade genom hela kroppen:
“Skäms inte för att du är människa, var stolt!
Inne i dig öppnar sig valv bakom valv oändligt.
Du blir aldrig färdig, och det är som det skall.”
Jar var blind av tårar
och fostes ut på den solsjudande piazzan
tillsammans med Mr och Mrs Jones, Herr Tanaka och Signora Sabatini
och inne i dem alla öppnade sig valv bakom valv oändligt.

—Tomas Tranströmer, För levande och döda

Romanesque Arches
(trans. Robin Fulton)

Inside the huge romanesque church the tourists jostled in the half darkness.
Vault gaped behind vault, no complete view.
A few candle-flames flickered.
An angel with no face embraced me
and whispered through my whole body:
“Don’t be ashamed of being human, be proud!
Inside you vault opens behind vault endlessly.
You will never be complete, that’s how it’s meant to be.”
Blind with tears
I was pushed out on the sun-seething piazza
together with Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Herr Tanaka and Signora Sabatini
and inside them all vault opened behind vault endlessly.

Tomas Tranströmer, För Levande och Döda

Duration: ca. 4’45″
Composed: 2005
Click here to see a sample page of Eos.

In Greek mythology, Eos was the goddess of Dawn. Daughter of the two Titans Hyperion and Theia, Eos is therefore also the sister of Selene (the Moon) and Helios (the Sun). Eos was commissioned during the winter of 2005 by violinist Benjamin Robison as one of twelve pieces which make up a body of work called The Hours. Eos is meant to represent 4 a.m. in the progression of hours through the night from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.  The Hours was first performed by Ben Robison May 1, 2005 in Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts.

“Eos the yellow-robed arose from the river of Okeanos to carry her light to men and to immortals.”
—Iliad 19.1-2  (Homer)

“Eos [Dawn] comes early, with rosy fingers.”
—Odyssey 2.1, etc.  (repeated many times) (Homer)

“Eos in her broidered robe as she rises from the streams of Okeanos.”
—Odyssey 22.195 (Homer)

“Aas [Eos], leaving the waters of Okeanos, drew from the sky the moon’s holy light.”
—Greek Lyric IV Corinna, Fragment 690

“Aurora [Eos the Dawn], watchful in the reddening dawn, threw wide her crimson doors and rose-filled halls; the Stellae (Stars) took flight, in marshalled order set by Lucifer [Eosphoros] who left his station last. Then, when Titan [Helios the Sun] … saw the world in crimson sheen [he rose into the sky].”
—Metamorphoses 2.112  (Ovid)

Duration: ca. 8′
Composed: 2005
Click here to see a sample page of Turning Towards the Sea.

The 17 short pieces that make up Turning Towards the Sea are all based on the traditional Japanese poetry form known as Haiku. In a haiku poem, there are 17 syllables that are divided into three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. (In English language haiku, however, the number of syllables is typically less strict — especially for translations.) The aesthetic of haiku poetry is closely aligned with Zen Buddhist philosophy; one of many ways in which this is perceptible is that a haiku poem expresses the experience of a single moment in time, often called “the haiku moment.”

A haiku poem usually implies a specific season as well. The three haiku by Basho which I have woven into the piece (although the words are not intended to be distinguishable in performance) represent a specific season of life. Each “sonic haiku” for trombone is made up of approximately 17 events, grouped loosely in three phrases of 5-7-5. In turn, these sonic haiku gather themselves into three larger phrases of 5-7-5 to form the piece. A note for those interested in numbers: The life cycle of most cicadas is 17 years.

Turning Towards the Sea was commissioned by trombonist Ben Lanz, and was premiered on March 13, 2005 at Stony Brook Unviersity’s Staller Center Recital Hall.

Nothing intimates,
In the voice of the cicada,
How soon it will die.

Water jar cracks:
I lie awake
This icy night.

The full moon
Seven story-songs of a woman
Turning towards the sea.

—Basho (1644-1694)

Listen: Zosa.mp3

Recording: Laura Karney, oboe and Ellen Lindquist, piano (recorded live at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts Recital Hall in Stony Brook, NY)

Click here to see sample pages of Zosa.

Duration: ca. 7’15″
Composed: 2005

“Zosa” is one of many Sanskrit words meaning “breath.” Zosa explores breath through music, embracing both its simplicity and complexity. Written for oboist Laura Karney, Zosa has evolved from our many discussions about the role of breath in both the performance of music and the practice of yoga.

Laura and I premiered Zosa together on January 25, 2005 while we were both in residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Banff, Canada, and have since performed it in the USA (New York), Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany.

See full Catalogue of Works and Performances
(Last updated March 2010)

Publisher: Apple Mountain Music Press (ASCAP)
(** Published by Marimba Productions, Inc.)

Music-Theatre/Performance Art/Theatre/Dance

drömseminarium (dreamseminar), an evening-length work for music-theatre based on the poetry of Tomas Tranströmer. Produced by Companion Star of New York (premiere in Sweden and New York, 2011)
Gaia (1998) (solo violin); dance piece titled Shruthi: Something Heard choreographed by Andrea Olsen.
Commissioned by the Middlebury College Department of Dance.
Our Fathers’ Daughters (1997) (solo cello); evening-length performance art piece.
Commissioned by the Northampton Moving Writing Group.
Heresies (1994) (flute, oboe, percussion, piano, cello); music for the play Heresies (1985) by Debra Levy.
Commissioned by the Middlebury College Department of Theatre.

Orchestral

Aspetuck Waters (1998) for piano, string orchestra, and percussion.
Commissioned by The Friends of the Easton Public Library.
Three Excursions (1996) for string orchestra and percussion. Jointly commissioned by the Virginia Unit of the American String Teachers’ Association and the Youth Orchestras of Prince William.

Choral

I Dream’d in a Dream (2002) for TTBB (or SATB) chorus, violin, piano (text: Walt Whitman).
Commissioned by the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus.
The Bears Wake Up (2004) for children’s chorus (text: Marilyn A. Johnson).
Commissioned by the Pocantico Hills School.

Vocal Works

Chants d’Amour et de Mort (1996), a song cycle with poetry by Isabelle Balot for tenor, violin, cello, and piano.
Commissioned by Isabelle Balot.
The Second Coming (1993/2001) for soprano, tenor, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and cello
(text: Wiiliam Butler Yeats).

Chamber Music

Duo: Zosa (2005) for oboe and piano. Commissioned by Laura Karney.

Trio:
Groundings (2004) for alto sax (or clarinet), cello, and piano (also for alto flute, bassoon, and piano).
Commissioned by the British trio Ephyra.
Aanlanden (2010) for string trio. For the Maranti Strijktrio (the Netherlands).

Quintet: Fanfare (2001) for brass quintet. Commissioned by the Stony Brook University Department of Music.

Sextet: Aspetuck Waters (1998) arranged for piano with two violins, viola, cello, and bass.

Solo

Nakoda (2002) for solo amplified alto flute. Commissioned by Erin Lesser.
Zonnebloem (2008) for solo clarinet. Commissioned by Alicia Bennett.
Turning Towards the Sea: 17 Haiku for Solo Trombone (2005). Commissioned by Benjamin Lanz.
Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky (2003) for solo marimba. Commissioned by Trent Petrunia. **
Be Still, My Soul (2001) for multi-percussion solo. Commissioned by I-Ju Chang. **
Eos (2005) for solo violin. Commissioned by Benjamin Robison.
Gaia (1998) for solo violin. Commissioned by the Middlebury College Department of Dance.
Pastorale and Invention (1995) for solo piano.

Duration: 3’01″
Composed: 2004

I made Icarus using MAX. Most source material comes from 2 sources of recorded sound: me playing a South American ocarina, and a metal bowl filled with water struck with a wooden spoon.

MAP produced many local events such as benefit concerts for Hurricane Katrina victims, victims of the 2004 tsunami in Asia, and September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.

Our reach was also global: In 2004, we initiated the first of four annual international networks of concerts dedicated to Peace. People from around the world were invited to join us in dedicating their concerts during one specific weekend to the concept of Peace. These concerts could take any form, present any kind of music, be played by anyone, in any location at all—the only common denominator was that the concert be dedicated to a larger vision of a more peaceful world. This was called The Music for Peace Project. Each year, The Music for Peace Project took place over the course of a single weekend. During the four Music for Peace Project weekends between 2004 and 2007, more than 350 concerts in 30 countries around the world were dedicated to peace.

MAP produced four major festivals (“A festival of music, film, and ideas”) at Stony Brook University in conjunction with the Music for Peace Project weekends. Events included concerts of world music, speakers, film, an international art show (2006), and concerts by The Musicians’ Alliance for Peace.

Festivals:
Music for Peace Festival 2004 (February 4-6)
Music for Peace Festival 2005 (April 8-10)
Music for Peace Festival 2006 (March 28-April 2)
Music for Peace Festival 2007 (March 24-April 1)

Listen: TheBearsWakeUp.mp3

Recording: The Pocantico Hills School Third Grade Chorus, William Vollinger, conductor (The Pocantico Hills School in Sleepy Hollow, NY, May 5, 2004)

Click here to see sample pages of The Bears Wake Up.

Duration: 2’45″
Composed: 2004

The Bears Wake Up was commissioned by The Pocantico Hills School in Sleepy Hollow, NY for their 3rd grade chorus. The chorus, conducted by William Vollinger, premiered it in the Pocantico Hills Auditorium on May 5, 2004, to a roaring audience!

There are lots of opportunities for kids to act out what happens in Marilyn Johnson’s poem, and I encourage any theatrical inspiration that arises. Have fun…!

The Bears Wake Up

Fred and Ted were new bears
when they woke up in their cave
Their fur was new, their paws were new,
they couldn’t even wave.

Fred sniffed Ted and Ted sniffed Fred
and then they rolled around.
They growled and hit and scratched a bit,
It’s fun to fight they found.

But then it grew more serious
Ted bit Fred’s neck and chewed,
SO I HAVE TEETH! was his first thought,
His second was, WHAT’S THIS GOO?

He made his brother bleed, you see,
and that made both cubs cry,
And that disturbed a shaggy rug
that suddenly opened an eye.

What frightful noise you’re making
the shag rug told the bears.
WHO ARE YOU? yelled the crazy cubs,
then realized she was theirs.

Mother! Mother! do you see
how fierce we are, they said,
and jumped on her and hugged her tight,
and messed the fur up on her head.

Outside, outside, get out of here,
she shooed the cubbies Fred and Ted,
It’s spring, you’re young, and you should run,
and out the cave they fled.

They were alive; that felt so good.
They growled and they felt brave.
ARE WE BEARS, MOM? said Fred and Ted.
We’re nice bears, she said, SO BEHAVE!

—Marilyn A. Johnson

also: cl. (A)-vc-pno • alto fl.-vc-pno • alto fl.-bsn-pno • alto sax-bass cl.-pno • piano trio

Listen: Groundings.mp3

Recording: Paul Mulligan, clarinet; Fanny Bray, cello; Mark Ryser, piano (recorded live at the Banff Centre for the Arts, January 2005)

Duration: ca. 7’45″
Composed: 2004
Click here to see sample pages of Groundings (alto sax, vc, pno).

Groundings reflects the ongoing cycles of “groundedness” and “ungroundedness” that we as human beings all face throughout our lives: cycles in which grounded, balanced states evolve mysteriously into—and emerge out of—ungrounded, chaotic ones. The title also pays homage to the “ground basses” common in music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Commissioned by the British contemporary music ensemble Ephyra, Groundings was first performed in November 2004 at the Jacqueline DuPré Music Hall in Oxford, England. The production of Groundings was funded in part by a grant from The American Music Center’s Composer Assistance Program.

Originally scored for alto saxophone, cello, and piano, Groundings has also been performed with the instrumentation of clarinet (A), cello, piano, as well as alto flute, bassoon, piano. All instrumentations are available for performance.

Listen: ScornedasTimber.mp3

Recording: Trent Petrunia, marimba (recorded at The Banff Centre for the Arts’ Rolston Recital Hall by Jonathan Ives)

Duration: ca. 9′
Composed: 2003
Click here to see a sample page of Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky.
Order marimba score from Keyboard Percussion Publications

Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky, composed for Trent Petrunia during the 2003 winter residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, was inspired by Canadian painter Emily Carr’s 1936 painting of the same name. Trent premiered it in the Banff Center’s Rolston Recital Hall on March 13, 2003.

“There’s a torn and splintered ridge across the stumps I call the ‘screamers.’ These are the unsawn last bits, the cry of the tree’s heart, wrenching and tearing apart just before she gives that sway and that dreadful groan of falling, that dreadful pause while her executioners step back with their saws and axes resting and watch. It’s a horrible sight to see a tree felled even now, though the stumps are grey and rotting. As you pass among them you see their screamers sticking up out of their own tombstones, as it were. They are their own tombstones and their own mourners.”

—Hundreds and Thousands, The Journals of Emily Carr (1934)

The Portland Press Herald
Tuesday, June 18, 2002
By CHRISTOPHER HYDE

… “Into the Infinite Air,” which opens with “Invictus,” is a seven-piece oratorio commissioned by the Gay Men’s Chorus from seven composers, most of whom have been associated with the chorus over its 10-year history. They include Small, Mark Carlson, Eric Lane Barnes, Elaine H. Broad, Ellen Lindquist and Bruce Fithian, working with texts from Walt Whitman, John F. Kennedy and Dawna Markova, most of which have the bracing, unsentimental quality of Henley’s verse.

The musical settings hold together remarkably well, and are even more unified by transitional passages composed by artistic director Miguel Felipe. These passages have a driving, repetitive rhythm, a la Phillip Glass, overlaid with a tenuto violin part, played brilliantly by Dimmick.

Particularly memorable were the solo by J. Timothy Bate in Carlson’s “The Enemy of Truth,” the complex four-part harmony and counterpoint of Broad’s “Into the Infinite Air,” and the murmuring of (spoken) voices under a violin solo in Lindquist’s “I Dream’d in a Dream.”

Listen: Nakoda.mp3

Recording: Erin Lesser, alto flute (studio recording at the Banff Centre for the Arts by Jonathan Ives, December 2002)

Duration: ca. 4′
Composed: 2002
Click here to see sample pages of Nakoda.

(recording: Erin Lesser, alto flute)

Nakoda is named for the alpha female of the Peter Lougheed wolf pack, who was killed—legally—by a hunter in Kananaskis country (near Banff, Alberta, Canada) on September 22, 2000. While wolves and other large predators essential to the ecological balance of the region are protected within the boundaries of Banff National Park (as well as other nearby protected areas), it is sadly still legal to hunt them outside of Park boundaries. Nakoda, herself named for the Nakoda First Nations tribe of the Bow Valley (among many other areas), was first collared in 1996 with a transceiver that allowed wildlife ecologists to obtain valuable data on the pack’s wide-ranging movements over the course of the year. This kind of data can be used to help create laws that protect wolves and preserve critical habitat. Nakoda is dedicated to the conservation of large predators everywhere — in particular the wolves of the Canadian and American Rockies.

Composed while in residence at Canada’s Banff Centre for the Arts for flutist Erin Lesser, Nakoda uses several extended flute techniques, including percussive sounds, pitch bending, and singing into the instrument. Erin premiered it in November 2002 at the Banff Centre’s Rolston Recital Hall.

Performance History:

• Premiere: November 6, 2002 • Erin Lesser, alto flute • Rolston Recital Hall, The Banff Centre for the Arts • Banff, Alberta, Canada

• September 25, 2003 • Sharon Levin, alto flute • Newark Academy • Livingston, NJ • Benefit concert for Scholarship Aid

• October 22, 2003 • Erin Lesser, alto flute • Recital Hall, Staller Center for the Arts, Stony Brook University • Stony Brook, NY • Composers’ Concert

• November 22, 2003 • Sharon Levin, alto flute • New Jersey City University • Jersey City, NJ • NJ University Women Composers’ Showcase

• February 22, 2004  • Deborah Schmidt, alto flute • Unitarian Universalist Church • Berkeley, CA • Sounds New Concert Series

• March 1, 2004  • Andrea Graves, alto flute • Western Illinois University • Macomb, IL • Western Illinois University New Music Festival

• June 3, 2005 • Chenoa Anderson, alto flute • Jean McNulty Recital Hall, William H. Buset Centre for Music and Visual Arts, Lakehead University • Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada • New Music North Festival

• February 11, 2005 • Erin Lesser, alto flute • Rutgers Presbyterian Church • New York City • New York Musicians for Tsunami Relief

• April 2005 • Jennifer Rhyne, alto flute • Fort Hays State University • Fort Hays, KS • Scholarship Musicale 2005

• May 2, 2005 • Nicole Molumby, alto flute • Riley Auditorium, Otterbein College • Westerville, OH • Women in Music: A Festival of Accomplishments

• February 4, 2006 • Erin Lesser, alto flute • Port Jefferson Village Center • Port Jefferson, NY • Ellen Lindquist composition recital, presented by The Greater Brookhaven-Port Jefferson Arts Council

• February 5, 2006 • Erin Lesser, alto flute • Easton Public Library • Easton, CT • Ellen Lindquist composition recital, presented by the Friends of the Easton Public Library

• February 6, 2006 • Erin Lesser, alto flute • The Charles B. Wang Center, Stony Brook University • Stony Brook, NY • Ellen Lindquist composition recital

• April 2, 2006 • Erin Lesser, alto flute • Judson Memorial Church • New York City • The Music for Peace Project, NYC

• May 12, 2006 • Erin Lesser, alto flute • The Tenri Cultural Institute • New York City • Transits: Voices out of Wilderness

• February 4, 2007 • Chenoa Anderson, alto flute • Mount Allison University • Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada

• February 9, 2007 • Chenoa Anderson, alto flute • Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada • The Acadia New Music Festival

• November 15, 2008 • Jennifer Rhyne, alto flute • Recital Hall, Central Washington University • Ellensburg, WA

• November 17, 2008 • Jennifer Rhyne, alto flute • Chapel at the Good Shepherd Center • Seattle, WA

• November 18, 2008 • Jennifer Rhyne, alto flute • Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center, Pacific Lutheran University • Tacoma, WA

• November 22, 2008 • Jennifer Rhyne, alto flute • Western Washington University • Bellingham, WA

• September 27, 2009 • Lars Linna, alto flute • The Gotlands Museum • Visby, Sweden • The World New Music Days 2009

• February 17-25, 2010 • Lars Linna, alto flute • Kajse Franke, dance, Helena Högberg, choreography • Gotland, Sweden • Gotlandsmusiken tour

Listen: IDreamd.mp3

Recording: Kathleen Flynn and Carlos Conde, soloists; Minghuan Xu, violin; Winston Choi, piano; Ricardo Gallo, conductor; New York City Music for Peace Project Chorus (SATB) (recorded live at Judson Memorial Church, April 2, 2006)

Click here to see sample pages of I Dream’d in a Dream (SATB).

Duration: ca. 6’30″
Composed: 2001

When Miguel Felipe, the artistic director of the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus was planning a celebration of the group’s tenth anniversary in 2001, he selected Whitman’s “I Dream’d in a Dream”, along with other poems by John F. Kennedy, Ernest Henley, and Dawna Markova to be part of Into the Infinite Air, a seven-part, seven-composer orotorio. The commission came in the summer of 2001; the work premiered in mid-June 2002. Intervening, of course, were the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and Lindquist comments on “how remarkable Miguel’s choice of text had been, and how important a part of my own healing process setting Whitman’s text would become.” Indeed, the work is inscribed In Memoriam September 11, 2001.

In her setting, Lindquist focuses on the poem’s call for peace. She opens and closes the work with the chanting of words for peace from six languages, some spoken in and around Afghanistan, and others in nearby countries. (One needs to recall that the invasion of Afghanistan took place in October 2001.) The work in some ways is a dialogue between the violin and vocal forces. Soloists are key here, with choral interjections––some pitched, some spoken––which act almost as musical refrains. The long violin meditation separating “it was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city” and “And in all their looks and words” describes in a way that transcends language the great vision towards which Whitman so deeply hoped the “materialistic and vulgar” America of his day—and ours?—would strive.

The words used in the spoken texture of I Dream’d in a Dream (using a phonetic approximation) are: Sulh (Farsi, spoken in Iran, Afghanistan); Salaam (Arabic, spoken in Iraq, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and many other nations); Shanti (Hindi, and many other Indian language groups); Shalom (Hebrew, spoken in Israel); Amniat (Pashto, spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan); Aman (Urdu, spoken in Pakistan). These are not exhaustive country lists; many of these languages, of course, cross political borders.

—Program notes by Watson Bosler

I Dream’d in a Dream was commissioned by the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus, Miguel Felipe, Artistic Director, in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Chorus. It was premiered June 15th and 16th, 2002, at the State Street Church in Portland, Maine. The commission was made possible through the generous assistance of Timothy Bates, Brian Quint, and Joel Thayer.

I Dream’d in a Dream

(from Leaves of Grass, published 1855)

I Dream’d in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth,
I dream’d that was the new city of Friends,
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love, it led the rest,
It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city,
And in all their looks and words.

—Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Duration: 1’45″
Composed: 2001
Click here to see sample pages of Fanfare.

Fanfare for Brass Quintet was commissioned in 2001 by the State University of New York at Stony Brook to celebrate the opening of the University’s new Music Library. It is my quirky and whimsical interpretation of a brass fanfare!

Fanfare was premiered at the library’s opening on November 28, 2001 by the Metropolitan Brass Quintet.

Listen: TheSecondComing.mp3

Recording: Cynthia Reinhardt, soprano; James Brown, tenor; Aaron Packard, violin; Katie Schlaikjer, cello; Alicia Bennett, clarinet; Staffan Sandström, piano; Michael McCurdy, percussion; Philip Lenberg, conductor (recorded live at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts, May 5, 2005)

Click here to see sample pages of The Second Coming.

Duration: ca. 11’0″
Composed: 1993, revised 2001

As much as the work itself, William Butler Yeats’ vision of time and history inspired my setting of his poem titled “The Second Coming.”  His philosophy on these subjects can be represented by the image of two interlocking cones (which he refers to as “gyres”): the tip of each forms the centerpoint of the base of other, and the length of each cone symbolizes a span of 2000 years.  Time itself moves in an ever-widening spiral from tip to base; once at the edge of the base, the spiral begins to tighten as time whirls towards the centerpoint.  The arrival at this point signifies the turning of the millennium, which Yeats believes to be a time of complete reversal of “good” and “evil”… a time during which “…The best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity…”  Once having reached this point, time begins to spiral in the opposite direction, following the shape of the second cone, and the 2000-year cycle of moral inversion continues.

“The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats is set to music by permission of A.P. Watt, Ltd. on behalf of Anne and Michael Yeats.

The Second Coming was first performed on March 2, 1993 at the Middlebury College Concert Hall in Middlebury, Vermont. The premiere was part of a residency with the contemporary music ensemble Aequalis: Elizabeth Mohr, violoncello; Sandra Hebert, piano; and Michael Parola, percussion. They were joined by Chelsea Dippel, soprano; Edward Lovett, baritone; Branigan Sherman, clarinet; and Jennifer Lewin, violin. I revised the piece in 2001. The Second Coming is dedicated to James Grant, with great thanks.

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming!  Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds,
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

—William Butler Yeats (1929)

Listen: BeStillMySoul.mp3

Recording: I-Ju Chang, multi-percussion (recorded at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts Recital Hall by David Hurtgen, June 2002)

Duration: ca. 8’30″
Composed: 2001

Click here to see sample pages of Be Still, My Soul.

Order score from Keyboard Percussion Publications.

Instrumentation: 5-octave marimba, bongos (4), congas (3), bass drum (with pedal)

Written for I-Ju Chang, Be Still, My Soul was finished during the months following September 11, and so was deeply affected by the enormous range of emotions that we all lived through during that time. I-Ju premiered Be Still, My Soul at Stony Brook’s Staller Center for the Arts in the fall of 2001.

In memoriam: all those who suffered, and those who continue to suffer, as a result of September 11, 2001.

Be still, my soul
Be open, my eyes

Be still, my mind
Be open, my heart

Duration: ca. 3′
Composed: 2000

I wrote this piece for the wedding of two of my dearest friends, Hillary Oppmann and Andy Holdsworth. They chose the text and the instrumentalists, and asked me to write them a piece. The choral parts were performed by family and friends. And what a musical bunch of family and friends they have! Their wedding was July 22, 2000 in Craftsbury, Vermont. A blustery, rainy morning gave way to a spectacular summer Vermont day just in time for the outdoor ceremony.

Like two well-planted trees,
Deep roots, Bright blossoms,
Fruit and falling leaves
In sun and battering rain

O long their coupled joys maintain!

—Sir Philip Sydney
(from “Long Their Coupled Joys Maintain”)

or piano and string quintet (2 violins, viola, cello, and contrabass)

Duration: ca. 8’31″
Composed: 1999, revised 2002

Aspetuck Waters was commissioned by The Friends of the Easton Public Library and the Easton Arts Council (Easton, CT) to celebrate the purchase of a new grand piano for their concert space. The name Aspetuck comes from the Aspetuck River, which runs close to where I grew up in Easton, Connecticut. I wrote Aspetuck Waters in support of the movement in Easton to protect the Trout Brook Valley, also nearby, which ecologically is a key link in the largest remaining unbroken forest in southern Connecticut. Trout Brook Valley (which is close to the Saugatuck Reservoir) was owned for many years by the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company, who had always used their land as a buffer zone to create a natural filtration system for the Saugatuck Reservoir. Although privately owned, the forest was intact and untouched. (Southern Connecticut geography lesson: the Aspetuck River flows out of the Easton Reservoir, which is fed by the Saugatuck Reservoir.) It is now protected land

Aspetuck Waters was premiered at the Easton Public Library in June 1998 by The Bridgeport Youth Orchestra (Robert Genualdi, conductor) and pianist Vladimir Valjarevic. In 2002 I rescored it for piano and string quintet (2 violins, viola, cello, and contrabass). This version was first performed by Oksana Ezhokina, piano; Naho Tsutsui and Aaron Packard, violins; Johanna Beaver, viola; Katie Schlaikjer, cello; Jenny LaBonté, contrabass at a concert of my works at the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University, on May 5, 2002.

Listen: Gaia.mp3

Recording: Aaron Packard, violin (recorded live at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center Recital Hall, May 2, 2002)

Click here to see a sample page of Gaia (violin score).

Duration: ca. 7’45″
Composed: 1998

I wrote Gaia for dancer/choreographer Andrea Olsen in Middlebury, Vermont; it was commissioned by the Middlebury College Dance Department for Andrea’s dance piece Something Heard. We had a rather unusual collaboration — Andrea’s choreography, my music, Andrea’s poem (below) and Shruthi’s dancing all informed each other as they evolved over the course of a month or so. (The piece was choreographed for dancer Shruthi Mahalingaiah.) The Middlebury College Dance Department, to accompany the dance piece Something Heard by Andrea Olsen. The first performance was in April 1998 at the Middlebury College Dance Theater, with violinist Benjamin Lively and dancer Shruthi Mahalingaiah.

Gaia is the Greek goddess of the Earth.

Kirsten Jermé was the first to perform the solo cello version fo Gaia, on November 18, 2006 at the Staller Center for the Arts University Art Gallery at Stony Brook. She performed it in tandem with a video work by Krzysztof Wodiczko, as part of a concert by The Musicians’ Alliance for Peace in conjunction with an exhibit curated by the Civic Performance Project (see below for info.)

Gaia is dedicated to Aaron Packard.

Shruthi (voices heard)

When I first visited
There was only the starving bird in a nest
mouth stretched
waiting to be fed

When I opened the closet
there was more–Joan of Arc
Little Red Riding Hood
Stories told

We armour our bodies for good reason
Sensuality is sleeplessness
Black seeds in the mouths of witches
burned for speaking (truth)

Standing on new ground
voices bellow
sleep turns to dreams
doors open, wide

Feathers grow
wings
strong enough to clap the air
celebrate

Seeing with new eyes
Face to earth
tunnels into darkness
Sap rising

Hearing symphonies in dark skies
where ashes turn to stars
whispers of fishes
snake’s shedding skin

Crossing over alone
sage becoming crone
burning bright
there is fire in each of us at the core

We know more than before   (breasts sing, spine yields)
red wing blackbirds sing
as snow falls
marking arrival

— Andrea Olsen (1998)

The Civic Performance Project

Civic Performance is a three-year project to develop a Resource Center on the campus of Stony Brook University. It provides outreach support to activists and artists working to improve the quality of life on Long Island in three primary areas: sustainable development, the environment and youth at risk. The Center responds to the needs of those working in the field by providing pro bono legal assistance; identifying funding sources; encouraging collaboration and innovative problem solving.

Civic Performance was launched in Fall 2005 with a speaker series of academics addressing global concerns related to problems facing Long Island, and panels of community workers addressing similar issues in the region, such as local agriculture, genetic modification, and migrant labor. A three-day, public conference in Fall 2006 brought united academics, community activists and cultural interventionists to explore further the complex issues facing Long Island.

Composed: 1998

Our Fathers’ Daughters is a collaborative work with elements of dance, theatre and music; it was commissioned by the Northampton Moving Writing Group, directed by Carl Forsman and choreographed by Andrea Olsen. Members of the Northampton Moving Writing Group used portions of their own writing to create this piece, which they also performed; the music I wrote for solo cello came out of my experience of their collective creative process.

It was premiered January 30 and 31, 1998 in the Thornes’ Third Floor Gallery in Northampton, MA, with Debra Sherr, cello.

Listen: Semele.mp3

Recording: Jim Smith, theorbo and Jimmy Brown, tenor

Duration: ca. 3′00″
Composed: 1996/2002

Sémélé is the third song of a cycle that I wrote for Isabelle Balot, based on her poetry, in 1996. It was originally scored for tenor and piano trio.

Ode à Sémélé
Sémélé, je ferai un coussin pour ta tête
Incrusté de trésors et d’ambre délicat;
Pour toi j’accrocherai des cheveux de comète
Au front de soleils d’or venus du Sahara.

Sémélé, je boirai de ton regard d’ambroise
L’or pur pur qui y jaillit en sable lumineux.
Pépite ou étincelle, alcool ou miel d’armoise,
Sémélé, je boirai la source de tes yeux.

Sémélé je saurai, sur fond d’une aube tendre,
Mordorer l’horizon des reflets de ton oeil
Pour toi je serai Roi dans un habit de cendre
Pour toi j’abdiquerai la raison et l’orgeuil.

—Isabelle Balot (1996)

Ode to Sémélé
Sémélé, I will make a cushion for your head
With treasures  and delicate amber inlaid;
For you will I hang a comet’s mane
On the golden suns of the Sahara.

Sémélé, I will drink from your gaze of ambrosia
The pure gold that flows forth in luminous sand.
Nugget  or spark, liqueur or honey of armoise,
Sémélé, I will drink from the wellspring of your eyes.

Sémélé, I will know, against the backdrop of a tender dawn,
How to gild the horizon with reflections from your eyes
For you I will be King in a robe of ashes
For you I will give up reason and pride.

other comments about Three Excursions:

“…A pleasure finally to see music for school orchestra that presents students with the opportunity to explore non-Western musical traditions.”
—Susan Kervick, former President, Virginia chapter of the American Straing Teachers’ Association (VASTA); Conductor, Repertory Orchestra of The Youth Orchestras of Prince William

“Ellen Lindquist’s innovative Three Excursions gives a truly authentic musical sense of each of the cultures which it represents, drawing on aspects harmonic, melodic, rhythmic and cultural of traditional West African, Japanese and Hungarian music, respectively.  The extensive exercises which Lindquist has written to accompany Three Excursions form a valuable educational tool: they prepare the players technically for potentially unfamiliar musical territory, while giving cultural insights into each Excursion.  It was a wonderful experience for my students to work closely with Lindquist in preparation for the premiere of her work. Three Excursions is a real gem….  Wonderful use of instruments….  My students loved playing it!”
—Christopher Memoli, Conductor, Youth Symphony Orchestra of The Youth Orchestras of Prince William; Orchestra Conductor, Lee High School, Fairfax County, VA

“Fresh!”
—Ruth Donahue, Orchestra Director, Spring Hill Elementary School, McLean, VA

“GREAT teaching piece!”
—Veronica Jackson, Orchestra Director, Tucker High School and Freeman High School, Richmond, VA

Composed: 1996

Chants d’Amour et de Mort was commissioned by Isabelle Balot, and was first performed May 22, 1996 at the Bibliothèque Dag Hammarskjöld at the United Nations, New York City, by Patrick Lynch, tenor; Jenny Williams, violin; Yari Bond, cello; and Vladimir Valjarevic, piano. The performance was sponsored by the Association Culturelle Francophone de l’ONU (United Nations).

I. West African (Click here to see sample pages of I. West African)
Listen
II. East Asian (Click here to see sample pages of II. East Asian)
Listen
III. Bohemian (Click here to see sample pages of III. Bohemian)
Listen

Recording: The Brookfield East High School Chamber Orchestra, Lyda Osinga, conductor
(recorded live at Carnegie Hall, March 21, 2008)

Duration: ca. 16′ (I. 5′, II. 6’30″, III. 4’30″)
Composed: 1996

Three Excursions was commissioned by the Virginia unit of the American String Teachers Association in conjunction with the Youth Orchestras of Prince William, in Woodbridge, Virginia.The goal of the commission was to create a new upper-level youth orchestra work for string orchestra and percussion that would incorporate primarily non-Western musical traditions, giving students a chance to explore the music of cultures other than their own. To this end, I have created a set of exercises, both technical and “cultural,” which include additional background material. These are available upon request.

Three Excursions is gratefully dedicated to Susan Kervick, President of the Virginia Unit of the American String Teachers Association, and the musicians of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Youth Orchestras of Prince William, Christopher Memoli, conductor. It was first performed by the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Youth Orchestras of Prince William on November 22, 1996, as part of the 1996 Virginia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference, held at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia.

Note: While written for youth orchestra, Three Excursions is also appropriate for community and small professional orchestras, and has been particularly successful for children’s concerts.

Duration: ca. 6′30″
Composed: 1996
Click here to see sample pages of Lagoon.

Lagoon was originally the second movement of Three Excursions for string orchestra and percussion, which was jointly commissioned by the Virginia unit of the American String Teachers Association and the Youth Orchestras of Prince William in Woodbridge, Virginia. With many thanks, Lagoon is dedicated to my friend and colleague, composer James Grant. Lagoon was first performed in June 1998 by the The Missouri Symphony Society (Hugo Vianello, conductor), at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia, MO.

Instrumentation:
Violin I
Violin II
Viola
Violoncello
Contrabass
2 Percussion (optional)

Duration: Pastorale, 2’50″; Invention, 1′
Composed: 1995
Click here to see a sample page of Pastorale.
Click here to see a sample page of Invention.

Pastorale and Invention are two movements are from a piano suite that I wrote in 1991, while I was studying at Middlebury College. Pianist Jeffery Chappell performed them for the first time in Middlebury College’s Meade Chapel in April 1991.

Composed: 1994

Commissioned by The Middlebury College Theater Department; Directed by Andra Harbold and Amity Stauffer.

Premiered May 13, 14, and 15, 1994 at the Black Box Theater of the Middlebury College Center for the Arts.