CD123 Daron Hagen: Seduction and Prayer
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Daron Hagen: Seduction and Prayer Works for wind ensemble and voice Paul Kreider, baritone
CD123 $15.95
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CONTENTS |
| Bandanna Overture for band |
| Seduction Scene from Bandanna for baritone and wind ensemble |
| Prelude and Prayer from Bandanna concert aria for soprano and wind ensemble |
| Forward! for orchestral brass and percussion |
| The Heart of the Stranger ten songs for baritone and orchestral winds |
Listen :
No. 7. “O, when I was in love with you” and No. 8. “An Irony” from The Heart of a Stranger
NOTES
1. Bandanna Overture
The three operas I have written with my librettist-partner Paul Muldoon share a basic tension between characters who can accept that love is earned or is temporary, and those who demand that love be absolute. Naturally we see those who wish love to be definitive as adolescent or crazy, yet we are drawn to them because we empathize with their longing for purity. For better or worse, they have put themselves on the line for what they feel. The opera Bandanna's story was described by an Irish Times critic recently as "Touch of Evil meets Othello." There is an affectionate debt owed, at least on the part of the composer, to the screenplays of Francois Trauffaut and Orson Welles, but that influence is not central to the story the authors are telling. Our opera ends with the words, "To live is to sleep; to die to awaken" interwoven with words from the Catholic Requiem. Dedicated to the memories of Olivia Kuenne, a child cut down at the age of six by a freak accident, and my brother Britt Arvid Hagen, who died tragically of pneumonia at the age of forty, Bandanna was written in the firm belief that remembering the dead permits one to struggle against the transience of life. Furthermore, our story's contemporary usefulness may stem more perhaps from its meditation on Spengler-ian moral relativism than it's restating of the simple truth that people, no matter who they are, "tend to overstep the line."
Bandanna was commissioned in 1998 by the College Band Director's National Association and first performed by the University of Texas Austin Opera Theater, conducted by Michael Haithcock, in February of 1999.
Bandanna Overture begins with an introduction juxtaposing two ideas: a recurring rhytmic motive which in the opera Bandanna is associated with the beating of a young woman named Mona Morales' heart, and a melody to which the Latina women of a tiny Texas-Mexico border town cry, "Santa Maria, Salve!" This is followed by a seven bar refrain based on music from a fist fight in the opera's first scene during which the townspeople are singing things like "Beat him to death!" and "Slap on the cuffs!"
The introduction is followed by the first major section of the overture which weaves together two melodies - one to which the character Jake (Mona's husband Miguel is the police chief of the town; Jake is the lieutenant) sings, "Donde esta mi querida?" and the other to which the chorus sings, "To live is to sleep; to die is to awaken." The refrain is then expanded to include a tune to which the chorus (which is celebrating the Day of the dead) sings the words, "Day of the Dead: Dia de los Muertos."
The second section juxtaposes two more themes from the opera - one to which the character Kane (a morally-bankrupt labor organizer from Chicago who is in town to organize migrant workers) sings, "Off the hook, all of you working the onion fields!" and the other to which the chorus sings, "Dona nobis requiem."
The third section, marked "Like the Main Title of a 30's Melodrama," is the melody with which the opera begins, climaxes and ends. The first time it appears, a chorus of migrant workers sings the words "We strike out acrosss the river, with our lives between our teeth" as they plunge across the Rio Grande from Mexico in order to enter the United States illegally; the second time we hear the melody it underpins a scene in which Miguel "crosses over" from jealousy to madness; we hear the melody a final time at the opera's close, immediately after Mona has been strangled by her husband with her own bandanna, when her soul is passing from this world to the next across a metaphorical River Styx.
The overture ends as the opera opens and closes, with the recurring chorale melody whose words at the beginning of opera, "To live is to sleep; to die is to awaken" and "Dona nobis pacem" have returned at the opera's end with greater, sadder signficance.
It is important to note that Bandanna Overture was composed especially for the concert hall; it is not performed as part of the staged opera.
2. Seduction Scene from Bandanna
Act Two, Scene 2 of Bandanna was conceived of as both an operatic scene and as a free-standing essay in song form. (In fact, the entire "show" juxtaposes the various techniques of both the traditional American "musical" and of "opera," usually functioning in an area somewhere between the two.) Falling at the critical "nine-thirty spot" in the opera, it brings home the opera's core musical, textual, technical and philosophical themes. Kane repeats the phrase "the liminal zone" - a phrase readers of the poet Wallace Stevens know well, but that the sixteen year-old girl he's singing to couldn't possibly. He's singing as much to himself as to the girl; it's a credo piggy-backed on a seduction.
| Text: Autumn, 1968. It is after closing time in an empty cantina somewhere near the Texas-Mexcio border. KANE, a 37 year-old labor organizer, is alone with a YOUNG GIRL, of sixteen who waits tables there. |
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| KANE | Why do you shrink / from Señor Kane? Why should a link / deny its chain? |
| He traces his finger down between her breasts. | |
| Is that some sort of charm / between your breasts? | |
| She draws away. He smiles. | |
| Why don't your rest / your head in my arms, lily-white one, lest / you come to harm? |
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| To the audience. | |
| Why would a drain / shy away from its stink? | |
| He turns back to the YOUNG GIRL. | |
Across the bridge that hangs / between poverty and privilege Oh, Jovancita, Let me take / you down the back alley |
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| The girl is now attentive. | |
| Those three cottonwoods / mistook a sewer by a stream, Little buttress. Little beam. / I've only just understood I hit upon that scheme / simply because I could. |
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| The girl is rapt. He strokes her cheek, but sings to himself. | |
| Simply because I could. They all let me lead the way, lily-white one, oh so tightly furied, / across the bridge of bones into the liminal zone, / into the other world. |
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| KANE begins slowly tracing with his finger a line from the girl's fingertip, up her arm, to her lips, as she sings. | |
| Under the arch, along the stays, / across the span of a finger and thumb splayed like a fan, they let me lead the way / across the bridge of bones. |
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| Having reached her chin, KANE tilts her face upwards towards his as though he is going to kiss her. She is dazzled. | |
| Now I see you look to Uncle Kane as if you could bring balm to his bane. |
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| KANE continues holding her chin with one hand. With the other, he begins slowly tracing a path from the girl's chin downwards. The music becomes overpowering, crass. Silence. The YOUNG GIRL takes a sudden intake of breath as KANE reaches his destination. He snatches his hand away. | |
| I know your type. / I recognize that nod. How did you get that rash? |
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| KANE pushes her face away fromh is in disgust. | |
| Little guttersnipe. / You'll want me to pay in the hardest cash. |
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| KANE turns his back to her. | |
| Just like Maria and Ella May and Martha and Maude and Mona and Mariannna who would have let me lead the way, lily-white ones, all so tightly furied, / across the bridges of their bones into the liminal zone, / into the other world. |
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| He addresses her directly. | |
| I don't want to seem arch, but I never stay when things have gone according to plan and, for the simple reason that I can, I'll be making my merry way across the bridge of bones. |
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| KANE moves off, after giving the bewildered YOUNG GIRL a final look. | |
3. Prelude and Prayer from Bandanna
This scene immediately follows the seduction scene in Bandanna. However, the Prelude has been newly rendered (it is based loosely upon the scene preceding Mona's final aria, but it also develops another melody associated in the opera with the words Donde esta mi querida? -or Where has my beloved gone?) for this CD. Mona Morales is alone in a cheap motel room in a very bad part of town on the Texas-Mexico border. She is illuminated only by the cold-blue flickering light of a cheap black-and-white televison and the throbbing red of neon sign that reads "otel." Her husband Miguel, driven mad by groundless jealosuy, has been stalking her for weeks, with the clear intention of killing her. As the prelude begins, Mona has just received word that Miguel has found out where she is hiding and is on his way. She kneels bythe bed to say a final prayer.
To die is to awaken We come into bud We put out a shoot At the moment we die The dead are sent They twine all night long Through the deep dark |
They pleat and plait They lay down tenderly As a bodywould set by the river-edge I beat my breast Since the dead hold sway, if, as some suppose,
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4. Forward
This brief fanfare was commissioned bythe Madison Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the sesquicentennial of Wisconsic Statehood and first performed on 29 May 1998 at the South Hamilton Portico of the Wisconsin State Capitol by the Madison Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daron Hagen.
The Heart of the Stranger
During rehearsals fo the premiere production of Bandanna in Austin one night, Michael Haithcock, Paul Kreider and I discussed possible future projects. I had long wanted to add to the repertoire for voice and wind ensemble and suggested that I orchestrate a song cycle that I had only just completed (for voice and piano) for Paul. Michael suggested that the scoring be flexible, so that each section of the wind ensemble could be given the opportunity to accompany a singer, maximizing the amount that young players would learn from the expereince. The resulting set of songs, dedicated to the Baylor Wind Ensemble, was premiered by the group in the Fall of 1999 and is called The Heart of the Stranger.
5. Symmetry - Andrei Codrescu
Ensemble: Everyone
6. Evening Twilight - Charles Baudelaire
Woodwinds
7. It Weeps in My Heart - Paul Verlaine
Horns, Trumpets, & Percussion
8. To Nobodaddy - William Blake
Horns & Trumpets
9. Dawlish Fair - John Keats
Everyone
10. Under the Night Sky - Kim Roberts
Flutes & Clarinets
11. O, When I Was in Love With You - A.E. Houseman
Horns & Trumpets
12. An Irony - Gwen Hagen (1951)
Everyone
13. Speciman Case - Walt Whitman
Everyone
14. Song - Theodore Roethke
Double Reeds, Harp & Percussion
Daron Hagen's music has been described by Patrick Smith in the Times Literary Supplement as being of "considerable artistic achievement [and] of uncompromising seriousness." Hailed as "a composer born to write operas" by John Rhein in The Chicago Tribune, he has composed four major operas: Shining Brow, which received international popular and critical acclaim at its premiere in 1993, Vera of Las Vegas, and Bandanna, all with libretti bythe noted Irish poet, Paul Muldoon. Ned Rorem, in Opera News, concluded simply: "Daron is music."
He was born in the Midwest in 1961 and has lived in New York City since 1984. Trained at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School, his principal teachers were Ned Rorem and David Diamond. The New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Saint Louis Symphony all gave premieres of Hagen's works while he was still a student. For ten years he taught composition at Bard College, with stints at the City College of New York, New York University, and Princeton University, as well as two years on the faculty of the Curtis Institute, before leaving Academe to devote himself exclusively to composing.
Hagen has created a substantial body of works in virtually every genre, each with a charactertistic personal stamp that combines his ability as a composer to move audiences emotionally, his virtuosic orchestrations and his gift for writing beautiful melodies.
Michael Haithcock was appointed Director of Bands at Baylor University in 1982. As Director of Bands and Professor of Conducting, Mr. Haithcock conducts the internationally acclaimed Baylor Wind Ensemble and the faculty-student new music ensemble "Spectrum". In addition, he is responsible for the graduate program in Wind Conducting as well as the administration of Baylor's diverse collegiate band program. Professor Haithcock received the 1993-1994 Baylor University Outstanding Creative Artist Award in recognition of his artistic leadership and achievement.
Under Haithcock's guidance, the Baylor Wind Ensemble has received a wide array of critical support for its high artistic standards of performance and repertoire. These accolades have come through concerts at national and state conventions, performances in major concert venues, and recordings on the Albany, Crest, and Mark labels. Charles Ward of the Houston Chronicle wrote: "Haithcock consistently created a lyrical effect - a smooth line anbd a seamless flow of sound." A review of recent recordings in Winds magazine proclaimed:"Programming and execution of this caliber ought to be available worldwide ... musically impressive, giving a sense of elation." A review in the American Record Guide praised the "professional manner with which the group delivers ... they show great skill and understanding in presenting a program of complex new music."
Professor Haithcock is in constant demand as a guest conductor and a resource person for symposiums and workshops in a variety of instructional settings. Recent professional appearances include the Dallas Wind Symphony, the Houston Symphonic Band, and the Waco Symphony Orchestra. Residencies in the academic arena have included the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, East Carolina University, Florida State University, the Hartt College of Music, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the North Carolina School of the Arts, Northwestern University, the University of Texas, the University of North Texas, and the University of Wisconisn.
A graduate of East Carolina University, where he received the 1996 Outstanding Alumni Award from the School of Music, and Baylor University, Haithcock has done additional study at a variety of conducting workshops including the Herbert Blomstedt Orchestral Conducting Instiute. His articles on conducting and wind literature have been published by The Instrumentalist, The School Musician, and The Southwest Music Educator. Mr. Haithcock is active in a variety of professional organizations including the music honor society Pi Kappa Lambda, the American Bandmasters Association, the College Band Directors National Association (National Vice-President), the Conductors Guild, the Music Educators National Conference, the Texas Music Educators Association, and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles.
Paul Kreider, baritone, serves as Chair of the Department of Music at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His many performing credits include numerous roles with the Lyric Opera of Chicago for six seasons, and as principal baritone with the Landestheater Salzburg for three years. His most recent appearance was the world premiere of Ashoka's Dream at the Santa Fe Opera in 1997. Continuing his interest in new works, Kreider appeared in his second premiere in an opera of Daron Hagen in 1999. Mr. Kreider has performed with world renowned singers, conductors, and stage directors including Leonard Bernstein, Claudio Abbado, Jean Pierre Ponnelle, Placido Domingo, and Kiri Te Kanawa. International credtis include the Vienna State Opera, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Rome, National Opera of Slovenia, and Tokyo, Japan. Television appreances include PBS national broadcasts from the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Eugene Onegin, Madama Butterfly, and S. Barber's Anthony and Cleopatra. Kreider's credits also include a Deutsche Grammophone recording of La Boheme conducted by Bernstein. Regional credits include Minnesota Opera, Lake George Opera, Atlanta Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Marin Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and the Arizona Opera companies. Symphonic credits include the Great Woods Festival, under Michael Tilson Thomas, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Austria's Mozarteum Orchestra, and the Nevada Symphony.
Lynda Keith McKnight, soprano, is a nationally acclaimed teacher and singer. A winner of the Metroplitan Opera Auditions in 1988, she made her Met debut in 1991 and has sung professionally with opera companies throughout the United States and abroad, including appearances in New York, Washington, D.C., and Tel Aviv. In 1988 Ms. McKnight was mentioned in Opera News magazine's annual "Keep Your Eye On..." article, which showcases the brightest young talent in the field.
Also quite active in the concert field, Ms. McKnight has been heard in recital and with symphony orchestras from coast to coast. She is a winner of the WGN/Illinois Opera Guild National Competition and the National Federation of Music Clubs National Competition. She was named "Singer of the Year" in 1994 in the Texoma Regionals of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist (NATS) Competition and also at the Shreveport Opera Competition. She was awarded first place nationally in the 1996 NATS Auditions. Ms. McKnight continues to maintain an active performing career in opera and concert, with recent appearances in New York, Prague, Bratislava, Shreveport, and Austin, and on November 24, 1998 she made her New York recital debut in the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall.
Recognized as a teacher, adjudicator, and clinician, she is much in demand as a master class teacher in national and local conferences and educational insitutions. Her students frequently appear with opera companies across the United States and have been awarded prizes in a number of prestigious competitions. Ms. McKnight received a Bachelor of Music degree from Baylor University and a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Since joining the faculty of Baylor University in 1993 she has taught applied voice to lower division undergraduates, upper division undergraduates, and graduate students. She also teaches Professional Practices for Singers. She is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists, Mu Phi Epsilon International Professional Music Fraternity, Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society, and the American Association of University Women,and she serves as the Vice-President/President-Elect of the Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
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