“From away” flutist Lisa Lutton and harpist Arielle perform their second and third performances respectively of Whistlesparks (2006), featuring advanced techniques — flute whistletones and harp harmonics. The “sparks” represent syncopated rhythms. Fluid Claude Debussy-piano-like harp lines and dirty, gritty flute sounds pleasantly contrast clean and raw aesthetics.
For Sonenberg, the internalization of Whistlesparks into these performers’ repertoires is flattering. “It’s wonderful to hear a performer play your piece several times and hear how it grows and develops. Too often new compositions are only played once and then set aside.”
Completing the program’s first half are selections from The Art of Eating — exploring historical connections between food and gender roles, with texts by women writers. USM professor and soprano Ellen Chickering performs them, bringing expertise as owner-operator of two restaurants. “Midwest Albas” is set to a nostalgic ode to Midwestern cafeterias by Collette Inez. “Les Amantes” (the Lovers) is a “passionate, sensual, racy kind of song” set to Carla Drysdale’s poem. “Scrambled Eggs,” with text by M.F.K. Fischer, is “a recipe for the worst possible scrambled eggs that you could make.”
As singer-songwriter, writing lyrics was the part Sonenberg liked least, but he enjoys setting music to others’ words. “It allows you to inhabit someone else’s writing in a deep, personal way and make it your own. It’s the ultimate act of interpretation — putting meaning into something that can be interpreted different ways. It’s a collaboration — sometimes with somebody who’s not even there.”
The Summer King, Sonenberg’s opera about Negro League baseball player Josh Gibson (legendarily the only one to ever hit a ball completely out of Yankee Stadium), originated as a collaboration with librettist Daniel Nester in 2003, as part of the American Opera Projects’ “Composer and the Voice” series. New Yorker Steven Osgood conducts this performance, sung by a group of New York vocalists.
The opening scene takes place in 1957, ten years after Gibson’s death, as the Dodgers move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Two barbers argue about who played better — Gibson or Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier with the Dodgers in 1947, months after Gibson’s death (suspected cause — brain tumor). An extended drum kit roll demonstrates Sonenberg’s subtle use of rock influences. Another scene takes place near the end of Gibson’s life, where, dejected and unhealthy, he witnesses trash-talking by a group of young baseball bucks, and shovels it right back at them. An aria, sung by Gibson’s mistress, Grace, also appears.
Sonenberg is USM’s team captain for contemporary music’s advancement. In 2005, he formed the Composers Ensemble (disclosure — I’m a “founding member”), where performers compose pieces for the ensemble, invoking among students an “eagerness and curiosity about new music and each other’s works.”
“Collaborative relationships between performers and composers make really successful careers,” says Sonenberg, which is why he invited David Rakowski to USM for a seminar on the subject, on March 17. Rakowski composes piano etudes drawing inspiration from popular culture, such as etudes on the Jerry Lee Lewis style of playing and Tower of Power chords. Sonenberg constantly uses his connections and relationships to benefit others.
He could be a composer in a league of his own, but he wouldn’t have it that way. His league is for everybody.
An Evening with Daniel Sonenberg| March 9 | Corthell Concert Hall, USM, Gorham | $15 | 207.780.5555
Email the author
Ben Meiklejohn: benm@ccgreens.org
