Lullaby. Edmonton Symphony Orchestra: "A Concert for New York" (2013). 2014 Western Canadian Music Awards nominee for Classical Recording of the Year.Purchase.
Charles Pilon (va), Jeremy Spurgeon (pno)
Edmonton, AB
November 2, 2015
II. Fantasy. Slow & free
Charles Pilon (va), Jeremy Spurgeon (pno)
Edmonton, AB
November 2, 2015
III. Presto vivo
Charles Pilon (va), Jeremy Spurgeon (pno)
Edmonton, AB
November 2, 2015
Program Notes
From the outset I planned to adhere to the standard three-movement Classical design, fast-slow-fast.
I also wanted to explore the viola’s more optimistic hues—warmth, lyricism, wit—and not
just its defining expressionistic and meditative qualities. Finally, I was keen on treating the piano
as an equal partner. As it happens, I started with the second movement, most of which was
written while lazily reclining on a rock in the sun at the edge of a lake in Frontenac Park, near
Kingston, Ontario. There is no program, but the circumstance of its creation may explain the
floating sense of metre; fluttering gestures, especially in the piano, accelerating and decelerating
out of time; passages of lyrical warmth; and the ecstatic climax.
The first movement, in B-flat minor, acknowledges tradition in several ways: by adopting sonata
form, in its reliance on a harmonic language that frequently bears the imprint of late nineteenth-century
romanticism, and through allusion. The latter involves a pair of "reminiscences",
utterances in the Classical style that appear in lieu of a development section. The retransition
recovers the driving piano rhythm of the stormy principle theme while foreshadowing the rising
melody with which the viola opens the second movement. The recapitulation ushers in a wind of
optimism, though one that proves fleeting.
The brief finale takes the dotted rhythm with which the slow movement concludes as fodder for a
kaleidoscopic romp whose relentless drive includes yet a third Classical reminiscence, this time
one that begins with an actual quotation of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. The movement ends
with a jubilant canon and a thunderous close in B-flat.
Knowing that the premiere would take place at Edmonton’s All Saints’ Cathedral encouraged me
to emphasize the distinct sonority of the cathedral’s nine-foot Steigerman concert grand from
1959, an instrument that sings with a wonderful richness and clarity, especially in its lower
register. Mr. Spurgeon quips that it also possesses the best sounding low D-flat (two octaves
below middle C) in the entire city. I did not let that fact escape me.
—R.R.
Performances
Nov 2, 2015—Charles Pilon & Jeremy Spurgeon, All Saints' Cathedral (Edmonton, AB)
Reviews
Score Perusal &
Parts Rental
For score perusal and parts rental information,
contact Robert Rival.
