JAVS Fall 2006

NEW Musrc REvrEws

This colurnn fea tures recently corn posed works for Vio la and Piano.

monic, first parri al). T he wo rk begins in a very simpl e "na'ive" manner with a viola so lo which sounds like an English lolk rune, however J don't believe iris a quore of any preexistent rune. T he pi ano then enters wirh irs rolling fi gures, maintai ning a stri ct 4/4 meter throughout. T he second movement is slow Theme and Variations (3 tota l) inspired by Beethoven. T he rhemc of this movement does sound "Beerhovencsquc" and is very pleasant. Each va riation uses a consistent rhythmi c pattern rhat increases in speed with each fol lowing va ri at ion (Var. 1 wirh eighrh nore rriplcts, Var. 2 with 16th notes, and

Afte r listening ro the D of the wo rld premi ere pe rfo rmance, I couldn't wa ir ro give this move ment a run-through lo r myself T he rhrcc movements make lor a somewhat eclecri c coupling fo r a 3-movement sonara, however a varied as these movements are, rhe compose r's personality is main tained throughout and as a whole makes for a very charming new wo rk. T his piece is available di rectly through the composer at: Roberrkerr@c fl .rr.com (407)625-2725 Soundfl le avail abl e at: www. myspace.com/lauraj brenncr

Biography (a sonata for vio la and piano) (2006)

l. hildhood : impl e IT. The Calling: Andante 111. Bridges Di ffi cul ty: Level 4 Durati on: 19 minu tes Dedi cation: Laura Brenner

By Robert Kerr (b. 1966)

T his refres hing work is written with tri er ronaliry throughout and is eas il y access ible fo r the eve ryday listener. The fl avor of this work reminded me of some popular American-sounding choral wo rks I lea rned in my hi gh schoo l years; as it turns out, Kerr has written several choral wo rks published by Alfred , and always wondered why we don't have more insrrumenra l wo rks, especially viola solo works rhar are writ ten with this musica l sryle, and it seems that Kerr has helped to fi ll this vo id in our repertOire. This wo rk is for the most part fairly sight- readable, and 1 would have given it a difficultly level 3 if it we ren't for the rare double stops and the passage whi ch goes up ro a hi gh-D (above rheA har has also written music for Uni ve rsa l Srudi os and Walr Disney World ompany. I

Va r. 3 with 32nd nores) . The last movement Bridges was my favo ri te move ment , and rhis movement has a popu lar, "Disney like" feel ro it. Ir . . . 1 wntten 111 a qui ck 3/4 meter and is wri rrcn with very jazzy sounding synco pated rhythms, omcnmcs accenting the "and" of bea t 2, giving rhe music a temporary fee l ing of being in two.

MUSIC AT RUTGERS Mason Gross School of the Arts STRING FACULTY Arnold Steinhardt, violin, chair of strings Matthew Reichert, violin Jonathan Spitz, cello David Grossman, bass Instruction on major instrument, and in musicianship, theory, and history. Performance in the Rutgers SymphonyOrchestra, Philharmonia, early music ensembles, chamber groups, and solo recitals. Degree programs:BM, MM, AD, DMA. Merit based scholarships. Lenuta Ci ulei, violin Paul Neubauer, viola Kathryn Lockwood, viola

Audition/application information at www.masongross.rutgers.edu I Mason Gross School of tho Arts

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