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music for vibraphone, marimba & piano

Armand qualliotine

music for vibraphone, marimba & piano

Armand qualliotine

1 condemned to the Valley of stones(2003)[5:52] SarahBob,piano

eight sound plates(2000) 2 i[1:27] 3 ii[:56] 4 iii[1:26] 5 iV[1:17] 6 V[1:37] 7 Vi[2:29] 8 Vii[3:17] 9 Viii[1:12] JamesRussellSmith, vibraphone

10 d Flat hypnosis(2003)[8:56] JohnMcDonald,piano

green Fairy Visions(2006)11 Vision i [3:30]12 Vision ii[1:18]13 Vision iii[4:40] AaronTrant,vibraphone14 The piano kissed by tender hands(2003)[8:40] ShokoYamamiya,piano

caprice and Variations(2007-08)15 caprice[2:07]16 Variations[3:43] Hsin-yiChen,marimba

17 Quasi gellemi (2006-07)[12:55] AaronTrant,vibraphone JohnMcDonald,piano

Four lullabies(2003-08)18 lullaby for lillie[2:54]19 lullaby for amile[3:07]20 lullaby for henry[2:15] Pei-chunLin,piano21 lullaby on the g string[2:13] Pei-chunLin,piano& ArmandQualliotine,piano

TotalTime=75:51

The composerArmandQualliotinewasborninBrooklynNewYorkin1954.Attheageofseven

hestartedhisinstructionsinJazzGuitarandElectricBassaswellMusicTheory.

In1967hejoinedtheMusicians’Union802inNewYorkandbeganhisstudiesof

ClassicalGuitarandMusicTheorywiththechairoftheguitardepartmentatHofstra

University.Afterearningdegreesincompositionandtheory(BM,MA,MFAandPh.D.)

fromtheHartCollegeofMusic,theStateUniversityofNewYorkatStonyBrook

andBrandeisUniversity,hispost-doctoralactivitiesincludedstudyingwithPierre

BoulezandMiltonBabbitt.Hehastaughtguitar,theory,historyandcomposition

atSUNYStonyBrook,NortheasternUniversity,BrandeisUniversity,TheCollegeof

theHolyCross,WellesleyCollegeandtheBerkleeCollegeofMusicwhereheisnow

aProfessorofComposition.Awardsinhisfieldhaveincludedresidenciesatthe

MacDowellColony,TheComposersConferenceandtheTanglewoodMusicCenter

wherehewastheLeonardBernsteinfellowincompositionandalsoreceivedthe

C.D.JacksonAwardforoutstandingachievementasacomposer,firstprizeinthe

Boston’sISCMcompositioncompetition,commissionsfromtheHarvard’sFromm

MusicFoundation,TheStonyBrookContemporaryChamberPlayers,thePaulJacobs

CommissionfororchestralcompositionfromtheTanglewoodFestivalOrchestra,

anda1988GuggenheimFellowship.HismusichasbeenplayedintheAmericas,

EuropeandHongKong.In2007hewascomposer-in-residenceatConcordAcademy.

Iwasstimulatedbyitslimitedchromaticrange,itscolorandtheidiosyncraticways

theinstrumentcanbeplayed.Thesevariousrestrictionscanbringthecreativemind

intoacloserandmoredeliberatefocus.InthispiecetherepeatedD-flatpitchwas

thecatalystforthework.

WhileinPragueforarecordingsessionduringaparticularlycoldweekinthewinter

of2006,Iwarmedmyselfwithlargequantitiesofthefortifiedliquor,theirnational

brandySlivovitz,aswellasAbsinthe.SoonafterreturningtoBoston,Icomposedgreen Fairy Visions(2006)forvibraphonewhereinIwasabletocapturethefeelings,

sensations,andmemoriesoftherecentabsintheinspireddays:longdurationsof

intenseconcentration,inebriation,andalteredconsciousstate.Morethan100years

ago,poets,artists,andmusicians,incertaincitiesinEurope,includingPrague,were

visitedbythenumbing,euphoriceffectsbroughtuponbythisfavoritelibation.Some

stillbelievethatthehallucinagenicallylaceddrinkisadecadentindulgence,recalling

thepaganworshipoftheprogenyofBacchus.Sobeit.

ThetitlegiventoThe piano kissed by tender hands(2003)comesfromapoemby

PaulVerlaine.IcomposeditintributetomyclosefriendShokoYamamiyabecauseof

herperceptivenatureandherabilitytounderstandandinterpretmymusicmoredeeply

andaccuratelythanmanyothermusicians.ThepiecewascomposedquicklyinMarch.

Thismusicexplores,inpart,theextremeupperregisteroftheinstrumentandthesoftest

ofdynamics;regionsonlypossiblyrealizedbythemostsensitiveofpianists.

The music condemned to the Valley of stones(2003)wasinspiredbywhatIfeelisthepivotal

momentinthefilmKama SutrabyMiraNairwhereinthecourtsculptor,JaiKumar,

iscaughtmakinglovetoPrinceRajSingh’sfavoritecourtesan,Maya.Forthisoutra-

geousindiscretion,heissentencedtodeath.Butbeforetheedictiscarriedout

(byanelephantrearingup,stompingdown,andcrushingJaiKumar’sskull),the

sculpturespendshislastdayschainedtothecliffofabarrencanyonwherehe

repeatedlycarveshislover’slikenessintothesun-bakedrock.

green Fairy Visionsandeight sound plates(2000)arebothmulti-movementworks

forvibraphone.Creatingavarietyofsonictextureswithinthefour-octaverangeofthe

instrumentwasthetaskIsetformyself.Thesimilaritybetweenthesetwodifferent

piecesbasicallyisduetothepreoccupationwithrotatednotescollectionsand

continuallychangingrhythmicpatterns,aswellasthewaytheinstrumentisstruck

bythemalletsindeliberatelyobsessiveoutbursts,extremelydramaticgesturesand

themostsensitivetouchingofthemallets

d Flat hypnosis(2003)isathrough-composedfantasy/etude.Iusedtheregisterof

the“classical”fortepianothatClementi,Haydn,Mozart,andtheyoungBeethoven

hadused(fiveoctaves).Websofchromaticallysaturatedharmonyandstreaksof

counterpointallrevolvearoundthepitchD-Flat(d-flat1).ParaphrasingStravinsky,

condemned to the Valley of stones, eight sound plates and The piano kissed by tender handswererecordedattheSonicTemple,Roslindale,Massachusetts;d Flat hypnosis, green Fairy Visions, caprice and Variations, Quasi gellemiandFour lullabieswererecordedatDistlerHall,TuftsUniversity.

RecordingEngineers,JoelGordon&KyleWesloh

EditiedbyJoelGordon,KyleWesloh,DavidCorcoran&ArmandQualliotine.

CoverpaintingBrainBeach(acrylicsandmixedmedia)1994byA.Q.

MusicpublishedbySnowQuailMusicCo.

Coverpainting:brain beachPortraitofArmandQualliotinebyDorothyImagire

caprice and Variations for Marimba(2007-’08)capriceisaquicklittlepieceof42bars(21x2)emphasizingthepitchesCandE.TheVariationsisaclearlystructuredcompositionandhasarelativelysimplepitchorganization.Theintroductionisfivebarslongfollowedbytendivisionswhichhaveeightbarseach,andendingwithafourbarcoda.Inall,the89barsareproportionsfittingintotheFibonacciadditiveseries(asisthecaprice).Eachdivisionendswitha“cadential”trichord(G-B-E)—whiletheremainingninepitches,whichcreatethetotalchromaticaggregate,arecontinuallypermutatedwiththematicelementsflowingfromonetimedividedvariationtothenext.

“AlmostTwins”—Quasi gellemi(2006-’07)isaself-referentialsoundcomposition.Itis,forinstance,similartoakindofinterpersonalrelationshipbetweentwopeoplewithlikeminds,buthere,itisaunitybetweenthevibraphone’sandthepiano’stonecolorsandsonicfrequencies(overtones),whicharesocloselyrelatedbetweenthesetwoinstruments,producingsoundswhicharenotquitethesame,butneverthelessarefilialinatightbondbecauseofthewaytheinstrumentsareconstructed.Therefore,becauseofthesesimilarity,newkindsofsonicmanifestations,co-depen-denciesofasort,occurredtome.InthispieceIwasabletoexplorefreshabstractsoundformationssuchascloseintervalcollections(clusters)aswellasdifferentapproachestoothercompositionalparametersthatIhadneverperusedbefore.

Four lullabies(2003-’08)forpianowerewrittenforfamilyandfriendswhohadrecentlyaddedayoungmembertotheirhousehold.

—ArmandQualliotineSummer2008