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Raised in the Lutheran faith, Richard Toensing converted to the Eastern Orthodox
Church four years ago, a decision that was "the end of a long journey"
begun when he was a teenager. Initially drawn to the Eastern arm of Christianity
through its holy art–the gold-leafed icons of Byzantium–Toensing soon
became fascinated with Orthodoxy’s rich traditions, centuries-long continuity
and, ultimately, its teachings. "One thing led to another and I began to
say ‘I understand this,’" he says of his faith’s natural
progression.
While not a "religious composer," Toensing says it is religious philosophy
and theology that "get the juices flowing." Both Eastern and Western
Christian religious traditions inform Toensing’s works, whether as model
for a piece’s form or as an inspirational starting point.
Toensing’s most ambitious work thus far is his Responsoria, three books
of chanted Roman Catholic prayer services for Holy Week. These responsorial
texts have been set by several composers, most notably the 16th-century madrigal
writer Gesualdo, who gave Toensing the inspiration to compose his own respon-soria.
(Written in 1995 before Toensing’s conversion to the Eastern Church, the
Responsoria is perhaps the composer’s own symbolic bridge over the thousand-year
schism between Latin and Byzantine churches.)
In all of Toensing’s works large and small, however, a listener is most
struck by a transparency of sound. By placing but a single idea in each register,
Toensing achieves that which many composers have attempted but few (Berio, Bach,
Machault come to mind) have accomplished: a sparkling clarity of parts.
Toensing begins his compositional process with a chord sequence or group of
harmonies, which he frequently uses in strict order "very much like the
old chaconne idea of the Baroque period." The result is both modern sounding
and melodic.
"My music has gotten more diatonic as I’ve gotten older," confesses
Toensing. (Compare the first flute concerto on this disc, written in 1983, and
the second one, written 11 years later.) "I’ve been through the atonal
revolution. When I started my graduate work in Michigan, everybody was doing
12-tone work and when I graduated, no one was." He cites the Polish texture
music composer Krzysztof Penderecki–an akin soul who also found inspiration
in religious rituals including those of Orthodox Christianity–as one who
helped turned the tide in the 1960s away from rigorous atonality and towards
blocks of sonorities. With the end of the ’60s came the end of, as Toensing
deftly puts it, "really complicated intellectual music that didn’t
seem to be speaking to very many people."
Toensing cites the influential modality of yet another spiritually inspired
composer, Arvo Pärt. "His work gave us permission to write simple
gestures–very clear, straightforward music," says Toensing. Such simplicity
is an important part of the aesthetic that informs much of Toensing’s music.
Slowly moving harmonic rhythm is another part. A piece of music that races through
in the harmonic fast lane poses an aural problem to a man like Toensing. "There’s
all these notes, but which one of them means something?" he asks.
A flutist throughout high school and college, Toensing readily admits to a predilection
for flute and has written two flute concerti, both heard here for the first
time on disc. "Of all the instruments there are, it’s the one I probably
know the best," he says. "And I’m sure that if somebody asked
me for another flute concerto, I would do it." (Toensing also professes
great affinity for percussion, perhaps stemming from a stint as bass drummer
in high school marching band as relief from the "unrewarding" task
of marching as a flute player.)
Both concertos here were recorded with the National Symphony of the Ukraine,
a happy occurrence for the recently converted Russian Orthodox composer. Theodore
Kuchar, Toensing’s colleague from the University of Colorado and a man
"passionately in love with 20th-century Russian music" also serves
as conductor of the Ukraine National Symphony. In light of Kuchar’s personal
mission to bring American music to the Ukraine and Toensing’s passion for
the Russian Church, as well as looking to record a concerto inspired by a Russian
martyr (and having a wife who speaks Russian), doing the recording in the Ukraine
seemed a fortuitous thing to do.
They recorded in Kiev at Kino Studio B, an old Russian B-movie orchestra recording
studio. Looking not unlike a dilapidated factory fronted by an overgrown lawn
on which was parked a bent-bladed decades-old Russian helicopter, the Studio
had no heat and, in spite of May’s spring thaw, held the chill from a Russian
winter. Electric heaters were brought in to warm up the hall and shut off during
the recording. The less-than-optimum circumstances, however, didn’t faze
the musicians, whose attitudes were "wonderful," says Toensing, and
both concerti were recorded in five days. (The Fantasia on this disc was recorded
in America at the University of Colorado in Boulder.)
While in the Ukraine, Toensing visited St. Sophia’s Cathedral, Kiev’s
oldest surviving church and "mother church" of Russian Orthodoxy.
His "long journey" complete, Richard Toensing now has only to capture
that journey in sound so that we can take it with him.
"I was concerned at the time to compose a work which would be beautiful,"
writes Toensing of his first flute concerto, "both in the popular sense
of the word (euphonious) and in the more classical sense of ‘well-proportioned.’
The solo part exploits the various characters of the flute family–pastoral,
lyrical, sprightly, intense, even (occasionally) shrill." Cast in seven
sections, the concerto’s first six sections proportionally decrease in
length while increasing in intensity. The final section is an apotheosis, which
returns to the calm of the opening, with special emphasis on the singing qualities
of the flute. Toensing’s intimate knowledge of the flute allows him to
create a part in which the flute, alto flute and piccolo become one instrument,
each providing a different register to make a fantastical four-and-a-half-octave
flute. The low register of this imaginary flute–the alto flute–opens
the work. It is peaceful and quiet. Percussion and celesta create glimmering
background sheen. The pastoral flute seems wary of the brass’ punctuation,
but remains calm as it continues legato phrases over increasingly staccato bursts
from the rest of the ensemble. Brass and percussion become more agitated. Excited
at last by the drums and crotales, the flute is forced into its higher register–the
piccolo–by the propulsive percussion and becomes shrill as it flits about
like a trapped bird.
After a period of calmness from the ensemble, the flute backs down (in agitation
as well as register) and returns to its singing legato phrases, more careful
this time, as wood percussion mumbles in the background. Tense and eerie sustained
notes rise from the ensemble, which the flute steps through carefully like a
lost animal in the forest, slowly rebuilding its confidence as the wind and
percussion die out after a few more quiet punctuations. The work ends as it
began, calmly, the flute in the end unruffled, the ensemble providing background
luster instead of intrusions.
The Concerto for Flutes and Wind Ensemble won the first prize in the Ohio State
University Flute Concerto Competition in 1983 and was premiered May 19, 1985
at the VII Foro Internacional de Musica Nueva in Mexico City. Ruben Islas was
the soloist and the Wind Ensemble of the ISSTE was conducted by Fernando Lozano.
The U.S. premiere took place November 21, 1991 in Boston with Leone Buyse as
soloist and the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble conducted by Frank Battisti
Fantasia (of Angels and Shepherds) for cello and percussion is inspired by
the Biblical tale of Christ’s birth and the miraculous appearance of angels
to "shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by
night." Musically, the Fantasia is based on three elements: a sequence
of chords first presented in arpeggiated fashion by bowed crotales and bowed
vibraphone, the old Znamenny chant "Slava v vishnikh Bogu (Glory be to
God)" played in various guises and disguises by the cello, and the chorale
"Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’ (All Glory Be to God on
High)" which appears at the end of the work.
Znamenny (from the Russian znamia, "sign") chant was the principal
chant of the Russian Orthodox Church from the 12th century, two centuries after
Christianity was imported from Byzantium by Vladimir I, until the late 17th
century, when newer forms of music became predominant. These five centuries
of Slavic chant have provided a huge body of inspiration for Russian composers
and those non-Russian composers who have had the fortune to hear them
Toensing heard znamenny for the first time on a recording of Rachmaninoff’s
Vespers, which a Russian émigré friend had brought back from a
return visit to her homeland.
"I was completely blown away," says the composer of hearing the Orthodox
chants and enjoined his friend to bring back the score on her next trip. "Slava,"
the chant Toensing uses to open his Fantasia (and one of the chants used by
Rachmaninoff in his Vespers) became the first of many chants transcribed by
Toensing, used for both inspiration and composition. Toensing frequently uses
cantus firmus, the employing of an existing melody for the basis of a new piece
of music–a technique used by Western composers like Bach and Palestrina.
He is, however, not strict with the tune’s incarnation. "It’s
a religiously-inspired work, obviously," he says of the Fantasia, "but
it’s not a religious work per se, so I treat it with a lot more freedom."
Cantus firmus is used a second time here with "Allein Gott in der Höh’
sei Ehr,’" a 16th-century hymn by Nikolaus Decius. "It has a
joyous anthem-like quality about it which seemed to me the proper way to end
the Fantasia," says Toensing of this "Lutheran Gloria."
Fantasia is divided into six sections. The first, marked Calmo, presents a highly
ornamented version of the Slava chant, sounding much like a gypsy lament, in
the cello ("I can find it but I’m not sure anybody else can,"
says Toensing), accompanied by long notes in bowed percussion. The second section,
Brilliante, unites the three players in a virtuostic, glittering rhythmic display.
It is followed by a singing Cantando e Maestoso, announced by the tubular bells,
in which a long-breathed tune in the cello is echoed by various percussion instruments.
A short presto duet between cello and marimba follows, the cello still gypsy
as both instruments create an effervescence. They join in unison and lead into
the explosive pyrotechnics of section five, where rapid figures in irregular
rhythm alternate with sonorous chords in the percussion.
After rising to a climax the music slows down briefly before ending with a coda
based on "Allein Gott," now transformed into an airy and elegant court
dance.
Fantasia was written for cellist Evelyn Elsing, who premiered the work
at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in
December, 1994.
Toensing’s second flute concerto is dedicated to the memory of two Christians
martyred by the Nazis during World War II: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Mother Maria
(Skobtsova).
Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer has become widely known in
the West since the War for his writings on theology and philosophy. Implicated
in the 1944 plot on the life of Hitler, Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Gestapo
and imprisoned at Tegel. Later moved to the Flossenbürg concentration camp,
he was shot on April 9, 1945.
Mother Maria Skobtsova, a Russian Orthodox nun, is less widely known. She worked
among the destitute and homeless in the Russian émigré community
in Paris, running a soup kitchen and a shelter. Because her shelter provided
sanctuary to Jews during the War, she was arrested by the Nazis and imprisoned.
She met her death on March 31, 1945, in the gas chambers at Ravensbrück,
where legend has it that she voluntarily took the place of a mother with a child.
"If you’re Lutheran, you can’t help but know about Bonheffer
and if you’re Orthodox, you can’t help but know about Mother Maria,"
says Toensing. As the unique man who has been both in his lifetime, Toensing
draws inspiration from them equally. A work of Bonhoeffer’s, Letter and
Papers from Prison (written during the period from his arrest in 1943 to his
execution in 1945), particularly struck Toensing with its undaunted courage
and unshakable faith, as did a biography on Mother Maria, who exhibited, says
the composer, "calm and cheerfulness till the very end."
When asked by Leone Buyse to compose a second flute concerto, Toensing had both
of these works on his mind and felt compelled to write about them. The timing
seemed right as well, since1995 marked the 50th anniversary of the end of World
War II.
With such profoundly tragic subject matter, it is a surprise to first hear the
Concerto. It is a shimmering, optimistic work. This seeming contradiction is
a purposeful move on Toensing’s part, who fashioned the dramatic curve
of his concerto as "light to dark to light again."
"Light" opens the work: a sparkling flute and shimmering bells. This
first movement (Allegro con spirito) speaks of hope, beauty, a world where something
wonderful lies just ahead. Airy and clear, the flute continues its "cheerfulness"
even as brass and winds strike unsettling chords and low rumbles of brass and
drum are heard in the distance, notes of imminent doom out of place with the
breathy innocence of the flute. The rumble grows, becomes chordal; the flute
continues unshaken, but the movement ends perilously with a harmonic cliffhanger.
A solitary alto flute playing a somber melody begins the "dark" center
movement (Lento; Mesto) which embodies Mother Maria. The orchestra pulses quietly
underneath the haunting flute until the strings come forward with a modal melody
lined with a stronger pulse. An increasingly bolder flute melody continues to
juxtapose with orchestral modality, at times producing an eerie iridescence,
at times sounding darkly triumphant. Two abrupt field drum strikes (gunshots?)
silence it all. A quiet coda of winds and flute with strings slowly marking
time end the piece, a solemn acceptance of life’s tragedy.
A militaristic motif of fifths announces the ending movement (Alla Marcia),
titled "Lux luceat in tenebris (The light shines in the darkness)"
after a passage in the Gospel of John ("The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it"). Spiky and "nasty" (as
Toensing calls it), the march evokes ancient brutalities that show no signs
of abating in the modern world. The flute, however, cannot be silenced by the
orchestra’s march. Tossing off arpeggios and spinning ornaments fashioned
out of air, the flute transforms into a butterfly that flutters up and over
the barbed wire. It is a triumphant ending, with flute victorious and life continuing
in spite of atrocities encountered. Concerto for Flutes and Orchestra was written
at the request of Leone Buyse, distinguished faculty flutist at Rice University.
–Notes by Mic Holwin with Richard Toensing
Biographies:
Richard Toensing (b. 1940) has had his works performed in major concert venues
throughout the United States, including premieres at Alice Tully Hall and the
John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. His music has also received performances
at festivals in the U.S. and abroad, including the Aspen Music Festival, the
International Contemporary Organ Music Festival, the International Wind Ensemble
Conference and the VII Foro Internacional de Musica Nueva.
The composer’s compositions span a variety of styles, from the gestural,
free atonal work of the ’60s and ’70s to a renewed interest in various
forms of diatonic music in more recent years. He has written numerous works
for chorus, chamber music in various genres and works for large ensembles. His
music has been influenced by Russian Orthodox chant, Lutheran chorales, and
by the works of other composers such as Schütz, Gesualdo, Varese, Finney
and Pärt.
Of the works by Toensing that are currently recorded, the most recent release
is the monumental choral work Responsoria, which has been received warmly by
the press. Lasting nearly two hours, the work was recorded in 1998 by the Choir
of the Church of St. Luke in the Fields (New York) and is believed to be one
of the few full sets of Holy Day responsoria composed since those by Don Carlo
Gesualdo were created almost four centuries ago. It is also the first complete
cycle of its kind composed in the 20th century, as well as the first of its
genre written by an American composer.
Toensing has received numerous awards for composition, including grants from
the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet The Composer, the Jerome Foundation,
the Neodata Foundation and the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. He has been
a MacDowell Colony Fellow three times and received a Guggenheim Fellowship for
Composition in 1987.
He earned a bachelor of music degree with honors from St. Olaf College in Northfield,
Minnesota, in 1962 and master (1963) and doctor (1967) of music degrees from
the University of Michigan, where he studied with Ross Lee Finney and Leslie
Bassett. Toensing returned to the University of Michigan for post-doctoral work
in electronic music in the summer of 1968.
Since 1973, Toensing has been a member of the composition faculty at the University
of Colorado at Boulder and has been department chair since 1984. In addition
to teaching, he has directed the University’s Electronic Music Studio,
conducted the New Music Ensemble and organized the biennial University of Colorado
Festival of New Music.
The only American prize winner in the 1969 Geneva International Flute Competition,
Leone Buyse has presented recitals and master classes across the United States
and in Canada, Japan and New Zealand. Buyse is currently professor of flute
and chamber music at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston.
Previously professor of flute at the University of Michigan, she relinquished
her principal positions with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops in 1993 to
pursue a more active solo and teaching career after 22 years as an orchestral
musician. A former member of the San Francisco Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic
Orchestra, she has appeared as soloist on numerous occasions with those orchestras
and also with the Boston Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Utah Symphony and l’Orchestre
de la Suisse Romande. She has performed with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players
throughout Europe and Japan; with the Tokyo, Juilliard and Muir String Quartets;
and at chamber music festivals across the globe. She has recorded regularly
as a soloist of American music for the flute and is widely recognized as one
of the country’s foremost flute pedagogues, having taught at the New England
Conservatory, Boston University, the Tanglewood Music Center and as a visiting
professor at the Eastman School of Music.
Founded in 1937 as the Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony
of Ukraine has become today the most frequently recorded orchestra of the former
Soviet Union. Under the leadership of conductor Theodore Kuchar, the orchestra
has recorded nearly 50 compact discs, including the complete symphonies of Prokofiev,
Kalinnikov, Lyatoshynsky and Martinu, as well as symphonies and major works
of Antheil, Bernstein, Gould, Harris and Piston. Their recording of the complete
works for violin and orchestra of Walter Piston was selected by Gramophone as
an "Editor’s Choice" and received mention as a "Record of
the Year" in 1999. During the concert seasons of the past five years, the
NSO has undertaken the performance of the complete symphonies of Anton Bruckner
and Franz Schubert.
Ukrainian conductor Theodore Kuchar was appointed artistic director and principal
conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in 1994 and was named
conductor laureate for life in 2000. Kuchar began his musical career as a violinist
and later a violist, having graduated from The Cleveland Institute of Music
and serving as the principal violist of orchestras such as the Cleveland and
Helsinki. He received a Paul Fromm Fellowship in 1980, which allowed him to
undertake advanced study at Tanglewood under the tutelage of Leonard Bernstein,
Colin Davis, Seiji Ozawa and Andre Previn. After his Australian debut in 1987,
Kuchar was appointed music director of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra
in Brisbane. Since 1990 he has served as artistic director of the Australian
Festival of Chamber Music. In 1996 he commenced duties as music director and
principal conductor of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra. A strong advocate
for new composers, Kuchar has recently conducted the works, in the presence
of the composers, of Schnittke, Crumb, Gubaidulina and Foss. Soloists whom Kuchar
has collaborated with in the 2000 season have included Itzhak Perlman, Jessye
Norman, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, James Galway and Sarah Chang.
Cellist Carol Ou has been a top prize winner in the National Federation of Music
Clubs Young Artist Competition and the Irving M. Klein International String
Competition. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Ou came to the United States when she was
ten and began studying the cello with Gretchen Geber in Los Angeles. Since then,
she has also studied with Ronald Leonard, Janos Starker and Aldo Parisot. A
graduate of Yale University, Ou received a bachelor of arts degree from Yale
College and a master’s and doctorate degrees from the Yale School of Music.
She is currently on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music in
Boston. A versatile artist, Ou has performed across the United States, Canada,
Singapore and Taiwan. She has been soloist with the Contemporary Ensemble of
Taipei, the Taipei District Symphony Orchestra and the Jupiter Symphony of New
York, among others.
An avid chamber musician, Ou frequently collaborates with celebrated artists
such as Midori, Felix Galimir, Timothy Eddy, András Schiff and Richard
Goode. In recent years, Ou has appeared at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival,
La Jolla Chamber Music Festival and the Marlboro Music Festival.
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