Isaac Roth Blumfield, composition

Nhyta Taguchi, composition

featuring:
Carlos Aguilar, flute Douglas Amos, trumpet Felicia Chen, soprano Dominick Douglas, viola
Gergana Haralampieva, violin Annette Jakovi, cello Geneva Lewis, violin Jacob Mason, piano Francesca McNeeley, cello
Leonid Plashinov-Johnson, viola Richard Rivale, piano Martine Thomas, viola

Friday, February 3rd, 2017, 8:30 PM

Pierce Hall
New England Conservatory
Boston, Massachusetts
 Composition Recital
Friday
February 3, 2017, 8:30 pm Isaac Roth Blumfield, student of John Heiss
Pierce Hall
New England Conservatory
Boston, Massachusetts Nhyta Taguchi, student of John Heiss and John
Mallia

sees something, doesnt hear (2017) PREMIERE Nhyta Taguchi

for solo voice (b. 1997)

Felicia Chen, soprano

Imaginary Triptych (2016) Isaac Roth Blumfield

for bass flute, viola, and cello (b. 1997)

Carlos Aguilar, bass flute Dominick Douglas, viola Annette Jakovi, cello

in from where? (2016) Nhyta Taguchi

for trumpet and piano

Douglas Amos, trumpet Richard Rivale, piano

Sonar (2015, rev. 2016) PREMIERE Isaac Roth Blumfield

for solo piano

Richard Rivale, piano

- Intermission -
fallINglass (2016) Nhyta Taguchi
two short works for soprano, viola, and electronics

I. Oblique
II. Translucent

Felicia Chen, soprano Leonid Plashinov-Johnson, viola Nhyta Taguchi, electronics

OoOoo (2016) Nhyta Taguchi

for solo piano

I.
II.
III.

Jacob Mason, piano

Poems and Fragments (2016) PREMIERE Isaac Roth Blumfield

for string quartet

Geneva Lewis, violin Gergana Haralampieva, violin Martine Thomas, viola Francesca McNeeley, cello

Please silence all cell phones and refrain from the use of unauthorized recording equipment
and flash photography during the performance.
Thank you.
PROGRAM NOTES:

sees, something, doesnt hear

for solo voice

While overhearing a the phrase he sees something, she doesnt hear in passing, I find the phrase has elements of humor and
quirkiness. Everything in this piece is constantly changing based on the reactions previous.

Imaginary Triptych
for bass flute, viola, and cello

When writing "Imaginary Triptych," I thought extensively about the differences between the media of music and visual art. An
notable distinction that I noticed between the two art forms is the ways in which the medium distorts, either positively or
negatively, the creator's initial idea.
In a typical composition, I have perfect control over the chronology of the audience's experience. My music is played
at a precise tempo and the order in which various ideas are heard is completely fixed and within my control. However, what
the audience hears is not completely in my control; the performers apply their own interpretation and musicality, making the
content of every performance somewhat variable. Conversely, in typical visual art, the artist creates the work precisely it is
not subject to re-painting by another artist in the way that music is re-interpreted by performers. However, the artist has no
control over the chronology of the viewer's experience. The audience is free to view the painting for as long as they would like
and in any manner that they choose. A detailed mural may only be seen for a few seconds or it may be studied for hours the
artist has no control. The composer's control is in the domain of time; the artist's is in the domain of space.
With this distinction in mind, I set out to compose a work that would address these issues by undermining the typical
assumptions in composition that lead to this distribution of control. The form of "Imaginary Triptych" is circular; it could
theoretically be played on an unending loop (although it will be performed only once tonight). In this way, the duration of the
piece becomes somewhat arbitrary. In a circular form, how can one definitively identify the beginning or end? Additionally,
many parameters over which a composer does not traditionally exercise such specific control, such as pitch, rhythm, and color
are more precisely notated in this work than they would be in others. Microtones, coloristic playing techniques, and complex
rhythms are used, allowing these parameters to be under the composer's jurisdiction to a greater extent. The form of the piece
and specificity of notation shift the balance of control, making this piece function less like traditional music and more like a
work of visual art: static, yet vibrant and detailed.
"Imaginary Triptych" was first premiered on April 14, 2016, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA.

in from where?
for trumpet and piano

Initially, Doug approached to me about the idea of writing a work for trumpet and piano. He brought up the idea of creating
a choreographed element to the piece where both instruments would act as separate entities before coming together. Using
that idea, utilizing the space as an instrument itself can help or hinder the sound or timbre projected.
Sonar
for solo piano

While writing Sonar, an image kept returning to me of bats communicating with one other by means of echolocation,
submerged in darkness. While this work is not strictly programmatic, this image was a strong source of inspiration for me. I
attempted to capture this images sonic and visual aspects: in it, there are high, irregular sounds sent off into the darkness,
hoping to be found, as well as the fluttering of wings and flurries of ascent.
Echolocation is also known as bio sonar. Sonar, more generally is a method for detecting and locating objects
through the use of sound waves. This word was initially conceived as an acronym, standing for SOund Navigation And
Ranging. Any linguistic roots in acronyms are usually coincidental, due to the arbitrary circumstances of their formation. Yet
within the word Sonar, we find a connection to the Latin word sonor, meaning sound.
This is unlikely coincidental; more likely, the acronym was intentionally designed to have this resonance, although the
components that went into it might have just as likely produced something with no etymological roots whatsoever. Likewise,
the gestures in this piece in which harmony at first appears to be obscured are actually deeply connected to one another,
creating unexpected resonances and resolutions, thereby connecting seemingly disparate sonorities.

fallINglass
two short works for soprano, viola, and electronics

I. Oblique
II. Translucent

The various components of glass can allow us to examine closer, while blinding us with its reflections. I used some text from
T.S. Elliots The Livelong of J Alfred Prufrock, to create a surrealist atmosphere thats dissolved in its surroundings.

OoOoo
for solo piano

I.
II.
III.

One strike gongs, the second rings, while the third is something entirely on its own.

Poems and Fragments

for string quartet

Poems and Fragments was written during the summer of 2016 while I was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. It is filled with
little poems, lyrical ideas that spin themselves out and reappear in new forms, and fragments, small textural and gestural
motives that are contracted, expanded, and deconstructed. Through these, a tension emerges, an iterative process in which the
material that is the most vulnerable, the most sincere, is consumed by its own fragments, only to be inverted and reshaped by
the same process that destroyed it.
 Thank you to everyone involved in this recital!

Thank you so much to our families for traveling for this recital, to our friends for taking the time to come hear our work, to
the wonderful performers for dedicating lots of time and hard work to our music, and to our teachers for their constant
dedication, support, and warmth.