Ravinia 2022, Issue 5

H.C. PORTER (BEGLARIAN); JACOB BLICKENSTAFF (CERRONE); KEVIN CONDON (TAO); JEFFREY HERMAN (REICH); JENNIFER MCCORD (RICHTER); DAVID WHITE (PUTS) . . I ; I ; I ; I ; I I ; I I JEFF BEAL (b.1963) Not a Day Goes By (2019) “Not a Day Goes By” has all the qualities I adore in Sondheim— its unforgettable melodic and lyrical hook is on one level startlingly simple, on another full of sly harmonic and melodic invention. Its emotive qualities of deep love, coupled with the ache of a breakup, coun- terbalance each other perfectly. My arrange- ment explores the bones of the original, high- lighting an almost Bach-like architecture in the source, so the listener can feel the “two hands” in play. Like so many of Sondheim’s songs, it’s a monologue that also feel like a conversation between two parties—in dialog with another soul. Jeff Beal’s Not a Day Goes By was commis- sioned by Ellen Marcus. MARC SCHUBRING (b.1968) Rhapsody in Red (2019) Coming last to the roster, I was happy to see that no other composer had chosen “Goodbye for Now” from Reds . My at- tempt was to write a prelude to Sondheim’s song, a rhapsody that paraphrases an artist’s life, finding one’s self, experiencing successes and failures, doubts and acknowledgment. It is no coincidence that my piece has 90 bars, not 91 ( :-( ) which in no way means I was trying to describe Sondheim’s life musically. As a composer of musical theater, I just needed a storyline. When you hear the last fermata, imagine it would be continued by the original song of the Maestro. Marc Schubring’s Rhapsody in Red was com- missioned by Rachel Colbert and Anthony de Mare. EVE BEGLARIAN (b.1958) Perpetual Happiness (2012) Perpetual Happiness is a reworking of the opening duet from Passion , sung by two lovers who will not end up staying to- gether. I am fascinat- ed at how Sondheim has written a perfectly realized romantic duet while simultaneously undercutting the permanence of that love, embodying both the devotion and the falsi- ty in the relationship. I used nothing but the notes of the original piano-vocal, arrayed as a virtuoso moto perpetuo for Tony as a way of exploring and illuminating how the musical materials of the original create their subtle commentary on the illusions of superficial romantic love. Eve Beglatian’s Perpetual Happiness was com- missioned by Jeannie Colbert. JON BATISTE (b.1986) The Gun Song / The Ballad of Booth (2019) The brilliance of both these compositions (from Assassins ), and one of the most pro- found characteristics of Sondheim’s music, is the perspective. “The Gun Song” explores the vast manpower, craftsmanship, and design ingenuity that go into creating a gun, before it even enters the hand of its user. He continues by examining the impact that a gun has on the psyche of the person who possesses one. In the musical Assassins, he examines how people with guns have altered the course of history. He accom- plishes this in large part by writing from the perspective of some of the most infamous assassins of our time, including John Wilkes Booth. In my arrangement, I transition lyr- ic-less from “The Gun Song” into “The Ballad of Booth” and evoke the essence of each com- position whilst using the words of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Malcolm X, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Presidents John F. Kennedy and Donald J. Trump to evoke our history of guns. Jon Batiste’s The Gun Song / The Ballad of Booth was commissioned by Tom Spain. CHRISTOPHER CERRONE (b.1984) Kiss Me (2019) For Kiss Me , I had in mind a statement of Sondheim’s from an interview he did with another famous Steve a few years back: “Steve Reich is the king of the vamp.” I loved the cheeky idea of Reich’s work being “vamps”—moments before or after something happens in a play. Vamps stretch time, and Steve does nothing better. So in turn my Kiss Me turns a min- ute-long song into four. It opens with a long vamp before compressing for the song’s cli- max, before luxuriating again in another long vamp—a simple piano ostinato augmented by fragmented layers of electronic sound. Christopher Cerrone’s Kiss Me was commis- sioned by Matthew Mirapaul. CONRAD TAO (b.1994) Move On (2019) “I chose and my world was shaken, so what? / The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not.” At the point “Move On” arrives in Sunday in the Park with George , time doesn’t stop so much as flow, pumping with blood, in mul- tiple directions. Dot, from the past, in her future, reflecting back on her life, in order to open up a way to simply keep moving in the present. “Move On” is a love letter to being alive and paying attention. This is my love let- ter to the song, its glittering details, its ecstasy, its bittersweet letting-go. Conrad Tao’s Move On was commissioned by The 92nd Street Y. STEVE REICH (b.1936) Finishing the Hat for two pianos (2010) Finishing the Hat— Two Pianos for Ste- phen Sondheim is a rather faithful rework- ing of one of Sond- heim’s favorite songs from Sunday in the Park with George , and incidentally the title of his 2010 book. Harmonically very close to the original, and melodically adding only occa- sional variations, my only real change is in the rhythm of constantly changing meters. This gives my two-piano version a rhythmic char- acter more in line with my own music and, hopefully, another perspective with which to appreciate Sondheim’s brilliant original. Steve Reich’s Finishing the Hat—Two Pianos was commissioned by Ben and Donna Rosen. MAX RICHTER (b.1966) Anyone Can Whistle (2019) Shakespeare asks, “O how shall summer’s honey breath hold out / Against the wrack- ful siege of batt’ring days…” Echoing the closing lines of the same sonnet, Sondheim, in this tiny jewel of a song, knows that, if there is a remedy for our distress, it lies in the magic of creativity and human connections. More than 50 years have passed since Fay first sang this song, so I’m pretty sure she will have figured out how to whistle by now. Therefore, in my arrangement the pianist whistles the tune if they choose, and all of you are invited to join in on the sec- ond verse. Max Richter’s Anyone Can Whistle was com- missioned by Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University. KEVIN PUTS (b.1972) Being Alive (2019) A composer I admire very much recently labeled me a “har- monist,” and I had to agree! So I guess it’s no surprise that it was Sondheim’s utterly unique harmonic vocabulary which drew me to his music as a young teen. As it gradually builds through a variety of pianistic textures, this take on “Being Alive” is a celebration of the song’s harmony, and my love for it. Kevin Puts’s Being Alive was commissioned by William E. Terry. The Liaisons Project features the following composers: Andy Akiho Timo Andres * Mason Bates Jon Batiste * Jeff Beal * Eve Beglarian Mark Bennett * Derek Bermel Jherek Bischoff William Bolcom Jason Robert Brown Kenji Bunch Christopher Cerrone * Mary Ellen Childs Michael Daugherty Anthony de Mare * Peter Golub Ricky Ian Gordon Annie Gosfield Ted Hearne * Jake Heggie Fred Hersch Stephen Hough * Ethan Iverson Gabriel Kahane Phil Kline Tania Leon Ricardo Lorenz Wynton Marsalis Meredith Monk * Paul Moravec Nico Muhly John Musto Thomas Newman Paola Prestini * Kevin Puts * David Rakowski Steve Reich Max Richter * Eric Rockwell Daniel Bernard Roumain Frederic Rzewski Marc Schubring * Rodney Sharman Duncan Sheik David Shire Bernadette Speach Conrad Tao * Mark-Anthony Turnage Nils Vigeland * indicates Liaisons 2020 RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 15 – AUGUST 28, 2022 42