Ravinia 2024 Issue 6

He founded a 300-voice male choir, the Gusan Choir, and continued to collect folksongs. Tragi- cally, his high-profile position made him an easy target during the Armenian Genocide. Along with hundreds of Armenian intellectuals and leaders living in Constantinople, Komitas was arrested on April 24, 1915, and deported to the city of Çankırı, northeast of Ancyra (Ankara) in the central portion of Anatolia. The murder of his fellow Armenians and other atrocities traumatized Komitas, shattering his soul and mind. Though he soon returned to Constanti- nople on the order of Talaat Pasha, the architect of the Armenian Genocide, Komitas never re- covered from his ordeal. He entered the Hôpital de la Paix in Constantinople—the first mental hospital in the Ottoman Empire—in the fall of 1916. Three years later, Komitas transferred to Ville Evrard in Paris for psychiatric treatment and eventually was committed to the Villejuif asylum in the Seine département , where he re- mained until his death. Many of Komitas’s ethnomusicological projects remained unfulfilled or destroyed during the ethnic purge. Fortunately, his Armenian folk- song transcriptions survived in a copy made by his friend Spiridon Melikyan, which the Arme- nian Socialist Soviet Republic Institute of Arts and Sciences edited and published in 1931. PETER BOYER (b. 1970) Mount Ararat Peter Boyer creates film, television, and con- cert works that are both multi-hued and elec- trifying. Boyer began composing as a teenager in Providence, RI, eventually honing his craft at Rhode Island College (Bachelor of Arts) and The Hartt School at the University of Hartford (Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts). In addition, he studied privately with Pulitzer Prize–winning composer John Corigliano and participated in the Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music with legendary film composer Elmer Bernstein. Over the past two decades, Boyer has served as composer-in-residence with the Battle Creek Symphony, Blair School of Music at Vander- bilt University, Fort Worth Symphony Orches- tra, and Pasadena Symphony. He has taught at Claremont Graduate University since 1996, and currently is the Helen M. Smith Chair and a ten- ured full professor. Though he has written for a variety of ensem- bles, Boyer has firmly established a reputation for epic orchestral compositions. Ellis Island: The Dream of America (2001–2) for orchestra, actors, and multimedia brings to light the sto- ries of seven immigrants, using their actual words preserved in the Ellis Island Oral History Project. The Boston Pops commissioned The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers (2010) for narrator and orchestra to celebrate the public service of John, Robert, and Edward (Ted) Kennedy and their “commitment to idealism.” To commemorate the centenary of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue —and in collaboration with pianist Jeffrey Biegel and his Rhapsody National Initiative—Boyer com- posed Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue (2022–23) for piano and orchestra, securing performances in all 50 states. In addition to his original com- positions, Boyer has made dozens of arrange- ments and orchestrations for other composers, including Michael Giacchino ( Jurassic World , Mission Impossible III , Star Trek ), James Horner ( The Amazing Spider-Man ), James Newton Howard ( The Hunger Games: Mockingjay— Part 2 ), Mark Isham ( Dolphin World ), Alan Menken ( Mirror, Mirror ), John Ottman ( Fan- tastic Four ), and Heitor Pereira ( Minions ). Boyer composed Mount Ararat for Ani and Marta Aznavoorian’s 2021 recording on Cedille Records, Gems from Armenia . “Having admired Ani and Marta’s musical artistry, I was eager to write a piece which they might perform and re- cord, but being clearly non-Armenian myself (an ‘odar,’ as I came to learn), I was far from an obvious choice as a composer. However, having previously composed works inspired by mythol- ogy, I conceived the idea of a piece based on an Armenian myth or legend, which might find a place alongside music by Armenian composers. Some research and discussion led to the idea of a piece inspired by Mount Ararat. “There is a legend which holds that Mount Ar- arat is the resting place of the mythical Noah’s Ark. Apart from that tradition, Mount Ararat holds great significance as a symbol of Arme- nia, to those of Armenian heritage. As Ani Az- navoorian has stated, ‘Countless wars have been fought and lives lost over the land where the mountain lies.’ Both that tragic history, and im- pressions of the breathtaking mountain itself— as I have viewed only in photographs—were in my mind while composing this music. “In order to bind this piece even more close- ly to the repertoire for this recording project, Peter Boyer (2015) I was asked to consider incorporating a quota- tion of the folk song ‘Krunk,’ or ‘The Crane,’ of Komitas, a figure of unparalleled importance in Armenian music. Though quoting folk songs is not at all my usual practice as a composer, and in this case the harmonic language is different than my own, I did include this quotation at the end of the piece—in a manner which I hope honors its original setting, and fits within the context of the work.” LEO SOWERBY (1895–1968) Sonata for Cello and Piano in G major, H. 160 Leo Sowerby transformed from a small, quiet, freckled-faced, red-haired boy fromGrand Rap- ids, MI, to a prodigious pianist, organist, and composer based in Chicago and eventually into the widely heralded “dean of American church musicians.” Sowerby’s stepmother encouraged piano lessons, which he began at the age of 7. Numerous boyhood performances made Leo a local celebrity in Grand Rapids. His composi- tional interests also emerged during these early years: Sowerby wrote his first known work (“a little waltz that Leo wrote while lying on the floor,” according to his stepsister Bertha) at the age of 8. The family decided that their wunder- kind required more advanced musical training and enrolled 14-year-old Leo in Chicago’s En- glewood High School. Calvin Lampert, the or- ganist at Third Church of Christ, Scientist (later, organist at First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Evanston, IL), became his primary mentor in pi- ano, organ, harmony, and composition. Sowerby left high school one year early and embarked on a performance career as a pianist in Chicago. He sought further instruction in harmony and composition from Arthur Olaf Andersen, a theory professor at the American Conservato- ry of Music. Andersen’s admiration for modern French composers, especially Vincent d’Indy, left a lasting impression. Sowerby’s fascination with the organ increased. Unable to afford lessons or practice time on a church organ, he traced the organ pedalboard on a piece of butcher paper and learned to pedal on his own. In 1913, Sow- erby became a short-term substitute organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park and Beth- any Union Church in Chicago—his first paid professional positions. That same year brought his first major compositional premiere, when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed the 18-year-old composer’s Violin Concerto in G minor, on November 18, 1913, with violinist Herman Felber. Sowerby gained two influential mentors over the next few years. In 1914, he approached Eric De- Lamarter, the recently appointed organist at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, for les- sons. The multitalented DeLamarter—who also played cello, wrote music criticism, and served as Frederick Stock’s assistant conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra—urged Sowerby RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 75 DANIKASINGFIELD