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The Vocal Music Of Alan Beeler
Alan Beeler composer
Aliana de la Guardia soprano; Karolina Rojahn piano
Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra | Jiří Petrdlík, Petr Vronský conductor
Orchestra and Choir of the Târgu Mureş State Philharmonic | Ovidiu Marinescu conductor
Brian Church baritone; Eric Christopher Perry tenor
The music of Alan Beeler (1939-2016) is frequently a compact, tightly focused one, presenting sharp contrasts of color and mood in the context of clear, direct compositional structures. Although noticeably influenced by artistic movements in Europe and America during the first half of the 20th century, Beeler’s musical voice is an identifiable one – crisp, bold, and pointedly quirky.
This voice is on full display in the THE VOCAL MUSIC OF ALAN BEELER, a new collection of recent works for ensembles both small and large.
THE SUTTON SONGS sets the poetry by Dorothy Sutton, Beeler’s former colleague at Eastern Kentucky University, performed by pianist Karolina Rojahn and soprano Aliana de la Guardia. Angular melodies and tart harmonies are effectively juxtaposed against gentle, lilting duets in this 7-movement work.
SYMPHONY NO. 3 is an orchestral and choral exploration of well-known Shaker hymns as experienced through Beeler’s own musical prism. Conducted by Ovidiu Marinescu and performed by the Filarmonica de Stat Târgu Mureş, the piece is an earnest, plaintive treatment of these cultural touchstones, given a reading filled with both force and grace by the orchestra and choir.
Two works which revel in the eccentric close out the album. The impish humor of Lewis Carroll has always been a favorite of Beeler’s, and the composer’s setting of the beloved JABBERWOCKY proves the match is a good one; a much more obscure piece of literature, INHUMAN HENRY by A.E. Houseman, forms the basis for the last work on the album. Scored for tenor and orchestra, the piece is a fable about the importance of accepting the unusual and unexpected – something to which Alan Beeler, composer and teacher, can most certainly attest.
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Artist Information
Alan Beeler
Charles Alan Beeler (February 10, 1939 - April 28, 2016) Beeler completed his graduate study in theory and composition at Washington University, where he received an M.A. and Ph.D. He studied composition with Robert Wykes, Robert Baker, and Harold Blumenfeld, theory with Leigh Gerdine, and musicology with Lincoln Bunce Spiess and Paul Amadeus Pisk.
Karolina Rojahn
Karolina Rojahn is a Los Angeles based pianist who has dedicated the last decade of her career to premiering and recording contemporary music repertoire. She has premiered over a hundred new works and collaborated with various classical music labels, most notably Naxos, having released over 43 recordings of chamber and solo piano music, including 5 piano concertos written specifically for her.
Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra
The Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the foremost and oldest symphony orchestras in the Czech Republic. It is based in the historical capital of Moravia, the city of Olomouc, and has been a leader of music activities in the region for the past 70 years. Its artistic development was directly influenced by distinguished figures from the Czech and international music scene.
Ovidiu Marinescu
Ovidiu Marinescu is internationally recognized as a cellist, composer, conductor, and educator. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Hall (New York), the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Holywell Room in Oxford, Oriental Art Center in Shanghai, and has appeared as soloist with the London Symphony, New York Chamber Symphony, the National Radio Orchestra of Romania, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Helena, Great Falls, Portsmouth, and Newark Symphonies, Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Philharmonic, Limeira Symphony in Brazil, Orquesta de Extremadura in Spain, and most of the professional orchestras in his native Romania. The album LONDON CELLO CONNECTION features Marinescu and London Symphony Orchestra in eight newly commissioned cello concertos by North American composers.
Jiří Petrdlík
Jiří Petrdlík (b. 1977) is appreciated as one of the most respectable conductors of his generation. He studied piano, trombone, and conducting — 1995–2000 at Prague Conservatory, and 2000–2005 at Academy of Performing Arts Prague — with Hynek Farkač, Miroslav Košler, Miriam Němcová, Radomil Eliška, and Tomáš Koutník, and took part in the masterclasses of the New York Philharmonic Principal Conductor Kurt Masur and the BBC Philharmonic Principal Conductor Jiří Bělohlávek. Petrdlík also successfully took part in several competitions, including the Donatella Flick Conductor Competition in London.
Petr Vronský
After successes in several important international competitions for conductors — including the competition in Besancon France in 1971 and the Karajan Competition in Berlin in 1973 — his career began at the opera company in Pilsen. From 1974 to 1978, he was Chief of Opera of the State Theater in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic. In 1978, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he held until 1991. Vronsky was later appointed Chief Conductor of the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava in 2002.
Aliana de la Guardia
The Arts Fuse lauds de la Guardia’s sound as “lovely, natural” and “as clear and powerful as grain alcohol.” As an active soprano vocalist, Aliana de la Guardia has garnered acclaim for her “dazzling flights of virtuosity” (Gramophone) in “vocally fearless” performances that are “fizzing with theatrical commitment” (The Boston Globe). A graduate of the Boston Conservatory and consummate interpreter of new classical concert repertoire, she has enjoyed collaborations with many ensembles featuring today’s most eminent composers including “Scenes from a Novel” and “Kafka Fragments” with violinist Gabriela Diaz by György Kurtág, “Aspen Suite” by Salvatore Sciarrino,“Nenia: the Death of Orpheus” by Harrison Birtwistle conducted by Jeffery Means, and the world premiere of “Earth Songs” by Ronald Perrera with New England Philharmonic, among others.
