Flights of Fancy

Chamber Works

Jan Järvlepp composer

Composer Jan Järvlepp’s FLIGHTS OF FANCY is available now through Navona Records. Fusing European and American musical traditions, the album pairs the excitement of rock and jazz rhythms with classical orchestral and chamber music forms.

Turning his back on the avant-garde 20th century modernism he was trained in at the University of California, San Diego, Järvlepp’s focus has shifted to a postmodern, popular-music influenced style borrowing from a variety of cultures’ traditional music. Pierrot Solaire opens the album with an unusual combination of flute, violin, bass, percussion, and piano. Harnessing the early 20th century angst of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Järvlepp set out to compose a piece that was the mirror opposite of Schoenberg’s; teasingly subtitled “an antidote for anxiety-filled old German music,” the piece recombines popular and folk music to create a lively, energetic, and highly rhythmic piece. Trio. No. 2 captures the unique and often-neglected timbre of the piccolo playing in its lower register. Combined with rapidly bowed string harmonics, the piece is developed into three “flights of fancy”— Järvlepp’s term for flamboyant piccolo solos. The three movements place the piccolo in different musical contexts; the second movement features plucked cello and lyrical viola melodies, while the third takes on an aggressive rock music attitude. Tarantella marries contemporary popular music styles with a baroque tarantella. In keeping with postmodernism’s approach of reimagining historical tradition rather than discarding it, this piece features previously unheard combinations of the old and the new. Overture was composed in 1999 as a Laidlaw Foundation commission for the Ayorama Wind Quintet. Taking cues from the grandeur of Beethoven, Järvlepp employs loud, dramatic chords and memorable melodic phrases to create something wholly his own.

FLIGHTS OF FANCY presents an exciting opportunity for those who find centuries-old classical music alienating but 20th century modern music inaccessible. Full of unique timbres and innovative arrangements, this newest album from Järvlepp offers a scintillating array of sounds and hybrid forms for music lovers to discover.

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Track Listing & Credits

#	Title	Composer	Performer
01	Pierrot Solaire	Jan Järvlepp	Sara Louise Seck, flute; Mark Friedman, violin; Tracy Mortimore, double bass; Ken Simpson, percussion; Parvaneh Eshghi, piano	13:38
02	Saxophone Quartet: I. Cadillac	Jan Järvlepp	Saxart \| Jean-Guy Brault, soprano saxophone; Noël Samyn, alto saxophone; René Lavoie, tenor saxophone; Peter Smith baritone, saxophone	5:19
03	Saxophone Quartet: II. Reaching	Jan Järvlepp	Saxart \| Jean-Guy Brault, soprano saxophone; Noël Samyn, alto saxophone; René Lavoie, tenor saxophone; Peter Smith baritone, saxophone	5:13
04	Saxophone Quartet: III. Jig	Jan Järvlepp	Saxart \| Jean-Guy Brault, soprano saxophone; Noël Samyn, alto saxophone; René Lavoie, tenor saxophone; Peter Smith baritone, saxophone	3:18
05	Trio No. 2: I. Flights of Fancy	Jan Järvlepp	Pascale Margely, piccolo; Kevin James, viola; Jan Järvlepp, cello	4:08
06	Trio No. 2: II. Romance	Jan Järvlepp	Pascale Margely, piccolo; Kevin James, viola; Jan Järvlepp, cello	9:07
07	Trio No. 2: III. Perpetuum Mobile	Jan Järvlepp	Pascale Margely, piccolo; Kevin James, viola; Jan Järvlepp, cello	6:19
08	Tarantella	Jan Järvlepp	Mark Friedman, electric violin; Jan Järvlepp, electric guitar	3:18
09	Robot Dance	Jan Järvlepp	Sara Louise Seck, flute; Tracy Mortimore, double bass	9:08
10	Overture	Jan Järvlepp	Ayorama Wind Quintet \| Jean-Guy Brault, flute; Angela Casagrande, oboe	8:21

All tracks produced by Jan Järvlepp

PIERROT SOLAIRE
Recorded July 17, 1996 at Marc Productions in Ottawa ON, Canada
Recording Session Engineer Michel Renaud
Edited and mixed at Michel Renaud’s personal studio by Jan Järvlepp

SAXOPHONE QUARTET
Recorded July 9, 1999 at salle Fernand-Graton in Gatineau QC, Canada

TRIO NO. 2
Recorded March 19, 2000 at salle Fernand-Graton in Gatineau QC, Canada

TARANTELLA
Recorded June 16, 1998 at the composer’s personal studio in Ottawa ON, Canada

ROBOT DANCE
Recorded March 15, 1996 at Kanata United Church in Kanata ON, Canada

OVERTURE
Recorded July 23, 1999 at Perez Hall in Ottawa ON, Canada

Above water photography Phillip Mirsky
Underwater photography John Winiarz
Original cover design Stephanie A. Smith
Flights of Fancy was originally released in Canada in 2000 on the independent label J&W Records

Executive Producer Bob Lord

Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Director Brandon MacNeil

VP, Audio Production Jeff LeRoy
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
Mastering Shaun Michaud

VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Patrick Niland, Sara Warner

Artist Information

Jan Järvlepp

Composer

Composer Jan Järvlepp creates a genuine European/American musical fusion by combining the excitement of rock and jazz rhythms with the large-scale classical structures found in orchestral and chamber music. The seriousness of his well-thought-out forms and the immediacy of contemporary rhythmic and melodic ideas make a potent brew that is appealing to both open-minded classical listeners and pop music listeners who are searching for something new.

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Notes

Kevin James, Pascale Margely, Jan Järvlepp, Angela Casagrande

Pierrot Solaire

PIERROT SOLAIRE (1994) was composed for the Denis Schingh Ensemble, which premiered it in 1994 at Toronto’s Music Gallery. The unusual combination of flute, violin, bass, percussion, and piano caused me to rethink ways of composing chamber music. I decided to take the early 20th century angst of Arnold Schoenberg’s avant-garde Pierrot Lunaire and do the opposite in terms of feeling, style, orchestration, and theoretical basis. A minor-key polka unexpectedly appears in the middle which bears some resemblance to the Finnish Säkkijärven Polkka. In addition to this folk music style, humour and pop music influence are also allowed, with no reverence for German traditions. Indeed, the piece is subtitled “an antidote for anxiety- filled old German music.” I hope it works for you!

— Jan Järvlepp

The Saxophone Quartet

THE SAXOPHONE QUARTET (1996) started life as a bassoon quartet composed for Toronto’s Caliban Quartet with a Canada Council commission. When I learned that Saxart was looking for new repertoire, I reworked my bassoon piece for saxophones. The first movement is heavily influenced by jazz and rock wind writing with the baritone sax frequently taking on the role of the bass guitar. The piece’s form, however, is a product of my classical training and unrelated to the strophic structure of almost all pop songs. The second movement is slow, lyrical, expressive, and introspective. It shows the least pop or folk influence of the three movements and an element of romanticism seems to have crept in. The third movement juxtaposes rapid tunes set over bagpipe-like drones with sprightly moving passages containing no long notes at all. The fast-slow-fast format of the three movements comes to an energetic finish in the triple time rhythmic style which is inherent in jigs. The performers on this recording gave its first performance in Ottawa at an Espace Musique concert in 1998.

— Jan Järvlepp

Trio No. 2

TRIO NO. 2 (1997) started when I heard the piccolo play in its lower register during an Ottawa Symphony Orchestra rehearsal. I decided to combine that unique sound with rapidly bowed string harmonics. I imagined what a huge crystal organ in the sky would sound like. This idea developed into the first movement of the trio which features three “flights of fancy” or flamboyant piccolo solos. I have never heard a piece of music like this anywhere. The second movement features the entirely different texture of plucked cello, simple piccolo accompaniments and lyrical waltz-like melodies for viola. The third movement takes an aggressive rock music attitude towards the instruments. There is no subtlety, but rather rhythmic excitement within a highly structured form. The performers on this recording gave the piece’s first performance at Rideau Park United Church in Ottawa in 1997.

— Jan Järvlepp

Tarantella

TARANTELLA (1996) is a European-American hybrid that incorporates the influence of contemporary pop music styles into the tarantella, a baroque dance. In our postmodern society, this approach is an intuitive artistic method rather than the product of disregard for previously existing styles. The guitar and violin play as equal partners, often in parallel intervals. Each player fires out 600 notes per minute, thus bombarding the listener with a total of 1,200 notes per minute, which almost fuse into a steady stream. The piece remains cohesive because of its straightforward harmonies. The performers on his recording premiered the piece at an Espace Musique concert in 1997.

— Jan Järvlepp

Robot Dance

ROBOT DANCE (1994) was composed for Diaphony, an unusual duo consisting of Sara Seck, flute, and Tracy Mortimore, string bass. They first performed it in Guelph, Ontario, in 1994. The skill of the players, coupled with their enthusiasm for new music, permitted me to write demanding and exciting flute solos as well as an energetic bass line that never lets up. I got the idea for the title after hearing the computerized playback of the score from my notation program. The strangely synchronized parallel intervals in the widely separated bass and treble ranges seemed decidedly non-human. However, in live performance, the players give a special intensity to the rhythms that machines cannot synthesize.

— Jan Järvlepp

Overture

OVERTURE (1999) was composed as a Laidlaw Foundation commission requested by the Ayorama Wind Quintet. However, when I sat down to start it, I realized that I didn’t have a clue as to what I would compose since I had never written anything resembling an overture. So I listened to what others had done in this genre and was most impressed by Beethoven and his dramatic approach. So my overture starts with stark, dramatic loud chords and mysterious melodic phrases and gradually works itself into a busier state. However, it is unlikely that anyone will mistake my work for the Viennese late classicism of Mr. van Beethoven. The piece was first performed by the Ayorama Wind Quintet in an Espace Musique concert in Ottawa in 1999.

— Jan Järvlepp