DESCRIPTION:
Secret Dialogues, by James Wood
Performed by Jeff Stern

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MALLETS -

Robert van Sice Signature:
http://vicfirth.com/robert-van-sice/

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ABOUT THE PIECE:
Secret Dialogues

2014
for solo marimba

Like my earlier work, Crying bird, echoing star, Secret Dialogues is based both on birdsong and on the star patterns of certain Constellations. Whereas the earlier work was mainly concerned with a kind of mystical communication between our feathered friends and the stars above them, here the dialogues are more literal and earthly, revealing a continuously evolving theatre, or choreography, as birds call to each other and answer from constantly changing positions. You sit in one fixed position – a Wood Thrush calls from the tree above you – another answers from a roof-top a hundred yards distant – the first thrush calls again, but now he has moved to another tree, just a few yards away – the second bird replies again from the same position – a thrush now calls from another roof-top, answered by yet another from the lilac bush; so continues the debate with ever increasing activity until, at the height of the dawn (or dusk) chorus, you are surrounded by singing, as birds compete for the most acoustically advantageous position from which to project their voices.

The work falls into two sections, loosely representing the gradual awakening and quietening of the dawn and dusk choruses. These take place against a backdrop of slowly-shifting stars, which dispassionately preside over the passing of the day, unmoved by the daily cycle of musical activity which their presence provokes.

The birdsong used in Secret Dialogues is based on the songs of ten birds - Robin, Nightingale, Pied Butcherbird, White-rumped Shama, White-browed Robin Chat, Wood Thrush, Water Rail, Dunnock, Whitethroat and Pied Flycatcher. Many of these birds have an extensive repertoire of songs – in the case of the Wood Thrush, for example, some eighteen different songs appear in this work alone. Altogether some fifty different songs are used, each one undergoing subtle harmonic and rhythmic transformations with each new appearance.

The intricate dialogues of these birds is overseen by nine Constellations, which gradually appear in the following order – Sextans, Bootes, Coma Berenices, Corvus, Crater, Leo, Lynx, Cancer
and Draco. As in certain previous works of mine, the star-patterns of these Constellations are realised and developed using my own particular graphic techniques of rotation, augmentation and diminution on both x- and y-axes, and applied to constantly shifting harmonic fields. It has always struck me how uncannily alive and lyrical they become when realised in this way, and in some cases they even begin to resemble the birdsong.

Secret Dialogues was commissioned by a consortium of marimbists headed by my good friend, Eduardo Leandro (also a bird enthusiast), to whom the work is dedicated.

- James Wood

ABOUT THE PERFORMER

Percussionist Jeff Stern is emerging as an exciting new voice in today’s contemporary music scene. He has appeared with some of today’s most celebrated artists, including eighth blackbird and So Percussion. Last season featured the world premiere of James Wood’s marimba solo, Secret Dialogues, a performance at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, and his debut in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall with the Yale Percussion Group. Current projects include the Icarus Quartet, a 2 piano/2 percussion group, and Salo, a new mixed ensemble spear-headed by composer and harpist, Hannah Lash. Jeff has performed at major halls such as Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, and with ensembles including the Boston New Music Initiative and Baltimore’s Sonar New Music Ensemble. He has appeared at the Yellow Barn, Avaloch Farm, and Norfolk music festivals, and can be heard on Cantaloupe Records’ release of Pulitzer prize-winning John Luther Adams’ large-scale percussion work, Inuksuit.

As an educator, Jeff is a frequent guest studio teacher at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he assists resident lecturer in percussion, Ayano Kataoka. In 2012, he established a percussion department for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s youth program, OrchKids, and from 2013-2014, he served on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory’s Preparatory division as the director of their percussion program.

Jeff holds degrees from UMass Amherst and the Peabody Conservatory, where he was awarded the Harold Randolph Prize in Performance. He is currently a candidate for an Artist Diploma at the Yale School of Music, where he studies with marimba virtuoso Robert van Sice.

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