DESCRIPTION:
Please enjoy Jeremy Zimmer's Exceptional Senior Composition Recital.

Program Notes:
"Three Hymn Preludes" are based on three German chorales meant to symbolize the journey from Lent to Holy Week to Easter. The first movement, based on "Lamb of God, Pure and Holy" is a dialogue between the piano's shimmering, dissonant motives and the instruments' simple statements of the melody. It is supposed to represent how the words reflect Christ's suffering and also a prayer for peace. "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" brings us into Holy Week. Several motives are passed between the instruments. The piano is the only instrument that has the entire melody. "Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds" is joyful and represents Christ's victory. The very last chord rings for a long time, representing His gift to us of eternal life.

A couple of years ago, Nello and I decided to combine our efforts and create a series of songs on a night theme. "Lullaby" was the first song to be completed, and two years later, "Nocturne" was finished.

"Modal Suite" is a set of seven short pieces for saxophone and piano. I wrote this piece while on Wind Symphony tour in the spring of 2014. I set a challenge for myself to write the music without the benefit of a piano in front of me and to fit each movement into a single page of manuscript paper. Each movement is in a different mode, starting and ending with Ionian and Aeolian (major and minor) because they are the more common modes.

The text of the first of the two hymns, "O Lord, My Light, My Strength and Stay" was written by Evelyn Yee in a creative writing class she took last year. Sometime after she had written it I thought it might be fun if I set it to a singable tune. The second hymn, "By Faith in God's Abiding Word", is a more recent creation that we put together.

"Partita on 'Foundation'" is a theme and five variations on the hymn "How Firm a Foundation."


Pieces:

Three Hymn Preludes [00:22]
Lamb of God, Pure and Holy [00:22]
O Sacred head, Now Wounded [03:20]
Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds [06:50]

Featuring:
Annie Grapentine, Trumpet
Joseph Reineke, Alto Saxophone
Evelyn Yee, Bassoon
Jeremy ZImmer, Piano




Lullaby [11:34]

Featuring:
Aniello Barone, Baritone
Jeremy Zimmer, Piano

You will never seek slumber
When you dream, for there we'll meet
Where soft caress melts in flesh,
And wave makes love with the crest
As sea-washed knolls to our feet.

You will never think of me,
Or feel my heat's beating core
That keeps its pulse as your own -
A faint, monotonous drone
Wraps faithfully at your door.

You will never love my Night
Obscured by the moonlit door
Which leads to another land -
Swaying seas and slopes of sand,
Cove's breeze and an em'rald moor.

You will never hold the hands
That clutch for celestial beds,
And with ev'ry star I wake
I pray its brilliant break
Takes your lustrous beauty's stead.

You will never seal your gaze
To harrowed and longing sight;
Starving lusts and joyless years,
Sordid skins and faultless fears -
Hindered by the morning bright.

These eyes so laden with light
Cannot love for other dreams;
There, upon the drifting clouds,
Where you're dressed in starry gowns,
I weep to mend th'tearing seams.

You will always be my dream,
If my response be ceaseless.
Always should I sink to sleep,
Always to the ocean's deep;
So day-break yearns for darkness.
-Aniello Barone




Modal Suite [20:09]
1. Prelude [20:09]
2. Pastorale [20:53]
3. Recitative [22:11]
4. Interlude [23:38]
5. Meditation [24:19]
6. Dance [25:57]
7. Epilogue [26:37]

Featuring:
Kristianna Mortera, Alto Saxophone
Dennis Zimmer, Piano




O Lord, My Light, My Strength and Stay [29:04]
By Faith in God's Abiding Word [31:43]

Featuring:
Laura Zimmer, Organ




Nocturne [34:36]

Featuring:
Aniello Barone, Baritone
Jeremy Zimmer, Piano

Moonlight
Light sheds from darkness
Rests upon Moon's lovely face
Beauty glows on Earth

Crickets
Crickets in a field
Chirp from within leafy bush
Singing praise to moon

Breeze
"Follow" she whispers
Floating free on Night's silence
Night carries her voice

Dream
Summoned from slumber
Over meadows of my mind
I walk in a dream

Firebugs
Orbs against the sky
Enclosed with dark woodland pines
Glowing eyes of fire

Brook
Brook's flowing waters
Gently running over stones
Hides behind ivy

Shadows
Branches hugging moon
Casts lightly dancing shadows
On the groove's cool grounds

Frogs
Chorus of croaking
Sett, steadfast is their cadence
In nature's opus

Vineyard
Little fat circles
ripe green grapes, filled with nectar
Linger in Night's air

Night
I am one with you
I live to love your beauty
Night calls out to me
-Aniello Barone




Partita on "Foundation" [46:26]
Theme [46:26]
Variation I [47: 24]
Variation II [50:06]
Variation III [52:15]
Variation IV [54:18]
Variation V [56:36]

Featuring:
David Christiansen, organ