Musical Notes: Concerts on Campus This Week

Musical rendition of Van Gogh work
Music with an artistic theme will be performed by the Yale Concert Band on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 8 p.m. in Woolsey Hall, corner of Grove and Prospect streets. Admission is free, and the public is invited.

The performance will feature the premiere of "The Night Cafe" by Yale Bands alumnus Allan Terriciano '83. The work, which was specially commissioned for this concert, is based upon the 1888 painting of the same name by Vincent Van Gogh.

"The Night Cafe" was once described by Van Gogh as "one of the ugliest pictures I have done." The painting depicts the Cafe de l'Alcazar, one of the artist's frequent haunts after he left the city life of Paris for Arles. In the work, the glare of the gaslights reveals the lurid colors and rich textures of the room and its furniture, particularly the billiard table which dominates the space. Wine bottles and empty glasses are littered on the tables, a few of which are occupied by down-and-out residents and local prostitutes.

Members of the public can view the original of Van Gogh's "The Night Cafe" at the Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., where it is on permanent display.

The Nov. 18 concert will also feature the premiere of the winds version of Alan Hovhaness' "Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints for Xylophone and Orchestra," transcribed by Thomas C. Duffy, director of University bands. Joining the Yale Concert Band for this number will be Robert Van Sice, professor of percussion at the School of Music, who will perform on the marimba.

The program will also include "Festive Overture" by Dmitri Shostakovich; a premiere of "Freedom March" by Connecticut resident Dagobert Pfeiffer; "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" by Grammy Award-winner John Adams; and "Rugby, Ouverture Symphonique" by Arthur Honegger.

Music from new Beinecke archive
Organ music composed during the mid-17th century will be featured in a lecture-recital to be held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, in Dwight Chapel, 67 High St. The event is sponsored by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and its James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, celebrates the Osborn Collection's recent acquisition of an important Anglo-Flemish organ manuscript from the mid-1600s. The archive contains over 100 compositions; among the composers whose works are believed to be represented in the manuscript are J.P. Sweelinck, Abraham van den Kerckhoven, Hendrik Liberti and Jacobus de Cherf.

The extensive manuscript of 329 folio pages has not been described in any study of such sources, say Beinecke officials. It was formerly owned by the organist John Watts, who gave it to Vincent Novello, who presented it to the Musical Antiquarian Society in 1844. Later, it passed into the hands of Camille Saint-Saëns, who in turn gave it to his pupil Eugène Gigout. The manuscript remained in France from the late 19th century until the present day.

At the Nov. 17 concert, Kendall Crilly, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Music Librarian, will describe the manuscript and comment on its contents. Organist Charles Krigbaum, professor emeritus at the School of Music, will perform a short program of pieces transcribed from the manuscript. Following the performance, there will be a reception at the Beinecke Library, corner of Wall and High streets.

Works by new faculty member
Works by Evan Ziporyn, who joined the School of Music faculty this year as professor of composition, will be featured in the next New Music New Haven concert at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall, 470 College St. The composer's series, which is sponsored by the School of Music, is open to the public free of charge.

Ziporyn, a 1981 graduate of Yale College, is one of two American composers who joined the School of Music faculty this year as professors. Works by the other composer, Ned Rorem, will be featured in the March 4 concert of New Music New Haven.

An accomplished clarinetist and saxophonist as well as a composer, Ziporyn is deeply involved with the music of the Balinese gamelan. He has written a number of ground-breaking works for gamelan and western instruments, two of which have been released as "American Music for Balinese Gamelan Orchestra" (New World). He founded Boston's Gamelan Galak Tika in 1994 and is currently artistic director of the 25-member ensemble. A soloist at the first Bang On A Can (BOAC) Festival in 1987, Ziporyn has been associated with the festival ever since as a composer, soloist and ensemble leader. He is currently musical coordinator for the BOAC All-Stars, and his works and performances are featured on the group's two C.D.s on the Sony Classical label.

Works by long-time Yale composer
Martin Bresnick, professor (adjunct) of composition at the School of Music, will perform a special concert of his recent work, titled "Bresnick After Blake: For the Sexes -- the Gates of Paradise," on Friday, Nov. 20, at 1:30 p.m. in the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall St. The concert is free and open to the public.

Last year, Bresnick received the Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The award, which allows composers to devote themselves full-time for three years to the creation of music, is named for the ground-breaking composer and Yale alumnus Charles Ives, who graduated from Yale in 1898. Bresnick is currently on a leave of absence from the University, and will return in July of 2001.

At Yale, Bresnick has served as coordinator of the School of Music's composition department, as well as director of the New Music New Haven concert series. His orchestral and chamber works have been performed by the Chicago Symphony and the Chamber Music Society of London, as well as other ensembles.

Joining Bresnick at the Nov. 20 concert will be pianist Lisa Moore.