FOREVER BEELER
sonatas & soli of Alan Beeler
Ladislav Bilan vibraphone
Jan Dvořák Bassoon
Petr Hladík Flute
Aleš Janeček Clarinet
LUcie Kaucká Piano
Jiří Král Tuba
Vit Mužík Violin
Dalibor Procházka Bass Trombone
Karolina Rojahn Piano
Jennifer Slowick English Horn, Oboe
OVERVIEW
FOREVER BEELER represents a sampling of composer Alan Beeler’s prolific output throughout his musical career, which is generally defined by his commitment to compositional craft and structural clarity. The works featured on this album also reveal a playfulness lying just under the surface of Beeler’s compositional perspective. This quality of Beeler’s music is most notable in the seven sonatas for piano, often accompanied by another instrument, included in FOREVER BEELER.
Here, Beeler crafts engaging conversations between the players at his disposal – he employs a great deal of imitative writing and a more roaming style than in the more concise works on this album. A particularly clear example of Beeler’s fluid sense of style occurs in the second movement of his Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, which is dominated by a subtle “swing” characteristic as well as the “cakewalk rhythm” popular in early twentieth century ragtime music.
One of the most deeply intriguing works in FOREVER BEELER is the Three Early Pieces for Piano, which ranks among the first music Beeler formally composed and published. These short pieces exemplify the directness of Beeler’s compositional voice, as they clearly develop and resolve a singular musical idea. In addition to being succinct, finely crafted piano miniatures, they stand as evidence to this album’s unique offerings to listeners.
It is extremely rare to have this kind of longitudinal representation of a composer’s career available in an individual recording. The collection is even more valuable because, despite his indomitable and specific approach to composition, Beeler’s oeuvre is filled with nuance, all of which stands out in FOREVER BEELER.
This album is also marked by the way it testifies to the creative conditions of the mid-twentieth century, when Beeler emerged as a composer. The many aforementioned sonatas featured on FOREVER BEELER, for example, suggest the composer’s abiding interest in the forms and styles of the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Yet, piano works like the Twelve-Tone Quartal Etude indicate Beeler was not only subject to a variety of stylistic influences, but also extremely skilled in fulfilling their aesthetic mandates.
HIGHLIGHTS
Beeler’s compositional voice is generally consistent, but departs from its mainstream in specific and notable ways
Beeler shines in the clarity of his musical materials – his works excel at conveying the significance of their particulars parameters (i.e. melodies, rhythms, textures) to their overall structures
The album compiles the remainder of Beeler’s previously unrecorded works, serving as a memorial to the late composer
Beeler taught music theory, composition, and oboe at Washington University and Eastern Kentucky University, where he was Professor of Music Theory and Composition. His many compositions include works for solo piano, chorus, chamber ensemble, string orchestra, full orchestra, and voice
CREDITS
My Identity Suite, Beeler’s Fit ‘06, and 12 Tone Quartal Etude
Recorded October 2012 at Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport MA
Recording Session Producer Andy Happel
Recording Session Engineer Tom Stephenson
Multi-Tonal Suite Recorded July 9 2014 at Reduta Hall in Olomouc Czech Republic
Recording Session Producer Vit Mužík
Recording Session Engineer Zdeněk Slavotínek
Sonata for Bass Trombone and Piano, Sonata de Camera for Bassoon and Piano, Sonata for Clarinet & Piano, and 3 Early Pieces for Solo Piano
Recorded October 14, 2015 at Reduta Hall in Olomouc Czech Republic
Recording Session Producer Vit Mužík
Recording Session Engineer Aleš Dvořák
Oboe Sonata, English Horn Sonata Recorded June 17, 2013 at Futura in Roslindale MA
Recording Session Producer Andy Happel
Recording Session Engineer John Weston
Sonata for Tuba & Piano, Flute and Piano Sonata Recorded March 2, 2016 at Reduta Hall in Olomouc CZ
Recording Session Producer Vit Mužík
Recording Session Enginner Pavel Kuncar
Executive Producer Bob Lord
Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
Audio Director Jeff LeRoy
Editing, Mixing Shaun Michaud, Andy Happel
Mastering Shaun Michaud, Lucas Paquette
Art & Production Director Brett Picknell
Graphic Design Emily Roulo
Marketing Scott Murphy
ALSO ON NAVONA
(NV6049) THE VOCAL MUSIC OF ALAN BEELER
Release Date: March 10, 2017
Catalog #: NV6085
TRACK LISTING
Sonata for Clarinet & Piano
Aleš Janeček clarinet
Lucie Kaucká piano
1 I.
2 II.
3 III.
Something More Cheerful Suite -
Variations on a Well-Known Tune
Ladislav Bilan vibraphone
4 I.
5 IIa. & IIb.
6 III.
7 IV.
8 V.
Flute & Piano Sonata
Petr Hladík flute
Lucie Kaucká piano
9 I.
10 II.
11 III.
My Identity Suite
Karolina Rojahn piano
12 I.
13 II.
14 III.
English Horn Sonata
Jennifer Slowick English horn
Karolina Rojahn piano
15 I.
16 II.
17 III.
Multi-Tonal Suite
Karolina Rojahn piano
18 I. Arpeggios & cords Using Conflicting Major Triads
19 II. Waltz
20 III. Turns, Triads & the Octatonic Scale
21 IV. Meandering Major & Augmented Triads
22 V. Major & Minor Triads Together
23 VI. Arpeggiated Non-Dominant Seventh Chords
24 VII. Expanding Chromatic Neighboring Tones
25 VIII. Contracting Minor Triads
Oboe Sonata
Jennifer Slowick oboe
Karolina Rojahn piano
26 I.
27 II.
28 III.
3 Early Pieces for solo Piano
Lucie Kaucká piano
29 I. Piano Piece No. 1
30 II. Piano Piece No. 2
31 III. Piano Piece No. 3
Sonata de Camera
Jan Dvořák bassoon
Lucie Kaucká piano
32 I. French Overture
33 II. Chaconne
34 III. Alla Concerto
35 Beeler’s Fit ’06
Karolina Rojahn piano
Sonatas for Bass Trombone and Piano
Dalibor Procházka bass trombone
Lucie Kaucká piano
36 I.
37 II. Adagio
38 III. Finale
Piano Sonata
Karolina Rojahn piano
39 I.
40 II.
41 III.
42 IV.
The Octatonic Tuba - Sonata for Tuba and Piano
Lucie Kaucká piano
Jiří Král tuba
43 I.
44 II.
45 III.
46 IV.
47 12-Tone Quartal Etude
Karolina Rojahn piano
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