Wednesday Evenings at UC Santa Cruz
February
20, 2002
8:00 pm - Music
Center Recital Hall
"Folkie Classical Guitar"
Mesut Özgen,
guitar
Linda Burman-Hall, harpsichord
Kathleen Purcell, flute
Ariela Morgenstern, mezzo-soprano
Shelley Phillips, oboe
Barry Phillips, cello
PROGRAM
Taquito Militar
(Milonga) by Mariano Mores
Misionera (Polca Litoraleña) by Fernando Bustamante
(arr. Jorge Morel)
Sonata: Ondas do Mar de Vigo* by Christopher Pratorius (b.
1974)
Preludio
Danza
Canto
Estudio
Mountain
Songs for flute and guitar by Robert Beaser (b. 1954)
Barbara Allen
The House Carpenter
Hush You Bye
Cindy
Introduction and Fandango for harpsichord and guitar by Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)
(from Quintet no.4, G.448 in D, arr. Julian Bream)
INTERMISSION
Four Greek
Songs by Mikis Theodorakis (b. 1925)
(from Romancero Gitano for voice and guitar, arr. Stephen Dodgson)
Tou Pikramenou (He with the Sorrow)
Tou Anemou (The Wind and the Gypsy Girl)
I Pandermi (La Soledad)
Antonio Torres Heredia I
Variations on an Anatolian folk song by Carlo Domeniconi (b. 1947)
("Uzun ince bir yoldayim" by Asik Veysel)
3 Turkish Folk Songs for oboe, cello, and guitar by Mesut Özgen
Kâtip
Aygiz
Aman Avci
*World Premiere
Sonata:
Ondas do Mar de Vigo is my first large guitar piece. It is based
on a Spanish song by the medieval troubadour Martin Codax, from Portugal.
The song is classified as a Cantiga de Amigo or "friendship song."
The genre is characterized by the longing of a young woman for a lover who
has gone. Typically, the "friend" is supposed to meet her by the
sea and never arrives. The title of the song used as the basis for this piece
is "Waves of the Sea of Vigo." I began with an in depth analysis
of both the poetry and the melody. It is a strophic song, with four verses.
I decided to mirror that structure with four movements. In one movement, the
structure of the whole poem, with its subtle repetitions and variations, was
the basis. In another, the structure of the melody was used. The other movements
were freely composed, but still work within the context of the larger form.
My idea was to do a set of structural variations that takes into account every
aspect of the original, not to reproduce similar but slightly different copies,
but to project the structure of the original song in a way that would be quite
unexpected.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mesut, not only for encouraging
me to write this piece, but also for being a genuine partner. He tackled a
difficult piece, analyzed it for hours so he could understand my musical logic,
brought passion and artistry to it, and also contributed many original ideas
to the project. The most obvious contribution is an arppegiation pattern that
he suggested for the last movement, which has added a great deal of excitement
to the only hearing of the original melody. Thank you, Mesut!
Chris Pratorius
Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank all my Greek, Turkish, Spanish, Argentinean,
and American friends: Hector Lambropoulos, Vasilis Karagianuopoulos, Inci
Ak, Murat Özbey, Merve, Nurten, and Yavuz Atila, Libertad Lana, Cristina
Carluccio, Nancy Lingemann, Shelley Phillips, Charles Sutton, Roberta Barnett,
Steve Palazzo, and Amy Haberman, (for providing traditional items from their
personal collections to display on the stage); Gina Fatone (for stage design,
program notes, and proof-reading); Dawni Pappas (for video recording); William
Coulter (for audio recording); Nancy Lingemann (for joining with an elegant
flamenco dance and castanets in the Boccherini); Nancy&John Lingemann
(for dancing fantastic Argentinean tango with Taquito Militar and Misionera).
M.Ö.