Download Nocturnes (baritone, two violins, viola, cello and bass

Nocturnes (baritone, two violins, viola, cello and bass) 2010
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Nocturnes (baritone and piano) 2011
CLICK HERE FOR PDF SAMPLE PAGE OF MUSIC
Commissioned by the Dilijan Chamber Series for baritone, Vladimir Chernov, who, with
violinists Searmi Park and Varty Manoulian, violist Andrew McIntosh, cellist,
Timothy Landauer, and bassist David Parmeter, conducted by the composer, gave
its premiere at Zipper Hall, Colburn School, Los Angeles, California, on
September 22, 2010. The version with piano was premiered by Mr. Chernov with
pianist Artur Afenesov at the Lark Musical Society, Glendale, California, on
January 30, 2011.
Published by: Drazark Music, Pasadena, California. In progress. To order these scores
contact Ian Krouse Music.
Duration: 30’
Program notes and performance history:
Nocturnes, a song cycle on texts by three celebrated Armenian
poets in the original language, was commissioned by the Dilijan Chamber
Series for the celebrated Russian baritone, Vladimir Chernov, who gave its
premiere with the composer conducting the Dilijan Chamber Players at
Zipper Hall in Los Angeles on September 22, 2010. It was composed
mainly over a two-week period that the composer spent in Japan in the
summer of 2010. Made of four poems by well-known Armenian poets
who flourished in the early decades of the 20th century, the cycle takes the
form of a proto-narrative psychological odyssey through the inner mind of
a man at mid life. Though set at dusk, the first song Twilights reveals a
troubled protagonist who seeks solace in light images: a saffron bedecked
virgin, the gilded sun, the radiant daylight of moon. The “light-craver”
finds temporary relief in Love Song where a passionate outpouring fueled
by sensuous images of hashish and balm, and, even more revealing, kisses
of light, succumbs, yet again, to sadness and despair. The Night – the
most complex song of the set – begins from the depths of darkest night.
Based loosely upon Schubert’s song Der doppelgänger, it assumes almost
symphonic dimensions as it gradually picks up momentum: at its
culmination it has evolved into a roiling swirl of dance musics, based,
again as with the Schubert, quite freely, on the opening motif of
Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. (A careful listener will hear hints of the
Beethoven in the very opening bars of the work as well!) Mahari’s text,
which in contrast to the Metzarents poems, is in Eastern Armenian dialect,
is revelry of nostalgic images of the past, with colorful references to
cymbals, bambirs (an ancient lute-like instrument) and other dancing
images. Though the lines “And all around me were faded days, and faded
flower petals” reveal lingering melancholy, the man appears to have refound hope and youthful vitality, again by turning towards the light: “My
autumn is distant still and my days to me appear still light and still bright.”
Hymn, a setting of Terian’s poem I Will Come, is again in Eastern
Armenian dialect. (It is coincidental that the dark opening songs are set
in the Western dialect – from the direction of the setting sun - whereas the
optimistic third and fourth songs find the singer turning towards the East,
and dawn, for redemption and solace.) Our careful listener may notice
that the last song is not only a transformation of the Schubert, now in the
warm key of B-major, but a recapitulation of the very beginning of the
cycle as well; this only a hint of the many symphonic aspirations of the
work. It ends pianissimo with the profoundly hopeful lines: “I will hold
your hand, and grasp your grief, I will kindle new lights in your soul!”
Ian Krouse, September, 2010
Reviews:
“The most striking work of the day was the song cycle Nocturnes for baritone
and string quintet by American composer Ian Krouse (b.1956). For his texts,
Krouse, a professor at UCLA, selected poems by the renowned Armenian poets
Missak Metzarents, Gourgen Mahari and Vahan Terian. The metaphors of
darkness and the search for light, both physical and psychological, inform the
words and the music with depth and empathy. The trajectory of Krouse's score is
powerful because it is complex and truthful. His expert use of a widely extended
tonality conveys strong emotion, as witnessed by the enthusiastic audience
response. This is music that will repay many hearings. It clearly deserves a place
in the standard repertory.”
Charles Fierro, Sept. 26, 2010