Birth of the New

For today’s post I have a very special guest: Allan Gilliland is a composer based in Edmonton, and tonight the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra is giving the World Premiere of his newest work – Dreaming of the Masters II: Rhapsody GEB. In Allan’s own words this is what it’s all about………

“Entering into a collaboration can be a scary thing. The history of concertos is littered by stories of clashes between soloists and composers and many have failed because one, or both, haven’t been interested in true collaboration. This all being said, working with Bill on my new piano concerto “Dreaming of the Masters II” has been a complete joy.

We began talking about the piece two years ago when Bill heard my “Dreaming of the Masters I” performed by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada. This work is a clarinet concerto inspired by the great jazz clarinetists of the past. Bill had been thinking about writing a piece with a similar theme but instead a piano concerto inspired by Gershwin, Ellington and Bernstein. He wanted something that he could perform and conduct from the piano as he does with Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”. So we decided “Dreaming of the Masters II”-Rhapsody GEB would be a great way for us to work together and now two years later we are one day away from the premiere. Yikes!

Thanks to computers we were able to collaborate via email and it was only yesterday that I heard him play the solo part for the first time. It was thrilling! Computers are great tools but they’ll never replace a real musician bringing my black dots to life. Bill sounded so good and he brought all the style and nuance to the music that I hoped. Later we had the first rehearsal with the orchestra and though it was a bit scary at first, by the end I was feeling pretty good. Bringing a new work to life is never easy and when you add the extra fun of the soloist also being the conductor, it takes a bit longer for everyone to figure out what’s going on. We have another rehearsal this afternoon and my main focus is going to be balance. It doesn’t matter how great the piano is, if you can’t hear it, it’s not worth much.”

Bringing a new work to life is a very exciting prospect. When I asked Allan to compose Rhapsody:GEB I had some very definite ideas in mind. I wanted a piece I could conduct from the piano, as I do Mr. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. I knew that I wanted a through-composed piece that would definitely harken to the music that Gershwin, Ellington, and Bernstein brought to life, and I wanted the last section of the work to feature a fugue based on a theme from West Side Story. But past that I really had no clue. Even before he started writing Allan had a couple of ideas: Cadenza? “Sure” I said. Improvisation? Well that was a little trickier. The last time I had read changes Ronald Reagen had just been elected President, for the first time. But I swallowed my panic and said “sure” again. Then he was off.

Many months go by.

Through the aforementioned wonders of email a file appears on my computer. It’s the rough piano part for the Gershwin and Ellington sections. But there’s a large void in the middle for a future cadenza and one at the end for the Bernstein section. Something like the “Here Be Dragons” that you’ld find on old maps. But it’s enough for me to get an idea of the piece. I was immediately intrigued. Allan is an excellent composer and he is also an accomplished jazz musician. A Trumpet player by trade, he has played in the pit for many shows, including one of our co-favorites On The Town by Bernstein. He understands the idiom and he can really bring it to the table without sounding forced.

That first taste left me wanting more. But patience, Grasshopper – composers rarely work quickly. A week before Christmas a larger file appears. “It’s Done!” he says. What he means is that the notes are done but the orchestration still has to be finished. Composers and performers have different concepts of what “done” means (I wonder if he knows what the definition of “is” is?). It’s only been in the last 3 1/2 weeks that I’ve had time to really get down with the piece and the more I learned of it the more excited I became. I also spent much time cursing the name of Allan Gilliland. Learning some of the chordal passages was really tough because Allan has a great ear for jazz chords and I had to learn how these fit into my hands. Not easy. And, of course, I didn’t have an orchestra behind me to fill in the gaps. Nothing to do but work until the first rehearsal.

First rehearsal – yikes. We are all flailing. It’s a new piece and there’s no “tradition” to follow. But the piece is written really well, and it shows off the unique characteristics of the ESO. There are several members of this orchestra who are intimately familiar with jazz, play it a lot, and bring that experience to their orchestral life. This orchestra plays Pops charts like no other. When the ESO plays they can actually swing. For once I had intelligently given over 1 1/2 rehearsals to GEB so that we could work things out in relative leisure. On the fly we made several changes in orchestration, tempo, dynamics, etc. It really helped that Allan and I were on the same page as to how we thought the piece should work, so things started to come together. Feedback from the orchestra has been very positive.

So tonight the good folks of Edmonton will have a unique opportunity. They get to hear the world premiere of a Rhapsody that we hope will be emblematic of the 21st Century, much like Rhapsody in Blue was for the 20th. The whole program has been built around the three Masters and the concert will be recorded and broadcast by the CBC (the CBC were also co-commissioners of GEB). The programme:

Bernstein – Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Gershwin – Symphonic Portrait from Porgy & Bess
Gilliland – Dreaming of the Masters II: Rhapsody GEB
Ellington – Nutcracker Suite

Now I must go practice. Wish us luck!