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from the issue of September 16, 2004
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Composer, UNL Pianist Collaborate on Work Inspired by Lewis and Clark
Concerto Honors Partners
BY KIM HACHIYA, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Pianist Paul Barnes met composer Philip Glass by chance in 1995 when the two were on the same plane flying from Lincoln to Chicago. Barnes had interviewed at UNL for a spot on its music faculty. Glass had directed a performance of one his works at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. A conversation began, and from it, an artistic collaboration ensued.
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| | | UNL pianist Paul Barnes will debut a new work by american composer Philip Glass on sept. 18 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. The concerto is inspired by the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Photo by Dave Fitzgibbon.
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Barnes won that faculty position and soon found himself transcribing Glass' theater works for the piano. Glass is one of the most widely performed contemporary American composers and is particularly well known for his film scores.
Barnes has completed and performed a number of Glass transcriptions, and he was eager to move to the next step in their professional relationship: commissioning a new Glass composition for the piano. The bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition piqued both their interests. Glass was intrigued by the challenge of presenting both Euro-American and Native American perspectives in a single work. The concerto will make its world debut this weekend in Lincoln. The Nebraska Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, the Lied Center for Performing Arts and the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts funded the commissioning of the piece.
The concerto is written in the traditional three movements. The first is scored for woodwinds, brass, strings and percussion. Its piano score, Barnes notes, has just four bars of rest, making it a particularly athletic workout. Barnes said the movement, titled "The Vision," communicates energy and resolve to undertake the journey.
The second movement, "Sacagawea," is scored for strings and features a duet between the piano and Native American flute. This section was inspired by Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who acted as guide to the expedition, and it features a traditional Shoshone musical theme.
The final movement, "The Land," is a theme and variations reflecting the great expanse and beauty of the land as seen by the explorers. The movement begins with an extended theme stated in the orchestra alone followed by an extended treatment by solo piano.
Barnes and R. Carlos Nakai, Native American flutist, debuted the second movement this summer at Nebraska's Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Signature Event, "First Tribal Council," in Omaha. Some 65,000 attended the signature event, which also featured a commissioned play. The Nebraska Repertory Theatre's Executive Director Jeffrey Elwell produced and directed the play Ink and Elkskin, which tells the story of the first meeting between Lewis and Clark and the Oto-Missouria tribe near present-day Council Bluffs, Iowa. After the Sept. 18 performance in Lincoln, the work also will be performed in Omaha, Boston and Seattle.
Glass will attend the premiere of this new work on Sept. 18. The rest of the program will include the Omaha Symphony performing Symphony No. 2, Op. 132, "Mysterious Mountain," by Alan Hovhaness and Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From the "New World" by Antonin Dvorak.
Tickets for this performance are $42, $37 and $32; tickets are half-price for UNL students and those age 18 and younger. For ticket information, call the Lied ticket office at 472-4747.
Performance
The world premiere of Piano Concerto No. 2 (After Lewis and Clark) is at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18 with the Omaha Symphony at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Paul Barnes and R. Carlos Nakai will be featured soloists.
GO TO: ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 16
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