Vanguard Reed Quintet returns to First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti on April 19 for an evening of reed quintet music exploring ideas of nature, mythology, and storytelling!
Earth Slips Beneath You by Maddy Wildman (World Premiere) | Vanguard Live
New Year, New Music! We're happy to finally share with you the premiere performance of Maddy Wildman's Earth Slips Beneath You from our concert in October 2021.
Maddy's piece is an exploration of anxiety and how it often lives in the background, but can pile up over time, eventually spilling over. To capture that feeling, this piece is often intentionally unnerving, from the crunchy harmonies, to the quarter-step intervals in the upper voices, to the gradual climb in pitch over the course of the piece. Eventually, we arrive at the final build to the apex of the piece, aptly marked "Unleash the Screaming Baby" in the score, with the oboe and clarinet wailing in the stratosphere while the lower voices honk and rumble away. After all of this sound finally bubbles over, we're left in a more tranquil state, with the bass clarinet finishing the piece out.
Maddy proudly reports in her notes about this piece that the stressful and anxious feelings that inspired this piece have become less frequent and intense than when she originally wrote it in 2019. We were so glad to finally be able to perform it!
Threepenny Suite by Kurt Weill | Vanguard Live @ Ypsilanti Freighthouse
The Threepenny Opera is a play by Bertolt Brecht with music by Kurt Weill, inspired by jazz and German dance music of the 1920s. The Overture opens the play, and it sounds like Weill drew more upon European classical music, especially in the fugue-like section in the middle. "Mack the Knife" serves as a prologue to the play, introducing the main character Macheath. The song has become a jazz standard, recorded by artists like Bobby Darin, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra.
These two movements are selections from a suite from the opera, arranged by Raaf Hekkema of the Calefax Reed Quintet.
Vanguard Live @ Ypsilanti Freighthouse – Thaw by Becky Turro
It feels weird to post about a piece called Thaw just as the weather is starting to cool down, but here we are! Becky Turro's piece, inspired by a trip they took to Acadia National Park is a beautiful exploration of the transformation of water, from frozen to flowing. We loved putting this piece together and we look forward to performing it again! Here are Becky's program notes about their piece:
Thaw was inspired by a trip with my girlfriend to Acadia National Park, Maine in early March. Each movement is about a specific part of Acadia we encountered during our time in the national park.
The first movement, "Hyperborea," was inspired by Cadillac Mountain, seen in the aftermath of a snowstorm that arrived on our first day there. The second movement is titled "Echo Lake," which is also a place within Acadia. This movement begins with a smooth, frozen texture that slowly thaws and melts away as the sun comes out. The third movement, titled "Kaleidoscope Cove," is the most flowing and bright, and characterizes the ocean dancing and crashing against the orange cliffs.
Chronologically, the movements move from frozen to melted, thawing into the arrival of spring.
Vanguard Live @ Ypsilanti Freighthouse – Red Leaf Collection by Karalyn Schubring
Happy (almost) fall, everyone! 🍁 Red Leaf Collection is another great work from our album — and its namesake! Karalyn's piece is inspired by her experiences of fall in Ann Arbor, picking up red leaves off the ground and adding them to her collection, which eventually have faded over time. As she describes, in the piece, you'll hear swirling winds of fall, bright red color chords, dancing and celebration, as well as the color fading over time.
Vanguard Live @ Ypsilanti Freighthouse – From Lidless Eyes (time knows no bounds) by Douglas Hertz
We're happy to share with you the first video from our concert in July, Douglas Hertz's "From Lidless Eyes (time knows no bounds)". We've performed Doug's work many times over the years, including at National Sawdust in 2018, and we enjoyed programming it again for our first concert back together after so long!
Inspired by "Axolotl," a short story by Julio Cortázar, Doug plays with the idea of timelessness. The pulse is often obscured, and instead, Doug moves the work forwards by slowly evolving the musical ideas.
Recorded by Sly Pup Productions
Vanguard Reed Quintet returns to First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti on April 19 for an evening of reed quintet music exploring ideas of nature, mythology, and storytelling!