Harlan Otter
The Great Longing

Said a Blade of Grass – Khalil Gibran

These two songs make up movements three and four of my song cycle The Madman, my thesis composition for my graduate degree at San Jose State University. The Madman was conceived in 2009 upon an impetuous from Professor Layna Chianakas; because of two semesters' worth of accompanying work (at that time) for her vocal studio, she graciously offered to sing a composition of mine. Initially I put this idea on the "back-burner," as at the time my thesis was to be a piano concerto utilizing Indian compositional techniques. After several months of wrestling with my lack of knowledge of the Indian classical music style (and the realization it would be a big folly to waste an opportunity to write for such an immense talent), I decided to take Professor Chianakas's offer up en masse and to write my thesis composition for her voice. When I discussed my interest in transcendentalism with her, Prof. Chianakas suggested I set parts of Khalil Gibran's The Prophet; unfortunately this work is still under copyright. But another, earlier, uncopyrighted text by Gibran moved me equally: The Madman. However, the two sets of poems differed radically from each other in tone; where The Prophet takes a lyrical, universally philosophical path, The Madman exhibits much neurosis, introspection, and doubt.

My setting of The Madman consists of four songs spread over five movements: "Night and the Madman I," "Defeat," "The Great Longing," "Said a Blade of Grass," and "Night and the Madman II." While "Night and the Madman" and "Defeat" consists of the Madman's callous, quixotic boasting, "The Great Longing," reflects what actually troubles the Madman's soul. Here I strove to portray the intense yearning of the Madman with still, quiet expressions, to contrast with the bombastic statements of the previous two movements. While the whole song cycle is scored for Pierrot Lunaire ensemble, I decided to write "The Great Longing" solely for piano, percussion, and voice. Besides the great ethereal effect that accompanimental percussion can have, I wanted to make a symbolic gesture of the abandonment of ego through the players leaving their instruments, and taking up something new and remote.

"Said a Blade of Grass" is the shortest movement of The Madman and a song I conceived as a light interlude between the larger pillars of the cycle. The song is a parable told by the Madman about begrudging transformation, and reflects the Madman's desire to move from a being uneasy with himself to change into a peaceful, eternal being. I was musically directly inspired by the minuet-interludes of Mahler's symphonies, and the roles they play in to bridge colossal expressions into a cohesive whole using contrast of mood and language.

Consolation – William Butler Yeats

In the summer of 2007, I had the great opportunity to be on the staff of the Cabrillo Music Festival in Santa Cruz, California. Part of this festival is a recital of young composers' compositions, and that year I was fortunate enough to be asked to write a piece for the staff orchestra for that performance. While writing the piece I used my good friend Crista Harrington's voice as a guiding light, imagining her singing the vocal line while I composed. However, a stipulation of the recital is that only staff members could perform the work, and Ms. Harrington did not sing the premiere (although she was in the audience). I am very happy to have her present the professional premiere, since the bright, quasi-coloratura suits her singing style well. The poem I chose to set is by William Butler Yeats, a favorite poet of mine. "Consolation" is a reflection of my on-going interest in transcendentalism, as the consoling is not for a particular individual but the woes of humanity in general. To capture the essence of that comfort, I decided to use a consonant musical language as free as possible from drama and strife, and to make the music surge forward in a single statement of peace achieved through redemption.

Tristan Perotti
Songs of Matrimony

These songs are based on poems written by Bay Area poet and teacher Max Gutmann. They inspired me with their emotional complexities and unique perspectives on relationships and fidelity. Each one deals, in some way, with a relationship in times of turmoil (external and internal) and transition. One is told from the perspective of a mother trying to confirm her suspicions of her husband, another from the eyes of a naïve paramour convinced of his lovers true affections. The music attempts to illuminate, as the poems themselves effectively do, a brief but telling glimpse into the emotional states of the characters at these potentially tumultuous moments in their live.

Reverie for the Right Brain

In this tone poem, the soprano takes on the personification of the right hemisphere of the human brain. Although contemporary neuroscience has begun to shed light on the complicated web of communications which begin to blur the lines of simple bilateral symmetry, it make an interesting project to imagine that the left and right brain had had enough of each other and perhaps wanted some time alone and in their elements. In this piece, the right hemispheres is lamenting the left brains insistence on the use of language and discreet thinking in favor of a more holistic indistinguishableness that the right brain is often attributed with. I plan to expand this project into three pieces: one representing the left hemisphere and the other the corpus callosum, which acts as a mediator to facilitate reconciliation and repair a broken bond.

Jason McChristian
Songs of My Aims

More information at jasonmcchristian.com

Composed 2010 for Jillian Boye / Text by Walt Whitman

I. Germs - Referencing the idea of small details making up larger formations, as expressed in the Whitman poem, I created a brief gesture made of cascading pitches This gesture progresses throughout the work and varies texturally and harmonically.

II. Voices - This song features flourishes of arpeggios and flowing triplets signifying the joy expressed by the poem's narrator.

III. When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer - The narrator of this poem was not swayed by the lecturer's sterile and purely academic approach to astronomy, but instead found wonder in the stars by simply gazing upward. This song begins with alternating couplings of fourths and fifths in the highest register of the piano, depicting the uninspiring calculations of the lecturer. Bell-like gestures mark a return to a more awe-inspiring and sincere fascination of the stars.

IV. Thoughts - This final song conveys the sense of finality expressed in the poem. Utilizing quartal and quintal sonorities, this song takes on a patient and passive quality. As the narrator of the poem alludes to, and finally states Death, the music becomes more chromatic creating tense agitation. The passive quality returns quickly, however, and the work gently comes to a close.

Amanda Mikaelsson
Solo for Marimba

Amanda Mikaelsson is a senior at San Jose State University studying music composition with Dr. Pablo Furman. She plays the clarinet and also studied the piano with Dr. Gwendolyn Mok. Some of her recent works have been performed by the SJSU saxophone quartet and the SJSU Symphonic Band. Last year she won the AUSS Western Division scholarship for her saxophone quartet.

One: Movement one features pedal tones and the rhythmic feeling of 2 against 3.

Two: Movement two begins in the same tonality as movement one, but the texture is much different. Again there is the feel of 2 against 3. Movement two features quartal and quintal harmonies.