FRANK STEMPER, COMPOSER
Dreams (1984)
for woodwind quintet [14 min.]
Commissioned by the New American Woodwind Quintet, who never performed it.
World Premiere 13 & 15 February 1988 by the Quintette Concorde at the American Library and then live on Romanian National Radio in Bucharest, Romania, with many additional performances in Europe and the Orient;
American Premiere 16 March 1989 by the Sylvan Winds in Carnegie Hall, New York City.
Opus 13 — A.S.C.A.P. work I.D. 34233879
World Premiere 13 & 15 February 1988 by the Quintette Concorde at the American Library and then live on Romanian National Radio in Bucharest, Romania, with many additional performances in Europe and the Orient;
American Premiere 16 March 1989 by the Sylvan Winds in Carnegie Hall, New York City.
Opus 13 — A.S.C.A.P. work I.D. 34233879
NOTES
DREAMS unfolds in three continuous sections:
Each section is meant to release the tension created by the music preceding it, implying that the first section won’t release any tension, nor with the third create any. A feature of this music is its lack of transitions, each new one beginning without preparation. Similarly, the third section consists of many subsections, which recall fragments of the first two sections, and which appear and disappear as suddenly and without purpose as — well the way dreams occur.
Speaking of dreams, the STORY of the commission and premiere performances is an interesting one, full of international intrigue, pathos within academia, and a very happy ending. Check IT out
DREAMS unfolds in three continuous sections:
- SERIOUS
6 minutes of sustained harmonies with various bursts of energy — building tension - VERY SERIOUS
2 minutes of dense expressionistic music — Simultaneously releasing and building tension - ZANY
6 minutes of childish meandering events — releasing all tension
Each section is meant to release the tension created by the music preceding it, implying that the first section won’t release any tension, nor with the third create any. A feature of this music is its lack of transitions, each new one beginning without preparation. Similarly, the third section consists of many subsections, which recall fragments of the first two sections, and which appear and disappear as suddenly and without purpose as — well the way dreams occur.
Speaking of dreams, the STORY of the commission and premiere performances is an interesting one, full of international intrigue, pathos within academia, and a very happy ending. Check IT out