FRANK STEMPER, COMPOSER
Home Again (1991-92)
for brass trio [8 mins.]
Premiered 15 May 1992 in Riga, Latvia.
Subsequent performances 1993 at Southern Illinois University and on the Society of Composers, Inc. Annual Conference.
Opus 27 — A.S.C.A.P. work I.D. 381939779
SCORE
Subsequent performances 1993 at Southern Illinois University and on the Society of Composers, Inc. Annual Conference.
Opus 27 — A.S.C.A.P. work I.D. 381939779
SCORE
NOTES
This piece was premiered in 1992 in Riga, Latvia. After the fall of the Soviet Union, relationships were made between musicians at Southern Illinois University and the Riga Conservatory of Music. I was the contact with composers in Riga, and there were exchanges between the United States and Riga. Latvian composers Pēteris Plakidis and Valdis Zilverus became great friends. And, like many of the musicians and composers, their musicality was so strong that it transcended what seemed to be possible. Once, speaking to my class in Illinois, Pēteris, a pianist, sat at the piano to play one of his works. The piece began with a single note, near the bottom of the piano’s register. When Pēteris played the note, and held it, it seemed to express emotion and somehow included rhythm, color, and changing dynamics — something that is not possible from a single note on the piano. I was amazed. Valdis Zilverus visited the U.S. during the 1992 presidential election, and his giddy attitude toward EVERYTHING was infectious. I invited Valdis to our election night party. He watched the TV coverage as if he was in a trance, but also appreciated our crowd of people, which was quite diverse. I can still hear him cheering the winner of the election, whom he called, “your President Cleeenton.” Both of these composers seemed to be positively affected by their experiences with the sudden freedom they felt when the USSR fell.
Although I traveled frequently to premieres of my music, I could not always attend. Because of my busy schedule, I was not able to attend the premiere in Riga. Thus, my music has been to many places than I have – Tokyo, Australia, Alaska, Rio, New Zealand, Singapore, etc. I had been traveling quite a bit in those years, something I was not entirely happy about – I was the father of five young children. Although music, my music, is the focus of my professional life, there is no comparison between it and the focus of my entire life, which is my family. I would always be somewhat melancholy when leaving my family to travel abroad for musical reasons. Those many, many trips would be interesting, gratifying, and professionally rewarding, but I would always be most happy the travel was completed, and I could go HOME AGAIN.
This piece was premiered in 1992 in Riga, Latvia. After the fall of the Soviet Union, relationships were made between musicians at Southern Illinois University and the Riga Conservatory of Music. I was the contact with composers in Riga, and there were exchanges between the United States and Riga. Latvian composers Pēteris Plakidis and Valdis Zilverus became great friends. And, like many of the musicians and composers, their musicality was so strong that it transcended what seemed to be possible. Once, speaking to my class in Illinois, Pēteris, a pianist, sat at the piano to play one of his works. The piece began with a single note, near the bottom of the piano’s register. When Pēteris played the note, and held it, it seemed to express emotion and somehow included rhythm, color, and changing dynamics — something that is not possible from a single note on the piano. I was amazed. Valdis Zilverus visited the U.S. during the 1992 presidential election, and his giddy attitude toward EVERYTHING was infectious. I invited Valdis to our election night party. He watched the TV coverage as if he was in a trance, but also appreciated our crowd of people, which was quite diverse. I can still hear him cheering the winner of the election, whom he called, “your President Cleeenton.” Both of these composers seemed to be positively affected by their experiences with the sudden freedom they felt when the USSR fell.
Although I traveled frequently to premieres of my music, I could not always attend. Because of my busy schedule, I was not able to attend the premiere in Riga. Thus, my music has been to many places than I have – Tokyo, Australia, Alaska, Rio, New Zealand, Singapore, etc. I had been traveling quite a bit in those years, something I was not entirely happy about – I was the father of five young children. Although music, my music, is the focus of my professional life, there is no comparison between it and the focus of my entire life, which is my family. I would always be somewhat melancholy when leaving my family to travel abroad for musical reasons. Those many, many trips would be interesting, gratifying, and professionally rewarding, but I would always be most happy the travel was completed, and I could go HOME AGAIN.