Music as Meditation

Music as Meditation 

Sunday, March 5, 2017 at Christ Church in North Conway, NH

Did you ever feel the need to step into a space where words are few and far between? Music as Meditation is a monthly concert designed to facilitate reflection. There may be some speaking at the beginning and there is usually a written program, but once the music starts, it continues, with spaces of silence in between the pieces. The gathering offers listeners a chance for reflection and musicians a chance to share music. 

For me, music often acts as a balm to a heart sore from living in our modern world. The act of meditating frequently takes the form of playing music--for my own quietude and as a way to get in touch with what some Eastern religions might call the source. Music as Meditation is my attempt to share this spirit with listeners.

If you are a regular at Music as Meditation, you might note how often I use nature pictures to advertise the event. My reason for that  is that the experience of playing music I "hear" from the ether resembles, for me, the experience of walking through the words, or working in my garden. It is restorative, perhaps because it helps me really understand my time-limited and small place in the universe; it helps me stay in the present moment.

This picture above helped me to think about the what Charles Eisenstein calls "The Law of Return." Though I don't think I can say that I am always at peace when I think of this law and how it affects me and the people I love, looking at Birch Trees with peeling bark and lots of epiphytes helps me approach peaceful contemplation of returning.

The music in this month's Meditation follows this kind of theme. It is cyclical, but ever-changing. I will play another installment in my quest to learn all of Edward McDowell's First Modern Suite (opus 10). I'll also play a selection from my new friend Harriet Katz called Skein of Silk. Doris Henney will join me in this work. I'll be playing the same piece at a concert in Baltimore later this month--an endeavor I find just as important to my current self as Music as Meditation.

Some of the music this month comes from my concert schedule on April 29th called Hearing Color; Seeing Sound. I've been having a great time living with a painting by Stephen Kull, pictured above. I see new colors and think of new ideas every time I see this painting. My friend and colleague Mike Sakash is going to take a turn at babysitting this painting next to see what kind of music it stirs up in him. We will both be sharing our results at Fryeburg Academy on April 29th. Watch this spot for a blog about this show when it is a little closer in time.

Music as Meditation takes place on first Sundays of each month at Christ Episcopal Church on the corner of Pine and Main Streets in North Conway. Free admission. Call 447-2898 or e-mail me at ellen.m.schwindt@gmail.com for more information. The event is free. I hope to share the reflection time with you.

Planning for

The Comic and The Divine

     This weekend holds an enormous glut of music activities ranging from the hilarious to the transcendent. Perhaps those two charachteristic exist within the same piece! 

    On Friday at noon,  my school offers a Jokes Concert at our new building. you can read all about it below. It's been delightful to get to work with five very different pianists in my community. We're playing music that runs the gambit of human experience. The most sure thing about the program is that it will bring laughter to all who attend, musicians and listeners alike. 

     On Saturday, after the experiencing the joy of lots of elementary and middle school students playing in state-wide orchestras, I'll head to Mountain Top Music's 24 hours of Music event to kick off the Composers' Carnival. That event brings together composers and players for a lightening-fast creative experience. Composers find out who they are writing for at 6 PM on Saturday. They hand in their scores and parts at 6:00 AM Sunday morning. Rehearsals begin at 9:30 and the pieces are premiered at noon on Sunday.

    But even that is not all, the weekend concludes with a Music as Meditation event at 5:00 PM on Sunday, April 3, at Christ Church in North Conway. This time, Natalia Shevchuk, Nancy Farris and I are offering our music. Though the spirit of the weekend may change the program on Sunday, Natalia is planning to play Prokofiev and Schubert. Nancy and I will play a Poulenc Sonata for four-hands. I will improvise on some of the themes that come up from the Composers' Conference. I hope to share some laughter and some joy with you!

 

Music as Meditation

In a few minutes, I will head to Christ Church in North Conway for a Music as Meditation event. This is the fifth one of these events. I don't expect, despite that number, that it will be anything like the others.

At this one I'm planning to play all solo piece, some written down, others improvised. I will try to use the whole space. I seem to have chosen, without really planning to, several pieces in the same key or at least in the same tonal family. 

I've been thinking a lot about influences, and perhaps that will be the theme of today's event. How another person's musical language affects my own is obvious to me. I enjoy improvising after playing a piece by someone else--it always changes how I improvise. But my voice is still the same despite the influences. 

It is often easy to tell the musical era a composer comes from just from listening, even if you don't know the music. We humans tend to have a huge impact on each other.
Perhaps this has implications for life, too. I will ask a question about influences at the beginning of today's event. I do hope people tell me what they think, here or in person, about this deeply human phenomenon. 

In case you are reading this after the fact and want to attend, don't despair. There are more musical meditations planned. 

Dialogues

     Who says conversation has to involve words? On Saturday, January 30, and Sunday, January 31, you can witness Dialogues, a performance of new music with dance and visual art. Ellen Schwindt composed a set of five duets for violin and viola and Jeanne Limmer choreographed them. They are counterpoint—a musical conversation involving similar but independent parts. Jeanne brings out the human side of this idea through evocative movement, using the talents of four expressive dancers: Jeanne herself with Lori Richardson, Jamie Robinson, and Kelley Simpson. Ellen Schwindt and Chris Nourse will play these duets while the dancers move around them.

     Ralph Farris, founding and artistic director and violist of the string quartet Ethel contributes two pieces to the concert. Ralph's sense of humor comes through in his table top music for two violins. Chris Nourse and Ralph will bring this duet to life. Ralph is also contributing a piece for viola and piano that he and his mother will play. His mother commissioned this piece in honor of his father, Ralph H. Farris, Sr.

     A reprise of Ellen Schwindt's viola sonata will be performed by a mother-son duo in the concert. Ralph Farris works with Nancy Farris, pianist and organist known in these parts for her contributions to choral music through organizing and accompanying, to play this neo-romantic sonata. During this performance a montage of projected photography provides a narrative-without-words for the listener. The photographic images include a narrative of sorts that may be described as two walks and a nap.

     George Wiese brings his virtuosic trombone playing to realize Ellen Schwindt's newly penned Cycles for Trombone and Piano. The Cycles are composed on an altered scale related to the familiar blues scale. This scale has two distinct centers, rather than the one we are used to with our normal Ionic and Aeolian scales. You may think of the two nodes of the scale as analogous to the two foci of an ellipse.

     Saturday's concert takes place at the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center at Fryeburg Academy. It is presented by and benefits Mountain Top Music Center. Tickets are $15 at the door. Sunday's Concert is at 3 PM at the Dance Studio on the campus of Brewster Academy and benefits The Composer's Consortium. For more information contact Ellen Schwindt at 603-447-2898 or ellen.m.schwindt@gmail.com.

This is what's coming up--I get to play some of my music in my hometown! Two chamber works anchor the program. First is a trio I wrote for my friends in 2012. Now new friends and former teachers will get to play it! You can listen to it here: Trio for Flute, Saxophone, and Piano
The players in this recording are Mike Sakash on Saxophone, Julia Hendrickson on flute, and me on piano.

Gayle McMillen, who tried to teach me something about Jazz piano many long summers ago will play the piano. David Higbee will play saxophone, and Julia Lankhorst will play flute. I can't wait to hear it interpreted by new players!

The other large chamber work on the program is my string quartet. I premiered it on January 24th with my friends Larry Blaine on violin, Doug Kendall on cello and Chris Nourse on viola. I played second violin.

In the concert my former teacher Susan Higbee will play cello, Ann Samuelson will play first violin, and Karen Chapman, current strings teacher in Salina will play viola. I can't wait to play with Susan and with my new friends in Salina. The piece depicts some interior landscapes in what I hope is kind of psychologically programmatic way. It's called Four Modes of Consciousness: Trouble, Resolve, Industry, Quiet. One of my friends suggested I make a repeat sign at either ends of the descriptions of consciousness be part of the title--I know what she means. We humans seem to cycle through these stages over and over again.

You can listen to it here: Four Modes of Consciousness: Trouble, Resolve, Industry, Quiet

I hope you can join us on June 21st in Salina for the concert. If not, stay tuned to this blog for some documentary recordings after the fact.

Viola Sonata Performances

     When I was 45 years old I made a conscious goal that my music would be played at least 50 miles from home by someone not related to me. And lo and behold, that goal has become reality! Sally Wituszynski performs my viola sonata at Marc O'Connor's string camp which you can read about here.  To get ready for that performance, Sally and I played it at a wonderful festival to celebrate the shaker tune Simple Gifts held at the Alfred Shaker Museum in Alfred, Maine. That wasn't quite 50 miles from home, but almost. I'm so glad to reach my goal--Thank you Sally!

If you're so inclined, you can listen to my viola sonata on You-tube!

     Finally! There is a composition of mine on You-Tube. Search on Viola Sonata Allegretto and you will find the first movement of the sonata I wrote last year. Chris Nourse helped me refine it and then premiered it with me in November of 2013. Chad Cummings recorded it. And now, finally, I've posted it.

     I hope that other violists and pianists will find it satisfying to play. You can download the sheet music here. As I like to do, I'm holding a creative commons license, but I welcome non-commercial use with credit.

     Here's the picture I decided to attach to the video. I think the textures could correlate to the varied textures of the piece. But maybe that's a bit abstract. I hope you enjoy the music.