The Music of Stephen Jaffe, Vol. 4 Da Capo Chamber Players, Borromeo String Quartet, David Hardy, Lambert Orkis

• Stephen Jaffe (b. 1954): Chamber Concerto No. 2 "Light Dances":
• 1 Jaffe: Chamber Concerto No. 2 "Light Dances": I. Steps 06:30
• 2 Jaffe: Chamber Concerto No. 2 "Light Dances": II. Incipit 07:26
• 3 Jaffe: Chamber Concerto No. 2 "Light Dances": III. Dance Around the Light 08:26
• String Quartet No. 2 "Aeolian and Sylvan Figures":
• 4 Jaffe: String Quartet No. 2 "Aeolian and Sylvan Figures": I. Aeolian and Sylvan Figures, in a Dance 05:18
• 5 Jaffe: String Quartet No. 2 "Aeolian and Sylvan Figures": II. Muted Interlude 02:16
• 6 Jaffe: String Quartet No. 2 "Aeolian and Sylvan Figures": III. Scherzino Chickadee 02:04
• 7 Jaffe: String Quartet No. 2 "Aeolian and Sylvan Figures": IV. Homage to the Breath 04:43
• 8 Jaffe: String Quartet No. 2 "Aeolian and Sylvan Figures": V. Push Me Pull You 05:41
• Sonata in 4 Parts:
• 9 Jaffe: Sonata in 4 Parts: I. Fantasque 07:44
• 10 Jaffe: Sonata in 4 Parts: II. Breathing, Still, Undulating 03:51
• 11 Jaffe: Sonata in 4 Parts: III. Strutting 02:52
• 12 Jaffe: Sonata in 4 Parts: IV. Finale 09:04
• Total Runtime 01:05:55

Info for The Music of Stephen Jaffe, Vol. 4

For the fourth volume of music by Stephen Jaffe, the composer writes that he is "searching for sounds and musical relationships to create something new, like a poetry-where listeners may discover lyrical expression and an arc of narrative." These premiere recordings of three works written between 2006 and 2009, offer a program featuring Jaffe's collaborations with the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Borromeo String Quartet, and National Symphony Orchestra members David Hardy, cello and Lambert Orkis, piano. Composer Stephen Jaffe's music has been featured at major concerts and festivals including the Nottingham, Tanglewood, and Oregon Bach Festivals, and performed throughout the U.S., Europe, and China by ensembles including the R.A.I. of Rome, Slovenska Filharmonija, the National Symphony, the San Francisco, North Carolina and New Jersey Symphonies, Berlin's Spectrum Concerts, London's Lontano, and many others. Jaffe's recent works include new chamber concertos including Migrations (Chamber Concerto No. 4) for walking violinist and mobile chamber ensemble, and Three Arcs (Chamber Concerto 5) for chamber ensemble with cameo chorus, written for the 200th anniversary of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia. The collaborative cantata A Forest Unfolding, composed with Eric Moe, Melinda Wagner and David Kirkland Garner, and premiered at the Portland Chamber Music Festival and New Hampshire's Electric Earth Concerts in 2018, was inspired by recent scientific work into the rich communication and subterranean connectivity between trees - evoked also in Richard Power's related novel The Overstory.

Da Capo Chamber Players
Borromeo String Quartet
Member of the National Symphony Orchestra
David Hardy, cello
Lambert Orkis, piano

David Hardy
principal cello of the National Symphony Orchestra, achieved international recognition in 1982 as the top American prize winner at the seventh International Tchaikovsky Cello Competition in Moscow. Mr. Hardy won a special prize for the best performance of the Suite for Solo Cello by Victoria Yagling, commissioned for the competition. Tass particularly praised Mr. Hardy's performance of the Dvořák Cello Concerto. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, David Hardy began his cello studies there at the age of eight. He was 16 when he made his debut as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

When he was 21 years old, Mr. Hardy won the certificate in the prestigious Geneva International Cello Competition. The next year, he was graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Laurence Lesser, Stephen Kates, and Berl Senofsky. In 1981 he was appointed to the National Symphony Orchestra as associate principal cello by its then music director, Mstislav Rostropovich. In 1994 Mr. Hardy was named principal cello of the NSO by its next music director, Leonard Slatkin. Mr. Hardy made his solo debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in 1986 with Mstislav Rostropovich conducting. A regular soloist with the NSO, Mr. Hardy, in 2004, gave the world premiere performance, with Leonard Slatkin conducting, of Stephen Jaffe's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, which was commissioned by the John and June Hechinger Fund for New Orchestral Works. Mr. Hardy gave the European premiere of the Jaffe concerto in Slovenia in 2007. Bridge Records released the premiere recording of the Concerto with Mr. Hardy and the Odense Symphony of Denmark.

The National Symphony Orchestra recording of John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1 featuring Mr. Hardy's solo cello performance won the 1996 Grammy Award® for Best Classical Album. Another recent recording—in collaboration with NSO principal keyboard Lambert Orkis—is Beethoven Past & Present, consisting of two complete performances of Beethoven's eight works for piano and cello, performed on both modern and period instruments. Mr. Hardy is a founding member of the Opus 3 Trio with violinist Charles Wetherbee and pianist Lisa Emenheiser. The Opus 3 Trio has since performed to critical acclaim across the country and has commissioned, premiered, and recorded many new works. Mr. Hardy is also a founding member of the Kennedy Center Chamber Players. Additionally, Mr. Hardy was cellist of the 20th Century Consort in Washington, D.C., where he premiered works by Stephen Albert, Nicholas Maw, and Joseph Schwantner. Mr. Hardy's playing can be heard on recordings under the Melodyia, Educo, RCA, London, Centaur, and Delos labels.

Critics in Washington and beyond have praised his virtuosic technique and deep musical sensitivity. Mr. Hardy's instruments were made by Carlo Giuseppe Testore in 1694 and Raymond Hardy in 2000.

In addition to his performing schedule, Mr. Hardy is professor of cello at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland.

Lambert Orkis
has received international recognition as a chamber musician, interpreter of contemporary music, and performer on period instruments. He has appeared in recital with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter since 1988, and he performed with cellist Mstislav Rostropovich for more than eleven years. His distinguished career also includes collaborative appearances with cellists Lynn Harrell, Anner Bylsma, and Han-Na Chang, violinist Julian Rachlin, and violist Steven Dann, and he has performed with the Vertavo, Emerson, American, Mendelssohn, Curtis, and Manchester String Quartets. As a soloist he has made appearances with conductors including Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Günther Herbig, Kenneth Slowik, John Mauceri, Robert Kapilow, Leon Fleisher, and Christopher Kendall.

A multi-Grammy nominee, his wide discography comprises works of the Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras on many labels. With Anne-Sophie Mutter, he has frequently recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, winning a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance for their recordings of Beethoven’s piano and violin sonatas, and a 2006 Choc de l’année award for their recordings of Mozart’s piano and violin sonatas. He has also recorded works of Brahms, Schumann, and Chopin/Franchomme with Dutch cellist Anner Bylsma, and with violist Steven Dann, he appears on an ATMA Classique disc of works by Brahms. Orkis has released discs on Bridge Records of solo works written for him by George Crumb, Richard Wernick, and James Primosch.

He premiered Wernick’s Piano Concerto, which was written for him, in Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington and Mstislav Rostropovich as conductor. For the recording, Orkis is paired with Symphony II of Chicago. The European premiere took place with Orkis and Het Residentie Orkest of The Hague, The Netherlands. In both instances, the composer conducted.

As a founding member of The Kennedy Center Chamber Players, comprised of principal players of the string and keyboard sections of Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, he performs to critical and audience acclaim. He also appears regularly in summer with Colorado’s Strings in the Mountains Music Festival.

A CD entitled The Beauty of Two has been released by Dorian Recordings, which includes duo sonatas by Grieg, Poulenc, Hindemith, and Martinu° performed by members of The Kennedy Center Chamber Players. His most recent solo releases on the Bridge Records label include, as fortepianist and pianist, three separate performances of Beethoven’s “Appassionata” sonata using fortepianos and a piano based upon Viennese piano-building designs. Another disc features piano music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk performed on an 1865 Chickering concert grand piano from the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Solo discs as fortepianist of Schubert works for Virgin Classics have been recorded. As founding member and fortepianist of the Smithsonian Institution’s Castle Trio, he has given many performances including several cycles of Beethoven’s 28 major works for fortepiano and strings, and produced highly regarded recordings of Beethoven and Schubert trios.

Orkis has twice served as juror of, and performed for, the Trondheim (Norway) International Chamber Music Competition and Festival. The Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition for Pianists and the Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards Competition have also engaged him as judge on several occasions. As an Honored Artist for Taiwan’s New Aspect International Music Festival, he performed and presented master classes in Taipei.

Lambert Orkis has held the position of Principal Keyboard of Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra since 1982. He is Professor of Piano at Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music in Philadelphia, where he was honored with the university’s Faculty Award for Creative Achievement.

Stephen Jaffe
Recent seasons have marked the introduction of two milestones for composer Stephen Jaffe: the world premiere of the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by the National Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin conducting, with David Hardy, cello soloist (at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.); and the premiere recording of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with the Odense Symphony of Denmark, Gregory Fulkerson, violin, and Donald Palma conducting. Both have met with warm acclaim. Stephen Jaffe’s music has been featured at major concerts and festivals including the Nottingham, Tanglewood, and Oregon Bach Festivals, and performed throughout the U.S., Europe, and China by ensembles including the R.A.I. of Rome, Slovenska Filharmonija (Slovenian Philharmonic), the National Symphony, the San Francisco, North Carolina and New Jersey Symphonies, Berlin’s Spectrum Concerts, London’s Lontano, and many others. Bridge Records has issued three discs of the composer’s music. [Preview Volume III here]. New Release, December 2018! LIGHT DANCES (Chamber Concerto No. 2) Da Capo Chamber Players, Bridge 4001. Youtube

The composer’s recent output includes Light Dances (Chamber Concerto No. 2), written for Philadelphia’s Network for New Music, and String Quartet No.2 (“Aeolian and Sylvan Figures”) commissioned by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society for the Miami Quartet, as well as two orchestral works written for the North Carolina Symphony: Poetry of the Piedmont, and Cithara mea (Evocations): Spanish Music Notebook for Orchestra, based on Spanish Renaissance music. In these works and others, Jaffe’s musical language ranges from the lyrical, singing voices of the cello and violin to an orchestral world filled with the sounds of contemporary percussion, from steel drums in the Concerto for Cello to sampled songs of Black Capped Chickadees in Poetry of the Piedmont. Another notable work is Homage to the Breath: Instrumental and Vocal Meditations for Mezzo-soprano and Ten Instruments, with a text by Thich Nhat Hanh, introduced at the Hirschorn Museum in Washington, D.C. by the 21st Century Consort, who subsequently recorded the work with mezzo-soprano Milagro Vargas on the Bridge label.

Jaffe has been the recipient of numerous awards for his work, including the Rome Prize, Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, Brandeis Creative Arts Citation, and fellowships from Tanglewood, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Bridge’s recording of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra received the Koussevitsky International Recording Award; in May, 2012, Stephen Jaffe was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Professor of Music at Duke University, where he has taught since 1981. Together with colleagues, Jaffe directs Duke’s contemporary music concert series Encounters: with the Music of Our Time, and works with a inventive and gifted group of young composers.

See Recent posts in Stephen Jaffe’s Blog, including recent writing on the collaboratively written cantata, A Forest Unfolding (premiered August 12 and 18, 2018 by New Hampshire’s Electric Earth Concerts, and Maine’s Portland Chamber Music Festival). You can find a link to “We composed it Collaboratively” an editorial written about the project with Richard Powers. Also, learn about Stephen Jaffe’s newest large ensemble work, A Symphony of Spiral and Light, for orchestral winds, brass and percussion, and new commissions and releases, including Three Arcs (Chamber Concerto No. 5) for Chamber Ensemble with optional Cameo Chorus.

Jaffe writes: “A number of 2020 premieres and recordings were postponed given the Covid-19 virus. This has been especially difficult for collaborating partners in the wide world of music, including the Kennedy Center Chamber Players (David Hardy, cello and Lambert Orkis, piano); pianist Gloria Cheng; Bridge Records; and in Philadelphia, the Network for New Music, the Pennsylvaniagirlchoir and the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia. At Duke University the partnerships on which our faculty rely to give students a world-class experience suffered terribly, and deserve your support, among many others who interested readers will want to help. These include the North Carolina Symphony; Imani Winds; Horszowski Trio; American Ballet Theater; flutist Alex Sopp and Thomas Meglioranza, baritone, and the Ciompi Quartet only this year, and are but a few of the musicians and artists who have had to rearrange everything, foregoing income and the chance to play beautifully to further art of music. May my colleagues in these circumstances, and others in more dire ones — heal and return to normal, soon.”

Among 2020’s awful losses are remembered Cosmas Magaya, the great mbira practitioner, Diane Moser, a multi-faceted pianist, composer and sound artist. In 2021, the deaths of James Primosch and Louise Andriessen are especially pungent.

Booklet for The Music of Stephen Jaffe, Vol. 4