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Compositional challenges
In 1983, composer Peter Jancewicz’s wife gave him a book of poetry by e.e. cummings. He looked at it, then put it away. Seventeen years later, Jancewicz found the poems calling out to him again, inspiring him to write a piece called "this is a beautiful way," which will be performed in concert by the Land’s End Chamber Ensemble on May 17.
"Most of the poetry has to do with love," says Jancewicz. "The piece was written in (the) spring of 2000 when I was going through some difficulties, and I wanted to use these poems, with their positive outlook and beautiful imagery."
Jancewicz was forced to take a break from performance piano due to a hand injury, but he turned this challenging situation into an opportunity for growth, and began to focus on composition.
"Composing is something I always wanted to do, but never followed. The injury gave me the impetus to change things," he says.
Soprano Lisa Lowry is coming from Indiana to perform Jancewicz’s piece, as well as Maurice Ravel’s "Chansons Madecasses" for piano, flute, cello and soprano. Her brother, John Lowry, violinist for Land’s End and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, says he is happy to be performing the Ravel composition with his sister.
"Ravel wrote this piece in the 1920s, at the time French artists and musicians tried to evoke exoticism," he says. "This music... still sounds very exotic to our ears."
John Lowry will also perform the Gyorgy Ligeti composition, "Trio for Violin," which he calls a masterwork.
"Ligeti is one of the biggest composers of the late 20th century," he says. "This piece reflects his brooding and depressive nature, yet there are extremely beautiful elements. It is a difficult piece to play – there are fast sections, and other sections are very lyrical."
The other works on the program include the more well known Arvo Pärt’s "Fratres," and the première of "Passages" by Albert Wong, who recently won the Land’s End Composers Competition.
"We try to combine works that are more accessible with some challenging pieces, like the Ligeti," says John Lowry. "This way we hope to reach even conservative Calgary audiences. No one else is doing exactly what we at Land’s End do. I enjoy playing with Land’s End because as a smaller group we have more autonomy, can take some risks and be more adventurous and creative." |
