Tomb of the Unknown Composer
(Le Tombeau du Compositeur Inconnu)
for Violin, Viola, and Violoncello
September 11--November 15, 2010;
revised and orchestrated Dec. 17 2024--in progress
Duration: about 19 minutes
for Eric Pritchard
The early version of this trio was titled Ananda Trio, and it was premiered on my
Feb. 22, 2011 concert at Nelson Music Room,Duke University
Eric Pritchard, violin; Yoram Youngerman, viola;
Elizabeth Marshall, cello
Recording of the first version;
Introduction
by
Pat Marriot, from the WHQR
broadcast of Sept. 26, 2011 (mp3)
video (YouTube) MP3 recording WAV recording (CD quality)
Exit
by
Pat Marriott, WHQR (mp3)
These scores and parts are of the
first version, and will be replaced by the revised trio when the orchestration
is complete. The cover is of the new version.
Full Score,
PDF Parts (f&b, 8.5"x11")
Cover
I.
Prélude [7:13]
An Excellent Tempo
II. Dr. Albert Hofmann's Bike Ride [6:10]
Toccata velocipedia
III. Pavane pour en Enfant Terrible
[5:52]
Grave
Originally, this trio was intended as a sketch for the first three movements of
a symphony, which would have an extra movement as a finale. Soon after
finishing this trio, I came down with a lingering case of bronchitis, and
reconsidered the prospects of the larger scale version. In time the idea for
expansion to a symphony died away, especially as the trio was quite idiomatic
for the three instruments.
This trio originally had
the title Birthday Trio because the potential fourth movement of the
symphony would be based on a speech by Martin Luther King—who, like me, was
born on January 15. That symphony (with no material from the trio) was
performed in 2016 by the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra and the last movement by
the Durham Symphony. It didn't pass muster in my mind, and it is now disposed
of. In December 2024, I revised the trio, and then orchestrated it, with its
current title.
The piece harks back to Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin mostly to take
advantage of the cool title, and to point out the presumption of composers like
myself who labor in almost total obscurity. Ravel took great liberties with the
form, and I do the same. I don’t include any of Ravel’s music explicitly in this
piece, as taking the title is sufficient larceny. My debt to Ravel is in the
fabric of most of my music.
The second movement's title refers to the famous bicycle ride of Dr. Albert
Hofmann, respected Swiss chemist, who took the world's first acid trip in 1943.
He died at age 102 in 2008. The music approximates a toccata.
The third movement, despite its title (Pavane pour un enfant terrible)
taken from Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte, is one of the most
serious and dark movements I’ve written.
This trio, then titled Ananda Trio, was first performed at Duke
University on February 22, 2011
by Eric Pritchard, violin; Yoram Youngerman, viola; and Elizabeth Marshall,
cello. The violin part is Eric’s edition.
cover art: Greenwood Memorial
Park, Centralia, WA, The Daily Chronicle, 3/10/2017
Musician Biographies
Elizabeth
Marshall, cellist, is
graduate of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM). She was born in Las
Vegas, Nevada, where she received Top Prize in the Bolognini International
Strings Competition in 1998. She later went on to win the Silver State
Chamber Music Award in 1999. While completing her Bachelor of Music and
Artist Diploma degrees at CCM and studying with Lee Fiser, Ms. Marshall toured
Boston in December of 2000 as a member of the Adriatic Piano Trio. She
performed in Beijing and Tianjin, China in August and September of 2002 as a
founding member of the Reverie Piano Quartet. Ms. Marshall was the cello
instructor for the International Youth Music Festival and the Bowling Green
String Festival in the summer of 2006.
Elizabeth became an Artist in
Residence at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, in 2005 and
served as the cello instructor at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, from 2005
to 2008. As a member of the Eastern
Piano Trio, the ensemble in residence at Heidelberg, Elizabeth maintained a
rigorous teaching and performing schedule and also worked as a consultant for
Cleveland Violins, where her interest in lutherie developed. As the Executive
Director for Desert Strings in Las Vegas, she continued to study instrument and
bow repair and restoration. Elizabeth Marshall received a position at Pasewicz
String Instrument in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the Fall of 2010 where she
serves on the restoration staff and is the workshop manager.
Eric Pritchard, violinist, has been a member of Ciompi
Quartet since 1995 and was formerly the first violinist of the Alexander and
Oxford Quartets. Mr. Pritchard has taught at Miami University, San Francisco
State University, City University of New York and the North Carolina School of
the Arts. He was winner of the National Federation of Music Clubs Award in
Violin as well as the first-prize winner at the Portsmouth (England)
International String Quartet Competition and the Coleman and Fischoff national
chamber music competitions. He has performed widely as a recitalist and as
soloist with the Boston Pops and orchestras in Europe and South America. His
major teachers were Eric Rosenblith, Josef Gingold, Ivan Galamian and Isadore
Tinkleman and he holds degrees from Indiana University and the Juilliard
School. He has performed many works by Bill Robinson since 2006.
Yoram Youngerman, viola, has performed in major venues
worldwide including the Lincoln Center, New York; Barbican Center, London and
other venues in Washington, Toronto, Amsterdam, Zurich, San Francisco, and
Berlin. He has performed extensively around the country as a member of the international
award-winning Amernet String quartet and has been invited to collaborate with
prominent ensembles, including the Tokyo String Quartet, Ying String Quartet,
members of the Cleveland String Quartet, Ciompi String Quartet, and as a guest
solo artist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Youngerman served on the faculty of the
University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Northern Kentucky
University, and East Carolina University. At ECU, he was also director of the
Chamber Music Program. More recently he spent a year teaching at the Jerusalem
Rubin Academy of Music in Israel before returning to Chapel Hill. He now lives
primarily in Israel.
