Category Archives: Chamber Music

The Nobility of Women, Delaware press

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From the Flute Pro Shop: “a total triumph… entrancing… fresh harmonic language, and counterpoint (this is counterpoint that is not always  imitative-very interesting!) and instrumentation which reminds me of operatic ensembles in which each character retains their personality….Kile Smith’s musical voice is unique and compelling.”

From Delaware Arts Info: “The work is a series of dances which have both a baroque inspiration and a modern treatment– especially the fanfare of the Overture. Smith’s mastery of detail (his years as librarian of the Fleisher collection made their mark) was evident in his his careful consideration of each instrument as a soloist.”

Both had illuminating, complimentary, and well-deserved comments about the players, including this: “Priscilla Smith brought a very fresh and unadorned mastery of baroque oboe to the fore as she played the beautiful, quiet and almost vibrato-free melodies of Telemann and Couperin. Her youth and talent promise a great deal for her future. She already has an impressive resume of performances as a baroque player.”

Huzzahs to Priscilla and Mélomanie!

The Nobility of Women, Chestnut Hill Local

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Referring to Vespers and saying that I have made a name from  “composing new music for older instruments,” Michael Caruso in the Chestnut Hill Local calls The Nobility of Women “concisely pointed character sketches of baroque dances.”

I can’t deny that I’ve become known as someone who can write for historical instruments. Mélomanie approached me about a piece for them—which became Nobility—after they heard Vespers. The Crossing and the Baroque orchestra Tempesta di Mare talked to me about The Waking Sun after Vespers.

People sometimes ask me if I mind. I suppose McLean Stevenson was asked if he minded being Lt. Col. Henry Blake on M*A*S*H. I don’t mind. I love it. If people think that’s what I do, fine, as I love writing for all kinds of instruments, and love the challenge of releasing the gorgeous sounds of recorders, dulcians, gambas, or what have you.

But I don’t think of myself that way. I’ve composed choral music, lots of orchestral works, and songs and chamber music for decades. I’m working on many different projects now, none of which use “early” instruments. If I go back to it, I’d be delighted, though.

Caruso had nice things to say, including that “Melomanie gave The Nobility of Women a sterling reading.”

The Nobility of Women, Philadelphia Inquirer

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The “kind of musical layering that makes his choral works so entrancing” spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s David Patrick Stearns in his review of The Nobility of Women, my premiere with Mélomanie this past weekend. It’s a dance suite for Baroque flute, oboe, violin, cello, and viola da gamba and harpsichord, and is about 20 minutes long in eight dances.

He said that the piece hit its stride when “a big, interesting harpsichord flourish invaded the third movement,” and continued to say that the “Sarabande had an oboe solo full of eloquent, Italianate longing, while the final-movement Ciaccona was packed with individual star turns.” He relates Nobility to the line of “works as diverse as Stravinsky’s Agon and Respighi’s popular Ancient Arts and Dances.“

There were small and not-so-small solos throughout the piece. Daughter Priscilla (the oboist) played beautifully in that Sarabande solo, as did everyone, who weaved the lovely sounds of these instruments into the ensemble. Stearns rightly singled out “the poised soulfulness of Boismortier’s Suite in D minor, played with particular depth by the wonderful viola da gamba player Donna Fournier.”

I liked the Telemann more than he did, but I realize that I may be in the minority. Telemann just doesn’t miss with me, the Dvorak of the Baroque. But lots of people, I’ve found, think of Telemann’s output as they do of much of Hindemith’s. And I can’t say I’ve ever been bored by Hindemith, either. Even the notey stuff I love.

Mark Hagerty’s clever and delightful Variations on a Theme by Steely Dan rounded out the concert, along with Couperin dances for Priscilla.

I had a blast writing for this wonderful group. Their commitment to the piece revealed little explosions of surprise that captivated me.

Profile in the Philadelphia Inquirer

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Some scattered thoughts on the interview with David Patrick Stearns in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer.

Generous remarks by him, and by Donald Nally. Very generous. Am I notoriously self-effacing? Notoriously? I mentioned the Hi-Lo’s in a Broad Street Review article on Milton Babbitt (Stearns had done his homework), and don’t you know, in the living room right next to the sofa where he sat, the LP leaning against the turntable stand, “The Hi-Lo’s and All That Jazz.” Well, Gene Puerling’s chops do make it into Vespers, but more as an approach to counterpoint than anything else. Or…?

Knowing your own influences is tricky. I hear more Praetorius, Nicolai, Lutheran in Vespers, he hears Anglican. Go figure. I sent a new photo and they used the scruffy one from the recording sessions. Ugh (self-effacing, ha), but somebody likes it, I guess. Shout-out to Mélomanie, good! Can’t wait for those concerts.

I’m no pushover? Thought I was. He liked the birds, that’s good. And it’s true, we have German names for all the wildlife: Fritz, Hunding, Steffi, Gottlob (although him I’d like to trap and release in Pennypack, enough’s enough already). I’m incredibly blessed. All around. NY press, probably won’t be any, that’ll teach me to worry.

Apparently I said the word “butt.”

The Nobility of Women, first rehearsal

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Mélomanie rehearsed my new dance suite, The Nobility of Women, Monday night for the first time. More of a read-through, it gave us a chance to get to know the eight dances, lock some tempos in, and identify possible issues. The 20-minute work takes its name from the 1600 dance instruction manual Nobiltà di Dame by Fabritio Caroso.

The name of the book alone captivated me. Although there is no other significant connection between it and my music, I imagined a piece that would grow out of a work with that name. The players in Mélomanie are all skilled in Baroque and new music, and I’ve enjoyed writing for historical instruments in the past. The sound-world is entrancing, and I’ve tried to compose a work that would release the beauties of these fabulous instruments.

It was a lovely first hearing. I sat between Douglas, the cellist, and Tracy and Mark’s Christmas tree, a great way to listen to a rehearsal!

I’m delighted to have the opportunity to write for my daughter Priscilla again, this time on Baroque oboe, a first for me. Listening to her and all these wonderful players has been a joy and an enlightenment. Also a first: writing for Baroque flute, viola da gamba, and harpsichord. Baroque cello and violin I had a go at previously with The Waking Sun, the setting of Seneca which premiered this past summer with The Crossing and Tempesta di Mare.

Oh, the dances: Overture, Allemande, Branle, Musette, Canario, Sarabande, Branle Reprise, Ciaccona. Among the other music on the program is some Telemann Tafelmusik and a work by Mark Hagerty inspired by Steely Dan’s “Babylon Sisters” (Priscilla’s playing modern oboe on that).

I’m looking forward to the performances, which are on January 14th and 15th in Wilmington and Philadelphia. More later as we get deeper into it.

Dancing at Ursinus

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This Broad Land, my work for soprano saxophone and piano, will be featured in three performances Thursday to Saturday, Nov 17-19, by The Ursinus College Dance Company. This will explain its relation to Lincoln, Clapton, and Puccini, I think. New works from Ursinus faculty and New York choreographer Colleen Thomas are also on the bill. My thanks to Peter DiMuro and Meredith Lyons for programming this, to Cathy Young for the choreography, to all the spirited dancers, and of course to Holly Gaines and John French for playing it. I get to see it Friday!

Plain Truths “the high point”: The Boston Musical Intelligencer

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William Lloyd Garrison

Plain Truths, just premiered at the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival, picks up a nice review in The Boston Musical Intelligencer, the journal and blog of the classical music scene in Boston. Sudeep Agarwala likes the “early-American sound-world” of the ballads and “harmonically complex backdrop” of other songs, and calls the second song, “Annie Lisle,” “particularly heart-rending.” Read the entire review here.