chamber orchestra - Three Rivers (2001)
Duration - 11:30
Fl (pic), 2 cl(Eb, bcl), bsn, tpt, trtbn, perc, drum kit, keyboard, vln, vlc, db
Commissioned by WNYC radio for Kitchen House Blend.
Three Rivers (2001) was inspired by a trip to Pittsburgh, during which I spent several hours staring, mesmerized, at the tumultuous and strikingly beautiful meeting point of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers. During the course of the piece, three rhythmic currents - a thick soup of lugubrious funk, a series of undulating mid-tempo phrases, and frenetically bubbling passages at maniacal speed - mix and collide, at times flowing separately, at other moments concurrently. Two guided improvisations of indeterminate length are framed by the three larger sections of the work. Three Rivers was commissioned by WNYC radio and premiered by House BLend at the Kitchen, conducted by the composer.
“Three Rivers by Derek Bermel, a new-music composer who has dipped into rock and African music, finessed the distinction between big band and chamber ensemble. As the themes overlapped, grappled, fused and pulled apart, the earthy beat and angular melodies made the music swagger like a more abstract ‘West Side Story.’”
“[Three Rivers] is put together with a crafty imagination that constantly keeps the ear off-guard…one sonic knockout I’d love to hear again.”
SCORE & Parts Rental
Find all of Derek Bermel’s works on Peer Music Classical.
PROGRAM NOTES
The three rhythmic currents in "Three Rivers" at times flow separately, and at other times concurrently; often they mix and collide. The opening lugubrioso material is linear, and its musical shapes should yield approximate contours rather than distinct melodies. The rhythm of this opening section in the low instruments is swung, felt behind the beat. The eighth note stays constant into the second section of smoother, cascading rhythms. The third, most frenetic rhythmic level, is felt in straight sixteenth notes. The triplet sixteenth notes in the fast bop section are also felt as swung. This is a piece which combines fully notated and improvised music.