Rhythms of Nature
Celebrating Whidbey’s Earth and Ocean Month

 

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Part I.  eorþe

 

Desecrated Land*

Lea Eve Fetterman

From “Through the Concrete”

Lea Eve Fetterman lives and works as a freelance violinist, session musician (violin/vocals), conductor, and teacher in the Pacific Northwest, including Whidbey’s Saratoga Orchestra. Alongside her music making, she arranges and composes music for a variety of ensembles and genres, including folk, rock, singer/songwriter, alternative, ambient, and classical. Ms. Fetterman just released her debut double album, Through the Concrete and its spoken word counterpart, available on all streaming services. Her debut book Innocent Skin, a poetry and photography collection, is available at Barnes & Noble and Ophelia's Books in Fremont.”

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Festival Fanfare

Nicholas Perrini

Whidbey Island Horn Ensemble

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To the Earth

Frederick Rzewski

Erica Montgomery, Flower Pots

"To the Earth" (1985) was written by Frederic Rzewski (b. 1938) for speaker and flower pots and is a composition of immense weight built upon simple, sincere sound sources. Written for four flower pots and spoken voice, it is a soliloquy which re-examines the impact of humankind on our planet. The text, “To Gaia, mother of all”, is one of thirty-three Homeric hymns written in praise of the pantheon of Greek gods. In Rzewski’s setting, the text is used to establish an intimate connection between the speaker, the audience, and the Earth itself. In addition to one’s delivery of the text, intensity is created by the densification of rhythmic material through metric modulation. The work’s initial calm is quickly juxtaposed with the industrial onslaught of rhythm and color on the terra cotta or “baked earth” pots.

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Summer from “The Four Seasons”

Antonio Vivaldi 

Mvt. 1 - Allegro non molto

Clarece LaMarr, violin and Rumiana Drumeva, keyboard

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 “Summer” from The Four Seasons - Antonio Vivaldi

Read by Faith Wilder

 

Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concerti were radical for their programmatic depiction of the seasons, as well as for their virtuosity, and they remain among the most enduringly popular pieces of music ever written. The pieces go beyond a simple representation of the seasons: rather they are deep musical expressions, capturing and communicating the physical and metaphysical experiences that occur as the Earth rotates and weather swirls around it.

 

Mvt. I. Allegro non molto

Under the heat of the burning summer sun,

Languish man and flock; the pine is parched.

The cuckoo finds its voice, and suddenly,

The turtledove and goldfinch sing.

A gentle breeze blows,

But suddenly, the north wind appears.

The shepherd weeps because, overhead,

Lies the fierce storm, and his destiny.

           

Sure on this Shining Night

James Agee

From "Descriptions of Elysium" (1934)      

Read by Faith Wilder and Eva Nelson, soprano

 

 

Whole health resides with peace,
Gladness and never harm,
There not time turning,
Nor fear of flower of snow

 

Where marbling water slides
No charm may halt of chill,
Air aisling the open acres,
And all the gracious trees

 

Spout up their standing fountains
Of wind-beloved green
And the blue conclaved mountains
Are grave guards

 

Stone and springing field
Wide one tenderness,
The unalterable hour
Smiles deathlessness

 

No thing is there think
Mind the witherer
Withers on the outward air:
We can not come there.

 

Sure on this shining night
Of starmade shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.

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The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.

 

Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder

wandering far alone
Of shadows on the stars.

 

Now thorn bone bare
Silenced with iron the branch’s gullet:

Rattling merely on the air
Of hornleaved holly:

 

The stony mark where sand was by
The water of a nailèd foot:
The berry harder than the beak:
The hole beneath the dead oak root:

 

All now brought quiet
Through the latest throe
Quieted and ready and quiet:
Still not snow:

 

Still thorn bone hare
Iron in the silenced gully
Rattling only of the air
Through hornleaved holly.

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The Island, Op. 14, No. 2:

"Whidbey"

Serge Rachmaninoff

Adapted by B Carl Nelson

The original art song "The Isle" was composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1896

with Russian lyrics by Russian poet Konstantin Balmont.

Based on a translation from the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Eva Nelson, soprano with Horn Ensemble

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The Isle - Percy Bysshe Shelley,

published by Mrs. Shelley, "Posthumous Poems", 1824

 

There was a little lawny islet

By anemone and violet,

Like mosaic, paven:

And its roof was flowers and leaves

Which the summer's breath enweaves,

Where nor sun nor showers nor breeze

Pierce the pines and tallest trees,

Each a gem engraven;—

Girt by many an azure wave

With which the clouds and mountains pave

A lake's blue chasm.

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INTERMISSION

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II.  wæter

 

Water and Sand

Mitchell Beck

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"Water and Sand" is inspired by the natural elements that make up the title. While water and sand may seem like opposites in many ways, I feel they are also closely related. The waves of the ocean portray a similar image to a vast desert filled with sand dunes. As sand blows in the wind or falls down an incline it almost resembles the flowing current of a river or waterfall. In a darker perspective, falling beneath the surface of a vast ocean are ddesert sand storms creating a powerful force not so different from a deadly hurricane or tsunami. The images, feelings, and story I associate with this piece are vivid, emotional, and personal. As you listen, I hope you can interpret the music in your own way and create a story in your mind that you feel connected to.

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Mitchell Beck is a Seattle-based percussionist, composer and producer pushing the boundaries of music with the goal of creating music that is still accessible to a general audience.  Having a passion for all things percussion, Mitchell performs and teaches in a wide variety of settings having founded the Seattle Percussion Academy where people of all ages and experience levels are welcome. Mitchell earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in percussion performance from Indiana University.

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Water Coming*

Linda Beeman

From “Our Whidbey Year"

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Linda Beeman is an award-winning poet living on Whidbey Island. She is the author of Our Whidbey Year that follows seasonal moments on our island. Her latest chapbook, A Whidbey Botanical, chronicles our flora via poems, watercolors and weird folklore about the plants in our gardens. It's available at Moonraker Books in Langley.

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Water Coming

 

October morning fogs

cataract our lowlands

lay precious moisture

on lemoned elderberry

through rusted red cedar

 

we remark on the new cool

air carries.     the breeze’s

fresh alacrity and that wealth

of color in the vine maple

squandered wantonly now

 

quince’s fermenting perfume

calls makers of membrillo

to their saucepans

distilling fruit’s essence

into soft quivering amber

 

modest gifts of consolation

yellow snows of alders

anticipate water coming

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A Salish Sea Melody

Rumiana Drumeva

Clarece LaMarr, violin

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Rumiana Drumeva was born in Varna, Bulgaria, and began her musical journey at the age of five in East Germany, studying at the prestigious Bach Conservatory of Music. At the age of 11, she immigrated to Carmel, California, where she continuedher studies and quickly distinguished herself in several piano competitions under the guidance of Lyn Bronson.

At the age of 16, Rumiana was accepted into the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she further honed her skills under the tutelage of Mack McCray. Over the years, she has become a versatile and accomplished musician, most recently serving as an accompanist for multiple choirs.

Currently residing on Whidbey Island, Rumiana draws inspiration from the island’s stunning natural surroundings to compose original pieces for piano and violin, often dedicating them to her daughter, Clarece LaMarr. Her music continues to reflect her deep passion for the arts and her rich cultural background.

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New Year’s Day - Linda Beeman

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burnished pewter strait

shredded clouds striate

our ghost mountain    ukiyo-e

glimpse of raw grandeur

 

water honed rocks

ochre    brick    copper blue

hint at geologic workings

hide helmet crabs       chiton

labia home to Haida women

 

crunching our way through

stone grinding stone

past lap of water at the edge

loon diving in the shallows

of that iodine stillness

 

first new hours of light

in this infant year

 

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Water Voyages

Alex Shapiro

Rickey Barnett, clarinet 

Chris Harshman, bassoon

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"Water Voyages" began life for a soloist, in a piece called Water Crossing that was commissioned by clarinetist F. Gerard Errante and later expanded to a duet for clarinet, bassoon and audio track. Imagine a canoe, tied up at the dock. The thought of it waiting there about to embark on a beautiful journey beginning in still, lake-like waters. During this mythical voyage, the canoe gradually morphs into a sailboat entering the open ocean, with dolphins dancing ahead of the bow. By the end we've returned safely to shore, invigorated and peaceful.

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Alex Shapiro (born New York City, 1962) has built an unconventional life interweaving her dynamic musical career with avid pursuits of wildlife photography, non-fiction writing, and a devotion to advocacy. Published by Activist Music LLC, her works are heard daily in concerts and broadcasts and can be found on over thirty commercially released recordings from around the world. Alex lives on San Juan Island, and when she's not composing she can be found communing with the sea life, as seen on her music and photo-filled blog, www.notesfromthekelp.com and her website, www.alexshapiro.org.

 

I. Nocturne

II. Ancient Chants

from Six Horn Quartets, Op. 35

Nikolai Tcherepnin

 

Nikolai Tcherepnin (1873–1945) was a Russian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher. Born in St. Petersburg, he studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Tcherepnin was known for his colorful orchestration and blending of Russian folk themes with the delicate textures of French Impressionism. His early works gained recognition, and he later taught at the Conservatory, influencing composers like Sergei Prokofiev. Tcherepnin spent much of his later life in Paris, where he continued to compose and conduct. His legacy is marked by his imaginative orchestral works and his significant role in Russian and European musical exchange.

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III.  community

 

Community Beings*

Lea Eve Fetterman

From “Through the Concrete”

 

In C

Terry Riley

Featuring A Community of Musicians

 

Terry Riley is a pioneering American composer and performer known for his contributions to minimalism in music. One of his most iconic works is In C (1964), which is considered a landmark piece in minimalist music. The work consists of 53 short, repeating musical phrases that can be played by any number of performers, with each musician moving through the phrases at their own pace. This piece is notable for its structure, which allows for a high degree of improvisation and variation. In C broke away from traditional compositional forms and is often credited with influencing later developments in experimental and minimalist music. Riley's innovative use of repetition, gradual change, and open-ended performance instructions helped shape the landscape of contemporary classical and avant-garde music.