| A new music, poetry and dance performance project: musical compositions by Cliff Crego New Music for viola |
(1) What's New |
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Cheltenham Duo Ic—version for two violas
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Cheltenham Duo 1c pdf
button on left opens new page
[3 A4 pages: 88 K]
the performance model of
Cheltenham Duo Ic mp3
[c. 2' 15" 544 K]"
Cheltenham Duo IIc—version for two violas
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the performance model of
Cheltenham Duo IIc mp3
[c. 3' 18" 808 K]"
Cheltenham Duo IIIc—version for two violas
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the performance model of
Cheltenham Duo IIIc mp3
[c. 3' 18" 808 K]"
Cheltenham Duo IVc—version for two violas
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the performance model of
Cheltenham Duo IVc mp3
[c. 2' 15" 544 K]"
Cheltenham Duo Vc—version for two violas
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Cheltenham Double Duo VIIIc—version for four violas
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Cheltenham Duo VIIIc pdf
[7 A3 pages: 200 K]
SET of 4 PARTS.pdf
[12 A4 pages: 221 K
the performance model of
Cheltenham Duo VIIIc mp3
[c. 4' 808 K]"
Cheltenham Duo Xc—version for two violas
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the performance model of
Cheltenham Duo Xc mp3
[c. 4' 20' 1 Mb]
preview CHELTENHAM DUOS—for viola, performance score
of all six duos, and quartet (with parts) / or download pdf of same score here [888 K]
]opens in new window]
From Suite—for viola & guitar
[click on music samples to go to performance scores]
The first movement of the Suite is an arrangement of Cheltenham Duo IV (above),
with the top viola voice remaining unchanged, and the second voice,
with an added bass line, rewritten for guitar:|
Go to pages in score | 1 | 2 | 3 |
The second movement is taken from Ridge Crossing, a song cycle of fifteen 37-step
poems for Mezzo-soprano & orchestra. (text by Cliff Crego) The viola plays the
vocal line of the mezzo, while the guitar plays the orchestral background
in the style of a Baroque lute [low E string tuned to G]
Below is the text of the poem. Even though the words are of course not heard
in the instrumental version of the piece, they remain present perhaps in a
sotto voce way in the music's texture and quality of movement:
Go to pages in score | 1 | 2 |
The high sheltered space
of a spruce forest dissolves in-
to low knotty shrubs, tangled with
the light of
a thousand moons -- the
patience which lives i n s i d e thin air.
The third movement is a new version of Spanish Dancer, a song based
on an English translation of the famous poem by Rainer Maria Rilke.
(original version for Mezzo-soprano & two guitars.) In this arrangement,
the viola again takes the vocal part, where as the guitar is given a
demanding synthesis of contrapuntal Baroque and rhythmic Latin styles.
[Low E is tuned to D]:
Go to pages in score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Spanish Dancer
As a wooden match held in the hand, white,
on all its sides shoots flickering tongues
before it flashes into flame—: within the inner
circle of onlookers, hurried, hot, bright,
her dance in rounds begins to flicker and spread.
And suddenly, everything is completely fire.
One glance and she ignites her hair,
turning all at once with daring art
her entire dress into a passion of flame,
from which, like startled snakes,
the naked arms awake and reach out, clapping.
And then: as if the fire were growing scarce,
she takes it together and throws it off,
masterfully, with proud, imperious gestures,
and watches: it lies there raging on the ground,
still flaring up, refusing to give in—.
Till triumphantly, self-assured and with a sweet
welcoming smile, she raises her face,
then stamps it out with small, powerful feet.
Rainer Maria Rilke (tr. Cliff Crego)
| go to German text | poster / pdf |
4square, a concluding little encore; it's a new version
one of the Magic Box pieces for vibraphone & marimba.
The opening quick "bass guitar" unison is followed by a second section
in which the viola breaks away from the guitar's 4/4 and plays
little ragtimes figures in light-footed 3/4s and 3/8s:
Go to pages in score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
From The Trillium Collection—music for 2 - 8 violas
NEW: from The Trillium Collection: When The Haying's Done—version for a choir of 8 violas
A spatial piece, featuring a simple ground and a much embellished traditional North American
folksong. [AS CONCERT PRELUDE: Four players onstage; four players walk in from the rear,
alto flute ad lib.]
Go to page in the score | 1 |
the performance model of
When The Haying's Done mp3
[c. 4' 1 Mb]"
From the StarCycle Project . . .
m—version for viola solo
a new StarCycle project for virtuoso solo performer. In four
movements (c. 16') Below, frame or movement I: Callisto's Lament (c. 4')
Go to pages of score: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
the performance model of
m—callisto's lament mp3
[c. 4' 808 K]"
m—version for viola solo frame or movement II: Entrance (c. 2' 15") An elegy based on a
poem by Ranier Maria Rilke.
StarCycle elegies take the words of select poems and set them much like one
might do with a song. Then the text is done away with, leaving only the implied
imagery and the dramatic instrumental / vocal line. They may be performed as
independent pieces.
Go to pages in score | 1 | 2 | or in larger A3 (11" x 17") | 1 |
Entrance
Whoever you are: step out into the evening
out of your living room, where everything is so known;
your house stands as the last thing before great space:
Whoever you are. With your eyes, which in their fatigue
can just barely free themselves from the worn-out thresholds,
very slowly, lift a single black tree
and place it against the sky, slender and alone.
With this you have made the world.
And it is large and like a word that is still ripening in the silence.
And, just as your will grasps their meaning,
they in turn will let go, delicately, of your eyes . . .
Rainer Maria Rilke (tr. Cliff Crego)
from The Book of Images (c. 1903)
m—version for viola solo frame or movement III: Dialogue (c. 1' 48") Another elegy,
based on a famous poem by Emily Dickinson: [may be played as an independent piece]
Go to pages in score | 1 | 2 | 3 |
[Death is a dialogue ...]
Death is a dialogue between
The spirit and the dust.
”Dissolve,” says Death. The Spirit, “Sir,
I have another trust.”
Death doubts it, argues from the ground.
The Spirit turns away;
Just laying off, for evidence,
An overcoat of clay.
Emily Dickinson (c.1864)
m—version for viola solo frame or movement IV: The Flight of Europa
Go to pages in score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
preview performance score for m—for viola solo [19 A4 pages; ring binding]
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