BETHANY BROWN

RECITAL HALL
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6TH, 2016 • 7:30PM

llrt 1· Herberger Institute

~FOR
ARIZONA

DESIGN AND THE ARTS

STATE

UNIVERSITY

School of Music

Bethany Brown, Composition
Four Character Pieces

Immense thanks to my professors, my honors thesis committee (Dr.
Kotoka Suzuki and Dr. Peter Schmelz), and my family and friends
who provide constant support.

(Spring 2014)

I. Makes Me Anxious
II. Untitled (for N.)
Ill. We Need to Talk
IV. Our Covers Are A Fortress

Hanah Vutipadadorn, piano

Thank you to my fantastic performers. I am amazed at how lucky I
am to have such great musicians perform my music.
This recital is a small glimpse of my work and growth over the past
four years-as a composer as well as an individual. I hope you
enjoy.

These short piano pieces were written during my sophomore year of
college. Inspired by the character pieces of Benjamin Britten, the
heavy dissonance interspersed through delicate melodies depicts
anxiety, grief, loneliness, and friendship, often intersecting.
Sought-Mter Dream Object
Ryan Downey, bass
Hanah Vutipadadorn, piano

(2016)

Sought-After Dream Object uses the poetry of Sara Guinn. The
whimsical and near-nonsensical text is characterized in the music by
abrupt changes in dynamics, gestures, and mood, yet repeating
motives connect the poetry's similar syllabic patterns.
Commissioned by Ryan Downey.
Text:

It is gold golder golden and not sharp, not sharp, not sharp! Not sharp!
Why is it is it is. Is it. Doubtless it is because. In a bookcase there eggs an
egg. In a bookcase there eggs an egg. In a bookcase there eggs an egg.
There eggs an egg There eggs an egg There eggs an egg. An egg! Roundound-ound and stern sticks round around here. Hear her, hear her she
comes around here. Center. Texture golden tender winning. Won itself
time one itself over over time. Won itself time one itself over over time.
Won itself time one itself over over time. Won itself time one itself over
over time. Morning mourning night night afternoon-bloom, it says to itself
self be. It is gold golder golden and not sharp, not sharp, not sharp! Not
sharp! Why is it is it is. Is it. Doubtless it is because. The whole of it is
here. The hole of it is heard.

remember when? begin again
(Fall 2014, revised 2016)
Alexander Tom, conductor
Felix Herbst, violin
Stephen Mitton, cello
Grant Jahn, clarinet
Kelly Davis, flute
Isidora Javonovic, piano

remember when? begin again was inspired by the techniques of
minimalism, and the "trance-like" nature described of the oft-used
repeating patterns. I equate the repeating figures with memory and
nostalgia.

recordings as interpreted through a sonogram; each section of the
piece depicts a place and its characteristics: the shinkansen (bullet)
train in Japan, birds in Switzerland, and sounds of the city in New
York.

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**There will be a JO-minute intermission**
Stream of Consciousness
Tyler Flowers, alto saxophone

(2016)

Philosophical Melancholia
(2015, revised 2016)
Emilio Vazquez, violin I
Brynn Seegmiller, violin II
Sarah Knight, viola
Stephen Mitton, cello
Elise Gillson, piano
Originally written for and premiered at the TAUS Festival in SaasFee, Switzerland. Inspired by Freud's 1917 essay Mourning and
Melancholia: "the object has not perhaps actually died, but has been
lost as an object of love ... "

Stream of Consciousness depicts a continuation of running thoughts,
resulting in seemingly disjunct gestures. Commissioned by Tyler
Flowers.
PLACE for chamber string orchestra
Alexander Tom, conductor
Clarice Collins, violin I
Felix Herbst, violin I
Jingling Liu, violin II
Natalie Rose, violin II
Sarah Evins, viola I
Daniel Lorenzo, viola II
Alex Duke, cello
Elizabeth Weser, cello
Kelsey Mines, bass

"Spectralism's Synthesis of Past Musical Traditions: New Musical Discourse and
Compositional Technique"- thesis research and composition project will be
presented at the Barrett Honors Symposium on April 12th.

(2016)

The culmination of a semester's worth of research on the techniques
of spectralism, this thesis piece utilizes Grisey's Partiels as a model
for orchestral synthesis, formal structure, and timbre/tone-color as
well as aleatoric elements. The pitch material is derived from field

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Sara Guinn is an Alaska Native poet. Her work is greatly
influenced by her upbringing in Bethel, Alaska, as well as her time
spent in Portland, Oregon and Barcelona, Spain. Her work addresses
her relationship with her family and how identity and place intersect.
Her work is often haunting and sometimes humorous.

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Out of respect for the perfonners and those audience members around you, please
turn all cell phones and watches to their silent mode. Thank you.