Program Notes for Concerto for Violin and Piano
In the fall of 2001 I crossed paths with violinist, Boro Martinic-Jercic. We had worked
together the previous spring on the premiere of a concerto for Senegalese drum ensemble and,
perhaps on that basis, he expressed an interest in a new piece for violin and piano. The rhythms
of the drum concerto were still on my mind. I had also been looking for an opportunity to work
with new sonorities and explore the sinuous melodic lines of Brazilian and Spanish music. In the
summer I had taken a job in Portugal and for the first time heard “fado” music, a music of moody
crowds and acoustic guitars, a folk music rooted in the sensual and painful lamentations sung by
the wives of sailors lost at sea. I began to imagine a piece with these qualities and as we worked
through the piano/violin piece Boro suggested that the work be expanded to form a three
movement concerto for orchestra and violin.
In August of 2003 we revisited the concerto and I began to create a new piece that
ultimately would retain only a few measures of the original. On Thursday afternoons throughout
the fall and winter Boro would bring his daughter to Tempe for her piano lessons and we spent
the time reviewing the new music. Boro’s creative sense, rooted in his Croatian musical heritage,
proved invaluable as he developed the brilliance of the solo melodic line. We played the piece,
working out the mood and flow, and sharing the joy of hearing the piece for the first time. And
so it seems now, as in the past, that what we have, we have made together; perhaps this
collaboration is the nature of a concerto. J>D>
Bio for James DeMars:
James DeMars is a Minnesota native born in 1952. In the Twin Cities he attended Macalester
College and the University of Minnesota where he received his doctorate in composition after
study with Dominick Argento and Eric Stokes. During this time he also worked as pianist with
the Zeitgeist contemporary music ensemble in activities which included frequent performances
at Walker Art Center and a Carnegie Recital Hall. In 1981 he moved to Phoenix and joined the
Arizona State University School of Music where he has written numerous works for orchestra,
chorus and chamber ensembles.
Two World Concerto for Native American flutist, R. Carlos Nakai, Native Drumming for
the Black Lodge Pow-wow Singers and Sabar for African drum ensemble are recent works
commissioned through the Phoenix Symphony by the NEA and the Heard Museum. These works
are representative of a number of his post-modern compositions that explore intercultural
possibilities. Choral works include The Prophet (a cantata based on the writings of Sufi teacher
Jalaladin Rumi), Tito's Say (an Hispanic cantata with text by Alberto Rios), Desert Songs II for
the Phoenix Boys Choir and An American Requiem commissioned by the Art Renaissance
Foundation. In 1995 he conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the nationally televised
premiere of his work, An American Requiem at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, at New
York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and a subsequent performance with the Utah Symphony.
In 1997 he conducted the European premiere at Église La Trinité in Paris with members of the
Orchestre de Paris and was honored with induction to the French Order of Arts and Letters.
Ventura & Clemente, an overture for winds received honors in the 1990 International Barlow
Competition and the CD Two World Concerto was a winner in two categories of the 1998
Annual Native American Music Awards. Many of his works are commercially available through
Canyon Records, Summit Records, BWE and other independent labels.
ERRATA:
MVT. I:

Vla: m.61,62 : vla trill to C#
Vln I, II: m.71: portamento to beat 1 of m.72; remove port.s in m.72
Vln. I, II m.237: 1 note is C# instead of D
st

Vc. M. 237-239: double stop C#, A instead of C#,G#
Vln. I,II
MVT. III:
all parts: m. 84 is “poco rit.” and m. 86 is “meno mosso”; tempo = 66
all part: m.122 is “stringendo” and m.125 is “tempo primo”; tempo= 76