Shrude: La Folia II: Lacuna

Description

Composer's Note: I have been an avid student of the music of William Albright since 1971, when I heard his intriguing work for organ, Juba. His music was bold, gentle and deep; I found myself returning to it again and again. Perhaps a lasting impression was made after intimately getting to know his Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, which John Sampen and I recorded and performed repeatedly in places such as Moscow, Shanghai, Basel, Paris and Carnegie Hall. This important composition is now a staple of the saxophone repertoire. It is the 2nd movement, La follia nuova: a lament for George Cacioppo, to which I pay homage with my work for piano. The incessant rhythmic and harmonic scheme of the follia is an appropriate backdrop for Albright's traditional lament for a dear friend and is adapted here for my own personal commentary. The subtitle, lacuna, is originally a literary term and signifies some type of "gap" or missing text. Its musical counterpart could be a purposeful silence, a journey into the black hole of a resonance that follows an extensive buildup (in this case repeated segments of 23 beats, Albright's follia scheme). The lacuna is also Albright himself, a complex and mysterious man, who left us too soon. La Folia II: Lacuna is dedicated to Robert Satterlee, who commissioned and premiered the work on March 20, 2011 at Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Other friends of Albright who composed pieces for this set are William Bolcom, Evan Chambers, Gabriela Lena Frank, David Gompper, Evan Hause and Doug Opel.