Ken Benshoof - 1980

Sonata for Violin and Piano "Bryd one Brere" (1980)

Habitabit (1980)

Sonata 1980 (1980)

From Fall of 1977 to Spring of 1980 at the University of Washington I studied composition with Ken Benshoof. These compositions are among the last ones I worked on with him. I was pretty headstrong, and it would be another several years before much of what he tried to teach me had any effect. He gave me some advice about playing piano that I still find valuable every day. "Tell the whole story every time." He was a kind and thoughtful teacher and I am deeply grateful, both for the support he gave me at the time, and for the many wonderful conversations we have had over the years since.

your blogger ca. 1980, with what passes for a smile

I was taken by the early 14th English Century melody "Bryd one Brere" when it came up in a class on medieval music, and used it as a starting point for the showy Sonata for Violin and Piano "Bryd one Brere". I was attempting to write an idiomatic virtuoso violin part so I tried some splashy effects, such as left hand pizzicatos and multi-string glissandos. The piano part features a bunch of hand and arm clusters. My heroic violinist, Aloysia Friedmann (since gone on to great things) rose to the occasion magnificently. It's no great piece by a stretch but it's fun and makes me smile.

One of the many benefits of a large school of music is that one gets to know some phenomenal young musicians, such as Aloysia. At some point I also got to know Sue Walsh, a coloratura soprano with perfect pitch who was up for something different. Habitabit is a setting, in the Vulgate Latin, of the Peacable Kingdom passage from Isaiah ("The wolf shall dwell with the lamb . . ."). In an attempt to throw a bunch of wolves and lambs together in a pile I used, among other things, a strident ostinato bass rhythm, quotation (a Schubert dance), and called for extensive improvisation both from the pianist and the singer. It was an honest attempt, but something of a train wreck in the end. Its best moment is a long stretch repeating a loud juicily dissonant chord over and over with the dampers up. Sue sang wonderfully.

your blogger drinking ire

Sonata (1980) is a bit of a freak flag fly piece. It quotes (I was really into quoting) Nielsen's "Fifth Symphony", Cole Porter's "Let's Misbehave", and the "Dies Irae"; throws in a some twelve-tone-ish passages, loads of vigorous clusters and graphically notated clouds of scattered notes; and imitates a little music box that's winding down. Each of these features interrupts the others frequently, and are themselves interrupted by variously measured silent moments. The most interesting idea though was to use two different ways of measuring time - by breath (notated with brackets) and by meter (notated the usual way). Each different time system interrupts the other system. There are long stretches of nearly nothing happening except for a minor third tremolo. When I played it the next spring on the student composers' concert somebody, apparently, had had enough and walked out. I must admit I was rather pleased.

Performances:

Sonata for Violin and Piano "Bryd one Brere"

May 15, 1980 Brechemin Auditorium, University of Washington School of Music, Seattle

Aloysia Friedmann, violin; Keith Eisenbrey, piano

also 

June 13, 1980 home recording 

Habitabit

November 24, 1980 Studio Theater, Meany Hall, University of Washington, Seattle

Sue Walsh, soprano; Keith Eisenbrey, piano

Sonata 1980

May 13, 1981 Studio Theater, Meany Hall, University of Washington, Seattle

February 7, 2004 Music at the Edge of Space, University Temple United Methodist Church, Seattle

May 14, 2009 home recording

Keith Eisenbrey · Sonata 1980 (090514) 800511

June 6, 2009 Preludes in Seattle Part 3, Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle

Blog Posts:

February 13, 2011 - Sonata 1980 - Keith Eisenbrey (the recording of February 7, 2004 - no further comment)

March 1, 2011 - Sonata 1980 (the recording of June 6, 2009)

My live performance of June 6, 2009. The various species of pauses and interruptions are more clearly distinguished here than in my other performances, and I managed to refrain from rushing as much as I usually do. The Chapel piano sounds good.

June 7, 2011 - Sonata for violin and piano "Bryd one Brere"

Aloysia was a classmate of mine at the UW back in mumbletymumble, and she graciously agreed to play this little violin & piano piece. She has since gone on to great things and a wonderful career, as we all knew she would. The title comes from a 13th century English song that had come up as an example in a music history class. At the time my compositional method was to throw as many techniques as I could think of at the page and see which ones stuck. Use of quotations was one of them. The result in this case is kind of rollicking and showy. Aloysia negotiates my occasionally violinistic writing with pizazz. I do my best to keep up.

June 19, 2011 - Sonata for violin and piano "Bryd one Brere" (the recording of May 15, 1980 - no further comment)

July 14, 2011 - Sonata 1980 (the recording of May 13, 1981)

My live recording from May of 1981, at the Meany Studio Theater. The tape deteriorated some before I could rip it, but you can still hear the door opening for the guy who walked out on me.

July 24, 2011 - Sonata 1980 (the recording of May 14, 2009)

My recent studio recording.

December 30, 2012 - Habitabit

My 1980 Latin setting of the Peacable Kingdom passage from Isaiah. I was a student at the UW at the time and composed by hurling conceptual ideas at score paper to see what they would do. In this case I used quotations (a Schubert Waltz, I think), abrupt jump cuts between disparate textures, and directed improvisation, among other things. The whole thing ends up pretty much a mess, but my intrepid and phenomenally pitch-perfect soprano soldiered on admirably.