{"id":440,"date":"2021-04-19T12:03:23","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T17:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theprimaveraproject.com\/?post_type=composer&p=440"},"modified":"2022-02-02T11:32:53","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T17:32:53","slug":"laura-elise-schwendinger","status":"publish","type":"composer","link":"https:\/\/www.theprimaveraproject.com\/composer\/laura-elise-schwendinger\/","title":{"rendered":"Laura Elise Schwendinger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Fluorescenza<\/strong><\/em> (2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRIMAVERA I the wind<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

from the composer<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fluorescence is the act, state, or period of flowering, from \u201cflorescentia\u201d, meaning “blossoming\u201d related to the Latin verb “flor\u0113re” (“to blossom or flourish”) and rooted in the Latin noun “flos,” meaning \u201cflower\u201d, in Italian fluorescenza. The two Primavera paintings at the heart of this project, seem to celebrate color as well as rebirth. Starting with the Botticelli and following through the transformation of the materials that are significant in Charline von Heyl\u2019s work, my response starts with the cello playing the role of ancient lute player, sitting over a musical framework used during the late Renaissance and flowering fully in the Baroque period, used for songs, dances and sets of variations called the La Folia. It is most easily recognized by its trademark chord progression. Beyond the dual meaning of foglia (leaf), the reference to music of an earlier time that morphs into the world of the modern which references a more dramatic stance with large contrasts that grow out of, or \u201cblossom\u201d from, the original chord progression, still hidden in the substructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The return of the original material towards the end is an echo that is left after the more modern material spins out all its energy. Leaving a resonance from a period style as a remnant of Boticelli\u2019s period with its florid world (Botticelli is said to have depicted up to 500 identifiable plant species in his work.) The final turn figure, a last reference to the \u201cflorid language of the past.\u201d The work is dedicated to Matt Haimovitz, whom I have had the great pleasure of knowing and working with for nearly 15 years, and who is, to my mind and ear and heart, simply the greatest cellist of his generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

bio<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laura Schwendinger was the first composer to win the Berlin Prize. She is a Professor and Head of Composition at UW-Madison. Her commissions, performances and recordings include those by Dawn Upshaw, the Arditti & JACK Quartets, Jennifer Koh, Janine Jansen, Cygnus, ICE, Eighth Blackbird, New Juilliard Ensemble, American Composers Orchestra, Franz Liszt Orchestra; At the Kennedy & Lincoln Centers, Berlin Philharmonic, Wigmore Hall, Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Ch\u00e2telet, Carnegie Hall, Miller Theater, Tanglewood, Aspen, & Ojai Music Festivals. Her fellowships include from the Guggenheim, Fromm(2), and Koussevitzky(2) Foundations, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard Musical Association, Copland House, First Prize ALEA III,  Awards from American Academy Arts & Letters (2), and fellowships from MacDowell (12), Yaddo (10), Bellagio,Tyrone Guthrie Center, IRE (6) and Bogliasco. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her music has been called \u201ccaptivating, darkly attractive, artful..moving\u201d, \u201cserene mystery\u2026of  infinite beauty\u201d in the NYT, and having \u201ca sure command of craft\u201d, \u201cshrewd composing..the genuine article, onto the \u2019season’s best list\u2019 in the Boston Globe. In the New York Times her opera Artemisia<\/em> was reviewed by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim thus, \u201cArtemisia<\/em>\u201d lasts just 80 minutes, but fits in big themes set to music of quivering intensity\u2026blended with Gentileschi\u2019s unbearably compassionate painting of the biblical character Susanna.\u201d The SFCV review of Artemisia read, \u201cArtemisia<\/em> is sumptuous on every level…\u201d And of her Albany CD (with JACK), Colin Clarke wrote \u201cthe sheer intensity of the music is spellbinding, as if the passion of composer for subject shines through like a light.\u201d Schwendinger\u2019s work is published by Keiser\/ Southern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

lauraschwendinger.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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