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Louis Karchin |
Described as a composer of “fearless eloquence” [The New Yorker
Magazine], Louis Karchin has
been honored with performances of his music around the world. The Da
Capo Chamber Players toured Russia with his song cycle, "American Visions,"
based on poetry of Yevgeny Yevtushenko, and his music has been
performed by Spectrum Sonori in South Korea, and the Delta Ensemble of
Amsterdam, Holland. American groups include the Chamber Music Society
of Lincoln Center, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Group for Contemporary
Music, among others. Recently, his opera, Romulus, was premiered at
the Peter B. Lewis Theatre of the Guggenheim Museum, and will be released
shortly by Naxos Records. He is currently finishing a Chamber Symphony
for 14 instruments, and a new work for clarinet and percussion. Upcoming is a
new song cycle for the Network for New Music in Philadelphia, and a new opera
based on Charlotte Brontë´s novel, Jane Eyre. Karchin´s music is recorded on
New World, Albany and CRI labels, and thirty-one of his compositions are
published by C. F. Peters Corporation. He is the recipient of two awards from
the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and three prizes from the National
Endowment for the Arts. A frequent conductor of new music, Mr. Karchin
introduced, last year, the Orchestra of the League of Composers, in its
inaugural program. He is Professor of Music at New York University. |
THREE
EPIGRAMS for piano
“The
Three Epigrams were composed in 2008 and are short character pieces
written to honor important figures in the arts. The first was composed
for a birthday celebration of the American composer, Charles Wuorinen, whose
music I grew up with, and who influenced me greatly in my formative
years. It is meant as a joyous, festive work, marking the composer's 70th
birthday. The second and third pieces are written to honor Venetian
artists Luigi Nono and Emilio Vedova. "Expressions"
takes its title from a work of Nono's, and although I tried to allude to his
spare, lean style of composition, I also wanted the music to sound like my own,
marked with the pitch centers I characteristically employ. To prepare for
writing the third piece, I looked at a considerable number of paintings of
Emilio Vedova, and then tried to draw, in musical terms, the jagged edges and
sharp, abrupt lines that seemed so pervasive. There is a dynamism in all of his
paintings, and the tasks of projecting both strength and uncertainty became
important goals in the creation of this third piece.”
Louis
Karchin