By Christopher Fulkerson
To go to CF's Principal Works page, CLICK HERE. More links are below.
CHRISTOPHER FULKERSON PRESENTED A PROGRAM OF HIS MUSIC in San Francisco on Sunday, May 10, 2009, at 4:00 p.m., at Old First Concerts.
Bay Area favorite, cellist Thalia Moore performed CFs solo cello music, and Dr. Fulkerson played computer realizations of some of his works, including his most recent orchestral work, MOYS ICOS. The compositions included his cycle of three Ceremonials, the first of which is dedicated to Elliott Carter on his ninetieth birthday, the other two of which were commissioned works; the two companion pieces after Dante's Purgatorio, which feature harp; and the Celestial Sixties cycle, based on popular song texts and other writings from, or relevant to, the 1960s, the first of these was commissioned by Chanticleer. The title of the orchestral work MOYS ICOS purports to come from the Egyptian origin of the word "music;" in his book on violin playing Leopold Mozart speculated that the term might derive from ancient words meaning "water science." The idea that music is a form of science, or is properly susceptible to the methods and even the operations of science, is one that has been shared in different ways by composers as diverse as J.S. Bach and Iannis Xenakis, as well as Dr. Fulkerson.
All of these works are from the extensive "cycle of epicycles" that is the untitled "work in progess" music festival which Dr. Fulkerson has been composing since the 1980s; one of these compositions, THE CHILDERMASS, received its world premiere at Old First Concerts. By presenting three complete cycles from the festival, this program was the first sustained attempt to present these works together in a manner suggesting their function as sources for the eventual interactive possibilities in the projected festival, which encompasses a variety of events spanning a period of a week or more. Over thirty works in the "cycle of epicycles" have been completed, including the theater piece A MIRACLE OF RARE DEVICE.
Miss Moore frequently appears in contemporary music programs and is Assistant Principal Cellist of the San Francisco Opera.
Clyde Niesen of Sonic Stew Records oversaw the sound.
The program included a memorial to the memory of Ruth Caron Jacobs, arts patron and friend of CF, who died unexpectedly on December 26, 2008 at an early age. The harp solo L'uccel divino ("The Divine Bird," an epithet from Dante for "An Angel") was dedicated to her for her birthday several years ago.
THE PROGRAM
Video of Pre-Concert Remarks by the Composer CLICK HERE (Duration 8'10")
Ceremonial I (1998) for
Solo Cello (Computer Realization)
CLICK HERE for the video of the live performance
Ceremonial II(2000) for Flute and Bassoon (Computer Realization)
Ceremonial III (2004) Quartet for Oboe, Trumpet, Horn, and Cello (Computer Realization)
L'uccel divino ("The Divine Bird") (1998) for solo harp (After Dante's Purgatorio) (Playback)
E piu di cento spirti ("And More Than a Hundred Spirits") (1989) Quartet (After Dante's Purgatorio)
for Harp, Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, and Marimba (Computer Realization)
Intermission
Video of Mid-Concert Remarks by the Composer CLICK HERE (Duration 3'55")
Celestial Sixties I(1990) for six male voices (Computer Realization)
Celestial Sixties II(2009) for six male voices (Computer Realization)
SUITE (2005)
for Solo Cello (Computer Realization)
Click for each of the VIDEOS of the live performance:
First Movement
Second Movement
Third Movement
Fourth Movement
Fifth Movement
Moys Icos (2008) for Orchestra (Computer Realization)
Video of Post-Concert Remarks by the Composer CLICK HERE (Duration 0'36")
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DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM AND NOTES TO THE CONCERT
DOWNLOAD THE INTRODUCTORY ESSAY "A SKETCH OF THE FESTIVAL"
DOWNLOAD THE TEXTS OF THE CELESTIAL SIXTIES PIECES
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Old First Concerts is located at Old First Presbyterian Church on the southeast corner of Van Ness and Sacramento Streets in the City. It can be found online at http://oldfirstconcerts.org/ or at Googlemaps at: Old First Concerts, San Francisco.