Accompanied by Silence A musical meditation

on the theme of Love  

   

Anna Meyer, flute April 2013

Philadelphia, Cleveland, Erie, Glenside

Program

(Please  hold  your  applause  until  the  end,    as  this  is  a  meditative  concert)  

Syrinx Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Thorn David Lang (b. 1957) Mei ! Kazuo Fukushima (b. 1930) Rapid Fire! Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)

* * * !Philadelphia, Erie, and Glenside only

A Newtown Memorial*"

Bruce Craig Roter (b. 1962) Piece Jacques Ibert (1890-1962) Mysterious Love* Erik Meyer (b. 1980) Tango Etudes #4, #3 Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) Appassionata Sonata Siegfried Karg-Elert (1877-1933) *Indicates world premier on April 14, 2013, Philadelphia " Performed with the following assistants:

Philadelphia – Joan Marsh Sparks Cleveland – Katherine DeJongh Erie, Pa – Kristen Almleaf and Louise Wiest Glenside, Pa – Erik Meyer

Accompanied by Silence A musical meditation on the theme of Love  One  can  walk  alone  in  silence  and  be  dejected  by  the  loneliness  or  freed  by  the  solitude.    Two  can  walk  together  in  silence  and  experience  heartache  for  “how  things  have  changed”  or  a  connectedness  in  the  depth  of  an  intimacy  of  long  years.    Art  is  silent  to  our  ears,  but  can  speak  to  our  emotions.    Music  plays  to  our  sense  of  hearing  and  to  the  silence,  which  gives  it  life.    Together  the  art  and  the  music  will  accompany  each  other.    Use  the  visual  images  to  enhance  your  experience  of  the  music.    Let  your  mind  wander  and  think  about  your  silence,  your  journey,  your  love.      I  invite  you  to  contemplate  how  these  aspects  of  love  affect  your  daily  life.    How  do  you  love?    How  do  you  receive  love?    How  is  love  painful?    How  is  love  joyful?    There  are  things  beyond  our  finite  understanding  as  humans,  and  situations  where  words  fail  us.    God’s  love  for  us  as  a  people  transcends  all  of  this  and  fills  the  gaps  where  we  wind  up  short.    Be  embraced  by  this  love,  and  may  you  find  your  spirit  renewed  and  your  heart  lifted.        **    Please  hold  your  applause  until  the  end,    

as  this  is  a  meditative  concert    **                    

       

Syrinx – C. Debussy           Unrequited  Pursuing  something  you  cannot  reach,  loving  someone  who  cannot  or  will  not  return  your  sentiment.    Unrequited  love  bares  its  stinging  head  in  many  avenues  of  our  lives.    Pan  pursues  Syrinx,  who  is  running  away  from  him.    She  runs  into  the  reeds  and  prays  to  be  hidden  from  her  unwanted  pursuer.    The  gods  turn  her  into  reeds,  which  Pan  cuts  to  make  a  flute  (pan  pipe).    He  uses  this  flute  to  try  to  woo  her  out  of  hiding.    His  song  is  sorrowful.    Perhaps  he  senses  somehow  that  she  will  never  be  his.    Unbeknownst  to  him,  the  very  reeds  that  were  her  hiding  place,  are  now  his  flute.    Unattainable,  unreachable,  unrequited.  

Thorn – D. Lang Risk

 Walking  along  the  path,  you  notice  the  wild  roses.    How  beautiful  they  are,  so  fragrant,  the  color  so  brilliant,  the  petals  so  soft  looking.      And  yet,  how  thorny.    They  are  a  tangled  mess,  having  been  unattended  for  years.    It’s  a  considerable  risk  to  reach  out  and  take  one;  there  are  thorns  everywhere.    Jagged  pricks  and  rough  edges  threaten  to  scratch  and  cut  your  hands.    You  will  most  certainly  not  escape  unscathed.    You  will  be  pricked  and  bitten  by  the  thorns.    You  consider  what  you  will  gain  by  taking  the  risk:    a  flower  unequalled  in  beauty  or  in  fragrance,  reminding  you  of  all  that  is  wonderful  in  your  life.    Are  you  willing  to  take  the  risk  for  this  beauty,  this  love?  

      Mei – K. Fukushima Loss and Yearning  

 Mei  is  Japanese  for  destiny.    A  dear  friend  killed  in  an  accident  prompts  the  composer  to  write  his  feelings.    While  he  experiences  anger  and  frustration,  more  so,  I  believe,  he  experiences  the  grief  of  loss  and  a  yearning  for  that  relationship,  that  love  to  be  restored.    He  longs  for  the  days  of  walking  with  his  friend,  perhaps  in  silence.    He  mourns  the  silence  he  now  faces  alone.    And  yet  there  is  a  sweetness  in  his  loss,  one  that  can  appreciate  who  the  friend  was,  what  his  destiny  was,  and  how  that  has  changed  him  for  the  good,  in  knowing  and  loving  a  friend.    I  cannot  play  this  piece  without  it  reaching  the  depths  of  my  soul,  as  it  too  speaks  to  my  destiny.                

Rapid Fire – J. Higdon  Tragedy  

 Opening  oneself  to  love  is  opening  oneself  to  pain.    Sometimes  love  experiences  tragedy.    Three  hundred  and  thirty-­‐one  (331)  violent  gun  deaths  in  Philadelphia  last  year  (2012).    Children  murdered  in  their  schools.    Love  hurts.      Rapid  Fire  delves  into  the  musical  expression  of  gun  violence  in  Philadelphia.    There  is  anger,  there  is  rage,  there  is  blood,  there  is  brokenness.                

*   *   *                          

            A Newtown Memorial – B. Roter Sacred and Eternal With Joan Sparks, Philadelphia; Kristen Almleaf and Louise Wiest, Erie, Pa Katherine DeJongh, Cleveland Erik Meyer, Glenside    Sometimes  we  have  no  words  for  our  love.    While  we  grieve  the  tragedy  in  Newtown,  we  become  acutely  aware  of  the  strength  and  endurance  of  a  sacred  and  eternal  love.    We  love  our  children  this  way.    God  loves  us  this  way.    There  is  nothing  which  stands  in  the  way  of  this  love.    We  will  always  love.    Despite  tragedy,  despite  pain,  despite  death,  we  will  always  love.      Even  through  our  tears,  we  will  love.    

    Piece – J. Ibert Beauty

 Images  of  impressionistic  French  paintings  spring  to  mind,  as  the  music  in  this  piece  dances  in  swirls  around  the  ears  of  our  listening.    Short  strokes  that  don’t  mean  anything  if  you  get  too  close,  but  draw  together  a  field  of  poppies  if  you  stand  back.      Colors  vibrant  with  life  and  beauty.    This  is  the  beauty  of  love.    This  is  looking  at  one’s  newborn  baby  for  the  first  time;  seeing  your  beloved  walk  through  the  door;  recognizing  the  vast  greatness  of  the  world  around  you.    Realizing  you  are  a  part  of  something,  an  essential  part,  without  which,  that  thing  would  not  be  whole.                              

           

  Mysterious Love – E. Meyer

Personal, Romantic Young  lovers,  two  just  engaged,  newly-­‐weds,  married  for  seasons  upon  seasons.    So  many  different  ways  for  love  to  present  itself  to  us  as  romantic  and  personal.    This  is  mine.                            

       

    Tango Etudes – A. Piazzolla Senses  

Let  us  dance  a  Tango.    Smell  the  rose  he  has  just  given  her.    Taste  the  air  in  the  room,  florid,  humid,  fast.    See  the  ruffles  of  her  skirt  dance  around  her  knees  as  he  leads  her  across  the  room.    Hear  the  breathing  of  the  two  partners,  as  the  dance  becomes  more  physically  demanding.    Feel  the  warmth  of  the  other  person’s  hand.    We  experience  love  in  so  many  different  ways  and  depths,  with  our  whole  bodies.                        

     

 Appassionata Sonata – S. Karg-Elert Passion

 Perhaps  one  of  the  things  that  makes  passion  so  intriguing  is  its  unpredictability.    It  is  rash,  it  is  spontaneous,  it  is  fiery.      From  the  onset,  this  piece  draws  us  into  the  rush  and  heat  of  passion.    It  is  unrelenting  in  its  hold  on  our  emotions.      Even  at  the  end,  we  hear  an  interrogative  cry,  leaving  us  wondering  what  just  happened.    But  is  that  not  what  passion  desires?      A  whirl  of  ups  and  downs,  wrapped  in  a  cyclone  of  unpredictability.    Where  are  we  going?    Where  will  we  end?                        

Bios

Anna Meyer holds a Master of Music in Flute Performance from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Mrs. Meyer held the position of Second Flute with the Canton Symphony Orchestra (2008 to 2011) and Principal Flutist with the Erie Chamber Orchestra (2010-2011). She also served as Chamber Music Coach and Instructor of Flute at Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA (2007-2011). Having recently relocated to Philadelphia, Mrs. Meyer maintains a private studio out of her home, where she lives with her husband and their two children. www.aemeyer.com

Joan Marsh Sparks is an awesome flutist and visionary owner of the Flute Pro Shop in Wilmington, De. When not competitively swimming, Mrs. Sparks can be found traveling all over the country happily matching flutists and flutes. www.fluteproshop.com Kristen Almleaf of Jamestown, Ny, is a senior at Mercy-hurst University, Erie, Pa, majoring in Music Education. After student teaching in the fall, she plans to pursue a job in her field. She is a former student of Anna Meyer. Louise Wiest of Erie, Pa, is a senior at Mercyhurst Uni-versity, majoring in Music Education. After getting married in the fall, she plans to pursue a job in her field. She is a former student of Anna Meyer. Katherine DeJongh, principal flutist of the Canton Symphony and Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, currently teaches at Case Western Univ. and CIM Prep. Dudley her gecko maintains order in Cleveland, where she and her husband reside. www.katherinedejongh.com