Official site of composer Andrea Clearfield. Biography, list of works with audio, score samples, reviews and program notes, photographs, upcoming performances.
Scored for: percussion solo (with vocals), percussion trio (with vocals), electronic sound Duration: 18:52 World Premiere: 3/17, Michigan State University, Cook Recital Hall, Lansing, MI, Performed by Yun Ju Pan, Will Alderman, Alex Smith, Kathryn Irwin, and Yun Tsu Pan Commissioned by: Yun Ju Pan Ensemble Published by: Self-published, Angelfire Press
Contact Andrea Clearfield for score and parts:
QUOTES
“I am so fortunate to commission this amazing piece from Andrea. Round for Three Muses is a heart-melting piece that uses a variety of percussion instrumentation and beautiful sound effects to express the elegance, faith, and hope of ancient Greece Goddesses – Muses. Andrea’s music is very creative and brave. This piece requires performers to be fully devoted in the music both physically and mentally to achieve the spirit, which brings audiences to an energetic and peaceful meditation level”. – Yun Ju Pan, commissioner
“Andrea Clearfield’s “Round for Three Muses” is a stunning representation of chamber percussion and the exquisite color palette percussionists can achieve”. – James Doyle, Director, Percussion Ensemble, Adams State University, Alamosa, Colorado. Read Round for Three Muses program notes by James Doyle.
“The Round for Three Muses (the lún chàng of three Muse Goddess) has broken the model of traditional percussion. The elements that are injected are not just the passing of the performance and the tone of the music. It is through musical instruments, music, human voice, and so on, so that people can feel that life is integrated with the entire existence and the continuous interaction of one another”. – Morillon Chang, Taipei
PROGRAM NOTES
Round for Three Muses was inspired by a poem by David Wagoner “Round for the Muses” quoting Picasso,”to draw you must close your eyes and sing”, the poem “Hearbeat” by Rainer Maria Rilke, and the ancient Greek Muses. The piece is a cross between a concert work and a performance art piece, where the performers play their instruments and also speak, sing and move.
The piece is structured with an introduction and three continuous movements loosely associated with the three ancient Muses:
I. MELETE (muse of meditation)
II. AOIDE (muse of voice and song)
III. MNEME (muse of memory)
This work was commissioned by a consortium of percussionists, organized by Yun Ju Pan. Yun Ju Pan Ensemble premiered the work at Michigan State University, later performing it on tour in Taiwan and China and at the 2017 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis. The work has recently been performed by the Adams State University Percussion Ensemble in Alamosa, Colorado.
The composer wishes to thank the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts for providing invaluable time and space
to create this work, and to Manfred Fischbeck for his translation of the Rilke poem.
Round for Three Muses
Scored for: percussion solo (with vocals), percussion trio (with vocals), electronic sound
Duration: 18:52
World Premiere: 3/17, Michigan State University, Cook Recital Hall, Lansing, MI, Performed by Yun Ju Pan, Will Alderman, Alex Smith, Kathryn Irwin, and Yun Tsu Pan
Commissioned by: Yun Ju Pan Ensemble
Published by: Self-published, Angelfire Press
Contact Andrea Clearfield for score and parts:
QUOTES
“I am so fortunate to commission this amazing piece from Andrea. Round for Three Muses is a heart-melting piece that uses a variety of percussion instrumentation and beautiful sound effects to express the elegance, faith, and hope of ancient Greece Goddesses – Muses. Andrea’s music is very creative and brave. This piece requires performers to be fully devoted in the music both physically and mentally to achieve the spirit, which brings audiences to an energetic and peaceful meditation level”. – Yun Ju Pan, commissioner
“Andrea Clearfield’s “Round for Three Muses” is a stunning representation of chamber percussion and the exquisite color palette percussionists can achieve”. – James Doyle, Director, Percussion Ensemble, Adams State University, Alamosa, Colorado. Read Round for Three Muses program notes by James Doyle.
“The Round for Three Muses (the lún chàng of three Muse Goddess) has broken the model of traditional percussion. The elements that are injected are not just the passing of the performance and the tone of the music. It is through musical instruments, music, human voice, and so on, so that people can feel that life is integrated with the entire existence and the continuous interaction of one another”. – Morillon Chang, Taipei
PROGRAM NOTES
Round for Three Muses was inspired by a poem by David Wagoner “Round for the Muses” quoting Picasso,”to draw you must close your eyes and sing”, the poem “Hearbeat” by Rainer Maria Rilke, and the ancient Greek Muses. The piece is a cross between a concert work and a performance art piece, where the performers play their instruments and also speak, sing and move.
The piece is structured with an introduction and three continuous movements loosely associated with the three ancient Muses:
I. MELETE (muse of meditation)
II. AOIDE (muse of voice and song)
III. MNEME (muse of memory)
This work was commissioned by a consortium of percussionists, organized by Yun Ju Pan. Yun Ju Pan Ensemble premiered the work at Michigan State University, later performing it on tour in Taiwan and China and at the 2017 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis. The work has recently been performed by the Adams State University Percussion Ensemble in Alamosa, Colorado.
The composer wishes to thank the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts for providing invaluable time and space
to create this work, and to Manfred Fischbeck for his translation of the Rilke poem.
WATCH
(video begins at 8:00)