Karim Al-Zand: Music: Ignoble Dances
Ignoble Dances
for flute & piano
Ignoble Dances was written in 2020, and its music reflects upon that disconsolate year. The seven short dances draw musical influence from a variety of sources. The title of the first movement, Antemasque, refers to a “buffoonish dance” that precedes a masque, a courtly entertainment of the 16th century. Of course, the word has gained another meaning in 2020, one that is equally buffoonish. Here the flute plays an urgent tune over an obstinate bass (ostinato). Dance of Duplicity presents a wistful slow drag (a ragtime two-step) gradually undermined by repeated interruptions. Dance of Denial is based on the Italian tarantella, in which those bitten by the tarantula spider dance in a feverish trance until they collapse.
Distanced Dance is a melancholy solo for flute alone. In J. B. Dances a Jig in the Gloom, a surprisingly cheerful flute tune emerges from the piano’s somber haze. Dog Whistle Dance features the piccolo and the highest register of the piano in strident rhythmic interplay. The set concludes with a pavan: a slow, stately Renaissance dance. In 1648, composer Thomas Tomkins wrote a lament in memory of King Charles I, entitled “Sad Pavan for These Distracted Tymes.” In my pavan, which draws on the Tomkins, it is the music that is distracted and the times that are sad.
DATE
2020
DURATION
16 minutes
INSTRUMENTATION
flute, piano
MOVEMENTS
1. Antemasque
2. Dance of Duplicity
3. Dance of Denial
4. Distanced Dance
5. J. B. Dances a Jig in the Gloom
6. Dog Whistle Dance
7. Distracted Pavan for These Sad Times
COMMISSION
Ignoble Dances was commissioned by flutist Matthew Roitstein with the generous support of a consortium of flutists from the United States and abroad who premiere the work: Hilary Abigana, Claudia Anderson, Amanda Blaikie, Leone Buyse, Christopher Chaffee, Michelle Cheramy, Douglas DeVries, Judith Dines, Aralee Dorough, Cobus du Toit, Jill Felber, Brook Ferguson, Steven Finley, Lisa Garner Santa, Marianne Gedigian, Emma Gerstein, Michael Gordon, Nave Graham, Jennifer Grim, Christine Gustafson, Hannah Hammel, Elise Henry, Jill Heyboer, Christina Jennings, Trudy Kane, Jennifer Keeney, Cynthia Kelley, Sherry Kujala, Stephen Kujala, Walfrid Kujala, Kathryn Ladner, Christina Medawar, Norman Menzales, Diana Morgan, Erica Peel, Catherine Ramirez, Leslie Richmond, Matthew Roitstein, Elizabeth Rowe, Rosalina R. Sackstein, Adam Sadberry, Marisela Sager, Julie Scolnik, Christina Smith, Yoobin Son, Nancy Stagnitta, Wendy Stern, Mark Teplitsky, Ebonee Thomas, Caen Thomason-Redus, Linda Toote, James Walker, Viviana Wilson, Heather Yarmel, Natalie Zisman
AUDIO
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