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The Favrile Opalescence

by Matthew Welch

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released July 3, 2020

MATTHEW WELCH
THE FAVRILE OPALESCENCE
LAMENT FOR THE DEAD
LOCH FYNE VARIATIONS

Kotekan Records is thrilled to release three significant classical ensemble commissions: percussion and string quartets, plus a colorful new concerto for bagpipes and percussion ensemble, featuring Welch as soloist.

1) LOCH FYNE VARIATIONS (PERCUSSION QUARTET) [2008]

I always thought my instrument, the bagpipes sounded like the perfect combination of metallic and wooden sounds due to its raucous reedy and shrill nature. Soon this preference for elemental sonic combinations was reinvigorated by hearing Gamelan and other instrumental combinations in South East Asian ensemble musics. This piece orchestrates various possible couplings, dialogues, hybridizations and negotiations that these disparate idioms may yield in of set variations on a basic underlying melodic backbone. Loch Fyne is a beautiful little lake located in the Highlands of Scotland. This piece was commissioned and premiered by Ethos Percussion with help from the Jerome Foundation. Clocks In Motion has taken the quartet up and is a part of their regular repertoire.

CLOCKS IN MOTION
Sean Kleve (xylophone)
Dave Alcorn (marimba)
Michael Koszewski (vibraphone)
James McKenzie (glockenspiel)
www.clocksinmotionpercussion.com

Recorded Live at The Stone in December 2015 by Will Gardiner.
Mixed by Will Gardiner 2016.
Mastered by Kotekan Records 2020

score available here
www.bachovich.com/music/0781

2) LAMENT FOR THE DEAD (STRING QUARTET NO. 2) [2013]

My second String Quartet in one movement takes a snippet of the Requiem plainchant and chorale, stretches it out over 12 minutes, and builds new musical worlds inside that bare architecture. Melodies inspired by the Highland Bagpipe Piobaireachd "Cumha Na Marbh" (The Lament for the Dead), are set within a musical quilt of textures inspired by gamelan, polyphony, Ligeti and Bartok. Commissioned by the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

QUARTET METADATA
Hajnal Pivnick (violin)
Lynn Bechtold (violin)
Hannah Levinson (viola)
Jennifer DeVore (cello)
quartetmetadata.wixsite.com/metadata

Recorded New Haven, CT 2016.
Mastered by Kotekan Records 2020
score available here
www.matthewwelchmusic.com/works-1/cumha-na-marbh-bri-requiem-aeternam-dona-eisibrsmall-string-quartet-2small

3) THE FAVRILE OPALESCENCE (CONCERTO FOR BAGPIPE AND PERCUSSION) [2012]

The Favrile Opalescence is an homage to the stained glasswork of Louis Comfort Tiffany and refers to the chromatic shimmer of iridescence within the glass. Throughout the concerto, a short pipe-tune by Welch (featured at the end) is fractured into numerous sections that glitter like a stained glass window. The solo bagpipe part, played by the composer himself, calls for extensive use of non-traditional chromatic notes as the harmony rapidly shifts colors. Paul Vaillancourt, a long-time collaborator of Welch’s, directs the 8 players of the Columbus State University Percussion Ensemble from the drum set. Commissioned by the Columbus State University's Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians and the Schwob School of Music.

Matthew Welch (bagpipe) with

COLUMBUS STATE UNIVERSITY PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
Brandon Smith, Bert Groover (marimbas/almglocken)
Stacey Guyton, James Klausmeyer (vibraphones/gongs)
Jonathan Mashburn (vibraphone/bass drums/log drums/tam-tams/triangles)
Diana Sharpe, Joel Castro (glockenspiels/crotales/xylophones)
Paul Vaillancourt (drum set, director)
www.pvpercussion.com/schwob-percussion
www.pvpercussion.com

Recorded in a closed session at Schwob School of Music, Legacy Hall, October 2012.
Recording and editing engineer: Matthew McCabe

Cover Art by Lauren Kolesinskas
laurenkolesinskas.com

Kotekan Records 112
copyright 2020 Matthew Welch

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Kotekan Records San Francisco, California

Kotekan Records is dedicated to the projects of Matthew Welch. Inspired by the interlocking rhythm, Kotekan records focuses on the most intertwined reaches of Welch’s hybrid compositional world. Each album cover is commissioned from artist Lauren Kolesinskas. ... more

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