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Bridges in an expanded orchestral version.
Bridges
Program Note
The five movements of Bridges are inspired by actual bridges in different parts of the world and organized around a wide variety of cultures. Railroad Trestle Bridge in Galax, Virginia uses the motoric rhythm of a train and the sound of a fiddle and banjo playing country music. Stone Bridge over a Reflecting Pool in Suzhou is based on a traditional Chinese song called Moli Hua or Jasmine Flower. The Golden Gate Bridge recalls the folk music revival of the 1960's and 70's in California, with particular respect paid to the singer Joan Baez, whose haunting songs had a profound effect on me. I have combined her song “All My Trials” with a Chinese folksong called “Liu Yang River” as both reflect the culture of the Bay Area. The Brooklyn Bridge has a particularly happy coincidence. I wanted this bridge to partake of the vibrant be-bop era in New York City. In researching be-bop melodies, I came across a standard favored by many jazz musicians, “I Got Rhythm” by George Gershwin. Using only the harmonic chord changes to this tune, players crafted seemingly endless improvisations. As the song was written in the typical AABA song form, the “B” section was referred to as the “bridge”. Here was the ideal confluence of the many meanings of the word “bridge”, and I leaped at the opportunity to bring them all together. The fifth movement is The Mackinac Bridge, based on the folksong “The Water is Wide” because the bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere and spans a wide expanse of water over the straits of Mackinac, connecting Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas.
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Using Jonathan Swift’s satiric essay as text, Bond weaves fragments of familiar nursery songs together to produce a potent blend of humor and horror.
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The Constitutional Convention of 1787 as seen through modern eyes with comparisons to recent history. |
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Dedicated to the physicist Marie Curie, the work expresses aspects of radioactivity as they relate to music.
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The idea for the piano concerto Ancient Keys began as a fragile melody, sung by the pianist Paul Barnes, on a foggy hillside in the Czech city of Zlin. Paul and I were on our way to a recording session for my first piano concerto and he was relating to me his ecstatic experiences singing in the choir of a Greek Orthodox Church.
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"Anne Frank's Tree" commissioned by The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, will premiere on January 20, 2024 in Indianapolis at the Schrott Center for the Arts, Butler University, 610 W. 46th St., Indianapolis, IN 46208 |
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Using the words from a letter written in 1927 about the relationship of art to science, the song takes its musical form from the highly-structured pattern of Einstein's thoughts.
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Theme and variation on the Brazilian samba |
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Olga Vinokur has just recorded "Binary" for solo piano. Enjoy this premiere recording. |
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Black Light was composed in 1988 but revised and expanded for pianist Paul Barnes and was given its premiere performance by Barnes in November of 1997 in the Czech Republic. The title “Black Light” suggests the light that shines from the music of African America – music which has had a profound effect on Bond’s own compositions. In this particular concerto, several aspects of that influence are explored.
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On October 11, 2023, the brilliant Nightingale String Quartet gave the Europena premiere of Victoria Bond's "Blue and Green Music" |
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Br'er Rabbit is invited to perform on his banjo at the Wolves' party. Banjo, fiddle and double bass
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Bridges by Victoria Bond began as a quartet for clarinet, bass clarinet, erhu and pipa, commissioned for Birds and Phoenix and premiered by John Yeh, Teresa Reilly, Yang Wei and Wang Guowei in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Watch the video below of Railroad Trestle Bridge. All four bridges are available on YouTube and are: Railroad Trestle Bridge in Galax, Virginia; Stone Bridge Over a Reflecting Pool in Suzhou, China; Golden Gate Bridge; Brooklyn Bridge |
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BUZZ
One of the things that strike me in particular about the insect sounds is that they are so unexpectedly expressive. In the past I had thought of insects as being creatures without true emotions, but these “songs” are deeply emotional. Maybe it’s just anthropomorphic to identify human emotions with those of insects, but I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt. This is what I am really after with the piece – bringing out what is most expressive in the language of these beasts. I have not manipulated the sounds in any way, being averse to making them sound even more “strange” and exotic than they already are. The commentary on the viola is a dialogue, a conversation suggesting a reaction to those emotions.
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