Tempest Fantasy (2002-03)
Winner of 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Music
by Paul Moravec
- Ariel
- Prospero
- Caliban
- Sweet Airs
- Tempest Fantasia
Tempest Fantasy is a musical meditation on various characters, moods, situations, and lines of text from my favorite Shakespeare play, The Tempest. Rather than trying to depict these elements in programmatic terms, the music simply uses them as points of departure for flights of purely musical fancy.
The first three movements spring from the nature and selected speeches of the three eponymous individuals. The fourth movement begins from Caliban's uncharacteristically elegant speech from Act III, scene 2:
"Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not."
The fifth movement is the most "fantastic" flight of all, elaborating on the numerous musical strands of the previous movements and drawing them all together into a convivial finale.
Tempest Fantasy is dedicated with great admiration and affection to David Krakauer and the members of Trio Solisti.
Evolution of Tempest Fantasy (2002-03)
by Paul Moravec
Dedicated to Trio Solisti and David Krakauer.
Premiered by Trio Solisti members Maria Bachmann, violin, Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello and Jon Klibonoff, piano and David Krakauer, clarinet at the Morgan Library in New York City on May 2, 2003. Tempest Fantasy has been recorded by Trio Solisti and David Krakauer for the Arabesque label for fall 2004 release.
The members of Trio Solisti have had a very long friendship with and commitment to Paul Moravec and his music. Trio Solisti has premiered and recorded trios by Paul Moravec including Mood Swings(1998), Scherzo (2003), and B.A.S.S. Variations (2003).
In addition, Maria Bachmann and Jon Klibonoff premiered Paul's Sonata for Violin and Piano (1992) and recorded it for BMG/Catalyst. Maria and Jon also premiered and recorded Moravec's Circular Dreams(1991) for trio and clarinet for the CRI label with The Carnegie Chamber Players. Paul Moravec has also written several other works for them including Lyric Concerto, a violin concerto for Maria Bachmann, Characteristics, a solo piano work, and Protean Fantasy for violin and piano.
The genesis of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize winning Tempest Fantasy is that originally, one of the movements of Characteristics for solo piano, was dedicated to Maria Bachmann. In 2001, Maria asked Paul to rewrite it for violin and piano so that she could perform it on her recital that year in Paris. Paul renamed the work Ariel Fantasy. After the recital, Maria suggested to Paul that he write a larger scale chamber work based on characters from Shakespeare's play "The Tempest" since Paul had already written such a fantastic piece based on Ariel. That is how Tempest Fantasy was born.
Trio Solisti "Tempest" programs:
1) Made in America
Bernstein Trio (1937)
Schoenfield Café Music (1986)
Gershwin Songs from "Porgy and Bess" for trio and Clarinet
Moravec Tempest Fantasy (2002-03)
2) Jazzy Classics
Musto Trio (1998)
Schoenfield Café Music (1986)
Milhaud "Saudades do Brazil" (trio arr. Bachmann)
Milhaud "Creation du Monde" ( Trio and clarinet arr. Bachmann)
Gershwin Songs from "Porgy and Bess" for trio and clarinet
Piazzolla Le Grand Tango (arr. Martin Kutnowski)
Moravec Tempest Fantasy
3) A Varied Chamber program for trio and clarinet
Brahms Trio in A minor for clarinet, cello and piano Op. 114
Bartok Contrasts for violin, clarinet, and piano OR
Stravinsky "L'Histoire du Soldat"
Moravec Tempest Fantasy
4) Chamber masterworks for trio and clarinet
Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time OR
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. Klibonoff)
Moravec Tempest Fantasy
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