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Pantoum 1: Sunset
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A setting of a pantoum written by my wife, Maggie, for soprano and piano quartet
classical composer blues contemporary solo piano hybrid improvisation vocal music chamber music blues piano free improvisation improvised piano
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As a composer and pianist, I write and play in a contemporary hybrid style reflecting the varied musical influences I grew up with, including, but not limited t
I was born in Ventura, California, USA in 1950 and began piano study at the age of four. I grew up in a musically diverse home where my older brother, an accomplished pianist and clarinetist, was a primary influence. Through access to his extensive record collection, I developed an early interest in a wide range of music including classical, blues, jazz, and big band. In the 60’s, rock and folk music were added to the mix, setting the stage for a later career in which the cross-cultural and polystylistic musical tendencies of postmodernism would emerge. In 1968, I received a music scholarship to study piano performance at University of the Pacific Conservatory. Here, I began to investigate medieval and renaissance music, the harpsichord, music of other cultures, and various forms of improvisation. Here, also, my German piano instructor demanded that I stop wasting my time improvising and playing jazz, and “Get back to Brahms!” This was not to be. Finally realizing that I was not destined to become the next Horowitz, and being unable to reconcile my compelling interest in music outside of the classical mainstream with the required course of study, I left the university and the world of piano recitals in 1971. I traveled extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe, including pilgrimages to Salzburg, Bonn, and Vienna, the birthplaces of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. Returning to California in 1973, I began performing and conducting early music in the San Francisco bay area. From 1975 to 1981 I owned and operated The Harpsichord Workshop of San Francisco, a center devoted to the building and maintenance of early keyboard instruments. During this time I also studied jazz piano, and began composing in a style which reflected my various musical influences. In 1982, I left California for New England where, in addition to composing for piano, organ, chamber groups and orchestra, I collaborate with my wife, Margaret, a poet, on vocal and choral works. Together we have written THE FOUR ARTISTS for vocal soloists, piano, and chorus: a look at the relationship between artists and society, THE AGE OF EXPLORATION for soprano, cello, and harpsichord, which examines the roles of women in the renaissance and today, and IMAGES 1939/1993 for contralto, chorus, piano, and string orchestra, which explores modern genocide in Europe. We live in Mystic, Connecticut, USA, where I continue to compose, improvise, teach, and perform. I have four CDs of solo piano music. We have a son, Benjamin, 27, who lives in Montreal.
Song Info
Charts
Peak #70
Peak in subgenre #30
Author
Words: Margaret Hardy/Music: Glenn Hardy
Rights
2007 Hardymuse Productions
Uploaded
March 21, 2008
Track Files
MP3
MP3 10.7 MB 160 kbps 11:43
Story behind the song
This is a live recording from a performance at the Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, NY on January 19, 2008. Performers are Erika Sunnegardh, soprano, and the New York Piano Quartet
Lyrics
SUNSET (A PANTOUM) The sun is setting in the west, An artist’s pigments stain the sky, Their gentle colors bring us rest: I cannot, will not tell you why. An artist’s pigments stain the sky, Brightly blooming flowers of night; I cannot, will not tell you why Their colors give us such delight. Brightly blooming flowers of night Growing in an artist’s dream, Their colors give us such delight: These flowers are not what they seem. Growing in an artist’s dream, In some lovely skyward garden, These flowers are not what they seem, They who never beg our pardon. In some lovely skyward garden They dance, and dream, and laugh and bloom, They who never beg our pardon, And fill with scent our secret rooms. They dance, and dream, and laugh and bloom, Their gentle colors bring us rest, And fill with scent our secret rooms; The sun is setting in the west.
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