fivebyfive's album of chamber works
As part of the glassblowing process, breath & fire both play a part as the glass expands, pops, morphs, and becomes a new work. When we imagine breath, there is a sense of expansion and contraction, a connection to and awareness of the current moment. When we think about fire, there is energetic movement, intensity, heat.
This album - this new work - has been like the glass, created through the energies of breath & fire as part of its own process of coming to life. The pieces on the album strongly invoke stillness or motion, and the recording process of matching spaces to the mood or pace in the music seeks to further draw out these energies as you listen.
breath & fire
fivebyfive:
Laura Lentz, Artistic Director & flute, alto flute, bass flute
Marcy Bacon, clarinet, bass clarinet
Ken Luk, electric guitar
Eric J. Polenik, bass
Haeyeun Jeun, piano
Marc Webster, Executive Director & recording engineer
Marc Webster plays B3 organ on Dreadlocked and electronics on Dreams of Glass and Water and Lead Me Home
Kristen Shiner McGuire plays percussion on Heavy
Amy Nam plays electric harp on …of breath and fire
Laura Lentz plays glass flute on the ending of …of breath and fire
Dreadlocked
Marc Mellits, composerComposer Marc Mellits is one of the leading American composers of his generation, enjoying hundreds of performances throughout the world every year, making him one of the most performed living composers in the United States. From Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, to prestigious music festivals in Europe and the US, Mellits’ music is a constant mainstay on programs throughout the world. His unique musical style is an eclectic combination of driving rhythms, soaring lyricism, and colorful orchestrations that all combine to communicate directly with the listener. Mellits' music is often described as being visceral, making a deep connection with the audience. “This was music as sensual as it was intelligent; I saw audience members swaying, nodding, making little motions with their hands” (New York Press). He started composing very early, and was writing piano music long before he started formal piano lessons at age 6. He went on to study at the Eastman School of Music, Yale School of Music, Cornell University, and Tanglewood. Mellits often is a miniaturist, composing works that are comprised of short, contrasting movements or sections. His music is eclectic, all-encompassing, colorful, and always has a sense of forward motion.
“Dreadlocked originally appeared in Mellits’ operetta M/W as well as part of the Paranoid Cheese Project. The music relies on rich thematic and harmonic development incorporated into a repetitive acoustical canvas. The rhythmic interplay creates a myriad of mathematical sequences, expanding and contracting as the musical lines shift harmonic planes. It is music that is tonal within modes yet eschews traditional tonality. The repetitive nature of the music propels itself into spiraling dances, always with a forward motion, into sometimes dark and sometimes bright areas of a spectral musical canvas. This particular edition of Dreadlocked was created for fivebyfive.”
