Vanitas (2018)

(Ars Moriendi: Pieces for Violoncello and Marimba, Book I)

Duration: 50’

I. Vanitas (Towards a Prélude)

II. Kleine Sonate auf (Dopple)concerte- nart (a Dies Irae Remembering Benjamin Britten)

III. Sarabande (The Real Deal)

IV. Arsis/Thesis (Not-a-Bourée I - Not-a- Bourée II - Not-a-Bourée I)

V. Thesis/Arsis (Not-a-Gavotte I - Not-a- Gavotte II - Not-a-Gavotte I)

VI. Vertigo (A Gigue Descendent)

VII. Air (Towards the End)

Instrumentation: violoncello, marimba, optional vibraphone.

Commission: New Morse Code commissioned Vanitas, with support provided to the composers by a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Residencies for the composer and/or performers at Copland House, the Millay Colony, and Avaloch Farms provided time and space to work and collaborate. A grant from Stony Brook University through Faculty in the Arts, Humanities and lettered Social Sciences, the Offices of the Provost, and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences provided funds supporting the recording.

Purchase Album/Download: here

Program Notes

Vanitas is a suite of pieces for cello and marimba that I composed over the last four years. I began writing them as a homage to

the 17th-century French composer Marin Marais, who wrote fantastic suites for viola da gamba and continuo. György Kurtág’s Jelek and Játékok as well as Bach’s dance suites provided further inspiration. For me, they are a means of experimenting with ideas of rhythm, meter, form, and time. The title is taken from the still-life paintings com- mon in the Netherlands during the 17th century containing symbols of time and change.

Vanitas was not conceived of as a whole, but rather as an accumulation. Rather than hold myself to a strict deadline, duration, or number of pieces, I decided to work freely with various ideas and form a suite from the resulting pieces. This may be the final form, or it may not. In some ways, I imagined each piece standing on its own, but I find that when I listen to each individually I want the context of the others. Two slow movements seem to have imbued the original playful- ness with an earnestness that is also beyond my original intention, but which that I have embraced.

New Morse Code commissioned Vanitas, with support provided to the composers by a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Residencies for the composer and/or performers at Copland House, the Millay Colony, and Avaloch Farms provided time and space to work and collaborate. A grant from Stony Brook University through Faculty in the Arts, Humanities and lettered Social Sciences, the Offices of the Provost, and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences provided funds supporting these performances.

—Matthew Barnson