Notes for: August 12, 2014
A native of New London, New Hampshire, Salathé spent his formative musical years playing jazz trumpet, making homemade musique concrete on an old tape deck, and getting in trouble for surreptitiously composing in high-school chemistry class. His music has since been performed in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia, and ranges widely in scale and scope, from multi-movement compositions for large ensembles to pieces for electronic media.
He studied at Bennington College (B.A. 1998) and the Hartt School (M.M. 2006, A.D. 2007) in Hartford, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Stony Brook University, where he teaches courses in composition, theory, and analysis in the undergraduate and Pre-College programs.
In addition to composing, Phil has penned articles and reviews for the Hartford Courant and Masstransfer magazine, among other publications. He contributed musical analysis and commentary to Julian Palacios’s book Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd: Dark Globe, released in October 2010. His current and future projects include an upcoming commission from oboist Ursula Sahagian, and his dissertation piece And Yet..., a work for orchestra that incorporates 78 RPM recordings made in the 1930s by his grandfather, a gifted basso profondo.
Salathé has provided the following program note for this evening’s performance:
The Three Street Pieces were originally written at the request of clarinetist Ed Nishimura and double bassist Ryan Ford, who were planning to spend the summer in Canada “busking” – that is, performing as street musicians. I was immediately attracted to the instrumental combination, which seemed to me both underexploited and eminently natural, as well as to the unique performance opportunity.
Once I set to work, I found myself returning over and over again to the rhythmic and melodic language of Latin American music as my inspiration. After all, if my piece had decided that the “street” in question was located in Buenos Aires, or Havana – well, who was I to argue? I’m not sure if I knew it at the time, but as I listen now, I perceive in these pieces the influence of two musicians above all: Cuban jazz clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, and Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla.
Ultimately summer plans were changed, and the Three Street Piece received their premiere not in the Canadian street, but in a Connecticut concert hall in 2006. Though it would be interesting to someday hear them in their originally intended milieu, I suspect the change in venue is for the best.
My hearty thanks are due to Alan Kay and Volkan Orhon. It is an honor and a privilege to work with these amazingly sensitive musicians, who can with seeming effortlessness turn a composer’s dreams into reality.