Archive for August, 2022

PUBLICATION – Cage’s Bacchanale for 2 Guitars

NEWS!

My arrangement of John Cage’s prepared piano work Bacchanale for 2 prepared guitars is now available through Edition Peters Group !!!

Guitar Preparations

 
Written in 1940, Bacchanale is the earliest of John Cage’s prepared piano works, which was originally written for choreographer and fellow faculty member at Cornish College, Syvilla Fort, who was one of the earliest black choreographers of modern dance in the US.
 
 
From John. Cage. Guitar.

“A rhythmically riotous piece, polyrhythms are created through the music’s consistently adjusting groupings and meters. Bacchanale was first conceived by Cage as a dance work for percussion ensemble by fellow Cornish College faculty choreographer Syvilla Fort, who asked for a composition of African inspiration. The space of the performance was not large enough to allow for the battery of percussion instruments, so Cage decided to fix weather stripping, bolts, screws and nuts into the strings of the piano to create a percussion ensemble, and the first work for prepared piano was born. Its large form being Fast-Slow-Fast, the outside sections are also broken into smaller sections of various levels of Fast-Faster-Fast. The middle section is marked Very Slow-Slow-Slower and has only one dynamic triple piano (ppp). The preparation of the guitars consisted of paper woven through strings 6-2, and an alligator clip on the first string with two washers around it. It is as close to rock and roll as one can get in 1940 or with classical guitars.”

It is the closing track of John. Cage. Guitar, Recorded with Adam Levin on Stone Records.

The score comes with preparation instructions and photos.

Score from Edition Peters: HERE

Signed score directly from Aaron via Bandcamp: HERE

Hear it on John. Cage. Guitar. : SPOTIFY 

Here it live on November 5 at Pomona College in Claremont, California with Aaron Larget-Caplan and Buzz Gravelle

 

Syvilla Fort

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VIDEO:

Return of Now Music – Pictures!

The return of  Now Musique is official!

The first concert ‘Night Songs & Dances’ featuring New Lullaby Project solos, my own solo from honey cadence, and a couple Spanish dances was enthusiastically received by members of the Dorchester community and composers. The milk & cookies were also a hit!
It was wonderful to be back in the community. The first concert cancellation due to Covid was a concert in March 2020 at the UC Library, so the return was quite special. Thank you to Denisa Dobrin & Catherine Larget-Caplan for the photos.
Next Now Musique Concert 2 is Saturday Aug. 20 at 7pm – Frets & Plectrums – Bach & Beyond – Aaron Larget-Caplan & Frederick Jodry
Future Now Musique Concerts listed at: http://nowmusique.com/

Composers John McDonald, Stanley Hoffman, Charles Turner

Composer Stanley Hoffman with lullaby inspiration Naomi

RELEASE: Now Musique presents 5 Concerts

GUITARIST PRESENTS “NIGHT SONGS AND DANCES,”
THE FIRST OF FIVE FAMILY-FRIENDLY CONCERTS IN DORCHESTER

BOSTON (Dorchester), MA―International guitarist and Dorchester resident Aaron Larget-Caplan is presenting the first of five family-friendly concerts in the Dorchester neighborhood of Upham’s Corner on Thursday, August 11th at 5:30 PM. These free musical events are hosted by Now Musique and take place at the Upham’s Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library (500 Columbia Rd in Dorchester), with the exception of the second concert. A free 30 minute preview performance will be on Monday, August 8th at 11:15am as part of the Upham’s Corner Library Storytime. Now Musique is a project curated by Larget-Caplan that shares new and unknown music in settings outside of the traditional concert hall with a multitude of communities. This family-friendly series of concerts is funded by a 2022 grant from the City of Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture. Each performance is 50-60 minutes in length and curated so audiences of all ages can enjoy and engage with the performer(s) and a number of  living composers who have written the contemporary pieces on the programs.

“Night Songs and Dances” is the first concert of the series and features Spanish dances, six works by Lynn Job, Stanley Hoffman, John McDonald, Frank Warren, Charles Turner―all written for Larget-Caplan’s critically acclaimed New Lullaby Project, and a few pieces written by Larget-Caplan for his latest album honey cadence.

The New Lullaby Project began in 2007 in an effort by Aaron Larget-Caplan to bridge the chasm between audiences and new music, and started with him asking “Who’s afraid of a lullaby?!” These solo guitar works explore the genre of the lullaby. They tell stories of hope, fear, peace, rebirth, and even Adam & Eve’s first lullaby. They are composed using a variety of musical languages including tonal, minimalist, 12-tone, and microtones. Many incorporate a number of extended techniques. As the New Lullaby Project has grown, Larget-Caplan has found that the 65+ participating composers have succeeded in creating intimate miniatures that are not only challenging and beautiful, but fascinate and truly engage audiences by what they hear and experience.

honey cadence is Aaron Larget-Caplan’s most recent recording project with  six new pieces by the guitarist and represents his first true foray into the world of composition beyond his work as a noted arranger. The EP was released by Tiger Turn in April 2022 and has since garnered over 400K streams worldwide over all the major platforms.

Audiences of all ages are encouraged to attend any or all of the five concerts. It should be noted that those who come to the “Night Songs and Dances” performance wearing their pajamas (PG rated) will receive a New Lullaby Project sticker. And yes, teddy bears are welcome.

The second of the Now Musique series is titled “Frets & Plectrums – Music of Bach and Beyond” and takes place on Saturday, August 20th at 7:00 PM. The notable Frederick Jodry will join Aaron Larget-Caplan to perform solos and duos for harpsichord and guitar by J.S. Bach, Luigi Boccherini, Domenico Scarlatti, and Larget-Caplan. It is important to note this concert will be presented at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (14 Cushing Ave) and is the only concert of the series not held at the Upham’s Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library.

Questions on attending the concerts?

Upham’s Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library, Georgia Titonis, Librarian:  (617) 265-0139

More Information on the concert series and Aaron Larget-Caplan can be found at:

Now Musique:                       NowMusique.com
Aaron Larget-Caplan:      ALCGuitar.com
New Lullaby Project:        NewLullabyProject.com

ALL FIVE NOW MUSIQUE CONCERTS:

CONCERT 1: “Night Songs and Dances”
Thursday, August 11 • 5:30pm • Concert • Upham’s Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library
Music by Lynn Job, Stanley Hoffman, John McDonald, Frank Warren, Charles Turner, Larget-Caplan and Spanish Composers.

CONCERT 2: “Frets & Plectrums” with Frederick Jodry, harpsichord
Saturday, August 20 • 7:00 PM • Concert • St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (14 Cushing Ave)
Music by Bach, Boccherini, Scarlatti, and Larget-Caplan
Repeated 8/21 in Newport, RI & 8/28 in Provincetown, MA w/slight variation

CONCERT 3: “Lullings”
Thursday, September 15 • 5:30 PM • Concert • Upham’s Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library
Music by Ronald Pearl, Tom Nazziola, Curtis Hughes, Brian Schober, Scott Wheeler, Dean Rosenthal, Larget-Caplan, and Bach.

CONCERT 4: “Electric Hush”
Thursday, October 13 • 5:30 PM • Concert • Upham’s Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library
Music by Lainie Fefferman, Tom Flaherty, Ian Wiese, Gregory Biss, Stefanie Lubkowski, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz, Larget-Caplan.
* Includes two works for electronics and guitar!

CONCERT 5: “Catching Dreams”
Thursday, November 17 • 5:30pm • Upham’s Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library
Music by Laurie Spiegel, Anthony Green, Jim Dalton, Michael Veloso, John Johnstone, Francine Trester, Larget-Caplan.

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