Description
Perusal Score
Video
Praised by Performance Today as "one of the top young guitarists of his generation," Jordan Dodson will soon make his debut with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia in a program featuring "Glow," Andrea Clearfield's new concerto for electric guitar. Soloist and composer visit WRTI for live music and conversation with host, Susan Lewis. WRTI Program:
Across the Universe, The Beatles arr. Jordan Dodson
Fantasia, Alonso Mudarra (1510-1580)
Cadenza from Concerto for Guitar, Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Selections from Glow, Andrea Clearfield
Duration
Premiere
KImmel Center for the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
Dirk Brossé, music director
Jordan Dodson, electric guitar
Commissioner
Instrumentation
Movements
II. STREAK
III. GLOW
Program Notes
The inspiration for this concerto, GLOW, arose from “color”. Initially inspired by the artwork of painter Eva Darrington in her Colorfield series and a quote by Wassily Kandinsky, I also wanted to explore the wide range of colors possible on the electric guitar, with its various pedals and sound effects.
“I applied streaks and blobs of colors onto the canvas with a palette knife and made them sing with all the intensity I could.” Kandinsky
One will hear a range of electric guitar effects including delay, chorus, feedback, reverb, distortion, “whammy bar” vibrato as well as different textures created by harmonics, bends, palm muting and the use of a violin bow and an Ebow. My own synesthesia also came into play, wherein I imagine colors when listening to musical pitches and hear notes to colors. I’ve had synesthesia as long as I can remember, and this neurological condition in which one sense stimulates another strongly influences the harmonies, pitch centers and emotional qualities of my music. Growing up with an artist mother, Louise Clearfield, I remember the vibrant colors in her studio and would compose early works to her paintings. “Color” to me now represents not only visual colors, but the overall character or feeling of a work. GLOW employs colorful harmonies, energetic rhythms and rock-infused solos. For the latter, I reached back to my early days playing keyboards in rock bands.
The concerto has three movements. The first, “SING” features shifting harmonies under fluid guitar cantabile melodies and intimate soloistic passages in the orchestra based on a recurring interval of a descending fourth. The second, “STREAK”, begins with waves of harmonics and percussive strings, exploding into propulsive motion and incisive chordal punctuations. The last movement, “GLOW” is a modal landscape of undulating textures and rock-infused solos.
It was a great pleasure to work with highly gifted soloist, Jordan Dodson, who generously made videos of effects on his guitar and played through sketches in progress. I am deeply grateful to the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the American Composers Forum, Philadelphia Chapter for awarding me the Steven R. Gerber Composer Residency which allowed me this exciting opportunity to write my first concerto for electric guitar.
–Andrea Clearfield
Performance History
Date | Performer(s) | Venue | City/State |
---|---|---|---|
March 31, 2019 | The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia Dirk Brossé, music director Jordan Dodson, electric guitar | Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts | Philadelphia, PA |
April 1, 2019 | The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia Dirk Brossé, music director Jordan Dodson, electric guitar | Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts | Philadelphia, PA |