Lullaby and Memory (2013) for flute, English horn, bass clarinet, horn and bassoon
Click (2013) for percussion students and wind quintet
Tango for a Cold Wintry Day (2014)
Rockaway Baby (2016)
I. The Rockaways
II. Blue Heaven
III. D.O.M. (optional contrabassoon)
For The Sparrows (2018) for Wind Quintet, children’s chorus, recorder group and chamber orchestra
We have had the honor and pleasure to commission composer Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin for numerous works. The first piece he wrote for us was Lullaby and Memory, one of our first Memory Project pieces. The work was inspired by interviews with Latino seniors in a program at the Salvation Army in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY. Many of the women interviewed were non-English speaking recent immigrants. Their stories reminded Ljova of his own grandmother and one can hear the influence of Jewish music in this work. During this Memory Project, Ljova also worked with percussion students at the Renaissance School in Jackson Heights and wrote a work for them to perform with the Quintet.
Tango for a Cold Wintry Day was originally written in 1999 for different instrumentation. Ljova gave us this version which the Quintet premiered at the Flushing Library in Queens on March 29, 2014.
Rockaway Baby was another piece commissioned for the Quintet’s Memory Project. The Quintet and Ljova interviewed folks living at the Peninsula Rehab Center in Rockaway. The movements are influenced by I. the setting – the ocean, II, thoughts of the blue sky – memories of an elderly lady and III. stories and piano playing of elderly gentleman.
For the Sparrows was commissioned as a multi-generational project that involved elementary school recorder players from PS. 69, the chorus from PS 149, The Jackson Heights Orchestra, conducted by Patricia Glunt, and seniors at the Catherine Sheridan Senior Center.
This four-movement work which has an overall theme of birds. Ljova wrote the first movement based on interviews with the seniors. The next movement, based on the white-throated sparrow’s call is for the recorder players and the quintet, another movement is for the quintet and the orchestra, and the last movement brings everyone together, first with the chorus and quintet and then joined by the orchestra and recorder players.
We are thrilled that this project was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts which has funded the composer’s commission as well as workshops with all the groups, including people of all ages representing a very diverse neighborhood!
Ljova wrote, “For The Sparrows was commissioned by Quintet of the Americas based on an NEA supported residency designed by the composer Judith Sainte Croix. Tragically, Judith passed away before the commission came through and I was asked to take over, which I was honored to do in her memory. In essence, Judith, together with Barbara Oldham (hornist of the Quintet of the Americas) created the construct of the piece, putting all of the constituents together — I just had to write the music, and quickly. I saw it as an opportunity to step into another composer’s world, while paying tribute to her and contributing something of my own. In the process of writing this piece I had the incredible privilege to interview seniors, to workshop movements with enthusiastic children of local schools, and to lead an improvised happening with the Jackson Heights Orchestra on a sweltering July day. Judith Sainte Croix loved spending time in nature, gathering her inspiration on long walks and meditations. Following her example, and as an avid cyclist, I biked to and from most of the residency activities from our apartment on the Upper West Side, some 10 miles away.
The work is in four movements, which were written in the order of appearance.
The first movement, for the quintet alone, was based on interviews with seniors at the Catholic Charities Catherine Sheridan Senior Center in Jackson Heights. It recalls the memories of John, who grew up on a farm in Ireland without running water, recalling the smell of hay from his childhood, and the memories of Farida, who came here from Pakistan where she had a TV show, where she remembers the smell of saffron. This movement also for me brings the image of finding Judith walking around in nature, with birds chirping away.
The second movement, for quintet and recorder students of PS69 was written last spring with one challenge in mind: at the time, the students knew how to play only four notes –– could I write a tune using only four notes? During a workshop, Barbara Oldham suggested that we teach the kids the song of the White-Throated Sparrow, which uses two notes. The melody you’ll hear came from this inspiration.
The third movement, for the quintet and the Jackson Heights Orchestra, was inspired in part by the instrumentation of the JHO, which would add two woodwind quintets and strings to my palette (e.g. the soloists Quintet of the Americas, plus two more of each woodwind instrument in the JHO), as well as two trumpets and percussion. I wanted to create a composite melody that is tossed around between the three woodwind quintets. The shape of these melodies is somewhat of a wilting flower – the melodies are infected, I’d like to think, with a sort of inward shyness. As the piece progresses, the melodies get more courageous — but you’ll have to judge if they succeed. This movement is inspired by Judith’s illness and the struggle of her final weeks.
The final movement, featuring the student choir of PS149 with the Quintet and the JHO and the recorder performers of PS69, brings back the four-note theme of the White Throated Sparrow melody, now in the guise of a song with lyrics written by me, and the last verse written by Judith Sainte Croix. The optimistic text and message of the song is set against a wistful orchestration, punctuated by distant sleigh bells. It is my hope that, as these sparrows sing and fly, we think of family, of friendship, and of Judith Sainte Croix, whose work brought so many people together, even in her absence. I hope that she is smiling down on us today.
With deepest gratitude to all involved, Ljova”
TEXT of Final Movement song:
Flying south with my flock
Winter’s coming around the block
We must hurry, the flight is long.
Stay the course and sing this song.
Flying ahead, without fear.
Happy when my friends are near.
Seasons change – always do.
I will change – and so will you.
(text by Ljova)
The snow’s a quilt upon the hill.
Brilliant air is frozen still.
Inspired by something strange and deep,
I set out in the day’s crisp thrill..
(text by Judith Sainte Croix)
Composer LJOVA (born in Russia in 1978 and immigrated to New York in 1990) has written more than 120 compositions for classical, jazz, and folk ensembles, as well as scores to four feature and over a dozen short films, and music for contemporary dance. He leads his own ensemble LJOVA AND THE KONTRABAND, and works as a freelance violist, violinist & musical arranger. Recent commissions include the City of London Sinfonia, The Louisville Orchestra, Brooklyn Rider, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, The Knights, as well arrangements for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, tenor Javier Camarena, conductors Gustavo Dudamel and Alondra de la Parra, the Mexican songwriter Natalia Lafourcade, Argentine composer/guitarist Gustavo Santaolalla, Kronos Quartet, and others.
visit his website:
https://www.ljova.com/