The Center Ring

SKU: PR.114406980

UPC: 680160010806.

Shula mit Ran’s second string quartet, subtitled “Vistas,” occupies a large canvas that is cast in a traditional fourmovement mold, where the outer movements present, explore, and later return to the work’s principal musical materials, surrounding a slow movement and scherzo-type third movement with a trio. In addition to tempo-based titles, the individual movements have subtitles that are evocative of each movement’s character, as follows: I. Concentric: from the inside out II. Stasis III. Flashes IV. Vistas.
My second string quartet, “Vistas”, is a work cast in a traditional four-movement formal mold, with the outer movements, presenting and later returning to the work’s principal musical materials, surrounding a slow movement and a scherzo-type third movement.While the four movements’ “proper” names -- Maestoso con forza, Lento, Scherzo impetuoso, and Introduzione; Maestoso e grande – give some indication of the general character of the individual movements, I have also subtitled, less formally, each movement as follows:  1) Concentric:  from the inside out  2)  Stasis  3) Flashes  4) Vista.  The images evoked by these titles tell one, I think, a bit more about the inner workings of the quartet.In the first movement, a prominently presented opening pitch (E) reveals itself, as the movement unfolds, to be a center of gravity from which ever-growing cycles of activity gradually evolve.  While various important themes come into being as the movement progresses, their impact on the listener has, I believe, a great deal to do with their juxtaposition and relationship to the initial central point of gravity.Stasis is, as the name implies, a movement where activity seems, at times, almost suspended.  Being also, as Webster’s Dictionary reminds us, “a state of static balance and equilibrium among opposing tendencies or forces,” it develops various materials, including ones from the first movement, without bringing them to points of resolution.Flashes is short and very fast, evoking in my mind the quick shimmer of fireflies, a “sudden burst of light”, but also a “brief time”.  Perhaps, even, a “smile”?Final ly, the last movement, Vista, is not only “a view or outlook”, but also “a comprehensive mental view of a series of remembered or anticipated events.”  After a brief recall of the opening of the second movement, this movement brings back all the important themes of the first movement in their original order.  But just as going back can never really mean going back in time, the movement is much more than recapitulatory.  By cutting through previously transitory passages and presenting the main ideas in a fashion more direct yet more evolved, it also sheds new light on earlier events, offering a retrospective, synoptic view of the first movement as it brings to culmination the work as a whole. “Vistasâ € was commissioned by C. Geraldine Freund for the Taneyev String Quartet of what was then Leningrad.  It was the first commission given in this country to a Soviet chamber ensemble since the 1985 cultural exchange accord between the Soviet Union and the United States.

ISBN 9781579997694. UPC: 978157997694. English.

Foreword by James Conlon Imagination is spiritual perception. Authenticity is spiritual presence.  — M. C. Richards Performing artists and teachers often speak of the huge impact “Center” has upon their profession and craft. In this book, conductor and educator James Jordan details how the power of Center grounds performance, teaching, and learning, bringing the reader full circle to the ideas first introduced in his best-selling book The Musician’s Soul. Nova Thomas, an acclaimed singer and master teacher, relates how she employs Centering in her work preparing actors and vocalists for their life on the stage. The insights of these two renowned teachers reveal the importance of Centering in the day-to-day life for all performance, artists, and teachers—illustrat ing the “how’s� � and “why’s� � of Centering, and how Centering can transform one’s performance and teaching. The authors also cover the groundbreaking contribution of M.C. Richards, whose efforts to define Center profoundly shaped the creative life of all musical and dramatic arts in the United States. Toward Center also covers: • A definition of Center • The importance of knowing “The Crossing Point” • An overall philosophy of Centering • Aspects of Spiritual Center • Aspects of Physical Center and Grounding • Breath exercises to access Center • Performance/Teaching focus as an aspect of Center • Application of Stanislavsky Circles of Attention to performance, teaching, and conducting • Role of Centering in the development of the creative arts • Insightful applications of Centering by the authors to all performing artists and teachers • The role of focus and its use in performance, teaching, and conducting • How to achieve authenticity, honesty, and spiritual presence in both performance and teaching   This beautiful, illustrated book is an invaluable resource for performers, actors, conductors, and teachers alike. Widely acknowledged as one of the most influential conductors in America, James Jordan, Senior Conductor at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, through his eighteen books and recordings, has brought about far-reaching changes in choral music, music education, and conducting. Nova Thomas, an internationally acclaimed soprano who has performed in opera houses around the world, is an Assistant Professor of Voice at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where she serves as Director of the university's renowned Music Theater Program. She also serves as Chair of the Voice and Speech Program at the New School for Drama of the New School University in New York City. .