Event Title

Raichev Aria

Performer / Ensemble

Lisa Nelson (Viola)

Streaming Media

Date of Publication

3-26-2021

Document Type

Concert

Abstract / Program Notes

Bulgarian composer, Alexander Raichev (1922-2003), has won numerous awards for his compositions. His works are highly regarded for representing classic Bulgarian features of the second half of the 20th century, namely an expressiveness and optimism reflected from society, along with innovative compositional techniques. Following years of governmental restrictions under Communist rule, Raichev and other Bulgarian composers were free to write in a more modern style in the later 1900s, and they often blended in elements of their rich folk tradition. Aria was written for a viola competition and dedicated to the winner, Dimitar Penkov. Described as a truly twentieth-century work with hints of Bulgarian folk influence, Aria is slow and improvisatory with disjoint, atonal melodies. Irregular meters are common in Bulgarian folk music, but this piece’s 5/4 time signature is not clearly perceived through the long note values and rubato. As in the non-metrical, improvisatory pieces of the folk tradition, Aria shares elements of expression, harmonic variety, ornamentation, and passages with drones that highlight dissonant intervals. Contemporary characteristics of the piece include large leaps in unusual intervals, passages of parallel fifths and sixths, and chromatic lines.

Biography

Lisa Nelson is Assistant Professor of Viola, Violin, and String Pedagogy at Illinois Wesleyan University, where she also serves as Director of the String Preparatory Department, and Executive Director of the Illinois Chamber Music Festival. As an active chamber musician, she regularly appears in recitals throughout the U.S., Canada, Bulgaria, Italy, Israel, and the Czech Republic. Lisa Nelson holds her doctorate in Viola Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois. She also earned a Bachelor of Music in violin performance and Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from St. Olaf College, Minnesota, where she graduated summa cum laude with departmental distinction in music. Her teachers have included Masumi Per Rostad, Sherban Lupu, Charles Gray, and Mihai Craioveanu. Dr. Nelson is a member of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and serves as artistic advisor and faculty of the International Chamber Music Academy in Kyustendil, Bulgaria for young talented musicians. She has given presentations on viola literature, pedagogy, and chamber music at American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Conferences, American Viola Society (AVS) Festival, and College Music Society (CMS), and violin/viola masterclasses in Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Indiana, and Washington. Her newly-released Albany Records CD “Dancing on Glass” with violinist Anna Cromwell and cellist Mira Frisch features works for strings by leading women composers.

Keywords

Alexander Raichev, viola

Description

10-minute showcase performance

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Raichev Aria

Bulgarian composer, Alexander Raichev (1922-2003), has won numerous awards for his compositions. His works are highly regarded for representing classic Bulgarian features of the second half of the 20th century, namely an expressiveness and optimism reflected from society, along with innovative compositional techniques. Following years of governmental restrictions under Communist rule, Raichev and other Bulgarian composers were free to write in a more modern style in the later 1900s, and they often blended in elements of their rich folk tradition. Aria was written for a viola competition and dedicated to the winner, Dimitar Penkov. Described as a truly twentieth-century work with hints of Bulgarian folk influence, Aria is slow and improvisatory with disjoint, atonal melodies. Irregular meters are common in Bulgarian folk music, but this piece’s 5/4 time signature is not clearly perceived through the long note values and rubato. As in the non-metrical, improvisatory pieces of the folk tradition, Aria shares elements of expression, harmonic variety, ornamentation, and passages with drones that highlight dissonant intervals. Contemporary characteristics of the piece include large leaps in unusual intervals, passages of parallel fifths and sixths, and chromatic lines.