California is on the cusp of returning to some semblance of normality, with a full reopening of businesses and events only weeks away. The uncertainty of what that “normality” will exactly look like is reflected in the varying responses of classical music organizations across Southern California. Some are beginning to announce the resumptions of their regular seasons, others are presenting concerts in modified socially-distanced others, while others like the Santa Barbara Symphony are taking a more cautious approach by continuing to stream their performances online.
This weekend the Santa Barbara Symphony under Nir Kabaretti will be streaming their next concert: A program of American composers which starts with Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, and will include works by George Walker, Joan Walker, Robin Frost, Charles Ives, Samuel Barber, and George N. Gianopoulos. The latter is one of the most compelling and refreshing musical voices in Southern California today. He will be represented on this weekend’s program with a performance sung by baritone Cedric Berry of his song “Polarity,” his setting of a poem by Claude McKay. This will be the first performance of the song in its recently completed chamber orchestra arrangement, which follows the debut earlier this year of the original for voice and piano.
Gianopoulos talked with me earlier this week about this forthcoming performance and the contemporary resonances in McKay’s words which elicited his musical setting.
***
Néstor Castiglione: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected so many people and has created unexpected challenges for a wide range of professions. Has your work as a composer been impacted as well?
George N. Gianopoulos: There’s a lot of layers to that. Being a composer, one of the most important things is to be able to hear one’s music played, work with performers, and then listen to all the nuances of the decisions one has made as interpreted by musicians. In large part this has gone away. Now that we’re going on over a year with no live performances and no large gatherings on top of that, I’ve been focusing on writing music for smaller ensembles and solo instrumentalists. I’ve even been rearranging some of my older works for ensembles which fit the needs of our present circumstances.
N. C.: Like your song “Polarity” which is being performed this weekend by the Santa Barbara Symphony?
G. N. G.: That was a really fun project. Long Beach Opera decided, since they can’t have large-scale operatic productions, that for their gala event they would instead commission twenty young composers to compose art songs. They gave a lot of freedom to each of the composers to do what they wanted.
N. C.: How did you decide upon your setting of Claude McKay?
G. N. G.: I had actually gotten a Dover edition of some of his poems about a decade ago. I had always wanted to set some of them, but never found the right opportunity. His words are so direct, sincere, and purely honest in depicting what he went through, how he saw the world. His poems have always been special to me, so I was glad when an opportunity came for me to finally set them.
N. C.: The timely resonance of his “Polarity” must have appealed to you.
G. N. G.: Absolutely. This was one of three texts for my entire song cycle, America, Op. 43. They all have a certain political slant. The others are called “America” and “The White House.” “Polarity” sits between them. So definitely there are parallels between what is happening now and a century ago and how a lot hasn’t changed.
N. C.: So how did “Polarity” make the trip from Long Beach to Santa Barbara?
G. N. G.: I owe that all to Cedric Berry. When he was offered to sing with the Santa Barbara Symphony, they were discussing repertoire choices and already had an Americana theme in mind. He really wanted to do the Copland Old American Songs, which had been part of his repertoire for awhile. He then suggested my song to the conductor, Nir Kabaretti, who enjoyed it and decided to program it for the concert.
N. C.: How did you meet Cedric Berry?
G. N. G.: We were introduced just before I began to compose the voice and piano version of “Polarity.” Of course, I had been very familiar with him as he’s just been so well-known in Southern California for quite a while. So I was super excited to work with him. The recording process of the original was just incredible. He arrived with “Polarity” totally prepared and completely memorized, as if he had always been performing it. We spoke about the text and it became very clear to me that he was a very committed and thoughtful musician. He studied every detail and gave it a lot of thought. He has a deep appreciation for my song and felt strong enough about it to recommend it to the Santa Barbara Symphony.
N. C.: When was the commission to orchestrate “Polarity” received?
G. N. G.: It was towards the end of March, around the 21st. I had to submit the score by April 1. It was a hectic two weeks of orchestrating, preparing the parts, and the whole process.
N. C.: Had you already been thinking of orchestral colors for “Polarity” prior to getting this commission?
G. N. G.: Originally when I conceived this cycle, Long Beach Opera gave us carte blanche to do whatever we wanted. So the way I approached this piece was to employ the same instrumentation as Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale. The circumstances of the pandemic made that impractical at the time, however. So I decided to compose the version for piano accompaniment, then thought I could arrange it for larger instrumental forces later. Before I knew it, this opportunity came about, and the orchestration kind of came by default. I’m actually more happy with “Polarity” this way just because the amount of colors I can use with a larger orchestral setting is more gratifying as a composer.
N. C.: How interesting that The Soldier’s Tale, whose instrumentation was partly borne from the limitations presented by the Spanish flu epidemic, was on your mind.
G. N. G.: That’s funny. I didn’t think about those unique circumstances. There ended up some unintended parallels in my thought process about it.
N. C.: Did new challenges present themselves in now having to balance voice against a chamber ensemble instead of only a piano?
G. N. G.: One of the concerns I had while I was orchestrating “Polarity” was that the page was becoming a little too black, that there were too many notes, the tutti sections may have been too frequent or long. So I was worried that it would be a little too thick against the voice. But my instincts proved right and after the first rehearsal I could hear Cedric Berry’s voice just cut right through. There really was no issue with balance or combat between voice and orchestra. I also have to give credit to Maestro Kabaretti who balanced this superbly as well.
N. C.: How did social distancing affect the rehearsals?
G. N. G.: Obviously there were strict COVID-19 protocols observed: All the string players have their own stands, winds and brass are behind plexiglass. There were definitely some challenges. Sitting in the audience sometimes it would be more difficult to hear because of the nature of social distancing and the physical barriers required to mitigate the spread of aerosols for the sake of safety. Yeah, those were difficult. This was my first time collaborating with a large orchestra on my own music. I found it easy to work with people, hear their suggestions during the rehearsals, and incorporate their ideas into the performance. Despite the challenges and difficulties, the quality of their performance is still high.
N. C.: As is the quality of their programming on this concert.
G. N. G.: The program is very unique in that there are very well-known pieces and others less known. A wonderfully diverse program to be a part of. Musically quite exciting.
George N. Gianopoulos’ website
Digital tickets to stream performances by the Santa Barbara Symphony
Recording for Long Beach Opera by Cedric Berry and Stephen Karr of Gianopoulos’ “Polarity”