I. Overture: Adam's Apple
II. Manao tupapau (after Paul Gauguin)
III. The Sleep of Caliban (after Odilon Redon)
IV. The Hour of the Wolf (after Ingmar Bergman)
The above four movements of "Dreamtime Suite No. 1" is the first of four suites arranged by the composer for various instrumental combination taken from the complete 19 movement "Dreamtime, a masque for seven instrumentalists (1993-1995). The structure of the complete "Dreamtime" somewhat resembles Bach's "The Musical Offering", in that the various movements can be played as separate works, although all are tied by common thematic material. The original idea for the cycle came from an extraordinary story by Delmore Schwartz, "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities", published in 1937. What fascinated me about the story, which I first read more than thirty years ago, was Schwartz's ability to depict horrors that his imagination involuntarily revealed to him as if in a dream, a dream in full light of day. The lightness of touch, his clear and, one could almost say, classical structure reveal a tunnel of gloom that it is possible to see only in the detachment of an alternate state of being. For a number of years I didn't have a title that would connect the various branches of this work, until I came across a book by Hans Peter Duerr entitled Traumzeit, or Dreamtime. "Dreamtime" (the septet version) was commissioned for California E.A.R. Unit and (the trio version) for CONTINUUM by Dr. W. Howard Hoffman.
I. "Adam's Apple" is an overture to the whole cycle. It is a descriptive, yet abstract, character piece whose function is to serve as an opening work. The inspiration was a jovial nightmare about the Mannheim cannon, used so much by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. It is a tribute to that period as well as a toast and a wink in the direction of other more recent composers who have rediscovered the joy (and, to many listeners, the horror) of the arpeggio and the Alberti bass. "Adam's Apple" is a sort of rhythmic conundrum that explores the use of a sequence of rhythmic arpeggios broken down further into smaller units, such as 2, 3 and 5 note motives. It is a fast and furious piece, with lots of virtuosic turns and musical gulps.
II. "Manao tupapau" was inspired by a painting of Paul Gaugin, and describes "...one of those legendary demons or specters, the Tupapaus, that filled the sleepless nights of her people" (from Paul Gaugin's "Noa Noa"). A lyrical aria of contentment, with a prominent solo for the clarinet, it is also full of disturbing premonitions and flashes of spectral will-o'-the-wisps. Near the end, the piano introduces a lullaby kind of theme, which, in the subsequent movements of the full 75-minute version, assumes great importance.
III. "The Sleep of Caliban" is a scherzo that was inspired by a painting of Odilon Redon. Caliban is most unusual in the remarkable gallery of Shakespearean characters. A very human monster, a surly, malicious, and also libidinous man, Caliban combines voyeurism and malevolence. In his sleep he dreams of light and grace. In sleep he becomes a desirable entity.
"Be not afeared, the isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices,
That if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again, and then in dreaming
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked
I cried to dream again." -- (The Tempest)
IV. "The Hour of the Wolf" was inspired by a film of the same title by Ingmar Bergman. The work is in two parts: a lamentation and a dance. "The hour of the wolf is the time between night and dawn...when nightmares are most palpable...when ghosts and demons hold sway." The first part is a labyrinthine lament; the second a drunken dance in the middle of a wake. This is a reworking of a piece of the same title written for the ensemble, Caravan.