Viola Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1018898

Composed by Benjamin Harry Sajo. 20th Century,Contemporary. Individual part. 5 pages. Benjamin Sajo #6056129. Published by Benjamin Sajo (A0.1018898).

Programme Notes:

 Icarus Also Flew takes its title from the first line of the poem Failing and Flying by Jack Gilbert. He is referring to the classical myth of Daedalus and Icarus, an inventive father and son who bravely escape from their imprisonment in a tower by collecting the disposed feathers of seabirds, then fashion wings out of them and fly away. While the story is often treated as a morality tale--listen to your elders, don’t get cocky like the young man, Icarus, who, in such an understandable state of elation, ascended too close to the sun thus causing the wings to melt and his tumbling to his Mediterranean death--what Jack Gilbert reminds us is how regardless of one’s failure, the sheer transcendental experience of mortal flight remains glorious and unforgettable. Icarus’s fall was not into a legacy of disdain and oblivion, but in truth, he had come to the end of his triumph.

 This piece was the first of a series I composed during the Covid-19 quarantine conditions of 2020, to serve as potential contemporary preludes for each of Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies--his two hundred and fiftieth anniversary was this year!--though they can all stand on their own on any program. The connection, in this case, is with his celebrated fifth symphony in C minor--the Fate symphony, as it is commonly known. I’ll let the listener find their own connections.

About the Composer:

Benjamin Sajo (b. 1988) is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music, as well as an educator. Since developing a fiercely independent creative voice upon the completion of his studies at Western (2010) and McGill Universities (2013), he continues to find inspiration from the intersection of mythology, art, and nature upon the contemporary human experience. In 2019, he released his premiere album of original music, The Great War Sextet: Canadian War Poetry with Trombone & Strings, with support from the Ontario Arts Council. He is a member of SOCAN and the League of Canadian Composers.

Viola Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1018938

Composed by Benjamin Harry Sajo. 20th Century,Contemporary. Individual part. 5 pages. Benjamin Sajo #6072979. Published by Benjamin Sajo (A0.1018938).

Fugue: Wear Pearls and Smile is, on the outset, a fast, rambunctious adventure for many voices playing at the same time. It was conceived as a pairing for the equally vivacious second symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven–his 250th birthday is this year–but can stand on its own as one of my hardest, most challenging works to cook up.

This piece is dedicated to those forced to appear positive when internally they’re falling apart. The title is inspired by a quote that’s been with me for a while, Why is it that men can be bastards and women must wear pearls and smile? by Lynn Hecht Schafren, the celebrated American jurist famous for campaigning for gender equity in courts. I’m taking the quote out of its initial context, but the power of that quote, for me, exemplifies how hard it is to maintain a sense of emotional decorum and dignity when you’re authentically a hot mess. And what’s more of a musical hot mess than a fugue?

There are two realities to this piece. I’ll quote Dmitri Shostakovich, from his autobiography: The rejoicing is forced, created under threat, […] It’s as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, ‘Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing,’ and you rise, shaky, and go marching off, muttering ‘Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing.’ On the one hand, it is insincere happiness, cloying perhaps. But the other truth, I’ll quote Oscar Hammerstein II, from The King and I: While shivering in my shoes / I strike a careless pose / And whistle a happy tune / And no one ever knows, / I'm afraid. I forced myself, against all impulses of my current being, to forge happiness. This piece, with its origin being a mental puzzle (fugues are puzzles), it became a construct where I could lift myself up and regain a sense of purpose. Therefore, it is invented–out of a literal need to survive–pure, genuine happiness.

Future Performances: If you are interested in performing this work, please e-mail me.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER:

Benjamin Sajo (b. 1988) is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music, as well as an educator. Since developing a fiercely independent creative voice upon the completion of his studies at Western (2010) and McGill Universities (2013), he continues to find inspiration from the intersection of mythology, art, and nature upon the contemporary human experience. In 2019, he released his premiere album of original music, The Great War Sextet: Canadian War Poetry with Trombone & Strings , with support from the Ontario Arts Council. He is a member of SOCAN and the League of Canadian Composers.

Viola Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1018917

Composed by Benjamin Harry Sajo. 20th Century,Contemporary. Individual part. 4 pages. Benjamin Sajo #6064793. Published by Benjamin Sajo (A0.1018917).

Programme Notes:

 It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn. – Thomas Fuller

 Mornings are powerful and evocative moments. The chorus of birds, one species after another, unite in a wild and genuine polyphony while the dew and mist evaporate upon the rising of the sun, encouraging goosebumps and shivers from an open window, tempered or exhilarated by a cup of coffee. Have you ever actively witnessed the sun’s sultry and intense ascension from the cradle of the horizon? That is what this piece, Aubade, or Dawn Song, is about. An aubade is the twin of a night-time serenade; an aubade is a love song originating amongst the medieval Provençal troubadours, depicting the morning departure between two lovers. An aubade is a song in honor of the slow cosmic percolation of a late summer morning. On a personal level, the composer is reminded of his own experiences camping in Northern Canada as a young man–a simpler and less demanding time.

 This piece formally begins the series I composed during the Covid-19 quarantine conditions of 2020, to serve as potential contemporary preludes for each of Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies–his two hundred and fiftieth anniversary was this year!–though they can all stand on their own on any program. The connection, in this case, is with his first symphony; I envisioned, once my piece concludes, his beautiful drawn-out chords presenting themselves–the dawn of his special genius.

About the Composer:

 Benjamin Sajo (b. 1988) is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music, as well as an educator. Since developing a fiercely independent creative voice upon the completion of his studies at Western (2010) and McGill Universities (2013), he continues to find inspiration from the intersection of mythology, art, and nature upon the contemporary human experience. In 2019, he released his premiere album of original music, The Great War Sextet: Canadian War Poetry with Trombone & Strings, with support from the Ontario Arts Council. He is a member of SOCAN and the League of Canadian Composers.