Chamber Concerto

    (2007)

    1. Raagam

    2. Taanam

    3. Pallavi

    Scores: 1. Raagam 2. Taanam 3. Pallavi

    A Raagam-Taanam-Pallavi is the centerpiece of a South Indian (Carnatic) vocal or instrumental concert. The pallavi is the actual song being sung or played, and it is very short. A performance of a raagam-taanam-pallavi, however, can take hours, due to the slow, improvised development of the pallavi material that both precedes and follows the pallavi.
    The raagam is an arhythmic melodic improvisation based on the mode (raagam) of the piece. The taanam is an improvisation on the rhythmic phrases of the piece. Only after these movements have taken place is the actual pallavi sung, and then it is again immediately improvised upon. Other than these formal divisions, and the emphasis they place on the very slow development of different facets of a single musical subject, I did not use any South Indian musical material in this piece.

    Recorded at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Jan. 2008 Paul Nauert, Producer Bill Coulter, Recording Engineer

    PERFORMERS:

    Conductor - Nicole Paiement
    Flute - Tracy Goodwin
    Oboe - Ben Opie
    Clarinet - Jonathan Russell
    Bassoon - Jonathan Stehney
    Horn - Lauren Varley
    Piano - Keisuke Nakagoshi
    Harp - Jieyin Wu
    Percussion - Jonathan Goldstein
    Violin - Cynthia Mei
    Violin - Jubal Fulks
    Viola - Charith Premawardhana
    Cello - Charles Akert
    Contrabass - Stan Poplin