Austin Symphonic Band Performing Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility)
Austin Symphonic Band ( https://austinsymphonicband.org/ ). January 28, 2024. ASB performing Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) by Roger Zare. Assistant Director Bill Haehnel conducting. [Click 'more' to read the program notes.] "Sea Songs" concert at the Connally HS Performing Arts Center in Austin, TX.
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Video and Sound Production: Eddie Jennings
From the program notes written by David Cross:
Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) (2012)
Roger Zare (b. 1985)
Program note from the composer:
Mare Tranquillitatis translates to “Sea of Tranquility,” and is the famous location on the moon where Apollo 11 landed and the first man set foot on the lunar surface. The music seeks to capture a dichotomy of emotions—tranquil beauty and restless isolation. All of the musical material is derived from only two ideas—the descending fourth heard in the opening bar, and the flowing and surging melody heard not long after. These two ideas trade back and forth within a contrapuntal texture, swelling and flowing as they interact with each other. The music recedes into a quieter realm and a quartet of soloists emerges, juxtaposing the lush full textures with a delicate and intimate passage. After many peaks and dips, the emotional arc of the piece culminates in the long-awaited return of the second theme. It grows and transforms into a sweeping gesture, bringing closure to the pent-up tension from before. What follows is an epilogue, and the piece ends with one final tender moment with the solo quartet.
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Roger Zare has been praised for his “enviable grasp of orchestration” (New York Times) and for writing music with “formal clarity and an alluringly mercurial surface.” His music often takes inspiration from science, nature, mathematics, and mythology. Currently based in Chicago, he was born in Sarasota, Florida, and began playing piano at age 5 and violin at age 11; he started composing at age 14. Currently, Zare is serving as assistant professor of music in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University.
Listen for:
• An introduction of mildly dissonant instrumental colors
• A polyphonic texture of flowing lines.
• A beautifully active bassline.
• The emergence of a quartet of soloists, (bassoon, oboe, English horn, and clarinet).
• The return toward the conclusion of a soloist quartet (this time bass clarinet, English
horn, flute, and clarinet).
