Michael Udow (b. 1949): Ancient Echoes (World Premiere)
Born in Detroit, Udow studied piano before switching to percussion. At the age of eleven his family moved to Wichita, Kansas. There he joined the Wichita Youth Symphony. During his undergraduate studies he received a BMI Student Composers Prize for his Seven Textural Settings of Japanese Haiku. He later received the first DMA degree in percussion performance from the University of Illinois in 1978.
Udow joined the New Orleans Philharmonic, then won a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship to Poland. He returned to the United States to tour with the Blackearth Percussion Group. From 1982 to 2011 he taught at the University of Michigan, and was principal percussionist with the Santa Fe Opera from 1968 to 2009. After retiring to Longmont, he was Composer-in-Residence with the Colorado Chamber Orchestra during the 2014-15 season.
Ancient Echoes was written for the Longmont Symphony Orchestra. This is the world premiere of the work.
Program Notes by Charley Samson, copyright 2022.
Special Note for Ancient Echoes, written by composer Michael Udow:
I have been fortunate to have played ancient stone lithophones in China and South Korea before moving to Colorado. Fast-forward twenty years to when I met archeologist Marilyn Martorano, who has done extensive research on lithophones. Dr. Martorano has identified 5000-year-old stones shaped by human hands at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Southern Colorado. Playing these ancient stones inspired me to compose a multiple-percussion concerto that included a stone instrument. So down the rabbit hole, I went, researching various types of stone. Finally, after three years of work with the help of many people, I realized my dream of a 3-chromatic-octave granite lithophone. This instrument is melded with vibraphone, Chinese cloud gongs, Javanese angklung, German almglocken, Japanese taiko, and Middle Eastern darbuka and riq. Given these instruments and their folk music traditions, it seemed logical to create a through-composed work that hints at but never copies musical traditions from around the world.
Fortunately, Maestro Moore enthusiastically supported my proposal, as did solo percussionist Anthony Di Sanza. Collaborating with them and Catherine Beeson, LSO’s Executive Director, and Marilyn Martorano has been a meaningful and joyful experience for me.
Some things to listen for:
Underneath a quiet pastorale shifting string chord, Ancient Echoes begins with a call and response between the woodwinds and the ancient stones of the Great Sand Dunes. The orchestra transitions into a swaying cross-rhythmic section with the soloist combining both the ancient and modern lithophones. The fascinating Middle Eastern hand drum, the darabuka, is introduced. The darabuka is a goblet-shaped drum comprised of a ceramic or metal shell traditionally covered with a skin-head. The accompanying melodic material might lead one to ponder what early life may have been like for our ancestors compared to the hustle and bustle of life in today’s world. The lithophone re-enters joined by the orchestra creating sultry dance music that I associate with the Roma who migrated from India through Europe, many creating nomadic lives in Spain. This music morphs into a festive section that features the vibraphone, a metal bar keyboard instrument invented in Chicago in 1924.
The soloist re-enters playing Japanese uwichia-daiko (fan drums) with melodic material, a quirky quasi mix of my impressions of specific types of Irish and Japanese folk music. Contemplative music in the tradition of Japanese bamboo shakuhachi music is played by the alto flute. The soloist accompanies and responds to the alto flute using a combination of Japanese temple bells, a temple block, large German almglocken (cowbells), and a piccolo woodblock. The vibraphone adds to the accompaniment of the alto flute. This duet evolves into impressions of quiet experiences in Japanese stone gardens. This time with Chinese cloud gongs, the lithophone harkens back to the Middle East, which leads to highly rhythmic melodic music that features the darabuka. After a moment of a woodwind repose accompanied by Korean gongs, the soloist plays a large and powerful Japanese drum, the O-daiko, in a call and response with the orchestra leaving to the exciting conclusion of this musical world tour. Please enjoy this sonic world tour with roots dating back to prehistoric times when our forbearers first recognized that stones could be used to make music.
. . . M. U.