Jacob Lehman's General Music Class

The material for lesson three on "Solace" can be obtained through TaskStream here. Meanwhile, below are some links associated with this lesson. Enjoy!

 

Here is Steven Bryant's program notes for "Solace":

 

"Solace is music for its own sake, ordered first and foremost by its own internal logic, derived from a small amount of initial material. Constructed from a single nine-tone row, the music is heavily anchored by the persistent initial C#/Db throughout much of the piece, often in the form of a subtle, unsettled drone.

 

Solace divides into two equal halves. The first section opens with a veiled atmosphere built on the first notes of the row. A moment of harmonic stability in the piano gives way to a steady pulse, building relentlessly to a dissonant climax, which then spirals inward back to the C#/Db anchor. The piano returns, concluding with a quantum of consolation, before a brass chorale initiates the second section. Pitting expressive fluidity against rhythmic rigidity, the chorale aggregates mass, finally cohering into simple triadic clarity, while simultaneously coming unmoored from the sustained C#/Db that has anchored the work. The piano again returns, accompanied by clarinets, offering a quiet conclusion as their final chord transforms into the familiar percolating drone, and evaporating.

 

Solace offers the experience of seeking, and perhaps finding, consolation."

 

Link to electronics information for "Solace" here