Dominant Violet by Daniel Foley

February 15, 2013 at the Array Space
The Array Ensemble:

Rick Sacks – conductor
Stephen Clarke – piano
Colleen Cooke – clarinet
Blair Mackay – percussion
Anita McAllister – trumpet
James Pugliese – percussion
Adam Scime – double bass
Rebecca Van Der Post – violin

DOMINANT VIOLET (2010) In memory of Michael J. Baker My long relationship with Arraymusic dates back to 1978 when the ensemble premiered my Hommage à Monet (1977) at Heliconian Hall. That composition marked the beginning of series of chamber works honouring a succession of visual artists (Monet, Kandinsky, Klee, Mondrian, Rousseau and Gauguin) that have occupied me ever since. Michael J. Baker (artistic director of Arraymusic from 1993-1999) and I shared an abiding interest in the painters of the Bauhaus school and their interest in synesthetic analogies between music and art. The influence of Paul Klee figures prominently in Michael’s multi-disciplinary magnum opus Big Pictures from 1992. I was deeply saddened by his passing in the year 2000. A decade later, Robert W. Stevenson (director from 2005-2010) encouraged me to compose this work in Michael’s memory. The title Dominant Violet refers to the 1934 painting by Wassily Kandinsky. My intention was to sonically evoke the sense of mystery and the biomorphic iconography of Kandinsky’s spiritual universe and, through Russian and Mongolian thematic references, his personal heritage. The trumpet (Michael’s own instrument) plays a prominent role in the ensemble. — Daniel Foley

DANIEL FOLEY was born in Toronto in 1952. He is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts (B.Mus.) and the University of Toronto (M.Mus.). He also attended the Banff Centre for the Arts’ composition workshops in 1978 and 79. From 1980 to 86 he was an instructor in music theory and ethnomusicology at the University of Guelph. For the remainder of the decade he worked as a composer and arranger for the Canadian Native Arts Foundation. Since 1994 he has been closely associated with Toronto’s New Music Concerts while freelancing as a composer, music engraver, webmaster and graphic designer. He has written several notable solo works for pianist Antonin Kubalek, accordionist Joseph Petric, bassist Thomas Monahan and organist Matthew Larkin and once upon a time received orchestral and ensemble commissions from the Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.