Born in 1954 in Cleveland, the “unabashedly atonal” composer Eric Ewazen studied at the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School with teachers including Milton Babbitt, Samuel Adler, Warren Benson, Joseph Schwantner, and Gunther Schuller. He has received many awards and prizes and is particularly well-known for his music for brass.

Frost Fire, which the American Brass Quintet commissioned for their 40th anniversary season, has been performed worldwide and is a staple of the brass repertoire. As Ewazen describes the work,

Marked “Bright and Fast,” the joyous first movement, in classic sonata-allegro-form, is full of buoyant melodies and rich chords. The second movement, marked “Gentle and Mysterious,” has a waltz-like feel. In a ternary (A-B-A) form, the outer sections consist of ribbons of melodies being gently passed from instrument to instrument. The middle section is a stately fugue which builds in intensity, volume, and rich-sounding resonance. The final movement, “Tense and Dramatic,” brings back material from the first movement, but sets it in a much more turbulent and frenetic environment. Although this movement is based on the skeletal outlines of a sonata-allegro form, it is much freer and more erratic, with shifting meters and contrasting, interpolated passages, ultimately leading the way to a heroic and dynamic conclusion.

*to make this mountain taller was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

On the day Roe v. Wade was overturned in the U.S., I happened to be at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA. Walking around the sculpture garden, I came upon Aristide Maillol’s La Montagne, an immense statue of a sitting nude woman with curly hair blowing in the wind. Struck initially by the monumental size of the work, I was then attracted to the contrast between her large and angular features against her windswept hair and concerned expression. Historically, it seemed to me uncommon to relate a woman to a mountain... normally such a large and bold figure would be given masculine characteristics. I saw this woman as being strong, capable, and feminine all at once. Figuratively, because of the historic day, I also pondered the number of mountains that women and non-male identifying people have had to climb simply to access the most basic rights. While it was painful to realize that each generation may have to fight the same fights all over again, I was also comforted by the trailblazers who have shown us all what can be achieved. When I got home, I found a poem by Rupi Kaur which summarized my feelings about this experience:

i stand
on the sacrifices
of one million women before me
thinking
what can I do
to make this mountain taller
so the women after me
can see farther


legacy - rupi kaur