Revision of Larry Hoffman from Fri, 12/20/2019 - 00:32

Blues for Harp, Oboe, and Violoncello

Blues For Harp, Oboe, and Violoncello (1986) was my first effort to create a blues-inspired work that could distill and express blues essence via classical instrumentation and contemporary compositional technique. The mission to put blues on the serious concert music stage was the primary force leading me to composition; I was hoping that this "experiment" would be successful.

The performance presented here (and on my CD) is the result of three extraordinary talents.

Thanks to CRS Records, my piece fell into the accomplished hands of cellist Bryan Dumm, Yolanda Kondonassis, and oboist John Mack. Mr. Dumm is a well-regarded veteran of the acclaimed Cleveland Orchestra. Ms. Kondonassis is a world-renown harpist who made her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age eighteen. She is celebrated as one of the world's premiere and most recorded solo harpists; John Mack was hailed by the New York Times as "the dean of American oboists," regarded as among the top two or three in the world.

“I should have had holes put in my shoes to create a more authentic performance," legendary oboist John Mack quipped to me before the Cleveland premiere.

Needless to say, I was honored to include the artistry of these three stellar musicians on my CD.

I am proud to say that Blues For Harp, Oboe, and Violoncello has proven to be my most- performed piece; one that has gotten the attention of fine musicians from around the USA and Europe. The world premiere was performed by Pittsburgh

Orchestra musicians (who performed the work in PA twice). It was played then in Cleveland, OH ; Washington, D.C.; Stockholm, Sweden; Jackson, MS; and, last I heard, at the Breckenridge Music Festival in Breckenridge, Colorado. I suspect that it was performed in other cities as well -- at least the musicians other cities have acquired score and parts from me with that intention!

Blues for Harp, Oboe, and Violoncello (1986)

"Blues for Harp, Oboe, and Violoncello" was my first attempt at infusing a contemporary classical work with blues essence. Putting the blues on the American serious concert music stage was a primary mission that originally drove me to composition. The performers who recorded this work were each stellar and well-known to serious listeners of classical music. Oboist John Mack was dubbed by the New York Times "the dean of American oboists," harpist Yolanda Kondonassis the elegant winner of countless international awards, debuting at age 18 as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, and cellist Bryan Dumm, a highly respected cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra honored me with both this recording and a special live performance in Cleveland,Ohio. This performance can be found on my CD, "Works of Larry Hoffman / Contemporary American Music.
cd cover.png

"Blues for Harp, Oboe, and Violoncello" can be found on my CD: "Works of Larry Hoffman: Contemporary American Music" (DBK 701)
The World Premiere ! Pittsburgh, PA
The Cleveland performance.jpg

This is the recording of "Blues For Harp, Oboe, and Violoncello" on "Works of Larry Hoffman: Contemporary American Music,"DBK Records,-- performed by John Mack, Yolanda Kondonassis, and Bryan Dumm
The second Pittsburgh performance
The Breckenridge Music Festival performance

String Quartet No.4: I.Dance II.Chill III.Get Funky

This is my latest work, and my fourth string quartet, completed November, 2019. It is composed in three movements, each with a very different mood, described by its title. There is no underlying message -- just the music.

Larry Hoffman : String Quartet No 4 : I. Dance II. Chill III. Get Funky

In my fourth quartet I was interested in creating a string quartet that explored radically different moods. -- more free-form and exuberant than other of my works. The first movement is wild and exuberant - free and confident. The second movement, one of aching and pleading. -- bordering on the melancholy, and perhaps a reconsideration of the abandonment of movement I. In movement III a sweet consensus is reached: get funky and enjoy. And finally, a prayer.

Woodwind Quintet #3: Old-Time Music

Composed in 2015-16, this is my homage to "Old-Time Music," the country music (or "hillbilly music" as it was called) in the 1920's and 1930's. I spent many hours as a teenager playing and singing this music for and with friends--employing my arsenal of guitar, harmonica, autoharp, and banjo. This genre is closely linked to the folk dances of the period, which accounts for the titles of the two movements. I felt that the woodwind quintet --a favorite medium of mine--was a perfect one to bring out the exuberance and sweetness of this overlooked and wonderful American folk music.

Woodwind Quintet #3: Old - Time Music

This is my homage to Old-Time or Old-Timey music, the genre of country music that preceded and informed bluegrass. It had its day in the 1920s and 30's and is said to be the oldest form of indigenous American folk music, with the exception of Native American music. I spent many hours as a teenager playing this music with friends--and believe it should be represented in the repertoire of American serious concert music. Both movements reflect the American folk dances that evolved simultaneously with this genre of music.

Blue Mirror for Solo Guitar (2016)

This is my first work for guitar--a surprising realization in that guitar is my instrument! Perhaps that is why I've shied away from it. Being conversant with blues styles on the guitar, as a player, analyst, and historian, I have for the first time combined my original playing styles-- inspired by the authentic blues artists --with my atonal compositional voice. In this piece I went for the more integrated approach of both languages as opposed to the hard-line contrasts I employed in previous works.

The nuances of the blues are incredibly and wonderfuly complex and expressive, both from a rhythmic as well as a melodic aspect. Microtones of all stripes abound, shaded by glissandi both subtle and gross, while the rhythms -- sometimes erratic-- chug on. The harmonic patterns, usually stretching no further than the tonic-subdominant-dominant orbit, are somehow made fresh, as are the blues scales (primarily pentatonic) by their bent and shaken and sliding notes. Much of this is due to the highly personalized languages of the blues, remade anew by each of the authentic, creative artists who shaped and reshaped this great music over the decades.

The blues sections of this work are drawn from my original blues music, laced with -- and sometimes based on-- the authentic underpinnings of the traditional music.

There is no improvisation whatever! Each nuance is carefully notated. I had to invent certain techniques to bring about the "non-western" elements. But if followed carefully, the score will produce the authentic sound that is present in this performance.

Blue Mirror / for Solo Guitar

This is my first work for guitar. It is another synthesis of my atonal voice, and original blues. It is ironic perhaps that I have been playing guitar for over fifty years and—besides some early blues instrumentals written and notated clumsily before I could read music, and some songs for which the guitar was mostly accompaniment -- I never really composed for the guitar. I am beginning to come to terms with my instrument in an entirely new way. I feel like I am finally beginning to listen to my guitar of fifty years, understanding how she thinks, and discovering her in entirely new ways— exciting. After playing clubs for nearly ten years, I remained an inveterate improvisor and composer... my ideas came by ear and by mystery ... And so, when it finally came down to notating the personal blues style that I had cultivated for guitar over many years, I was at a loss. My earliest attempt at a score was more a cry for help!
"Blue Mirror" performance notes p.1

This is page one of the detailed performance notes
"Blue Mirror" performance notes, page 2

performance notes page 2
"Blue Mirror" performance notes , p.3

performance notes / page 3
Blues Suite for Violoncello Solo / Kristin Ostling

Conceived in five movements, this blues-inspired piece is a homage to J.S.Bach and his immortal cello suites -- ever an inspiration.

Pages of Anna

This work is scored for Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, and Harp, and is in one movement. It is about the universal mystery, fantasy, expectation, longing, exultation, and disappointment that can in turn undermine, determine, and enrich our relationships. Anna is an Achetype-- a metaphor. It is found on my CD "Works of Larry Hoffman: Contemporary American Music"

Pages of Anna
Pages Of Anna - a work for Harp, Flute, Oboe, and Clarinet

"Pages of Anna" can be found on my CD "Larry Hoffman: Contemporary American Music (DBK 701)

String Quartet No. 3: Mo' Better Blues

This, my third string quartet, was completed in the summer of 2019. I love writing for this ensemble, and treasure the works of the masters who have made it great -- from Joseph Haydn through Elliott Carter, with special mention and homage to Bela Bartok, whose love of his native folk music permeated and was celebrated so thoroughly throughout his brilliant work.

I've always felt that the power of the blues, as grist for developmental music, was terribly neglected if not blatantly ignored by our American composers; and so I've committed myself if not wholly, then certainly in great part to an attempt at change in that direction. Jazz-- and I do love jazz!-- perhaps because of its cerebral antennae and veneer of sophistication, has been mined over and over again, to various amounts of success, and always finds respectability. Blues, on the other hand, in its purest aspect, seems to be treated now as despicably as it was at its inception in the early decades of the twentieth century --even by African Americans in the American South.

String Quartet No 3: Mo' Better Blues

"String Quartet No.3: Mo'Better Blues" opens with a long set of bluesy variations, each unfolding in an improvisatory manner. Towards the center-end there is an atonal episode that is strong and declamatory , lending an air of strength and vigor to the affair. The closing unites both temperments.

Colors for Trumpet and Percussion

Colors for Trumpet and Percussion

This work was commissioned by Baltimore Symphony artists Andrew Balio, principal trumpet, and David DePeters, percussionist. They premiered this piece at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore,Maryland.
"Colors" a work for trumpet and percussion

"Colors" can be found on my CD: "The Works of Larry Hoffman" (DBK 701)

Blues Suite for Violoncello Solo Kristin Ostling

This work was premiered by talented Baltimore Symphony cellist Kristin Ostling, who devoted herself to bringing out the depth she felt in this piece. She was brilliant. Her performance here was taken from my CD "Works of Larry Hoffman : Contemporary American Music" (DBK 701), and was singled out by more than a few reviewers who were moved by her performance.

The work is conceived in five brief movements, in homage to the immortal cello suites of J.S. Bach.

Blues Suite for Violoncello Solo / Kristin Ostling

Conceived in five movements, this blues-inspired piece is a homage to J.S.Bach and his immortal cello suites -- ever an inspiration.
Premiere of Blues Suite for Solo Violoncello

I was thrilled to be asked by both Kristin and Myriam to choose the program. And so,that night I got to hear a favorite Bach cello suite, a Bartok duo, and one of my very favorite Brahms works: his cello and piano sonata in e minor! The performances were so inspired that it overshadowed how small i felt in my music among the truest of masters. It was a wonderful--unforgettable--evening!
Blues Suite For Violoncello Solo

"Blues Suite for Violoncello Solo" included in my CD "Works of Larry Hoffman: Contemporary American Music" (DBK 701)

String Quartet No.2

In String Quartet No. 2 I extended my concept, employing four different keys -- sequentially -- each joined to the other in turn, until all were spun together as a fugue standing as the work's climax. The Dover Quartet, who recorded this work as The Old City Quartet, also premiered this piece in concert. The Dover ensemble is simply wonderful; and, at the time of the recording, was the finest string quartet at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music -- and the first string quartet in residence there.

Among their many prizes and awards are as follows: three Special Prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the highly prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, Lincoln Center's Hunt Family Award, the grand prize at the Fischoff Competition, and special prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. Their recording of this work can be found on the recorded compilation: "Mozart & The Contemporaries ," 2011 (CRS CD1191) ©2011 CRS Artists
https://www.discogs.com/The-Old-City-String-Quartet-John-Russo-Mozart-The-Contemporary/release/8666307

String Quartet #2 Dover Quartet
"String Quartet No.2" by the Dover Quartet can be found on "Mozart & The Contemorary" CRS Records
Dover Quartet Premiere of "String Quartet No.2"

I had not yet heard of this quartet (then famous at their Philadelphia alma mater, the Curtis Institute of Music), but I was glad to hear that clarinetist John Russo, CEO of CRS Records, had engaged an excellent quartet to record my piece. They were then known as "The Old City Quartet." We had a few telephone conversations regarding the piece; and, when I said,"You know the work is polyphonic, written in four keys!" My friend Milena, the mega-talented violist of the ensemble, responded: "We knew that!" And at that point I realized I was on board with some very special musicians. I regret to this day that I did not make the trip to Philadelphia to rehearse and work with them on the piece. It was on a teaching day; and I never miss them. My presence could not have improved their performance, however. They were amazing, and it is a day I will never forget. A small crowd huddled in a church outside of Philadelphia on that Sunday afternoon, anticipating the live program of a soon-to-be-released CD. The quartet was slightly late, and Milena called me to say they were on the way. When they arrived I showed them in, and offered them a room where they could relax after the drive, tune, and warm up. Hurrying with me into the hall, Milena said, "That's okay, we're good." And they immediately, soundlessly, took the stage, unpacked their instruments, and proceeded to flawlessly perform two premieres of contemporary works and Mozart's clarinet quintet, featuring the aforementioned John Russo at the helm -- without a break! The group's consummate attention to detail; their innate talent and ensemble rapport stunned me.. for lack of a better word. All the hard work over months bringing the work to life, all the countless hours were now repaid in full; and I will always be grateful for their work and that day!
Program: premiere of String Quartet No.2 / Dover Quartet
String Quartet No. 7 : SIMPLY BLUETIFUL

In this quartet I tried to unite a blues ambience with an obvious romantic touch, one akin to a jazz ballad, or a sweeping nocturne. I extended harmonies in a traditional way, but one never found in blues.

String Quartet #1: The Blues ; lecture/ performance

This is my most-performed work. At least five string quartets have performed it both here in the USA and abroad. It had its premiere as part of the Smithsonian Institution Chamber Music Series, the fine Axelrod String Quartet receiving standing ovations at the conclusion of both performances that weekend. It has been peformed in Sweden multiple times, and featured on local television in Baltimore. The present performance was part of a program held at Harold Washington Library in Chicago during the same weekend that my "Three Songs for Bluesman and Orchestra" -- a work commissioned by the Chicago Sinfonietta--was premiered at Dominican College and repeated the next evening at Symphony Center, home of the Chicago Symphony.

"Speaking of The Blues," a program held at Chicago's Harold Washington Library on May 9, 2008, featured composer Larry Hoffman and his work, "String Quartet #1: The Blues," as performed by the New Millennium Orchestra String Quartet : Elizabeth Choi, first violin; Blagomira Lipari, second violin; Dominic Johnson (leader), viola; and Eric Schaeffer, violoncello.

I was interviewed by--and discussed various aspects of the blues with host Barry Dolins, series founder, blues aficionado, and Chicago's Deputy Director at the Mayor's Office Of Special Events.

This video is presented courtesy of the Music Division of the Chicago Public Library: Christopher Popa, Executive Producer of video; and Director, Music Information Center, Chicago Public Library.

Digital / audio transfer by Ed Tetreault, manager of The Peabody Conservatory Department of Recording Arts & Sciences.

Music Division Of The Chicago Public Library
Composer / Speaker: Larry Hoffman
Host / Speaker: Barry Dolins
Musicians: New Millennium Orchestra String Quartet
Violin I: Elizabeth Choi
Violin 2: Blagomira Lipari
Viola (leader): Dominic Johnson
Violoncello: Eric Schaeffer
Music Information Director: Christopher Popa
Digital Transfer: Ed Tetreault
Eighteen Hammers by Johhny Lee Moore ©Atlantic/Rhino runs over beginning credits.

String Quartet No 1. The Blues Larry Hoffman

This is the work that marked my return to composition after a long absence during which I became a blues journalist and record producer. It was a wonderful leap into a music that had meant so much to me earlier in my life. I traveled the country, hearing and meeting bluesmen and women, writing about them, and sometimes discovering them, helping them jump-start a career. Along the way I garnered a Grammy nomination, and awards for producing and writing about the blues internationally. I was talked back into composing by three very close friends who reminded me of what they felt was my "greater purpose." It hit a nerve, and after a while I decided to write a string quartet, which I always felt to be a badge of authenticity for a real composer. My deal with myself was : if it failed, I would continue on my blues path. If it succeeded I would trudge on, trying to create blues -inspired works that would bring a new dimension and respect to that wonderful music.
Works of Larry Hoffman

String Quartet No.1 can also be heard on my CD "Works of Larry Hoffman" as performed by the fine Atlantic String Quartet (of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra). They have performed the work often, and do a fine job on this recording. In fact, this ensemble was the very first to have played this work!
String Quartet No.1 World Premiere .jpg

My first string quartet was premiered by the Axelrod Quartet as part of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Series. It received a standing ovation both nights! What a treat... Thank you, Axelrod Quartet!
Weber Quartet Stockholm, Sweden.png

The Weber String Quartet heard about the piece and performed it in Stockholm a number of times.
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String Quartet No. 1 was performed as part of Chicago's "Classical Monday" series. The group was put together by violist Dominic Johnson, and included Jeff Yang, violin1; Matt Albert, violin 2; and Nicholas Photinos, cello. Thanks to Matt and Nicholas of "Eighth Blackbird".
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This was the Baltimore premiere of "String Quartet No.1: The Blues" featuring the Atlantic String Quartet, made up of artists from the Baltimore Symphony. It got some press in the Baltimore Sun, and there was sure to be a crowd as it is my hometown, and I had been teaching and playing there for years, so I kind of expected it. I will never forget this day. It was the last day of March, and it snowed like crazy! A wild snowstorm and the hall was packed! This is the quartet who recorded the piece on my CD.
String Quartet #1: The Blues / Atlantic String Quartet

The Baltimore premiere of String Quartet No.1: The Blues was performed by the Atlantic String Quartet. It is this performance that is found on my CD "Works of Larry Hoffman: Contemporary American Music."
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The Baltimore Sun covered the Baltimore premiere of my "String Quartet No.1"