Calls From the Heartland: Five Preludes, Violin and Piano (1995)
MARY MAGEAU
Born 4 September 1934, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
In late 1994 Janet Packer commissioned a new work from me for her 1996 recital programme. I was delighted to accept her offer, particularly since I appreciate and enjoy the sound of the violin and piano duo. One can say so much through the lyrical, expressive quality of a violin in partnership with that rich sonic background sheet provided by a keyboard.
I conceived the large design of my work as a set of five short pieces that would provide interest by means of their dramatic contrast to one another. I also wished to explore, through this particular sound, various emotional states: playfulness, peace, anger, intense feelings, etc. After its completion and in keeping with the underlying ethos of the music, I entitled the work, “Calls from the Heartland: Five Preludes.”
The theoretical basis for the various movements grew from my exploration of a number of different scale forms. The opening music’s eight-note scale views the octave as comprising four three-note cells, each made up of a tone followed by a semitone. Other sections employ Phrygian and Dorian forms of the seven note scale while occasional passages of whole tone and chromatic modes enrich the timbre. While various scales form the basis for both melodic and harmonic materials, unity is achieved through the dramatic interplay and underlying constant of the violin and piano sound.
Mary Mageau
Mary Mageau, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, grew up in Virginia, Minnesota. She traveled to Australia in 1974 as a guest lecturer and established permanent residence, having married an Australian architect. She now holds dual citizenship. Her early composition studies were with Leon Stein at DePaul University, where she earned a B.Mus. degree, and with Ross Lee Finney at the University of Michigan, where she was awarded an M.Mus. degree in composition. In the summer of 1970 she participated in the Berkshire Music Center’s Composer Fellowship Program at Tanglewood, studying with George Crumb.
Her catalogue includes works for symphony orchestra, chorus, ballet, theatre, instrumental solo, chamber ensemble and voice. She has received a silver medal from the Louis Moreau Gottschalk Centenary Composition Competition, ASCAP Standard Awards (annually since 1981) and numerous Australia Council Composer Commission grants. In 1990 her Triple Concerto won a Special Commendation in Vienna Modern Master’s First Annual Orchestral Recording Award Competition and was subsequently released in the 1991 Music from Six Continents series on VMM 3001. In 1994 her Concerto for Harpsichord and String Orchestra received an international prize in the 4th Alienor Harpsichord Competition for Composers. Her music is regularly heard in Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and the Pacific Basin.
