Da Capo Conversations with Elinor Armer and Angélica Negrón

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 80: Da Capo Conversations with Elinor Armer and Angélica Negrón

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Today we revisit Elinor Armer’s and Angélica Negrón’s perspectives on music of theirs that we've played. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Elinor Armer and Angélica Negrón, check them out here and here. Parts of this episode originally premiered on January 30, 2021, click here, and on November 15, 2021, click here.

This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.

Co-Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-Producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
With assistance from Hannah Chen, Sam Mason, Renata Volchinskaya

Transcript

Nanette McGuinness  00:00
[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists sponsored by a grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, Artistic Executive Director of Ensemble For These Times. In this week's episode, we continue our Da Capo Conversations, a mini-series where we'll be giving familiar segments a topical twist. [INTRO MUSIC ENDS] Today, we revisit Elinor Armer's and Angélica Negrón's perspectives on music of theirs that we've played. Here's what Elinor Armer had to say:

Elinor Armer  00:40
Well, you may remember that some time ago, you sent me the plans for the upcoming seasons, you know, of E4TT and one of them was to be on the theme of mothers and daughters. And I selected that one, because I thought I would be able to find some poetry that would, that I would like to set. And I, you know, I'm I'm very close to that subject. I am both a mother and a daughter. I originally, you may remember, was all wrapped up in the idea of the Persephone myth, you know, you and I went round and round with, with some poems related to that. And then somehow that got discarded. A lot of the poems were too long and thoroughgoing and some of them rather frank, in their imagery, and so on. So I continued looking, and I was in the process of going through my old friend and collaborator, Ursula Le Guin's poems, looking for poems to set. I'm making a memorial album of my settings of her poetry. And I remembered coming across the one that she wrote called "A Song for My Daughter," and that just hit the spot, totally hit the spot. Partly because of its symmetry of generations. That particular poem, you know, refers to her daughter first, as I believe, mother of my granddaughter, or granddaughter of my mother, I can't remember which came first. But there's all kinds of verbal inversion going on there. I've actually created little motives to represent daughter, granddaughter, and mother. And they, of course, were invertible. Invertible counterpoint if you like, if you want to sound very fancy. And those motives worked their way into the, into the piece, which is essentially tonal or modal. It didn't seem to me to call for any experimental harmonic, you know, advanced harmonic, super modern ideas, and I don't think any of Ursula's work has ever been anything more than just sort of naturally tonal or almost tonal for me and, and preferred by her. She has, in the past mentioned some other settings of her work that she didn't like for this reason, or that and so I always tried to avoid doing those things that she didn't like, you know, from other composers. The poem was meaningful to me because I have known Elizabeth, her daughter, for longer than I knew her. It was actually through Elizabeth that I met Ursula Le Guin; I met her at Elizabeth's wedding. And Elizabeth had been my student long ago, at the San Francisco Conservatory, and a brilliant student, she was. And now look at her, she's, you know, in a very important position, down at UCLA, and very highly considered and so on. But we we have remained friends, of course, through all of this. And speaking of friends, I was going through other poems, sets of poems, specifically a book called "Audible Dawn" by an old friend of mine, Rella Lossy, and we were very good friends. She, She has long since passed away. But I've always loved her poetry. And I don't want to spill a bean here. But the poem that I chose by her was actually addressed to her son. But we won't tell anybody that because it works just as well, to pretend that it's addressed to a daughter. So I was very happy to find that one, by her and "Child, Your Eyes," and the, the, the vigor of it and, and the spontaneity and the strength of it, in a sense, of was a wonderful contrast to the more lyrical, more regular poem by, by Ursula, I thought they would work very well together. And I always like working with poetry by my friends and loved ones. When I have the chance, I, when I have the chance I do it, and I'm fortunate to, to know or to have known many poets. So it's just all in the family, if you will.

Nanette McGuinness  06:09
Here's what Angélica Negrón had to say:

Angélica Negrón  06:12
Sueño Recurrente is a piece that I wrote a long time ago, it's, if not my first, my second piece that I ever wrote. It's very influenced by Satie. I'm a huge fan, and Satie was one of those composers that really inspired me, this kind of very, very unapologetic simplicity, while at the same time having a sense of irreverence, and at the same time being incredibly meaningful. Just, I don't know how he does it. But you asked, Sueño Recurrente is very much inspired by, by Satie and, and also by recurring dreams I was having at that time, I kept dreaming about these cars that were flying. And I think of them as ghost cars. I didn't, I really don't know what, what that means. But just this thing that keeps coming back in your dreams, and then you try to make some sense of it. But maybe that's not the, that's not what it wants, it just exists. And it's an image that stays with you.

Nanette McGuinness  07:21
[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure's Da Capo Conversations, and a special thank you to our guests for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area or to make a tax deductible donation, please visit us at www.e4tt.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors like you. For Good Measure is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble For These Times and designed by Brennan Stokes, with special thanks to co-producer and audio engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]