Lenti and Theorbo Star in Premiere of Aaron Grad’s ‘Strange Seasons’
Cover image: Seattle Baroque Orchestra (Photo: Ben VanHouten)
We often hear about crossover artists, but who knows of crossover instruments? Or, rather, a new instrument, one of a kind, designed and built by a jazz guitarist and woodworker with a love for the baroque bass lute, the theorbo. It has to be the first since the saxophone (if you don’t count the theremin).
The story: Composer, jazz guitarist, program note writer, and Seattleite Aaron Grad, 37, discovered the theorbo at the time he was discovering classical music in grad school, and he fell in love with it. But how to merge his disparate interests? He had always wanted to use his guitar to accompany voice, and realized the theorbo with its wide range and wonderful bass notes would be perfect for his purposes.
Fast forward to now, and Grad has built an electric theorbo, figuring out through trial and error (and three hours daily for months in his garage) working out the logistics and overcoming problems like the tension the neck would have to support. Theorbo strings are gut, and the entire load of fourteen or so strings creates about 30 pounds tension on the wood of the long neck. Grad’s steel strings create about 300-400 pounds and wood could not sustain it. He went to the airline industry and discovered a carbon fiber tube would do the trick, and he also built two necks, one for the open strings, one for the fretted fingerboard.
To show off his exciting new creation, Grad decided to compose a concerto for it and with the openminded support of Early Music Seattle (used to be Guild), Seattle Baroque Orchestra conductor Alexander Weimann, and skilled lutenist John Lenti, all of whom have respected judgement in the early music world, the concerto had its premiere Saturday night at the first of EMS’s season performances. (See upcoming performances here.)
Grad described his process in an engaging preconcert lecture about the instrument and also his plan, not to copy Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” concertos, but to compose something along the same lines, on Seattle’s weather. Vivaldi had written sonnets to be read prior to each concerto. Grad did the same for his four movements, named for each season: “Autumn: Pineapple Express; Winter: Gray, Gray, Gray, Emerald Blues; Spring: Sun Breaks; “and “Summer: Paradise.” All four Grad sonnets are included in the program notes, and recently retired from KING-TV meteorologist Jeff Renner read them before the appropriate movement of Grad’s 32-minute “Strange Seasons.”
Was it a success? Yes. Grad had composed the work for string orchestra and harpsichord, and each movement had recognizable seasonal (for Seattle) elements.I particularly liked “Winter” with the low strings plucked slow and very softly, like water continually dripping. There was a stormy episode, rain pouring, and resolution.” Spring” had rising arpeggios and rising energy, plus swirling moment.
Into his concerto, Grad incorporated elements of grunge, hot jazz and Delta blues but with a light touch, and often harmonies of this century. There’s also a delightful jazzy riff for the soloist in “Winter.” Lenti played the unfamiliar instrument like a master, incorporating use of pedals to change the timbre. Mostly he used the one which gave a rich resonance to each note, but he could make it a tremolo, buzzy or twangy as he chose.
Grad’s is a well-structured piece with melody, and good balances. It’s nicely paced and has substance and overall shape. It would be a shame if this is the only performance it receives. It’s to be hoped that Lenti and Weimann are able to take it other places they play.
Weimann built the entire program around weather, and included a brief excerpt from Lully’s “Suite des quatre saisons,” and the much longer, very varied “Les elements” of Jean-Féry Rebel. Here the strings, led by concertmaster Linda Melsted, were joined by winds, and the audience was treated to Janet See’s fine flute and piccolo playing, Brandon Labadie’s plangent baroque oboe, and some great bassoon work from Nate Helgeson.
