May

1

‘Lumen de Lumine’ in review

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Lumen de Lumine, Jacob Bancks’ SDG-commissioned concerto for piano and orchestra, received its premiere in March 2008, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The South Dakota Symphony and piano soloist and co-commissioner William Phemister performed Bancks’ new work under the direction of conductor Delta David Gier. Lumen de Lumine is inspired by the traditional Easter Vigil service from the Roman Catholic church.

In a review posted on argusleader.com, music enthusiast David Xenakis labeled Bancks’ piano concerto “a heady work of inventive vigor that never dodges the religiosity of the impulse behind it.” Xenakis describes the two movements of Bancks’ work in detail. “…there are successions of restless textures and colors that seem to grow out of each other, wending their way toward the energetic second movement. The unity of the [first] movement is shaped by the way sounds overlay other sounds, or melodic fragments are used over and over and coupled to each other in curious new juxtapositions.” “…if you cap the first movement with the second, what emerges is a superb unity that leaves a listener persuaded that the ending was inevitable.” Click here to read David Xenakis’ complete review of Lumen de Lumine.

Jacob Bancks: Lumen de Lumine (finale)
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Mar

19

Discussing Jacob Bancks’ SDG-commissioned piano concerto

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In the video below, conductor Delta David Gier, Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, speaks with composer Jacob Bancks and Chandler Branch, Executive Director of Soli Deo Gloria, on the subject of Bancks’ SDG-commissioned piano concerto, Lumen de Lumine.



Click here for more information on Lumen de Lumine. For photos, videos and personal reflections on the project, visit Chandler Branch’s blog.

Mar

14

Composer Jacob Bancks comments on ‘Lumen de Lumine’

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Rising American composer Jacob Bancks recently commented on his SDG-commissioned piano concerto, Lumen de Lumine. The world premiere of Bancks’ new work will take place on March 15 and 16, 2008, with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and pianist and co-commissioner William Phemister.

Lumen de Lumine (2008), concerto for piano and orchestra,
in memoriam Olivier Messiaen
Commissioned by Soli Deo Gloria, Inc.
and pianist William Phemister
Program Notes by the Composer

The primary inspiration for Lumen de Lumine (Latin, “Light from Light”) is the Easter Vigil service, which is celebrated annually by Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians around the world on the evening preceding Easter Sunday. The Vigil is the longest and most complex Mass of the church year, often exceeding three hours in length, and is both extraordinarily powerful for those in attendance and challenging for those in charge (I speak from experience, as Director of Music at St. John Berchmans Church in Chicago).

What I have found most striking about this Mass, beyond its length and complexity, is the sheer variety of rituals that comprise the evening’s proceedings. Beginning with a fire outside of the church, the service includes a candle-lit procession; the chanting of the Exultet (an ancient Easter proclamation); seven readings from the Hebrew Scriptures; two readings from the New Testament; and, as if all of that weren’t enough, the celebrations of baptism, confirmation, and Holy Communion.

In writing Lumen de Lumine, I haven’t so much attempted to present the listener with a musical “summary” or “narrative” of the Easter Vigil, as much as I’ve tried to compose music that captures the overall effect of the evening’s various rites. The Vigil opens with a ceremonial procession from darkness to light; likewise, the opening moments of my concerto are very solemn in character, with many angular musical gestures, like light piercing the darkness. The second half of the first movement flows much more freely; this mirrors the storytelling of the seven readings from the Hebrew Scriptures, which form something of a history of the world, beginning with the creation account in Genesis.

The second movement, much more energetic in character, represents one of the truly distinctive elements of the Vigil. The word Alleluia, considered by Christians to be the highest and most exuberant word of praise to God, is traditionally neither sung nor spoken for the forty days preceding Easter, in accordance with the self-denial of the Lenten season. At the Easter Vigil, just before the reading of the resurrection account, the Alleluia is reborn; it is this joyful new beginning I’ve attempted to capture in music.

One additional note: Lumen de Lumine was commissioned in memory of French composer Olivier Messiaen, who was born a century ago this year. Messiaen was an extraordinarily gifted composer, keyboardist, teacher, and person of faith, and his music pushed all limits of harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, and form, all the while maintaining warmth, depth, and sincerity. He is one of my musical heroes.

Aug

20

South Dakota Symphony to Premiere SDG-commissioned Piano Concerto by Jacob Bancks

Filed Under Bancks: Lumen de Lumine, Concerts, Interviews, Commissions | 3 Comments

Jacob BancksThe premiere performances of Jacob Bancks‘ piano concerto, Lumen de Lumine, will be presented by the South Dakota Symphony on March 15 and 16, 2008, under the direction of Delta David Gier, Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony and Associate Artistic Director of Soli Deo Gloria. Bancks’ new work is written under commission from SDG for pianist William Phemister, the project’s chief architect, lead sponsor and concerto soloist. According to Phemister, Bancks is an exceptional musical talent whose work is, “on the cutting edge of creativity.”

Bancks intends to imbue his new work with a Christian spiritual core. “A good deal of inspiration for Lumen de Lumine comes from the Easter Vigil Mass of the Roman Catholic Church”, said Bancks. “This service is extremely complicated (I speak from experience, as Director of Music at St. John Berchmans Church in Chicago), but also extraordinarily beautiful. Many facets of this Mass will make their way into my concerto, but perhaps the most immediate is the rebirth of the ‘Alleluia,’ which is left unsung throughout Lent. The singing of this powerful, holy, ancient word for the first time in six weeks is, for me at least, a very moving moment.”

In a recent letter to SDG contacts, Maestro Gier revealed the origins of SDG’s collaboration with Bancks.

I first met Jacob in 2003, while guest conducting at Wheaton College. He was a student then, and sat at the front of the viola section in the conservatory orchestra. At that time he told me that he was going on to the Eastman School of Music for a Master’s degree in composition. I, of course, had no idea that our paths would cross again, musically, within a short time. The next year I began my work in South Dakota and found out that Jacob was originally from Sioux Falls and had studied with one of my key orchestra members. As I became familiar with Jacob’s work, it was evident to me that his was a unique voice which would develop significantly. He is now a doctoral student at the University of Chicago where he has been named a Century Fellow.

Last fall I was in Minneapolis for a series of composer readings with the Minnesota Orchestra. Each year, as part of a very competitive process, the orchestra receives over 200 orchestral scores from young composers hoping to be included in this program. The South Dakota Symphony is planning to extend this program by reading the “honorable mentions” with our orchestra. Interestingly enough, as I was sitting in rehearsal in Minneapolis, I was brought a box full of last year’s honorable mentions. I reached into the box, and the first score I pulled out was a piece by Jacob Bancks! I wasn’t particularly looking for a sign, but this at least signaled to me that we were on the right track.

About a year ago, one of Jacob’s former piano teachers, William Phemister, informed me that he intended to commission a work from Jacob to commemorate his retirement. Dr. Phemister asked if I would be willing to premiere the new work with the South Dakota Symphony, with himself as soloist. I heartily agreed, then brought the idea to the directors of SDG and together we decided to partner with Dr. Phemister to make this idea a reality.

Commissioning a purely instrumental work is a bit unusual for SDG, though not without precedent. Several years ago we commissioned George Arasimowicz’ Window Rock: Peter’s Dawn, an orchestral tone poem inspired by the life of the Apostle Peter. Jacob intends his piano concerto to be an homage to Olivier Messiaen, whose music, both concert and liturgical, always maintained a sacred focus. In keeping with this, the inspiration for the new piece comes from a description of Christ found in the Nicene Creed: Lumen de Lumine, translated from the Latin as “light from light”. I look forward to working closely with Jacob in the creation of this work, and to his homecoming to Sioux Falls for its initial presentation.

Jacob Bancks finds the music of Olivier Messiaen “thrilling and highly original.” Addressing the MessiaenOlivier Messiaen connection, the composer notes, “I chose Messiaen’s outstanding wind ensemble piece Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum (“I look for the resurrection of the dead”), with title drawn from the Nicene Creed, as a tangent for my own work. That said, I certainly wouldn’t encourage anybody hearing my concerto to listen for Messiaen’s influence, and I’m very consciously avoiding Messiaen-invoking ‘gimmicks’. His music is full of distinctive characteristics which are, superficially at least, very easy to mimic: birdsong, Indian rhythms, ‘modes of limited transposition’. In my opinion, these are pitfalls for any composer who admires his work. And anyway, I find his artistic approach as imitable as his music, distinguished by, in his words, ’self-control, respect for others, a sense of wonder of that which is created, meditation on the mystery, and the search for Truth.’ This attitude, aside from any specific musical influence, is what I hope to draw most from Messiaen.”

Washington Pavillion for Arts and SciencesThe South Dakota Symphony Orchestra will present Bancks’ new work with pianist William Phemister. Performances will take place at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Sciences in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The program will also include Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem. For tickets click here or contact the South Dakota Symphony by phone at 1-866-681-7376.

Jacob Bancks has received commissions from the New York Youth Symphony, the Annapolis Symphony, the Hanson Institute for American Music, the International Double Reed Society, the Lute Song Project, the Eastman Philharmonia, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Commission Project, OSSIA New Music, the Dakota Academy for Performing Arts, and Augustana College Theatre. He is a winner of the 2006 BMI Student Composer Award, a Century Fellowship (University of Chicago), the Howard Hanson Orchestral Prize (Eastman), first prize in the Minnesota Music Teachers’ Association annual competition, has been nominated for the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize and was recently named a Jacob K. Javits Fellow by the U.S. Department of Education.