Tim Broege's Blog - 2017
Recording has been a major focus for me recently. Three successful recording sessions have resulted in three CD's that I am proud to share.
A Closer Walk features piano meditations/improvisations recorded at the
Monmouth Conservatory of Music in Red Bank, NJ in a session on April 12, 2015.
Included on the disc are Theme & Variations for Piano, by my composition student
Thomas Jones, and my own Feisty Mom, written in memory of my mother, Olive Broege.
New & Old Music for Clavichord was recorded at Glass Bottom Studios
in Tinton Falls, NJ in November 2015. I played my own Carl Fudge unfretted
clavichord for the session, and included music by Herbert Howells, Lou Harrison,
Karlheinz Stockhausen, James Woodman and others. An important compositional
challenge for me was the completion of my Partita for Clavichord, an adaptation of
my previous Partita for Guitar. With considerable effort I was able to finish the
clavichord work, learn the piece and record it at the November session. Much of
the music on the CD was included on my April 3 2016 clavichord recital at Gore Place
in Waltham, MA (outside Boston), presented by The Boston Clavichord Society.
A treat for me was the presence in the audience of my nephew Eric Broege and
his wife Carolyn, and my niece Stacylyn Doerr and her husband Mike.
And last but certainly not least, Organ Music from Elberon was recorded in the historic Elberon Memorial Church at the Jersey shore on June 26 2016, with me playing the church's 1885 Hilbourne Roosevelt pipe organ. Experts have testified that this instrument is one of the best-preserved Roosevelt's in the country. It was in particularly good shape (and tune) for the recording session, and recording engineer Doug Clark did a great job capturing the wonderful sound of this remarkable organ. Doug, by the way, was also recording engineer and producer of the other two CD's. The Elberon CD includes music by Bruckner, Brahms, Daniel Pinkham, Joe Utterback and others (including my own piece Wellness).All three CD's can be ordered from me using PayPal at timbroege@aol.com. The cost is $15.00 per CD, and shipping is free within the United States.In the fall of 2015 I completed my Partita for Band, commissioned by the 8th Grade Band of Timothy Edwards Middle School in South Windsor CT. The excellent band director at the school, Mr. Frank Marci, was the moving force behind this commission and he conducted the premiere of the work on April 6th at the school on a concert consisting entirely of pieces I have written for band. Later in the month, Mr. Marci and his band appeared at the Connecticut Music Educators convention in Hartford (April 29th) and again played my Partita along with other band pieces of mine. I was pleased and privileged to be in attendance.Partita for Band is scheduled for publication in the spring of 2017 by Hal Leonard. In four movements, the work is, I think, one of my best efforts for school band.A start-up publisher in Georgia, Knightwind Music, has brought out three other band pieces of mine: Seneca Variations (a companion piece to my Falling Water, published by Hal Leonard), Toccata for Band, and Four in One, a “miniature symphony” for middle school band. I also have a piece included in The Jack Stamp Suite (pieces for band composed in honor of the retirement of distinguished composer/conductor Jack Stamp after many years at Indiana University of Pennsylvania). The movements of the suite are being published separately by Neil Kjos Co.; mine is a setting of the old English folk tune “O Waly, Waly” (aka “The Water is Wide”), and should be appearing from Kjos later this year.Other recent pieces include my Duo Concertante for marimba, piano and string orchestra, premiered at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank NJ on June 6 2015, composed in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding of The Monmouth Conservatory of Music, and my latest organ piece, The Lesser Voluntaries, completed in December 2016 after almost a full year's work on it. It is quiet, contemplative music, and sounds well on both the Elberon and Belmar Presbyterian (G.F. Adams) organs.Speaking of Belmar, all of the necessary restoration work (post-Hurricane Sandy in 2012) was finally completed by the fall of last year. The church is whole once again.There are many worthwhile music videos of my work on YouTube, but my favorite continues to be the delightful Lego animation created to go with one of my “classic” band pieces, Sinfonia VI. The animation was created by two talented musicians from Canada: their names are Malibu Taetz and Thomas Panio. Take a look and listen – it will bring a smile to your face.I will be doing a program in the 2017 Concert Series at Belmar Presbyterian Church (600 Ninth Ave. in Belmar NJ 07719) on Sunday afternoon, February 19th. Since 2017 is the year I turn 70 (!), I thought it was time for some reminiscing and revisiting my compositions and poetry. The program starts at 3 PM, and admission is free. Planning is also underway for a 70th Birthday Concert, tentatively scheduled for Sunday afternoon, November 5th (actually the day before my birthday) at the church. A cordial invitation is proffered to one and all.- Tim Broege January 2017
