Bernard, Daniel, and Casey

When one steps into the tenth decade of life, it’s okay to talk about legacy.

Rands at 90, Guarneri Hall’s two-part musical celebration of the music of Bernard Rands, distinguishes the English expat’s compositional legacy with a carefully curated portfolio of works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, and voice. The two-day program includes a selection of works by Rands, by composers who influenced Rands, and by composers whom Rands has influenced. Rands has chosen to include Claude Debussy’s String Quartet to emphasize the powerful influence the French composer has had on him, and “Celebration” from the string quartet Magic Gardens composed by his wife, Augusta Read Thomas (“Gusty”). On the other side of the coin is music by two contemporary composers that Bernard Rands has taught, mentored, or influenced: Kathleen “Casey” Ginther and Daniel Pesca.

Casey Ginther

After juggling composition and teaching for decades, 72-year-old Kathleen “Casey” Ginther lives in Chicago and can now focus all her energies on notating the musical staff. Her doctoral dissertation on Rand’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Canti Trilogy advised the program notes for the Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s recording in celebration of the composer’s 70^th birthday. Ginther’s Psalm of Love and Sorrow (for violin and piano) and her Epousailles (for mezzo-soprano and viola) will be performed at the first concert of Guarneri Hall’s celebration in honor of Rands’ 90th birthday. 

Ginther was a graduate student at Northwestern University when she headed to the Aspen Music Festival in the Summer of 1983 and made a beeline to her composition workshop, spearheaded by Jacob Druckman and Bernard Rands. “As I was approaching the little shed where we had our classes, I heard this tremendous wall of orchestral music,” she remembered. “I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ It was the beginning of Le Tambourin, which had just come out.” Rands had just recently won his Pulitzer. “I was just knocked out by every note that I was hearing and that’s when I decided to write my doctoral dissertation on his music.”

A Wall of Orchestral Music

“He still blows me away. What drew me to his music in the first place was that, at that time, there were so many ‘isms’ in music. You either were academic and involved with serialism, or you wrote music that was on the Romantic side; there was minimalism, and there was the accessibility side. Bernard is all of these things at once: music from the head and the heart. And he’s always motivated and propelled by a beautiful lyric line and a depth of technique.”

An Odd Word for New Music

And it’s no coincidence that those qualities permeate her own music. The experience of life in the 2020s has only galvanized her thinking. “I think that serenity is the kind of thing I’ve been obsessed with of late– trying to fine-balance with how crazy the world’s been,” said Ginther. When it was suggested that her recent works also have a great deal of accessibility to first-time listeners, it gave her pause. “Accessible is kind of an odd word for new music, but what I would gladly accept as a compliment is that my music has a sense of lyricism and melody because those things are important to me. And a sense of narrative flow so the music goes somewhere and does something.”

Ginther is undaunted by the tiny audience for new music in this country. “It’s about having performances and having people you might not know in a room and experiencing something that you’ve made and it having an impact on them. It’s not just about me sitting in a room making stuff that goes on a shelf or on a recording. 

“Thank you, Bernard, for setting an example of somebody going into the studio daily, committing the biggest portion of your life to developing a craft that perfectly expresses what you want to communicate. Thank you for giving me a pathway to get through this complex maze of being a composer. But mostly for including me in your circle that gives me the feeling that I should be doing this. It’s a validation. Your voice and your ear are in my head a lot. Every time I hear a new piece by you, I feel the same rush I had that first time in Aspen. It’s the best thing in the world. The music that you’ve given to the world has made my life so much richer.”

Daniel Pesca

Daniel Pesca, 38, also appears in the first concert, both as a composer (A Line for a Walk, for violin and piano) and a pianist (Rands’ Impromptu No. 3). He’ll also perform on the keyboard for his own piece. Pesca is an assistant professor of composition at the Eastman School of Music and performs in Gusty’s Chicago-based “Grossman Ensemble.” He was the first to play and record Rand’s complete set of Four Impromptus.

Pesca’s first encounter with Rand involved a dinner invitation. 

“I must have met him in 2010 or 2011,” said Pesca. “I was living in the Chicago area, where I was working as a freelance pianist and a piano teacher. I was composing as well. Through the contemporary music scene in Chicago, I got to know Gusty. They invited me to their home, a beautiful home on Michigan Avenue. They were generous with the wine, but one of my friends forewarned me that ‘they were really interested in hearing you play. Come ready to play something for them.’ I was sitting there trying to drink very slowly. Indeed, they did ask me, and I played a movement of Bach Partita for them. They really enjoyed it. From that moment on, I felt things were especially warm. And then I was able to enjoy the wine a bit more.”

The bond extended far past that evening on Michigan Avenue. “I’ve gotten to know his music as a pianist for the past ten or so years,” said Pesca. “As a composer, his expertise and craftmanship are just immaculate. You look at his scores as a fellow composer, and you’re just kind of in awe at the assurance, the clarity of thought, and the beauty. The musical ideas leap off the page as you’re studying them.”

A Mid-Century Link

“Bernard also represents a link to the mid-century generation of composers who were really titans in the European theater. Folks like Luciano Berio, who was a very important mentor of Bernard’s and a longtime friend, and Pierre Boulez, who advocated for his music. Those folks have passed away. But Bernard has these stories, experiences, and contacts. It’s very inspiring for someone like me who’s trying to position themselves in some kind of lineage.”

Pesca also depends on non-musical sources. “A lot of my pieces take inspiration from outside of music- the visual arts (A Line for a Walk takes its cues from the art of Paul Klee), texts, such poems, or I can be inspired by literature even if I don’t set its text. I use themes that are inspired by geography or landscapes- also pieces that are inspired by other pieces of music. Those connections can also help the listeners find their way into the music.

“Ultimately, music is a matter of expressing something purely internal, from my inner world. It is irreducible to another medium or idea. It stands in its own sphere, and it acts on the body and the consciousness of the listener in a way that you really can’t describe with words.”

“Thank you, Bernard, for your music – it’s so beautiful and touching. It’s so rewarding to play, and I learn so much as I practice and study these scores. Thank you for being so generous about inviting me into your musical orbit and believing in my talent and helping me in finding ways forward. You’ve been a role for me as to how to be a confident and kind professional in this business. I can talk freely and openly with you because you receive things with such kindness, warmth, and generosity.”