PROGRAM NOTES: Nighthawks
Nighthawks takes it’s name and inspiration from the iconic 1942 painting by Edward Hopper on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. I have always been drawn to this painting, with it’s simple composition of four people inside a corner diner at night. Even with this simplicity, it evokes such a vivid feeling in the viewer, as if you are standing across the street observing this scene first hand.
When I was asked to compose a piece for the great jazz flutist Ali Ryerson and the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra, I knew I wanted to compose a jazz suite, and the image of the painting Nighthawks immediately came to mind. The composition Nighthawks, is set in three distinct movements that each represent different times of the night – early evening, late night and early morning. It’s unclear when the painting is taking place so each movement imagines a different scenario for the characters depending on the time of night they are gathered.
The first movement, Nightfall, is a brooding noir-style movement that begins slowly and builds in intensity as it progresses before returning to the slow opening material. The middle movement, Midnight Waltz, is a lively jazz waltz that creates a dialogue that alternates between the soloist and the ensemble. The final movement, Crack of Dawn, is an up-tempo movement that features unpredictable syncopated rhythms with many changing time signatures to represent the bustling energy of the city that is about to awake.
Nighthawks was premiered in September 2015 by Ali Ryerson and the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra in Santa Monica, CA.
When I was asked to compose a piece for the great jazz flutist Ali Ryerson and the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra, I knew I wanted to compose a jazz suite, and the image of the painting Nighthawks immediately came to mind. The composition Nighthawks, is set in three distinct movements that each represent different times of the night – early evening, late night and early morning. It’s unclear when the painting is taking place so each movement imagines a different scenario for the characters depending on the time of night they are gathered.
The first movement, Nightfall, is a brooding noir-style movement that begins slowly and builds in intensity as it progresses before returning to the slow opening material. The middle movement, Midnight Waltz, is a lively jazz waltz that creates a dialogue that alternates between the soloist and the ensemble. The final movement, Crack of Dawn, is an up-tempo movement that features unpredictable syncopated rhythms with many changing time signatures to represent the bustling energy of the city that is about to awake.
Nighthawks was premiered in September 2015 by Ali Ryerson and the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra in Santa Monica, CA.
--- Peter Senchuk